Week #63 - 14 Hour Bus Ride Away, Chasing Dogs & General Conference: Welcome to PALMAS!

 Monday, April 5, 2021

So fun to be back with S. Hernandez - We are so excited for this next transfer!

Well let me just start out by saying that I love being a missionary. I love being able to share the gospel with people. With everyone!! It truly is amazing ☆ 

A large group of us traveled together on the bus.

Well, I got to Palmas! And let me tell you a fact: the state I am serving in (Tocantins) is the second hottest state in all of Brazil. And I can testify that that fact is true. Because I have never sweated more in my entire life than I did this past week. But hey, that's the sacrifice I gotta make for the more important work in the world, bring the gospel to others.

Going to Palmas!!

It took us 14 hours by bus to get here, and I was kinda nervous about this bus ride. Like what the bus would look like hahaha! But it was honestly the fanciest bus I have ever seen. And then we got to... PALMAS! I was able to sit by my companion, Sister Hernandez on the bus ride, blessings. 

Bus Ride to Palmas

We have a bunch of awesome people here that we are teaching. Let me tell you about some of them:

The sisters that were here before were messaging a girl named Eva on Facebook, and we started texting her some more and even had a video call with her. She expressed how she wanted a Book of Mormon, so we went over Saturday night and gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read 3 Nephi 11 (such an awesome chapter) and also a pamphlet of the Restoration! Well... she read both of them that night and invited us over to teach her more the next day, on Sunday. We taught her the Restoration and WOWZA she just loved it. She is adorable and wants to continue to learn more! She's also 5 months pregnant, so even more adorable! 

We received a referral from the missionaries at Temple Square of a girl names Arlete. She actually lives 3 and a half hours away from us, but we are the closest missionaries to her. She lives in the middle of nowhere and wants to continue to learn as well! 

We have another girl named Bia (short for Beatris) and she looooves the gospel and our church, and has the desire to be baptized as well! But she has some things she needs to do before she can get baptized, so keep her in your prayers :))

Yummy food - sometimes it is nice to not really know what it is...

Last person I'll talk about is Gil. Gil was taught a while ago, and was almost baptized. But he never got baptized. We had a lesson with him and he explained his doubts and fears about the gospel. We ended up talking a lot about the Atonement of Christ, which went perfectly as we celebrated Easter this past weekend! Gil definitely wants to continue to grow his testimony of our Savior, yay! We actually met him in person as well at his mom's house, who is a recent convert to the church! We had lunch at their home. Here's a funny story about them: so Gil's moms name is Neli, and she is probably about 70 years old. They have 2 dogs, and were getting the leftovers ready to give to the dogs, but the dogs were being impatient and wanting the food and were listening to Neli. So what did cute Neli do? She grabbed a giant butcher knife on the table and started chasing the dogs! I thought for sure she was going to hurt the dog.... but good news! She didn't! Miracles hahaha! 

I love being here in Palmas and know that me and Sister Hernandez will see some pretty sick miracles here. 

It is really hot here....

Did I tell you it is really hot here?

Pray for Sister Guilott and that I won't die in the heat. Also, this weekend was EASTER! And I studied a lot about my Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement, so I'll share one of my favorite scriptures that I read this week. 

1 Nephi 19:9 "And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men."

1 Néfi 19:9 "E o mundo, devido à iniquidade, julgá-lo-á como uma coisa sem valor; portanto, o açoitam, e ele suporta-o; e ferem-no, e ele suporta-o. Sim, cospem nele, e ele suporta-o, por causa de sua amorosa bondade e longanimidade para com os filhos dos homens."

Christ really does understand everything we go through, and I am so grateful that I have been able to have the opportunity to talk about His Sacrifice to the people of Arizona and Brasil for the past 15 months. Heres to 3 more!! 🌞🌞

Also, if you haven't already... go watch general conference from this past weekend! You wont regret it! 

♡Sister Guilott♡

Happy!!

I got a package! Probably the only one I will ever get in Brazil!  

(More than one has been sent to Brazil this past year, but it's a bit crazy here!)