Category: Jardim America – Sister Tadje (Page 1 of 2)

I don’t really feel like writing a big email so here’s a quick sum up of an incredible week!!

– Got to go to the temple!!! We went with the ward on their temple day and we did sealings for children to parents. We got to take 3 investigators and it was so special. Shoutout to Elder Foutz from the Recife North Mission and the original MTC district for being there. 

– Angelita’s Baptism!!! Despite all the struggles this week, Angelita pushed through and was baptized and confirmed Saturday night. She giggled like the little girl in spirit she is as she got into the water and the smile never left her face.

– Tadje Cam!! Whenever anything great happens we pull out the Tadje cam and make a mini vlog. Very new, very exciting, very much will continue into the next transfer.

– Lia our other recent convert finally made it back to church since her baptism and it made us feel so good. 

2 Nephi 9:39

“…Remember, … to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.”

This week we had a great family night where we played a really fun game of trying to balance a vertical broom on an open hand. The game started really difficult and hardly anybody lasted more than a few seconds. Finally we realized, the longer we kept our eyes up, focused on the top, the longer we were able to easily hold up the broom.

In our lives, our mortal perspectives make it difficult to stay positive and really have the joy and happiness we’re meant to have. Remembering to look up, “think celestial”, is all we need to do to make it through any trial with unshaken faith in Christ. Missions, relationships, testimonies, and everything are just hard. But they are always the most beneficial and rewarding things we can have or do in this life. So do it all looking up.

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Jaboatão Dos Guararapes, Brasil

This week my grandma, Connie Marie Brooks Grace, finished her earthly mission and has made the big transfer to the “mundo espiritual.” She left a legacy of love, kindness, music, and family, all of which I’m eternally grateful. She’s been my grandma for 20 years and will be my hero forever. 

One thing I’ve learned this week is just how perfect God’s plan is. Not just his plan for our eternal progression and families, but also for our mortal peace and happiness. 

If any of you didn’t know, just a few years ago, during the covid years I want to say the church changed the rules for missionary communication on the mission. Instead of just calling home Mother’s Day and Christmas, missionaries could now call every P-day.

This news excited me for my mission but wasn’t all that decision-altering. I’d always known I’d go on a mission whether I could call every week or not. It just seemed like a nice bonus.

I now understand it was truly a miracle. God was laying the work and preparing the way so that I would have a chance to say goodbye to my beloved Grandma Grace. I was able to call and talk to my grandma in real time, tell her that I loved her, and give her one last “tchau” on this earth before I will see her again after this life. 

My grandma wants you to know that you are a child of God, He has sent you here, and you’ll live with Him someday.

“And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” (D&C 14:7)

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Jaboatão Dos Guararapes, Brasil

E aí, another week, another email.

This week was a pretty drastic shift from last week. Whereas everything last week worked out miraculously, this week was rough and frustrating but we still had miracles.

First, on Tuesday we were told we could go to the temple if we had a recent convert to go for the first time. I haven’t even seen a temple in person for 7 months so I was literally working on super mode and praying every 5 minutes to get to have this opportunity. Unfortunately, of the 4 recent converts in this area, 1 has already gone, 1 is only 9 years old, 1 was sick, and the other one has some difficulties we weren’t aware of so they don’t have a temple recommend. We were not allowed to go and spent the rest of the night bitterly and sadly doing our references.

On Saturday, we had everything ready for Lia’s baptism!! Only that it started to rain and the dirt road outside her house made her want to cancel and reschedule. With a little time the rain let up and we made it to the church. It was a beautiful baptism set up with all the Relief Society there. But they all forgot to bring their husbands so we had no one there to actually perform the baptism. After another hour and a half, she was finally baptized.

Sunday morning we woke up to a text saying she won’t make it to church to get confirmed and the stress continued. We finally were able to bring her to the bishopric meeting that night and get her confirmed but it was definitely one of the more stressful baptisms I’ve had and not one of the most joyful.

But through all that, God was there. When I was stressing out thinking it wasn’t going to happen and that it would all fall apart, my companion reminded me that the bolo (cake) was on the table. Let me explain.

We had received lots of promises this week from mission leaders, members, and God that everything would work out. I was stressed cause it wasn’t happening in my time or the way I believed would be best. But God was at our side the whole time showing us that is was happening and it was working out. Maybe I was stressing about a missing bishopric, but I could’ve been rejoicing that we already had cake and refreshments to celebrate. Hopefully, somebody somewhere understands what I’m trying to say because I know it sounds strange but there is a spiritual lesson to be learned.

Better days are ahead for all of us, and just remember the bolo is on the table!!

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Jaboatão Dos Guararapes, Brasil

Bom Dia Pessoal! I hope you are all well and loving life ’cause that’s what we are doing out here. This week was very, very different from what I’ve been doing every other week until now but, it was a blessed week nonetheless. 

We had our references training on Wednesday which consisted of just 7 missionaries on a Zoom call, all trying to think of the best way to do this new calling. After about 30 mins we decided to just try and get started. Sometimes I feel like a receptionist scheduling doctor’s appointments but other times I realize I really am giving eternally saving opportunities for hundreds of people every day. I don’t like getting hung up on or receiving rude voice messages, but I love finding people who say they have been waiting for a chance to meet someone to help them know Jesus Christ.

As for the work in our area, it was also surprisingly awesome. With only 5 hours every day to work, we somehow got 7 people to church when we normally average 4 people on a good week. What is also great is that 2 of them have dates for baptism, 1 accepted and just needs a date, 3 just need to be invited, and 1 called us asking to schedule his baptism! Domingo de Milagres!! 

Something I’ve noticed now that I’ve been out here a little longer is how powerful the Spirit is. When I started, I felt I was convincing people to be baptized, that I had to prepare an argumentative essay just to show why baptism was actually something they wanted and needed. This week, I’ve felt so much relief and peace in making baptismal invites because I’m not relying on myself. The doctrine, scriptures, and spirit, all speak for themselves, I’m just here to present them to God’s children and let the Light of Christ within them decide. 

On Saturday, we explained fasting to a recent convert using this scripture in Helaman. 

“Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.” – Helaman 3:35

I love this scripture because after explaining what fasting is I always ask, “How did they ‘wax stronger’ when they chose not to eat or nourish their bodies for a period?” The answers I get are varied but can be summed up in one line. “When we rely completely in our Savior, His strength works through us and makes us enough.” 

Sometimes, we unintentionally prevent the Spirit from working fully because we rely on our own strength, words, teaching styles, and automatic responses. If we were to let ourselves go, and feel for just a moment more vulnerable, God will have the chance to make us more. Being made stronger in Christ is being made strong enough to do everything He asks of us.

That’s all folks, Tchau tchau for now!

Com amor, 

Sister Alyssa Grace

Jaboatão Dos Guararapes, Brasil