Mon, 07 Dec 2009 : Entao

So, familia, this has been quite a week. First I will share some fun things:

Sunday we were walking with the Elders and we passed one of the many drunk parties people have on the street. These men were playing their usual horrible music, and I stopped and did a little dance. Unbeknownst to me, they were all watching, and at my performance they all began cheering and shouting "Americana!!! Dança de novo americana!" Oh my, I about died of embarrassment. THEN, we were walking down the wrong street, so we had to turn around and pass them AGAIN. Once again, the catcalls came. Me mata.

Ive been sensing a fault of certain American things, namely: drinking fountains, carpet, dryers, cold, sidewalks that are actually intact, and driving... And peanut butter, haha.

I forget if I mentioned, but I got my Rubiks cube in the mail about 3 weeks ago (Thanks Anita!), and have been practicing. I'm down to two minutes now. I need to get about 1 minute faster to beat the Elder that taught me, hahaha. Dad, better start practicing for when I get home!!!!!

Our area is amazing. We have 6 baptisms marked--two for this week and 4 for the week that comes (is that correct english?). We hope to be marking the baptisms of a few more. Its amazing how people really are just sooo ready to follow the gospel here =]

And!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the coolest part, so every one pay attention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PRESIDENT EYRING and ELDER SCOTT are coming to OUR MISSION and ONLY our mission THIS SATURDAY. Theyre going to have a private conference with JUST OUR MISSION. And guess who gets to lead the music? Yep, thats me! Oh man, I am SOOOO excited! I get to shake their hands! Hahaha. Our mission is sooo priviledged. Of 27 missions here in Brasil, they chose ours. I dont know why, but Im happy for it. You'll all be sure to get a full report next week.

As for the companionship...... Well, theres been a lot of drama. The highlight was when i wouldnt let her call her mom on the cell phone Saturday night, so when i was in the shower (i had the phone with me), she took the keys and left, locking me in the apartment building. When i got out, I noticed she was gone, so i knocked on every neighbors door, but no one was home, and then I couldnt call presidente because we have this weird block on our phone after 10:30 to call people of our mission, and we dont have any more minutes. I managed to call collect to the guy who does the maitence stuff for the mission, and he called the assisstents, who called us at 11:30, a few minutes after Sis Abrantes came back. She had gone to use the payphone on the street. We had an interview with Presidente today. She basically has one more chance, then shes going home. We're staying together until the end of this transfer, and then one of us is leaving this area.

Good fun, ne? Itll be a great story to tell my grandkids, haha. Im not gonna talk a lot about her and other stuff going on because shes a bummer to talk about, and i dont want to bring you all down or have you worry about me. Just pray for me, please. And her too.

But I am so excited for pres Eyring =] I love this work, and I know that this transfer, as annoying as it is, will be for my good and i will grow from it.

Christ lives, His gospel is fully upon the earth again, and in light of that, nothing else really matters. Everything else is trivial and will last but a moment in the eternities.

I love you all, thank you for your love and support. It really means a lot to me to know you want me to be here and are helping me. It helps me get through tough times when I know I have my family and friends behind me.

Ate mais, eu amo voces!

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 : It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Orrrrr not. Its definitely summer here, as its getting hotter every day. woohoo.

Thanksgiving was great--We actually had a turkey! It was fun to see some Elder friends again too and joke around with them in English, haha. I did miss the stuffing and the pumpkin pie, but hey, theres always next year, ne?

Well familia, its been a week. We switched apartments with the elders because we had the bigger apartment and less people. When we arrived at our new humble abode... well, lets just say that elders have been living there for about 3 years... and i dont think its been cleaned in that whole time. It was quite the cleaning spree. I dont think i've ever seen so many cobwebs and dust bunnies and just other dirty things. But its good because now i have a real bed with a much better mattress (I was sleeping on the floor on a mattress that basically was totally wrn out in the middle). Welcome to the mission/Brasil, ne?

Its also good because now my companion cant run off to the neighbors without me. Huzzah.

We had our interviews with President last Wednesday. I LOVE Presidente! I talked to him for about an hour--a lot about my companion but also about other, more spiritual things. Lifes a lot more fun when you can speak the language, haha. Then Sister Abrantes talked with him for another hour, then we talked to him tgether for about an hour. He basically told me that im here because im the most patient sister and he thinks i can handle her best. I was telling him im frustrated because our area is AMAZING and i want to WORK and she doesnt.... But its been better this week. The work is just taking off.

The first few weeks it was kinda slow... So we changed tactics and now we're inviting everyone to be baptised the first lesson. And amazingly, it works. We now have three baptisms marked for the 12th and all three of them have only been to church once and only had the first lesson. The Lord does amazing things when you're bold. Sis Lemos (my comp from Caruaru) and I were talking and we agreed that our job as a missionary is to "cry repentence and baptism". So thats what we're doing.

Went to the temple on Tuesday. First time all in Portuguese, but I understood everything. Hows that for being fluent??? It was sooooo amazing. And the best was being there with Sis Lemos too, who is my BEST friend here on the mission, and I think one of the better friends ive ever had. We just laugh and talk about such deep spiritual things together, its awesomse. Definitely a blessingthe Lord gave me to make up for this trying time...

We had 16 investigators in church yesterday... and we didnt bring a single one. The members are inviting everyone to church, to activities, to hear the lessons, its amazing! Thats the only way to do missionary work.

Moral of the story: INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO HEAR THE MISSIONARIES. Even if you dont think they want to, or even if you dont want to feel like your being overbearing. Do it. You have the truth. Now make it known.

I know that this is the true gospel of Christ restored on the earth. I know we have a living prophet today, and that this church is guided by Jesus the Christ, our ressurrected Lord and Saviour. I know that it is only through Him that we really truly can become clean of sin and return to live with our Fahter in Heaven, and our families, forever. This is what makes me happy, even admist trials and hardships. i know that i can be better every day, and become more like Him. I love Him and I know He lives.

~Sis Wilkinson

Fotos:

1) View of Recife from our area

2) Our District at the temple: Sis Hernandes, Sis Abrantes, Sis Lemos, Eu, Elder Santos, Elder Shulze. Notice how I tower over everyone.

3) The Temple =]

4) Eu e Sis Lemos

5) I let a little girl play "hair dresser" with my hair at lunch one day--she was sooo excited because I have such straight hair, haha.

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 : Então.

Familia

My new area is great!!! Its still in Recife, actually still pretty close to the temple. Its all these little winding alleys and SOOO many stairs going all over the place on this one hill. Its TINY. And the members are SO excited to have sisters after having some slacker Elders. Theyre just giving a tons of references and the bishop is way excited, and even when we knock on doors, I'll be like "hi, we're missionaries and we have a message we want to share with you. Can we?" and theyre like "alright" and just let us in.

