Email: October 16, 2017

Olá Familia!!! 

What a crazy week it has been! Between doctors appointments, a baptism, and lots of fires I was pooped yesterday! But it has been joyful. 

We fasted and prayed this week to ask God to help Maria Elisabete´s brother let her be baptized. In the end it all worked out and on Saturday she entered the waters! It was super special but.... she is super afraid of water! As she got in she just kept saying she was scared and as she was dunked she freaked out and we saw her squirming around in the water. I panicked and yelled out, "someone help her!!!" but in the end it was all good haha. She said it was kind of scary but that she liked it. The service was short and simple. Then on Sunday she was confirmed and her blessing was very sweet. It was such a privilege to get to know her and see her child like submissiveness to the gospel.

We had to go to the hospital because Sister Johnson had to get some tests done. Now we have a good friend there that never makes us wait in line or anything. 

We have also been trying to help Miriam understand that only this church has authority. She still doesn´t have a testimony of this but she loves coming to church with us. She came to Maria Elisabete´s baptism too! 

Yesterday night it got foggy looking in the sky. We woke up this morning and our house smelled like a campfire then we looked outside and the skies are gray and it´s raining ashes! There are a ton of fires here! We are all safe but we got some masks to wear around and Presidente said not to leave the house too much today. Our ward is putting supplies together for the firefighters so we are probs going to go and help with that. 

Well, I hope Caleb can grow taller to ride on some rides and I hope you all have lots of fun at Lagoon this weekend.  I was reading 2nd Nephi 9 this week and was trying to understand more about opposition in all things. I love that chapter and it truly strengthened my testimony of our Savior. 

Love you guys! 

Love, 

Sister Emma Hulsey

Email: October 9, 2017

Fall is always a beautiful time of year! It´s not quite the same here. haha In fact, lately it has been really hot and hasn´t rained in a while. Apparently Viseu is going to run out of water in a month if it doesn´t rain. Everyone has been saying that it is going to be really warm until December! which I'm fine with! 

This week was interesting.......... 

Presidente Amorim made all the missionaries go get flu shots so after district meeting we did! Then that night I started getting sick. The next morning I woke up with a fever and my nose was supes stuffy but nem quase was I going to stay in the house. We went out and taught some cool peeps that day! We walked so much that.... the next day Sis Johnson couldn´t walk! She had to stay in all day so I took another sister with me to the marked appointments that we had. On Friday Sis Johnson woke up with a fever and felt pretty sick so we only worked  a little and Saturday as well. I'm grateful for every second we have outside the house! I literally try to not shut my mouth when I am out. I've been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and studying Conference talks and I'm very grateful for prophets. 

Maria Elisabete, the one who is marked for baptism, was progresssing very nicely this week. We re taught her all the lessons and she was ready for her interview. She did it on Sunday during the 3rd hour and she passed! Unfortanetly , this morning she called and told us her brother isn´t going to let her go to church any more and she isn´t allowed to talk with us anymore. WHAT???  Well, the zone leaders are going over to try and talk with her brother tonight so we will see how that goes. 

Miriam came to church with us again! She is finding answers in the Book of Mormon but she just doesn´t know that there is only 1 true church haha! But we love her so much. 

I know that God is aware of us and our needs. I know that He truly sends the Comforter to us! I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and has the answers for everything. I know we have a Savior and that we have His gospel. I love you guys!

Sister Emma Hulsey

Email: October 9, 2017

Wow good job Mom-I'm proud of you for typing that on your phone! 

This week we had transfers. I'm staying here in Viseu with my comp so nothing new! (besides our plans and goals!) Sister Johnson and I have been trying to truly teach to the necessities of our investigators this week. We have tried to maintain daily contact and really do all we can to help them progress, and God has truly blessed our efforts! Our Brazillian investigator Miriam (also our neighbor) has started to read the Book of Mormon and is liking it! However, she asked us to pray about and go to her church. Needless to say we did, however it just strengthened my testimony that truly the church of Christ has been restored and it is here to help us live with Heavenly Father again. She came to a session of Conference though, and said she is coming to church next week! We really love her and want her to find peace in her life. 

