I am here, in Vitória da Conquista, and you want to hear something strange? I am FREEZING! Yeah, its ridiculous! But its true! I have been using 3 blankets at night to keep warm and have been layering at least two sweaters every day just so that I am not shivering the entire day. RIDICULOUS! I am in Brasil - BRASIL!!!! I should NOT be freezing! Maybe I wont buy sandals for a while...
I am here with Sister Andrade, and can I say how much I love this woman? Probably not. We work, gosh darn it. We work a lot. I got here on Wednsday, and we werent able to work until almost 4 because of when I got in, and we didnt have lunch that day so we had to make it ourselves (and we need to buy gas for the stove, so we cook everything in the microwave) and Sister Andrade wasnt able to work in our area before I came because of the way transfers worked out, and guess who had the best numbers in the zone - thats right. We did. Unfortunately, the person who was going to get baptized Saturday decided 1/2 hour before that she didnt want to be baptized anymore. That was... heartbreaking. Really and truly. Its amazing how fast we as missionaries learn to love people, and really and truly internalize the fact that when they decide that they arent ready to keep compromisos or they dont go to church or dont read the Book of Mormon - simple, little things - they are losing the chance of gaining salvation. And this is a battle, my friends. I dont remember who it was in conference, but someone said something to the effect that if we arent sharing the gospel, we are risking the chance of losing people. Literaly losing people. As memebers of the church, we know that death is not the end; but we also have the knowledge that there is an even more complete way to lose people. To lose our brothers and sisters. Some chose to be lost. Others dont know they are lost. And if no one is there to tell them any better, they will stay that way.
But I was talking about Sister Andrade =] She is from São Paulo, has 3 more transfers than I do, and is very entertaining. She speaks a little english (I actually have the sneaking suspition that she knows more than she thinks she does) and so a miority of the time we talk in português, which is amazing. I love português. I still have some issues, and my vocabulary still isnt that great, but I love this language. And every once in a while, Sister Andrade will surprise me and say something in english. Like yesterday when I stubbed my toe and tripped, she yelled from the other room - Dont kill yourself!!! =]
The ward here is great and is ready to grow. There are only about... 85 active members, but the Lord, Sister Andrade and I will work and split the ward here in a little bit. Dont even worry about it.
Até mais -
Sister Petersen
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