My comp is... difficult. It hasnt even been a week, and she has had a couple hissy fits, she doesnt want to keep the rules, and she says its none of my buisness if she doesnt, and then she turns around and calls me a hypocrite if I try and tell her otherwise. Shes yelled at me, stamped her feet, called me names--and in front of other elders and our neighbors. Everyone is like "Sister, just go, youre being ridiculous"... Presidente knows allll about her problems, and that shes very disobedent. Ive been learning a lot this week about choosing your battles to win the war, ya know? There have been a few things when shes had her little fits that ive just let slide or made a compromise while still being firm. I just have to remember that I AM in the right, that I AM doing the right thing, and that im her companion for a reason. Im definitely going to have a long talk with President too.

I love my president, he is a WONDERFUL man. I know he really trusts me (he said that to E Whiting back at the beginning of the last transfer). Hes letting me spend Thanksgiving at the house of a member in Madalena, because he trusts me that much. I just dont want to let him down.

But please, everyone... Pray for me. Pray for me a lot. Pray for me and pray for her too.

Tomorrow I get to go to the temple. Its the first time in 7 months. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED. SO EXCITED!!!!!!! I love the temple. I'll probably cry when I go in and cry during the session and cry in the celestial because ill be so happy.

Thats about it... Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Think of me as your eating turkey and stuffing and watching american football. I miss you all SOOOOO much!!!!!!!!

Lots of Love,

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 : I got transferred....

Just when things were starting to pick up in Madalena, Sis Oliveira and I got a call last night saying BOTH of us were transfered. We were pretty much in shock, since neither of us were expecting me to leave. I really didnt want to, I was really starting to love the area and the people and we have a LOT of things planned and three marked baptisms. But I guess the Lord knows better than I do where he needs me.

I spent all of yesterday in bed with a fever--at the highest 102 degrees. I woke the night before, threw up, and didnt sleep for the next 3 hours. At 6:30 am I called my District Leader, Elder Whiting, and he and his comp came and gave me a blessing, and then I stayed in bed. We thought maybe it is Dengue, which is kinda like Malaria, but a little worse, because I had all the symptoms with an achy body and pressure on my eyes and a fever and throwing up and chills and hot flashes. I learned the Tylonal does nothing for me--I took it twice and my fever kept rising, and the third time I took ibuprofen, and my fever dropped within the hour. But I still feel sooo weak today. I was a little mad I had to get up and pack last night because 1) i hate packing and 2) I didnt want to leave and 3) I had to stop and rest every five minutes. I still have a slight fever today and just feel totally exhausted, plus I'm still a little miffed about being uprooted so suddenly.

So now I'm in Casa Amarela with Sister Abrantes... This is going to be quite the transfer........ She has the custom of breaking quite a few rules... almost all of them. I guess Presidente is trusting me to help her be more obedient........ I need to learn how to be firm and confrontatial while still being tactful.

I dont have much else to report. Our three marked baptisms in Madalena are amazing and I am going to miss them, especially Daniele and Daisy. But we'll see what people I meet here. Like I said, the Lord knows where He needs me, and its my job to do it!

Aunt Angela, I met Elder Bateman, he says hi, and said he knew about me before anything else about the mission, hahaha.

James and Erin, congrats on the new baby!!!!!!! She's beautiful.

I would send pictures, but this internet place is kinda crappy. So next week maybe.... I dont really have pictures of anything super exciting anyway.

Your Sick Amiga

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 : It was a week.

It was a long week, gente. We walked a lo in the hot sun and had most of our appointments fall through along with our baptism (which was moved to the next week). But we did mark the baptism of Daisy and Danielle for the 21!!!! And we have a battle plan to get into the apartment buildings in Madalena, the richer and much harder part. It involves making cookies and inviting all their neighbors to family home evening, which we will be implementing this week.

we also had zone conference, which was seriously sooo uplifting. I also saw a lot of my good Elder friends that I arrived with and havent seen in awhile.

We went to downtown Recife today and saw some of the historic parts and the big touristy market area. Way fun =] I didnt take any pictures because my camera got a virus on it. But luckily Elder Whiting is a computer genius and fixed everything, so now i'm sending some photos.

Unfortunately, we got back late so i dont have much time to write.

pics:

1) me and E Whiting with our pumpkins.

2) E. Goodwin, Wagoner, me, Harris, and Sis Ortolani at Zone conference.

love you all!!!!!!!!! Transfers next weeks, so ill be writing wednesday! Im pretty sure i1ll be staying here in Madalena =] But I think I may be getting a new comp. i1ll let you know!!!!!!!!

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 : I have never sweat so much in my life.

Dear Familia.

It. Is. HOT. And it's not even summer yet!! Gah! I'm drinking about 4 liters of water every day and then sweating most of it out. I sweat more than I ever have, even playing field hockey in August or digging in Jordan. Every time I remove my bag, there is a LOVELY sweat mark right across the front of my chest, and my back always has sweat dripping down it as we walk.

And I know i'll miss it when i'm home =]

This week went by SO fast! No one here celebrates Halloween... Sad day, becasue its basically my favorite holiday (and Christmas). But, we helped a lady in our ward decorate her house for Halloween, because every year she has this big party for all the kids in the area and gets references for us from the parents, woo! So we painted the walls of her yard and Elder Whiting and I carved pumpkins, true American style. And I have a totally cute picture of us with our pumpkins, but of course, technology hates me and my camera died. Again. The moment I decided to use it. Such is life. This internet cafe is really slow anyway, so next week, when i'm back at the usual, faster one, I will send lots of fun pictures =]

We have a baptism this Saturday, Poliany, the wife of a less active member, but he's coming back to church now too. They´re a cute little family =] I don't think i've ever taught a more beautiful person--shes gorgeous. We call her barbie becasue she has very bleach blonde hair (not natural, but it works for her). We also have two sisters we're teaching, Daniele e Daisy, who remind me a lot of me and Linny. Way fun to teach them, becasue theyre our age and hilarious. We're going to teeach them again tomorrow. But they watchd The Testaments without us and LOVED it, and then Daisy ready like half of Third Nephi and they lovd church, woohoo! I love it when people are prepared by the Lord, makes my job a lot easier Alexandre is still a work in progress. Sometimes I cant believe how trapped in the world some people are, and how, even when they KNOW what they want, and they KNOW that the gospel is whats right, they dont want to change. Alexandre's problem/excuse is that hes afraid if he's baptised he'll mess up after...but thats exactly why we have REPENTENCE.

Gente... Never let the fear of doing something wrong stop you from doing something right.

I'm sorry this email isnt very exciting. It was a rushed week, we taught, we contacted, we knocked doors, we did that service project, é isso. I arrive home exhausted every night! But it's good to be working hard.

Moral of the story: GIVE REFERENCES TO MISSIONARIES. I have now repented and will be a much better member when I get home daqui 9 meses.

I'm sorry I dont have much to say, more next week! With pictures!

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and I love hearing news form all you. I always read your emails, even if I dont always respond (and those of you that have sent packages, theyre in the missin office waiting for me to get them Thursday, woohoo!)

tchau!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009: Another week...

It was good. The work is picking up. We've got some good people we're teaching, even though a lot of our afternoons are spent walking around knocking doors. I guess thats how a majority of the missions in the world are, ne? But with a few million people in the city, its hard to find the few people that are prepared. But we have and heck, if i only help one person, its worth it, ne?

