Lindsay, CJ

Boa tarde meus queridos, How are you all doing!?! Sorry for not getting an email out last week! As you can probably imagine I the new designations and new missionary, things were pretty, as we say down here, "corrido" these past few weeks. Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye to both of my companions today.  The first: Elder de Souza.  We had been companions in two different areas and three companionships since February. If I said it once I've said it one million times: the man is just a beast. He knows how to work, he knows how to teach, he loves the people, and he loves the missionary purpose. He will be flying back to his home in the state of São Paulo tomorrow and while I know he's fought the good fight and fulfilled his purpose (at least on the "full-time" side of things, it was very sad to see him go. That there was a friendship that will not be going anywhere anytime soon. I just hope I can take what I've learned from him and continue applying it i...

Opa meus peixes... só filé? Well I guess I'd better start off by explaining the subject... As they say down here in the MBT, "estou esperando" (I'm expecting), or in other words: I'm going to be training a new missionary! Last week at Zone Conference, President Lindsey had let me know that it was a possibility for this next transfer, but it still came as a bit of a surprise when one of the missionaries in the office called and let us know. When I tried to ask who I would be training, they only told me "ele é francês" (he is French), which is almost certainly not true, so it will be a surprise for both me and all y'all exactly what's going to happen!  What really came as a surprise is when I was told that after today I will be the District Leader here, too. What does that mean, exactly? That means I'm going to need a whole lot of prayers on your part and a whole lot of praying on mine, too.  I will be responsible for evaluating the numbers, re...

Happy (late) Mother's Day to all the moms out there, Another good week! Another quick one, too. Highlight of the week: we were able to baptize somebody else! This week we were able to help Joelison be baptized and start making covenants with God! He's 15 years old and was - like the other folks we've met and baptized down here - totally excited about baptism. As for now, the rest of his family didn't feel prepared for baptism but were totally supportive of him and his decision. His mother had been praying for direction for her life and the lives of her children and said that she felt our appearance was an answer to this prayer! How incredible it is that I was able to play a role in this answer. We did some more traveling this week by heading over to São Bernardo for divisões at the beginning of the week and heading over to Parnaiba yesterday for Zone Conference that happened earlier today. Once again, Zone Conference was pretty darn great. Every Zone Conference I unders...

What a week! Gotta start off with the highlights of the week, and I'm happy to say there's quite a few of them (in no particular order): We were able to baptize Ana Cecília! We met her for the first time while knocking doors during divisões and she was excited to be baptized from the get-go. Yesterday she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ! My brother - Quinn - received his mission call! He's also going to be heading down to South America. He was called to the Missão Argentina Buenos Aires Sul (yes that's in Portuguese, yes I know they speak Spanish down there, yes this is probably going to be a life-long debate between the two of us) and I was able to watch him oepn up his call! I am so stoked for him and excited to see the things he will do down there.  Daniel received the Aronic Priesthood yesterday as well! Afterward he and his wife both got up during the testimony meeting and bore their testimonies. They hav...