Baptisms and Burnt Cake

First of all, the shift button on this keyboard is significantly worse than all of the other keys, and the rest of the keys stink, so bear with me.

We had a cake contest. One of our pesquisadores ended up winning, fairly. That was awesome. Brenda, the one that won, brought her neighbor, Simone, who has not been coming to church. This was her first time being in the church building!!!!! Gaaaaaahhhh, Brenda is so elect, it's crazy. When we heard that Simone was already at the church building with Brenda, we basically cried. It was awesome. And then, the next time we visited Brenda, her whole family decided to listen. WE FINALLY HAVE A FAMILY!!!! Man. Only 2.5 weeks in the field. I'm a little worried about maintaining enthusiasm. It seems like more and more people are uninterested as time goes on. That's pretty hard.

Part of my letter to President today (excuse my poor grammar- still learning!):

*"Esta semana, tivemos uns poucos dias difíceis e eu estava desejando a saber como missionários podem continuar nesta obra por um ano e meio ou dois anos. Eu recebi uma resposta. No Sábado, eu e Sister de Souza ouvimos que nossa pesquisadora Iasmin passou a sua entrevista batismal. Então, decidimos a visitar ela. Ela foi MUITO animada para ser batizada. Minha resposta é que posso continuar nesta obra por causa da necessidade ajudar estes pessoas tem o mesmo animo!!! Então estou muito animada para continuar trabalhar muito diligentemente. Estamos esperando um outro batismo esta semana. " 

*This week we had a few difficult days and I was wondering how missionaries can continue in this work for a year and a half or two years. I got an answer. On Saturday, Sister de Souza and I heard that our investigator, Iasmin, had her baptismal interview. We then decided to visit her. She was VERY excited to be baptized. My answer is that I can continue in this work because of the need to help these people have the same happiness!!! So I'm very excited to continue working very diligently. We are expecting another baptism this week.

Iasmin was baptized this week! Man. It was so great. The day before was her baptismal interview. We visited her house afterwards and she was sitting outside with her family. When she saw us, she jumped up and ran to us, yelling, "I passed!!!!!!!!" It was so great- she was so excited and the spirit so strong when she was baptized. And she is still super pumped to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost next Sunday. :) (Baptisms happen a little differently here). The members were so supportive and Sister de Souza made a (unfortunately ugly and slightly burnt) cake; it was just a great Sunday. :)

We had a lot of answers to prayer this week- we had a few difficulties. Apparently this is not normal because Sister de Souza was getting a little frustrated. We prayed and, it happened a lot this week, then we would find a new pesquisador right before having to stop looking for *novos. I think every time this happened, "Man. It's super great that the Lord is helping us!!!" (Although maybe this week we can find people a little faster?? Please??????) *New

We travelled to Pelotas this week for a training. It was super great to see the other missionaries in the south of my mission! And I got to see a lot of the other verdinhos, like Elder Chowen and Elder Mello! Yay! We also had my first district meeting. That was cool. Our numbers definitely need to improve. Looks like the other companionships are struggling rn too. We have a lot of work to do. I'm really excited for this next week. I love this work and I love being a missionary!!!!!

I don't think I am homesick, but I definitely miss you all very much. So many things remind me of each of you. An example about Grandma Dayley: every day we pass a house that sells Avon and so I always remember when Grandma and I sold Avon together. There are lots of other things but I don't have time to write them all. I love you all so much! I hope thanksgiving and Black Friday were awesome. (Here, Black Friday is the whole month. fun fact.)

Until next week! #SejaALuzDoMundo Woo! Christmas is on it's way!!

-Sister Hartman

Not gonna starve here. Members are GREAT!

Yup, MCD's is EVERYWHERE!

As are beautiful sunrises.