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

A Conquista da Conquista: Vol. 3 Chpt 6 : In which Sister Petersen gets very tired, goes on a division, and has 8 investigators in sacrament meeting

This week was really hot, and its amazing what the heat can do to my energy.  We had to stop a couple of times for me to get my strength back, and I wasnt very happy about that, but I survived and I know that my health is important for me to be able to keep working.
I feel like my grammar is horrible, but I dont know exactly what is wrong with it... besides the fact that portugues is dominating my life!
We had two families come to church this sunday!  I would have been jumping with joy if I had had the energy.  I am SO excited to be working with them, and they seem really enthusiastic about everything, too.  We still need to talk to them and see what they thought of church, but I think it went really well.
And i hope the fact that I have pictures makes up for the fact that my email is short, once again.  Please forgive me, because I love you LOTS and I dont want  you to be mad at me =D

Tchau!

Sister Petersen

                        Yes, it is an avacado.  And you know what else?  Its a small avacado.  arent you jealous of me?

A Conquista da Conquista: Vol. 3 Chpt. 5: In which, unfortunately, Sister Petersen stayed in the sun a little too long and her mind is not working as she writes home

I hope that tells you a little of how I feel right now.  This week was good... was hard... we worked a lot... found a new area to work in... lost a lot of our investigators.... and found out about the power of the Sacrament.  Unfortunately, thats all I have.  Dont hate me.

Love you!

Sister Petersen

A Conquista da Conquista: Vol. 3 Chpt. 4: In which we have to call three times a day, come home before dark, a strike ends, and we do more work than any other week

Oi pela casa!

Yes, the strike has ended, and, my dearest Mother, I didnt tell you more about it because I didnt know more about it.  Conquista is pretty calm compared to the other parts of Bahia.  I know that in Sumaré there was a lot of gunfire in one of the neighborhoods where the sister were working... I did fail to tell you that someone tried to rob us, but you will have to forgive me for that.  I am telling you now.  I think the guy didnt know what he was doing, because he asked for our cellphones, Sister Andrade said we didnt have any, that we were missionaries and all we had were books and she showed him her bible, her felt her bag a little bit and let us go and apologized.  He didnt even look at me, (which is really weird because EVERYONE looks at me) but I am pretty sure thats because there of your prayers being answered for my safety.
Other than that, we had to call in three time a day letting our leaders know we were alive and in the middle of the week we started having to come in before dark.  But all in a days work.  We were still able to get a lot of things done, find a lot of people and work hard, which is all I can ask for.  And the end of the greve happened sooner than I thought it would, but I think its because of Carnival, too.  There is no way that the state could function during Carnival without the police.  They timed their strike very stratigically.
As for the missionary work, Sister Andrade and I are working and studying so hard.  There were so many times during this week when we left lessons and she told me that I had said exactly what she was thinking or when she said something that I was thinking.  Por exemplo: we were teaching a kid about the Book of Mormon and how to apply it to our lives, and I thought to share the story about Nefi when he breaks his bow.  We read a little, and then I asked him what he would do in that situation, and he said "Well, I would just make another one out of wood."  Woah.  Yeah, thats EXACTLY what you should do.  I have never used the story before on the mission, and when we left his house Sister Andrade told me that before I said anything she thought that we should share that story with him.
I know that this gospel is true, that this church is true, that the Holy Ghost tells us exactly what we need to do and how we need to do it, and if we follow his whispers, we will have peace in our lives.  Sei que é a verdade.  Deus é um deus de milagres.

Até mais - guarda a fé!

Sister Petersen