I think the most exciting thing this week was when i recieved a phone call from Elder whiting "Hey, sister... Do you know how to cut hair? Because Elder Levesque tried cutting mine... And it didnt turn out too well" Oh, THINK of something that causes laughter. It was this haircut. Ok, it really wasnt too bad, but it was very uneven. Luckily, with my little pair of hair-cut scissors and the very limited experience that I have, all was fixed. I was pretty proud of myself.

Our investigator Alexandre is great. Its truly amazing to see the change in his life. He went from "eh, what is faith?" to truly having it. I dont think he's ever had anyone tell him that he's smart, that he has divine potential and infinite worth, and that he has the right to dream big and reach goals. Last night we were just talking to him about that, doing more with his life than just sitting around, and I was telling him how really, im not just saying it because im a missionary or whatever, but because really, he's our friend, and i really do care about him, and he got all quiet and teary eyed. I can tell he's felt something real and wants to change. I love being here and helping people.

From now on, all of my photos will be at this address:

www.picasaweb.google.com/ashley.wilk

it will be updated every week-ish with a lot mroe photos.

no one celebrates halloween here =[ makes me sad because I LOVE halloween.. send a snickers to me in the package!

i love you all and am always praying for you.

~sister wilk

Mon, 19 Oct 2009: 8 months!

Yesterday was my eight month mark. WHAT?! How does time go by SOOOOO fast! I'm almost at my halfway mark! I'm almost an entire pregnancy! I'm almost over the hill! Oh man, so weird. It seems like i've been here two months.

This week was long and tiring. We walked a lot, and had a lot of appointments fall through. People here are really flaky/lie to our faces. Slightly annoying. But that just means I need to try harder and find newer and better ways to do the work. There's always some way that I could improve.

Well, we still have our marked baptism, Xavier, and he's great. We have one other progressing investigator, Alexandre, who was a street contact. He's our age and quite the character. He keeps asking us if we want to go to the beach with him, and he also basically said he wants to marry me, and then he can move to the US and get better work. And out of the five things with the Word of Wisdom (coffee, tea, cigarettes, drugs and drinking) he has problems with 4 of them. But Sunday he went to church all by himself, and when we asked him if he read the part we left in the Book of Mormon, he summerized the chapter perfectly. Me and Sis Oliveira were like: !!!!! hahaha. He'll be our miracle baptism.

Cool thing of the week!!!!! Grandpa Maxwell, this is for you! We had lunch with a woman in the ward, Carlota, and she's from Sao Paulo. She said her mom and grandma and aunt were baptised 50 years ago in Piracucaba, SP, and that her mom always talked about an "Elder Maxwell" and his brother who helped start the branch there (which is now a stake with 7 wards). Is that you Grandpa?! Do you remember a Luzia Patten, Adelaide Patten and Carlota Joas Patten? She also had photos of a few elders, named Jessie L. McCulley and James H. Barwick, who were there while you were (1947-1950, right?) Vovo, estou animada pra saber se elas realmente te conheciam! Eu acho que seria bem legal!!!

Anyway, familia, thats about it this week. I forgot to charge my camera unforunately, so expect a whole bunch of pictures next week!

Love you all. Remember I pray daily for each of you.

Mon, 12 Oct 2009: First Week in Madalena

Oi familia,

So my area is SMALL. We can walk from one end to the other in about a half hour. Its actually one of the larger sister areas, but after Caruaru, where it was walking 15 minutes to get the bus, its pretty darn small. It covers a wide range of social classes, from the favalas and the Blocks (Brasilian equivilent of the projects) to REALLY ritzy high-rise apartments with amazing views. We're also within walking distance of the temple!!!!!!!!!!! It's so beautiful =]

The members are really friendly. I was a little intimidated because the last sister here, sis solesbee, is really good and fun and everyone loves her and i was nervous about taking her place. But we've visited with a few members already and they're all super friendly and like me =] So thats good.

They also make really good food. I'll be glad to get back to things like hamburgers and pizza and mexican, even though i didnt eat very much of those in the US anyway. But i think i'll still have to have rice and beans at least every other day. If we pass a day without, i sense a fault of them (? that sentence was strange, but im not sure how to say it in english..)

We also have an awesome District Leader, Elder Whiting, who is always looking for ways to serve us. Oh! He lent me a book that his grandpa wrote, called "Leverage", and it's waaaay good. It's about creating leverage and tipping points in your life to set good goals and achieve them and really get what you want out of life. Its pretty easy to read but has a lot of good things. I would recommend it. Leverage by Darby Checketts.

As for the work... its going. We spent a lot of time this week chuting (dropping) investigators and finding new ones. We did mark a baptism!!! That was way cool. its the brother-in-law of a recent convert. He went to church on sunday and we taught him the first lesson that night, and marked his baptism for the 24! How cool is that?

Today me and Sis Oliveira and Elders Whiting and Levesque went to the zoo!!!!! Today is also a holiday, "Children's day" kinda the same and mothers day or fathers day. So the Zoo was PACKED. It was a small zoo and kinda lame, but it was still way fun to get out and do something like that. And we saw monkeys, camels, lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) and everyone stared at us also more than the animals. i dont blame them, 3 americans and 2 in business attire at the zoo, haha.

One thing I want to say. If there's one thing i've really seen on the mission, especially these last two transfers, its that if you do your part, and you do the best you can with the most you can, you CAN NOT FAIL. Even when everything is going wrong and looks like its about to fall apart, just keep working and doing everything you can, and have faith that the Lord will do the rest. I know this because i've seen it. The last transfer with sis lemos everything was going wrong, but all of our baptisms still happened and inactive people started going back to church. Yesterday we had an investigator walk out of church and we every appointment we had fell through and no one else was home so sis oliveira felt like we wasted the day, but we contacted one reference and we marked the baptism of the other. So all was not in vain. In fact, everything turned out perfect.

Also, remember to laugh and to not stress. Life is meant to be happy and to have fun. Enjoy the things you do. Work hard, play hard. At the end of each day, ask yourself if you really did the thing that mattered most. If the answer is yes, you'll have a much more satisfying life.

I'll send fotos next week. I didnt bring my cable with me, sooooo já era!

I love you all! keep doing whats right!

~Ashley

Wed, 07 Oct 2009: TRANSFERED!

Querida familia,

It finally happened, what we all knew was coming but never seemed like it would actually arrive: I've been transfered. I'm now in Madalena, which is a neighborhood in Recife. So basically I went from small country town to the middle of the city. It is SO different--I almost feel like i'm in a different mission. My Companion is Sis Oliveira from Minas Gerais (a state here near São paulo). I like her thus far =] We also have an awesomely sweet house, so thats exciting.

Sis Lemos was also transferred!!! She is now in Arcoverde, which is WAAAY interior. We're talking 2-3 hours past Caruaru. But, as President said, that area is in desperate need of Sisters, haha. Our area went back into one area, with Elder Stewart and Elder Serra staying. They were really excited to get our apartment, because now they'll actually live in their area and sleep on beds, instead of matresses on the floor. And our apartment was pretty nice as far as missionary apartments go. Good luck to them.

