Surprise!

My companion arrived Wednesday!

Her name is Sister Barros, and she is 21 years old. She is from Praia, and she has an afro. She keeps it fairly short, but itºs still an afro. Everyone here comments on her hair, haha. :) Sheºs the third of five kids, with two older sisters and two younger brothers. Her family met the missionaries and were baptized when she was 8 years old. Her family and her two older sisters (theyºre married) have all been sealed in the temple.

I am doing great. Wow, it is so refreshing to not be the senior companion to a mini-missionary! Itºs a lot of fun to not be in training and to be able to work more as a team... less as a teacher and student. Iºm still figuring it out, and figuring out how to teach with her, but I love Sister Barros already. Sheºs so fun, loving, and just genuine. I want to learn as much as I can from her during the time we serve together. She has a gift with people, which is always one of my more weak points: to get to know someone and show my love and let them feel comfortable with being open, even very soon after we meet them.

I love how she chooses numbers for some of the goals we make, and she teaches differently than anyone Iºve ever taught with. I love it. She is a very simple, clear, powerful teacher and she definitely follows the Spirit. I hope to become more still (so I can follow the Spirit more during the lessons) and clear in my teaching during my time with her. She is also very direct, but she does it in such a loving way. That is something that I love about her. I really hope I can become more like that. :)

Yep, Iºm doing well here. This week was pretty awesome because nothing crazy abnormal happened, besides Sister Barros arriving on Wednesday. :)

We had an awesome lesson with Nerr this week. We had a hard time getting him to sit down with us this week, but finally one evening after Sister Barros arrived, we were able to talk to him really quickly. He said heºs keeping some of the commandments, still, so probably he hadnºt really tried to change his habits. We reviewed the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom with him, and he said that he only has problems with the Word of Wisdom. His only problem is that when he is with his cousins, they will drink a bit to have fun. He was justifying it, because it wasnºt an addiction and it was just a little bit, every so often. Sister Barros shared Mosiah 2:41 with him, and we talked about how we receive this state of happiness through keeping the commandments... all of them, completely. It was a really powerful lesson, and the Spirit was definitely present.

Nadine's baptism from last week

Also, we committed a family to baptism this week! We didnºt get to talk to the dad, but everyone else accepted the baptismal date we had set. And the dad went to church yesterday, so Iºm excited to talk to him, too! It was so cool. The spirit was powerful in that lesson too, and it was probably the most simple I had ever taught the Restoration with someone. I love seeing how the Spirit will work through us and help us become better teachers. Such a tender mercy.

We also got to talk to Lara a few times this week. She is anxious for her baptism, and was feeling like she needed to confess to the Bishop. We explained that the Bishop doesnºt have the authority to have an interview with her, because she still isnºt a member. Then we talked a lot about repentance. We used D&C 58:42-43 (or maybe itºs section 59?), and Isaiah 1:18. It was really powerful. We talked about how a lot of the confession can just be between us and the Lord. We also talked about how we arenºt forgiven partially... thereºs no pink people. I think that has been her trouble in the past: feeling worthy to be baptized and feeling like she really has been forgiven. I think she really will get baptized this Saturday. Itºs so exciting! Sheºs excited to be clean and feel forgiven, and to start a new life.

Well, thatºs it for this week, I think. I know there were more exciting things that happened, but I forgot my planner at our house.

Oh! Itºs finally "cooling down" here! We can sleep with the window closed and the fan blowing without sweating! I still donºt use my top sheet, but I think I will start to soon. The day is still just as hot as always, but around 6:00 in the evening it starts to feel more like 70s/high 60s here. Tender mercies, haha. :)

Love you all! Ficam bem!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Friends

Well, this week we are back in our own house(as of Tuesday)! Itºs so nice to be there. It was fun to be with the other sisters, but tiring too. We were ready to go back to our own house.

