Kylie's letter 12/10/12

This week has been super duper hot. It was 105 Saturday. yeah. 105 and sunscreen and church clothes don't really mix. Here in Rio they have the custom to do 2 kisses instead of 1 on the cheek when you greet people and I have been opting for the oí tudo bem? and end it at that. Who wants to kiss a sweaty missionary that has been walking in the sun the whole day.

This week has been good. We are preparing a Senhora that is trying to stop smoking. Today is her goal to stop completely. She needs prayers. Her name is Mara. She is really sweet. She said she prayed for God to help her find a church a place that she could call her own and we showed up at her door clapping. Cool how God works isn't it?! Her date is for this Sunday I hope all turns out well.

And our little family is progressing too. They still need to get on the ball with the wedding.

Funny stories of the week are: elect scorpions and the law.

There has always been scorpions in every area, but here there are elect scorpions. I had gotten to the point of thinking that men don't really stop us to talk to us about religion. I had stopped being gullible and thinking that they actually want to hear something about the gospel. So with this attitude, I have just started to tell them to come to church and then we can talk. To my utter surprise they have been coming to church. One guy in particular ran (literally was sprinting after us and yelling for us to stop) after us yesterday and started talking about what church we were from and then started talking about English and my heritage and etc. etc. And he tried to get our information but I was not buying it. I told him we weren't here to talk to people about life and to play around etc.But we are here to baptize people, and if he wanted to talk about the gospel he could. And he was trying to be all convincing and saying things like - yeah I want to talk about the gospel I want to change my life etc. Etc. I wasn't buying it. I finally told him, that I know the men here and I have never had anyone run after me to talk about religion. He finally got on to what I was meaning. And he said, no I am not interested in you. (In my head I am thinking yeeeah right) Then I said - OK then go to church and if you go we will get your address and start visiting you. Then he asked me my name and got my name and started to leave. Very annoyed  and wanting to catch him in his words - I said - don't you want to know her name (pointing to Sister Moyano). And he said No and then did a double take realizing exactly what he just did and said that actually he did want to know her name. HA! I told you so... 

 MEN!!!!! What they will do for blond hair and blue eyes. And to my utter surprise. He came to church. He is the second of these elect scorpions that follow through with commitments. And we got his address. We will see how it will go. I have a very strong testimony that even scorpions can be touched by the spirit. So we will see how it goes. His name is Bruno.

Also this week we have had several people ask us if we are from the law and if we are CIA agents. Yep that is right. What a great undercover disguise. One particular encounter we were looking for a less active that apparently is in jail. And the man we asked for information. such as if he knew him, and where he lives etc. asked us if we were from the law. And we kind of laughed and said, "No". Then he got all scared and kept saying, - "No, I don't know anything, I don't know anything. Nope - Nothing".

Haha. Yep - we are from the Celestial law. I would be pretty scared too if two girls in cute flowery dresses and skirts showed up at my door.

Good luck with finals and wedding stuff. Remember that Christmas is all about Jesus Christ and the mission he came to accomplish. To pay for our faults, weaknesses, and sins. But He lives. And we will too.

 Spread the love. Proclaim the joy. And share the gospel!

love you all

ky

This is me and my cute little companion in the rain the one rainy day. here is way dryer than Vitoria. I like the sun better than the rain.

Kylie's Letter 12-3-12

CRAZZZZZY! it is already december. And it is nice and HOT! Time is just flying by! And things are going great. I think we are going to have a baptism this next week. It is the mom of the family we are teaching she is working on quitting smoking. Pray for her to have strength to stop. Her name is MARa. 

But this week was great! here are the highlights. 

- the family we are teaching asked us to be godmothers. So I now have three god daughters and I will be the one to carry the rings down the aisle. Shique huh! 

- One of my goddaughters has lice and I did her hair this Sunday. I have been washing my hair with vinegar this week to prevent lice. okay- so maybe I am a little over the top but I really dont want lice. So I have smelled like salad dressing all week. 

- My family from Quissamã came to stake conference yesterday. It was a great reunion. And My family that I taught for the last 3 months I was there, are getting married and baptized next week. So me and Sis Z are gonna try and work somthing out to get to see the wedding and the baptisms and do our baptisms here as well. There will be just too much happiness next weekened I dont know if I will be able to handle it. 

- spiritual moment--thought of the week. I have been learning how to be a good leader. And guess what it is? The same thing as missionary work. To be a missionary we help people come unto Christ throught faith, repentance, making and keeping sacred covenants until the end. And guess what- that is the same thing you should do with anyone and everyone. The real way to help people is the help them let Christ help them. And that is throught increasing their faith that will then lead them to repentance and the desire to keep their covenants. It all starts with faith and their relationshiop with God and their Savior and everything else just falls into place. 

But that is all for this week. Dan sent me a bunch of pics. And oh my goodness MASON IS HUGE!!!!!! weird wierd weird. 

Love you alll super duper muito muito. 

tchau

ky

ps The pic is of me and my zone. My little comapnion is on the far left. And I am on the far right. Just in case you didnt recongize me . 

Kylie's letter 11/26/12

Dear family

This week was great. Monday we went to Walmart, which wasn't that great. But whatever. They had cream cheese. But this week was really good. Filled with spiritual experiences.

Our family is wanting to be baptized. I had them say a prayer to confirm everything they were feeling. They had some really cool experiences with opening up to the Bible and the Book of Mormon to inspired verses. It is just going to take forever for them to get married. But we are working on it.

It is so nice to be in an Ala. Everything runs so much smoother and Sundays are actually not stressful. I just sit back and watch the members in action. It is a nice change, I can focus more on being a missionary instead of Sunday school teacher, relief socity counselor, etc.

Highlights of this week –

-          It is getting to be suuuuuper hot.

-          There is a man from Bahia that wants to marry me

-          We ate homemade tacos with homemade tortillas!!! Thanks to my nifty difty recipe book I brought along

-          Cockroaches in my suitcase

-          We taught a profeta (a young girl) who claimed she had the authority

I love this area. And I love being a missionary. And I love preaching the gospel. I was talking with Sis Z who is living with me (tender mercy) and we were talking about some missionaries who are wanting to get back to real life. And as we were talking we concluding that the mission is as real as life get. When it all comes down to it. What we do everyday is the only thing that really matters. Helping others and ourselves come closer to Cristo to one day inherit eternal life which is the greatest of all gifts. I don’t know about you guys – but I am pretty excited for eternal life. So – spread the love this holiday season and help everyone remember what real life really is. When our joy will be completed and we will live in a state of never ending happiness. (way better than the fairy tales – and they lived happily ever after…)

Love you guys

Sis P

Kylie's letter November 19, 2012

Buenas Dia!!!

