Monday, April 18, 2016

IT WAS A GOOD WEEK!

If there are birthdays or anniversaries, I do apologize, I forgot to see the calendar this morning! 
So I had this song come to my head just now, `Everyday I’m shuffling. ` I couldn’t help to think about missionary work, of course! I can’t describe this week other than it was good! Lots of blessings and we had to slow down a little and focus on the little things. It was quite fun!
So last p-day we went to the Harry Potter Library where it is said to be the inspiration for the books. I have no doubt! The staircase is incredible! We thoroughly enjoyed it! 
We had district meeting, which is always good. We are planning 2 activities in the ward and the stake, which should be good! We have one coming up this Friday and the next one on Mother’s day, Odilia´s baptism day, and stake conference, oh and the day we talk! So that’ll be a great, tiring day!! Oh as well it went from thundering and lightning, to sunshine too and we still had success! And we ended up meeting 2 investigators of the Elders twice that they had lost contact with so miracles were just being poured out everywhere!
On Wednesday we did a lot of searching, 1. For this lady that we met on the bus who said we could come by and 2. For new investigators. And we happened to find both! Fernanda said we could come by and she wasn’t home but we left her a heart on her door and she ended up calling us that night saying that she would come to church! Super elect! Then we went to an old investigators house and she was so happy to see us! She couldn’t help but smile and laugh to see us! Literally made my day! On top of that we took a quick break to eat something at a café in our area, and we just happen to be really good friends with the owners, and they gave us a loaf of bread! We usually leave there with the food that they were going to throw away but never that big! It was awesome! And on top of all that, we contacted a lot of people that already knew the church. Can I just say that I am so grateful for examples of good missionaries before me who were happy and talked to people! 
On Thursday we had Zone Conference with 2 zones and president. It was shortened because one of the missionary couples had to immediately fly home because their grandson was hit by a car after a scouting event and was only expected to live till the next day. So President wanted to take them to the airport. President shared with us his love for us and I felt it. He was in tears as he was telling us what happened. The conference was good though. He basically reiterated all the things we had heard in zone meeting. I saw Elder Zwalhen again, which was super fun! Good to talk to old friends face to face :) We got home, changed and went to Odilia´s house to clean out her garage. We lifted some pretty heavy things which wasn’t the smartest on my part but we got the job done and I was satisfied! Then we had another ward meeting that night. There are so many meetings to go to as missionaries. I don’t think I’ve been to so many in the 19 years before my mission! I love it though!
On Friday Sister Phipps went to the hospital because she’s been having these weird bumps on her hands and bad circulation. So we went to get it checked out and the doctor didn’t even know what was wrong. I was the translator, which was super fun! She was really nervous, it was super cute! ha-ha I just love her to pieces! I often wonder if we were meant to be in the same family...we are basically the same person! Match made in heaven for sure!! Then we get back from the hospital and meet Rafael...he was drunk. I tried my hardest not to laugh the whole time. He was saying some of the craziest things. He would go from being super happy to super sad and depressed. There were like 20 people in the chapel and all of them were concerned but couldn’t help but laugh. He only drinks once in a while, and this time, he forgot to take his medication so he drank...and he’s supposed to be baptized this weekend. Pray for him! 
I’m not doing a great job of explaining all the miracles but we really focused this week on finding new investigators and the Lord heard our prayers. He put elect people in our path. Our district leader Elder Valentine sent a message saying we needed to get 5 more new investigators to reach our goal as a district, and right before we saw the message we were in a lesson with a new investigator and then right after we read the message we went back to Carlos´s house. We hadn’t seen him in about 2 months and it was such a miracle that we went back. He was a mess. He’s digressed a lot since we were teaching him and he could tell the difference now. We’re going to try to get him back to church again and back on the path to baptism. So by the end of the day, we had met out goal of 5 new investigators for the day. Miracles do happen when we are on the Lord’s side. 
Along with that, after church we went to find a recent convert that moved in that didn’t go to church and we weren’t even focused on finding new investigators when a lady stopped us and asked to know more. So we had a lesson, right there on the street about the restoration of the gospel. It was incredible! We met our goals for the week and the Lord just put a little cherry on top. He is so good to us and really does put the people we need in our path. I loved seeing the hand of the Lord in the work. 
I love the gospel. I love reading the Book of Mormon, especially in Portuguese! I’m almost to Alma in Portuguese and when I start, I just don’t want to stop. I passed my 16th month mark yesterday and I just cried to Sister Phipps. I love the mission and I just want to stay here forever. I know I’m here to make a difference in the lives of other people but I feel like they’ve changed mine more than theirs. I love these people, this country, this ward, the area, my mission president, my companion, my house, my family, the gospel, and most importantly Jesus Christ. 
Love you all!
Sister Hillam

P.S. I need you to invite the neighbors that aren’t members to my homecoming talk, and get a list of all the less actives in our ward. Mom, be ready to be my comp when I get home. We must baptize and help those that aren’t members, be members! I don’t want to wait to get the missionary work going in our ward! How is Mariana with the Book of Mormon? I just had so many ideas come to my head this week about the Ugaki family and Mariana and how we can share the gospel with them. Be prepared Mom and Dad! I only have a month or so to get these families to church! Please, do invite them to my homecoming :) Love you!!

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