Hello Mama,
The secretary of our mission (ha ha, Portuguese grammar) called today and told us about President Hinckley. I don’t think it has really hit me yet but we were all pretty bummed.
Last night, Sister Isabel (we switched comps for a day) and I taught a lady the first lesson. We taught about living prophets and apostles. She asked to see a picture. Sister Isabel had pictures of them and we bore testimony of President Hinckley and his apostles. Usually people don’t ask details about the prophets but we had a special opportunity to bear witness of President Hinckley.
This week we found some new families and are making a little progress with others. We are teaching a lady who doesn’t know how to read (we meet a lot of people who can’t read.) We have been reading the Book of Mormon to her with a women in the ward named Olinda. Olinda is about dads age and learned to read this year. She is a great example to our investigator and helps a lot. She really likes the Book of Mormon and the spirit is always really strong.
To respond to your questions, our house is a two-bedroom, two-bath house with a kitchen and living room. The whole house is tile floored. The bathroom is normal with a shower and toilet and everything. It is not as third world here as people think. Our washing machine broke so we still have to wash our clothes by hand and hang dry. But I am used to it. The language is coming too. I am understanding a lot more and can understand everything I read in Preach my Gospel (the scriptures in Portuguese are a little bit harder).
I am glad you got the pics. We did a little play for the Christmas conference and we made red glasses. Also, the 4 girls in our zone wore matching outfits. I am writing everything in my journal and saving all my pics so you guys can read and see when I get home. Thanks for saving the pics I sent home because they are Sister Isabel’s pics and I don’t have a copy.
Mom, thanks for your prayers. I always need them. The mission is hard but it is so rewarding. There is no better thing I could be doing right now. Thanks for everything! Have a great week and I love you and miss you.
Love Barb
1.29.2008
1.22.2008
January 21, 2008-Two letters
HI,
Thanks for the weather update. . . It has poured almost everyday this week but it is still hot. I really like the rain but it is a little bit hard to find people to talk to in the street. If we have a lot of appointments, it is not a problem. Anyway, this week was a little crazy. We have been having some problems with our house--I will tell you all about it when I come home-- and we had to look for another one. We didn’t have any luck. The houses here are really expensive.
Anyway, the work is good. Saturday we had a baptism. The other two sisters were teaching the boy but we were able to see the baptism. We also sang the musical number. The boy is 17 years old. He was so happy and a lot of the youth in the ward were there to support him. It is so amazing to see baptisms because his life and the lives of his children will be blessed forever.
We found a few really great families this week. It is easy to find women who are interested but hard to find men. Most of the women and children listen but the husbands don’t want to hear our message. But we taught a few families with both the husband and the wife. This week will check up on them and see how their reading of the Book of Mormon went. (can I say that phrase in English? . . .he he.)
I am really loving this area and the other sister missionaries. I will send some pics and another email. Stay posted. . . Oh, next week, email me and tell me if you received all the pics that I sent. Barb
Mom,
I received the packages!!!!!!!!! Yeah. I was so happy mom. Thank you so much. Also, you burned a cd that my comp has been looking for for years but wasn’t able to find. She plays the piano and has the sheet music for EFY, but has never heard the songs. She loves the cd and listens to it everyday. Also, I loved all the cds, the cd player and the treats and everything. My comp and the other Brazilian sister didn’t receive a package for Christmas so I made little treat baskets for everyone in the house and we all ate together and had a little Christmas reenactment. It was really fun. I can’t thank you enough. I will send the hymn book to sister Portes and she will be soooo excited.
Also, I received a package from the Streeters and Grandma. Mom, I almost cried. I couldn’t believe it. They sent gifts, cards and a whole bunch of stuff. I couldn’t believe that they thought of me. It was so thoughtful of them and I am not able to send them presents or anything. Will you please send the Streeters an email telling them that I appreciated the package so much and it meant so much to me. I will try to write them today but we don’t have a lot of time before our p-day is up and we still have a lot to do before we return home. Please email them and tell them thank you a million times. Also, tell Grandma thank you so much. I will try to email her.
Also, will you thank Kim Shields for the card. It was so thoughtful of her too. Thanks again for everything. I sent some pics too. One is me cutting the birthday cake--we threw a party for an elder. And the other is the fruit table at the conference. There were a lot of fruits that I have never seen but I don’t know if you can tell from the pics. Thanks, I love you.