Minhas queridas! This week was soooo good! Let me tell you what happened. 

So the first week here was ridiculous, we were cutting all of the investigators that the elders had and we were teaching about two or three lessons every day which isn't very much for Brazil. And it seemed like everyone we talked to had already received the missionaries and they were super rude etc etc. It was rough. So to start off the week last week, I did a special fast and prayed my guts out after lunch to have Heavenly Father bless me with a family or at least one person. I explained to Him that my mission was coming to an end and that I was willing to work really really hard until the very last day, but I would like to find someone somewhere that needs our message. And I told Him that I had no idea where they were but I knew He did, so I told Him that I would talk to every single person I felt a prompting without a hesitation and I would try even harder to step up our pace here and beat down every single door here if I had to. 

That day I did exactly that and it was amazing. It was raining and usually it is kind of annoying to work in the rain because you are up to you knees at times in rain and you are wet all day etc. But I decided to be happy about it. And it was actually a very fun day. Every single person we passed in the street that I felt the prompting `talk to him`I did it without hesitation and the results were amazing, we found people that had actually never heard of the church before and marked times to meet with them. The end of this day we picked a street to clap doors and the first door we came to a woman answered and she let us in. We left a message about family prayer and marked a time to come back. We came back and she and her husband and her two little girls and her mother in law were there too. We taught the first lesson and after the woman her name is Naiara said that the first day that we knocked on her door she had just finished talking to Andre her fiancé about religion and everything and how it was weird that there was so many churches and then bingo! we showed up. And she felt a feeling to let us in. They had some doubts about the Book of Mormon and André who has a lot of knowledge about the Bible understood everything really well and it made sense to him, but he had a doubt about the Book of Mormon because there is a verse in revelation that talks about you can't add anything to the Bible etc. I explained about that he was only talking about the Bible only and that the Book of Mormon is here only to add to the truths it is an additional testament of Jesus Christ. And miraculously he totally understood it on a level that he himself recognized the spirit was confirming that John was really only talking about the Bible. After that he was sold. And he wanted to get baptized Monday, but we explained that there are some things that need to happen first. His wife was still a little skeptical and after we left she looked up Mormons on the internet and got all scared but when she told her husband her husband (hallelujah) showed her that you cant trust the internet. He looked up things about Jesus Christ that said Jesus was a demon. And with our next visit she said that she felt the spirit enter the home as we entered and she too wants to get baptized. The grandma doesn't really understand a lot but she feels the spirit and felt the spirit during our visits and she too is determined to stop smoking and get baptized too. The just need to get taught the commandments and get married and this will add one more family to the Lord. I didn't expect God to answer my prayer so quickly. But I am so grateful for this and so grateful that Sister Moyano will be a part of this. Actually it was probably her faith and prayers that got us this family too. She is a great little missionary a little nervous when teaching but she is really sweet. She will get to practice teaching all the commandments and all the lessons. Something I didn't get to do until six months in the mission. Haha - vitória definitely was a lot harder than this area. but that is the great story of the week!! They are an amazing family Naiara, Mara, André, Dafne, e Jenifer. The cutest little girls in the world. 

other fun things that happened. 

- It has been raining a ton and when it rains it pours and at times were are up to our mid calves in the rain.

- We talked to a homeless guy on the street- I actually got a really strong prompting to talk to him, and he walked with us for a bit, and as we were walking he shouted to a bunch of men he knew as we passed. Each time he called them by name and told them if they ever saw people messing with us that they should help us. And that they should keep an eye out for us. So now we not only have the angels with us we have an added protection of the local city gang. It is kind of funny the respect people here have for missionaries and people of the church. I have heard several stories of missionaries getting robbed and when the robbers realizes they are missionaries he gives them their wallets back and lets them go. Brazil has really strong roots in Christianity. kind of cool. 

- This area is great. It is in the city. We have really nice neighborhoods on one side of the train tracks on the other side there are ghettos. The worst ghettos I have ever seen in all of my areas. We avoid those areas. 

- We went to Walmart today - bonus of living in the city they have fun stuff like that

- Some man shouted super duper rude things at us shaking his Bible at us int he hand as we walked past and he invited us/told us to come study the bible with him. I walked past him two times on purpose just to be really nice and say hello good after noon super sticky sweet just to make him mad. I kind of wanted to ask him if he believed in the same Jesus Christ that taught us to love one another. But I am not sure if he would know who I was talking about.

But that is about it for the week. Love all of you so much thanks for your prayers. And have fun with Thanksgiving. Eats lots of yummy American food. And know that I am so thankful for every single one of you and for this Gospel. It is true and I know it.

love you

ky

Kylie's letter 11/12/12

So here is the scoop. i got transferrrred tooooooo .............................CAMPOS; which is still in the state of Rio. So I am in the same zone just moved cities. Instead of the country I am in the big city. Super fun to passiar [walk] on p-day; but to work--not so fun. We are doing 2 or 3 lessons a day which is kind of hard after 7 to 8 in Quissamã. I think I will stay here until the end. Random because the mission is the state of Espirito Santo but the majority of my mission has been outside of it. Haha. But it was a tender mercy. I really wanted to stay in Quissama but God had different plans. So he puts me in the same stake as Quissamã and my ward has two of the stake counselors. So that means I can directly talk to them about the branch and get them on the ball helping the forgotten little branch. And I will be able to go to the wedding and baptism of the families I taught and I will get to see the members when they come here for stake stuff. Whoohooo! And I am training a little gal from Argentina. she´s cute. Basically just speaks Spanish all the time and I keep having to remind her to forget Spanish and speak Portuguese. And I was also made district leader. I know - weird huh?! I really did not want to be district leader. I have never really liked district meetings And so serves me right. I got called as district leader and I take care of the first district of sisters. which also means I have a bajillion things to do on the computer today. All the things I never know the district leaders had to do. All the elders have been teasing me and saying i have sisterdocio. which is a mix of sister and sacerdocio = priesthood, in port. also means i get to do divisions with the LZ and the assistants. This is not what I signed up for. But I'm sure the lord has something to teach me while doing it. So sorry this email is lame. I have so much to do and so many emails to update etc etc. but just pray that we can enter into these houses and find the elects. This area is super hard. Reminds of Vitoria. But it will all be good. Sure love you guys a toooon.

