November 26, 2018

Good (early) afternoon!!!

Well this week has been something! My companion has gotten very sick, and basically this week has been running between medical appointments, going home to rest, and work when she has the strength. It has caused me to contemplate my mission, what I´ve already done, and what I´d like to do in these next 3 weeks. 

Something that I´ve learned about the Lord is that He is satisfied with whatever type of sacrifice we give Him. It can be a coal or a diamond, He is still pleased in receiving our sacrifice. That doesn´t mean we can settle for less--we need to strive every day to be better. But some days, we aren´t strong enough, and we can only give a little. And He´s still happy! Just because we had to stay home for most of the week doesn´t mean that the Lord was dissappointed with us--quite the contrary! Sister Hirtle is His beloved daughter, and if she pushed herself and got more sick, He would be devestated. And yesterday, we were blessed with lots of investigators at church, and she had the energy to teach two amazing lessons! I can clearly see the Lord´s hand in our work. I´m excited that my companion now has the strength to get back to work, because now I´m going to sprint to the finish line and onto my next mission!!

I love you all, have a fantastic week!

Sister Carlson

November 19, 2018

Good afternoon family of mine!

I have exactly one month until I come home--how scary is that? Hahaha just kidding, I´m excited that I have one more month to work as hard as I can to bring souls unto Christ! What a blessing it is to serve here in Brazil!

This week has been studious--my personal study has been amazing! I had a spiritual journey on Saturday, I was able to read Alma 4-9, including Alma 5! What a marvelous chapter to study! It´s so interesting how every time I read this chapter, something esle impacts me. I´d like to write down verses 33-34, the part that touched me the most. I only have portuguese, so you´ll have to translate:)

33. Eis que ele envia um convite a todos os homens, pois os braços de misericórdia lhes estão estendidos e ele diz: Arrependei-vos e receber-vos-ei.

34. Sim, diz ele, vinde a mim, e participareis do fruto da árvore da vida; sim, comereis e bebereis livremente do pão e da água da vida

I think this part is so beautiful because the Lord is sending us a personal invitation: to repent and come unto Him. It´s so simple! We must be humble of heart to continually accept this invitation, sometimes it´s hard to push pride out of the way to taste of the bread and water of life. But when we succeed, it is so sweet! I´m grateful that God loves us so much that He gave His Only Begotten, and that They love us infinitely. They invite us to come knowing that we can´t be perfect, knowing that we´ll sin. But They still want us by their sides! How wonderful it is to know that I can trust in this perfect God, who loves me so dearly! It´s the least I can do to serve for a year and a half to show others this love, to bring others unto Christ. I am so grateful for the time I´ve had on the mission, and how I still have one more month to preach the gospel! One more month to learn who I want to be when I get home. One more month to be who God wants me to be. What a marvelous opportunity. 

I love this gospel. I love my Savior, and the sacrifice He suffered so I can one day sit by His side. I love this life that I have to everyday choose to be better. I´d like to leave this testimony with you, my beloved family, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sister Carlson

November 12, 2018

Hello family!

I have no time today, but this week has been something haha! 

We have had a hard week, my companion and I, but we´ve been able to really study about the Savior and relearn what it means to have a testimony. I am so grateful that I´m a full time missionary here in Brazil, and that I have the opportunity to preach the gospel, even if people cannot understand the worth of the gospel (a treasure!) I´m grateful for the health that God gives us so we are able to fulfill our callings. I´m grateful that life is full of difficulties so we can learn and become better than we are today. I love this gospel and this opportunity to live!! I love my Savior Jesus Christ! What an honor it is to serve in His name! 

I love you all so much, have a great week!!

Sister Carlson

P.S. Pics of district p-day! We had a bbq!!

November 5, 2018

Good afternoon everyone!

Sorry for login in so late, Sister Hirtle and I had an adventure today! We decided to sleep. clean the house, and go shopping at the center close by! I´m a happy missionary with a cute new skirt and 2 new shirts haha!

This week has really been a blessing, we´ve really been able to find more people to teach and the gospel has been so sweet to share. Everytime we teach a lesson, I have a stronger testimony that what I´m saying is true, and that happiness is here! We had a blitz on Thursday (when our district helps us contact people in our area) and we were able to find some people that are truly ready for our message! I´m grateful to be a missionary!!

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Sister Carlson

October 29, 2018

Good afternoon lovely family of mine!

So this has been an eventful week! But to start off, I´ll go with the exciting news! I fell down the stairs on Saturday! That´s the first pic I sent hahahaha I´m so graceful that I may have torn a muscle in my foot oops. But I´m fine now, I can walk normally and I don´t want you guys to worry--I´m explaining because I wanted to sent this pic hahahahaha:)

We also had our Zone Conference this week, and Sister Hirtle and I were able to finally take a cute selfie! We learned a lot about obedience and humility, things that are always good to remember! We also studied some conference talks, and it was wonderful to talk about how we have prophets and revelators today to guide us back to our celestial home. I love this gospel!!

That´s all I have time for! The other pic is of our district, we played volleyball! It´s fun to remember that I´m competetive haha!

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Sister Carlson

October 22, 2018

Good afternoon everyone!

This week has flown by! Sister Hirtle and I have been so blessed in this new area! We are getting to know the members, past investigators, and are receiving lots of member referrals! This ward is so special, and we are so excited to help it continue it´s growth! 

I´ll take pics to send this week! Sorry this email is so short!

Love you all!

Sister Carlson