TRUE HAPPINESS comes from TRUE REPENTANCE (Alma 27:18, Mosiah 4:11-12)

Ola FAMILIA e AMIGOS!!!
Como vai? Tudo bem, aqui!!! MUITO bem, actually :)
This week FLEW by. Like literally, FLEW. I can't believe it's already P-day again. This last week we taught around 10 lessons and studied and learned and studied and learned....and slept...they turned off the AC last weekend, so this weekend...can you say SAUNA? We missionaries are all like little miss Goldilocks...we always want juuussst right. Lol.

So I had the opportunity of speaking in sacrament meeting yesterday (which was AMAZING). They don't tell us in advance who the speakers are, but they tell you right then. And yep it was me :) Good thing I prepared! I was asked to speak on true repentance, which fit in perfectly with my book of mormon reading this week about the misssionary experiences of Alma and the Sons of mosiah. The people of Ammon are a HUGE example to us of people who truly repented and became truly converted. They were so converted that they refused to defend themselves against the lamanites and they were willing to be slaves for the nephites to make up for all of their murders. In Alma 23:5 it said that "as many as...were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away." WOW. I think we could all learn from their example.

Other thoughts, at service this friday a custodian was asking all the missionaries if they thought the MTC was Prison or Paradise. Most of them were saying prison! Can you believe that?! PARADISE is how I feel about the matter, SERIOUSLY, it is amazing here, I love it SO much!!
Other things, so everyday I have at least 2-3 people come up to me and say that I look really familiar, but we've never met each other before and I don't recognize them at all...? Strange huh? Well my companion claims it's because she thinks I look like Kate from "Lost"...which I think is a huge complement! I love Sister Barlow so much. She is amazing in everyway! And such a good friend!

Final thought, for the day because I don't have much time...
WE are SO blessed to have the Gospel in our lives!! I think we take it for granted a lot, but the Book of Mormon clearly teaches us that this is the way to have true happiness. I know that this is true, I challenge all of you to NEVER FORGET IT!

Also, in sacrament meeting yesterday the thought came to me :"Christ can only be our Savior if we accept Him." We accept him by having FAITH in Him--which leads us to REPENT, thereby accepting and UTILIZING His Atonement for us. I hope and pray that all of us can be more accepting of Christ, increase our faith in him, and continually repent to become more like Him.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Thank you for all your prayers and know that I pray for you everyday.

Com amor,
Sister Bierman ;]

Eu tenho muito FRIO!!!!

How are you enjoying WINTER? That is exactly how I feel here, it is so cold! I wish I would have brought some of my scarfs or something lol. But then the rooms are warm, so that's not bad. But the heater in our room doesn't work, so it's cold at night. My alarm clock says it's 68 degrees, but it feels so much colder than that. It's really strange to be experiencing cold when it was so NOT planned on lol.. But I must say that, ok I know it's crazy, but I'm loving the scenery here in Provo. The mountains are breathtaking with half snow and half fall colors, especially Mt. Timp, and overlooking Utah lake is simply amazing! This morning it was really neat to see the sunrise hit Mt. Timp and the Mtns behind the temple were covered in snow and reflecting pink. Add that and the gentle glow of the temple and it was simply breathtaking! And then to turn around and see Utah lake and the pink and purple clouds over it. Love. Just love.

I came across a better theme scripture for my mission this week. It's one that I've leaned on for strength before, but really struck me this week. Check out 2 Timothy 1:7-8. For God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of LOVE, and PEACE, and a SOUND MIND. I am not ashamed of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And I WILL be bold and INVITE others to come to Him and PARTAKE of His REDEEMING LOVE by repenting and changing and coming into the fold of GOD. This is something that I get a little nervous about because I have never been one to push something on others, or try to pursuade them that I know the right way, or infringe upon their personal decisions. I cannot simply be comfortable with teaching others about Jesus Christ in His gospel and NOT invite them to come and partake of the wonderful fruit! This week's theme seems to be HAVING FAITH TO INVITE OTHERS TO BE BAPTIZED. Why is it so important to not only share the message, but to invite them to be BAPTIZED? Because inviting them to be baptized is how we committ them to CHANGE and have something for them to work toward, it's a goal and a process, and a demonstration of our willingness to follow Jesus Christ. This is hard for me because I feel like I need to teach others EVERYTHING there is to know about the Gospel, when I don't even know that. I need to stop thinking that people must have a perfect knowledge of everything before I can ask them to change, because it is only by FAITH that miracles are wrought and who am I to know the intent of God and the workings of the Spirit in others hearts. I need to take a leap of FAITH to help them take a leap of FAITH and COME UNTO CHRIST. The Savior was not shy or timid about INVITING others to come unto Him, but he invited ALL to come partake of His redeeming love. He taught with boldness and let people choose to accept Him for themselves. My goal is to follow the example of the Savior and NOT HESITATE to invite others to come unto Him through baptism. The Savior invites ALL to come unto Christ--as His representative--SO DO I!