Kylie's letter and pictures 11-5-12

Gotta to be quick. Tomorrow is transfers and both me and sis z were transferred. We are going by train and I have no idea where I am gonna end up. This week was hard. we are leaving a lot of wonderful families. Yesterday the branch had testimony meeting and everyone talked about us and bore testimony about missionary work. And our little family we are teaching bore testimony, and I sat up in front by the keyboard bawling my eyes out. Then last night they did a little party for us. It was wonderful. Its been really dark and rainy here and I have just wanted to roam the streets on my bike soaking in all of the memories of this little town. I love these people so much. But I know that I will love my new area too. I will send pics because this email is super duper short. But I will be training next transfer and it looks like the transfer after that i will pick up another greenie and be training two at a time. Oh joy!!!

Love you all

ky

Kylie's letter 10-29-12

Fam

This week was great – here are the details

- Bought my first hammock! So I wasn't even interested in buying it but
this poor guy comes up to us and starts with 30 reais. And he starts
going down to 25 than 20 and kept pushing 20. I was trying to get rid
of him and told him we would buy it for 10 reais which is 5 bucks
super cheap. Thinking he would leave us, but he agreed and Sis. Z and I
bought our 5 dollar Brazilian hammocks! Whoohooo! Poor guy i think he
was just trying to get money to pay for a bus ticket out of Quissamã.
Haha.

- This week I discovered the fun of catching chickens and little chicks.
It is incredibly entertaining and super difficult. A bunch of our
investigators have these little animals running all over their yards
and the kids will run and catch them, and I joined them too. And i
  don't think I have ever had so much fun on the mission. The poor little
things start squawking and squawking. But it is so triumphant when you
actually grab one and hold their cute little fluffy bodies in your
hand. que alegria!

- I also met my new hippie boyfriend. And guess what?! He is a member!
So we planned it all out, I'll finish my mission and come back and
reactivate him and then we will get married and travel Brazil,
  Brazilian hippie style! He made me a rose out of a palm leaf! What
can I say- I have a thing for hippies and they have a thing for me!

- This week I got my first dose of heat rash. Summer is starting to
creep in, and I was starting to get mosquito bites (or so I thought)
And I was telling my companions, the mosquitos really ate me last
night etc etc. And then that night when I was taking a shower I
noticed a huge rash all over my body with big welts and we concluded
must be heat rash. That night I couldn't sleep because my whole body
was itching soooo bad. But sis Z had this medbond stuff that I used,
and it is going away now, and I just have little splotches now and
then. Oh the joys of Brazil!

- Also this week we went to another historical museum that happened to
be at the same time as a whole bunch of students from a near by city.
And we the Americans- sono became one of the extractions. They also
wanted to take pictures of us and with us. What can I say – we are
pretty cool.

- Also sister z and I have started teaching seminary here and we have been creating a scripture mastery cd with music. I love seminary! 

- also spiritual thought of the week - one of the elders gave this for a training for district meeting he talked about the gospel and how in the gospel you have to know that it is true, feel that is true, and act like it is true. These three verbs - to know, to feel, and to do - and that is what makes a true follower of Jesus Christ. I really liked that - because there are people here with all sorts of combinations some know and feel it but don't do anything about it, others feel and do it but don't know much, others etc. But with the three together is a powerful combination. All of us can be better about knowing the gospel, feeling the gospel, and living the gospel. 

amo vocês. And happy Halloween this week!!! We are having a Halloween p-day today and carving pumpkins - or we are going to try to carve pumpkins. they are different here more like squash! but that is okay!

love you all

ky

Kylie's letter 10/22/12

This week was pretty normal. nothing super duper extraordinary happened. It was a good week this week, we reached our goals in lessons and then some on Friday so that made Saturday and Sunday less hectic. I am sending a bunch of pictures to make this email more exciting but here goes this week:

This week I ate my first Brasilian coconut, one of the families we are teaching gave us a whole bunch and we used our creativity to open them. The water is apparently really healthy but I felt like I wanted to throw up when I drank it. It wasn't that good. But the meat was pretty good - due to the fact that is PACT with saturated fatty acids. My favorite! (I still have random dietetic facts floating in my head) 

Also this week we have been scoping out a few new neighborhoods to work in. This last week we went to Macadinha which is a super historical place they had a little museum there that we happened upon knocking on doors. So the houses are where the slaves were kept, so it is just one huge building with a bunch of doors. We taught 4 lessons in one hour it was great. It was just one house after another. And the museum is in one of the units that we clapped at thinking it was a house but lo and behold a tour guide met us and took us on a mini tour of this little memorial they have. the only problem is it is way far away from the church and they don't have buses on Sunday.... so we will see what happens. 

This week we had a fireside and our choir presentation it was great. I love Brazilians. They all sing with a lot of gusto even when it isn't the right notes. the spirit was felt. 

All this week our families are going super well. the one family of Adriano e Adriana - the one with the sister in Rio that is a member. They are progressing slowing but surely. The husband said that he likes how we taught and that we are different from other churches instead of insisting that it is true we just bear simple testimony and let them find out for themselves. He told his wife after we left (she told us after)that he didn't want to read the Book of Mormon because if he read it and believed it he would have to stop drinking. This is actually great because that means he understands what we are trying to do and our purpose. The next visit he had read until page 20! They are a great family. My second real family that I have taught on the mission! WHOOOHOOOOO!!!!

But that is about all for this week! The mission is great! I love feeling the spirit everyday and helping others better their lives! I love Brazil and I love quissamã and I love you all!!!

happy week! 

sis p

    

Kylie's letter 10/15/12

One of the most common questions that we get after we introduce ourselves is if we know Justin Beiber. So we have just started throwing that line into our contacts - Hello, my name is Sister Peterson and we are missionaries of the chruch of Jesus Christ, and no we don't know Justin Beiber. But could we come and visit you and your family another day...?

And you also know that you have a lot of time in one area when the little children in the street yell your name as you ride past. 

buuuut

this week was grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! 

We had an branch activity at the beach!!!! Whoohooo! And I got burnt to a crisp. But it was all worth it. We went to the beach and the kids swam and I played soccer with the irmãos and young men of the branch - there is a rule that the sisters cant play soccer with the elders but they never said anything about playing with other members of the church. So, I played my heart away and held my own against these Brasilian soccer fanatics. It was so fun. I also cut a huge chunk off of my big toe playing. I think I stepped on a shell or something. But it is all good now. We had a Brazilian barbecue with rice and farofa. It was great. I love Brazil. 