This week was a little weird with teaching. We ended up coming home early on Thursday and Saturday... Thursday because Sister Maurício was feeling sick (I think she had the stomach bug that Sister Pina had last week), and Saturday because I was feeling sick. I think I had heat exhaustion, because we had been fasting that day for some less actives, Nelly and Fretson, so I hadnºt been drinking water, and it was super hot. So I broke my fast early and we came home early because I was feeling really nauseous. But the next day, after I had drunk lots of water, I felt 100% better. :)  I think I had more heat exhaustion than a stomach bug, because I started to feel nauseous during a lesson with a menos ativo, and her house was SUPER hot. That day, too, we had been fasting for two menos ativos who want to get married but are having a lot of obstacles, so I hadnºt been drinking water, so I think it was because of that. So I broke my fast early, and now I feel fine. It was just that night that was miserable, so I think it was because of the heat + fasting combination.

We were fasting for Nelly and Fretson because they want to get married in December, but found out that they wonºt be able to get married that soon unless Nellyºs stepfather will let her stay in her parentsº house after they get married, and right now he doesnºt want to do that. I hope they can know what to do!

Well, this week we talked to a lot of menos ativos, and basically found out that the majority of them donºt have anything to do during the day and were perfectly willing to teach with us and go to church with us. They donºt know a lot of people in the church, and they feel alone, so they werenºt going to church. It was so sad to realize that these people are ready to be active again, they just didnºt have anyone telling them they should go to church. So, weºre working on helping the members be atalaias for these people. The trouble in this ward is that there are some really strong members who are super willing to help out with everything, so the other members donºt really do much... or they donºt know how they can help, or feel like they wouldnºt be able to help. So we really want to work with them to help us with these people, and to teach with us more, and to give them some responsibilities for the people weºre teaching so they feel like they can contribute more. I hope it will help.

We found out this week that Nerr is hesitant to get baptized because he doesnºt want to keep the commandments. He doesnºt really understand why theyºre important. We hadnºt yet taught him the commandments, and we found this out at the end of our last lesson with him, so we didnºt have a ton of time to talk about it. But, we challenged him to live the commandments that his brother Clovis has already taught him to find out if those commandments really are from God and if our obedience really does bring blessings. He said he will, so I really hope he will. He is changing a lot in a short amount of time, but at the same time there is a part of him that doesnºt want to change. He doesnºt want to have to give up the ways he has been living, especially by keeping the law of chastity and the word of wisdom, I think. But he still doesnºt know if heºs gotten an answer about whether this church is true. I donºt know how much of that is because he knows that once he gets an answer, heºll have to keep these commandments, and how much of it is that he still doesnºt understand how to recognize the Spirit. Weºve talked about recognizing the Spirit with him, but weºll talk to him again about it. During our district meeting on Friday, we practiced how to teach about the Spirit, and we used Nerr when we were practicing. Wow, the Lord definitely helped us receive revelation to know how we can teach about recognizing and understanding the promptings of the Spirit. Iºm so excited to teach him about it!

Also, Lara is doing great. She seems so happy, and I think she is really trusting in the Lord. She will get baptized November 1, and I donºt think sheºll have any problems with this date. Sheºs so great. I think she really is becoming more converted every day. It is so amazing to see the light of the Gospel enter peopleºs eyes. I donºt think I will ever get used to it.

We were fasting for Nelly and Fretson because they want to get married in December, but found out that they wonºt be able to get married that soon unless Nellyºs stepfather will let her stay in her parentsº house after they get married, and right now he doesnºt want to do that. I hope they can know what to do!

Yesterday, I was having a hard time feeling overwhelmed. Then, I remembered a saying that I had heard, that if you feel comfortable in your calling in the church it is either because you arenºt fulfilling it completely or because itºs about time for you to get a new calling. So, now I am seeking to learn how to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable, if that makes sense. Or maybe it is feeling comfortable with being stretched and with having spiritual “growing pains.”

So, I am really learning how to know in my heart and trust in my soul that the Lord really called me to be His instrument so He can do His work, and that He called me to be here in this situation at this time. And to trust that if I will continue to give my all and to do my best, the Lord will continue to guide and direct me, and help me learn how to serve all these people who I have been called to serve. He will magnify my best efforts, so it doesnºt matter if Iºm imperfect. This is a learning process, and I am learning how to trust that in my heart, too. But I love this work. I really do. And I love the growing pains and the things I am learning, especially about not being a perfectionist but still doing my best. Missions are awesome. :)

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

WOW... Just Wow!

Meus amigos!

Well, this week was a reminder that miracles always come after trials of our faith. Seriously.

