transfer 8 week 1

okay, so I just spend a lot of time trying to send my letter to president, sometimes applications fail to work properly.

so just want to say I love you all very much!

its raining like crazy today!

I have been doing splits with sister chatwin and I have been very bad and talking alot of english with her.

didnt realize how much I missed speaking in my native tounge!

the week in photos:

photo 1: last monday. the sky here is beautiful

photo 2: im sister cinderella tuesday

photo 3: elder chictchury turns 22! i did the one on the end, with the elder barfing.

photo 4: today! in the rain!

photo 5: baptism of Zelia, shes awesome

Transferencia 7 semana 6

I can´t believe we are already on our last week of this transfer! the last few weeks have been kinda difficult, as sister chatwin has been really sick, we have been doing splits so I have been working with her in my area, but she hasnt had the strenght to work more than a few hours each day. Its amazing though how even when your best isnt enough, God always makes up for the rest of it and sees what it was. Like I was really thinking all our numbers would be low for church, few recent converts, no less actives, no investigators. We had three recent converts and 5 less actives at church, our efforts with our less actives paid off! The neat thing is through these less actives we are finding more people to teach, finding families who are only part members. I really am praying that this week sister lima and I can come across a miracle and have a baptism this week. This work is not easy; sure the baptism rate is higher in brasil than in other places, but we work so hard to get these people to understand and to feel and to accept the gospel. I have to admit when I was coming here leaving lousiana, I had the terrible misconception that the work would be easier. I know that I work a whole lot harder than I did in my previous mission. When you know it is possible to baptise weekly, you have that in your mind, that if you dont find someone, you truly are wasting the Lord´s time, you are failing your purpose as a missionary. I think this week has been my mid-mission crisis. Not that I know everything of how to be a missionary, heaven forbid I would ever think that, but I have had the training, and I know what more or less should be done, and the language isnt as big as a set back as it once was; so why am I struggling so hard to find people to teach? find people to invite? find people to baptise? I have had to do a lot of thinking this week, have had more time to think as I havent been able to work like normal. I still don´t know the answers, but there is one thing I do know. That God loves me. And because He loves me, He makes me struggle on my own sometimes so that I can turn to Him. I have learned that if you ask something, with only thinking of doing His will, and then do all that you can to try and attain it, God will give it to you. But if you arent willing to go all the way and just a little bit further, you aren´t going to land where you want.

Last night after closing our numbers, the sisters of julio de castilho let off some stress and had a blast.

So it started with drawing a tear drop one sister and it ended up with hitler mustaches and a fashion show.

Best night on the mission ever, well, funnest night ever. I dont think I have laughed so hard in a long time. I will be sending some pictures soon of that little event. hope it gets there in time for christmas!

oh and I finaly got that second package if I forgot to mention, THANK you for all the little goodies., we enjoyed much of the peanut butter last night. :)

photo 1. sister lima and I

photo 2. orelhão: phone booth!

photo 3. my mini foot with the grande hand of my comp.

semana 5 transferencia 7

can i just say this transfer is flying by? like what the heck here! I have plans that time just doesnt want to give room for. Im pretty excited for this night of proselytismo, we are having a family home evening night with some members who are inviting non member friends and we are bringing some young men who the elders referred to us whom they´d contacted in the street. (AND we are going to eat tapioca. tapicoca isnt like pudding here, its more like a fluffly tortia that you can serve sweet or salty. I didnt like it the first time, but I love it now, Sister Lima learned how to make it so I´ve gained a good two pounds off of the treats she makes.)

Its so wonderful to work with the members, im starting to know where members live and which are open to helping out so our work with members should improve. We had a special meeting this week with president oliveira were we learned better techniques to work with members active and less active, we are working alot with less actives to find new people to teach. We have new neighbors that we drank terreré with them this past week and invited them for church (terére is like an herbal tea that is cold and you use a filtered straw to drink. its like the typical thing to drink here) and saturday night they passed by and knocked on our door to say they´d be going with us the next morning! yay! we were nervous they would cancel because of the rain, but they went and liked the meeting. they are pretty strong in their own religion, but hey, if hearts are open, the holy spirit can testify of the truths we are sharing.

THis truly is the work of the Lord, just hope that I dont get in the way too much of alowing the work to be done through me.

love sister smith

Week 4 transfer 7

I just finished reading the book of mormon, I read almost the whole thing in portuges. I wanted to read it a second time in the language, but I decided to try the bible. its more difficult but I need to have more of a testimony of the bible. seriously, I dont feel the same about the bible as I do the book of mormon. bom, im only going to read the new testament and then return to the book of mormon. The old testament is difficult enough in english!

We had a suprise transfer this past week too, one of our visa waiters finally recieved her visa, so sister sorensen went to durados (i hope that will be my next area after here) and sister fernandes is ``training`` sister chatwin. Poor little thing, she got really sick yesterday. I think its a combination of the hot sun (she left new hampshire, it was cold there) and the heavy food. I honestly never had problems with the food, but i think thats because im used to eating good, its part of being a kunz, right? hearty food and hard labor!

This week has been a really good week, im loving working with sister Lima. She has a golden heart, and she helps me to see the tender mercies God me gives each day. We have had some good little experiences together that has really got the fire in my heart turning into a bonfire for this work. IT was funny, saturday sister Lima asked me if we will run next week. And I said, yes, will will run to find our baptisms. Ela started to laugh, não, como run for our exersizes in the morning. oh. yeah... I want miracles and more amazing experiences, so I cant really help it if the only thing i think about is baptism. I definately have developed a testimony about baptism, its not something you wait for. With out baptism, we are hell bound, really we are. now if people would just understand how important it is to have the right authority... I know that after the death of Christ and His Apostolos the authority to preach and baptise in the name of Christ was taken off the earth, and wasnt re established until Joseph Smith recieved it of peter james and john. How fortunate am I to have had this knowldge my whole life and now to be able to share it with others. Its so clear to me that this is Gods work, and this is God´s Kingdom on earth, when I feel the spirit testify so strongly to me and to those who listen to Joseph´s experience in the sacred grove. I am so grateful for those tender mercies Heavenly Father gives to me that lets me know that I am making a difference in someone´s life, or that I am being an instrument in His hands. I dont want to think about that day when I will be released from this calling, I know that I will miss these feelings very much.

Transfer 7 week 3

thanks everyone for the happy birthday wishes.

I had a good birthday, my zone suprised me with a cake and stuff in the chapel (okay, so I was suspecting something when everyone was acting all fishy during the week with odd phone calls requiring my companion to leave the room and the sudden ``emergency meeting in the chapel``) But it was good. And even better is yesterday we had a baptism, of a dear old lady, donna Maria. Her granddaughter had been baptised a few months past and the sisters had been working with her for a while, but she finally decided to test the water. Literally, I think her biggest concern was if the water would be cold. okay, we tried to get hot water, but it just didnt give. The water was cold, but not ice cold. and it was really neat, we had one of the young men in the ward perform the baptism, our bispo here is really great about getting involved, getting the ward memebers involved. Its sad how many inactives we have, this area is small. Our goal this week is to assign a street to every day to visit members on that streeet. We did that on thursday and we found a family really neat, they were baptised in 2007 , the mom, and two sons. the father isnt a member, he has big problems with drinking so we (sister Lima and I) want to help this family during our time together. THe area here is realyl different, people arent as friendly as in Cuiabá and its more suburb, so youdont see as many people on the streets so we are going to focus our efforts on getting referrals from members. Referrals from members is like 95% more effective than street contacting. But everyone needs a chance to hear the gospel. some need it a few more times than others. IF there is one thing I could say I have learned this week is to not get discouraged. The numbers for my companionship have been low, and where we both were tranfsered in not knowing the area, its easy to feel frustrated. But its no excuse; the Lord will help us no matter what circumstance we are in if we do all that we can to seek Him, and be happy while we are doing it. Im the old lady of the sisters here in Julio de Castilho, so im really trying to be a good example to them and have patience. Rumor has it that an apostle will be visiting next month. I wont say more than this because tecnhically I shouldn´t know, but dont be suprised it the ex-president of BYU-Idaho comes. But hey, thats just wnat I have heard. Crossing my fingers we can work out a way to get to cuiabá next month!! Im working on my obedience and diligence this transfer; and patience too. I know that if I can be more obedident that I will see more changes in the work I do and in the miracles I can see. Ive got 8 months left to squeeze in as much experiences as possible; 8 months to make the most of the changes the Lord wants me to make in this time.

Love you all,

kristin

Transfer 7 week 2

oh boy!

campo grande is great. I sure did leave the heat behind in Cuiabá. My new companion is sister Lima dos Santos, she is a really sweet girl with a tender heart. We are going to have some good times together. She has three months of the mission, so she has the power and excitement of a new missionary. This is something really good in a companionship. :) Im in Julio de Castilho, its super different here than in Cuiabá. There isnt a lot of movement and everything is pretty laid back and tranquil. Finding is going to be more of a challenge with less people on the streets, but we have a baptism coming up this weekd, donna Maria, the grandmother of a recent convert. the sisters have been working with her over the past two transfers, and she had accepted a date for the sunday past, but when we visited her the last week she said she´d be more satisfied the next sunday. okay alright, lets have some faith here! ITs already rained two days since i got here, i love it. Campo grande is pretty and so I will be actually taking pictures now. Im going to miss Cuiabá still. I miss those sisteres but its going to be an interesting experience here with this young sisters. Im the old lady of the house, the other three arrived in the field two transfers back, so i´ve got to set the example for these youngsters. the southern part of the mission is known for being laid back and slackers. I won´t, just laying down the law.

The ward here is in a chapel so im excited to be in an actual chapel. The chapels here are massive, much larger than what ive been accustomed to states side. This is my first time on my mission being in an actual chapel, as a matter of fact. Sister Lima is teaching me lots of new words, she is also from the northeast, i have yet to have a companion who isnt northeasterner. Sister warken is the only sister i know from the southern part of brasil, rio do sul, most people here have thought i was brasilian until they saw my nametag, i look like im from the southeast apparently.

anyway, we are getting together with the elders to play volleyball and have lunch, so got to run. this week going to have a miracle, fe +works+obedience=milagres

love ya

kristin

Transferencia 7 week 1

DEZ MESES DA MISSÃO!!

holy cow.

even better than that, is that I got to hear all of conference! Granted i didnt understand every detail, but I had the whole Português experience. But it was so great to see our profeta Thomas S. Monson, he truly is called of God. Everytime I hear his teachings, I am more and more convinced of the divinity of his calling. We had a great final de tranferencia here in Zona Cuiabá. We had a good set of baptisms both saturday and sunday, between sessions and depois the final. Sister Morais and I had another baptism, I dont remmeber if id spoke of Warlen, but he was baptised by our Líder de Zona, elder Conçeicão. He has been a fantastic lidere also. YEh, Warlen is an electo. He is super excited to be a part of the gospel and wants to do anything to serve God. Our other Recent Covert, Douglas is doing swimingly. I just love that young man, he has such strength and character, and a special love for all the mssionaries. He only has 22 years, so a mission is an option for him, plus his aunt and uncle are super supportive. (they are members, they were the ones who gave the reference). Douglas always helps me with my portuges so its a good trade off. ;) So yea, its sad to have to say goodbye to people, i think everyone was already knowing that I would be leaving this transfer before I actually did.

oh yeah, SIM! EU VOU PARA CAMPO GRANDE!!

MY new area will be, starting tommrow morning when the bus pulls in,

*drum roll*

JULIHO DE CASTILHO! (in truth, i thought it was juliho do castigo.... castigo meaning like prison, being in fetters. haha)

Sister Morais and Warken already served there so they have me pumped. its a smaller area; the food is great. Which is both good and bad. because I will really have to fight not to gain more weight. (yah. i gained a good 4 pounds here, in the area where people loose weight. parabens para mim.) ITs cooler theere too, im happy about that because im pretty sure my brain and blood has been boiling the last few weeks) and everything is a lot cheaper. this is good. And my companion appears to be super too.

yay!

im exited, my third area of the mission!

will send a carta soon.

love,

kristin

aka

Sister de Poder, Batisadora

(i can say that right? 3 weeks running, 3 men? lol estou brincando. its the Lord putting em in our paths :) hhe)