Let me start off by apologizing to all of everyone that I
haven´t replied to. I can explain. I have 1 hour a week to
email...and 36 email in my inbox. It just isn`t possible and I´m sorry!
Know that I love you still ok?? And I am so very grateful for the
letters too!
Congrats to Maddi!!! And Crystal and Haley and Hayden and
everyone...holy cow! Crystal, I have been thinking about you a lot lately
and I hope you are so so excited! I`ve been praying for you a ton too!
This week...ok. So it was nuts. I think I might
have dropped ten pounds since I`ve been here because we fast all the time and
walk everywhere. But you know what? It´s cool because we see so
many results! We had 3 more baptisms yesterday:) Not two weeks in
Brazil...and 4 baptisms:) Oh I am so happy!! There were definitely
miracles involved in each. Cirley is 17 and stopped us on the street on
my 4th day here. She asked if we were Mormons and wanted to take the
lessons. Uhhh...OK! She went to church for the first time last week
and told us after the baptism that she wanted to be baptized too. She
gave up coffee and all sorts of stuff and has such a strong desire to be good.
She jumped right into YW and she loves it and I love her!! She´s
really patient with my Portuguese too, which is nice because a lot of people
aren`t...
Isabella was another miracle. She is 12 and has been
attending church for a long time, but her mom wouldn`t let her be baptized.
We told our Zone Leaders about this and they decided to come with us to
the lesson. Elder King explained to her mom about baptism and how it was
so good and the Elder Dias gave Isabella an interview to prove to her mom that
she was ready. The Spirit was so strong!!! Her mom agreed and now we have
appointments to teach her brothers and sisters as well :)
Marie Eduarda is adorable and 10. She is the sister of
Valesca, who was baptized last week and she was so excited! She is just
the cutest ever...oh my gosh. Her mom LOVES us but can`t get married
because the father of the family, Bill, is married to another woman....yikes. It`s
super messy. Holy cow, NO ONE in Brazil is married! It´s kind
of a problem! But yeah, anyway, Fatima (the mom) has us over every night
and cooks for us and no one cares that I don`t really say much, so I just sit
back and watch everyone be loud and learn about the gospel while I eat my
delicious Brazilian food and get eaten alive by mosquitos. It`s a good
life!
Sometimes I get frustrated with the language here, but I
can`t believe how fast it is really coming. I love learning and I teach a
few lessons here and there with the help of Sister Seidmann. She is
literally sent straight from God. I have never met ANYONE with more
patience and reverence for this work. She inspires me to do better every
single day and I love her!
I love the kids here in Brazil. They think it´s such a neat trick when I speak English. They want me to start teaching classes here, and I´m more than happy to! That´s a great way to get more investigators! Although we already have 37.
I am very happy here. It´s a life different from
anything that I´ve ever known, but it is teaching me so much about humility and
what is really the most important things. People care about each other and are
willing to help each other and support each other with anything, and it´s cool
to see how the gospel can change families. We see miracles literally on a
weekly basis...and our mission reached its goal of 200 baptisms this month:)
Glory hallelujah to Brazil!!
So we´re getting a foreign exchange student?! What the
heck!? Well cool! Parabens familia! Tell him I say "Bom
dia e espero que voce gosta minha familia! Eles sao MUITO especial!
" With more little accent things over the letters, but I have no
clue how to do those on here. Have fun with him! And have a good
time at EFY Cooper! Get lots of numbers and be sure to text your cow
because that`s always super fun to do. Ok I love you all so much and I
pray for you always! This church is true and MIRACLES HAPPEN and please
help out the missionaries!
Love,
Sister Dana