We found two different families this week (sadly, neither are married, but theyºre families!), and a less active that we started working with (Bilinha) said that they want to get married. The challenge will be to get these families married, but wow, it has been a week of miracles.

Bilinha gave us a friend of hers, Jorgina, as a reference before we even had the chance to ask for references. It turns out, Jorgina and her amorado Rui have been searching for truth, and Rui told us that if he feels like it is right, he will join a religion, especially to help his family and his kids so they can grow up in the truth. He walked into our second lesson that we were able to have with Jorgina (the first was while he was at work, and he returned from work late that night). He was a bit drunk, but we basically gave him a brief first lesson (we will definitely teach it again to make sure he understands and to focus on the First Vision as well as the Book of Mormon) and then focused on the power of the Book of Mormon and how the truthfulness of the entire church hangs on whether the Book of Mormon is true. We talked to them a lot about how we are here to invite people, but not to convince them... to help them learn the truthfulness of these things for themselves. I think that really struck home with Rui. He offered to give the closing prayer, after we taught him how to pray. It was so cool, because he was so willing, and the Spirit was so strong. After his prayer, he said, "hey, I felt something... something different. Lighter, more peace, happier." Man, it was so cool. We talked about how that is the Spirit.

Also, one of our investigators, Nerr, had a dream that he told us about yesterday. He is someone that basically every missionary has worked with since his brother joined the church a year and a half ago (Clovis), but no one has been able to get him to the point where heºs ready to be baptized. He told us that he doesnºt know yet if God has answered his prayers, especially about whether this is His church. It is usually really hard to agree to times when we can talk to him, but he accepted to talk to us yesterday and when we passed by earlier in the week he was really kind and offered for us to sit down, have some dinner (whoops... almost got some bad manner points for refusing, but he understood), and talk to him. It was really odd. Then yesterday we had an adult woman with us, so we could teach him! And he told us about his dream.

In his dream, there were people surrounding him, and they had lights... or they were glowing... something like that. And they were singing "a song of the stars" or about stars... my understanding of Creole is still not complete. :) Then he woke up, and that same music played on his phone. He told us this, and then said, "Iºm not really sure if it was all just in my head, or what. But if it was from God, I want to know what it means." Well, we asked him how he felt in his heart when he thought about this dream, because at that moment when he was describing his dream the Spirit came into the room so strongly. He said he felt something different. He said it was a good type of different, though. So we told him he was feeling the Spirit and talked about different ways we can recognize the Spirit, and how he now knows what the Spirit feels like. We challenged him to pray about his dream, asking God to let him know if the dream was from Him and if so, what he should do... how he should act. Man, it was so cool! The Spirit was so strong, and he said the closing prayer, which is amazing because it was really hard to get him to pray with us the first few times we taught him. His prayer was so humble. Something is changing inside him. Heºs beginning to repent and turn to the Lord.

Also, Nadine got baptized! Man, she is awesome. She is so humble, and SO ready for baptism. I donºt know what to say about her baptism... sheºs just amazing. Firmeza. :)

And Lara, her sister, didnºt get baptized this week, but we had a great lesson about trusting in the Lord and she said she knows now that she will keep the law of chastity with the Lordºs help. We read Alma 26:12 with her, and it really struck home and she really opened up to us about how she is feeling. In the past, she would say, "thereºs nothing you can do to help me. Itºs all up to me to keep the law of chastity." This time, she said, "Itºs all up to me to keep the law of chastity... and the Lord. And I know that with His help, I WILL keep it." Wow. The Spirit was so strong, and since that lesson she has seemed so alleviated when weºve seen her at church. :) It really was a miracle.

Also, our Zone Meeting/training... not officially a zone meeting... was just awesome. I learned so much there, and Sister De Pina got transferred to São Vicente, so I got to see her again! It was great. Oh! And we get to use 90 min of email now, so I can breathe a little bit and actually write you guys! :)

Sister Pina and Sister Maurício were sick at the same time, so that was a bummer because we couldnºt work in our area a ton, but it was a blessing because I was able to spend some time working with Sister Walker and we could still visit both our areas. It has actually been somewhat of a blessing that we donºt have light at our house, still, because I have learned a lot by watching how Sister Pina and Sister Walker handle stress and work together. Iºve learned a lot about making sure I am acting and speaking with the authority of my calling, allowing the Spirit to guide me and to touch peoplesº hearts and lives like I witnessed this week.

