Hello from the Bug Eater!!

Oi familha e amigos!

This week was great! I have so much to say because it was a longer week than normal. First- I wasn’t transferred! I am so glad too! There is still so much to do here in my area, and so many people to teach! Our investigators and members were even praying that we would stay here! Ha ha ha!
This week in short:
-Last prep day, after email, we went back home and made cookie dough. While we were eating it, sis Pozete paused and looked at it weird. We pretty soon discovered that THERE WERE BUGS IN OUR COOKIE DOUGH!! I ATE BUGS. Grossss! Ha ha, they were in our oatmeal, then in my stomach. Where haven’t these bugs been??
-We had Alice´s baptism this week. She is 72 (?) years old, and the funniest lady. It was a cold and rainy day and even colder in the AC church, and Sister Pozete told her that the water was really cold. She said `no! it will be fine!` When the priesthood holder stepped in, he said `wow! It’s really cold!!!` She got in and said `Fria? Fria nada! Essa agua é boa!!` (cold? cold nothing! This water is good!) Then after, when the bishop was congratulating her, he told her how he remembered his baptism and how he cried. In front of everyone she said `you cried??` Everyone, including the bishop started laughing! It was really funny. She is awesome!
Anyway, I am so excited to be here right now. I am truly loving the work, and time is flying by! I love my companion, and we spend the day working and laughing. She´s great!
A quick experience- This week we checked in on and investigator. She didn’t read or pray and just said `I don’t have time! I don’t even have time for me!` When I heard that I couldn’t believe it. So people, please, don’t act like this. It is so ironic! Please take time talk to your heavenly father. I will repeat: TAKE TIME TO TALK TO YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
He is listening and wants to hear from you! So say a little better prayer this week. Converse with the Lord. Tell him how you are doing, what you are feeling, and what you are so grateful for. Then listen- how can he talk to you if you don’t listen? Please remember this and try a little harder. You always have time for the Lord, okay??

Well, sorry I didn’t have much time to write this week. I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers. I can truly feel their influence here! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Seester Bug Eater

District NATAL!

Me and my little lamb, just preachin the word.

Midget bananas!

A little boy Ricardo we are teaching. The first time we taught this family, he was crazy! But now he gets his little chair and sits and listens while we teach.

He wanted to pose like this for the picture. So cute.

Haven't we taught him well?

Alice and her 'batatinhas' or little french fries. Tooo bad you guys can't try these, because they are the BEST!

I just LOVE her!!

p.s. look at Sis. Pozetes feet tan lines- crazy huh?? Maybe one day for me... (haha yeah right..)

Alice's baptism!

Lucia (RC) and I- oh, and the view!

I love these designs- they're sweet!

Crazy elders....

District Macaiba

Natal and the bridge behind me. Look how green it is! B-E-A-UTIFUL!

A cute design a member did on my nails.

Zona Natal

Ants, Roaches...Oh MY!

MY GOODDNESS. I have to start out by sharing an experience maravilhosa this week. So, after a long day, Sis. Pozete and I arrived at home like usual. I am at the sink washing my hands, and she all of a sudden screams so loud and starts freaking out. She screams `Barata!!!` in English `Cockroach!` I, of course, try to remain calm until I make it safely to the bedroom. We have a little part of our house that´s outside, just a little cement room with a sink and stuff, no roof. It was walking around in there, probably flew in, and was HUGE! So, Sis. Pozete saw this thing on its back, and supposed it was dead. She said not to worry, It´s dead, but when we looked again, it was gone! Our poor neighbors! We were screaming, and screaming! Ha-ha! She grabbed the bug killer spray and a broom and marched into battle. O my goodness- this thing was HUGE, and they can fly! It took forever to die, and was so nasty. I couldn´t get over how big and ugly that thing was. My goodness people! Keep me in your prayers. If I have to deal with more of those, I don't know what I´ll do!!!




