Baptisms of Fabio, Rosangela, and Vitoria :) (3/19/12 email)

Hey guys,

This week was great for both Jardim Climax and Vila das Merces. :)  In Jardim Climax, Fabio successfully quit smoking and was baptized.  He knows he made a big and great decision and I am really happy for him.  Woohoo!  Our ward kind of has a shortage of macacões (those white jumper things) though haha.

In Vila das Merces, Rosangela and her daughter Vitoria were baptized.  I have never met anyone so ready for baptism as these two.  My goodness.  Poor Vitoria had an enormous white jumper thing.  And Rosangela didn't even know the name of the brother who was going to baptize her.  (She had really only made friends with women in the ward at this point.)  But they were both super happy and certain that they had God's blessing.

Perfect way to end the transfer.  And for this transfer, I will be with Sister Sumikawa in Jardim Climax.  (President found a mini-missionary to be Sister Tomlinson's companion in Vila das Merces.)  I am really excited.  Sister Sumikawa is such an unbelievably pure and happy person.  You can't help but feel the Spirit when you are around her.  She also did a fast of gratitude when Rosangela and Vitoria were baptized.  And in her fast prayer, she said she asked God that if Vitoria goes on a mission (which she plans to), to please consider sending her to Japan.  :)

Man I'm a little worried that my Portuguese is stagnating though with these two English speakers for companions.  At first, when they started talking to me in English, I had a super hard time thinking of the right English words to respond to them.  But now it's easy.  And that scares me.  I'm going to have to make a special effort to talk to them in Portuguese even on our down time.

We are also going to have to do a lot of finding at the beginning of this transfer, since it seems like all of Jardim Climax kind of stagnated when I split my time with Vila das Merces.  We did have one new investigator at church named Cicera, though.  She's pretty cool.  When we taught her the Plan of Salvation, she was impressed with the level of detail. "I belong to the Catholic Church, and they don't teach you anything there," she said.  Needs to get married though.  Blech.  I was super impressed with our Relief Society members when she got to church and everyone made a good effort to talk to her and sit with her.  Turns out she knows Irmã Sueli pretty well cuz they always wait at the same bus stop.  Does that mean we can finally teach a good amount of lessons with members though?  No.  Sueli is also neither married nor baptized, but has been frequenting the Church for ten years and living with her boyfriend who refuses to marry her.

This week, I think the most memorable lesson was with a woman named Ingrid.  Her husband Bruno is an inactive member.  He served a mission and has a strong testimony, but he doesn't go to church because his wife doesn't believe in God.  They've apparently been through a lot of missionaries and nothing much has changed.  We found them on accident, trying to find the bishop's house.  During our second visit, we taught the Plan of Salvation and Sister Tomlinson told a really inspired story about how she used to always fight with her dad.  She wished a lot of things about her dad could be different and wasn't always able to see that he loved her.  One night she prayed and asked God to help her know that she has a Father in Heaven who loves her perfectly.  She said in that moment, she felt so calm, and felt like someone was hugging her.  Ingrid started to tear up (We love when people cry.  Is that bad?) and said that she also used to fight with her dad a lot.  She admitted that she believes there is a God and that He loves us, but it is sometimes hard to imagine that He loves her.  She used to be a super big rebel, and whatever her dad told her to do, she would do the opposite.  He would get stressed out and say stuff like, "When I die, you're gonna feel really bad about the way you treated me," and then go to the bar.  One day, he did die. Of alcohol poisoning.  And she does feel guilty.  She thinks she killed her dad because he always went to the bar to forget about her.  A while after he passed away, she remembered thinking, just thinking that the only thing she wants more than anything is to feel her dad hug her again.  And just like that, it was like someone came from behind her and gave her a big hug, exactly the way her dad always did.  It was so beautiful the way she explained it.  And we asked her if she ever prayed before.  She said just once after she watched a really freaky horror film that she wanted to forget.  She felt kind of silly but figured she'd give the whole prayer thing a shot cuz that film was gucky.  Not only did she forget about the film, but she felt really, really loved.  Pretty cool stuff for someone who says she doesn't believe in God.  So we had the privilege of telling her that the miracle of the gospel is that you don't have to pretend everything is perfect, but you can really be cured of your guilt.  And then you can live with your family together forever :)

Hey mom, if you're ever thinking of sending me a package, I want a CD of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese and a baby travel umbrella.  I love my baby travel umbrella, and it has served me faithfully for six months already, but it’s reaching a ripe old age and I fear for its well-being.  They only sell fatty umbrellas around here.  But no rush on the package.  Send it when you like.  Or don't send it.  I'll still love you.  Also tampons.

Love you,

Sister Carter