September 14, 2010

Dale and Melissa at the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple

September 14, 2010

Hey!  So!  This week was great!  Today I got to see Dale (and by Dale...I mean Elder Hulse) at the temple.  What more can I say :)  Today was good.  We ate lunch together afterwards too.

Me and Sister Robins have been planning a fun activity for Saturday the 25th.  We are going to celebrate the Brazilian Independence Day (yeah...it was a couple weeks ago, but it was the only day we could have the chapel!) and we are inviting everyone to dress in green and yellow and we are going to have a bunch of activities and a Brazilian barbeque.  The purpose of the activity was to do something fun that will get the members excited to invite non-member friends, so people will come and get to know the chapel, and the missionaries.  We are hoping to get really good referrals.  I´m excited too, because usually Brazilians aren´t super patriotic.  I´m hoping this will liven them up a bit.  It should be good.

Our investigators are progressing well.  Gisele (have I told you about her?)  will be baptized on the 25th. She is absolutely incredible.   And I`m hoping Cristina will be baptized that day too.  She´s just gotta let go of those cigarettes.  Diego (have I told you about him?....man I can´t remember anything) WAS progressing really well........really fast, and it was truly remarkable.  Only, this week........he went and got drunk.  This is the second time I´ve found an investigator drunk in the road.  It´s sure not a situation I like.  My heart just fell when I saw him.  He´s got a lot of addictions he´s got to let go of, and it´s been a challenge for him.  Please pray for him.

Davidson and Dayane will mark their wedding this week!  Wahooo!  Then they can be baptized!

Anyway, missionary is tough....but oh so worth it.  I love these people here.

Love you!

Sister Hulse

August 2, 2010

So.....lots has changed. Sister da Silva was emergency transferred, and Sister McCollaum came in her place. So I´m still in a trio, but it´s still been as great as ever. Sister McCollaum is from Delta, Utah and has about a year on the mission. She is INCREDIBLE! :D We became instant friends, I feel like she is my sister. I have been feeling to spirit so strongly with my companions these last few days. It´s been so good.

This ward is incredible. The members are so faithful. (we call this area Zion). It´s interesting, because, the spirit is this area, even just in the roads, is stronger than in any other area I have worked in. I believe it is because of the faithfulness of the members. The spirit is able to prepare the hearts of these people before we even teach them, and testifies in the lessons with an added strength. We have been finding so many good people looking for the truth. I feel so humbled every time, in seeing how much the Lord is blessing us. We´ve got lots to do, and have been trying to find a member to come out with us every day, to do the work of two companionships every day. On Sunday, we had 13 investigators at church. I almost cried I was so happy.

We have been visiting Cristina for a long long time (the sisters found her a few transfers before I got here). She has been coming to church almost every Sunday, and has a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. She is incredible, but the thought of baptism frightened her. We committed her to pray about baptism on the date, August 14, and she did, and she said she knows the Lord wants her to be baptized on August 14. She has to quit smoking and drinking coffee real fast to be able to be baptized this day, but she is determined. Please pray for her and that she can have the strength to let it go.

We have also been teaching a young couple who are super elect. Davidson and Dayane. The ONLY thing stopping them from being baptized is that they need to get married, and they´ve been having some document problems, and it hasn't been working out the way they wanted. They are both incredibly receptive to the spirit and have strong testimonies. Whenever we visit them, I always leave in awe of their faith and understanding of the gospel and desires to follow it.

And.....my time is about up, so maybe I´ll try to tell you about the others next week. The Lord has been blessing us so much it blows my mind.

Love you all TONS! Até mais,

Sister Hulse

July 12, 2010

WHooo........ok ok

So, transfers came and went.....AND we stayed.....BUT we also...........got one more!   Haha....I´m in a trio.  Sister da Silva is with us now.  It´s been super fun.  They are both hard workers and focused on the Lord´s work.

This week, we found TONS of new investigators.  It was so good.  I´ve never taught so many first lessons.  I know some of these people will progress in the gospel.

I wanted to tell you about our progressing investigators too....but unfortunately my time is already up.  So....know that I am well.  And the gospel is so so miraculous. 

LOVE YOU!

Sister Hulse

June 28, 2010

What an incredible week......I can´t even stop smiling.  wooo!