Love Barb
Thanks for the weather update. . . It has poured almost everyday this week but it is still hot. I really like the rain but it is a little bit hard to find people to talk to in the street. If we have a lot of appointments, it is not a problem. Anyway, this week was a little crazy. We have been having some problems with our house--I will tell you all about it when I come home-- and we had to look for another one. We didn’t have any luck. The houses here are really expensive.
Anyway, the work is good. Saturday we had a baptism. The other two sisters were teaching the boy but we were able to see the baptism. We also sang the musical number. The boy is 17 years old. He was so happy and a lot of the youth in the ward were there to support him. It is so amazing to see baptisms because his life and the lives of his children will be blessed forever.
We found a few really great families this week. It is easy to find women who are interested but hard to find men. Most of the women and children listen but the husbands don’t want to hear our message. But we taught a few families with both the husband and the wife. This week will check up on them and see how their reading of the Book of Mormon went. (can I say that phrase in English? . . .he he.)
I am really loving this area and the other sister missionaries. I will send some pics and another email. Stay posted. . . Oh, next week, email me and tell me if you received all the pics that I sent. Barb
Mom,
I received the packages!!!!!!!!! Yeah. I was so happy mom. Thank you so much. Also, you burned a cd that my comp has been looking for for years but wasn’t able to find. She plays the piano and has the sheet music for EFY, but has never heard the songs. She loves the cd and listens to it everyday. Also, I loved all the cds, the cd player and the treats and everything. My comp and the other Brazilian sister didn’t receive a package for Christmas so I made little treat baskets for everyone in the house and we all ate together and had a little Christmas reenactment. It was really fun. I can’t thank you enough. I will send the hymn book to sister Portes and she will be soooo excited.
Also, I received a package from the Streeters and Grandma. Mom, I almost cried. I couldn’t believe it. They sent gifts, cards and a whole bunch of stuff. I couldn’t believe that they thought of me. It was so thoughtful of them and I am not able to send them presents or anything. Will you please send the Streeters an email telling them that I appreciated the package so much and it meant so much to me. I will try to write them today but we don’t have a lot of time before our p-day is up and we still have a lot to do before we return home. Please email them and tell them thank you a million times. Also, tell Grandma thank you so much. I will try to email her.
Also, will you thank Kim Shields for the card. It was so thoughtful of her too. Thanks again for everything. I sent some pics too. One is me cutting the birthday cake--we threw a party for an elder. And the other is the fruit table at the conference. There were a lot of fruits that I have never seen but I don’t know if you can tell from the pics. Thanks, I love you.
Love Barb
Conference in Londrina
The fruit table...
Sisters in red.....I think this was for some kind of a skit at their conference
Check out the groovy glasses!!1.14.2008
A couple of pictures from Sarandi--her first area.
Barbie was transfered
January 14, 2008
Helloooo,
Hi Ma, about São Paulo, our mission includes a little of the state of São Paulo-but not the capital. I am in a city called Ibiporã. Check it out on the website that shows cities by satellite. I love it here. It is a city outside of Londrina. It reminds me a little of Italy-it has a bunch of hills and bean fields. It is beautiful. It has some neighborhoods that seem like neighborhoods in California but it also has areas with wooden houses. There are no dirt roads and horses here though.
We have a baptism marked for this month. A boy named Alison. . . yes Alison. He is a teenager and has some friends in the church. I am still getting to know our other investigators but the people here seem really great. The majority of people that let us in are really nice and receptive to the message. The church is across the street from our house-what a blessing. We live in a house in a cute neighborhood--4 sisters. My comp and I, Sister Isabel (the girl who speaks English) and Sister Freitas. My comp is from São Paulo-the capital. She designs clothes and dresses. She is really great and I like her a lot. Everyone in her family is a member but the majority of them have fallen away from the church. She said she has to walk about 45 minutes to get to church.
We have a branch not a ward but it is growing. They are really helping with the missionary work and there are a few really strong families in the branch. The branch president’s son was one of my friends in the MTC and he sent them a picture of me already. The President’s family is really great. Anyway, our area is awesome and I really like being close to Londrina. It was really, really difficult to leave our investigators in Sarandi and leave my comp but I am really excited for something new.
