April 23, 2008

Hi Mom,

Thanks for the peach cobbler recipe. I told my roommate I would make a pioneer dessert for her.

It sounds like everyone loved the cruise.

The other day we went looking for Bruna to teach her and she was at a friend’s house, straightening her hair for church the next day. She was there with two families and we ended up teaching the first lesson. The families really liked the message and asked us a ton of questions about the church. They said they heard Mormons wore all black and sacrificed animals. Also, the news passed a program about the guy who started a religion called mormon and he has about 8 wives. Everyone thinks that he belongs to our church and we have to clear this up with people (I think this guy lives in Utah, but I don’t know the details.) Anyway, the next day the family showed up for church. It was pretty funny because the dad (who is pretty young and a little rough looking) showed up to church with a New York Yankees hat and a 50 cent shirt. He said next Sunday he will wear a dress shirt. he he. The couple is not married and we have a lot of work to do with word of wisdom issues but they are willing to change and are really excited about the church. They loved church.

You asked about her husband. . . he always comes to the activities that we have in the church and he likes the meetings on Sunday but he doesn’t want to be baptized. I think it will just take a little time for him to develop a testimony. Our branch president said it took ten years for him to gain a testimony. His wife was a member and took the kids to church for ten years before he began to go to church with her.

We have also been working on a few families to reactivate. One 23-year-old girl has fallen away from the church but showed up on Sunday at sacrament meeting. We were so happy to see her. She will bring her dad and sister next week (who are not members). Also, she has started going to institute with some of the others from the branch. We are teaching a few other families; however, none are married and we are teaching them while they wait on the paper work to be married.

We are still teaching Edinea English and the lessons. She says she wants to be baptized and she has never been so happy in her life. But something is holding her back and she is nervous. We are helping her prepare and praying that we can help resolve her concerns.

The elders have been teaching a family (who Sister Isabel started teaching awhile back). This family comes to church every Sunday and we are waiting to mark a date for them to be baptized. The elders are passing this family over to us because they can’t teach inside because there isn’t an adult male in the house. So this week we are having a family night with them and will begin teaching them. The mom always makes treats and cake for us.

This week is our zone conference and we will be going to Londrina on Wednesday. I will let you know how it goes. I always look forward to conferences. But thinks are going well and we are super busy. I love teaching the gospel. I have been in this city for 3 transfers (which is a long time) but I am not sick of it. I love the branch and the members.

I will send you a few pics in the next email. I love you so much. Thank you for everything. I miss you all and wish you a great week.

Love Barbie