It was quite a last week. We had another wedding, of Janaina, and two baptisms (Janaina and Adriano). Each was so special and made me so happy. We had such a good transfer with so many daily miracles. I hope I can make this transfer the same.

We also had General Conference... In Portuguese. So I understood about half of what everyone was saying. Its still hard for me to understand things through microphones or on TV. I didnt even know they announced a new temple in Fortaleza until I got your email, dad, haha. I'm excited to read the talks in the Liahona, because i'll actually get more out of it. But from I did get, I understood we need to be MUCH better at living the gospel--be more obedient and stregthen our families and have more love. In an age where the hearts of men really are waxing cold, the warmth of Christ-like love is desperately needed to thaw the bitterness of Satan.

It was hard to leave my Beloved Caruaru, and especially all the people there that I love so much. Last night we had a farewell/family home evening with Mercia and Monica and other members, most of whom we taught. I told them how the gospel unites us, and that they are my family, and families are eternal. The Spirit was so strong and everyone was crying. The Elders also made us brownies and brought them to our apartment. Im going to miss them too, quite a bit. Our district was very unique in the friendship we had, and especially with the Elders in our ward.

But i'm excited to learn and grow here in Madalena. It will be quite an adventure too, seeing as I am now Senior companion--eita! But I now the Lord has put me where I need to be, so I'm ready to do my job and help people grow. I know that if I put the Lord and His work first and give it my all, we'll have miracles.

i'll send fotos monday. I'm still getting used to the area and where everything is.

I love you all! Thank you for all your support and prayers =]

~Sister Wilkinson

Mon, 28 Sep 2009: Batismos!

Oi Familia,

So, this week has been.... crazy, to say the least. Oh man... Lets start at the beginning.

-We were robbed, so we have no phone.

-I lost my planner on the bus, which is like my right arm here on the mission. Along with it I lost all my contacts, a bunch of addresses, my ID to be here in Brasil, and bus passes. Not to mention it was my favorite planner that I decorated.

-We had the wedding of Joana and Leandro, which had a LOT of drama with their families and the bishop and a bunch of other things going on, but they got married and will stay married and its great.

-We had the batism of Marian and Joana. That was so awesome. I love baptisms =]

-We have our recent converts, Adeildo, excited about going on a mission.

-Today for P-Day we went to Nova Jerusalem (New Jerusalem), but not the real one because Christ hasn't come yet. Its the largest outdoor theatre in the world and every Easter acts out the Passion of Christ, and it moves around to all these different stages and the audience follows it and it sounds waaay cool. Too bad I cant go. But it was neat to see the stages and things. We had a lot of fun taking pictures.

We have four baptisms next week, Adriano, and Leandro, and a wedding--Janaina and Lula (her husband, its a nickname, but i dont remember his real name).

Adriano is AMAZING. He stopped drinking coffee right off the bat, and then we explained about the Sabbath day, and hes like "Well, usually i pay football on sundays because im the captian of a team, but i'm going to go to church instead. its what God wants". !!!!!!!!!!Wow!!!!!!!! So we're really excited, and he's excited to be baptised, and he got to see the baptism of Joana and was even more excited. His mom says he's already changed so much. (Its funny, here in Brasil, people say things like "You're angels sent from Jesus" a lot, and his mom said this to us, and I was like "well, actually, yeah, we were sent by Him")

General Conference is next week!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, I cant believe its already here, i feel like we just had it yesterday!

And I have one week left here..Transfers Wednesday. I can't believe time goes by SO fast!!!! Next time I email, it will be from a new area...Eeek!

Fotos:

1) Sis Lemos with our guide in Nova Jerusalem. He kept touching her shoulder and arm... it was soo funny.

2) Our district on the throne of Herod. This is basically the personality of our district in a nutshell.

3) Elder Halvorsen lost his arm to the lion

4) Joana's baptism (Leandro is next week!)

5) Mirian's baptism

6) Joana and Leandro's wedding. (I look SO BIG. I'm not wearing heels or anything)

7) Freaking AWESOME telephone booths in Nova Jerusalem

8) Getting tortured by our guide, hahaahahahahahahahahaha

Anyway Familia, I hope all is well with you. I love you and think about you and pray for you all.

Until Next week!

~Sis Wilkinson

Mon, 21 Sep, 2009: Another week

So I spent about 20 minutes typing up a ridiculously cool email, and then the computer froze. Its one of those days

We had a baptism! Isaias and Adeildo, two awesome young men who are so solid and ready for the gospel. The baptism was great.

Speaking of baptisms, we have three next week! Joana and Leandro have their marriage on Friday and will be baptised on Saturday, along with Miriam, the sister of a member, who went to the baptism on Saturday and said "hey, i want to be baptised!" and we said "okay!" We call this um batismo que caiu do ceu (a baptism that fell from heaven). How cool is that?

Besides them, we have 5 others marked and hope to mark 3 more this week. Sis Lemos and I have been working HARD this transfer--I get home every night exhausted, plan, and fall into bed. But its paying off! Its truly amazing how the Lord blesses those who make an effort.

We had Zone Conference, with some awesome training by President and our Zone leaders, and had some amazing speakers--Me and sis Lemos, haha. She gave a talk in English!!!!! We were up until midnight practicing. The one thing she kept messing up on (but got right in the talk!) was that she kept saying "its not enough to be good, we have to be better" but instead of "good" she would say "god", hahahahahahaha. She also said "piss" instead of "pass" and a few others that were way funny. But she did great in the talk itself =]

E Lucas got transfered and now we have E Serra. Hes great.

Its weird to think that two weeks from now i'll be leaving Caruaru. I love this place, I love these people. I started crying in Relief Society because I was thinking about it too much. The beautiful thing about the gospel is that one day i will see all these people again---maybe not in this life, but at least I have the hope that it isnt the end.

but enough about that... Can you believe it already makes 7 months for me? How weird is that? The time is passing SOOOOOOOO fast!

No pictures this week because the computer is being stupid. I severly dislike technology sometimes.

I love you all. The gospel is true!

~Sis Wilk

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 : Pensa uma pessoa feliz!

"Think of a happy person!!" It´s me =]

Happy Birthday Linny! (yesterday...) I was thinking of you!

Life's great familia. We have 6 baptisms marked; Isaias and Adeildo for this Saturday, Joana and Leandro for the 26, and Janaina and her husband for the 3rd of October.

Last night we had a little festa with a bunch of our recent converts and Isaias and Adeildo (who are 15 and 20... it seems like most of our recent converts are 15-20) It was way fun. We watched the Joseph Smith: Profet of the Restauration film (which I have a copy of in Portuguese, haha) and after the film... Wow. The Spirit was SOOOOO strong familia. One by one, Sis Lemos, me, And Elders Stewart and Lucas bore our testimonies about Joseph Smith and his role as a prophet. If there's one point about my testimony that is strong, it is that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that through him and the amazing sacrifices he made, including his own life, the gospel and everything we need for salvation were restored to the earth. It was really really good. Adeildo said that he really liked the film and felt something really strong. Woohoo!