The language is coming gradually and I understand a lot more every week. It is so great to see the gospel change peoples’ lives. I love the church and I love teaching people that the church has been restored. I know that this is the Lords work. We see a lot of miracles here and my testimony grows everyday. I love you all. I think this place allows me to send pics. I will try. . .
Love Barb
Helloooo,
Hi Ma, about São Paulo, our mission includes a little of the state of São Paulo-but not the capital. I am in a city called Ibiporã. Check it out on the website that shows cities by satellite. I love it here. It is a city outside of Londrina. It reminds me a little of Italy-it has a bunch of hills and bean fields. It is beautiful. It has some neighborhoods that seem like neighborhoods in California but it also has areas with wooden houses. There are no dirt roads and horses here though.
We have a baptism marked for this month. A boy named Alison. . . yes Alison. He is a teenager and has some friends in the church. I am still getting to know our other investigators but the people here seem really great. The majority of people that let us in are really nice and receptive to the message. The church is across the street from our house-what a blessing. We live in a house in a cute neighborhood--4 sisters. My comp and I, Sister Isabel (the girl who speaks English) and Sister Freitas. My comp is from São Paulo-the capital. She designs clothes and dresses. She is really great and I like her a lot. Everyone in her family is a member but the majority of them have fallen away from the church. She said she has to walk about 45 minutes to get to church.
We have a branch not a ward but it is growing. They are really helping with the missionary work and there are a few really strong families in the branch. The branch president’s son was one of my friends in the MTC and he sent them a picture of me already. The President’s family is really great. Anyway, our area is awesome and I really like being close to Londrina. It was really, really difficult to leave our investigators in Sarandi and leave my comp but I am really excited for something new.
The language is coming gradually and I understand a lot more every week. It is so great to see the gospel change peoples’ lives. I love the church and I love teaching people that the church has been restored. I know that this is the Lords work. We see a lot of miracles here and my testimony grows everyday. I love you all. I think this place allows me to send pics. I will try. . .
Love Barb
1.07.2008
So I wasn't sure where to start so I just posted Barb's last 2 letters and a few pics.
January 7, 2008
Hello!
Happy New Year. I wasn’t able to email the week of Christmas or New Years because our mission president changed our p-day to Christmas day and New Year’s day. Every store including the internet places were closed. We had to wait until today.
The elders just called and said I will be transferred. We are going to sleep over at the Sister’s house (they are in Maringã, (the next city over) tonight and then I will be transferred tomorrow morning. I am really excited but really sad to leave the members and our investigators. I hope to be transferred to São Paulo but I will happy anywhere I go. I will tell you all about it next week.
This week was probably our best week as far as finding people since I arrived in Sarandi. We found a guy in his 30´s that is separated from his wife. He committed to baptism and will be baptized in two weeks. Also, we found another family in which the mom said she prayed and read and knows the church is true. Sister Portes will set her baptism date on Wednesday. Also, we found another women who read the book of Mormon, prayed and knows the church is true. We haven’t set a date for her baptism yet but Sister Portes will this week. A few days ago, we met a lady with a few small children that said she has been searching for the true church. She knows a lot about doctrines and knows a lot about the faults in all of the churches. She said she felt really good about our message and felt the spirit really strong-she even got really teary-eyed. She made us cake and promised she would pray that night. We are also teaching a girl who married a returned missionary. We finished all the lessons but she said she is nervous and needs more time--she doesn’t have a testimony yet but she goes to church every week and is studying the scriptures. She will probably be baptized in the next couple of weeks. This week was really amazing and flew by. I am sad to leave Sarandi because there will be a few baptisms this month but I am really excited to go to a new area and learn new things. I am a little nervous though.
Last week we traded companions and Sister Isabel came to Sarandi with me. She is the sister missionary I told you about. . . We were in the CTM together and came to Londrina together. She is an English teacher. She is awesome and it was fun to speak a little English with her. She gave me some techniques to practice my pronunciation in Portuguese. I felt like I was in voice lessons again-making different sounds and stuff-it was really funny. We had a really fun time.
Anyway, it was so great to talk to you all! I miss you all so much but it seemed like you all were so close and it seemed like not much time had passed since I left home. I am surprised no one asked me to say anything in Portuguese, he he. The language is coming and I am understanding a lot. The more I learn to speak and understand, the more fun my mission becomes. This truly is the Lords work. My testimony has grown so much. I have no doubts that the only way to live in the celestial kingdom with God, Jesus Christ and families is through the Church of Jesus Christ. There are so many churches here in Brazil and they all fight with each other but there is only one true church of Jesus Christ. We are really blessed to be apart of it.
