campo grande -> cuiabá

okay first off. i made a typo last week. haha the bus ride was only 14 hours not 24. (although it sure felt like 24) and i arrived safe and sound!! and everyone who told me cuiabá is hot, was right. to give you all an idea, think about the hottest day you´ve ever experienced. the day when the moment you walked outside you already have sweat dripping down your face. thats here at 10 am. haha in fact yesterday at lunch, the irmã left a tissue on the ground in the sun and IT CAUGHT FIRE!!!! just by being on the sidewalk!!! and right now its winter here. everyone says that this time of the year is ``cool weather`` and that august-november is when it gets ``hot`` so prayers of a transfer back the the south are welcomed. (kidding... partly)

My new area is super great!!! my companion is Sister Castro, she´s 28 and from Guatemala! Oh and her personalitly is exactly like Kadeys which is awesome because its like my best friend is here with me. :) 

this week we had two baptisms and during the baptisms two girls walked in and one of them said she already was baptized but then moved and was never confirmed and her friend that was with her said ``and i wanna be baptized too.`` SO we have 2 more baptisms that literally fell into our laps for next week. this area has a lot of work to do! there are a lot of people who are being prepared for the gospel. its our responsibility (members of the church, not just the missionaries.. hehe) to tell everyone about the goodness of the gospel. 

Alma 34:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

THIS life is a preparation to meet God. How important of a duty we all have to help our neighbors prepare! Being here on a mission im starting to understand better this duty and everyday im becoming more and more anxious for the 2nd coming!! ah its so great. :) 

thanks for everything!  

love you all. 

-Sis Lloyd

 

sickness, little things, and forever families

this week was an exciting one.. wednesday night sister fernandes was dying of pain everwhere in her body and she felt like she was going to throw up, so we called our ward mission leader and he came and gave her a blessing- after he saw how sick she was he said ``im taking you to the hospital.`` BUT earlier in her mission, sister fernandes was robbed and her health card was in her bag... SO we had to go to a Public Health place where the Health care is free. so we get there and the waiting room is basically outside. right now its winter. and it was raining. and they made me wait there for sister fernandes with our ward mission leader and one of the young women. this was at about 11:30 at night. so we´re waiting, talking, freezing and whatnot then i grabbed our phone and looked at the time.... it was 3:00 IN THE MORNING!!! so we went to check on sister fernandes and she was laying on a bed with fluids hooked up to her and they told us we had to wait for ALL of the fluid to drain.... but luckily we left there at 3:30 and we got back to our house and sister fernandes slept the whole next day, and her poor arm was purple (the public health here really isnt the best...) BUT today shes almost completely better. :) 

so we stayed home tmost of this week so sister fernandes could rejuvinate and get better, and in our house lives 4 sisters, so one night we had a mini party surprise for the other sisters and i made teeny tiny cookies and we had teeny tiny plates and spoons. hahah one of the other sisters, sister corte, when we took of the blindfold, ate her cookie and then said ``haha okay guys, wheres the real food??`` haha it was super fun 

also this week we visited Reginei and taught him about the Word of Wisdom. and he told us that he has problems with coffee but that on sunday he totally forgot to drink his morning coffee and he said ``but nothing happened. so im gonna stop drinking it.`` haha it was pretty funny. but he is SO prepared and his whole family has been coming to church every sunday for the past month and a half!!  i know that families are of God and it is part of His plan for our families to be together forever.it makes me so happy to see all of them at church on sundays. ive been working with this family since my very first week in this area!!! 

and to finish it all off, today is transfers and i will be taking a 24 hour bus ride to cuiaba!!! Im super excited! :) but unfortunatly i will miss the baptism of Reginei, which is on the 25. (sister fernandes already promised to send lots of pics)

thanks for everything!! Love you all!

-Sis Lloyd

 

Lessons learned, and frozen toes

In our house we have 4 Sisters living there now, and the other day two
of them had a bit of a disagreement... and so the next day the other
Sister came into our room holding a shelf and she put pictures and
things inside and had a little box and said that this is now our
``Alter of Sacrifices`` and that every day we write on a paper one of
our weaknesses and put it in the box, or ``alter`` and during the day
we make the sacrifice to overcome that weakness. At first we all
looked at her like she was crazy, but decided to test it out, and
after a couple days and a couple group chats, we finally have peace
again in our house. I think we all learned a lesson or two about
forgiveness, and humility. Something everyone could use a little more
of.. lack of these attributes really cause a lot of unnecessary
problems.

Also this week Irma Iza just got better. I don't know why but for some
reason ALL of our money ran out and we had no food in our house. This
was on Thursday. AND Irma Iza gave us dinner every. single. night. She
seriously is our mom here!

Another thing is this transfer we´ve been working a lot with
in-actives, specifically one family that all the kids and the wife are
baptized; just the husband isn't. and they´ve been coming to church
every week for a month now and the husband, Reginei, is going to be
baptized next week!! It makes me so happy to see their family complete
at church. I know this gospel is true and that this family will be
sealed together forever. I love being a missionary!!


Also today it's freezing. and super hard to type with frozen fingers.

Thanks for all your love and prayers!! Love you all!!!

love, Sis Lloyd

IRMA IZA

theres a lady in my ward, irma iza (the one who made cookies for me) and shes always been super insecure about how much she knows about the gospel because she doesnt know very much and theres people in our ward who know A TON. she always talks about how difficult it is for her, etc. 

the other day we had lunch with her at her restaurant. and while we were eating a homeless man came to the door and she said ``hi my child!! come back a little later`` and when we were finishing up he came back and irma iza gave him a whole plate full of food. the fact that when he came the first time and irma iza recognized him and greeted him like that made me realize this wasnt the first time shes given him food to eat. after i thought about her example, i realized that to be a ``latter day saint`` is A LOT more than what we know- it truly is through what we do. how we act. if we´re truly trying to be more like Christ every day. 

during conference Elder Dale G. Runland said ``My invitation to all of us is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying. If we don't try, we're just latter-day sinners; if we don't persevere, we're latter-day quitters; and if we don't allow others to try, we're just latter-day hypocrites.As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints. As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once were.`` 

when i read this i thought about Irma Iza, she doesnt have a whole lot of knowledge about the gospel but she tries everyday to be better, everyday to learn a little more, everyday to be a little bit more like Christ. She was a HUGE example to me this week.

I LOVE IRMA IZA!!! 

Stay strong, Stay happy, and always try your best!

much love, Sis Lloyd