The Three Musketeers and Heroes!

I hope that all is going well for all of you and filled with blessings and joy. We had transfers this week and Sister Lara and I got a new companion. Her name is Sister Affonso. We are now a trio for a few weeks until her VISA comes for her to serve in Florida. We had another baptism this week for a fifteen year old girl named Luana! She lost her mom a few years ago and takes care of her siblings practically on her own and lives with her grandpa. She is extremely strong and serves others without a doubt in her mind. She loves God and thanks him for all of the things that she has. She knows that no matter what God is always there for her in every moment.
She takes care of her siblings most of the time . It was a happy and joyful day! The pictures are great too!

(Left to Right) - Two Elders, Sister Affonso, Luana, Sister Lara, Sister Smart.

"There once was a hero who fought for whats right 

the fires of hope burned deep within. She was a hero

you see, for she tried to do good. But like any other 

person alive she had fears and weaknesses too. 

Its truly unfortunate that you and I also do not know

her challenges for only our true hero knows. Our hero 

faced something terrible, the strength of it great

more dangerous than a tempest more deadly than

the sword. But for the sake of thought and a clear 

imagination her challenge shall be a storm of great

power. 

Our hero faced a challenge to succumb or to fight.

But as for you and I we do not yet know the heros

final move. But we do know this our hero is a hero of 

courage and hope. The fires within her were capable 

of burning bright. The reason we know not our heros final

move is that it has not yet been decided. In the end of the storm

and through the dark night our hero is actually you."

- Andrew Thomson

Luana's Baptism - A joyful Day!

I hope this is not the new mode of  transportation for missionaries.

Remember that each of you are a hero and have more strength than you know! I know that God is with us even in the darkest moments when we feel we have hit the very limit of what we can handle. He is even with us when we feel like we don't deserve His love and help. Just keep pushing forward because you truly are the hero of your own "happily ever after" God has created for you. Have an amazing week! I love you all! Thank you for your love, support and prayers!

Lehi's Vision and the Tree of Life.

This past week was a "roller coaster" I would say😏. We had a baptism this past week for a man named Roberto. He is about fifty-two and has two sons.  One son that served a mission here in Brazil named Rafael. Sister Lara has been teaching Roberto since she arrived, so about five months. He felt the Spirit during the missionary lessons and the truthfulness of what was taught  but didn't feel prepared to make the commitment of baptism. We ended up having a family home evening in President and Sister Acosta's home with Roberto and his son Rafael. We shared a lesson about Lehi's vision and the Tree of Life. President Acosta shared his testimony and answered Roberto's questions without even knowing his questions beforehand. He said, "We as humans tend to rationalize and think of reasons to not do something we know is right. But God asks us to have courage to stop procrastinating and do what we know God is asking of us." His testimony was incredibly strong and gave Roberto the confidence to be baptized! His son was able to baptize him on Sunday, May 20th and they hugged and cried tears of joy! I think I cried a little bit too! 😊 Roberto is going to be an amazing leader in the church. He is an amazing and strong man!

(Left to Right) - Rafael, Son; Sister Lara; Roberto, Father and Sister Smart 

At the family night I was able to try Brazilian pizza for the first time, its different that's for sure. The kind I tried was egg, ham and cheese. Surprisingly, my favorite, not too bad. 😊 See if my family can find it in the U.S. 😄

Brazilian Egg, Ham and Cheese Pizza

The past week we also visited Cris, Thaissa and little Mateus. Mateus said that I am his fourth girlfriend; so yeah to that. He is so cute and hilarious. Julia and Guillermi are less active members that have started coming back to church, they said I am their favorite missionary. I hope they continue being strong.

There was also this mom of a teenage boy that's a member that yelled at us in the community. She yelled at us that we were talking bad about her and that we were pointing at her. We told her that we didn't know her and had never seen her before. She then said, "Well you know and have seen me now so you better be careful." We talked with the son that's a member and he said that because of difficulties she can't think very well. I feel bad for her. The members in the community came after to make sure we were okay. I thought about my Savior. There were many people that yelled at him, persecuted and mocked him. I wasn't scared because I know the things I am doing are of God and I am not ashamed to represent my Savior, Jesus Christ. Having His name on my name tag is an honor.

Sister Lara and Sister Smart

We had transfers so I will now be in a trio with Sister Lara and Sister Alfonso. Sister Alfonso is waiting for her visa to go to Florida.

Have an awesome week. Wish me luck with my trio.

Faith and Testimony.

Hello from Brazil!
I hope everyone is doing well and life is fantastic!

I don't think I ever said it yesterday on the Skype call but HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!  I have the best mom in the world and she gives the best advice. It gives me strength! I loved talking to my family yesterday. I have the best family in the world and I am so glad we will be together forever!

Irmão Cuelio, a dear friend of mine here in Brazil said this quote to me the other day, "How  can you fail when you have so many people praying for you? You are on the Lords errand. He might let you fall but He will always help you back up." I am learning that the quote is true.

I feel that my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is stronger and grown a lot as I have been serving in Brazil. It was special to me to share it with my family on Mother's Day, May 13, 2018.
[Below is a link to a video excerpt via a Skype call of me sharing my testimony of the love I have for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; click the image or click here to watch the video clip.]