We had interviews with President Tuesday in Gravatá, so that was a fun little road trip, with the 6 people in our district crammed into a 4 person car. But the time was spent well--Elder Halvorsen taught me the secrets of The Cube. Aka, how to do a rubik's cube. It´s so simple!!!!! I just need to practice. I can get the first two rows, but finishing it I just need to memorize some moves. But its something thats always been on my list of "Things to do in Life", so huzzah for doing life goals!

Anyway, interviews were great. I love President Emerick! Sis Lemos and I made an Apple pie for him and the Elders--it was well recieved

Other adventures... Sis Lemos and I got lost in Salgado (a neighborhood here) again, and where did we end up? Right next to the Elder's house. Again. And what did I have in my bag? A bar of chocolate for Elder Stewart because it was his one year mark, but he hadnt been to lunch because he did a division with the other Elders. So we called them on the pay phone to see if they were nearby (again) but the credit was running out and I was panicking and it was hilarious. I think it was one of those "You had to be there" moments, but we certanly laughed!

Last P-day we went to a pool party with the Youth in the ward. It was way fun! Although it was kinda torturous to not be able to swim or dip my feet in the pool =[ Oh well, thats a sacrifice I can make.

THEN!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! FAMILIA!!!!!! We watched a movie called "Fireproof" and omg its probably one of the BEST movies I've seen!!!!!!!! Its about a couple who's about to get a divorce, but then the guy who was a real jerk starts doing things to save his marriage, and how you have to have the same love Christ has for us for your spouse and its just amazing. Everyone, go find it and watch it. Its not a Mormon film, but it might as well be. It had sooo may gospel truths. wow. Sis Lemos and I talked about it for three days after. And even the Elders liked it, haha.

Yesterday was Sis Lemos' birthday too, and I made her pancakes =] we had lunch with Mercia and Monica and a bunch of other people, and there was cake and ice cream and it was just good fun =] Its amazing the love the people have for us here. I remember for my birthday, I couldnt understand or speak hardly at all, but still people had a party for me and just showed so much love =D What a great example to me of who I need to be!

Anyway, I think thats about it for the week. I love you all and pray for you every night!!!!! Remember to read your scriptures and pray and that Heavenly Father loves you!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 : Você não vale nada, mas eu gosto de você....

The subject is a line from a song that everyone is playing over and over here. Translated, it means "You´re worth nothing, but I like you"

So not much to report this week. No baptism for us. Just working hard, teaching, and serving. I get home every night and just fall into bed. Its good though =] I love the members here, and they, surprisingly, love me too! Giselle (our recent baptism) started crying Saturday night because someone mentioned that I would be leaving in 5 weeks. I remember seeing Mercia and Monica feeling the same way about Sis Jacobs, and I remember wondering if I would ever touch anyone's life in such a way that they would feel that strongly about me. Amazingly, I have. I feel soooo blessed to have that love.

Not much else to report... I do have a hilarious story though!

Sis Lemos and I left the apartment Friday and were walking down the street, when a man called to us from the other side and motioned us over. We went, and he introduced himself as Pastor William, and invited us to his church up the street on Thursday. He told us that he would "free" us from our church. We smiled and invited him to church on Sunday. He accepted, and shook Sis Lemos' hand, then mine, and, continuing to hold my hand, he asked "You, you´re from Europe. Are you German?" and I said "No, the United States" and he said "Ah! I knew it!" (..yeah, whatever dude). Then, haha, this is the BEST part. He continued "And your family, they're all there right? God is blessing your family right now. But! I have the Spirit, prophesying to me that your mother... Her health isnt well. She's not well at all" At this, I think I got a surprised/incredulous look on my face, because he gripped my hand tighter and asked "Is it true?".

I grinned and responded "Well, yeah. She's dead."

Oh man, familia. The LOOK of his FACE. Without saying a word, he dropped my hand and turned away. Sis Lemos and I laughed for about 15 minutes straight. I think I will forever remember his expression.

Well, I love the mission, and I love you!!! The gospel is true!

Mon, 31 Aug 2009: Ya poi

Então familia,

Since this letter is only 4 days after the last one, i dont have anything too exciting to report. The work is going great--we're teaching a lot and have a lot of investigators. Our goal is 8 baptisms this transfer. We´ve already got 2 marked (Joana and leandro) and this week we're going to mark 4 more. Oh I love this work =]

I gave a talk in church yesterday about missionary work. I was basically like "My job is to teach. its the responsibility of the members to find people", because really, thats the way the missionary program should be working. I also talked about why i'm a missionary--because i love these people and i want them to have eternal happiness. Because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and left us His gospel, and unless we follow that path, we cant have exaltation. Its the same way that, unless you follow the course program in a university to be a civil engineer, you can't recieve a diploma to be a civil engineer. You can't study history and get a degree in math. You cant follow any other path and get a celestial degree, entendesse? And this knowledge was restored through a prophet. Its SOOO important to make this known. And people think that if they dont believe it, it means its not true. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) there is a truth, and ignoring it won't make it go away.

Im still surprised how easily the language is flowing for me. sometimes i have people that are like "i have no idea what you're saying", but thats rare and unusual--i think they just get it in their minds that i have an accent and that they cant understand it, because after 10 minutesx of talking they understand. Or the spirit helps...Probably that one more than anything, haha

Anyway familia, I hope you all know that i love you and pray for all of you specifically. Stay firm in the gospel. Love each other.

~Sister Wilkinson

PS: The foto is a little guest that we found in our apartment. Sis Lemos killed it good.

Wed, 26 Aug 2009: So today was transfers....

And guess where I am now?

CARUARU!!!!!!!!!!! No joke! This will be my 4th transfer here! That means i'll spend about 6 months here total, which is 1/3 of my mission! Oh man, I seriously love this little town. And Sis Lemos is still with me, and Elders Stewart and Lucas are still here, along with Elder Halvorsen in the other ward. Only Elder Flaith got transfered, and we were all sad to see him go. But now he's Zone Leader! Woo! I'm glad I have 6 more weeks here! The next Transfer is 7 Oct. (HOW is it already almost September?! Whoa)

We didnt have any baptisms this week, but this transfer is going to one of amazing miracles, i can already tell. We also have the marriage of our little family, Joana and Leandro. I am SOOOOOO excited I get to be here for that! They are SOOO awesome! Theyre doing family prayer and reading scriptures and oh man, I just love them.

We did have some fun adventures this week. I wanted to do something nice for the Elders, so we decided, for our morning jog, to run to their house and leave something on their door for them. (sis lemos didnt want to, but after a rousing game of rock paper scissors, I was the victor!) So, departing from our house at 6 am, we ran for about 35-40 minutes to literally the other side of town. But when we got there... I forgot the name of the street. After about 20 minutes of searching, Sis Lemos was like "give up! lets go home!" but Sister Wilkinson does not give up! So I called the Elders and asked for their address. They were suspicious but gave it. We finally found their house and left balloons and some chocolate for them on their front door, then left nd called the Elders again. They were panicking because they thought we were calling for their address because Presidente was coming (he sometimes shows up unannounced to see if you're doing what you're supposed to) and they were frantically cleaning their apartment, hahahahahahahahaha. We told them to check their door and hung up. But then, this whole week, they didnt mention anything, and we thought they were planning somethjing, and we didnt want to mention anything until they did. But finally yesterday we told them, and they were like "we checked the door and there wasnt anything!" So apperantly, in the two minutes between us leaving and them checlking the door, someone stole everything. Thats Brasil for ya. But hey! Good story, ne?