Then- it gets better- We decide to cook the cookie dough we made. Our oven doesn't work very well, so we don't use it very much. But, we decided to try. A few minutes later after turning it on, we looked over and saw a multitude of ants, running for their lives! There were so many! They were running out of our oven and gathering together to save their eggs. It was so gross. Let me just say that I was the mass murderer that night. I sprayed those things to death, and it looked like the plagues themselves had passed by. I want to scare these ants SOOO bad, that rumors will spread among them. Mother ants will say to their children `Don´t go to that house, whatever you do!!`. I want them to think of my house as the place of ant death. The Ant Graveyard. Haha! (We spent time cleaning the bejeezers out of our already clean house, and sprayed the bug killer everywhere, so hopefully they don't return!)




Well- The rest of this week was good. We have a baptism marked for next week! It´s actually a funny story how we met Alice and her family. She is 70 something years old, and really sweet. Last week we were walking home from church with some youth from the ward. We saw this dog walking really weirdly and it looked like it was dying! We wanted to help, but Alice appeared and said it was fine. So after talking about this limping dog, we told her about the gospel and set a time to teach her. When we returned the third time, she had read some of the Book of Mormon and was beaming! She said she felt so good, and she re-read it. She is so sweet, and loves listening to our messages. Her daughter and granddaughter are interested too, so we´ve been teaching them. Alice and Larissa (the granddaughter) came to church yesterday. We have sacrament meeting last, and I was busy playing intro music, while Sis. Pozete sat and talked with them. She told me that Alice leaned over to her, and said `Sister. Thank you for bringing me to the Lord´s House`. She accepted to be baptized next week! It´s so amazing and makes me so happy! Plus, there is a perk. Every night, her son-in-law makes `batatinhas` or little french fries, and sells them out front. I LOVE them, so I buy some every so often. She told us we can stop by anytime and have some for free! YUM!!

We also have many investigators, but most of them are pretty mole. It´s so difficult to get people to read and pray, which is the most important thing! When they do this, they can feel that this gospel is true for themselves, and how can God tell them that when they don´t talk to him? Fortunately, we have some promising people this week. Something funny- we were teaching this husband and wife. After teaching, while we were saying goodbye, the husband (probably 50 yrs. old) he shook Sis. Pozete´s hand and tried to kiss it. She pulled away really hard and said `no! No pode Senhor!` or `No! You can´t Senhor!` Ha-ha! He was so shocked! We explained that we are sister missionaries and can’t, but he went for it again with my hand! Ha-ha! So funny. One thing that I love here is that people are very touchy. We are always giving women hugs and kissing cheeks, and shaking men´s hands. I love it! It´s taken some getting used to, but I think it is nice. The funny thing is that when people talk to you, men or women, they stand really close and constantly touch your arm. I don't mind it, but sometimes when men do this, I kind of back off! They do it with everyone, but its taking some getting used to!

Another funny thing this week. We were eating lunch at a member´s house, and they had this really yummy, fresh juice. I drank two glasses full, then found out it was passion fruit juice! I had heard stories of passion fruit juice in the CTM- it makes you super sleepy! That afternoon I was falling asleep while walking. It´s pretty funny! But so yummy. The typical food here that we eat pretty much every meal is beans (not like refried beans, more soupy and individual) spaghetti, rice and some type of meat. I don’t mind it, but its sometimes funny to copy them and eat macaroni with beans all together. It could be worse though!

So the nickname I have this week is `porcelain doll`. So many different people commented this week that I look like a doll! They are all so sweet. It´s so funny the reception I get here with my blinding whiteness, but I have to say I´m getting a smidge tanner!

Lastly- I have to say that the members and teenagers here are wonderful. They are constantly helping us and trying to bring others to the gospel. They will accompany us all day and bring us to their friend’s houses. They have so many family home evenings and try to invite the neighborhood. They are kind, giving and love the gospel. It´s great! They also really take advantage of the Liahona (Church magazine) like you wouldn´t believe. They use it for everything and try to follow the words of the prophets. It´s really neat. They are great!

To end, I have to be a little churchy. I love being a missionary! It is so inspiring! It´s so wonderful to teach about the truths of this gospel. It´s really sad when people don´t want to listen. I keep thinking, `you are searching for the truth and it is right here in front of you! All you have to do is ask God!` People reject us, preach to us, try to confound us, and so much more. But it doesn’t matter. We have the truth, it´s so clear. I just can´t imagine what Christ felt when people were trying to preach and correct him with his own gospel. So ironic! But it´s okay, we are here to bring the hearts who are ready. And I´m happy! I love this gospel, and everything that makes me happy in my life is because I have this gospel. So follow it. Cling to it. Refresh your testimony. Live a little better and closer to your Heavenly Father. He is just waiting on you, for you to draw closer to him and receive more blessings! Isn’t it beautiful!. And I get to see and experience a piece of this beauty when I help bring people closer to Him.