The other day we felt prompted to visit one of our investigators as we were walking to her house we passed a girl about twenty years old just sitting outside her house nearby. At the same time both Sister Lara and I turned around because we knew we had to talk to her. We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel and she thanked us as we left. I really hope we can contact her in the future because we haven't been able to find her or contact her since our initial visit.

I learned this week that when we are trying our best to be righteous and obedient God will guide us. During zone conference with a member of the Seventy Elder Toledo told us, "If you aren't finding, teaching and baptizing you aren't serving a mission." So we feel a an urgency in our work.

This week we passed this guy riding a motorcycle dragging a piece of metal behind him. He had a roller blade attached to the metal expecting it to keep the metal from dragging on the ground...Obviously it didn't work people are really unique 😊.  On a more spiritual note:

There was this family we felt we needed to knock on their door. When we knocked we found a lady in a nurses uniform and a little bit after the lady that owned the house. She began to confide in us that her son had taken some medication incorrectly with alcohol and now he is unable to speak, walk or talk. He is kind of in a state of just existence but you can see how badly by his eyes he wants to talk and walk. The Elders gave him a priesthood blessing and I was hoping that somehow he would miraculously be healed but I learned an important lesson. God will only perform miracles according to our faith and according to His will. There is a scripture I like to use with our investigators (Book of Mormon) Ether 12:18. Verse 18, And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God.

Eating lunch with some member girls.

Hands with Thumbs to Side mean Baptism - "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God," John 3:5.

Miracles are possible but we have to exercise our faith first and if its in His will He will give freely to him that asketh. 

Thanks for all of your prayers and support! - Sister Smart.

Motorcyle Noise and Listening with One's Heart

Yet another crazy week in Brazil!

During Sister companion splits/divisions (a time during the week when we have a temporary new companion or companions) this week I stayed in our area with two different Sisters. I learned so much! I was able to teach and make contacts with lots of people! Sister Lara said that usually the new companion of a Sister Training Leader (Sister Lara is a Sister Training Leader) will become a Sister Training Leader in the future. So we will see what happens with that. I don't know if I want that responsibility😊.

Sister Bortoluzzi and Sister Smart - Being crazy at Mcdonalds - (Companion Splits)

Sister Bortoluzzi and Sister Smart - Lunch at Mcdonalds - (Companion Splits)

We have an investigator named Gerlene that lives with a man named Dinho. Dinho is such a great person. We joke all the time and he makes fun of my accent when we visit them. He has a lot of struggles with addiction, specifically alcohol. When he is drunk he is not kind and doesn't treat Gerlene very well. On Tuesday this week we felt impressed to go and visit her. When we arrived she was incredibly sad because she wasn't feeling good and Dinho was out drinking with his friends and doing other not so good stuff. All we did for about two hours was sit and listen, and listen some more. We offered to curl her hair another day and visit some more. I really learned and gained a stronger testimony that day of the power of listening. We listened with our hearts not just our ears and her heart was healed even just for a brief moment.

When we were doing contacts in the community; this young Brazilian comes full on  up the street doing a wheelie on his motorcycle! His motorcycle was literally vertical in the air and the bottom made sparks on the ground as he was driving fast down the road. It scared us Sister missionaries! I hope he does not wreck.

We have an awesome investigator named Layani. One night as we were walking in the community we walked past her house and she was sitting outside on a chair reading the Gospel Principles book we gave her this past Sunday, May 6th. There is a bar right next to her house but she was just sitting there quietly reading not worrying about all the drunk people around her. She had amazing questions about the the Plan of Salvation, the kingdoms of glory and baptism. She is definitely a "diamond." Also, she is about to have a baby! She said that before knowing of the baby she drank and smoked but because of the baby she stopped. It's amazing how God has a plan that is different for each of us to help us come closer to Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

Sister Lara said something this past week that has really inspired me! She said, "God is always just  in every circumstance. He is perfect. Both her and I chose in Heaven to serve here in Brazil and for us to be companions. There are people that we promised to find, so we need to go and find them."

The picture below is a picture from a family home evening we had with some young women and an amazing family in the ward! They are about to move to Canada which should be an adventure for them. Gabby, the mom wanted to talk to me about America. The topic of chocolate came up. Her and I concluded that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are literally a piece of "heaven." Wish we could find Reese's here in Brazil. She is a nurse which is pretty cool. She is hilarious! I love her!  The other boy in the picture is Cleverson. He is so kind.  He came up to me at church my first Sunday super enthusiastic and said,  "Hello Sister! I'm Cleverson! You are pretty great! We can be friends!"  Walking home from family night he completely "face planted himself." I laughed so hard. He told me that I'm not allowed to say anything, but I always tease him anyway.

Family Home Evening - Young boy, Cleverson with a frowning face!

My ankles and legs hurt but as the day goes on they stretch out and are okay. All the hills and walking are killer😏. The baptisms didn't work out this week. Thaissa's mom and brother don't really have a desire anymore. It makes my heart hurt 😢.

Thaissa's Baptism with mom, two brothers, Sister Lara, and Sister Smart.

Sister Smart being goofy with the children.

But we had six people at church which was fantastic! Probably not this week but next week we will have scheduled a few baptisms, especially this one man named Argusto; he is great!

Have a great week! Love, Sister Smart.