This week was amazing!!!! :)

Okay again I don´t have a lot of time so I want to quickly share an experience that Sister Sena and I had this week!

So Sister Sena and I met this guy the other day named Mauricio. We shared The Restoration with him and he was paying attention to everything we said and asking so many questions, you could tell that he was really interested. And the spirit was SO strong. I don´t know what it was, but this lesson was one of the most powerful lessons I have
had on my mission. Seriously. At the beginning of the lesson he was talking about this pain that he was having in his foot that was keeping him from walking, and the doctors couldn´t figure out what it was. So, the end of the lesson arrived and we´re talking about the Book of Mormon and and he said he would read and pray that night. We promised him that if he read the and prayed that night, that the pain in his foot would go away. I literally have the goosebumps as I´m typing this. We promised him and his response was, AMEN. He kept repeating it throughout the lesson. haha. We told him we would call him that night to follow up and see if he had done it, we promised that the pain in his foot would be gone by the time we called. So 9:30 arrives and we called him, Sister Sena and I were both standing on our beds in anticipation! So we asked if he read and prayed and said he did, and we asked how it was and he said he felt good and that he knows the Book of Mormon is true. We had our little freak out happy dance on our beds, haha. Then the real question, we asked how his foot was. There was, what felt like a 10 minute pause, he responded and said exactly this: I feel no pain. Sister Sena and I both started crying and I could barely finish the conversation with him on the phone. It was SO amazing to literally see the hand of the Lord in his life! Through a promise that we made, because as His servants, we have the power and authority. He´ll be baptized December 28th. A late Christmas present. :)

I KNOW this church is the only true church of Christ. I am SO grateful to be a missionary. So grateful. I´m forever changed. I´m grateful for the relationship I´m gained with my Father in Heaven. I know He lives and he loves us! What´s really amazing is that I´m across the world right now but still preaching the same gospel the same doctrine and the same truths.

Até mais! Tchau tchau,

Sister Hallmark 

K this week was amazinggggg!!!!

Sebastiana got married and baptized!!!!!! :) Her baptism was so special! She has been waiting for several months because she had to get married first, and when the time finally came we were all bawling! Ah I love her!

Mary is getting baptized this Saturday! Funny story, so we had lunch at her house and afterwards we´re teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, no big deal. I start talking about enduring to the end, the LAST point in this lesson, and Sister Sauer Davis was like oh you have something in your teeth. And I was like stop that right now, please tell me you´re kidding! Haha NOPE. Right smack in the middle. I turned to Mary and was like did you know I had stuff in my teeth and she was like yeah I just didn´t want to say anything. I was like I HATE YOU BOTH! Hahaha we were all laughing so hard! I feel the love. #RUDE

So the other night we were on our way home from an appointment and we had like 10 minutes to get home before it was 9:30 and we were about 30 minutes away. So we´re literally RUNNING to make it into our apartment on time and Sister Sauer Davis was like k if you see a car with a girl we´re asking for a ride home. And I thought it was just a joke, like we´re in a hurry and she was exaggerating. NOPE. Literally she flagged down a car and this random girl gave us a ride home. Hahahaha. When we got in the house I was like K I THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDDING. And she was like oh heck no. The sister training leaders taught me this. hahaha I was like literally only in Brasil can you do this. You would get kidnapped or something if you did that in the united states. Everyone here is so nice. :) I loveeeee it. :)

I´m so grateful for this time I have to be here. It truly is a blessing. I´m learning so much. I´m so grateful for the sacrament and that we can literally be completely cleansed each week and receive again the Holy Ghost. I ´m grateful for the gifts of the spirit and how loving our Heavenly Father is. I KNOW He loves us and has our best interest. I love the scriptures. I love growing more of a love for the Saviors Atonement in my life. :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

Oh p.s. I´m coming home to Texas on Feb 19th! :) 

Sebastiana got married and baptized!

We had brownies for dessert. I haven´t had brownies once since being here. I wanted to cry tears of joy. They were SOO good!

 

Nossa this week was bomb!

So we saw the biggest miracle this week! 

Mayre. Oh my goooooodness. I love this woman so much. So she was a referral from some other missionaries who talked to her on the onibus and she said that she really wanted a visit from some missionaries. So we went over the other day and oh my gosh, it was so sad. Her mom passed away 9 months ago, and she says that she´s just suffering. She lives alone so has no one to talk to about things. She said that for months and months she was asking friends, pastors, family to come and visit and help her and people kept saying they would come, but no one ever did. She said the minute we walked in her house she knew Heavenly Father sent us. We’ve been to her house almost every day this week. We gave her a pamphlet and a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon, the next day she was like I want more, I read it all. She´s just so hungry for this gospel. She went to church yesterday and she said it filled a whole in her heart and she felt so much peace.  I love her so much! She´s getting baptized the 29th of this month. I forgot to get a picture with her, I´ll send some next week.