Thank you for your prayers and support. I can feel them helping! (Pray for no more cockroaches! Ha-ha
Love you all and hope to hear from you!

-Seester Gordon




Preach to all creatures! (ya... I don't know what face I'm making..)

Me with my new mission president and his wife! They are great!
I love purple! :)
(from left) Riane (pronounced hi-on-ee; a young woman here) Me! Lourena (my baptism goin strong!) and Sis. Pozete! Isn't she sooo cute?! This was at a ward party for some festival of July. I don't really know.. haha

Kissing my invisible Knight in Shining Armor. (Is that breaking mission rules?) :)
Where is my handsome prince??
First baptism!

A New Mission President

Hey family!

It´s so wonderful to hear from you all! I cant tell you how awesome it is to receive letters here on the mission field. Thanks to all of you who wrote me! It´s soo great! It takes forever to get to me though.. so sorry if the response takes forever too!
The best part of the week was meeting my new mission president! He is from Arizona, President Hall. I am so excited to have him as a president, and I love his outlook for the mission. He wants us to focus on following the prophet and first presidency´s program for missionary work- or in other words, he wants us to really focus on teaching people and helping them with their problems through the gospel. To teach people, not lessons. I have seen people here get so into the routine of teaching a lesson, making commitments and leaving without even knowing the person. That is so sad! I am glad to have someone who will try to change the feel of how things are done. He also wants us to work with the members a lot, to integrate people into the church, which is just awesome. He said he hopes to work alongside us, to walk the streets with us (literally) and to lead us correctly. He is just the president for me! His wife is really nice, she is learning Portuguese and is just really friendly. He has 5 kids, most of them are older, but we met two of them: Brad (23, served as a missionary in Brazil) and Quincy (20, really nice!) I had such a fun time getting to know them and am just so excited for the future of my mission under their leadership.
Nothing much happened this week. We have a decent number of investigators, but none that are really committed. Here they call them `moles´, pronounced mole-eees. It just sounds like a perfect word- it means soft, slacker, in a way- lazy. It´s true. That is the hardest part about this area of Brazil. People are very religious, friendly, open to hearing our message, but wont do the work. I hope to find more people like my baptism, Lourena. Hopefully as we work hard, we will find people like this.
Since I don't have much to update, I will tell you about my life here in Natal. The lifestyle of the people, if you will. There are soooo many things that are different- practically everything is different. Here are a few cultural differences- not bad, just different!
• People´s level of modesty. Well, at times it really doesn´t exist much! I have seen soo much skin in this past month. Men are always walking around with their shirts off, gut totally hanging out and over their pants. Women wear little tank tops, usually skimpy or old, often with not much support underneath. O ya, they all have guts too. The shortest shorts I´ve ever seen... armpit hair, hairy legs, every type of cellulite, you name it, I´ve seen it! Naked babies are common, or children (boys and girls) just wear some little pants or underwear and run around town. Its such a beautiful sight!
• Houses: the houses here are very, very small. They are mainly two little bedrooms, a little kitchen and family room. They are made by cement and have metal gate doorways. The houses are also right next door to eachother, with no space in between. When we go to someone´s house, we clap outside the door, or sometimes yell their name. They then walk to the front, unlock the lock, open the gate doorway (if that makes sense) and let us in. They are just soo tiny.
• Bugs: I am learning that ants are NORMAL here. I dont agree with it! Haha! It is something that I refuse to get used to. Lets see- this week I have killed them with bug spray, drowned them, burned them, smashed them, yelled at them, strangled them, smushed them, and whatever other way you can kill a tiny, tiny ant, I have done it. But we are very fortunate to not have too many bugs in our house.
• Creatures: There are always creatures running around this town. So many mutty dogs, cats, little cute lizards, bugs, and other stuff. The other day there was just a herd of cows walking down the street- i updated my pictures. It was so great! There are also donkeys, and people with little carts and horses. That always makes me laugh to see a horse and cart running down the street at full speed- it dont know why it is funny, but it is. I´ll have to try to take a picture.
That is just a few little things Ive noticed. I´m enjoying it here though! The language is coming along quickly enough, the lord is helping me soo much! I was soo happy this week as I understood a majority of what people were saying, and could speak back. I helped teach lessons, gave messages at member´s houses, and made more contacts. It´s so wonderful.
Well I miss you all and hope you are all doing well. I am so excited to be here as a missionary, and I thank you for your prayers and support. Keep praying, keep reading your scriptures, and keep smiling! Love you!

