Category: Arcoverde – Sister Leopoldes (Page 1 of 2)

3 Nephi 5:13 – “Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.” (2024 Youth Theme and Sister Grace’s mission scripture!)

Happy New Year’s! I hope you all had a great 2023 and that this next year is even better. I hope that with all the excitement of a new year, new beginnings, new goals, and new opportunities, that we don’t forget to focus on Christ this year. If you’re looking for ways to strengthen your family relationships, develop more Christlike attributes, overcome addictions, leave bad habits behind, have strength to endure your trials, and have more happiness, hope, and peace in your life, I have a suggestion: Come, Follow Me.

For my entire life, I knew at 9:30 pm I needed to be in the living room for family scripture reading. When Come, Follow Me was introduced it added another level of spirituality to our home and enlarged our already-established habit of reading the scriptures daily. When I left home for college, I had a few missed months but after a rough start, I got back into the same habit. Today, as a missionary, I feel closest to my family when I study Come, Follow Me all by myself every day. 

This year, we have the privilege and blessing of studying the Book of Mormon in Come, Follow Me. I love that as a missionary this year, people who I bring on Sundays will be studying the same things at home and at church. Come, Follow Me is not a salvation checklist nor is it spiritual homework, but the time you dedicate to your own spiritual progression and to the eternal propensity of your family will bring celestial rewards.

“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” – Mosiah 2:41

I know that Come, Follow Me is an inspired resource that was presented in revelation to President Russel M. Nelson and is approved and supported by the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles. I know that as members of the church and as God’s children, we have the responsibility and privilege to study the Book of Mormon, The Holy Bible, and the other standard works, to help prepare our families, communities, and ourselves for the Second Coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Don’t let the mistakes that we’ll all undoubtedly make stop you from starting again and enduring with faith. 

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Arcoverde, Brasil 

FELIZ NATAL!! Hope all your holiday wishes came true and that you all took time to remember the reason behind the season. Because of the holiday, this will be another quick write.

On Saturday we had the baptism of Dario and Laura (grandfather and granddaughter). They were so happy the whole week leading up to it; they bought new clothes and everything. Dario was so happy after his baptism he tried swimming in the font! Moments like these are what missionaries live for.

Christmas here for me is very different, very unusual, and very good. I’m sweating, covered in mosquito bites, and looking at a very Charlie Brown-ish Christmas tree. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. How great it is that I literally have Christmas every day since Jesus Christ is the center of every day for me!

“Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do.”

3 Nephi 18:24

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Arcoverde, Brasil 

A Dog wants to be Alyssa’s best friend

E aí pessoal! We have a special Christmas P-day today so that’s why I didn’t write on Monday. Don’t worry, I’m not breaking my steak yet.

I’m struggling to remember what happened this week and there are lots of activities to do so I’ll just share a quick little message and be on my merry way (get it? Cause it’s like Merry Christmas).

Yesterday, we were walking and I went to look down at my watch to check the time and discovered that the face of my watch was totally shattered. I don’t know what I did or when I did it but Relógio Gringo I is busted. It’s broken to the point that you can’t even read the time normally anymore. The only way that I can see through the broken glass is when I use the light button to make it shine from the inside out. 

Sometimes we are like broken watches. We are hard to read, hard to understand and appear too complicated to solve. But Christ is the light within all of us. He looks past our broken parts and makes hope and healing possible. Some people have a harder time than others letting Christ shine through them. We all make mistakes, have our moments of weakness, or we let pride block Him out. Christmas is the time to think about new beginnings and to let ourselves make more room for Him. This Christmas, how will you let His light shine in and through you?

“He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.” Mosiah 16:9

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Arcoverde, Brasil 

Children Dressed as Angels Sing a Christmas Song from the Second Floor

5 Meses da Missão! That’s a little bit bonkers considering there are still a lot of things I feel like I have yet to do and accomplish out here and the time is literally slipping away from me. I’m really focusing on the things that I want from my mission and the things that Christ wants me to do now. 

This week was good. We had Zone Conference which was really fun, Sister Leopoldes, Sister Fuller, Sister Brewer, and I got to spend the night in a hotel which was a blast! We ordered pizza and had a movie night (we watched the Restoration video). At Zone Conference, we stressed the importance of the season and all made goals for what our gift to Christ is going to be. 

The more bizarre part of my week was the weekend. I met the reincarnated Jesus Christ, learned a song from a homeless man about how Jesus is a door, and invited a dog who attended sacrament meeting to be baptized. 

On Friday morning, we were sitting in the park making a few phone calls trying to contact our media references. It was my day to make the calls so I was distracted and didn’t notice the man who came and sat down next to us on the bench. He started talking to the Sister and I really wasn’t paying attention until she grabbed my arm and I looked over. Sister Leopoldes asked him to repeat his name for me and he said “Some call me ‘man of war’ but I’m better known as the Son of Joseph and Mary the Mother of Jesus.” 

He then went on to explain that he is everything for everyone. “I am the Messiah to the Jews, Christ for the Christians, and Allah for the Muslims.” I just sat there smiling, trying not to laugh, but Sister Leopoldes tried telling him that we didn’t believe in reincarnation. Mr. Man of War wasn’t bothered at all by that instead he said “Yeah, you guys were confused the last time we talked too.” He explained that he’s talked to us in all our previous lives but that we keep forgetting him. He also explained where we could find all the reincarnated characters from the Bible. Apparently, Amos is a pharmacist now so that’s cool. 

At the same time this conversation was happening, a homeless man on the other side of the park began singing “Jesus é a porta,” which means “Jesus is the door,” as loud as he possibly could. He actually is a pretty good singer but he needs to work on his lyrics because he literally was only singing that one phrase for over 20 minutes. 

Finally, on Sunday, a stray dog wandered into the chapel about 15 minutes before the sacrament. A few members tried getting him to leave but he kept coming back so eventually they gave up. He stayed in the back quietly during the whole meeting and even went to Relief Society. Afterward, he waited in the hallway with us while we were talking with members and investigators who came. We wanted to close the chapel but he wouldn’t leave no matter what we tried. Finally, I jokingly asked the dog if he had the desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. It worked and he left but it was actually a sad reflection of a lot of our human investigators here🥲

After all these events the phrase that kept coming to mind was “Que Apostasia!” The Great or General Apostasy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was a time of darkness and fear. Pure light and truth were lost and people didn’t know where to turn. One scripture that I’ve loved all week comes from Come, Follow Me and is 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.” Just as Christ came and taught the boy Joseph Smith and restored perfect love and the gospel again on the earth, He will come in our darkest moments to lift us up into his light. This Christmas, and every day, we can be the means of spreading this perfect love. We can remove doubt, fear, and distrust, and restore what has been lost through Jesus Christ.

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Arcoverde, Brasil