Vamos ter um casamento aqui!! 8/1/16

That's right!!! We FINALLY managed to get Lília and Gleyson's wedding in the process!! We went to the cartório three times with them--the first time there was a problem with the money, the second the didn't want to accept Lília's birth certificate, and on the third it all worked out! They went to a cartório (sorry, I'm really not sure how that word translates--it's the place where you work out birth certificates and marriage licenses...) in Belém super early on Friday to get a new birth certificate, and about 10 AM picked us up to go to the cartório in Ananindeua. The first available date was September 10--but I think I'll still be here in the area on that day to see the wedding and baptism! I'm soooooo excited! I love this family so much. I don't think I have ever met a family so dedicated and so prepared to hear the gospel. And the best part about it all with them is that they know that baptism isn't the end goal. They are already making plans to go to the Recife temple in November next year and be sealed for all eternity. :D (Here's a great quote from Gleyson this week: casamento eterno = festa eterna). The bishop gave them a few pictures to hang in their house on Sunday--one of Jesus Christ, one of the Recife temple, and "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." Needless to say, they were very excited.

Fernanda (their daughter), went to an encampment this week and loved it! She also saw a baptism there. She is finally starting to pray with real intent (I even saw her praying during the sacrament), and I have no doubt that she will receive her answer soon. :D

We found lots of new investigators this week, and slowly but surely we are finding those who really have interest in hearing about the gospel. My favorites were one young man, Jordan, who always asked himself why there are so many churches and so many different doutrines. His eyes lit up when he heard the message of the Restoration. Also, we started teaching a family, Vánia and Ricardo, that have two young sons. They are such a special family! They contacted US in the street and asked us to teach them. Needless to say, we love them very much. :)

I love you all so much and pray for you daily! :)

Sister Dickerson

Fotos--I made the most delicious brownies of my life last Monday, and here are some pretty flowers that grow EVERY WHERE here. They brighten up my day. :D

Aprendendo a ter ESPERANÇA 7/25/16

So on Wednesday in our district meeting, Elder Rocha was feeling rather inspired and asked all of us to choose a little piece of paper--each of them had a different Christ-like attribute for us to study during the week and seek to develop in our lives. Everyone was praying not to pick patience... and it was Elder Rocha that ended up with that one. Haha... But I picked hope. And I thought, hey that's good because when I was in Santarém and nothing was going right I studied hope every day. And things got a lot better. I had already put a little check mark in my mind next to hope--só que não!! This week I saw that the Lord really was trying me--to see if I could endure trials and setbacks well while trusting in His timing--that His promised blessings will be given when He decides that the time is right.

For starters, Jacqueline disappeared for a week, and her baptism was supposed to be on Saturday... It was hard to remain positive and hopeful in her case when we tried so many times to talk to her and weren't able to... but yesterday night, as we passed her house, we saw Jackson, her twin, that likes us (unlike her mom...) and called her for us. She seemed super happy to see us and said that she had been missing our visits so much. But also, seeing that a week had passed without being able to follow up with her, she hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon or praying. And so, obviously, she doesn't feel ready to be baptized. We read 1 Nephi 1 with her (to help her start from the beginning), and expressed our love for her. She was so calm when we left, knowing that we visit her to help her come unto Christ--to be converted to Him. Maybe this will need a bit of time with her. Everything has to happen in the Lord's timing!

A similar thing happened with Fernanda. She's been going to church for two months with Lília and Gleyson and still doesn't feel ready to be baptized--but considering that she didn't even believe in Christ when we met her, we're counting it as progress. This week she almost gave up on everything because of the pressure of friends... but Lília and Gleyson kneeled down together and prayed to know how they could talk to her to help her continue coming to church. And she's still coming. She'll even be going to encampment this week. Sincere prayers really are answered. Especially in the response to loving parents praying for their children.

Just a quick side note, we started teaching two brothers, Leon and Cristiano, who are the funniest people on the planet! It is super hard to stop laughing with them. But the best moment teaching them was when we were explaining the Book of Mormon for Leon and he told us what his true idea of happiness is. He said that he wants a family in the future--united, well structured, and centered on Christ. He said that he has already visited many churches and has never found one that centers with his idea of happiness. It was such a special experience to testify of the eternal nature of families and the restored Church on the earth today.