- Sis mish Steph



That's right, stay far away elders!

Sis. Pozete and our investigator.

I wish.....

My mission president's wife and daughter.

My new companion.


Continuing to teach all the creatures of the earth!


Cool buildings, huh?

First Baptism

What a week. I have to say that Chase Gardner was right when he once told me `on the mission, the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days`. It is soooooooo true! I had some VERY slow days this week, but when I look back, the week went by fast!

A lot of great things happened this week. I first want to say that I HAD A BAPTISM!! (I can’t baptize the new convert, the Elders do the baptizing because they have the priesthood.) My first! Lourena- she is such a wonderful girl and truly has a testimony of the gospel. A few days before her baptism, she attended some church activities. She told us she wants to learn as much as she can about the scriptures, and how she loves how she feels at the church. She said she doesn’t understand how people can leave the church after what they feel there. I know she truly felt the spirit strongly confirm the truth of this church. Her baptism was absolutely wonderful! The spirit was so strong, and you could tell that this meant so much to her. The ward was very welcoming, helpful and outreaching to her. I am sure she will stay strong in the church. I am so grateful for this experience because I was able to see what it’s like to baptize someone who is truly converted. I am convinced that the numbers here on the mission aren’t what´s important. Anyone can baptize people, especially here- all you have to do is offer cake and someone will be baptized! But I am here to find those who will have a strong testimony, to truly convert people to the gospel through the Holy Ghost. It´s so important!! Of course, everyone is welcome to feel this. All you have to do is pray and ask to know if this church is true- and you know what is so great?? God will ALWAYS answer. It´s so amazing :)

I would LOVE to attach pictures from the baptism, but I think I just accidentally deleted them. Which really stinks... but nothing I can do about it! Next week I will use my companion’s camera and send you pictures. (I´m pretty sure I just took off my shoe and smashed a huge ant that was on the wall next to me. Oh the joys of northeast brazil!)

FOURTH OF JULY!!! - was fun. I think my companion thinks I´m crazy! I happened to have some patriotic symphony music, and the star spangled banner on my iPod, so I marched around our apartment quite a few times this week in celebration of my country. It was pretty fun! As I tried to think of American food to cook for her, I found it difficult. Either we don’t have the right ingredients, no recipe, or I couldn’t cook it because our oven doesn’t work! Someday in the future. I also found it somewhat difficult to explain the fancy words in our pledge of allegiance, as I taught it to my companion. We had some fun though! Hooray for USA! The incredible thing is the influence that the USA has on the world. People here know American movies, music, celebrities, politics and so forth. For being a pretty new country, we sure are influential!

This week was also full of some let downs. We had a contentious moment with a friend of an investigator, trying to disprove everything about our religion. They are teenagers, and pretty sure they only want to listen so they can twist our words and bash us down. I feel sorry for them. We just taught our lesson, bore our testimony and left. I hate moments like that. They are few here though, thank heavens.

We received our new mission president this week- I haven’t met him yet, but I hope to soon!
I want to share a thought with ya´ll. Please-PLEASE members of the church, realize how IMPORTANT missionary work is, not just for missionaries, but for you! The members here are so wonderful with helping us find people to teach. The important thing to realize is that it is not the missionary´s job to find people to teach, they are there to teach. So work hard! Share the gospel! Pray for opportunities. If you believe in the prophets, and have a testimony of following what they say, realize that EVERY prophet tells us that missionary work is one of the most important things. So this week- try a little harder. Okay? Do your part, have the spirit with you, and the Lord will do the rest. I love this gospel. I LOVE that it makes sense! It is true. It is pure. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, fully here on the earth, just as he taught it. It´s wonderful!

