March 11, 2008

Hi Mom,

Sorry I didn’t really reply to your questions last week. The pics took awhile to send and there was a lot of mail from the mission office.

Anyway to respond. . . I don’t know what was with Sister Isabel’s headband. he he. Did the film work? Were you able to watch it? I made another one and will try to send it this week.

Tell Michelle congrats and I can’t wait to hear if it is a boy or girl. My comp just found out that her sister is pregnant too. It is the first grandbaby in her family. She is due the same time as Michelle.

So how are the organ lessons going and the condo? Good luck with everything, I hope the lessons are coming along well and that the condo sells soon. Thanks so much for sending the package. I probably won’t get it until our next transfer which is in 2 and 1/2 weeks. We’ll see. But I am close to Londrina so maybe I will get it sooner.

This week was great. The 17-year-old girl who listened in on our lesson about the plan of salvation and progressing. We have taught her all the lessons and she can be baptized as soon as she stops smoking. The three of are going to have a special fast for her to stop smoking and I am sure it will give her the strength to stop. She is a wonderful investigator and loves studying the Book of Mormon. I couldn’t believe how fast her conversion was. The first time she read it she felt the spirit so strong and knew that everything was true.

We found a few new investigators that seem pretty interested and we will return this week to see how they are doing. We marked baptism for a family we are teaching. They accepted but they still need to go to church a few more times before they can be baptized. They have stopped drinking coffee and are living the word of wisdom. Yay. It is so wonderful to see how the commandments bring blessings into people’s lives.

Oh, also, there is a girl named Raulene who was baptized in December. We have been teaching her family and they are showing a lot of interest. They have seen how dedicated Raulene has been and believe that the gospel has changed her life. Her mom said that if you guys come pick me up she wants to make a special Brazilian dinner for our family.

Tomorrow we have Mission Tour in Londrina. It is a conference for missionaries and Elder Ellis and his wife will be the speakers (that is why p-day is today). It will be in Londrina. I am really excited. I love mission confereneces. I will let you know how it goes. Our last mission conference, the authority changed a bunch of stuff. We are teaching the lessons differently and p-day changed too.

I love teaching the gospel and seeing it change peoples lives. The ward is great and we have members teach with us almost everyday. There is also a family here with a car and the 23-year-old always helps us out with the appointments that are really far.

I miss all of you and love you so much. Thanks for everything. Have a wonderful week!

Love Barb