That's about it for this week, folks! Love you all so much; I pray for you all daily.

Love,

Sister Dickerson

pics: my new journal and the hair skills of Sister Lima. :)

Why Church movies are so great 7/18/16

So, as you know, I always love to talk about Lília and Gleyson!! We ran into some problems with the cartório, but we should be able to straighten them out this week and get their wedding all ready for August! They are reading lots and lots in the Book of Mormon and loving it! (I think Lília is just about done with 1 Nephi, Fernanda is in chapter 14 and Gleyson is still in the first few chapters). They all started to ask lots of questions about Joseph Smith's life, after the first vision. So... we decided to borrow "Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration" from some members. Lília couldn't contain her excitement and watched it during the week (they watched it as a family yesterday after church). She said that she couldn't stop crying throughout the whole movie. I feel so blessed to know this amazing family!

As for the rest of our week, it was a little rough... a few investigators decided that they didn't want to hear any more, one of our investigator's moms expelled us from her house... but that's just the way it is sometimes!! Sister Lima and I are super excited to find lots of people this week that are going to want to hear about the gospel! (Side note: Sister Lima is awesome. Love her so much!!)

Sorry I don't have too much news this week! Love you all so much!!

Sister Dickerson

And I almost forgot: Yesterday we were almost kidnapped! A woman stopped us and asked about the church, and asked if we could talk more in the shade; when we got there, there was a car waiting (WHAT??), but inside there was a family from Paragominas that I love sooooo much! (I call them Mom and Dad and they call me daughter. :D) They were pulling a trick on us! Yep, now that's all I've got. :)

Loving Golden Investigators! 7/11/16

Just the highlights this week because in a bit we are going to the cartório!!!!! Whoo-hoo!!! Lília and Gleyson are going to get married, so we'll be going with them to enter all of their documents and such. Soooooo excited!!! :)

Right, so this week we had a mission conference which was super great!! Wow, I think I had never heard a talk so good like the one Presidente Stasevskas gave. He spoke about the Atonement and how it perfectly overcomes the barriers that we faced in the pre-mortal life and because of the Fall, so that we can one day receive all of the blessings that God wants for us (to be with him, to learn/progress, to live forever, and to have our families). It was great!

We also started teaching a friend of Lília, Jacqueline. She is AMAZING. We all felt the Spirit so strongly when we taught her the Restoration. She was crying throughout the whole lesson. And we we asked her afterwards if she had prayed about our message, she said that she did, but she already KNEW that it was true before she prayed. Annnnnd when we gave her the Book of Mormon, she got so excited! She had always asked herself why Jesus had only visited in Jerusalem and not in the other parts of the world. And why there weren't other witnesses of Him. We left her with 3 Nephi 11 to read and a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation, since she had some questions. The next day she called us, soooo excited, because she now knows that she lived with God, why she is here on the earth, and what will happen afterwards. #ELEITA 
I am honestly overflowing with happiness right now because of her. Even if some other things didn't go so well, just teaching Jacqueline made the week perfect! God really does prepare His children. 

And sidenote--Lília invited her because she loves her friend. She didn't know that Jacqueline would embrace the gospel with open arms, since she already had a church--you never know who in your lifes God is preparing! But you have to do your part and invite all to come unto Christ! If your feeling a little timid, pray and ask our Heavenly Father who He wants you to invite. I promise that there are people that you know that need to hear about the gospel in this moment!


Love you all bunches!
Sister Dickerson


Here in the pics I have lots of my past companions-S. Lima, Barth, Dustin, Packard, Colussi... quase the the whole gang.





Here's some pics from an activity we had yesterday--we set up some tables with lots of materials about the Church and invited everyone in the praça to come and find out more! It was pretty neat!

Amo minha filha! 7/4/16

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! Whoo-hoo!! I made Sister Lima, my "daughter" wear red, white and blue today. We are in the spirit!

I don't have much time today, but firstly, do you all remember that wonderful family of ten people in Santarém that I always talked about? Well Sister Custódio wrote me today and sent me pictures of the their baptism!!! Luciene, Gilberto, Joeldson, Joene, Jaciene, and Madson were all baptized on Saturday!! How wonderful is that?? But I felt very, very surprised when I heard that Luciene separated from her husband, Joaquim. He didn't wanted to be baptized, and they all did, so they separated. Just thinking about the faith of Luciene and her family... I couldn't believe it. I've been praying for this family since the day that I left Santarém... wow. They have a faith I have never seen before.