Well, I don’t have too much to say other than that! So much happens, but never enough time to write. Pray for us, I hope to find new people to teach this week. I miss you all, and love you very much! I think about you and pray for you often. Let me know how you are doing, please! Keep letters coming, and have a wonderful week.
Love,
Sisssss Mish Steph Gordon

Busy Week...........

This week, as usual, was good. There are always up times, and down times, and usually they both happen in the same day, but overall it feels good to be here. I had my zone conference last week, where all the elders and sisters from a certain area gather to be trained and hear speakers. My mission president was leaving, so he said his goodbyes and gave his last words of advice. The funny thing is that I couldn’t understand almost ANY of it, because he speaks so fast and mumbles in Portuguese! But, I am sure it was great! It was a long day, and by the end, I didn’t want to have to hear any more Portuguese for the rest of the night! I´m sure they will be better as I begin to understand the language. At least I understood the other speaker for the whole morning, that made me feel better. I met a missionary from Sammamish, Elder Millet. He is from the Issaquah stake, has about 4 months left, and knows so many people I know. He lives so close! It was kinda crazy! I’m sure some people know him, he was really nice. Other than that, it was just a good, uplifting (except for the Portuguese) day.


This week a had a fun opportunity to teach in English! My companion pretty much does most of the teaching, because people can’t understand me- but we met a less active family who has a teenage daughter who knows English. The father was really high up in the church, but fell away when his family didn’t go. So my job was to help the daughter gain a testimony of the gospel. It was so wonderful to finally teach in my language and help someone. Most definitely a blessing from the lord, in perfect timing. The father was at church (the daughter was sick) and I hope they come back to the church!

I was able to have my first bowl of Açai this week, and let me tell you.... It was GREAT!! I wish they had it in the US for ya´ll to try, because it was so good! I uploaded pictures on flickr, I hope you can all see them. I will try to have pictures every week. I feel a bit silly because I look so greasy and gross in every picture, but after walking and sweating all day, It is pretty hard to avoid. I ACTUALLY wore my bangs back in a headband for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE this week. It was raining and I didn’t want to deal with my bangs, so I wore them back. It felt weird.... That is my big first sign of giving up looking good here! So don’t make fun!
We taught a wonderful 25 yr old girl this week, named Lorena;. She truly is prepared by the lord. She said she felt power when we taught her. We arrived one night, and she was so upset with family problems. I (through my companion translating, because late at night my Portuguese fails) was able to use stories from the BOM to help her feel better. Her cousin and aunt are learning too, and hopefully we can baptize all three of them. They are so wonderful! Lorena came to church and yesterday accepted our invitation to be baptized this Sunday!!!! She is really excited, and I can already see the change that the gospel has made in her life. It´s such a beautiful thing to help people through the gospel. And help them and feel the Lord’s spirit so strong. I hope to have baptism pictures next week for you!!


Solange and Francisca (the dream people) are continuing with the lessons. They LOVE us coming over and keep saying that we are family. They cook for us, and say that they will be our moms here! Solange´s leg problem still hasn’t been discovered, but they ran into an old family friend who’s a doctor and will do anything to help them, so we hope it’ll be okay. The lord is truly blessing their lives. We are just trying to have them commit to baptism. I think Francisca (the older lady) is having a difficult time getting the courage to take this step. The funny thing , is that whenever my companion talks to her, she listens halfway. But as soon as I open my mouth and speak, her attention is completely on me. My companion feels that I am the only one who can invite her and help her to be baptized. I hope we can help! Marcilio is Francisca´s son (solange’s brother) and he is all for our church. He has been quitting smoking, taking our discussions, and trying to encourage his mother and sister to be baptized. He would be baptized in a heartbeat, but he needs to get married, and he lives in another town that doesn’t have a chapel or missionaries. It´s sad, because he would be a really strong addition to the church. I just love visiting them though! They take good care of us. :)