Maria Elisabete is progressing as well! We moved her baptism to an earlier date, and we are so proud of her! She reads in the Book of Mormon every day and loves coming to church. She found her own ride to Conference this week! Tonight we are going to invite her brother to come to her baptism so hopefully that goes well!!

We had to go to Porto this week for a Dr´s appointment (the same Dr as Cristiano Rondaldo) but it took all day! The Dr was really cool and we told him about how the prophet was going to speak to us this weekend and he was super interested to tune in! I'm excited for Sis Johnson´s next appointment to see if he liked Conference. 

Highlight of the week was most definitely General Conference.  Every single talk had something that I could apply. I especially liked Sister Eubank´s talk about how we need to be different. Also something that gave me chills was President Nelson´s testimony at the end of his talk.  A general theme that I was sensing is that everyone needs to read the Book of Mormon more and support our church leaders! 

I love you all so much. I love our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that through Him we are truly able to be cleansed and purified. Through Him we can change. I know His power is here on the earth! 

Sister Hulsey 

Email: September 25, 2017

haha glad you guy liked the cards!!

Glad you guys had a fun filled week! 

This week was great! We had a zone conference where we learned a lot of stuff we need to do better, but that´s always good to hear. Then when we got home we felt we needed to go visit our investigator Miriam. She is the Brazilian one that lives in our apartment building. We went over and she told us that she had been reading in the Book of Mormon and she found answers! We invited her to be baptized but she said she still wants time to prepare. In the end she asked us when the next church meeting was. We all went to church together and she stayed all 3 hours and liked it! she has got a lot of potential, we just have to help her realize she is more prepared than she thinks! 

We have been teaching Maria Elisabete and on Saturday we were teaching her the plan of salvation. After teaching about Adam and Eve she just stops and asks "so how are babies born again?" SHE IS 46!!!! I was going to explain but we kind of just went on with the lesson...another day we will help her understand though. Anyway, she has been really afraid to tell her brother that she has been meeting with us and that has stopped her from going to church. On Saturday we were determined to talk with her brother, so finally we got his phone number and called him He gave permission for everything and she was beaming! She promised God that she will got to church every week and at church she announced to everyone what had happened. It was a little miracle from God and we are excited for her. 

Well, one more transfer has come and gone! You blink and you miss them. I will be staying here in Viseu with Sister Johnson who is officially out of training! I'm excited! 

Love you all! 

Sister Hulsey 

Miriam gave us these tamale things!

Our district lunch president paid for because we found a ton of novos one week! 

Email: September 18, 2017

Dear Family

OH MY GOSH this week was wonderful. And crazy. As a district we made a deal with our mission president that if we found 40 new investigators he would pay a lunch for us, and he agreed. We went finding people like crazy!! Sister Johnson isn´t allowed to walk a lot but I got to do a division with Sister Bastian! Then a few days later Sister Bastian was sick so I asked President if I could work with her companion and we went hard. Also as a district we all went to the other sisters' area to do a blitz and something really cool happened. Sister Johnson and I were on a bus to get out there and there was a young man sitting behind me. The spirit kept telling me to contact him so I finally did and he was really nice. Then we got off at the next stop. We started knocking doors and all the sudden we get to this one door and a really nice girl answered. She went and got her brother to participate in the lesson and guess who it was.. THE GUY I CONTACTED! They were really cool! I'm so grateful for the spirit that is always guiding us as long as we pay attention. 

I had an interview with my president this week-it was like 5 minutes long but he just told me, "I trust you a lot."  and then he gave us a ride home! He is super kind. 

We also had 5 people come to church this week, which was actually Stake Conference! It was all focused on faith. I read one of my all time favorite conference talks called Come What May and Love It. I encourage all to read it! 