I encourage all of you strive to be more active in INVITING others to come unto Christ. Their salvation is on the line. Help them partaked of His redeeming love, and peace, and joy, and LIFE. You can do it, just SHARE His love! We may not be able to understand all that others go through or why, but the Savior does. Because He has been there. He understands, "He only one." In our own Gesthemane's, WE ARE NOT ALONE. What a blessing this is in our lives, to know that we ALWAYS have someone to turn to! I am so grateful for His willingness to obey the Father and sacrifice Himself for us to be free and healed and cleansed.

I love you so much. All of you back at home are such a huge inspiration to me. Our family picture is the bookmark for my Book of Mormon and it reminds me why I am here and why I need to share what I have with the world. Thank you for all your prayers and support, I need it and feel it. I pray for you.

Te amo,
Sister Bierman

Eu agradeco-te, O Deus, para os profetas!

WASN'T GENERAL CONERENCE AMAZING!? The Spirit here at the MTC is amazing! I loved every bit of conferece, all of the talks were so direct and straight from God! I had so many talks that I loved, it's hard to choose a favorite! Some of my favorites include: "Do the right thing, at the right time--without delay!"- Elder Alonso, "All beings who have bodies have power over those who do not!" -Pres. Packer, ''Compared to God we are nothing, but TO God we are everything.'' -Pres. Uchtdorf, ''Take those things that rob us of our time and instead devote our time to the things that matter most--the things of God.'' -Elder Ardern (this one I especially liked because I can really see the truth of it here at the MTC. We get up 6:30 and until 10:30 we are dedicating our time to the Lord, not wasting one second. I cannot belive how much we can get accomplished here, and how little I accomplished at home. I challenge ALL OF YOU to COMMIT YOUR TIME TO THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST), "We must LOOK UP and STEP UP and then we will CHEER UP!'' -Elder carl B. Cook....and SO MANY more! Mom, could you send me the talk by Brother Matthew O Richardson? He talked to fast, but it was so important! Thanks! I hope that all of you enjoyed and got as much out of conference as I did. We are truly blessed to have the opportunity to hear from prophets of God.

As for other news, the Portuguese is coming along...today during laundry we were trying to talk to an Elder from Sao Paulo so he could help us practice, boy do we have a lot more to learn! But he has only been here 7 weeks and he already speaks amazing english, so there is HOPE! Our teacher, Irmao Williams, told us that we speak portuguese better now than he did when he left the MTC! That is very encouraging. He says that at the Brazil MTC they speak to you in English, not Portuguese. I am so blessed to be here in Provo. I know the Lord has much in store for me, as long as I am obedient and strive to serve Him the best I can. I can''t wait to see what He has in store for me and the people I will meet!

I love the BOOK OF MORMON! I am learning so much reading so much! I am only 130 pages in, but I have been more enlightened from this Book now than I ever have been in my life. Are YOU reading the Book of Mormon? Are you "drinking deeply and often from it''s pages?" (Pres. Eyring)

I've decided that the theme of my mission thusfar is 2 Nephi 31:20. It has brought me great comfort and strength everyday and I strive to exercise my faith. Mom, will you tell them this is the scripture they can put on my plaque?

We said goodbye to Sister Pedersen this week. It was really emotional at first, and Sister Barlow had a hard time adjusting to that gap in our companionship, but things are going great now! We are closer than ever and feeling the wonderful power of the Spirit in our lives everyday and every lesson. We have a new investigator, Tiago, and already we have had such amazing experiences: feeling the Spirit guide us to TEACH PEOPLE--NOT LESSONS. I have felt the power of the Spirit place words and scriptures into my mind at the moment I need them most. I know that the Gift of the Holy Ghost is real. It''s power is beyond anything we can comprehend. All we need do is seek His help and live worthy of His presence. I know that it is through the gift and the power of God and His Spirit that we can speak and understand so much portuguese in just 3 short weeks. You would think we had been here months!

