July 14, 2010

Not too much to report here. Unfortunately Alfonso´s baptisms fell through. We showed up at his house on Sunday and he was all ready to go...to another church!!! I don't understand. This week we had a member go with us to teach him who had also been a member of the Quadrangular church and knew Alfonso way back when. Now he is serving in the stake presidency. The lesson was soooo great and the spirit was so strong! But, as we know, we all have our agency. We are teaching a lot of other people and have made other baptismal dates so I´m hoping they will go through too!!! The worst feeling is when an investigator stops progressing. But like I said there is not a lot we can do. Only teach, pray, and be obedient. It is the investigators responsibility to prepare and accept the important and crucial step of baptism. Inclusive in one of our baptismal dates is Luiz, again. Remember him? The other day we were walking by his house and I suggested we stop by. I don't know why I just felt prompted I guess. What was going to be a short introduction to my new companion, turned into basically "We are here to baptize those who are ready to receive this gospel. You have had a witness 3 times now (three sets of missionaries and three dates) what are you waiting for? We know you know its true. Will you be baptized this Sunday?" Wow my companion is bold!!! When I turned to look at Luiz he was in tears!!! I have never seen him cry before. The spirit was definitely penetrating all of our hearts and he accepted the date, again. I am so so so so hopeful. Again all we can do is pray and have faith and help him the best we can. He is ready, he just needs a little faith! I love getting to share this gospel every day. The plan is so simple and perfect! Sometimes I wonder why everyone doesn't just accept it, but as I said, patience is something I lack and something I am definitely learning!

What else?? It rained for the first time in like 2 months here in Sorocaba. Apparently its really hot and dry, as if I didn't notice. This is the third time I have seen it rain since I've been in Brasil. I definitely prefer rain to the HEAT! Although it is a total bummer having water in your shoes all day long. Congrats to Joel and his mission call!!!!! That's so great! And Happy Anniversary to Chase and Emily. Wow a year already? Seriously cant believe it. I really don't have much else to say. Oh! I wanted to mention that this week we're doing EPJ or Especialmente Para Jovens (almost my initials, huh?) a knock off of the Especially for Youth program. Its so fun!! Every night there is a different activity. It makes me miss being an EFY counselor so much!!! Anyway that's about all I got! Hope all is well! Beijos e abraços!

Oh, one more thing...remember when I made a bad decision and dyed my hair black? Thank goodness I vowed to never do anything extreme again and it is back to normal...oh wait! To make a long story short, I met this guy a few weeks ago who stopped me because he loved my beautiful white backpack! He speaks English and is really nice. He does hair and makeup for a living. He works in a store we pass by all the time and keeps telling me to come by to have my hair and makeup done for free! Every P-day has been super busy but I keep promising him I will. Well, the member we live with has a granddaughter who is a hair dresser, she's 15, and she said she could trim my bangs! Why go to a salon? So against my better judgment I let her cut my bangs last night. I showed her a picture of how they normally are just to be on the safe side and she seemed confident enough. Next thing I knew she took regular scissors and chopped a huge chunk of my hair off straight across. SHORT SHORT SHORT!!!!!!! My comp screamed and burst out laughing. And Lauren, the 15 yr old "hair dresser" immediately started apologizing. So oh well. I wish I could say I'd learned my lesson the first 5 times, but I guess I am just trying to be trusting in people!!! Anyway its really really really bad because its a lot of hair. And I cant just pull my hair back every day because I SEE her everyday!! She will be offended for sure. I hope my hair grows fast. In the mean time I am going to go to see Rafael in the store and see if he can help me some how.

Other than that nothing too exciting to report here. I also discovered a nifty little tactic to meet people. As we're walking down the street I help my Brazilian comps learn English loud enough for other people to hear. It always sparks attention and is a great ice breaker! We are able to invite them to the English class I teach and then hopefully teach a lesson after! We met a wonderful family this past week, a grandmother, mom and two daughters. One of the daughters, Gabrielli speaks English practically fluently just from watching American movies and listening to music! She and her sister Fernanda came to the Aula de Ingles and church on Sunday too! We set a baptism date for them for the 24th and are working with Liliani, the mom as well! They are pretty involved with their church but we are hopeful! Its truly inspired to send Americans to Brazil! The people love everything about our country! We actually have a few members in our ward who joined the church through coming to the English class! Pretty cool huh?

Anyway that's about all I have to report! Hope everything is well at home!! I wore Red White and Blue for the 4th of July but I don't think anyone noticed!! ;) Sempre, -Sister Peck