Happy Leap Year!

Hello!! 

My mission is a little bit longer because it´s a leap year! ;) So we made it through the 2 hottest months in Brasil- January and February! It´s still going to be hot, but hopefully it will lighten up a bit! 

This week was great, but I don´t have a ton of time to write! We went to Kerollyn´s baptism! She is a YW that the other sisters we live with taught! She´s awesome!! And tonight we´re going to have a baptism! His name is George and he´s 19 years old with a  2 year old daughter.  He works hard and really wants to be sealed in the temple to his wife who passed away a year ago.  He has such strong faith in The Lord and truly has been prepared for this day! We are so excited for him. SO EXCITED that even though my companion sprained her ankle and has either Dengue or Chicogonia we are going to make this long awaited baptism happen! She is so determined! 

Yesterday we had stake conference and our mission president and his wife spoke which was so cool! We also brought 4 investigators and 3 less actives- it was so cool! The spirit was super strong there! 

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers,

Sister Garrick

Photo 1: Meanwhile on the streets of Brasil...

Photo 2: Kerollyn's baptism :)

Photo 3: PEANUT BUTTER (Thanks mom)

Photo 4: a little saguin above our house

 (closest thing to a Chinese golden snub-nosed monkey I've even seen)

Photo 5: SAGUIN!

Photo 6:  I always have a watch on (darn tan lines)

RECIFE É NOSSA MISSÂO

ALOOOOO 

This week was wicked awesome! We got to go to the beautiful Recife temple!! We ate McDonald's before and Burger King after, but listen- it´s a once in a lifetime opportunity- HERE, so let me splurge. ;)  The temple was so amazing! Ugh I felt like I was right at home in the House of The Lord! It was truly a special day, I felt God´s love for me and all of his children so strong.

Before we got to the temple however, we saw something we never wanted to see- a man completely nude walking casually on the streets of Casa Forte! Like what!??  My gosh you see everything in the mission. 

Brother Albinho, the leader of missionary work in our stake (Jardim São Paulo) is helping us out a lot and encouraging the members to be member missionaries as well!  He gave a great talk yesterday and here are a few things we learned: Charity is when you aren´t jealous, when you´re patient in your afflictions, always looking to help others, forgetting your problems, and being concerned for the welfare of others.  Charity truly is the pure love of Christ! Yesterday we had 4 investigators, 2 less actives and 2 visitors at church who we marked days with to visit at church! It was the best Sunday I´ve experienced in the mission so far! Our members were so welcoming and the spirit was just so strong! One of our less actives, Felipe, wants to serve a mission and asked for our help! We are so excited! 

Something funny that happened last night was that we were talking to one our investigators, Sergio, and as we were leaving he said, tchau Sister Gomes, and tchau Sister... how do you say it?  (Normally people pronounce my name like Gary or Gahíki, but he said Oh Garrick like the Black Eyed Peas! I said, Huh? He said ya know, Gotta get dat boom boom boom! HAHAHA! SO he now calls us Sister Gomes and Sister Gotta get dat. It made me lol.

Until next P-day,

Sister Garrick

Temple!

McDonalds!

MISSION TOUR

Hello! 

This week was awesome because we had misson tour! President Bigelow, Sister Bigelow, and Elder and Sister Arnold taught us how to be more effective missionaries.  We came to Recife on Monday and helped clean the chapel in Soledade for the conference where I ran into Sister Dunn my CTM companion! We got to catch up and clean and it was awesome.  The next day we had the mission tour and I saw two elders from my CTM district as well! We were only with half the mission because we are exterior, and the interior of the mission had their mission tour on Monday. One thing we discussed at the mission tour is the Sister Suan Fulcher case study!  Every missionary (serving or to-be) should google this case study and read it- she is exactly the missionary I want to be! Today we are going to go the temple and I´m so excited! I´m also going to go to Burger King afterwards to remember American food ;)

That´s about the most exciting thing and I don´t have much time but here´s a scripture I would like to share with you all: 

Alma 5:7- " Behold, he changed their hearts; yea he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God.  Behold, they were in the midsts of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word..."  

How can we "awaken unto God?" This requires faith and works, true repentance each day, baptism, heeding the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end (reading scriptures, praying, going to church, serving others etc.).  To live the Doctrine of Christ is to be converted and to have a mighty change of heart and a willingness to change whatever you need to change to be more like your Savior, Jesus Christ. It´s a life-long process.  God doesn´t expect us to be perfect, but he expects us to always be progressing.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers! Miss you all!

Love,

Sister Garrick :)

Photo 1: Sister Dunn! <3

Photo 2: Sister Iglesias, Sister Aguiar, me, Sister Gomes at Mission Tour in Soledade

Vamos Pular para Discursos de Carnaval!

Hey everybody!

