1-7-2013

mom!!! how are ya darlin!! things here are just dandy....hot and sweaty :) this week was...well a week! im more tired than i have been since iv been here, but the work is going.

 

 we had a baptism saturday night! nossa!! i have to tell you about this. every baptism we´ve had has been an adventure!!! lucas! he has been to church the past 2 months and is dating a recent convert here. hes 16 and the kid to question everything!! hes super smart! his dads a preacher too....BUT hes such a good kid! hes already been following the commandments before we taught him(minus cafe!) but he didnt want to be baptized until he could say for sure that he knows these things are true!

 

  mama, for weeks weve been trying to teach him about the spirit and the feelings he received is confirmation! well out of the blue one day he said,...yah i wana get baptized! WHAT!!! well we knew he did cuz hes been talkin about a mission, but we didnt know when. so we set the date for last sunday, sunday rolls around, hes a noshow! we go to his house and nada! his mom didnt sign the papers!

   but saturday, 2 days ago he was baptized!!! that same day(sat) we had lunch in another city and its always an adventure when we go there bc the onibus passes only certain hours and dont have alot! so we waited at the ponto de onibus for a hr only to find out that it didnt run that route because it was sat! so we had to pagar..er pay for another bus to the central and pay anotther on to pedra linda! so 3hrs and 2 onibusses later we get to almoco..er lunch at 1500! we have baptismal interview at 1600! good thing lucas was running late from work!

  oh and the capela didnt have water again! this is normal here, the churches hardly ever have water lol i think its kinda funny! but we baptized him in a pool :) but it was so spiritual. sis namura and i sang nearer my god to thee! afterwards i asked lucas how he felt: lucas! how do you feel right now! and he just looked at me and with a huge grin on his face he said in english: happy!! its amazing to see the change in people! it was sucha good night! oyah that same night i got 12 cards :) our dl went to the mission office and brought back our mail lol i was super elated!!!

 but other things that happened that i remember, we were at an investigators house waiting for him to come to the door and we saw a boy on a bike ride by us and close behind him a donkey was chasing him haha it was so funny!!! its normal to see donkeys and horses and dogs roaming the streets! but it was really funny!

we saw a guy on a motorcycle riding by and he had a dead chicken in his hand. haha never seen that before!

OH!! i was at the rs pres house (leticia) love her! but we were at her house and she loves english! she cant speak it or nothin but she loves it. so they made me give the message in english! i tried to give a lunch message in english, mama it was super hard!!! so i gave it in english and depois em portuges! lol but she loves when i sing in english too haa shes so funny!

 we have a baptism this sunday, william! oh mama talk about a golden contact. hes a referral andhe lives a hr away but hes here for work. hes 19 and ijust love him!!! he quit smoking and drinking coffee 2months ago...we were here 2months ago but didint meet him until 2weeks ago. the lord realy does put people in our paths who are ready! well i didnt think he was going to be at church on sunday, i thought he was guna be back home but we get to church on sunday and there he is...mama i almost cried i was so happy to see him! but we taught him that night, man he is SO prepared! tipo hes going to be the type whos really converted. hes already talkin mission and he went to the mission prep class! same with antonio marcos! he was baptized ithink 2weeks ago!

antonio marcos was supposed to be confirmed 2weeks ago but last week didnt come to church and sunday he was there but left before sacrament mtg. he left with a friend....ggrrrr he needs new friends!!!!

i really feel like these people these kids are my own kids! i just want to protect them and want them to be strong in the church!

OH! so we met a less active family i think a month ago and i really felt a connection with them! jose porfino! its him his wife and 2 kids here. claudiani is 23 and pregnant and cleybson is 24. jose porfino sells beer haha so when we were there we were basicaly in a bar....que legal!! but they were sooo cool! but they still didint go to church for a few weeks. weve been visiting with cleybson these past 2 weeks or so tryna get him to come back to church. he loves to sing and dance! hes super cool and oman he can sing! but anyways sunday was a miracle...cleybson wasnt there but his dad was! the last one in the family i woulda thought go to church! jose and juliana i think is his wifes name, they were there, almost cried when i saw them too!!!

  i see miracles everyday here, and i love it! i feel like i experience every type of emotion every day, but i love it! its hard, super hard, but its super rewarding! the blessings and miracles weigh out the moments of stress and the hard times!

 sis namura and i are doing a "santification" right now, we started with a fast and are striving to do things more correctly and change things about us to better missionaries. and so one of mine is to really be happy. i feel so serious alll the time! i think cuz were always late and im trying to be exactly obedient, i pray every night for confidence. maybe one day ill get it!! but i love this work, i love this area! i love bein a missionary!!! i love seein the gospel change peoples lives, im hopin it changes mine!!!!

thank everyone in the ward. i got the christmas letters and i loved them! theyre in my folder :)

ilvoe you

mosias 15:7...i want to be this obedient!!!

love you

sister benedict