This week we will enter the process for the marriage of Ana maria and Jorge. They are doing so great. I will try to attach some pictures of them. Ana maria bore her testimony yesterday and it was so cute. She talked about all he blessings she has in her life now because of the church. They are such a simple family but they are feeling all of the blessings that they restored gospel has to offer. I love them. this past week we baptized Luanna the daughter of Ana maria that lives with another mom, and everything went great with the baptism. 

This week we had some miracles happen. We have been working really hard in this neighborhood and getting a lot of cold shoulders and I have been praying my guts out to find people prepared by the Lord, and while we were entering a house of a lady we had contacted in the street, her sister, who was there,  said - "Oh hey, I am Mormon too." And both me and sister Z took a step back and said, "Wait, what did you say?!" Turns out this investigator´s sister already is a member. She and her husband  were baptized earlier this year and they are trying to move into this neighborhood.  They have a bunch of family here including the family were were about to teach; and so we got all of their addresses and we are going to start teaching them all. We also ran into the mother in law of this sister in another part of the neighborhood.  She was there to get her birth certificate so she could be baptized and we grabbed the addresses of her and her family that live here as well. It was way cool to be united with the other missionaries in Rio and see how their work is bringing fruits for our side of the mission. This truly is a marvelous work and a wonder. 

This week we are working on a choir. They don't sing very well, but the spirit is so strong. We will perform in a fireside this weekend. And it will be super sheeky! 

Also this week - I ate a fish head complete with the eyes and everything. and I also ate cow stomach. They make this soup stuff with it and you can see all the micrvilli and everything. You cant really chew it, you just kind of slurp it down. I almost died. 

I love the mission and I love you all! 

Fique firme forte!!

tchauzinhos e beijos! 

ky

Kylie's letter 10/8/12

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! So me
and my comp were crammed into a single little cubicle in a internet
cafe shop thinger that was boooooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiling hot
listening to conference in English. I love speaking Portuguese and
listening and all that jazz but the translators just don't cut it with
the real thing. So there we were listening and sweating all cramped in
this little space and then President Manson announced the new age
limits and we both freaked out. If you can imagine two American, tall,
blond haired, blue eyed girls with sweat pouring down our faces, girls,
that already are drawing the looks of everyone in the room, we start
cracking up and making lots of noises of excitement and surprise it
was a great moment--shared by us and every other Brazilian in that
internet house. But, WOW. Jesus Christ is coming soon for sure. I
bet we are gonna see an awesome surge in missionary work, it is going
to be so awesome. Very cool!

But here is the low down for the week.
- Everything is great with Lu and Angela and Natalia. After a lot of
fasting and prayer they remembered their testimonies that they felt
and after a lot of spiritual experiences they had they are good to go.
Lu and Natalia both want to serve a mission. Lu was really cute, she
called and apologized on the phone and said as she was thinking and
praying about the things I said she remembered Christ who talked about
how sad he gets when one of his sheep gets lost and she thought of me
(I just sat there and cried when I heard that she was doubting and
everything). But they are again firm in the chruch and I am working
close with the leaders here to help keep it that way with them. They
will be such good missionaries they know the bible inside out. Que
alegria!
- Had interviews with president and looks like i will be training next
transfer. Not super excited to leave this area. I love it here. Its
like my second family. But I know I will love my next area and
everything will be great.
- Brazil just finished with their elections here and it has been crazy. They really go all out here just for city mayor. They have flyers, newspapers, cards, and cars decorated, and music that cars play while drying everywhere. It is pretty intense, but glad it is over. Now all the people will be returning to their houses and have normal lives again. Thank goodness. I was getting tired of the response, "Sure you can come over' but wait after the politics are over...."

- We are teaching the perfect family. Every missionary dreams to have a family like this. But they need to marry. Ana maria, Jorge, Carlos Santos, and Luan, we are also teaching their other daughter that lives with another family. They are too poor to take care of everyone. She will be baptized this weekend if everything goes well. We are waiting for their marriage to take place to baptize them. I don't know if I will be around to see their marriage, but they will get baptized, they are praying as a family everyday and reading the Book of Mormon everyday. The parents don't know how to read or write so their 11 yr old son reads for them every day. They are a great family and I am already seeing how the gospel is blessing their family. 

- We didn't get to watch all of conference, because of internet problems but the parts I saw were really good. I am looking forward to the Liahona that will come out. Way cool announcements about the new temples and the new missionary age. Crazy crazy crazy

love you all

ky

Kylie's letter, 10/1/12

Família,

Pretty sure this week was one of the worst I have ever had. So turns
out that all of the pastors of the other churches are starting to warn
their members about us. Its getting harder and harder to enter into
peoples homes. It just makes me sad to think that these people are so
controlled by their pastors. And they are missing the whole point of
following God.  I know this just means that there are
more people that need to hear our message, and that Satan is trying to
run us out of there. But I don't give up that easily.

This week we received new sisters. They are great. It is one of my old
companions Sister Vieira, sister Araújo. Who is brand new in the
mission. I love being with the newbies they are so excited for the
work and have great ideas and are super duper animated. This is
exactly what this branch needs. And I love that they are proactive, I
love the other sisters that were here with us but they didn't do much.
So this transfer will be great, I don't feel so much pressure to do
everything anymore.