This is what I love about missionary work: watching people change their lives. Seeing the light and hope and direction of the Gospel enter another personºs eyes. It makes all the hard times, all the "growing experiences", so worth it. And I like what one missionary said in The District: on the mission, you have really good times and really hard times. The thing is, the hard times fade, but you will always remember the miracles you witness. Also, I know that these miracles are more sweet because of the week before, when everything that could have gone wrong seemed to go wrong.

I love being a missionary. :)

Love you all so, so much!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Refiners Fire

the riberia

Wow, this week was... a growing week, haha. A faith-testing week. :) There’s always the good with the bad and the bad with the good. This wee just had more bad than normal.

How we dry our clothes 

I am doing my best. And I am really learning to believe that if I simply do my best in the best way I know how, the Lord will accept my efforts, like Pres. Hinckley said. (thanks for sending me with that quote, Ames :) ) It’s really been a hard week, but there were still miracles. We had every day full of lessons, but every day at least half of them would fall. But, because some of them fell, we were able to meet with members, or have members show us some references they had given us, like Bilinha. She was a reference from a member. She is a less active who is so humble and ready to return to activity in the church. THe only thing that will/could be hard is that she needs to get married. WE will need to see what her boyfriend thinks of that idea. But she’s so ready to return. SHe wants her family to be eternal and her three kids to grow up in the Gospel. And she came to two of the four sessions of General Conference, and tried to go to the other two as well, but of course Satan made it difficult for her. But Saturday and Sunday nigth she came, and brought all her kids with her. It was awesome. :)

Being the senior companion has been really stressful for me, because I’m a perfectionist. It was especially difficult when they cut the power to our apartment on Tuesday (still not really sure why the bill didn’t get paid, but the office is getting it all straightened out), and our phone is basically useless unless it’s plugged into an outlet... so it was completely useless, unless we were at the church. Then a bunch of our lessons were falling, and Andira, who was supposed to get baptized this week, didn’t come to church. When we passed by to talk to her, she didn’t want to talk to us. But we were able to talk to her anyway and found out her sister, who is her son’s godmother, wants to baptize him in the Catholic church. And she’s stressed out about it, so she decided to leave religion alone for a while, she said. Man, that was such a crazy lesson! We ended up finding out that she hadn’t ever prayed to know if the BOM was true or if the church was true, and that she wasn’t reading the BOM, just the pamphlets she had collected. But she ended up picking a scripture to read, one that a member here had marked for her, and as she read it and thought about it, I could see the Spirit enter her heart and bring her relief from her stress. We talked about the power and importance of reading the BOM, and reading it every day, and praying and asking God for an answer. She still has a bunch of concerns, but she said she would start reading it every day, praying every single day, and asking God if the BOM is true and if this is His church. The hard part is that after that lesson, we haven’t been able to see her... she hasn’t been home every time we’ve passed by, which has been at least once every day after that. Her brother, Roberto, is a member, and he said she doesn’t like to accept help from people, so she might be avoiding us... I don’t know. But I really hope we can help her learn in her heart that it’s okay to need help, especially help from the Lord, and that He WANTS to help her and that life will be SO MUCH EASIER for her if she will accept His help.

Typical Caboverdean lunch, fried egg, "hamburger"
and rice with whatever you want to add to it.

The member who agreed to stay with me until my mini-missionary arrived is-surprise!- my mini-missionary. :) Apparently they hadn’t yet found anyone to serve a mini mission, so now she is serving. :) I was super relieved when the assistants to the President calle dand asked if the member who was with me wanted to serve a mini-mission, because I already know her, and she already knows these people and the area a bit (she lives in the other area, so she doesn’t know our area SUPER well). And wow, she is so good at teaching part of the lesson, too. And helping me understand Creole. :) LIterally everyone speaks at least a bit of Creole... kind of like how almost everyone in the South has some sort of Southern accent if they have been there long enough. Except everyone has basically lived here their whole lives, and each island basically has their own “Southern accent”. I think I’ll be really good at understanding Spanish after all the Creole that I’m learning to recognize and understand.  I’m still figuring out how to train, and to remember to push Sister Maurício, but not hard enough to overwhelm her and to do it in a loving but firm manner. I’m definitely not perfect, but I’m so glad I don’t need to be.