Among other things...the missionaries here are definitely romantically deprived. We watched "The Testaments'' last night and everytime there was flirting or kissing involved, the whole gym errupted into cheers. Oh my goodness, it was hilarious. Poor Elder Bruce was like, "Two years, man.'' Oh how I love being a missionary and the all the blessing that I receive from the Lord. I hope all of you are recognizing His hand in YOUR life.

I know that this is the true church of Christ, and I know that this is His work!

I love you all so very much,

Sister Bierman

Visas...Say WHAT?!?

Yep, you heard right. Visas came on Wednesday for five missionaries...and no, sorry to keep you in suspense there, but I was not one of them. But that's ok, I'm so glad to be here actually and I totally know that I'm where I'm supposed to be. My companion, Sister Pedersen, and her brother and an elder in my district all got theirs and they are flying out tomorrow morning! I'm going to miss her, but I'm sure glad that Sister Barlow will still be here with me. It would be really hard without her. Everyone that has been getting their visas are from the east coast or northern california.

As for this week at the MTC, we've had some really amazing experiences! I cannot believe how much I am learning and growing here. The Lord is really preparing me for His work. Portuguese is really hard. I didn't expect it to be so hard because I'm a fairly decent student, but it is definitely a challenge! The MTC has a new teaching method that they've just started, and from a teacher's standpoint, it is the best way to teach, but also the hardest way to learn. For not even being here 2 weeks, I am amazed at how much portuguese we can speak. We've taught 5 lessons in portuguese, and we pray and sing in portuguese, and we only speak in portuguese in class and at lunch. It is amazing how much can be accomplished with a little faith, diligence, and the Spirit of the Lord. Oh man, I feel like there is so much to share, I wish I could give more details! As far as our investigator is going, we taught him 5 lessons and committed him to be baptized! Say what?! It was so amazing! I guess I should fill you in that just before we taught our 3rd lesson with him, we found out that Hugo was actually one of our professors playing the character of Hugo (who is a real person in Brazil). At first we were devastated because we had put everything we had into those lessons. We gave him the BOM with our real testimonies, and we prayed for him, and fasted for him, and developed a relationship with him. Sister Barlow and I may or may not have shed some tears. But you know what? It was the most AMAZING experience that I will always cherish, because it was so REAL. The Spirit and all of the emotions we felt, truly came from our heart. And as we continued to teach him, he was still Hugo to us and the Spirit still worked through us and testified of the truthfulness of what we were saying and aided us in our Portuguese speaking. I will probably always remember Hugo as my first investigator. I am really glad for the whole experience, and all that it taught me.

Our speaker at the fireside on tuesday night was Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife! The following is from my journal: "He entered as we were singing "Where can I turn for peace?" and as we stood and Elder Nelson entered the room, I was overcome with the Spirit. So much that I found myself unable to sing comprehensibly as tears strone down my face. I KNEW THAT HE WAS A PROPHET AND APOSTLE OF GOD, without a shadow of a doubt, because I felt the strong Spirit of the Lord that his presence brought. I've never been in such close proximity to a prophet of God. It was amazing. He focused on the Book of Mormom and my testimony has most definitely been fueled tonight. The Spirit has been so strong today and I've has many instances today alone of the perfect thought/inspiration/scripture coming to mind at just the right moment. Huge testimony strengthener."

I never thought I'd say it, but I bought a BRAND NEW Book of Mormon today! Mine are just so marked up, it's hard to focus on what I'm trying to study. So my goal is to read the BOM again by the time I leave the MTC, marking all of the scriptures that apply to the lessons I'll be teaching or people I'll be helping focusing on the colors of the lessons in Preach My Gospel. I figure if I read at least 13 pages a day, I'll finish before I leave. Wish me luck!

Well I love you all and and I know that this gospel is true! I know that Jesus is the Christ and that His Atonement can HEAL us and help us through all of life's adversities. I can't wait for another week to be able to learn and grow and come closer to my Savior. It is my hope and prayer that all of you will strive to do the same. COME UNTO HIM.