The happenings of the week:
We have been working on the marriage of Anamaria and Jorge, a really
humble poor family that are doing everything certinho. They are
reading the Book of Mormon together as a family. Actually the son reads because
his parents can't read and they are saying family prayers together too.
I love them sooo much. They need to get married. And turns out that
marriage is super complicated here and they like to take advantage of
two American girls. First they told us they don't do it for free. So we
went to the city hall who explained to us that it is a Brazilian law,
they have to do it for free, so we went back to this place and told
them that. And they were like, oh ok- actually we do it. But you have
to do all of this stuff. So we did it, and then they were like, oh ok-
actually you have to have one more witness, and you have to make an
additional copies of all of this stuff, so we did it. And then they
said, oh – ok actually we have to check the law and make sure she can
even be married because Ana Maria doesn't know how to write her name
she sign things by using her finger print. And apparently that is a
problem.  I am so frustrated with this lawyer
that is over marriages. So now we are teaching her how to write her
name. But I am pretty sure we'll go back and they will tell us we have
stand on our heads and sip juice or something.
The day of Saint Cosmo and Daemon was this week. And the Catholics
and people who do black magic off candy to these saints. And it
basically puts a curse on the candy and then they give it to the kids.
The kids go crazy with this. Free candy. And it is really just a
superstition but some people really believe in it. Our recent converts
Angela and her family were telling us to not eat the candy. She was so
serious I believed her and didn't eat anything. But after when I
learned what it was I accepted all the cursed candy I could get and I
am still alive.
Yesterday was a downer. Angela and Lu and Natalia didn't come to chruch
they said they wanted to stay in their old chruch. It was so random.
We went to their house and they talked about how they are returning to
their old ways to wear earrings, pants, paint nails, listen to music,
they think they are returning to the world, and that this church was
not bringing the change into their lives that they wanted. It makes me
sick to remember the times they felt the spirit that they received
answers. And Lu said that she felt so happy and liberated because she
was finding and learning that all these things were ok to do. And
before when she felt so guilty because she wanted to these things. But
she was learning that to be a disciple of Christ goes deeper than just
outward appearance, that you can still be in the world but not of the
world. But something happened. It was so random, they were all gung ho
about doing visits with us and chruch and everything, but something
happened Saturday night. I think their dad who is from the pentecostal
chruch has something to do with it. He is suuuuper radical. And likes
to make people doubt their beliefs. That lesson I left them with
chapters to read in the Book of Mormon and a lot of prayer, after sister Zeller
and I came home and bawled our eyes out and read Alma 26. I think
Satan knows that this family has a lot of potential and he is sending
in his strongest forces to make them fall away.  Pray for them. I am a
little scared because they were so changed yesterday when we talked
with them. Their hearts are closing. And with a hardened hearts even
the Spirit of God can't touch. But I know that  miracles are real, and
that God will help them.

We have an appointment with Angela tonight. With just her and no one else. 

I hope it will shed a little more light on the situation. But things are good, and this church is true! Don't forget it. 

love you all sooo much 

ky

Kylie's letter 9/23/12

Natalia batizou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This week was a fight with her. Her
dad is super duper closed about religion and he likes to question us
and get us to start questioning our own beliefs, at least that is what
he thinks he is doing. He asks the dumbest questions, and he likes to
quiz me on my bible knowledge, which I am not the greatest at but
whatever. There are some things he says that I respond and it shuts
him up for a minute as he tries to find a way around it, but he always
comes back with another stupid example or stupid situation. He is like
the scribes and pharisees that tried to trip up Jesus Christ. Anyway,
so we went to go get her paper signed by her dad, and he wanted to
interview us and we went on and on about all these different topics
and I kept trying to bring it back to the fact that the issue was
whether or not he would let her get baptized. It ended with her
doubting her own testimony and wanted more time to think if she even
wanted to be baptized. So this whole time we are praying our guts out
and trying to get her to pray again and ask if these things are true,
and she wasn't doing it. and then the day before her old baptismal date,
we passed by and she was super excited to tell us that she got her
answer. It was this huge complicated story that involved a lot of
people and kind of random, so I won't waste time on it- but she got her
answer and talked to her dad and insisted that he sign the paper, and
he signed it. And She was baptized and confirmed this last
weekend!!!!! Que alegria. She and her sister are planning to serve
missions, and Angela wants to serve one too, she was already asking
for Pregar meu evangelho and they are planning on attending the temple
to do baptism the next caravan. Whooohooo!!!!

Funny story about the baptismal pool we use. We filled it up the night
before and the also during the night there was a storm, and our church
house isn't the best. So it ended up blowing leaves and dust and dirty
rain water in the pool. And this is after the day before cleaning it
and everything. So the day of the baptism. Sis Z and I grabbed the
little strainer things we use to make juice and we spent our two hours
of study time straining this water. It was great fun. My back is
killing me. But the water was a nice brownish green for the baptism
but didn't have any stuff floating it. Haha. Our LMA commented that
Jesus Cristo baptized in the river Jordan which was much dirtier.

Also this week we taught an intense lesson with a member who started talking about the temple and baptisms for the dead etc etc. Everything that you NEVER EVER talk about the first lesson. I was kind of irritated because this family has  a lot of potential. But anyways the lesson ended with a lot of arguing the member was super mad too. Agh! Sometimes lessons with members aren't the best thing. But anyways, I ended with my testimony and after one of the guys asked to give me a blessing. And what can you say to that. I said sure. So he took my hands in his and he started praying that God would forgive me for my sins and past mistakes and that I could reach all of my goals and desires etc. And he was shouting this prayer and shaking and I was dying trying not to laugh. And I was praying that everyone else's eyes were closed but Sis zeller peeked and said they were all watching me. I hope they didn't notice the stifled grin I was trying to hide. After he finished the blessing he acted all astounded and professed that we would see each other again and that I had a great work to do. In my head I thought - yep I´ll see you in the end and testify that it was me that taught you about the restored gospel but you refused to read the Book of Mormon or pray about it. We see him all the time now in the street, it is kind of awkward sometimes. But whatever. He was a nice blessing I think

Also this week while riding to this neighborhood this guy was stopped by the side of the road wanting to talk to us. It was in the middle of the day so I wasn't super worried. He started talking to us about who we were and what we did and made it sound like he was interested in our message. We started get really excited thinking, he was an elect. But then we starting talking about how beautiful I was and that he wanted to take me to his farm and show me around and wanted my number and tried to convince me that campos (antoher city here) has some of the best universities that I could stay here and live with him with his parents on their farm. The ideal life right?! I politely exchanged numbers and said maybe I would call and set something up. Yeah right. Any white girl with blond hair and blue eyes could get any guy she wanted down here. 

Transfers are this week! And sis Z and i are staying here. YES! I was happy. I really like Sis Z she is super duper funny and I don't think I have ever laughed so much on the mission. She is super fun to work with. I am thinking we will have one more transfer together and then we will train. There are a bunch of sisters leaving and a bunch of sisters coming in. Whatever happens it will be good. Love this area! and love you all!

ky


    

Kylie's Letter 9/17/12

Tudo bem!
Então. Vamos lá.
Angela e Lu were baptized this past Friday. We put up
a little pool in the back of the church building and it went great. I
was really happy with our LMA – mission leader because we did
everything certinho. Usually it is us having to run around and get
everything done because he says he will do it and then he leaves it until the last
moment e tal tal tal. And so it was good. He even completed it with a
huge chocolate cake at the end. To say the least, I was very pleased.
It was a perfect baptism – started an hour late – but that is
just a Brazilian thing- but we felt the spirit. The other daughter
Natalia will be baptized this next Saturday! Woooohooo!! Angela is
already cruising through the Book of Mormon and she is loving the book
of Alma. She knows the names of all the people and the cities and
  everything and she is doing a family home evening tonight, which we are
going to. This woman is unreal. Love her! And they are going to the
temple the month that comes [next month] and they will do baptisms!!!!!!!! I wish I
could see all of my recent converts going to the temple because that
is the real end goal. I am seriously thinking about coming back next
year in September to go through the temple with her to receive her
endowments. That is the dream anways, we will see what happens.