We found a place to email during this crazy holiday! Apparently the actual ACTUAL day of Carnaval is going to be on Tuesday, so I´m wondering how truly crazy that day will be, but it´s been pretty safe for us here (eyes included) because we have to be in our house by 5:00 each day and we have been given talks to read that are so amazing about conversion, and it made me realize how much of a process being truly converted to Jesus Christ really is.  Our goal here isn´t baptisms, it´s conversions! We truly are here to help people increase their faith in Jesus Christ, and that includes the first step of baptism because faith without works is dead! Let me just tell ya´ll, I LOVE the mission and I LOVE Brasil.  I don´t know what I´m going to do when I have to leave.

I don´t know exactly what to say because it´s honestly been pretty hard for our investigators to progress with Carnaval, but we did have one awesome investigator come to church with us on Sunday and it was great to have him tell us how much he liked learning in Priesthood.  He´s way awesome! 

I will send some photos along with this quick email, but I just want to say that I know this church is true.  I know that it´s not sufficient enough to have faith if we don´t have works.  We become converted members of the gospel of Jesus Christ when we realize that it´s all for Jesus Christ.  We want to follow His perfect example because we love him.  I also realized this week as I was reading in Mosiah (the chapters with King Benjamin) that the reason we need to serve others is because when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God.  We literally owe our lives to Him.  He gave us our bodies and our opportunity to learn and grow and return to Him, so why wouldn´t we serve His children here on the earth?  We are internally indebted to him, yet He is so merciful and forgiving.  This might sound like a rant, but I am just so humbled and filled with his love.  My testimony is that there is no greater work than missionary work and there is no gospel more perfect that the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love you all and love hearing from you!  Thank you for your prayers!

Boa Tarde,

Sister Garrick :)

Photo 1: At a ward activity today to pass Carnaval on holy grounds :)

Photo 2: My mom sent one of my shirts to give to Sister Aguair because she really wanted something BYU haha

Photo 3: Carnaval em casa haha 

 Photo 4: All the fruit we obtained on our short walk home from trees in parks! Hahaha I LOVE BRASIL!!  Forget grocery stores ;) 

Photo 5: This awesome man in the Maues Branch of the other sisters that we love and I have a special place in my heart for him because of his special needs :) He asked me if I came here from The United States to celebrate Carnaval! Haha quite the contrary- to save people from it ;)

 

okay one more- churrasco, arroz, feijão, and just super yummy food! Que gostoso! 

CARNIVAL

Ola friends and family! 

This week I feel like I don´t have much to write! It´s been hard this week because Carnival has already begun to start.  Really, Carnival should be one week- the 4th to the 10th, but here in Pernambuco it´s kind of a month long thing haha.  Next week there´s a chance I won´t be able to e-mail because everything, I mean EVERYTHING is going to be closed because it will be the actual week of Carnival. We even have to buy another weeks worth of groceries today porque tudo vai ser fechados (because everything will be closed). But we´ll see! Why is it difficult to work?? Because everyone is in party-mode right now! It´s like hold on- have ya´ll heard of this cool thing called The Word of Wisdom, The Law of Chastity, or maybe clothes?? haha  The decorations are really pretty, but there aren´t many people interested in our message these days:(

But one day this week we were halfway to a lesson with a really awesome investigator named Beatriz who is going to be married and baptized this month!! (named Beatriz) Anyways, she lives far away, over an hour to get there walking (which we have to do), and it started pouring, I forgot my umbrella and Sister Gomes´ broke. But we enjoyed it! It felt soooo good because there was wind too! It was actually COLD in Pernambuco!?  What a blessing! But then it started storming, thankfully we were able to get a ride by Beatriz´s sister, but the roads were unlike anything anything I´ve ever seen! Her car was almost halfway swimming in the water! Que loco! It was quite an adventure.

I want to share my testimony with you all that no matter what difficulties we face, no matter how hard things are in our lives, no matter how much guilt we feel, we are never alone.  Jesus Christ atoned for us.  He died for each one of us.  He loves you all so much.  I want you all to personally reflect on Christ´s sacrifice for YOU.  He really, actually knows you.  This is why he bled from every pore, this is why he suffered on the cross, and prayed for you. He knows what you´re going through.  He´s waiting for you to come unto Him.  Our problem is when we don´t take advantage of His Sacrifice.  So repent, pray, read the scriptures each day, let his love fill your soul so that you may feel peace once again in your lives.  This is my testimony- that Christ lives and loves you.  We truly can return to His presence after this life.  I´m grateful for you all and that I can live with my family forever! Thank you for all your prayers and love! 

Beijos,

Sister Garrick 

After the super rainy day- totally soaked 

I feel like I don't need to explain this- KOBE!  

One night this week I went proselyting in crocs because they are so comfy! #sorrynotsorry

Flooding, Parasites, and Bible Bashs, OH MY!

Hello my friends and family!!  I hope all is well with ya´ll and I miss and pray for you all so much! Thank you for all your support and letters and emails! I love getting them- it MAKES my week each Monday! 

