So I am thinking that I probably scared a lot of people with
my last letter. Probably...definitely...yes. So I will explain a
little better everything that happened this week, ok? We finished
emailing and went to try to clean the house...not even possible. We
decided to forget it for a while and go find the Bishop´s house. After
getting lost, we finally got there and they were so excited to have us!
We learned a bit about the ward and everything here, then headed home.
President called us at like 9:30 to see how everything was going, and I
spilled about the house. He asked if we could sleep in it, and I said
"No way José." There are some things that you just don´t do.
We couldn´t even sit down, much less sleep in that place. Thus, he
and Sister Bigelow put on their capes and hopped in their mission-mobile and
arrived here in Ouro Preto at 11pm. As soon as Sis Bigelow walked in, she
gasped and goes, "Girls! Pack your bags NOW!!!" It was
bad....really bad. There was a lot of bad stuff that went down there too,
so President took a bunch of pictures and then we drove over to the Sisters´
house in Recife. It was DEFINITELY a relief!!! President was
thinking about sending us to another area, but Sister Piza (from Franca, São
Paulo) and I really felt like this area was the right place for us to go.
So he called up the handyman, Reginaldo, and planned to do a cleanup
there and send us back in a few days.
Sister Fuoco and Sister Dickson, a newbie, and the sisters
there and they were angels to us. The house in Recife is a TINY
apartment, so we were all pretty cozy for a few days, but it was fun! We
just went out in their area and found a bunch of new people for them to teach
the whole week. It was great! No appointments, nothing, just going
out and teaching anyone and everyone in the city. I´ve never served in
the city before, so I really liked it. A few highlights: Since I´m
an STL, I went to my last leadership meeting this week. It was really
good to learn a lot about how the mish is going to change and how things will
improve. I´m so sad that I won´t be able to see too much of it!
Also, Sister Fuoco and I are now great pals! She taught me this
delish way to cook eggs, and I taught her to tease her hair. She thought
it was the best thing of her life. See, I´m not crazy!
On Friday night, Prez called saying that our house was
ready! 12 hours of a cleaning crew in there. Not even kidding.
So he took us over that night and it was perfect :) Spotless,
beautiful, ready to be worked! Presidente dedicated it for us, and then
the next day we got to work! This area....I love it. I have no idea
how they haven´t been having baptisms here! We are able to get lessons
pretty easily and there are SO MANY HOUSES! Honestly, I adore this place.
The Bishop, (who served in the same mish as dad, just came home in ´91)
is thrilled to have sisters. He and his family took us around in their
car on Saturday night to see the area and introduce us to the members, then
they brought us to their house for tapioca after :) His wife, Dirô, told
us how she has been praying and praying for a miracle to save this ward, and
when she saw us at the door on Saturday, she knew that things were about to
change and the Lord had listened to her. It felt so GREAT! At
church yesterday, everyone was super welcoming and excited. This is going
to be an AWESOME experience.
Now I know why Heavenly Father sent us here. I was
soooo happy in Gravatá, but Gravatá is a strong ward, you know? It
doesn´t need the missionaries like this ward does. We are going to make a
real difference here and help this ward come alive again. Goal: by the
end of this transfer, we´ll have enough work going to bring in another set of
sisters. It´s gonna happen, just wait.
Ok, congrats to my best friend in the whole world for a
great homecoming talk. Know that I was def praying for her this week!
But I knew that she would do such a great job...she is just like, my fave
person in the world. AND Cooper is going to sing and dance...what?
Wow. Things really do change in a year and a half! But there
is no way in heck that I would let him bail out of this trip to Brasil!!!
I have so much stuff to show him! Ahhhh time is passing really
fast...I hate it. Anyway, good luck with school and work, and
congratulations to Shiloh and Danika!! Love you guys!
Love,
Sister Dana
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