Oh, and Lara and Nadine moved houses and said they wouldn’t ahve time to meet with us and show us where their new house is until they’re moved in, which will be this week. So I learned a lot about not stressing out, taking all these things in stried, and saying, “I’m doing my best, and that’s good enough. THat has to be good enough. I’m doing my part... I’m doing my best in the best way I know how. Relax and trust that it will be enough.” And, because a lesson fell through, we ended up running into Nadine when she was heading back to her house, so she was able to show us where they live... yay! Small miracle. :)

It was still hard, though. But we still saw miracles!

We stayed with the other sisters when we had no power
and they shared their nightly popcorn with us.
When it's hot we sleep in a "panel" which is a piece of really thin fabric.

One day we were avoiding a lady who we had marked with, but were told that we NEED to have a member with us to teach her because she talks about Satan and with really rude language and... I’m not exactly sure what, but dark stuff that made Sister Pina and her mini leave her house really fast when they sat with her one time. But, no member could come with us, so we went down a few streets from where she lives. I thought one would be enough, but then I felt like we should go down one more. And WOW! WE ended up contacting some people, and one of them was a former investigator that was going to get baptized with her cousin, but they both went to a party or something the day before or something... somehow it fell, and they also stopped going to church. But now we’re going to talk with them and see how they’re doing and where they’re at! It was a tender mercy!

Man, there’s so much more I want to say! But I’ll just mention one more thing.

We were able to talk to Lenine this week, and wow, he has grown so much spiritually! He and his girlfriend broke up, and he said he doesn’t feel anything. Yay! Now he can find a woman in the church who will support him and help him be his best. Sadly, he couldn’t be baptized this week because he will start school in São Vicente this week, and we didn’t have sacrament meeting so he wouldn’t have been able to be confirmed. He really wanted to be baptized this week, and has been reading the BOM every day, from the beginning. He was going to leave yesterday, but he ended up coming to the last session of General Conference instead, and he’ll be on the boat with us today (we have zone conference there tomorrow). Man, he is so awesome. I wish I could be there for his baptism!

So really, this week was good. I learned a lot about trusting in the Lord and being okay with doing my best and recognizing that other people have their agency, too, and Satan is working hard to stop them from being happy.

I think the biggest thing I learned from all the chaos this week is just to trust in the Lord. To remember that it will all be okay. And to decide not to stress out about things, especially if I am doing my best. The Lord will accept my efforts, and I was still blessed to see many miracles this week. And it’s okay not to be perfect. That’s why we’re here. Wow, I’m so grateful for the Atonement! Oh, and General Conference was just amazing. I’m excited to listen to all of them again, in English. :) But it definitely helped me refocus on what matters most and to decide not to stress.

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Crossing again!

Crossing the Riberia which we do multiple times a day

Transfer 3

The only rain I've seen in Cabo Verde

It rained for an hour - the children loved it!

Hey

 !

Well, Iºm officially done being trained! Yaya! Haha :) Actualy, I really liked the 12 week training probram.they have for the field Itºs really good. :)

And... so... new transfer. And General Conference! WE watched the General Womenºs meeting yesterday from 5-6:30 ior so, and it was good, really good... goingmore from teh revelations I received durin gthe talks. I ned to listen to them in English. :) Especially Pres. Uchtdorfºs talk, because we received transferr calls in the middle of this stalk and I had a hard time focusing on the talk after that. :) Sorry this computer is super slow so Iºm sure I have like a billion typos... but it will just have to stay that way . :) Donºt worry, I had good reason to be so disteracted. But his talk was super great, from what I was ablt to get. Man, Iºm excited to listen to them again! And I loved the focus on the temple! Man, I miss the temple.

Okay, okay, enough with the suspense. TRANSFER CALLS! The other sisters here, Sisters Walker and Santos, got the call first. Then he asked to talk to us. Sister Santos is getting transferred, and Sis. Pina is getting transferred to the otehr area in Porto Novo to be a Sister Training Leader with Sis. Walker. And... I will stay in this area. But as a senior compaion. Iºll recieve a mmini-missionary or a missionary awaiting her vis. WE donºt know yet.