I love you all so much and hope everyone had a great holiday season. I am excited to let you know about my new area.
Love Sister Davis
January 7, 2008
Hello!
Happy New Year. I wasn’t able to email the week of Christmas or New Years because our mission president changed our p-day to Christmas day and New Year’s day. Every store including the internet places were closed. We had to wait until today.
The elders just called and said I will be transferred. We are going to sleep over at the Sister’s house (they are in Maringã, (the next city over) tonight and then I will be transferred tomorrow morning. I am really excited but really sad to leave the members and our investigators. I hope to be transferred to São Paulo but I will happy anywhere I go. I will tell you all about it next week.
This week was probably our best week as far as finding people since I arrived in Sarandi. We found a guy in his 30´s that is separated from his wife. He committed to baptism and will be baptized in two weeks. Also, we found another family in which the mom said she prayed and read and knows the church is true. Sister Portes will set her baptism date on Wednesday. Also, we found another women who read the book of Mormon, prayed and knows the church is true. We haven’t set a date for her baptism yet but Sister Portes will this week. A few days ago, we met a lady with a few small children that said she has been searching for the true church. She knows a lot about doctrines and knows a lot about the faults in all of the churches. She said she felt really good about our message and felt the spirit really strong-she even got really teary-eyed. She made us cake and promised she would pray that night. We are also teaching a girl who married a returned missionary. We finished all the lessons but she said she is nervous and needs more time--she doesn’t have a testimony yet but she goes to church every week and is studying the scriptures. She will probably be baptized in the next couple of weeks. This week was really amazing and flew by. I am sad to leave Sarandi because there will be a few baptisms this month but I am really excited to go to a new area and learn new things. I am a little nervous though.
Last week we traded companions and Sister Isabel came to Sarandi with me. She is the sister missionary I told you about. . . We were in the CTM together and came to Londrina together. She is an English teacher. She is awesome and it was fun to speak a little English with her. She gave me some techniques to practice my pronunciation in Portuguese. I felt like I was in voice lessons again-making different sounds and stuff-it was really funny. We had a really fun time.
Anyway, it was so great to talk to you all! I miss you all so much but it seemed like you all were so close and it seemed like not much time had passed since I left home. I am surprised no one asked me to say anything in Portuguese, he he. The language is coming and I am understanding a lot. The more I learn to speak and understand, the more fun my mission becomes. This truly is the Lords work. My testimony has grown so much. I have no doubts that the only way to live in the celestial kingdom with God, Jesus Christ and families is through the Church of Jesus Christ. There are so many churches here in Brazil and they all fight with each other but there is only one true church of Jesus Christ. We are really blessed to be apart of it.
I love you all so much and hope everyone had a great holiday season. I am excited to let you know about my new area.
Love Sister Davis
December 10, 2007
Hi Ma!
I will call home December 22, Saturday to confirm the phone number for Dec 25. I am not sure about what time yet. I will let you know. We have about 45 minutes to talk. I am so excited. I have so much to talk about.
For Christmas Eve, Alice and her family (the bishop), invited us to eat dinner with them. It will be really fun. And Christmas Day will be a regular p-day. On p-day we begin working again at 6pm. The president sent us an email that we need to work at this time Christmas night--It will be interesting to see what Christmas is like on the mission and what Christmas is like here in Brazil.
I haven’t heard anything on this end about the pouch system. Do you know why it was cancelled? What a bummer.