It is so interesting being here in Brazil sometimes. People stare at me because I am sooo white! So many people love touching my hair and skin, and comment on how white I am! HAHA They ALWAYS then ask if I am wearing sunscreen, which of course I do. The funny thing is that they talk to my companion and ask her questions about me, because apparently I am mute and don’t understand anything! ha-ha. I think it’s funny. Everyone in the ward wants me to sing for them, or braid their hair, so I just tell them to give me references and I will grant their wishes. I hope I don’t have to sing in church... On Sunday, the bishop last minute asked me to give a talk in Portuguese, for 5 minutes. I was freaking out and quickly wrote a talk to give. It wasn’t too scary, and I hope everyone understood me. At the end, I bore my testimony in English, and everyone loved it! I am sure I just made a fool of myself up there, but everyone is too nice to say it.

The Cupo do Mundo is still going on. I cannot describe how crazy it is here to you! During the games, when Brazil gets a goal, EVERYONE cheers, and there are fireworks going off louder than the fourth of July! It is so crazy. We have to be in our houses during this time, but you can always know the score even if you aren’t watching the game. United States lost out, which isn’t a huge surprise, but right now I have to root for Brazil or I will be killed! :)
Today I was able to go to a nice restaurant overlooking the beach with a family from my ward. The husband is a chef, and he took us on a tour of the restaurant, and gave us a wonderful free meal. It was the BEST food I have eaten since I’ve been here! It sure beats cereal and who knows what that I eat at home. We got to see the beach, which was absolutely beautiful. I took pictures. Bummer though, so close, yet so far!


I have to say that I am soooo tired of ants. Be grateful EVERYONE that ants aren’t a huge problem in your life. We have tiny ones here, that are EVERYWHERE! Seriously- They have been in my bed, laundry, shower, floor, food, and everywhere in between. Goodness- those little `formigas` as they are called in Portuguese. But oh well, it could be worse! We have another little lizard friend in our drain, who just hangs out in there. I think it is funny. He doesn’t come out or bother us, so its fine. I need to baptize all the little creatures in my house, and I will be a successful missionary!


The Portuguese is coming, more and more each day. I have to keep reminding myself that it takes time. I have only been on the field for 2 weeks, so I think I’m doing okay. Other missionaries say that it took them 3 months to understand everything and speak, so I just need to be patient! It is so hard to be though, when you want to help people and cant because of a language barrier. O well- That’s why my first goal is to have the spirit. That is all I care about and He will do the work.


One other cultural thing about brazil- there is always noise. Always. People listen to music so loud and it just reverberates in the streets and in our house. Vendors walk down the street blaring Brazilian music, or cars drive by with speakers on the top playing advertisements. Our neighbors love to listen to this awful Brazilian band, and its pretty interesting. I need to get used to it, but its so difficult sometimes! So different from the US. But, one great thing. The other day a vendor walked by slowly playing Lady Gaga really loud, and I had a few minutes of some actual good music. It was wonderful!!
Well- I love you all and am working so hard. Please keep me in your prayers. Write me and be safe! I miss you all, and love your support. Hopefully I will be able to tell you about a baptism next week! Tchau!

-Seester Steph


Coolest phone booth or what?!

OOOO the beach is soo close! but thats okay, i'm a missionary of the Lord! haha


Isn't it beautiful?!

The gospel needs to be preached to all!

The BEST dessert since I've been here... MMM

Lunch at the Nice restaurant with the family from my ward, whose dad is a chef there. An AMAZING or ULTIMO (portugese) lunch.


A man in one of our wards gave us a tour of one of the nice restaurants he works at- it was really neat! The restaurant was soo nice and we looved wearing the GORGEOUS hair nets you see here. Arent they just beautiful?? Haha

My first bowl of Açai! Mmmm- Soo good. I think everyone in this world needs to try it.


In a bus FULL to the brim of Elders! The only girls in a bus with about 30 elders, soo fun!



At the mission conference with another sister. I hope someday I can be as tan as them!

First Week in Natal, Brasil

Hello Everyone!
Wow, I have so much to say this week! So many awesome stories to tell! So- let us begin!
First, I love being a missionary! It´s difficult at times, but really rewarding and fun. I have a wonderful companion, Sister Pozete. She is Brazilian from Sao Paulo, speaks better English than I speak Portuguese (don’t worry, we speak in Portuguese because she is too shy to speak in English) and a great teacher. I am so grateful to have her as a companion; we work hard and have fun!

