Elder Kasey Lightheart

  Matching ties that Elder Souza made for us! "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength" (Doctrine and Covenants 4:2) I've found a newfound love for this section of scripture during my time here in Brazil. My second week here Elder Souza made me memorize all 7 verses in Portuguese, and now I can't stop hearing others quote verses from it. This section talks a lot about missionary work, the gathering of Israel, but I've come to realize that this work isn't just for full time missionaries like me; it's for all disciples of Jesus Christ. "Therefore, if he have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." (V. 3).  This week has been quite difficult as my companion and I have struggled to stay busy and productive during hopefully our last week in lockdown (assuming the date doesn't get pushed back further). As hard as things have been, we have still seen a few miracl...

   Elder Souza and I tuning in for a small portion of my home stake conference. Hey everyone! What a week it has been. It honestly went by super quickly, but don't worry, I do still have a few things to share. This week we had a bit of an emergency transfer with about 20 changes in the mission, because we were receiving 8 more American missionaries. The day before, Elder Souza and I were informed we would be receiving an American missionary named Elder Morales, my MTC companion!! I freaked out and was super excited to see him again and be his companion along with Elder Souza. We started moving furniture in our apartment, making room for him and all his luggage. Then we went to sleep, expecting to pick him up the next day. Then early the next morning, we were informed that one American missionary missed his flight, and that President had made a few adjustments in the transfer, moving Elder Morales to a different companionship. I was pretty bummed, but got over it pretty quickly...

Park Pics! Olá gente. Espero que sua semana foi ótimo! I have to be honest, it's been quite a boring week, but don't worry, I still have a few fun stories to share. Now if you know me, you know I love food, and this week we had one of the best meals I have had in a while! It was the regular rice and beans with some steak, farofa, and grilled onions, as well as some Brazilian stroganoff that Elder Souza made for the day. I have to tell you, stroganoff is one of my favorite Brazilian foods so far. When I was here last year, even though I was only here for about 3-4 weeks, I remember being served stroganoff at almost every meal appointment. But my second time back, I have only had it once so far, until this week I had some again, and thank goodness for Elder Souza's cooking skills, because it was delicious.  Two days ago was Elder Souza's birthday! I had been thinking he was 20 about to turn 21, but turns out he was 21 going on 22. It makes sense since he joined the church...

  Hot sunny day! Man, what a crazy week! From lockdowns to powerful spiritual lessons, this has certainly been an eventful week.  Starting on Tuesday we had an awesome and busy day where we had lunch with a wonderful family and then had a really special lesson about depression, and how we can help others who struggle with depression.  Later that night, we had another lesson with our dear friend Dafine and boy was it special.  We ended up staying a little late talking with the family and Dafine, and she ended up really opening up to us.  She let us know that she really wants to be baptized, but just has a few things in her life keeping her from feeling worthy of taking that step.  But we are determined to keep working with her, to help her along the path, even if that doesn't immediately lead to baptism.  Because honestly, our purpose isn't solely to baptize, that's simply a fruit of our labors, but it is to help others to improve their lives by co...

Pic with Jesus at the chapel! Hello everyone! Yet another week has gone by, and boy was it a roller coaster. I'll be honest, this has been one of the harder weeks for me that I have had, but still filled with the spirit and some fun experiences. Earlier this week. we met for the second time with one of our friends Dafine, who lives with her mom and aunt, who are both members of the church. Our first lesson with her was super special, and this one just as powerful. This time we talked about God's plan of happiness for us, and though she had a few doubts, I think Dafine really resonated with what we shared. Then this Sunday she came to church, like she said she would, and really enjoyed it. Elder Souza and I both feel really good about her, and are thinking about inviting her to be baptized soon, but all in all, I feel such a Christ-like love for this woman and her mom and aunt. They are so sweet! We also went to a little market the other day and bought a bunch of fresh fruit. My...

  Walking to lunch. And just like that I've completed my first full week in Brazil! Or rather I should say my 2nd, 1st full week in Brazil. Haha! It's been a really fun and crazy week! It's been a little long, but that's to be expected and it's been a great week nonetheless. On Tuesday, we took an Uber early in the morning, down to the mission office for some further training for us new missionaries and our trainers as well. It was actually really nice to see the other American missionaries again and see how they were doing. We all admitted that our trainers had been working us super hard with studying the language, but that's not a bad thing at all. It was amazing to me how much we all improved in just a few days. One elder, Elder Gannon, who is super pale, showed up completely red. Yeah, he got very sun burnt. But we had a short meeting with our mission president, then all together with our trainers too, and then had pizza for lunch.  Home-made pizza! I also h...

  Me and my companion, Elder Souza Hello everyone! This week has been crazy! On Wednesday night I drove down with Elder Kofford to Grand Rapids, Michigan to do a little companion swap, and stayed the night with a couple elders in Lansing. The next morning President and Sister Heap picked me up, and I departed for Brazil. Now I am here, in São Paulo again, about the same time of year as last year when I first went to Brazil.  I am honestly so excited to be here again.  The work and mission culture is definitely very different, but I know that I will come to love this mission.  My new companion's name is Elder Souza, and he has about 2 months left on his mission.  He actually served in Ghana Africa, English speaking, so he speaks very good English.  He is an awesome guy, and super funny, yet hard working as well. Currently, I am serving in the area Bras Cubas, a smaller part of the mission, but still not super rural.  I actually quite like the ward ...