This week was super good, with lots of work, and lots of appointments.
Too much actually. We need more time in the day. The work is going so
well here and I am so happy. This little city was known as the hole of
the mission and no one wanted to get sent here, but I don't know why,
the elders just called it that. I love it here. De verdade.

 

This week I hit another person on the bike. Note to everyone riding a bike, don't eat, and talk on the phone and ride your bike, it is dangerous. I need to read the rules about bikes in the white handbook more carefully. It says there to always keep both hands on the handlebars. And for a good reason. But it was all good. I just wreaked the persons brakes that is all. I know, I know, I will be more careful.

 

Also this week talked to my bf, Marcelo. Said he would come to church and he didn't even show up. What nerve. Some boyfriend

 

Brice sent some fun questions that I will answer...

Have you ever been chased by stray dogs? - yes there is soooo many stray dogs here. And they love to chase after the bikes. for the most parts they don't bite.
Have you ever had someone ask you to marry their granddaughter?- granddaughter no- haven't quite reached the marriage proposal, but dating yes.
Have you ever had a 40 year old somebody fall in love with you? - lucky for me it is all the cute young guys that go after me. There always is the old men in the bars that whistle and make a few comments.
Have you ever made people fall down while contacting on the street? - nope, but I have had someone scatter salt and bless us.
Have you ever fallen asleep in a lesson? (I don't think I ever did, but this is a good question nonetheless)- Yes. I was being trained and we were waking up early to go running- so I was always really tired. And during the lessons I didn't understand much or speak much and thus fell asleep during the lessons, and the old guy noticed. I woke up real quick and got my act together.
Have you ever eaten so much at a members house that you about died?yes- Vitoria, they feeeeeed a toonnn. I remember eating until I was about to burst and she brought out a huge bowl of ice cream filled above the brim. I broke every rule of courtesy and put some of the ice cream back. there was no way all of it was fitting inside of me.
Have you ever yelled at your companion? - not yet.
Have you ever been pushed around? (I hope you haven't). I haven't but I have pushed people away . A lot of the men go in to give you a kiss after meeting you, or the second visit like old friends. I have had to push some of them off. haha.

 

é isso mesmo.

 

This week we have another baptism marked and hopefully more in the future.  Love all of you sooo much. Fique firme forte

 

ky

Kylie's letter 9/10/12

Well, noticias of this week.

I got another boyfriend. We taught him the first lesson waiting for our bus in Campos another city. I had my suspicions; he seemed way too excited about the restoration. We exchanged numbers and this week he has been calling non-stop and sending cute little text messages that would make any other girl weak in the knees. He calls me irmãsinha. Which is like taking a word and making it all cutesy, I don't know how to describe it. Its like the ending ita in spanish (at least I think it is ita) anyway - to make a long story short. I need to actually talk to him on the phone and give him the low down. That will be one of my p-day activities. What fun. 

We also had a zone conference by the elders. The elders always always always pick on the sisters to do role plays in front of everyone and then critique what we do. I don't love that and am not a huge fan of zone conferences put on by the elders.  But none the less it was good - and the spirit taught me some things that we need to change in the work. We have a goal this month to baptize 100 people - I also am not a huge fan of this quota thing either. But whatever. 

Angela and her daughters are going really well. Angela will get baptized for sure, Lu and Natalia are going a little bit slower. Lu I think will baptize this Sat and Natalia, we still haven't marked a date with her, but we are working on it. Natanaiel the dad is content just to observe our lessons and ask a bunch of questions but he still hasn't asked or prayed or read anything. But Angela - nossa! She is a one of a kind. She will help this branch grow a lot. 

This week was super different. Our bikes were freaking out - the chains kept falling and etc etc. we got them fixed. We got mixed up in several marriage problems this week. One of our companions in our house is sick and we have been running around trying to help her companion find irmãs to do divisions. I have this random man calling me every hour and texting me, and right now I have a group of boys in the internet house that are sitting here gawking at us... two tall blonds in Quissamã draw a lot of attention....

I love the mission. And the time really is going by tooooo fast. Could you do without me for another six months?

But this week is gonna be awesome, We will finish up the lessons with Angela, and try to make with Natalia and fortify Lu and Saturday is gonna be a great day. We don't have a baptismal font for the moment. We are debating putting up a pool in a members house, a lake, a river, or the ocean. Haha, this baptisms gonna be very sheeky. Que bom que we only need water and priesthood authority to make a baptism. 

Gente! Amo vocês muito. I hope that all is going well with school, work, weddings, and whatever else is going on. Thank you so much for your prayers and emails. Know that you are loved. 

ky

Kylie's letter 9/3/12

First off.

HAPPPPPY BIRTHDAY JENS!!!!!! Don't worry I didn't forget,  on dia 29 I thought - Oh it is Jens Birthday. I hope it is was the best birthday ever with lots and lots of cake and ice cream!!! Whoohooo, American cake and ice cream that is. Here they make salty cakes which is basically stacks of bread and chicken salad with a mayonnaise frosting and tomato flowers and strips of peppers for decorations; kind of weird I know. 

But let me tell you about this family. They are so amazing, I felt like that little kid on "David goes to the Dentist" ... "is this real life". [she is talking about a YouTube video about a boy-David-that was filmed after going to the dentist and was just coming off of some sort of medication that made him very loopy.  He was saying crazy, funny things while his eyes kind of rolled around like he was spinning and then he said, "Is this real life?" ha ha--very funny!]  They are the family every missionary dreams of. 

