Week #56 - Hello from BRASILIA BRAZIL!

Monday, February 15, 2021

My new companion Sister Silva - I love her so much already!

HELLOOOOO FROM BRAZIL!!! Wowza... what a week. Honestly. I am feeling sooo many different emotions, with leaving Arizona, being in Brazil again, not knowing what anyone is saying!! It's been crazy. So buckle up, because this weekly email is gonna be a long one.... 

So.. not much happened with leaving Chandler. I wish I could've stayed there long, but it was a good time to leave! We did have zone conference, and I got permission from President Goaslind to go to that. And we also had a little goodbye party at his house 2 nights before we left. It was fun and super sad to say goodbye to everyone!! 

It was strange to be alone traveling until I met up with other missionaries.

Sister Hernandez and I enjoying our last American meal!

Elders and Sisters going to Brazil with us and various other missions in Brazil.

We had a 8 hour layover in Dallas, 5 hours in Sao Paulo.

Sister Westhoff, the other sister going to Brazil the same day as me, so she spent the night before we left at our home. Then we left bright and early! Except her flight left like 3 hours after me. But it all happened for a reason. Because I had the COOLEST experience on the flight from Phoenix to Dallas. I was nervous when I said goodbye to President Shumway, who dropped me off at the airport, because I was all alone hahaha. So I prayed when I got to my gate to know who I should sit by and talk to before we boarded the flight. So I went and sat in this open seat next to this middle aged man. We talked, he asked me about my mission, I told him I was going to Brazil, and then it was time to board and we parted our ways. I decided that I would give him a Book of Mormon afterwards if I saw him. But since God doesn't do random... guess who my seat was by... THE SAME GUY! So he told me that he had lots of friends and co workers that are members of the church, but doesn't know what we believe. I explained my purpose is to help all to understand what we believe, and then we spent the next 2 hours on the flight talking about so much. We talked about the Restoration, the Holy Ghost, the sacrament, the Plan of Salvation, and so much more. And he just took it all in and understood it. I gave him the Book of Mormon afterwards and promised him that if he read it, he would feel his Savior's love for him more. Wow. What a cool last teaching experience in English. 

Arriving after 32 hours of travel!

I arrived in Brasília with my companion from the first week of the MTC, Sister Hernandez. It was so fun to be with her! I got off the plane before Sister Hernandez, and when I came out... wow, pretty much the whole mission was there waiting for me. I saw Presidente and Sister Priday, and they were so happy to see me. It was such an amazing experience. They told me that I was the FIRST American that they had seen since being here in Brazil in August. Crazy. I met a lot of people that day, and then we went to the mission home to have dinner with Presidente and Sister Priday! But first, we went and drove by the Brasília temple that is in construction. It was super fun. That is when I found out where I was going to be for the next transfer. I am in Ceilândia 4 and Águas Lindas (beautiful waters)! I am finishing doing the second half training of Sister Silva. She is from an Island here in Brazil, so all the missionaries call her Moana. Hahaha! We are both new to the area, and don't have any way right now to know who we are teaching. But hopefully in a couple days we can know hahaha! WOWZA Brazil is so fun. Before I got here in Ceilândia, I was with the STLs and spent 2 days there. We went to church with them, and taught some lessons with them! It was a lot of fun and good to relax after the long trip here. 

President and Sister Priday

This banner greeted us - along with many missionaries!

I was so touched by the welcome from everyone!

I am so happy to be here. I would be lying if I told you guys that I am not overwhelmed hahaha. It's a lot of take in. New place, language that I still can't understand too well, and a new area that me and my companion know nothing about. But, with all of that, I have so much trust in my Savior and all that He has done for me, and all the miracles I have seen. Thank you for your prayers! Remember in your prayers to pray for Sister Guilott to have the Gift of Tongues so she can speak and understand this amazing language. 

Eu amo vocês muito! Obrigada por todas coisas! 

♡Sister Guilott♡

Week #55 - Last 3 Days in Tempe; It's hard to say goodbye!

 Monday, February 8, 2021

My companions in Chandler for the past two weeks

My last week in America... that sounds crazy doesn't it? But it is true. I am leaving in 3 days (Feb. 11th) to BRAZIL! But holy cow I have learned so much while being here in Arizona. I have learned that my Savior Jesus Christ is my best friend, and that when people know that Jesus Christ is their best friend, it is eternal happiness. But here are some highlights from the week:

Sometimes bathroom selfies at the church are the only way to get a picture!

