Hello hello,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPAI!!! You deserve the best week of you life. I hope it is fulled with much happiness and bliss. Do you have any big exciting plans? You and mom seem to be doing lots of big trips lately--will you visit either of your beloved grandkids? Dad, you are truly the best leader I have ever known and have blessed my life in more ways than I can count. Thank you so much for always being so strong and for always being so loyal to mom and to us. You are the true essence of what a real father should be like and I konw that Father is very proud. What a wonderful life you have lived and will continue to live so great. Thanks for all of your cheery emails and love that you send my way. You have made my mission so wonderful.

I am here once again living the life with the Síster Sperry. This was a very nomal missionary week. There wasn´t anything weird or any travels or any giant meetings. It is nice to have a break week every once and a while.

We are working a lot with menos ativos and finding them all over the place. As we are now working practically exclusively in João Rossi agora, there has been some downtime as vezes this week and we knocked doors (and yes, in this neighborhood everyone actually has doors to knock instead of interphones to ring or gates to clap at). Surprisingly about half of the doors we knock on have already been baptized! I am so excited that we are working so much with menos ativos now (remember 50% of the work) because there are a lot of people who really need it and who are more open and willing to come back and rechange their lives. The worth of the soul of a menos ativo is just as grande as the worth of a new investigator. There are so many people who need just a little help in this world, just a little push to get them back on the path and focused on Christ. I have a huge love for menos ativos and will want to work more with them when I start serving in my home ward. You just grow such a love for those you serve.

Speaking of serve, we did a bunch of fun service projects this week. The best one was...ajuda em uma alua de inglês! We went to this ritzi English school in the Centro which had a class who was being taught by a member of our stake. We were able to help out in the class wednesday night. It was one of the funnest, most gratifying things we did this week. We actually didn´t even teach anything specifically, but just had the students (there were 8 that night) come in one on one and have a conversation with one of us for about 20 minutes. Their goal was to get to know us and just try to keep a conversation going about anything for the full time. There was a wide range of skill level, but there were a few that I talked to who were super good and understood almost everything that I said. My whole life of language studies (I guess the past 6 years) I have always been on the other side of these conversations and have been really stressed out. It was great to be the one who actually knew both languages and could just help them relax and enjoy it. It turned out so great and everyone was really excited, because I think they were able to see that they are better at english than they think they are. It was so much fun! We might start going there now for an hour or so once every week for our projeto de serviço. I love languages more than I can imagine and was really grateful to be able to use this skill that I gained to help someone else learn. We were also able to throw it a little bit with each person about the gospel. This will be a great way to find new investigators or at least give these young adults (they were all about our age or a few years older) a good perspective of the church. It was só alegria all around.

We also did a fun little note for the bishop this week. There are a few hard things going on in our ward right now (normal ward problems, but still a lot to take on) and our bishop was feeling a little overwhelmed this week in nosso conselho da liderança (which we are now attending every month which is going really great). Bispo Cais is fantastic and really gives his all to this large ward and to the Lord. He is a great leader and has a lot on his plate (he is also studying law at the moment...you know how that is Ian. Imagine being bishop at the same time!) So after the conselho we skipped home and whipped out some delicious american chocolate chip cookies and ran a plate over to his house. Apparently they don´t do doorbell ditching here (the porteiro gave us a wierd look), and it took a few tries to get him to come to the door, but it turned out great and was super fun to do. I think the other Brazilian sisteres here with us got a kick out of it too. We might not be getting tons of baptisms here in this area, but I feel like we are really helping the ward and building up menos ativos. I just love the people here so much! For the first time this week in Sacrament Meeting I had the doubt of whether I want to visit Campos Elíseos or Jd. Irajá for my last Sunday of the mission. Difficult decision when you have the best areas in the mission!

We are teaching Lucila mais now and she has a huge desire to learn. It is hard to see her as often because she works so much now, but things seem to be looking up in her life. They always do when you start living the gospel.

Love you tons and tons!

Síster Marchante

Olá Presidente!

Esta semana foi muito tranquila. Eu gosto muito dos começos das transferências porque com mudanças tudo mundo está animado de novo e é como um novo início. Está especialmente ótimo quando você é companheiras com a maravilhosa Síster Sperry! Estou tão animada servir com ela mais uma! Ela está me ensinando muitas coisas e sempre resolvemos qualquer problema imediatamente. Vida é muita boa e mais leve lá em Irajá. Estou amando a área e a ala bastante. Só muito grata posso ficar aqui.

Não tenho muitas novidades esta semana além do conselho da ala. Tivemos conselho ontem e demorou por duas horas. Tiveram muitas coisas para discutir, e me sinto que realmente ajudamos em alguns pontos. Foi um pouco intenso e cansativo então quando a reunião terminou corremos para casa e fizemos "cookies" rapidinho e deixamos um prato deles na casa do bispo que mora na rua do lado da gente. Foi divertido e acho que ajudou levantar os espíritos da família dele. Temos muitos problemas com individuais na ala neste momento mas realmente temos líderes maravilhosos que estão fazendo tudo possível ajudar. Amo as pessoas aqui.

Também tivemos um projeto de serviço bem legal esta semana. Ajudamos ensinar em uma ala de inglês. Foi bem legal porque só tivemos uma conversa pessoal com cada aluno, então conseguimos falar sobre o evangelho com cada um. Acho que vamos voltar, e acho que vamos conseguir muitas referências disso. Eu amo idiomas tanto! Eu sempre quero estudar português mais. Estou tão abençoada estar aprendendo este idioma tão lindo.

As Sísteres estão bem. Não fizemos divisões esta primeira semana, mas falamos bastante com elas.

Estamos saudáveis e felizes! Obrigada por tudo Presidente!

Síster Marchant

P.S. If my emails to the Presidente ever seem incomplete, it is because I do generally delete small parts of them when I send them home. Great things are really happening here!

 

 

English Translation:

Hello President!
This week was very quiet. I like the beginnings of transfers because with changes everything else is excited again and it's like a new beginning. Is especially great when you're wonderful companions with Sister Sperry! I am so excited to serve with her more! She is teaching me many things and always resolve any problem immediately. Life is good and much lighter there Irajá. I'm loving the area and wing enough. Only very thankful I can stay here.
I have not much news this week besides the ward council. Counsel had yesterday and it took two hours. Had many things to discuss, and I feel it really helped in some spots. It was a little intense and tiring so when the meeting ended we ran home and made "cookies" and quickly left a plate of them in the bishop's house who lives on the street side of the people. It was fun and I think that helped lift the spirits of his family. We have many problems with individual ward at this time but we truly wonderful leaders who are doing everything possible to help. I love the people here.
We also had a pretty cool service project this week. Help teach English in a ward. It was cool because we only had a personal conversation with each student, then we could talk about the gospel with everyone. I think we'll go back, and I think we will get many referrals that. I love both languages​​! I always want to study more Portuguese. I am so blessed to be learning this language so beautiful.
The Sisters are okay. Divisions did not do this first week, but we talk a lot with them.
We are healthy and happy! Thanks for everything President!
Sister Marchant