Real quick, this week was great! I picked up my new comp., Sister Lima. She's from João Pessoa, but her family is currently living in Rio. She's awesome!! Super excited!! We have been having a blast. The work is still going a little slow here. Especially since it turns out that Ana lost her birth certificate... so her wedding is going to take a bit longer. but besides that we are doing well. Lília also received her confirmation of the truth of the gospel this week! She bore her testimony in Gospel Principles this week!! She was studying about the Plan of Salvation, about exaltation, when the Spirit touched her heart. She said that she couldn't stop crying. And the first thing that she did was call Gleyson, to tell her that she knew, beyond a doubt, that this gospel is true. It was such a special experience for us!!

Love you all so much!! 

Sister Dickerson

Transferência!!! E um ano da missão!!! 6/27/16

It's transfer time! I'll be sticking around here in Providência (obviously, I've only been here five weeks), but Sister Barth is being transferred for Maguarí with Sister Colussi (one of my old comps :D). I'll miss Sister Barth, but at least we had a little time together! And I should be meeting my new companion tomorrow--I'm going to train again! Whoo-hoo! She'll be flying in from the MTC tomorrow. So I'll you all know how that goes!

I don't have too much to say about this week... we had a lot of really great things happen and a few really sad things as well. For example, Maria das Graças' baptism was going to be on Saturday, and it seemed like she was really excited, but on Wednesday she went to go pick up a few things at her old house in Santa Isabel, and has not, until now, come back. :/ Her daughter was getting pretty worried because she isn't answering the phone. So... send a few prayers her way. We're not really sure what happened.

But as for the really good things, Lília and Gleyson and their daughter Fernanda are progressing SUPER SUPER well! There was a big party at the church on Friday (Festa Junina) and a devotional with the Recife Temple President on Sunday, and they all came (just for the end of the devotional actually). Lília even brought a friend to church yesterday, and she was so excited! She and Gleyson should be entering their papers to get married this week, and then we just have to wait to do the baptism. Lília was talking with me yesterday about how amazing it has been for her to get to know the gospel. She said we were two angels that knocked on her door. She was about to separate from Gleyson, Gleyson and Fernanda didn't even believe in Christ, and as soon as we started teaching them, their family life changed completely. They're united, they love going to church, and they read the Book of Mormon every day. Our stake president, who works with Gleyson, said that he has really gone through a change. Lília hardly could contain her joy as she told us about the transformation that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been having on her family. 

We also had another great surprise when Ana and Esmeraldino, a couple that has been going to church for nearly a year, but always refused to get married, told us on Sunday that they have decided that they want to!! Miracles really do happen!

I can't believe that I've been here for a year already... Time really flies. I don't want to miss one minute of the next six months. :D

Love you all so much!

Sister Dickerson

We Met Brother Holmes! 6/13/16

Right, so on Wednesday, we had a pretty neat meeting with the second counselor in the the YM's Presidency, Brother Holmes, and his wife, Sister Holmes. It was super great! They spoke in English, which was weird... having a translator and everything... and they spoke about the importance of "being born again," or being converted. It is a lifelong process, and the principle purpose of our lives. Specifically, they taught about how our purpose, as missionaries, is to help people be born again, having faith in Christ, repenting, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost (which is the MOST IMPORTANT gift we can receive in the life), and enduring to the end. It was great!

Also, just to quickly sum up the events of this week, we had six people come to church, which was wonderful! The Lord truly answered our prayers. Lília came with her husband and 19-yr-old daughter, and they all LOVED it. They said that they'll be coming back. Lília was already trying to learn everyone's names in Relief Society, since she said she's been looking for a church para frequentar mesmo. I felt super blessed! Our worry is that they might not actually live in our area, since they live on the boundaries... but if not, the elders will be super happy as well. And it turns out that they aren't actually married, but hey, that's no problem. We love marrying people.

That's about it for this week folks, but keep praying for Gabriel and Maria das Graças to be baptized this week! I know that they are super close!

Love,
Sister Dickerson