My Missionary Timeline

 Where have I been?

 

First half – Virginia Richmond Mission

Second half – Brazil, Belo Horizonte Mission

 

8/28/13 – Arrived at the missionary

MTC in Provo, Utah.

 

10/9/13 - Arrives in Fredericksburg Virginia

Companion – Sister Romney

 

1/3/14 – Still in Fredericksburg but

has a new companion: Sister Nelson

 

2/12/14 – Transferred to Charlottesville

New Companion – Sister Chipman

Serving in a YSA ward

 

5/7/14 – Still in Charlottesville but

has a new companion – Sister Wilson

 

7/30/14 – Transferred back to Fredericksburg

New Companion – Sister Fuhriman

 

9/10/14 – Arrives in Sao Paulo Brazil MTC

Companions are Sister Dumas and Sister Anderson

 

9/23/14 - Arrives in Belo Horizonte and met by

President and Sister Fortunato at the airport

After lunch she takes a bus 5 hours to Ipatinga

New companion is Sister Carmago from Curitiba Brazil

 

11/4/14 – Still in Ipatinga but has a

new companion – Sister Sauer-Davis

 

12/16/14 – Transferred to Vespasiano

New companion – Sister Sena

 

1/12/15 – Staying in Vespasiano

New companion – Sister Torres

 

2/18/15 – Leaves Belo Horizonte to fly Back home. 

2/19/15 Arrives in Dallas. Released by President Platt early that afternoon.

 

Finally home to Texas!

 

One miracle!

Hi everyone!

Okay, I quickly wanted to share one miracle! Saturday, we were going to visit a potential investigator and she lived suuuuper long but she´s already to church several times and so we really wanted to visit her. We finally get to her house, and she wasn´t home. We literally walked and climed hills forever to get there and she wasn´t home.. It was a good time. haha but we knew that we were there for a reason, so we said a prayer and knocked on the next door. This guy opens it and we told him we were representatives of Jesus Christ and he immediately let us in. His name is Anderson. And he was seriously JUST like Joseph Smith, he had the same questions! We gave him a Book of Mormon and marked a chapter and invited him to come to church the next day with us. He came to church the next day! And we were soo excited to see him! It was so cute, he was in his nice church pants and shirt and then sandals. :) He said he loved church and that last night he read the Book of Mormon and prayed and asked Heavenly Father if the book was true. He said that when he prayed he felt such a strong force, that he couldn´t deny and he knew that the Book of Mormon was true! He´s getting baptized Saturday. We´re SO excited for him! Such a miracle! I´ll send pictures next week. Sorry it takes 17 years here to upload pictures that´s why I never do.

I love you all! I´m so happy to be a missionary! I love my calling! I love the Lord and I love His gospel!

Até mais!

Sister Hallmark

This week was awesome!

 I TURNED 21! YAYYYYY!!!! My birthday was awesome! Birthdays on the mish are the BEST! :)

So Patricia was at church and she told us that she prayed and knows that she needs to be baptized. So we met Paticia on the 7th of January and she will get baptized the 7th of February! I LOVE HER SO MUCH. I´ll send a photo of her and I. 

Also, a less active that we´ve been working with lately, Maria, she was at church yesterday, too! She was so excited to tell us that she had talked about the church to two random people that she met! She said that they seemed super interested and she got their information! We gave them a call and have an appointment to visit them this week. Maria is just so cute! She´s this little old lady who has a hot dog store, literally, like she sells hot dogs, haha and she always has a TON of candy too. Sister Torres and I always try and buy some candy from her, but she always gives it to us for free! Haha. 

So yesterday after church we made a friend, Fred, I named him, he´s a cute little doggy! He was following us all day yesterday. K here in Brasil there are SO many stray dogs, seriously it´s so sad! I gave Fred some crackers so he was following us literally all day long. Until we had like 3 visits in people in one apartment complex and when we got out, he was gone. I was sooo sad. He was just so cute. I think I had a dream about him last night too, I don´t remember.. haha

I´m SO grateful for my mission and the things that I have learned. I just love it out here so much and I never want to leave. I´ve really been praying about extending my mission. I got the confirmation the other day that I need to stay here longer so I talked with president and he said he feels the same thing. Only that there aren´t any Americans going home next transfer so I would have to extend for 2 more transfers, 3 more months. So I prayed about it and it felt right. I´m leaving May 13th, instead of February 18th. I want to be home, but at the same time I know the Lord needs me here. I love you all and I´m so grateful for all the support I have! 

Also I have something else I really wanted to say, I hope you all aren´t too mad, but........ just kiddinggggggggggg. :) I´m not extending. hehehehehe I´ll be home in 3 weeks! Love you all!! :)

Amo vocês e espero que não fiquem chateada comigo! hehe

Sister Hallmark

Fred

 

Transfer

I´m staying in Vespasiano with Sister Torres! I´m so happy! I love love loveeee it here! We´re seeing so many miracles here!

So the other day we met this guy on the street, Ronaldo and he quickly recognized that we were "the Mormons" he also told us that he has a Book of Mormon that he has been reading. At first, I was thought he was confusing the Book of Mormon with another book, so I grabbed a book from my bag and showed him and he was like yeah! I have that exact book at home and I read it every night. Sister Torres and I literally just starred at him. I was in disbelief. He told us that missionaries a long time ago gave him a book when he visited our church. We asked him if he prayed and asked Heavenly Father if the book was true and he was like yeah, and I know it´s true. Like the Bible is the word of God, too. He´ll be baptized the 24th. Would be sooner, but we have Stake Conference all the way in Belo Horizonte. Oh my gosh though, my testimony grew like times 10 that Heavenly Father IS preparing people for us! He´s placing people in our paths that are just waiting for the gospel! 

Also we found another lady, Patricia, who is insanely prepared too. We found her by knocking on the door. I think it was like Tuesday or Wednesday this week we literally spent ALL day in the blazing hot sun, walking up and down huge hills. I don´t know what it was but literally NO ONE was home and the ones who were home were busy. So Sister Torres and I were so tired and a little discouraged. We said a quick prayer and the next person we found was Patricia. Her door was open so we walked in and told her who were were and she was like ohhh hey! Come in, sit down! She told us that about 8 years ago she used to go to our church, but never got baptized because of some things that the sisters of the ward said to her. But she has a Book of Mormon and is reading it, praying and everything. We assured her that if she comes to church with us Sunday that the same thing won´t happen. She said she would go. She is SO awesome! Oh my gosh I love her so much, she´s got such a strong testimony!

I´m sooooo grateful for this gospel in my life. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, literally is Christs church here on the earth. I´m so grateful for the priesthood on the earth today and the blessings we can receive because of it. I know Heavenly Father hears and answers each one of our prayers. He is our Father and He loves us.

Sou muito grata pelo meu testemunho que eu tinha ganhada destas coisas! Sei que Cristo vive!

Amo vocês!

Sister Hallmark

HAPPY 2015!!!!!!!!

 I still cannnnnot believe that it´s already 2015! It´s also crazy to think that all of 2014 I was on my mission. Time seriously goes by so fast. It doesn´t help when all the members here constantly ask me if I´m trunky. Hahaha. In Virginia, only the missionaries knew what the word trunky meant, but here, everyone knows, and everyone asks. Haha.

We´re seeing more and more miracles each day! I´m so grateful to be here in Vespasiano right now! It´s where I need to be! I love being a missionary, I love my calling, I love the scriptures and I love the Lord! I´m so grateful for the experiences I´ve had on my mission when I can literally see the Lords hand in my life. I know He is real, and He loves us! 

Até mais! Tchau,

Sister Hallmark

  

 

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