A Conquista da Conquista: Vol 4. Chpt 4

Hey hey hey!

Ok, first and foremost, I would like you all to pray for me.  I always thought I would come home in September, but lately I have been thinking about coming home in August - I dont know exactly why, but it seems right.  I am praying to receive an answer during conference this weekend.

Second - we had a fun time on the bus the other day - we got on and ended up staying on for 2 hours because they forgot to change the sign for where it was going and it had already passed our apartment.

about the pictures - the first one was taken on my mission aniversary - the sign says something about me being old and to have patience with me =)  The other is the baptism of Maicon!  Soooo exciting!  And the couple standing next to him are working on getting married so that they can get baptised, too!

I love you all soooo much - sorry this is short, but I am sending a letter to you in the regular mail this week, too, so dont worry.  I am doing great!  I am happy and happily working

Oh! and if everyone in the family could send me an experience of how they received blessings for obeying a certain commandment, that would be wonderful!

Love you all!

Erin

A Conquista da Conquista: Vol 4. Chpt 3

Just a couple of things that have happened this week - We started an english class here, and I am excited.  I will just be helping out because there is an english teacher that is part of the ward here, so I just get to show up and help people say things correctly.

Also, I love the people here. We went to the house of one of our investigators today for lunch, and I love that family so much.  We just sat and talked for two hours with Márcia, the mom, and she is incredible.  There is another couple here that we are working with and they have a son who is 4 and the cutest thing ever.  They went to church for the first time together here, and when they left they were talking to each other and the lady said "Lets get married as soon as we can so that we can get baptised!"  Its so incredible.  This work and how it changes peoples lives is incredible.  And that we get a chance to be a part of this work... The Lord loves us, thats all I can say.

I am doing a lot better, really and truly, and I love hearing from you - everyone that writes.  Its so good to hear about what youre doing and how youre feeling and how the gospel continues to bless the lives of the people I love.

Amo vocês!!

Sister Petersen

A Conquista da Conquista: Vol 4. Chpt 2: In which we jump rope, go teaching with some members and find an amazing young man

Oi da casa !

For all of you who think that I have been working too hard or that I am too serious, I decided to lighten up a little bit.  We were walking in a part of our area that we had never been to before and saw a group of girls jump roping, so we decided to help them out a bit.  We stayed there batendo corda for them for a good ten minutes, and then we had to go.  But they called their friends over and there was a group of about 10 kids following us trying to meet "a americana" and so we stopped to talked to them a little more.  A few days later we were walking down the same street and a lady calls us over.  Turns out there her son was one of the kids who talked to us, and that he hadnt quit talking about us since!  We set up an appointment to talk with them this week, so we will see how that goes.

Other than that, we were able to go out teaching with the Bishop and one of the recent converts here, Suelen.  It was amazing to hear the bishop share his testimony about his conversion story, and after we finished teaching with him he thanked us for helping to remind him what the gospel has done in his life.  And I think he likes us just a little bit - he bought us pizza after we finished teaching =]  Suelen also went out with us to help with a different family that we are teaching. Nossa, her testimony is so incredible.  So incredible.  Just to hear her talk about what this gospel has done for her life and her family, to hear the faith that she has and what she knows this gospel can do... I feel privledged to know her.  It really is amazing, this work that we do.  I think at times I forget that, but it really does change peoples lives.

I think one of the things that I am learning most as a missionary is how to be a better memeber of this church.  All the things that I want to do when I get back, all the things that I want to put into action, all the goals that I have set for myself... It doesnt benefit us much if the gospel is not constantly changing our lives, and that is exactly what I want it to do.

We were also blessed this week to meet Maicon.  He read the panflet The Restoration that we had left in his cousins house and he came up to us and basically explained the whole thing to us, and how everything makes sense, how it makes sense that we needed a restoration (and yes, he used the word restoration) and how we need to have a prophet here, and how he believes in the Book of Mormon (although he hadnt read it yet).  It was incredible.  Needless to say, we gave him a Book of Mormon, he read, prayed, and received an answer and he went to church and has assured us that he will be coming back many many times.

O Senhor nos abencoes quando nos fazemos a nossa parte.  Sie isso com todo meu coração.
Amo voces e tudo que estão fazendo para mim e para esta obra maravilhosa!

As for your questions... Its really wierd, the thought that I will be here one year.  Really, really weird.  I feel like I have been here forever, but at the same time I feel like I got here yesterday.  I know I am going to have a hard time when I come back and I have to talk in english all the time.  I have tried a few times, and I am not capable of praying in english any more.

The best things to eat? Arroz e feijão. Com certeza ;)

Até logo -

Sister Petersen

A Conquista da Conquista: Vol. 4 Chp. 1: In which Sister Petersen is not transfered

oi!

First, let me explain a little bit about the first picture.  Its Patricia and her two kids, Micheli and João, and Patricia is probably one of the best people on the face of the planet.  Seriously.  There is such a strong spirit when ever we teach her, and she has so many things that are working against her, but she is so determined to make it through, so determined to get an answer that the church is true and be baptised, and I know that it will happen.  She has a baptismal date for March 17th, which happens to be her birthday... and I think it happens to be the birthday of someone else I know, too... =]  I am really praying that it happens. She was at church Sunday, and testimony meeting was so good, it had such a strong spirit, and I am really excited about the next coming weeks.

The other people I am excited for is a family of 5, but in particular the youngest (who is 11), Josué.  They are such a good family, very united, and they want to do what the Lord wants them to do.  So keep them in your prayers, too!

I have grown so attatched to these people here its incredible.  Its amazing how close you can feel to people after so short a time of knowing them, and to know that it was the Lord that put these people in my path, so that I can have the opportunity to talk to them, to learn from them, and to grow with them.  Part of this attachment makes the work a little hard at times, to be honest.  I love these people so much that sometimes, when they dont fufill a commitment or when something comes up and we dont get the chance to talk to them, it literally hurts.  Because I know what they are missing out on, I know what opportunites they have that they cant see.  Its difficult to explain sometimes.

These past two weeks have been difficult for me and for Sister Andrade, very difficult.  I have had some of my highest and lowest moments of the mission to date, and its a little hard to keep up with the run of emotions.  But I am good.  I am fine.  More than that, I am happy.  I am so happy that I still have the chance to work here in Candeias and to be with Sister Andrade.  We have a lot of things that the Lord wants us to do, that much I know.

Thank you so much for all of your support, for your love and your prayers!

até logo -

Sister Petersen