Valmir was BAPTIZED!  It was such a beautiful baptism.  The spirit was so strong.  His co-worker (that gave us the referral) came down to baptize him.  They are really good friends.  His wife and son was there.  I could almost see her heart opening up to accept the gospel and want to be baptized as well.  :D  I came up to her and asked if she would say the closing prayer.  She wanted to so bad....because she knew how much it would mean to him, but there were a lot of people there and got nervous at the last minute and asked me to say it for her.  It´s been hard for her to progress in the gospel as well, because the family owns a little store that they run.  Because Valmir was determined to come to church, his wife and son ended up working in the store every Sunday so he could come. They didn´t want to close it Sundays because, unfortunately, Sunday was one of the days that they earned the most money, and they relied on that.  BUT......ahhh what a good day, yesterday, in the Gospel Principles class, the bishop taught a class on Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  It was such a good lesson.  The spirit was strong and the bishop was so bold and clear about what we should and shouldn´t do on Sunday and why it was such an important commandment.  I was sitting next to Valmir.  At the end of the lesson, Valmir turned to me and said "Sister...I decided.  I want to keep the Sabbath day holy, and I want my wife and son wife me, here in church on Sunday.  I´m going to close my store on Sunday.  The Lord will bless us I know"  He looked so determined!!!  woooo! I wanted to leap in joy......only I didn´t because I´m a missionary...but anyway!  It was so good.  I know the Lord is going to bless him and his family so much because of his faith.  He accepted every aspect of the gospel so well.  He was one of those people that the Lord had prepared so well, and was kept from the truth "only because he knew not where to find it".  I thank Heavenly Father every day that he led the Sisters to find him and his family.  I feel, that very soon.......his wife and son will be baptized too. I pray daily for them.  (their names are Naildes and Vinicius if you want to pray for them too :)  )  Man....the day they get sealed in the temple....I sure want to be there.  I love them all so much.

The happiness I feel now, is worth any heartache or trial I´ve gone through on the mission.  The Lord is so good.  I love the gospel so much.  I love the new joy people find in their lives when they live it.

Love you all!

Sister Hulse

June 21 2010

Yeah the weather really did a turn around on us.  Though this week was a little warmer than the one before.  But I have a feeling, we have a whole bunch of warm days ahead. 

I can´t even say how much I love Sister Santos.  She is the only member of the church in her family.  And when she left for her mission, it was really hard on her family, they didn’t write at all.  President even let her call home once after a number of months without word from them, and her mom refused to talk to her.  It´s been quite a rough journey for her, but her faith is incredible.  She knows why she´s here and she knows that Heavenly Father will bless her and her family because of her faith and service.  Things have gotten a little better.  Her family writes her e-mails once in a while to let her know how things are going.  She is very humble, and doesn´t feel like she has all the "missionary techniques" down very well.  The way she works and teaches is a very simple, straightforward, and clear manner.....and I just love it.  It has been so good to be her companion. 

Love you so much!  I am so grateful to be here. 

Sister Hulse

June 6, 2010

SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK!!!
First off......the World Cup is coming up.  Brazil is going crazy.  The roads are lined in Yellow and Green.  People are painting the roads....their houses....themselves.  YELLOW AND GREEN EVERYWHERE!   You´d think these people like soccer or something :)
We had multizona this week and it was WONDERFUL.  President talked about Humility and Pride.  He taught us about the effects of the Fall and why it is so important that we be humble.  The spirit was incredible.  I felt like my heart was going to burst into light.  I felt like Heavenly Father was teaching me personally through the spirit.  It was wonderful.  And everything I needed to hear.  I am so grateful for a President who carries the spirit with him so strongly and seeks inspiration.
On Sunday, we had Stake Conference.  Only it was a regional stake conference and they did it from Salt Lake over satellite for all the stakes in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.  It was SO good!  It was in all Portuguese....no translators.  Elder Christofferson (speaks Portuguese really well), and Sister BECK!  (who knew???) and a couple other members of the seventy gave talks in Portuguese.  Even the little words that come on the screen with the name and calling of each new speaker were in Portuguese!  I LOVED it!  Their talks were so uplifting, and directed exactly at what the Saints in Brazil need to hear.  The members afterwards came up to me and were like "what......do everyone in the States speak Portuguese???"  haha, it was really good.   Everyone loved it.
Dayana accepted baptism this week!  She is going to be baptized on the 26th of June.  She has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon already.  She truly was an answer to my prayers. 
Last of all......HUGE news.... I just got a call (like 2 hours ago) from President Jackson.  I´m getting transferred.  TODAY.  Right after I finish using the e-mail I have to go to the office to be picked up by my new companion.  Sister Santos will be my new companion!  She was my other roommate in the CTM and I always hoped I´d have the chance to be companions with her.  She is a sweetheart.  I´m going to St. Tereza in Parque Pinheiros.  It came as a huge surprise.  But I feel it´s time.  The only sad part is, I´m going to miss Dayana´s baptism :(  
I love you all.  Thanks for your love and your prayers.  I love the gospel so much.  I know that through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can find solutions and peace and hope in any problem we are facing.  I know that the Lord uses the Book of Mormon to enlighten our minds, lift our spirits, and give us spiritual strength in whatever challenge we are facing.  The gospel truly is incredible.
Sister Hulse