From an email dated 28 October, 2013:
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY J & N!
second, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! :) this week has been pretty crazy not gonna lie.
had my first baptism this past saturday! a wonderful woman named Sueli.
She's seriously a dream. I call her my Brasilera mai! & she calls me her *filha
brinca *haha, her white child! Which Im like, cool! haha
Anyway, shes amazing. And it was definitely a wonderful baptism. Did a
special musical number (which I sucked at majorly but whatevs!)
(oh & I wanna apologize if my email last week was random, weird or
strong... haha didnt have time to proofread it, but I promise this emails
better!)
As far as other things go, this week has been bittersweet to say the least.
Found so many wonderful people to teach, in addition to a young *rapaz *named
Chezekiyah (yeah I know.... but if you met his dad you wouldnt really be
surprised with the name choice haha)
Today though, we found out that the mother of a sister in our mission
passed away last night suddenly. So you can imagine whats been going
through my mind today.
When I first found out, the entire morning I was in tears. Thats definitely
my greatest fear ever, but especially on the mission. The sister has
decided not to go home, since she wont be able to come back on the mission.
A terrible thought came to my mind that Im not sure I could be that strong
to do the same.... as soon as I heard about it, I instantly wanted to see
you all. To hug you all. I *never *felt as homesick for each of you, mom
you especially.
And thats lead me to this thought:
This life is so temporary. This moment, this year & a half, this *lifetime *is
only an infinitesimal, unnoticable, drop in the ocean of eternity. And with
that being said, its even *more *vital for all of us to say "I love you"
more, to say "I miss you" more, and not only that but *show* it more. As
Pres Monson quoted shakespeare "they do not love that do not *show* their
love"
Please PLEASE this week, make it a habit to show your love to each other.
Through little acts of service, little acts of affection & kindness & words
of comfort and uplifting words of encouragment. This life is *so SO brief. *
If, heaven forbid, something were to happen, you can rest assure that the
last thing you did or said to a brother, sister, mother, father, aunt or
uncle, son or daughter, were words of love.
Another thought, when it comes to faith through hard times:
When I 1st got to Brazil, my portuguese was very weak. & I told myself I
wouldnt say much, only things Id memorized or I knew were correct. I
wouldnt risk embarrassing myself by saying something wrong & only *after *Id
studied for a period of time *then *Id converse more. Well, yall, the Lord
doesnt work that way. Its only *after* we try. After we make a "leap of
faith" after weve taken a calculated risk & take the first few steps into
the darkness will the Lord add uponmore light for our pathway. So is the
same with faith. Just as we will never find a light switch in a darkened
room unless we take the steps to search for it, so too we will never find
the faith to light our own lives unless we move forward into the dark
unknown. Unless we reach for our Savior &we find that His hand has alreayd
been outstretched waiting for us to take His.
Love you all so much! Happy Halloween & Happy birthday J & N!
MISS YALL!
xoxo
second, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! :) this week has been pretty crazy not gonna lie.
had my first baptism this past saturday! a wonderful woman named Sueli.
She's seriously a dream. I call her my Brasilera mai! & she calls me her *filha
brinca *haha, her white child! Which Im like, cool! haha
Anyway, shes amazing. And it was definitely a wonderful baptism. Did a
special musical number (which I sucked at majorly but whatevs!)
(oh & I wanna apologize if my email last week was random, weird or
strong... haha didnt have time to proofread it, but I promise this emails
better!)
As far as other things go, this week has been bittersweet to say the least.
Found so many wonderful people to teach, in addition to a young *rapaz *named
Chezekiyah (yeah I know.... but if you met his dad you wouldnt really be
surprised with the name choice haha)
Today though, we found out that the mother of a sister in our mission
passed away last night suddenly. So you can imagine whats been going
through my mind today.
When I first found out, the entire morning I was in tears. Thats definitely
my greatest fear ever, but especially on the mission. The sister has
decided not to go home, since she wont be able to come back on the mission.
A terrible thought came to my mind that Im not sure I could be that strong
to do the same.... as soon as I heard about it, I instantly wanted to see
you all. To hug you all. I *never *felt as homesick for each of you, mom
you especially.
And thats lead me to this thought:
This life is so temporary. This moment, this year & a half, this *lifetime *is
only an infinitesimal, unnoticable, drop in the ocean of eternity. And with
that being said, its even *more *vital for all of us to say "I love you"
more, to say "I miss you" more, and not only that but *show* it more. As
Pres Monson quoted shakespeare "they do not love that do not *show* their
love"
Please PLEASE this week, make it a habit to show your love to each other.
Through little acts of service, little acts of affection & kindness & words
of comfort and uplifting words of encouragment. This life is *so SO brief. *
If, heaven forbid, something were to happen, you can rest assure that the
last thing you did or said to a brother, sister, mother, father, aunt or
uncle, son or daughter, were words of love.
Another thought, when it comes to faith through hard times:
When I 1st got to Brazil, my portuguese was very weak. & I told myself I
wouldnt say much, only things Id memorized or I knew were correct. I
wouldnt risk embarrassing myself by saying something wrong & only *after *Id
studied for a period of time *then *Id converse more. Well, yall, the Lord
doesnt work that way. Its only *after* we try. After we make a "leap of
faith" after weve taken a calculated risk & take the first few steps into
the darkness will the Lord add uponmore light for our pathway. So is the
same with faith. Just as we will never find a light switch in a darkened
room unless we take the steps to search for it, so too we will never find
the faith to light our own lives unless we move forward into the dark
unknown. Unless we reach for our Savior &we find that His hand has alreayd
been outstretched waiting for us to take His.
Love you all so much! Happy Halloween & Happy birthday J & N!
MISS YALL!
xoxo
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