Well hello there fam!

What a week it has been. So many big changes are here---After spending my entire mission in Ribeirão Preto, I was hereby transfered out of the sede and the city! I am now in... ... ...Araraquara! It is a city about an hour and a half outside of Ribeirão. I am now companions with a Síster G. França! She is from Pará, Brasil and is an amor de uma pessoa. I already love her to death. She has been out the same amount of time as I have on the mission and has already served one transfer here in Araraquara. I am super excited to serve with a Brasilian again. I have been a whole year with Americans and am ready to speak Portuguese 24/7 de novo and really perfect it before I go home. I LOVE this language and am loving learning all the nitty gritty details. I have also heard that this is an awesome area and that the ward is just great. I am so excited to get started with a new start on things in a completely differente place. The wards here in Brasil are just wonderful. The members are so open and loving every time and each family makes you feel like you´re their own daugther. I want to bring a lot of this brotherly love back to wherever I am in the states quando voltar. I´m sure this new ward will be the same.

Wow it was hard to leave Irajá. I never imagined it would be so hard. The people there have really dug their ways into my heart. We made a little coisinha para a Clarice and had a difficult final lesson with her. Everyone cried and we said our final goodbyes. Clarice is such a devoted soul and has truly embraced the gospel fullheartedly. She is a huge example of faith to me. She is coming to everything and is talking about the church to all of her family and friends. It is easy to tell which of the recém-conversos are realmente converted to the gospel because they are some of the most eager to share it with others. Clarice´s netos também are really excited to come to church every week and have already had a drastic change. I love this family demais!

We had a miracle with our investigators Eduardo e Josiana this week as well. We weren´t able to see them in the end because they were traveling in Franca, but we called and did a lesson over the phone real quick. After many deeply spiritual lessons with them, they have started to keep commitments! They said that the are praying and reading the Book of Mormon. The night before we called they said that they stayed up until two in the morning reading o Livro de Mórmon juntos! They are so wonderful and have a true desire to find the truth. I will miss them a lot too.

And of course, more than anything I will miss my dear Síster Sperry. She was transfered to a very hot town 6 hours from Ribeirão--the farthest área for sisteres in the mission. She completely changed my life and brought light and joy into every fiber of my being! I love this girl to death and learned SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOO much with her. Sometimes it seems like I learned more in three months with her than I have the rest of my mission combined. We had deep, personal conversations every day and truly trusted each other. I know I can count on her for whatever I need. It is so wonderful to have real, lasting friendships like I have and know that I will have with her. She has made me into a much better, stronger missionary and disciple of Christ. I am eternally grateful for the short time we had together.

We had Stake Conference this weekend too which was really fun. I was able to say my goodbyes to the ward (there´s the bishop there in a foto) and all my friends in Ribeirão. It´s neat too that with all of these divisões I actually know a lot of the members from the other wards in our stake as well. I have so many friends here! Who know so many people would take me right in and make me feel at home. I will miss this place a lot but I know that it is the will of the Lord that I go to this new area. I arrived without a problem and everything is working out. Presidente is definitely inspired with how he does transfers. It always works out for our good.

I have been studying alot about repentance lately especially in one of the first conference talks by Elder Anderson (I don´t remember the name but I think it was the second conference talk that he gave as a general authority). I would hightly recommend it and recommend truly trying to apply it to your life! I have grown such a love for the general authorities over the past few months. Sister Sperry has a special love for the general conference talks and I never know how wonderful they are. Read those ensigns with pride! They are such a blessing in our lives.

Here we go on another great adventure! See you next week.

Síster Marchant

Olá Presidente!

Esta semana passou muito rápido. Fizemos divisões com as sísteres em nossa casa. Eu saiu com a Síster Beserra. Eu ama aquela mulher tanto. Ela é tão maravilhosa! Tivemos uma divisão muito boa e tranquila. A Síster Beserra tem muito determinação e diligência. Acho que ela também aprendeu esta transferência como desacelerar e desfrutar o momento mais quando necessário. Eu com certeza aprendi isto com a Síster Sperry. Síster Beserra é muito engrassada e cheia de luz e alegria. As vezes ela não mostra sua personalidade profundo para todas as pessoas mas realmente ela é um amor e encheu nossa casa com luz e felicidade. Ela vai ser uma ótima treinadora. Estou muito animada para ela e a Síster Sena. Elas combinaram muito bem como companheiras e ajudarão uma à outra muito com treinar. Elas estão um pouco nervosas mas eu sei que as duas vão ser fantásticas.

Nossa foi difícil sair de Jd. Irajá. Nunca pensei que tinha tanto de meu coração lá. Eu AMO as pessoas lá, especialmente nossa recém-conversa Clarice e os membros. Os membros lá cuidam de seus missionários muito bem e sempre tivemos tudo que precisávamos. A ala vai amar as novas Sísteres que vão chegar. Mas...estou super animada ser a Síster Treinadora de lá!!! Ó como eu amo aquele área e as Sísteres lá. Muito obrigada por minha oportunidade voltar para Ribeirão Preto esta transferência e especialmente para Jd. Irajá. Estou a Síster mais abençoada na missão.

Foi também difícil sair da Síster Sperry. Ganhei um amor por ela como nenhuma outra pessoa que conheci faz muito tempo. Ela é maravilhosa e me ensinou tantas coisas boas. Estou muito grata pelo tempo tivemos para estar juntas in Irajá. Foi uma época muito feliz de minha missão. Estou animada para ela ir para Araçatuba e aprender muitas coisas lá também. Sei que as transferências foram muito inspiradas e que estamos onde precisamos estar.

Estou aqui em Araraquara! Presidente, estou tão animada estar aqui. Eu realmente estou aprendendo que de vez em quando mudança é boa, especialmente perto do fim da missão. Eu AMO a Síster G. França e estou super animada servir com ela! Acho que temos personalidades mais ou menos semelhantes e que vamos combinar bem aqui. Também ouvi falar tantas coisas boas de Araraquara e estou animada dar tudo de me mesma para ajudar a obra aqui. Com a Síster Sperry aprendi onde estão meus limites e como não ultrapassá-los, então sei que vou desfrutar o trabalho ainda mais nesta nova área. Obrigada por tudo! Vida é tão boa.

Até amanha!

Síster Marchante