5/19/14

Hey everybody!!! So wow, it's only been a week, but it feels like it's been waaay longer. Okay, well where to begin. This week was pretty great. I missed my trainee Sis B a lot...and Sp...and C. But I'm loving the new area and L and I are working hard. She was with a sick comp last transfer and is really excited to be able to work now. The best part of Ala 1 is that it shares church houses with Ipiranga, my old ward!!! Wahoo, wow, Sunday was so awesome you guys. I got to see everyone from Ipiranga and they all remembered me. It felt so great to be around people that remembered and loved me even after all this time. Sometimes we wonder if we will leave and just be forgotten, but the members don't forget and it's so good to be received with open arms. The ward now has awesome members, and the Bishop is super great too. I'm really pumped, because there are some awesome people, and we just need to unify them and get them more excited about missionary work. The Bishop is really open to new ideas, which is super nice because that was one of the difficulties in my other area. Okay, but the best part of this week was a super huge miracle/ tender mercy on Saturday. So, because I left Jabo, I didn't get to be there for R's baptism yesterday. (it went great by the way) But the elders had a baptism here and so we went to help them. Then, I found out Ipiranga had a baptism after. Guess who it was: Th (C's daughter) and her boyfriend Dan. Wow, so Sperry and I are the ones that started teaching her when she was super wishy washy and didn't really care and by the time we left, she was coming to church. But past that, I didn't know what would happen with her. I didn't get to see C's wedding or baptism, but I was here for her daughter. That family is the closest thing I have to a family here in Brazil, so it was like being at my sister's baptism. Wow, God is so good, because He perfectly timed it so that I would have a baptism even though I missed R's. Even more perfect was the fact that she still was a little wishy washy about the baptism, but with me there helping her, she went for it. So perfect. Her boyfriend is so awesome. It's incredible to see the change in him. I remember when Th told us he wanted a book of Mormon, but we didn't even know he had been listening in on our lessons with C. One day, he was across the street hanging out with his friends, but me and Sperry walked over and gave him a BOM. I thought he would be annoyed or embarrassed, but later he told the elders that he knew then that everything was true. He just never told us. Wow, we really never know the difference that we make. Sunday was so great. I saw that my less actives were still going to church and staying strong. One of them is going to the temple soon. There are many moments in the mission when I have felt like a failure. Many many moments, but this week reminded me that I'm not here for nothing. I just have to trust that God has a purpose for me. 

Okay one last request: Members, please support your missionaries. You really have no idea what the work is like, what that area is like, what is really going on until you work side by side with them. Before you criticize or judge their work, please ask them how you can help first. They will gladly accept it!! And if they don't...well then I guess you can judge. Please, trust them a little more. Have confidence that God put them there for a reason. There is no such thing as a useless missionary. Sometimes he just needs a little more support, or sometimes its not him that's at fault at all. Please just....be good to the missionaries. Its really not food that we need. We are already fatter than ever before lol. Its support and confidence and HELP. Please remember that we have left EVERYTHING to SERVE your ward. We don't have a family and we aren't getting paid and we didn't get a special training. We are literally just doing our best to serve the Lord and His children. Your love means more than you will ever know. A missionary never forgets the members that helped.