So here is the complete story. Way back to the beginning of the transfer, Sis Z passes out and I left her in a members house and grabbed Antoerh Irmã and went off to work for the day. The day was filled with lots of flaky people but our last visit was Natanael, Angela, Lu, and Natalia. They were headed off for church but stayed to hear what I had to say and it was the perfect first lesson any missionary could have wanted, the spirit was present, they asked the perfect questions, and they understood!!! Thanks to the spirit. After several more visits I was noticing things were going kind of slow with them, they wanted to read all of the BOM and learn everything they could, but we were creating a really strong friendship. I knew that I needed to invite them to be baptized but I started getting scared that they would stop being interested or think that we just wanted them to get baptized etc etc etc. Also, our baptisms for this week fell through and when that happens, it always leave you feeling really bummed. So this week, I was kind of bummed and I was praying and fasting--a lot!  I read the story of Alma and Amulek. Alma after being rejected by the whole city of Ammonihah, left but was commanded to return and he found Amulek, and together they began a great work. I took comfort knowing that every city has an Amulek, I was praying to find our Amulek. So we went back for another appointment with this family and Angela said that she had lots of questions, but that she noticed that the  members that I was bringing with us were weak (we do visits with a lot of recent converts that are new to the church to help strengthen their testimonies) and she didn't want to ask questions in fear her questions would make them question their own testimonies. I thought wow - I can't believe she noticed that. But it was good because we were with a member who served a mission etc etc. She asked all of her questions she had a ton of questions about elders, and missionaries, and Preach my Gospel, what it was etc. We answered her questions and watched the restoration film. We ended the lesson and after, the family was chatting with sis Z and the member. Angela pulled me aside and she said sis P, I want Preach my Gospel, I want to be a missionary. I gave her a hug and blurted- "Do you want to get baptized?" and she said, "Yes". Then I kind of started freaking out a little bit because I was so happy. But she said she didn't want the others to know because she didn't want to influence their decision, so we are teaching her undercover. She came to church yesterday and she told me that she (quick background - she is way evangelic - way churchy) grew up/was raised by missionaries, and she had already done a seminar on Joseph smith and she already knew his story, but when I taught about first lesson, she said that the things I said made her tremble, she said that before, she knew him as only a man, but now she knows him as a prophet. And she said when I asked her to be baptized the spirit touched her heart and she knew that was exactly what she needed to do. 

I cant explain how hard I have prayed and the number of times I have fasted just to be an instrument in the Lords hands and to be a conduit of the spirit. My happiness is so big it feels like it can't quite fit inside me. Angela, and her daughters are people that will help the kingdom of God grow. They will make amazing members. And  amazing leaders in the church! Thank you for you prayers for them as well. It helped. 

Ah!!! I love the mission!

Know that I love you all soo much and I hope you are enjoying your labor day weekend. Be safe, and eat a Reeses cup for  me! 

amo vocês muito

sis p

ps. we realized that Quissamã is a no stop light town. you know how there is one stop light and two stop light towns, well there isnt a single one here. Just to get a jist about this little town

Kylie's letter 8/27/12

Well looks like summer ended and school has started. This summer flew by waaaaay tooo fast. And the mission is flying by even faster. I will make 1 year on the mission this week. Weird that I have been doing this for 1 year. Doesn't feel that long. what would you guys think if I extended my mission for another six months.... I am just kidding. Sort of.

This week was very exciting. 

- First off it was an emotional roller coaster. Every day was very different. One day everything fell and nobody wanted to listen to us and then the next would be filled with lots of lessons and lots of people with potential and the next day everything would fall again. but such is life... God gives us the bad days and it makes the good days even better. 

- I got in a bike accident. Don't worry I am totally fine, I was riding home really fast to get home within the hour and I hit this guy. Actually we hit each other. He was riding his bike too. And we crashed, I bruised my knee and demolished his bike. It was really weird, God is watching out for his missionaries. Because my bike was perfectly fine and I was fine too, but his bike took a beating. I helped him pay for a new wheel and everything. haha, makes a good story. 

- This week I was able to see the fulfilling of Gods promises to his missionaries that in the very hour you will know what to say. We were teaching a man (turned out to be a pastor) on the street and he was asking us a whole bunch of questions trying to trip us up--things like what we would say if I came upon a drunk man, and about the doctrines of Cristo etc. etc. And it was the coolest experience looking back at it. At the time, I just said the things that came into my head, but looking back Heavenly Father was really helping, because while speaking to him, I knew exactly what he was thinking and knew exactly what answers he needed to hear. And I just opened my mouths and let the words come out. He is a pastor that doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon, but he has one and maybe one day, he will soften his heart enough to read it. But he was impressed with our responses. And I hope we helped change the image he has of the Church of Jesus Christ. 

- We visited another church last night. We were supported a few of our investigators that sang in church and we wanted to watch. We went and listened to 2 hours of really, really loud prayers and singing. I have listened to these churches outside, but inside is almost unbearable. I had to fight the urge to cover my ears. But all in all it was a very moving experience, and to my surprise I felt the spirit. Looking at the pastors with all their nice clothes and sheeky cars, I didn't feel the spirit as they were speaking and praying and doing their thing, but I did feel the spirit clapping and praising god with the Brazilian people. They really put their heart and souls into their praises. And I felt the love of God for these people and I felt the love of God that they had. Yesterday morning I got really sad/discouraged/annoyed with all the people, what we call here in Brazil mole (pronounced moley). Mole is a word that captures all of the people we teach that don't keep commitments, and don't really do anything about the gospel. Anyway, I was feelings these things yesterday morning about these people and just sad that they don't have that thing deep down inside to act and to do something about their faith in God. But in that little church singing and shouting praises to God, I felt the spirit whisper to me, that these people will be happy in the after life. They will continue praising God and they will be happy in their own way. So I decided I am going to stop feeling sad about the people who don't want anything to do with the Church of Jesus Cristo and just remember that in the end everything will turn out right and they too will be happy. Of course they all have the potential to reach a bigger and better happiness, but maybe I think these people wouldn't be happy in the celestial kingdom...who knows; we each have our free agency to choose what we will. 

-We have some potential baptisms this week. I hope everything goes well with them. They have been really hard to get a hold of, they have been traveling. But they are an awesome couple, really young, but very mature. Manuela and Marquino. We´ll see how this week goes

- and the elect family, is going really really slowly. But I am hoping that the Book of Mormon will do its magic. 

thanks for your emails, and prayers

good luck with school 

and remember someone in Brazil loves you

sis p

Kylie's Letter 8-20-12

soooooo,

My new companion is Sister Margarette Zeller. She is super sweet and
will be a great companion. She has 4 months in Brazil, but she
speaks very well, she doesn't speak a whole ton, but her accent is
great. I am hoarse  right now because I have been talking waaaay too
much. I need to learn how to let her talk more and do the contacts.
But hey- I'm getting a lot of Portuguese practice in. She is from
Oregon, a geography major at BYU and another tall blond hair blue eyed
American. We make quite the pair riding our bikes with our helmets.