Other things this week... We made coxinhas with an investigator, had a couple really fun FHE's with members and investigators, and we found some good new investigators and taught some good lessons and just had a lot of fun doing it. I'm loving life here in Caruaru =] I was talking with Giselle (our recent baptism) last night and I was telling her how I can't believe I feel soooo much love for people that two months I didnt even know existed. It's amazing. I just feel like these people are are my family (well, they are!). But I want so much whats best for them, and When they're happy, i'm happy. And when they're sad, I cry with them. A girl in our ward, Cybelly, who was baptised just before i got here, had her dad die Saturday night... And its really tragic because he shot his brother, then himself. We visited her Monday night and the minute she saw us she started sobbing and my heart was just breaking for her. Sis Lemos taught her family (who arent members) about the plan of salvation. But I remember after mom died, I was sooo sick of people telling me about the plan of salvation, that i'd see her again, etc, because even though I know that and believe it with all my heart, it still hurts and the pain is right there in that moment. I told her its ok to cry, and that the Lord knows exactly what she's feeling because he felt it Himself. That's what helped me the most, and what I needed to hear. She has a LOT of support from the girls in the ward (Mercia and Monica) that are good friends with her... She'll make it through. She has a LOT of faith and is a lot stronger than she realizes. But if any of you want to pray for her, I know she'd appreciate it.

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone. Thanks for the love and support and especially the emails and letters!!!! They're worth more than gold for missionaries, you have no idea!

Fotos:

1) Our district at our last district meeting yesterday... awwww

2) making coxinhas

3) the surprise we left the Elders!

4) Giselle told Sis Lemos she had ugly shoes, hahahaha, so then giselle tried them on

5) having fun at FHE =]

Love you all!

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 : SEIS MESES!!!!!!!!

Yes Familia,

Tomorrow marks SIX MONTHS that i´ve been on the mish. That means less than a year from now I´ll be back home. Oh, that's strange. I have SO MUCH WORK TO DO in such a short amount of time!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this week has some great stories. First off: BAPTISM!!!! (see fotos)

Andressa and Giselle, two 14 year old girls (cousins) who are among the most prepared people I have ever met/taught to be baptised. My goodness. They accepted baptism without question and stayed firm in the decision, and everything we taught and everything we left for them to read they remembered and started teaching the rest of their family and friends. We had their baptism this Saturday (the 15th), and the Elders had a baptism too, Taciane, who is such a sweet girl and I love her like she´s my own baptism =D

Fun story: Elder Halvorsen and I were looking at the water in the baptismal font, which is a lovely dank yellow color, and I said, "The water's clean, it's just got a lot of dirt in it" which makes no sense at all, and E Halvorsen was quick to point that out and tease me about it the rest of the night "This cake is vanilla, its just got a lot of chocolate in it" "This shirt is white, it's just got a lot of black in it", etc. What I MEANT was that the water was fresh--it wasnt yellow because of algae or whatever, so its clean. But its yellow from the dirt thats in the water here in Caruaru. Oh well, makes for a funny story, né?

Here's the other fun story of the week! A lady in our ward has these (creepy) little monkeys, and I foolishly let one climb around on me. I usually detest small animals/birds on me, because they always poo/pee. And guess what? This time was no different. He hopped away from my shoulder, and I felt like something was different... I turned to E. Stewart and said "Elder, please tell me there isnt a wet spot on my shoulder" and he started laughing and said "There is". Sis Lemos had THE most horror-struck expression, hahaha. I laughed too--what else could I do? Not everyone can say they got peed on by a monkey on the mish!

Next week is transfers, so i wont be sending out an email until Wednesday.... I think i´m going to be leaving my beloved little city of Caruaru =[ I've already been here 3 transfers... thats a long time in the mish. But I love the people here and I love this little city--I know it like the back of my hand. But the Lord knows where he needs me.

Fotos!

1) Me, E. Lucas, Stewart, Halvorsen, Sis Lemos. (front) Taciane, Andressa, Giselle

2) Sis Lemos, Andressa, Giselle, Me

3) Elders Stewart, Lucas, Halvorsen (he's so adorable--I hope I have sons as cute as him)

4) Elen and I (She´s a baptism of the Elders two weeks ago who just LOVES me--sticks to me like glue every time she sees me. But thats alright because I adore her)

5) A picture I drew of our district. We all have little things that we do that are sooo distinctive--I have my sandles, Sis Lemos is laughing at E Stewart doing his retarded impression, E. Lucas is always quiet and always has his backpack, E Flaith always does the thumbs up and ties his tie differently, and E Halvorsen has a natual faux-hawk and has this goofy smile.... Its hard to explain, but Sis Lemos was cracking up because it just fits everyone perfectly.

Anyway familia--ate a semana que vem! Keep reading those scriptures, keep praying!!!!! The Lord loves you and wants whats best for you!

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 : QUE semana, minha nossa

Dearest família,

First off, I LOVE getting fotos from people!!! Thank you everyone who has sent me some. Just try and shrink them down a little, so that they're under 1MB, because my mailbox does not have much space, and it gets filled up really quickly!!!

Also, don't send me forwards.

Anyway. Wow. What a week. Minha nossa. I´ll go chronologically to preserve sanity

MONDAY! We went to SERRA NEGRA!!!!! (observe fotos) Oh man, it was SO fun! It was Sis Lemos and I, the Elders in our ward (Stewart and Lucas), the elders in the other ward (Flaith and Halverson) and Elen, a recent convert and her sister Cris. It was a couple long bus rides and a beautiful hike and an absolutely breathtaking view (once again, look at those fotos!) Wow. We had a lot of fun, and i don´t think i´ve laughed that hard thus far on the mission. Elder Stewart and Elder Flaith together are absolutely hilarious.

TUESDAY! Was Zone Conference, and I got lots of letters from people, so that was great =] We had a lot fo good training and I gave an imprompteu talk in Portuguese and everyone was like “What the... Sister, you KNOW portuguese!” And we had a great lunch at the churrascuria after also. It also POURED, like it has the past two conferencias.

THURSDAY! We went to a members house to help her clean out a room in her house as a service project. Oh man, it was hilarious. It was full of JUNK, and me and Sis Lemos and Elder Stewart were like “JOGA TUDO!!!!” or “Throw it all away!!” and she was having a REALLY hard time letting us, because her husband died only a month and a half ago, and to her, this junk represented the sacrifices he made for her and her familia. But really..... it was junk. We’re talking old water bills from when they lived in Germany and puzzles that were missing half the pieces and things like that. She got really upset about halfway through and left.... And we just threw everything into the trash really fast and organized the rest into boxes and put it back in the room. It was pretty funny, because she came back and was like “You’re right, its junk, just chuck it” I wish I had before and after pictures, but I forgot my camera. We also found some hilarious old clothes that we had fun trying on. I’ll try and get those from Elder Lucas.

