It rained for almost 3 days straight and I actually felt a little bit chilly. I wouldn't use the word cold, but I wasn't hot. Unfortunately the water in the shower wasn't hot either. It was freezing cold. I never missed the hot sun so much. The sun is back though like nothing ever happened. The only difference is that now there are a bunch of dirt roads destroyed and flooded because this city is not built for rain. It was the first big rainstorm in like 2 years people said. Everything got wet, but it's fine because with this sun it dries quickly.
I got tons of great e-mails this week AND I got 2 months worth of letters during our interviews. When it rains it pours. Get it? Haha, bad joke. But anyways. Let me just respond to some of the most commonly asked questions. First I am SO excited about the Rio de Janeiro temple, but not more than my companion who is from there. Everyone makes horrible jokes to her about how the Angel Moroni will have to be made out of something other than gold so that people don't rob it, or how instead of a trumpet he will have a weapon. The Fortaleza temple is getting delayed which everyone is bummed about because it is closer to Mossoró than Recife. Eventually it will get built though, the government is just slowing the process down. With Rio there will be 8 temples in Brazil, so crazy. The members here are super excited. The gospel is spreading fast here. Really fast. I think it is because everyone in Brazil believes in God. I'm not kidding when I say everyone. We make contacts with people on the street who are drug addicts, or have 5 girlfriends and get drunk every night, but they tell us that God is really important to them in their lives. I mean for sure they need some help in obeying the commandments and living in a way that shows that God is important, but I am so grateful to serve in a place where people like to hear about God. They may not want to live what we teach them, but they respect us because they know we teach the truth.
Here in Mossoró we go everywhere on foot still, but there is a bus that we take to our district meetings downtown. Also, during the rainstorm the other night our investigators gave us a ride home so we could keep dry. Also, we made a contact the other night and they felt bad for us having to walk way far to get back home so they gave us a ride. It was sweet, people here are SO loving and hospitable. The first time we meet them and they are like "eat some of these snacks we have and then hop in our car and we'll drop you off at home." I love Brazil.
This week I hit my 9 month mark!!! Wahoo!! The other sisters I live with made me a cake. My tan lines are looking great too. Especially on my feet. I don't know if they will ever go away. Oh well. I still use sunscreen on my face, but you can't tell because it is turning into raw leather. Whatever, blessings of the mission.
I heard about the Boston Marathon from EVERYONE. It is amazing how one bad thing happens in the U.S. and even strangers on the street feel the need to tell me. Our country has a horrible reputation for disasters and evil stuff happening.
I've seen lots of baby blessings on my mission. One week was horrible because we had a Catholic family at church and we explained to them like a day before how you shouldn't baptize little children, bla bla bla. Then we get to church and they are blessing the baby. We explained what was going on though and they understood, but it was just bad timing. This week at church we had 3 SUPER great investigators. One of the men was like "could I bring a notebook next week to take notes because I think it will help me remember better." Yeah. Elect. I know. The other 2 are an engaged couple that are so ready to be baptized and love everything about church, but are in limbo about the law of chastity. I am praying really hard that they will either start to live it, or that they will get married as soon as possible.
The next transfer is May 8 so who knows what will happen. We have like 14 sisters arriving if they all get their visas and only 22 in the mission right now so lots of areas are going to be opened.
This area is getting better every week. I didn't really like it when I got here, but now we have good people to teach and I am getting to know the members and my comp. and I are working better together so I am happier. There are like 1,000 people baptized in this ward and only like 100 who are active so we are trying to work with less actives and still find other people to teach too. It is a big task, but we just go at it little by little.
Love you all. Until next week.
Laurel
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