So, Iºm going to be training another missionary, basically. CRAZY! IIt wonºt be exactly like training, ut I wil bedoing the 12-week program with her. And he said this was susper rare, but htey have total confidence in me and great expectations for me in the future, or something like that... I had trobule remembering everything he said because I was reaeling from the information that Iºll be senior companion!

Anyway, this week was great. We were preparing Lenine and Lily to be baptized, but Lenine was having problems with the Law of Chastity. We had some great lessons with him about it, but he still seemed confused or unprepared. So, we ended up having a lesson completely different from what we had planned to teach him about. We ended up sharing the story of the 2000 stripling warriors and really letting the Spirit direct the lesson and speak to him. Then we committed him to go home and pray about whether he felt ready to be baptized. He did so, and felt like he needed more time. It was a really good experience... really cool to see the Spirit guide us and to help us make sure we were helping him prepare to be baptized, and not just get baptized before he was really prepared.

Lily was also having problems with the law of chastity, but only because she had a tongue piercing. It had been her dream as a little girl to get her tongue pierced, so taking out that piercing was a big step of faith. We had a lesson with her on Tuesday, and she still had it in, but thanks to the Spirit guiding not only Sister Pina and me, but also two future missionaries named Gil and Clovis, we had a super powerful lesson about following the commandments and doing what the Lord asks us to do. She took out the piercing right there in our lesson, and gave it to Clovis so she wouldnºt be tempted to put it back in. Man, it was so cool! She was baptized on Saturday, and she is so amazing. So humble, and with a simple but strong testimony already. I feel so priviledged to help her prepare to be baptized!  

Yep, so this week was really good. I am going to miss being companions with Sister Pina, but I know that this is the Lordºs will. I donºt feel prepared to be a senior companion, but I will do my best. I know I will grow a LOT and learn a lot about trusting in the Lord, and Iºm sure Iºll learn other things, too. Man, I love this Gospel! I love being a missionary! Iºve learned so much from Sister Pina, and I learned some good things from Sister Santos when we were companions while Sister Pina and Sister Walker were in Sao Vicente. Iºm always learning, and I love that part about a mission... almost as much as I love being able to help people and see the light of the Gospel touch their hearts and change their lives.

I feel very humbled and priviledged that the Lord trusts me enough to put me in a new area for only three weeks and then give me a mini-missionary or visa-waiter my third transfer. I will do my best. I know with the Lord I can do all things, but this will really stretch me. But thatºs a good thing. :)

Love, Sister Zimbelman

I Feel Like I'm in Zion, Seriously!

Me and  Sister Pina

Olá amigos!

Wow, I love it here. I feel so grateful to be companions with Sister Pina and to get to know this ward and to serve the people here. It is so fun, and tiring, and just amazing! I canºt believe Iºve already been here for two weeks. Time is really flying for me.

This week we contacted 44 people. It was good, but weºve pretty much exhausted the area where most of our investigators/less actives live. It is getting harder to find people new to contact, but Iºm really coming to enjoy it. About halfway through the week, though, Sister Pina and I got a bit stressed with it because we had been marking with almost everyone we contacted, and we were having a hard time finding time to visit less actives, recent converts, and less actives. We werenºt sure how we were going to do it. Then we talked to our district leaders about it at our District Meeting and asked them if they had any other ideas of what we could do to still invite the people we contact to repent and give them a chance to talk to us without marking appointments, or how to only do 20-30 minute lessons, including walking in between lessons, praying, etc. They gave us a great idea to use our pass-along cards to invite people to church(with the church time and "address" on the back), so then we can mark with them if they come to church. Wow, it has been so much easier, and so less stressful!

Some days are really awesome, and others are... not as awesome. But Iºm really learning that thatºs just the nature of the mission. There was one day when we couldnºt find any mulher who was willing to teach with us or let us teach in their house, and we only had appointments with men. It was really disappointing, but we ended up visiting some less active women in the areas we were in, so it was good. Hard, but good. And yesterday we passed around a sign-up sheet during relief society, asking the women to sign up for even just one hour if they were willing to go out with us or let us teach with them in their house, and I was amazed to see that except for Saturday and Sunday, almost every slot on the other days was full! Tender mercies. Members who will work with us... yay!