Service Exercise Day with these fun ladies!

This area us definitely a little slower now since the Lugos go baptized, so we were thinking of some things we could do, especially during our modified quarantine. So, we made cookies from scratch! 😋🍪They didn't end up the greatest... but we still delivered them haha. We didnt know who exactly to give them to though. We thought about our bishop, the family that just got baptized, and a less active that lived closed to them. And then we had one more thing of cookies left, and we thought of this random family (the Knauers) to give it to. So we went and doorbell ditched the cookies. And the next day, Sister Knauers gave us a call and told us that yesterday she was really sad, because her dad had passed away the week before... which we didnt even know!! She went on to say that throughout the day, she was craving chocolate chip cookies, but didnt have anything to make the cookies. So she just prayed that somehow, she would be able to get some cookies... WAHBANG she got the cookies!! That right there, is a testimony of following the spirit, now matter how simple or easy it may seem. ALWAYS. FOLLOW. THE. SPIRIT.

I also went on exchanges with beautiful Sister Packer this last week. We had to wear masks the whole day, so that made it a little difficult haha. But it was so much fun. We spent 6 hours outside, and it was a blast! We actually met a lot of fun people. At one point, we were at a park doing some language study and this little 10 year old girl came up to us and started talking with us saying how she's a member as well. She told us that she wanted to serve a mission, and then ran away haha. It was adorable. We also were walking back from a lesson in an apartment complex, and this guy stopped us asking who we are. We told him that we are missionaries, and then he asked if he could come to church with us! We said DUH of course. I don't know if he ever did end up going, but he was super down to go. It was a super cool day! We also ate some yummy acai! 

Honestly, the time I've spent here in Arizona for the past 9 months have been amazing. I love it here and might even move here one day because its warm 24/7 haha. I am sad to say goodbye to all my friends and my mission president and his wife, but I'm pumped for my new adventure I will have in BRAZIL 🇧🇷🇧🇷 thank you for all the prayers!! Next week, I'll start adding some more portugues to these!! 

♡Sister Guilott♡

Week #54 - Chandler: Quarantine and a Baptism

 Monday, February 1, 2021

Saying "goodbye" to my awesome companions!

Wowza another amazing week as a missionary in the Arizona Tempe Mission! I had to sadly say goodbye to Yuma and my amazing companions. I would've stayed there if it weren't so far away from the mission home. BUT now I am in Chandler in the Pleasant 3rd Ward, and I love it here already so much! I do miss Yuma a lot. I learned so much there about my testimony and my Savior. I am grateful for the life long friends I made there, including my wonderful companions: Sister Martin and Sister Hartley. They are the BEST! 

Chandler is fun! It's a lot of big houses, and a lot of people live around here. So I am in a trio again for the 10 days I am here, Sister Risk who was originally assigned to Australia Mandarin speaking! She is super awesome and outgoing! My other companion is Sister Curry and this is her original mission. She is more on the quiet side, but is also super fun and amazing! But here's some craziness that happened with our trio... Sister Risk got exposed to covid, so she was in her area up until this last Saturday night, when transfers are usually on Wednesday. She had to wait until she got her negative covid test result, and then she got it. Then she started showing symptoms so she had to get another negative test result... she FINALLY got that and then made it here! And right in time for the best miracle...

A BAPTISM! I only met them a couple days ago, but April and her 2 sons, Xzavier and Ethan, all got baptized on Sunday! It was so awesome, and I loved being able to participate. I got here right when we needed to plan the whole thing, so that's what I spent most of my time here in this area doing so far! But they were so happy to make that covenant with our Savior and Father in Heaven. It was an amazing miracle. And Sister Risk got here right in time!! 

Another miracle that happened this week was at the baptism, another one of April's sons who hasn't ever been interested in learning more from the missionaries, came up to us telling us he was interested!! So we got his phone number and we are going to start teaching him! Yay!! 

One of my favorite scriptures from this week is Mosiah 16:9 - "He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened." Look for Christ as that light in your life. He is there!! ☆

♡Sister Guilott♡