SOOOO... This week a series of unfortunate events occurred, but nothing to unfortunate to make me lose my smile because I have this gospel! :)

Let´s start with our house. On Tuesday we decided to stop by our house after a couple lessons because we had to go to the bathroom (haha). SOOO Thank goodness we made that decision because once we arrived, we noticed the floor of our house filled with about an inch of water everywhere. We don´t have a ton of desk space so we put certain things on the ground- like journals. :/  Sister Gomes´ mission journal and my journal of quotes and scriptures were soaked as well as some other papers and church magazines. We got out hair dryers out and started using them to dry our papers.  We managed to save just about everything, but had to re-write everything as well because everything was just gross and wet and ripped. This was the only time I used my hair dryer in the mission! Put to good use. ;) 

On Wednesday we went the the chapel in Soledade to watch the missionary broadcast! Oh it was so awesome!! I loved knowing I was watching the same broadcast as my missionary friends across the world translated in so many different languages. It was translated into Portuguese here obviously, but I was happy at how much I could truly understand. One thing I liked that Elder Bednar said (or at least I think he said) was that no one would understand our lessons in the mission if we weren´t speaking by the spirit because The Holy Ghost is the teacher and He testifies of truth.  However, during the last talk in the devotional I started to feel really sick and had to throw up.  It happened a few more times so we stayed the night with other sisters in Casa Forte in Recife. Once we got back to our house, Sister Forbush (our mission nurse) had me take a pill for parasites because we couldn´t figure out what was going on... I´ve felt better ever since so perhaps it was that! EW.

AND YESTERDAY! Oh geeze, a member we ate lunch with introduced us to her friend.  We began to tell her about our church and what our purpose was as missionaries, but my goodness she was not interested haha.  We tried to be calm and leave but she wanted to bible bash.  She kept running out of the room to get bibles to "prove us wrong," but the funny thing was one time she ran out of the room to go get us bananas to eat??? Hahaha how nice of her to bash on us and feed us! Too funny- Brasilians are just generous no matter what! We ended up just saying okay ya know what, pray.  You will get an answer of what is true and what God wants from you if you pray.

This week starts a new transfer! But Sister Gomes and I are going to stay here in Vitória! Way cool. I made it through my first 6 weeks in the field! Whoohoo! I love it! Oh this week I tried 2 new fruits- jabuticaba and jaca! SOOO good.  I wish if you guys googled these fruits, you could taste them! As well as acerolas and caju! SOOO YUMMY! 

But this was my week! I love you all and I love this gospel! This gospel is truly of Jesus Christ.  We have a living Prophet today who receives direct revelation for the whole world.  It doesn´t matter who are you or what church you go to- He receives direct revelation for you because he speaks to God! I love this gospel and I love to share it! 

Até Segunda,

Sister Garrick 

Everything wet

Me drinking coconut water to help my stomach (foi muito ben mesmo)

Selfie Sunday with Sister Gomes

DIVISÕES

Tudo Bem!

This week we had divisões! I think that´s divisions?? Basically when the sister trainers come and go proselyting and teaching with you! I went with another sister from São Paulo, Sister Rondon.  It was my favorite day in the mission because she helped me study Portuguese effectively, I learned different ways of teaching and contacting, and she spoke a little English too! ;) We found two awesome families to teach who are already legally married!! (That´s a rarity here)  We took turns choosing people to talk to on the streets which helped me have more courage and truly enjoy contacting. During our last lesson of the day, the family we were teaching had a dog that threw up by our feet and then proceeded to LICK ME!!! NOOOO. HAHAHA how awful, but a funny memory now.  After this day, I feel like Sister Gomes and I worked even harder and became more motivated, consecrated missionaries.

 This week passed one month in the field and 2.5 months in Brasil! CRAZY! Sister Gomes and I have started running in the praça every morning near our house.  It´s so nice to be outside before the sun gets super strong and super hot.  The days are better because of this and we are so lucky to have an outdoor gym so close to our house.

Another funny, yet unfortunate thing that happened this week was before we started teaching a lesson, I was trying to close my umbrella, but the end of it shot up and punched me in the eye, causing into swell up and bleed. :( Sooooo I taught the lesson while ice-ing my eye! HA! 

This past Sunday a very spiritual experience happened.  In the past two weeks we have eaten lunch at a house of the first counselor in the Bishopric.  But we always eat with his wife and their children, because he is always working during the day.  She has been a less-active member of the church for 8 years.  After lunch, we always wash her dishes and share a gospel message with her and her children.  Yesterday, she showed up at church! We were like WHAT?!?!?! After Sacrament Meeting, she came over to us and told us that she used to never feed the missionaries, just gave them money to buy food somewhere else.  She started feeding us and felt the spirit again.  She hadn´t felt this way in 8 years, but she felt like she needed to read The Book of Mormon again and go to church again.  Sister Gomes and I started crying of pure joy.  And so did she.  It was the most amazing feeling hearing that story.  She thanked us, but she shouldn´t have.  Because it was the spirit.  We are just instruments in His hands. I know it.  Experiences like this keep me going each day.  I miss you and love you all. I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ´s church.

Com amor,

Sister Garrick

ICE CREAM! (This is the hottest month in Brasil- January)

My area!