Let me tell you about some people here. The mini-missionary who was with Sister Pina left on Thursday to start her mission. She will be serving in Portugal, but she is waiting for her visa, so she is currently serving in Brava. On Wednesday, we had a little "chá missionária"... a little goodbye program. It was so awesome, and sad and exciting.  The people here really love each other. I know it wasnºt just her family that was crying. Really, everyone in the ward is like family. It is so awesome! Sorry, her name is Rosiane, but everyone calls her Nininha. She always would go out with the missionaries, and was super friendly, so we became really good friends even in the short time that I was here before she left. She is so awesome, and sheºs going to be an INCREDIBLE missionary!

Our apartment, we are on the second floor

The other person who always goes out with the missionaries is Clovis. He just submitted his papers, and he is so excited to go! He reminds me a bit of dad: he was baptized in March 2013, and he has been studying the scriptures and any church book he can get his hands on to prepare for his mission. Apparently he spends the day studying church doctrine and the scriptures until we call him and ask him to come teach with us. If he isnºt doing those things, heºs probably with his family, helping out family members. Man, I think he knows more "deep doctrine" than I do, haha. I wouldnºt be surprised if some day he is a general authority. Seriously though.

There are a lot of people like that in this ward. Clovis was only baptized a year and a half ago, but he has helped almost his entire family join the church in that time. And his little brother Steven sent his papers in recently, too, and studies just as studiously as Clovis. Their little sister Tatianna is only 16, but sheºs thinking about a mission. Man, there are some amazing people here.

And I have to mention Roberto. Heºs got about 4 different callings in the ward. Without him, the ward wouldnºt function, I donºt think. I donºt know if he literally has all those callings, or if he is just so willing to help that he does all those things. But wow, he is awesome.

Then thereºs Andira. She is going to be baptized two Saturdays from now. Sheºs pregnant with her second child. She is so excited about the Gospel and said she thinks Joseph Smith is a beautiful name, so if this baby is a boy that will be his name. :) Sheºs so honest and tells us what sheºs thinking, and she LOVES to learn the things of the Gospel. She just soaks it all up like a sponge. She has been experiencing abdominal pain, so she went to the hospital after some encouragement from us on Saturday. Apparently they didnºt tell her anything there or do anything for her. So yesterday, Roberto (her brother) and Clovis gave her a priesthood blessing. It was amazing, too, because Thursday we had just taught her about the priesthood, and she got to experience it! Please pray for her and this baby. Hopefully the pains will go away or the hospital will tell her something if she goes back today.

Letºs see... thereºs so many other people!

The pigeons that greet us outside our window

Iºll tell you about Lenine. He will get baptized this Saturday. He goes to every activity we invite him to, and he is trying so hard to keep the commandments and do all we invite him to do. He even told his girlfriend about the law of chastity! The last time we met with him, we found out he broke the law of chastity once after we taught him about it. It was incredible, but at the same time it was still sad because he had broken it. But we had a great lesson about the Atonement and about how Christ experienced even our temptations so He can help us overcome them. He is so excited to get baptized. He wasnºt at church yesterday, which was super strange, and we havenºt been able to get ahold of him, so hopefully nothing crazy has happened... please pray for him!

Oh yeah, and our phone rarely turns on and stays on unless it is plugged in. So thatºs fun. :) Hopefully weºll be able to get a new one soon.

Oh! And an appointment fell through on Saturday, but there was a member that wanted to talk to us. His name is Élton, and he is 14 yrs old and has been a member for 4 years. He wanted to teach us about PMG ch. 5. It was so amazing. He isnºt afraid to share the Gospel with everyone, and he studies the scriptures/PMG every day. He told us that he, another YM in the ward, and some more YM too go around every Saturday night to invite the less active YM to come to church the next day. How cool is that! Maybe heºll be an apostle, too. :)

Oh! I decided to start Personal Progress again. :) I want to try to finish it before I hit my 9 month mark on the mission... February 28. I am so excited! And hopefully it will help me have a little more structure to some of my study time.

Okay, I think thatºs it for this week. Thereºs a lot more people, but Iºm running out of time! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman