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)