The rest of the week was filled with some awesome experiences. Sis Lemos and I discussed what we need to do to be better missionaries, and we decided Obedience is the key to everything. Its the key to having more faith and the key to getting blessings. We’re pretty obedient, but one thing we’ve been slacking on is getting home on time at night. So we prayed and said basically “we´re going to do this to be more obedient, we ask thee to bless us with this work”. And boy does the Lord bless people who truly seek his blessings. We were able to get the marriage papers for Joana and Leandro done and just so many other little things.

We´ve also noticed this week how much we’ve been guided by the Spirit in who we need to visit and what we need to say. Especially with Joana and Leandro, our cute little happy family. My goodness, we love that little family. Leandro is having a hard time because his mom doesnt like Joana, and at first she was fine with them getting married, but now she thinks its too rushed (even though theyve been together three years and have a baby). Its amazing HOW HARD the devil works against us. But we have God on our side, and with Him, we can´t fail. But Saturday night we had na appointment, but we randomly decided to go see Joana and Leandro. And we arrived right after they had a fight about Leandro’s mom. We were able to talk to them and help Leandro a lot. He really wants to get married, but he’s afraid of his parents. We also helped calm Joana down and smile. The Elders are helping a lot with Leandro, talking with him “Man to Man” or whatever. Its good =]

Also, we´ve been working with the members more this week. Last night we again randomly decided not to go to an area and went back to near our house. Sis lemos asked if there weere any members nearby, and at first I couldnt think of anyone, but then I remembered Dona Dora, who loves having the missionaries for lunch and is always anxious for the little spiritual message we leave after and is always quiet at church. I never really talked to her much except at lunch. So we went by, and again, arrived in the right houe—just in time for FHE! And her non-member husbannd, who usually doesnt participate, stayed, and really liked the message we shared. Dona Dora was sooooo excited to have us. She told us we’re welcome at any time to come by. I felt really good about that, and I know that the Lord guided us there too.

Então, familia, keep being great, keep reading the scriptures and PRAYING. Its those small things that make the difference between who is baptised and who isnt, and ultimately, who is saved and who isnt. I know that this work is a sacred work, and Im so happy to have a small part in it.

Fotos:

1 and 2) Sis Lemos and I being cool

3) Sis Lemos and I at Serra Negra!!!!!!

4) Elders Stewart, Flaith and Halverson

5 and 6) The view. AMAZING. I love beautiful green Brasil!

7) Elders Stewart and Flaith believing they can fly

8) The group (E. halverson, sis lemos, me, Elen, E. Lucas, Cris, E. Stewart and E Flaith)

9) Warriors of Zion

Until Next week, love you!

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 : E Agora, Jose....

Oi familia!!!!!!!!!!!

We´re going to Serra Negra today, which is this pretty hike/viewpoint here in the Interior of Penambuco. I´m way excited =] Look for pictures next week! This week I dont have any because we didnt have a baptism.

But!!!! We marked the baptism of two girls, Giselle and Andressa, who are friends of Mercia and Monica, my frist two baptisms. They´re 14 and love the church. I was so happy when they accepted I almost cried. It´s amazing how much I love these people that i´ve known for three months.

It´s funny, because our mission focus is baptising men, because the church needs more priesthood holders to grow. And even though we focus on men and finding men and contacting men, we still have a ton of women joining the church, almost without trying. Goes to show, ne?

Sis Lemos is great. We´re best friends. We goof off a lot together, and work hard too and really see success with our labor!!!! I feel like I can really be myself with her. And being with the Elders is fun too. Elder Stewart likes to pretend to be retarded around Sis Lemos because she gets soooo embarrassed and tries to get away from him, while eu and Elder Lucas laugh. Oh man, I havent smiled so much in my life. I can´t stop grinning!!!!!!!!

Em fim, eu quero dizer que eu sei o evangelho é verdadeiro, que esta igreja realmente é a igreja de Cristo na Terra hoje. Eu sei que Joseph Smith foi um profeta chamado por Deus, e que ele restaurou a igreja e tranduziu o Livro de Mormon,que é a palavra de Deus e testifica que Jesus é o Cristo, o Salvador do mundo. Eu sei que este evangelho traz TANTA felicidade em minha vida, e já eu vi tantas milagres nas vidas de outras pessoas. Eu sou tão grato por estar aqui no Brasil, por servir meus irmãos e irmãs no evangelho. Sou grato que eu posso aprender português, eu amo. Este é realmente o melho tempo na minha vida. Quero batizar todo mundo!!!!!!!

Remember to pray and read your scriptures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 27 5 Months Out!!!!

And then some, actually. A year from today will be the last day of my mission (due to the transfer schedule--my year and a half falls in the middle of a transfer, so I end 3 weeks earlier). CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! I only have one year left!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeiiiiita! Preciso trabalhar MUITO.

And Daddy and Linny--I´m excited to see you in one year here in Brasil!!!! Right? Right? Eat some good churrascuria? Getting soaked in the pouring rain while sweating at the same time? It´ll be great =D

Also... Familia... It finally happened.... Someone asked if I was Brasilian! When I replied that no, I´m american, they were surprised and said that I speak "muito muito bem!" (very very well) AHHH!!!!! I was all smiles =D

The work is going good! We had the baptism of EVA!!!!!!!!! this Sunday, right after church, so a ton of people went, including a lot of investigators. They really enjoyed it! So hopefully that will help them in their decision to be baptised =] But Eva is so amazing. When we met her she was sick and lonely and depressed, but now she just has this light that radiates from her. She LOVES the gospel, and is constantly reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible and the little pamphlets we leave with her. She said she feels so happy now, and she has so much strength and faith. Seriously, I could go home happy right now knowing I´ve helped someone like her.

We have a young couple we´re teaching who want to get married and baptised. THEY asked US, hahaha. Joanna and Leandro, and they have a little baby 1 year and some months. I´m excited for them--their baptism is scheduled for August 15!

Funny "Small World" incident this week:

I was looking at some fotos of Elder Stewart, who is one of the Elders working here in our area, and I commented, "Hey, this looks like tahoe!" and he said it was and we started talking and he said goes to Tahoe EVERY summer wth his family. They have a condo near King´s Beach! And we were talking about the movie theatre in Nevada with that really good Mexican place and the golf world and haha, it´s such a small world! He said that his parents and grandparents have been going to Tahoe every summer for years and years. E. Stewart and I agreed we´ll have to hang out next, next summer when we´re there, hahaha. He ends his mission the same time as me, and is going to BYU. I think we´ll be good friends--he and some of the other Elders are soooo hilarious. It´s good they know how to play but work hard too. It´s something I need to learn to be better at, I think =]

It´s fun working with the Elders. We devided our area, but we have lunch together every single day, plus various meetings with people in the branch.