Paulo. So there´s this kid, Israel, Sister Sauer Davis and I keep trying to meet with but he´s never home. The other day, we felt like we should go and see if he´s home, so we did. He wasn’t home. #itwasrealcool BUT, there was a random guy walking towards us so we talked to him instead. Paulo, he´s 21 and suuuper chill. He said we could visit him the next day. I was kind of weary about visiting him, I was thinking that he probably wasn´t interested, he just said yes because we´re two girls. This is why we need elders in our ward. #butreally So we go to his house the next day with a member, Flavia. We walk in and it´s him and all 6 thousand of his brothers playing video games. #men So we went into the kitchen and started talking with him a little bit and he asked if we wanted some water and we said yes. K I don´t who all has seen the movie "Taken", but I felt a part of that movie. Like for real. We were in a house full of random guys we didn´t know and when Paulo was getting water he was like hiding behind the counter and I was like k he´s putting drugs in our water!! Sister Sauer Davis and I were whispering and I was like k you drink it first and if you don´t die at the end of the lesson, I´ll drink the water that may or may not be filled with clear drugs. hehe. CLEARLY I was over exaggerating because once we said the opening prayer, everything was fine. Paulo was super nice and you could tell he was really interested in what we were saying. He committed to be baptized the 29th of this month as well. He also came to church yesterday! We went over to his house afterwards to have another lesson and he said that he prayed about and read the Book of Mormon and said com certeza sei que este livro é verdadeiro. With surety I know that the Book of Mormon is true. And the words com certeza, in Português means with surety but in Portutuês it has soo much more power behind it. The spirit was SO strong. I´ve never had an investigator say with such impact the Book of Mormon is true. It was so amazing.

This week was also filled with a bunch of really funny things people say to us.. ahhh #brasil 

Lines of the week:

Member: Oh sister, where are you from?

Sister Sauer-Davis: I´m from Vermont. 

ps literally no one here knows where Vermont is.

Member: Where´s Vermont? In Utah?

Carlos: Where are you guys from?

Both of us: The United States

Carlos: Ohhhh! Cool! So do you speak English or Italian there?

Oh so one of our investigators Eva, made rice pudding for us! It was so sweet! The way they make it here is SO good so I got a ton, and Sister Sauer-Davis too. When we finished Sister Sauer Davis was like can we grab a little more and she was like oh yes of course!! So we got a little more. Then once we finished that helping she was like get more! So we did. Then again, get more! Oh no we´re full it was sooo good thank you though! Noo get more! You don´t like it? Oh my gosh woman, so we got a little more. haha. After the 4th helping one we were like okay really no more like we´re so full and she kept saying the rest of the night that we didn´t like her food because we wouldn´t serve more. WE HAD 4 HELPINGS WOMAN, I THINK WE LIKED IT. This is my life every time we have lunch. Literally. You have to eat until you have food coming out your eyeballs to prove that to them that you like their food. #itscray

I KNOW that this gospel changes lives. First my own, then the life of sooo many people I´ve had the opportunity to come in contact with. I´m so grateful for the testimony I have gained since being on my mission. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I love love loveeee reading it every morning!

Até próximo semana! 

Sister Hallmark 

Nossa! This week was incredible!

 K so we had a couple cray cray lessons with some seriously crazy people. OH! Sister Sauer-Davis and I met a prophet! His name is Paulo. Hahahaha. He gave Sister and I a prophesy! After the mission I´m going to come back to Brasil and marry a 38 year old and Sister Sauer-Davis will stay in the United States and marry with someone who has 26 years. Also he said a bunch of other stuff but I couldn´t really understand, because I was focusing on trying to keep a straight face. He was like yelling so loud and with such force that he was spitting. I was like #CHILL hahahahahahah goooood times. 

OH! So we met the sweetest guy ever, Fernando who is suppper prepared and already knows a ton about our church. We were talking about eternal families and he started tearing up and said he wants that so bad. It was such a neat experience to see how badly he wants this. We are SO blessed to be members of Christs church. This story has a sad middle... Fernando lives out of our area. :( The other sisters are teaching him now. Not terribly sad because he´s still gonna get baptized and everything. There´s something amazing about watching someone grow in the gospel and you can see how much it´s changing their lives. Ah well. He´s still great! Now the cray part.. His dad walks in and we were like hi how are you doing? We asked his name and I thought I heard correctly but I wanted to ask again before I freaked out. Sorry what did you say your name was? Darci. LITERALLY. I was like whattttt theeeee. We showed each other our ID´s and it´s the same spelling and everything I was like of course. #mylife

I´m so excited! It´s already the 10th of November! That means only 12 more days until Sebastianas marriage and baptism!!! :) Sister Sauer-Davis and I are gonna make oreo balls! Ahhhh! I seriously love her so much!!! I finally tooks some pictures with her! :) 

We found so many people this week who are just awesome! I feel so blessed to be here! It´s crazy because when I was in Virginia all I wanted to do was be in Brasil. Then when I arrived here I was like... I miss Virginia! :( It was a HARD transition, completely switching languages. At first I felt like I wasn´t needed here. I was called to Virginia. But now, I don´t know what changed, but I KNOW I was called here for a reason. I was called to serve in 2 missions. This week in Ipatinga with Sister Sauer-Davis I feel like I gained such a testimony of that. We´re all in the exact places were we are, with the people we´re with, for a reason. Heavenly Father knows. I am SO grateful to be HIS servant. I love Him and this gospel with my whole heart. I am so grateful to be a member of His church. I love the Book of Mormon SO much!

Até mais! Amo vocês!

Sister Hallmark

Sister Sauer-Davis and I! :)

Random goat in the street? Hahaha

I don´t even know what kind of animal this is. But it was huugeeeeee and ugly. haha

brasil there are bugs EVERYWHEREEEEEEE. #inmybed #intheshower #inthecouch 

Oh my gosh! K so random trees here have fruit that grow and you can just pick them and eat them. The only fruit I´ve know what it is, is blackberry, and they´re soooo goood here! So fresh! But the other fruit I have no clue, I just eat it. This was my favorite! This is Açerola, a little sour and soooo good!!!!!   

The avocados here are as big as my head!!! And SOOOO good! And SOOOOOOOOOO big!!!! Ahhh! 

Sebastiana!! :) I loveeeeee her!

Yeah this is like the smallest hill here. It´s rare if you find a street that´s flat. So the word for hill in Português is morro, which is also the present tense for I die. #thatisall