Love all of you guys so much and I love my mission. I'm excited for the cousins that are heading out. 

Have a great week! 

Sister Emma Hulsey 

The division i did with sister Bastian.

Email: September 11, 2017

Hey Everyone, 

This week was kind of funny! Sister Johnson has like a pinched something in her back so she hasn´t really been able to walk and has been on "bed rest". But we still found some cool people. We went to this one neighborhood to knock some doors and we were just about to say a prayer and start knocking and all of the sudden we hear "sisteres" we looked around for a minute and then saw some guy on his balcony. We started yelling to him and told him to come talk with us but he yelled back that he smokes and drinks. We told him that´s ok and he should still come down. Well, he did and we were able to teach him. He was pretty funny. Then 2 days later we went back to knock doors because we never got to it and the first building we knocked we found like 4 more people! So we still can go back and knock the rest. 

Well Aldina has not been keeping our appointments and finally she answered the phone and told me, "I figured out that you guys aren´t from my church. I really don´t want to talk with you any more" hahah. I think the 1st lesson went in one ear and out the other-I don´t know how she thought we were Catholic! But we talked with her a little more and convinced her to let us come back one more time. We will see how it goes. 

Maria Elisabete oh man . I love her so much and she is adorable but she never keeps our appointments! She didn't come to church again. We are learning patience with her and I  believe with time as she learns more she will be baptized. 

The highlight of this week was that I got to go to the mission leadership council and we learned some great stuff! I really want to be more obedient and consecrated. I love seeing the example of other missionaries! Presidente explained that yes we have a lot of responsibilities as missionaries and as leaders but it doesn´t need to feel too heavy, because we have the Savior, and the Savior promises that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The next day I decided to truly study that scripture in Matthew and felt an overwhelming sense of love from Jesus Christ. The real way we can come unto Christ is through repentence, and that is how our burdens are made light. 

I am so glad Eli is doing better! I love you guys a lot! 

Love,

Sister Emma Hulsey

we made a wheel of fortune!  Ignore the stain on my dress, some things just never change.

Email: September 4, 2017

Olá !! 

This week is kind of a blur, so much happens every day and then I can´t remember hardly anything when I come to write. Let´s see...

Monday night: We found 2 adorable families! One of them has triplet teenage boys that are kind of punks but the mom had us say prayers with them to soften their hearts. 

Tuesday : Sister Johnson and I did a sweet pratica on the first lesson in district meeting that went really well! She was SO nervous but did a great job.

Wednesday : Walked really far to this family´s house and they weren´t home... but we were able to visit some others peeps and still made it back in time to teach an awesome lesson about the sabbath day with the Dias Family to our marcada Maria Elisabete! (she is the really cute one in the tomi picture) 

Thursday : We felt inspired to go to this one neighborhood in the morning so we went and found 6 new people to teach. One of them is a Brazillian family. Holla

Friday : Marked this cool lady named Aldina for baptism in the 1st lesson. She was so excited to have a Book of Mormon and said she would read it with enthusiasm. 

Saturday : A crazy day because we were helpin' the other sisters prepare a baptism that didn´t end up happening and turned into "an activity about baptism" haha -was kind of awkward but still fun. 

Sunday : Sister Johnson and I matched our outfits for church and then ended up teaching Gospel Principles class. 

Sister Johnson and I found a fun way of contacting people... as we are walking through the streets we yell bom dia to people. It´s so funny when it is the afternoon or night because they DON`T say that . So the people crack a smile, stop, and correct us then we invite them to church or something. It´s fun to use the American card. 

I love you guys so much. I'm praying for Eli. That poor kid. I love him so much. Can´t believe everyone is having babies. (wait how many kids do Paul and Jeather have now?') Good luck to Adam and his try outs. 

Love you guys ! 

Love

Sister Emma Hulsey

Me and sister Johnson sometimes match on accident, sometimes on purpose 

this is right in the abbey that we live in