One Week Down!

My first five days at the MTC have been JAM PACKED with everything you could possibly think of. As I told you in my letter the first day we were immediately rushed off to class. Our teachers only speak to us in Portuguese and on by our third day, we had to teach a real investigator in PORTUGUESE! Say what? And guess what, it was so cool! Sister Barlow and Sister Pedersen (minhas companheiras) were able to communicate with him and talk to him about his life a little. We taught him a little bit about God and His plan for us, and he asked us about the Atonement and the Garden of Gethsemane. The very next morning at 7:30, we taught our second lesson to him, but it was a little bit discouraging. We found that it is really hard to explain the Atonement when you don't actually speak/understand Portuguese...BUT we did give him a Book of Mormon (the one that Bishop Sutton gave me!) with our testimony and highlighted verses and the Spirit was so strong when he read from it! It was so neat. Today we are teaching him again, but this time we are sticking to the basics of the plan of salvation. Irmao Williams (one of our teachers) reminded us to keep it SIMPLE and remember that we need to focus on just having the SPIRIT in our lessons. I think I've got all of the vocab down and I'm excited to try it out. This week has felt like a giant rollercoaster of spiritual/emotional/physical/mental highs and lows...good thing I LOVE ROLLERCOASTERS! :) Other really neat things...I can pray in Portuguese! My prayers are really limited, but I can still get across what I need to! Our district now has a rule that all prayers have to be in Portuguese from now on. Oh, and being in the missionary choir is AWESOME! Oh how I've missed being in choir so much. Our director is amazing and the Spirit is so strong. We are singing "Consider the Lilies" at the fireside tomorrow.

I think I'm going to really love Sundays here at the MTC. It was a much needed spiritual boost to keep us motivated and focused to push past the frustrations of the language and remember why we are here. Each day is nonstop class, study, class, study, lunch, study...etc. It has to be! The food here...wonderful! I don't know how they do it, but I love it!

I wish I had time to tell you all about what I've learned here so far, but there is so much! But I will share with you the theme of all that I learned yesterday: As it says in Consider the Lilies, "He will feed those who trust in Him..."  Every day we need to make sure that we are putting our FAITH in the Savior and TRUST in the enabling power of His Atonement, and HE WILL FEED US. As it says in 2 Nephi 31:19-20, "...ye mush press forward with a steadfastness in Christ...feasting upon the word of Christ." I know that these things are true, and I challenge all of you to put a little more TRUST in your Savior and feast on His words.

On more recent thoughts

Second things second, I'm too tired to post all that I originally intended, but I will leave with this last thought. On thoughts of miracles, the greatest of all is that 4) we live and die and live again! all thanks to our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our Father in Heaven has blessed us so much to create an eternal plan for us to live with Him again and that He would send His only begotten Son to atone for us and conquer the grave. I'd like to add my testimony to those of President Monson's, “In our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: ‘He is not here: for he is risen.’"

In the light of this past general conference, I'd like to affirm that we have apostles and prophets that speak to us today! How blessed we are to receive such divine guidance. May we all find the strength to put our faith in Christ. For if we can't put our faith in Him, than who?

The lastest of all late happenings

First things first, we've been celebrating a lot of birthdays these past few weeks in my family. After learning extensively about human physiology, can I just say that it is a miracle 1) that we are conceived, 2) that we are born, and 3) that we even are alive today! Do you know how many things have to go right for these things to happen, and that if even one tiny thing goes wrong it could be the end? Beautiful miracles, indeed. Sorry for that little tangent, back to birthdays. This year my mom turned 50! In tribute, I wrote her a poem in the card I made her. I wanted to share this so that you could get a glimpse of what a wonderful lady my mom is, not about my awesome poetry skills (I sorta cringe when I think of you reading this, Cole.) So here's to one of the most influential women in my life:

Fifty years have come and gone.

For some those years are merely time,

But for those of us that you have known,

Precious moments sublime.

For each day you shared some word or deed

That brought kindness to someone in need.

How many lives you may have touched,

It is not known for sure.

But of this much I know is true--

You've touched mine through and through.

If I can but hope to be

Half the woman that you are,

I'd not doubt that I'd succeed

Because I'd touched another's heart.

I love you, Mom!