Sacred Moments...

Hey Family (and Friends!)

This week we had an awesome experience. We went to contact a girl we
talked to the other day and she wasnt home. As we came back I saw a
man in his yard and felt like I should talk to him, so we went over
there and started talking. His name is Douglas. He told us he is a
member but hasnt been going for a while now. He said he wants to come
back but that its harder said than done. He has two daughters and
said they are the principal reason he wants to come back, so they can
grow up in the church. We invited him to come on Sunday and he said
he would. We also marked a return appointment so we could talk to his
wife who is not a member.

They went to church yesterday and loved it. The older daughter is 6
and said she doesnt want to go to her "other school" anymore just
wants to go to "this school" everyday! haha. Her mom had to explain
that during the week she needs to go to her normal school to learn to
read and write so she can do so at the church school!

I seem to have a gift to do contacts with less active members. Its
happened 4-5 times in the last couple of weeks. The Lord knows what
He is doing!

The same night we met Douglas, as we were walking home another guy
stopped us on the street. He also is a less active member, Emerson.
We invited him to come to church as well and he came! He served a
mission and everything but fell away a little after he got home. He
said he doesnt think the church is the only true church anymore but
that it is definitely a good place. That made me sad. We bore our
testimonies of the restoration and invited him to pray again to God
and ask him if this Church is true. He said he will.

We have been working with another less active family too. A woman,
Sonia, and her 7 daughters!! She also has a son, but we have never met
him. There are 2 daughters and one granddaughter that aren´t
baptized. The rest are members but when one gets discouraged and
stops going, the rest soon follow after. We made a goal with Sonia,
and the 2nd oldest (I think...), Daiane, for them to go to church for
2 months straight to gain back their strengths. So far they are
keeping their part!! Sonia gets discouraged because the kids wont go,
but if they go, she is right there. She has a testimony. The older
daughters were baptized when they were little and stopped going soon
after, so they dont really have their own testimonies. We are working
on it. One of the middle daughters, Camilla, finally came to church
yesterday! That was exciting!! We are trying to get them all strong
and baptize the ones that havent made that important covenant with God
yet. They are a really cool family! Tonight we are going to have a
Family Home Evening with them!!

Other awesome story: (Sorry if I ever repeat myself...sometimes I
forget!) We were early to lunch the other day in a neighborhood by
our house so we looked around for some good doors to knock or people
to do contacts with. We walked passed a house and Sister White saw
some kids inside in wheelchairs and a woman running around making
lunch and taking care of everyone. She felt like she should talk to
her but saw that she was so busy so she just kept walking. She didnt
make it 3 steps before she stopped me and said, lets go back to that
house. So we turned around and got the attention of the woman.

The woman invited us in and we got to know her super amazing family!!
She has 3 sons that are special. They have body handicaps and are in
wheelchairs. They are SO awesome!! She has a total of 7 children,
but we only met the youngest 4 and a grandson who is 4 or 5 years old.
We met the 3 special boys and a daughter. The 11 year old boy in a
wheelchair, Giovanne, is twins with the daughter, Giovana. She is
"normal" but very special too! Of course, you guessed it, I thought a
lot about you guys and especially Erik and Ashley!! I showed them the
pictures of my family and they loved it. The mom, Salete, is a hard
working woman!! She never had formal schooling because she got married
young and had her kids. She doesnt know how to read, but we have
started giving her a few little lessons (we dont know much either so
its hard!) to help her out. She really wants to learn.

They couldnt come to church on Sunday because they already had a
birthday party marked, but they said they will come next week. We are
making arrangements with some of the Brothers in the ward to come pick
them up!!

I am so excited to be teaching them. They are sooooo awesome. Did I
mention that?!

I need to take a picture with them to send to you guys!!

Alright, the pictures that I am sending:
The Zone Pic at the end of the last transfer (Dont worry...I am
staying here in Votorantim with Sister White! wooot!! And Elder
Andraszczyk that is from Laguna Niguel (and was in Andrea's new ward...small world!) was transfered to our Zone. Fun
times!) Poor Elder Smalley´s head got cut off, but in the other
picture of the zone our hilariously inappropriate zone leader Elder
Bird showed his butt off (covered with his pants thankgoodness) so
I´ll just show this more appropriate one for now. The other can be a
...treat?...for afterwards! ;)