We have been teaching Marcos and Silvana and they always have a bunch of questions. We finished a lesson about the 10 commandments and after we started talking about music. Silvana said she and Marcos were planning on selling all their CDs because they thought that maybe they weren’t allowed to go to dances or listen to music. How cute. We assured them they can listen to music. Also, this stake has dances for married couples-there are a lot of couples with young kids or newlyweds and they like to go to the dances. She also asked if she could read Harry Potter. We said she could and she was delighted, "I love Harry Potter," she said. They are willing to give up anything to be baptized. There are a ton of churches here and some say you can’t watch tv, some say you cant cut your hair (seriously, the girls aren’t allowed to cut their hair because of the scripture in Corinthians), and some say you cant listen to any music. For this reason, Silvana and Marcos have a lot of questions. We taught them today about the Word of Wisdom. There is a substitute for coffee here called cervada which members of the church can drink. When we told them this, Silvana said she would go right away and buy it and would begin working on giving up coffee. (my comp wants me to try it and is going to buy it when we get done emailing.) But anyway, this family is so amazing. One night after we taught a lesson, Silvana was helping the 5-year-old Giovanna say the prayer. She was whispering and then Giovanna would say it out loud. She said, "Thank you for these missionaries that they could teach us these things that we know are true." They already have testimonies and have been looking for a long time for the true church.
On Sunday, our ward had the primary program. They sang a bunch of songs and it was a beautiful program. Our investigators loved it and the kids too. The spirit was so strong. They sang all the normal primary songs but just in Portuguese.
We have been working hard and I am really enjoying the mission. I love my comp. We have a lot of fun cooking treats and lunch (on days when the members give us money instead of lunch). Also, my comp loves doing nails so she always does mine for me. I love the mission and I am learning so much about the gospel. I am also learning how the gospel changes people’s lives.
I hope everything is going well for everyone. It sounds like dad’s travels are pretty amazing. Australia, eh? And I hope the Christmas party was a blast. I don’t think we are planning on going to ours.
I love you so much! Thank you for everything. Have a great week--I will keep you updated on the call home.
Love Barb
Hi Ma!
I will call home December 22, Saturday to confirm the phone number for Dec 25. I am not sure about what time yet. I will let you know. We have about 45 minutes to talk. I am so excited. I have so much to talk about.
For Christmas Eve, Alice and her family (the bishop), invited us to eat dinner with them. It will be really fun. And Christmas Day will be a regular p-day. On p-day we begin working again at 6pm. The president sent us an email that we need to work at this time Christmas night--It will be interesting to see what Christmas is like on the mission and what Christmas is like here in Brazil.
I haven’t heard anything on this end about the pouch system. Do you know why it was cancelled? What a bummer.
We have been teaching Marcos and Silvana and they always have a bunch of questions. We finished a lesson about the 10 commandments and after we started talking about music. Silvana said she and Marcos were planning on selling all their CDs because they thought that maybe they weren’t allowed to go to dances or listen to music. How cute. We assured them they can listen to music. Also, this stake has dances for married couples-there are a lot of couples with young kids or newlyweds and they like to go to the dances. She also asked if she could read Harry Potter. We said she could and she was delighted, "I love Harry Potter," she said. They are willing to give up anything to be baptized. There are a ton of churches here and some say you can’t watch tv, some say you cant cut your hair (seriously, the girls aren’t allowed to cut their hair because of the scripture in Corinthians), and some say you cant listen to any music. For this reason, Silvana and Marcos have a lot of questions. We taught them today about the Word of Wisdom. There is a substitute for coffee here called cervada which members of the church can drink. When we told them this, Silvana said she would go right away and buy it and would begin working on giving up coffee. (my comp wants me to try it and is going to buy it when we get done emailing.) But anyway, this family is so amazing. One night after we taught a lesson, Silvana was helping the 5-year-old Giovanna say the prayer. She was whispering and then Giovanna would say it out loud. She said, "Thank you for these missionaries that they could teach us these things that we know are true." They already have testimonies and have been looking for a long time for the true church.
On Sunday, our ward had the primary program. They sang a bunch of songs and it was a beautiful program. Our investigators loved it and the kids too. The spirit was so strong. They sang all the normal primary songs but just in Portuguese.
We have been working hard and I am really enjoying the mission. I love my comp. We have a lot of fun cooking treats and lunch (on days when the members give us money instead of lunch). Also, my comp loves doing nails so she always does mine for me. I love the mission and I am learning so much about the gospel. I am also learning how the gospel changes people’s lives.
I hope everything is going well for everyone. It sounds like dad’s travels are pretty amazing. Australia, eh? And I hope the Christmas party was a blast. I don’t think we are planning on going to ours.
I love you so much! Thank you for everything. Have a great week--I will keep you updated on the call home.
Love Barb
A baptism! I think she is 14? and Barb's 1st companion in the mission field.
Barb eating the usual beans and rice with her current companion.
Barb eating the usual beans and rice with her current companion.
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