We are working super hard here, we are planning on doing a fireside
on patriarchal blessings, and doing a training for the leaders
here on how to do a ward counsel meeting. Everything is waaaay
  unorganized here and I am trying to fortify the ramo as well as be a
missionary. It's kinda hard to be a missionary and a member at the same
time. The members at present rely waaay too much on the missionaries
and I am trying to help them realize all the things that they need to
do and see that it isn't our responsibility but theirs. I think it is getting
better. I love this little branch much. And they deserve a chapel.
That is one goal we are working for.

So this week started with my companion fainting, the first day on the
bike was a little rough. Poor thing. I have had to learn to slow down
my pace waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down. But yeah, she fainted the first day
and I am sooooo grateful it was in the house of a member and not in
the street. And me being such a wonderful companion I left her in the
house of the member and carried another member on the back of my bike
to go do visits.Poor thing, but it worked out well. It was a long hard
day but good. It ended with an awesome lesson with a amazing family
who sat and devoured everything that I said, they were sooo respectful
and wanted to learn the whys about everything. Why I was on the
mission, how the gospel has blessed my life, why the gospel is
important for me. I hope the book of Mormon does its magic with them.
Pray for them. Natanel, Angela, Lu, and Natalia. I clapped on their
door right as they were headed out for church and they said no - we
want to hear what you have to say and for sure it will be just as good
as what we would hear in church. (elect!!!) we will see what happens.

But the work continues, the sunny days are returning, and it is
getting hot again.

Love you all!!

ky

Kylie's letter 8/13/12

This is the last week of Sister Cunha. I will miss her so much. She is headed back home to Manaus in the Amazons. This week was filled with a lot of late nights talking. I think I have only gotten three hours of sleep every single night this week.They say in mission vocabulary that I am killing her (sending her home) but I think she is killing me. I feel like I have a huge hangover. But hey....I don't regret one night. And we have one last night together to party it up.

Had interviews with presidente and looks like I´ll be getting a gringa. I really wanted another Brazilian. But the Lord knows best.

This week is kind of a blur. But looking through my journal, I had one really great spiritual experience. Sis Cunha and I for companionship study shared our testimonies to each other, which we hardly ever do. It is usually to other people. But we bore our testimonies to each other and prayed for every investigator and every member by name. It was the most spiritual companionship study I have ever had.   I love the spirit. I don't think we understand the gift of the spirit and the profoundness (I hope this is an English word because I think it is a mixture of Port and Eng...) we have a member of the Trinidad with us at all times. The capacity to receive orientation in whatever moment. Seek for the constant companionship of the spirit and be aware of it! 

sure love you all. 

happy summer times

sis p 

Kylie's 2 letters, Aug. 6, 2012

My Dear family.                                                                                                          8/6/12

Que alegria! I am so sad that summer is coming to end. I am sad too because this transfer is coming to an end. And Sister Cunha will be heading home. But is has been such a good three months with her. But I am excited for the next transfers coming up, can’t believe how fast the time is going. Aaaagh! Love the mission- recommend it to any person. viu!

Ok - so this week´s stories:

- Andreza got baptized!!! Wooohoooo! It was the most unorganized hectic day of my entire life and I was soooo stressed out. Her baptism was planned for the same day of a festa quadrilha in the church and we planned to do it before. But our leader of missionary work in the branch didn’t fill the baptismal font and on the day of the baptism there was no water. So.....we started running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We ran to go talk to people with water trucks but they jacked up the price, ran back to the church to try to get hoses to link to other water boxes in other parts of the building. Which worked, but it was two hours before the baptism, and we only had a little bit of water. The hour of the baptism arrived, we had investigators that were there for the party but there were no members (common in brazil for everyone to arrive hours late), and the baptismal party arrived and our leader of the missionary work in the branch hadn’t organized the program......To make a looooong story short. She was baptized 8 o´clock at night, in shin deep water. She had to kneel down, and the guy who baptized her was super nervous and she had to be baptized three times. And the program was quickly thrown together. Ai ai ai, but I learned my lesson. If you want something done right you have got to do it yourself. The others sisters said they felt the spirit so I was glad about that. And Andreza had a cute attitude she joked that she had to be baptized three times because she had that many sins. Haha, cute girl. She and carol are the start of a wonderful work in the area we are working in. Vamos lá.

Three min left...

Know that I love you all. And know that Michele is back in church and she is okay. She made a deal with the Holy Ghost and wanted him to show the truths that she doubted and He did! I love her!

tchau tchau!

write more next time.

love you all

Ky

Okay - I have a little bit more time,

So we had the baptism And it was a little hectic but great. And the quadrilha (which is a basically a country dance of hillbillies with lots of food) I was working at the fishing station (you know the little fishing thing to get prizes) and all of the kids were pouting and complaining about what prizes they got and fighting in line. And they would call me titia, which is like auntie - a type of endearing word better than the normal tia (aunt) they called me titia (cheecheea) with their little pouty complaining. That day was a looong day and tested all of my attributes of Cristo that I have tried to gain. Actually I think they all left me that day. :D

- Funny food story of the week: we ate lunch at the house of Michele are golden investigator that is now back to believing (thank to the Holy Ghost and lotttssss of prayer) she served us chicken gizzard. Which tastes like chicken but has an organ texture (not the normal muscle texture). It wasn’t the yummiest thing I have eaten in my life. She was sitting across from us feeding her three year old and chatting away. She mentioned that her little girl didn’t like the meat so she kept telling her that she would turn into a princess after she ate everything on the plate. I was struggling too with the meat. I sat and watched this little girl take spoonful after spoonful quietly and obediently dry heaving/gagging in between bites. The poor thing. Her mom didn’t notice she just kept talking about turning into a princess. Needless to say- we both turned into princesses...

- Spiritual moment of the week - yesterday was testimony meeting. I love testimony meeting!!! The spirit here is different in Brazil because the majority of the people are recent converts. These are the pioneers of the church in Brazil. You can feel that same fiery spirit that the pioneers of old had who trekked across the plains. I love being about of this marvelous work and a wonder. Remember to look for and pray for missionary opportunities in your lives back home too. You will be surprised to find how many people the Lord puts in your path! Love this gospel!

and Love you all!!

sis P

our trip to the beach, and Maçadinha (a historical place where slaves were kept on a plantation type thing), me and my Querida companheira, and me with a plant of madica!!! I think in English it is cassava. But we eat the roots and it is super duper delicious roasted with butter. MMMMMMmmmm! Planning on trying to pass customs with some of that stuff.