So much JOY!

My dearest mother,

I am kind of excited to hear that my letters are slipping into português! That is pretty awesome. I am always in such a hurry to write that I know there must be tons of spelling errors, typos and now português mishaps! It still bugs the perfectionist in me, but writing everything I want to is more important than sending a perfect letter! Hopefully I'll pick up English quickly when I get back home so I don't flunk out of BYU ;) 

...And onto my adventures of the week!

This week one of the recent converts in my area had a birthday (she was before we came to the area though). She is an older lady and none of her family are members. I think she gets a bit lonely. We try to visit her every week to give her some company and keep her strong in the gospel. I wanted to do something for her birthday, but my budget is very limited and yes, my craft supplies are very limited. So I had to get really creative! I took one of the old jars that we use as a cup (our kitchen supplies are limited too... haha) and decided to make it into a little vase. So using borders and edges from the Liahona (you never realize the value of good pictures and patterned paper in the Liahona until you serve a mission...) I was able to decorate the jar and make a matching card. We then picked some wild flowers to fill the jar and delivered it to her. She was so excited to see us and to get the simple present. I think that was the only gift she received on her birthday. I am so grateful I have a crafty, creative Mom who taught me to serve and think of others! 

This week we also met with Marcos' father. I was super nervous for that lesson. Marcos had told us that his dad didn't support him getting baptized and that he worked for the police too. Because of his job, his schedule is really wacky and erratic. It is hard to catch him at home. One night when we were passing by, he happened to be there though. To ease my nerves (NOT) he had just returned from work. Nothing like a big burly Brazilian in a police uniform with a gun at his waist late in the evening to put you at ease! Haha, it ended up being a really good lesson though. It turns out that he is actually a very inactive member. He was one of the very first people here in Alfenas to join the church (about 20 years back). Thus he knew all about the church, Joseph Smith and the work that we missionaries do. Turns out he actually fully supports Marcos learning more about the church and getting baptized. When Marcos had talked with him earlier he had thought he was talking about a different church. So now we can not only help Marcos progress, but also have the challenge of reactivating his dad! Goodness there are so many little details lining up with this family- we also learned that the boyfriend of Marcos' mom (his parents are divorced) had requested a Book of Mormon online several months back. He moved soon after he requested it though, and so he never actually received it. We were all too happy to help him out and hand over a long awaited copy of the Book of Mormon. So now we are teaching him too! I really love this family. Seriously. They have the same sense of humor that we do! That is a rare thing. So for the first time in a long time, I can joke around like we do at home. It is nice to speak the language well enough to crack jokes too ;) I am so excited to see this family progress. They have a lot of challenges and I don't think it is going to be easy to get to baptism, but I know it is possible. Especially with the Lord on my side!

The other big news of this week is that Laudo went to the temple!!! Our ward had another caravan this weekend and so he was able to go down to Campinas and do Baptisms! He absolutely loved it- of course. I wanted so badly to go with him! Dang mission boundaries. But seeing and hearing him just talk about it was amazing. I love the temple so much. It is even better to help someone get there than to be able to go yourself. 

I love you all so much! I love being a missionary and serving the Lord! I hope you all have a wonderful week filled with much laughter, many miracles and the joy of the gospel!

Sister Emma Maxwell