Life Is Crazy, but I Wouldn't Want It Any Other Way.

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!

     Want to know something a little bit concerning? I´m going to tell you, so if you don´t want to know, close your eyes. I have been starting to speak Portuguese in a BOston accent. WHy is this concerning? One: I have been speaking POrtuguese for nine months with a slightly-less-gringo-than-all-the-other-gringos accent. Two: I don´t even speak English with a Boston accent. I don´t know what´s up with that, but I´ll get over it. It´s probably a phase that every missionary passes through, you know, the use-a-strange-accent-that´s-not-yours-while-speaking-a-foreign-language phase.

     I got chosen as a part of the choir that´s going to sing for the visit of the apostle! We´re going to sing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq-KhxsUxNo ! It´s so beautiful. I asked SIster Cabral if I could play the trumpet, but I guess they weren´t planning on the orchestra too.... what a shame. It would be so nice!

Sweet ex-investigators. Dalva is like a grandmother
and is still going to give us lunch and sweets and
stuff and we are making cookies for her today. She
came to church Sunday and she really likes it, but she
doesn´t think there´s a difference in the validity of her
Catholic baptism and the baptism that Jesus Christ
commanded us to do in the Bible and Book of Mormon.
Sad, but she´ll get baptised eventually. LOVE HER!
Her husband is kind of like Uncle Doug, but more serious.
He smiles a lot less, but we love him anyways.

     This week we have two baptisms planned...well, one with two people, so I will send you the pictures next week! We had a great family home evening this week with Bruno and our ward mission leader and his family! I LOVE THESE PEOPLE! They´re awesome!

     One of the people getting baptised is a young woman who we´ve been teaching for quite a while and we decided that we would probably have to stop teaching her, because she didn´t seem like she really wanted to be baptised after all. So, this one day we met with her and as she was coming to answer the door, I felt like something about her was different. We asked if she really wanted to be baptised and she said yes, because she wants to change her life, so we set a date and there has been such a big change in her! She is excited and got up on time for church, even though she had to go further, because of the split and she is reading the Book of Mormon and there is just a different light about her. 

Me looking like a crazy person and eating
a sweet made from a cow´s hoof in Vo
Dalva´s house. THey literally make sweets
out of EVERYTHING HERE! Banana peel...
orange peel...cow hoof...I don´t know what
else, but ...potato...I´m pretty sure if it
exists, Brazilians make a sweet out of it.

     This week we went to visit Bruno with a member of the ward who we´ve never gone teaching with before. When he opened the door, she screamed and hugged him. Apparently they were friends in middle school, but lost touch and hadn´t seen each other for 10 years. SURPRISE! This week is Bruno´s birthday, so Debora, Sister Medrano and I are going to stop by with a surprise for him! IT´s gonna be the best ever!

     This week was so full of ups and downs it was crazy, but life is crazy and I wouldn´t want it any other way. I hope everyone is smiling and thinking of all the reasons you have to be grateful!

Have a marvelous week!

Love,

SIster Arthur