Sister Shelby Lynn Dana: I Hope this Next Baptism Will Be Ise...

Pronounced "Easy". Get it?? Probably not, because I haven´t told the story yet. But I will right now! Ready, go. So Ise is this girl that is dating one of the less active guys here, Jonas. Marilza, Jonas´s mom, is a recent convert that I adore. I have NEVER met anyone with such a desire to share the gospel. And that includes missionaries. This lady is the best. Seriously, you go into her house and you know who Joseph Smith is. Her daughter, Jo, had a cold the other day and Marilza goes, "Jo! Have more faith! If you had more faith, you wouldn´t have a cold!" Loveee her! So anyway, she is so sad that her son, Jonas, is less active and wants to do everything that she possibly can to help him come back. So when he got a girlfriend a few weeks ago, the first thing she did was call us over! This week, we have been teaching Ise nonstop. It is wonderful! She feels the Spirit so strongly and says that she knows that God is listening when she prays. When we taught her the Restoration with Marilza...oh man, it was so cool. Marilza just was bawling the whole time and she said, "Every time I hear the story of this vision, I just cry!!" Ise came to church with Marilza this week and we have her baptism marked for next week. Oh I am praying so hard that it happens! I can only imagine what the work would be like if all members were like unto Marilza. (BoM junkies will get that...) She is well known for saying, "These churches...everyone just doesn´t understand! Why don´t they all just get baptized into the true church of Jesus Christ?!" I want to just carry her around with me in my pocket. Also she makes WONDERFUL lasagna.

We invited our recent convert, Paula, to come teach a lesson with us this week too. It was one of my favorite lessons of my mission, I think. It wasn´t super profound, and the lady we taught doesn´t even want us to come back. But Paula bore her testimony and I felt the Spirit SO STRONGLY in the room that I almost started to cry right there. As we left, I just got this feeling of how much Heavenly Father loved Paula and how happy He was that she got baptized and got that much closer to coming home to Him. She now has two callings and said the prayer in church yesterday:) I think that we baptized an angel, I really do.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to stop teaching José Luis. This makes me so so so sad, because he knows everything is true and has a desire to make changes. The problem is that his natural man is stronger than his desire to change I guess. He won´t come to church or anything anymore, which broke my heart. We taught him the Plan of Salvation on Saturday night and I just couldn´t believe all of the deep insight that he had and the way that he understood everything so easily. At the end of the lesson, he told us that he had a dream about us. He said that in the dream, he walked into the church and we were there, but the inside of the church was different and everyone was all dressed in white. He then proceeded to describe the inside of the Recife Temple and said thata guy in a suit came over to him and gave him a hug and said, "You are safe here." I was pretty blown away by that one. Another proof that this gospel is soooo true. It just makes me sad when people are given testimony after testimony and...well, you know, now is just probably not his time.

In happier news, I WENT TO A WEDDING!!!!! That´s right, first one of my life. It was so great! Gosh, I love weddings. Nandara and Jadson got married!! Oh goodness, I almost just cried. They are so dang cute and I took a ton of pictures! It was really simple, just us and their family in the Bishop´s office, but the Spirit was there and now they are preparing for sealing in a year and all will be dandy! Have I mentioned how I love weddings? One of the highlights of the mission, fo sho!

Amanda and Eduardo, the testimonies

Jadson and his mommy:)

Nandara and her mom

We got to walk too!

How precious...ohmygosh I am dying...

I <3 WEDDINGS.

Us with the newlyweds!! Ahhh!!!!

Cooper, about the patriarchal blessing. I have gained the biggest testimony of those things out here. It isn´t some voodoo fortune teller garbage. That stuff is not real. Patriarchal blessings are given to help remind us of the potential that we have, not just in this life, but in eternity. Our Heavenly Father knew us from the very beginning and knows our personalities and weaknesses. He knows exactly how to help us and these blessings are a proof of that. Many, many times, I have found so much comfort in knowing that when everything seems to be going wrong, I have a guide to keep me centered and focused on the real goal: the Celestial Kingdom. Knowing my divine nature has given me a huge desire to help other people learn theirs. Imagine how the world would be different if all of God´s children knew where they come from and what He has planned for them? They wouldn´t make nearly as many mistakes, that´s for sure. Also, Show Choir? Oh man. Well, we have to try out all sorts of stuff, don´t we?

Anyway, that´s my bit. I hope that everything goes well with the trek and I can´t wait to hear about it! I love you guys so much and hope you have a wonderful week. Also. sooo glad that Cooper and Winn are better!

Love,

Sister Dana