I´m going to be teaching an English class this Saturday!!!!! It´ll be good to get investigastors and also to help the members. People have been asking me for the last two transfers, but Sis Jacobs never really wanted to schedule a time. but now! it´ll be fun =] And now I can actually explain things in Portuguese.

Fotos:

1) Me and Sis Lemos having fun =]

2) At Alto do Moura last week, playing the "flute" with my new friend

3) Eva´s baptism!]

4) Elder Lucas and Elder Stewart with Eva (E Lucas baptised her... 3 times... he messed up the prayer and then her foot went out of the water, hahaha. But third times the charm, right?!)

Well familia, keep reading the scriptures and being the good people I know you are. Put your trust in the Lord and you´ll see miracles! And don´t be afriad to open your mouth and talk about the gospel with people and invite them to meet with the missionaries!!! Oh man, I always thought I was such a good little member, but I never did ANYTHING to help the missionaries! Our work goes sooo much better when we have the help from the members! So do your thing! Help those missionaries!

Até a semana que vem! Eu amo vocês!

~Sis Wilkinson

July 20 Cai A Chuva!

Signafica "The rain falls". And this week has been quite rainy! (see foto)

First off...

I LOVE sis Lemos. She is fantastic. Our personalities just click. Sis jacobs was a good trainer and we had fun, but she was hard, and I often felt lonely/frustrated with her. But with Sis Lemos, oh man, she´s great. We´re already great friends. We laugh a lot together and sing as we walk and I just feel like I can be myself around her.

And I dont know what it is, but its like a switch was flipped in my brain, or maybe its because im not with sis jacobs anymore, but suddenly i can talk and understand people. Everyone at transfers commented on how well I was speaking, and even members in our branch and investigators and Sis lemos even my district leader this week have all been saying "wow sis wilkinson, you´re speaking sooo well!!" and people we meet are like "you´ve only been here 5 months? and didnt know portuguese before? I dont believe it!" Woohoo!!! Happy day =]

I´ve been teaching Sis Lemos english =D I love it! So much fun! We learned "I am, you are, he/she is" and then how to attach the gerund, "I am speaking, we are sleeping" etc. Its fun because as we´re walking down the rua I´ll say a phrase in english and she has to translatge it into portuguese or vice versa. this week i´m gonna teach her how to conjugate the present tense and we´re going to start reading the book of mormon =D also, she has to say her prayers in house in english. I prayed the other night in English so she could hear and it was SO hard! I kept slipping into Portuguese. Eiiitaaaaa... when I return home im not gonna be able to say anything!

Our new elders are awesome--way enthustiastic. They´re going to be fun to work with. We divided our area and now Sis Lemos and I are working on the East side of our area. Its good because we get to concentrate in areas sis jacobs and I never had time to before. We´re already doing well.

Fun/cool story of the week: Saturday at night we were walking home and I saw this young guy on the other side of the street looking at us, and so I called him over to make a contact (Sis Lemos was like "I dont believe it!" because usually people dont do that--usually you have to stand in front of them and say "really quick!!!!") and I talked to him and invited him to church the next day and he said sure and Domingo we passed by his house and he actually came! And he really liked church and already was making friends. We taught him the first lesson after and he accepted the invitation to be baptised!!!!! I almost couldnt believe it! We had met him less than 24 hours before and he was ready to be baptised. wow. Never underestimate the power of the spirit or that some people are just prepared.

Realmente família, I love this mission. This is the best thing I could be doing right now. Thank you all for your support and love =]

Until next week!

~Sis Wilkinson

July 15 This week in Caruaru...

So the reason this email is delayed is because the week of transfers our P-day switches to Wednesday--the day of Transfers. Which is today.

Então...

I have a new comp!!!!! Sis Lemos. I am SO excited! She is awesome. I met her before when we went to Recife for the day and we had a lot of fun together, so im really excited because I think we´ll work together really well and be really good friends! She only has one transfer more than me in the mission--she was SO surprised that she turned senior! Hahaha. But I´m way excited!

And our area was divided too, so now we´re going to be working with Elders too. We´re meeting tomorrow to figure out how we want to divide the area, or if we just want to work in the same area--since we have investigators in all parts of the city. It´s kinda crazy because I´m now the only one of four people that know ANYTHING about this area.

I found a box with some clothes that previous sisters left and now I have two new shirts and a new skirt and its so exciting =D

I dont have any pictures this week, but next week I will, I promise =]

This week was more of the same--teaching! We also had a FHE with some of our recent converts and man, they cried when we left because Sis Jacobs was leaving. Its great that shes touched so many lives here in such a way. I hope someday people feel the same about me!

Well familia, keep being great! Go to church, read scriptures and pray!!

~Sis Wilkinson

July 7 A wedding and a baptism!

This week was pretty much AMAZING.

First off, we had Zone Conference on Wednesday, which was great. We got some great training about how to help our investigators and heard some great inspirational messages from Prez. I also got to see my Elder friends from the CTM, which is always a joy. I miss male companionship. And after the conference Prez Emerick took the WHOLE ZONE out to a churrascuria for lunch!!!!!!!!! Oh man, it was great meat, probably some of the best I´ve ever had. We sang Happy Birthday to Pres, because it´s bee a year since he became mission president, and then we all sang the mission hymn... Yeah, like 50+ missionaries belting that in a restaurant. It was great.

But the real excitement was this weekend. Friday night Simone and Edson got married! We had a beautiful service in the chapel and I almost cried when they said their vows and exchanged rings. I´m turning sappy here on the mish. We got special permission from Prez to go to the reception too!!!! So we got to stay out until 10:30!! Wooo!!! Hahahahaha, sad that that is "late" now.

But Saturday was even more awesome and this time I really did cry. I got to watch this little family, Simone, Edson, and their sons Joel (12) and Felix (8), one by one enter the waters of baptism. I can´t believe the happiness I felt watching them. And litle Felix was so cute, the water was practically up to his shoulders--he just got dipped under =]

It is so amazing to me that I get to be here in Brasil and to meet these people, my fellow brothers and sisters, and to know that I will get to be friends with them forever. Literally forever. D&C 18:15-16. It´s at moments like these that all the sweat and lack of sleep and gastronomical problems are worth it--to know that I, in some small way, helped someone start on the path that leads to eternal life. What greater thing could any of us really do in life?

On a totally completely different note, Sis Jacobs is in the New Era this month!!!!!!!!! Look for the article called "An Honesty Test"!!! She´s the "Patricia A. Jacobs" that wrote the article. How cool is that? Yeah, that´s right, my companion

Photos:

1) The Happy Couple!!!!!!!!

2) Sis Jacobs and I with the family. (I promise I´m not really as fat as I appear in this picture... The angle is horrible and it´s my bad side )

3) Me and cute litle Felix!!!!

4) Have you ever seen something more beautiful? (Me with the family all dressed in white and Pres Rondon, their friend who baptised them)

Well, I love you all, and I hope you´re all doing well. Remember that I´m always praying for each of you, and that God loves you. You are His child and He is acutely aware of your personal joys and struggles in life. You can always depend on Him!

~Sis Wilkinson