This week was full of a lot of puzzled expressions and hours of time where I didn’t understand what anyone was saying! I don’t get too frustrated; just keep trying to listen more and more. In the period of a few days, I have learned so much, and can understand them better every day! I am loving Portuguese and it feels so neat to be able to speak in another language.

I have an amazing story. One day this week, we were given a reference for a family, in which one of the ladies has problems with her legs and the doctors can’t figure out what it is. We visited the family, which consisted of a grandmother (Francisca) and a daughter (Solange-40´s I think??) We began teaching them about the gospel, Joseph Smith, the restored church with authority from god, and about the Book of Mormon. They said they would pray to know it was true, and that they would come to church. The grandmother then began talking passionately, which I couldn’t understand a thing, for a long time, and began crying. She told us that she had been praying the night before to find help for her daughter. That night she had a dream that she was walking along a cliff when she saw her son, who is a member. He said ``Mom, jump off the cliff with me, I will help you!` She was scared and said she didn’t have enough faith, so he jumped off and was just fine. She continued walking, and she saw a brown girl with a book, who said `jump off the cliff!` Francisca said that she didn’t have enough faith, she couldn’t do it, so the brown girl (or my companion) showed her 4 stairs to go down and helped her down safely. She said when she got to the bottom, she saw a little girl, or angel, who said Ì am here to help cure your daughter`. When she woke up she told her family how beautiful the little girl was, with beautiful eyes and really fair skin. She told us that when we arrived at her house, and she saw me, she began to cry because she immediately recognized me as the little girl from the dream. I could feel the spirit so strong when she told us this story, and she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said `you are my angel that will help cure my daughter`. The lord truly works in our lives, and we can see miracles every day.

They have a baptismal date for this coming Sunday- pray for them! I know for sure through faith, their family can be healed, it is so beautiful. I had been praying so hard that I can still help people even though I can’t communicate with them, and this was an answer to my prayers. They are so sweet, and I get more than enough hugs!

We have met and taught many other wonderful people this week- I wish I could tell you about them all. There were two girls, 16 and 12, who were so interested in this church. They were very very sweet, and helped me with my Portuguese! As we were about to leave, the 16 yr old, Rute (or Ruth) gave me some simple bracelets with the brazil colors on it, right off her wrist and said `Now you are Brazilian!` I felt so silly because I started to cry a little, they were so nice and it was so great to feel such love from them! I cannot express to you how relaxed, generous and loving the people of Brazil are. They always have time to talk about the gospel, and you can almost always enter into their house at any time of day! It is so different from America- So different. We hardly never need to make appointments to teach, we just go teach. It’s amazing how open they are to religion, and gods influence in their lives. Extremely patient with my Portuguese too!

Now, some funny things and culture things. Just before I came here, my companion found a little lizard on her bag when she put it on and it ran around our apartment while we just screamed! It was so funny! I also found a whole colony of tiny ants in my bed today, which was really fun. I´ve been needing some extra snuggles at night, and they were so sweet to bring the whole colony to snuggle with me! Fun stuff! If you even drop a crumb in my apartment, there are tiny little ants that just swarm! It´s not too bad though, I would rather have them than cockroaches, which isn’t a problem in my apartment, thank heavens. I don’t think I will get used to the cold showers though. I haven’t even felt warm water since I’ve been here, and we shower twice a day! Ha ha, I always just laugh and it takes me a few minutes to get the courage to jump in. But all is well!

The ward here is great- O I am in Natal, more specifically in Quintas. All of the young women think I am Bella from Twilight because I live close to forks, am whiter than anything they have ever seen and have dark hair. They love it and always freak out when we tell them where I live. They found out that I am a hairstylist, so we made a deal- French braids for References (references are names given to us from other people who we can go teach) I hope we will begin to receive a lot of references, because the girls here think that French braids are so cool! The Cupo do Mundo (World Cup) is so crazy here! The whole country celebrates! There was a game on Sunday during church, and when a goal was scored, you could hear the WHOLE town screaming, fireworks going off, horns, noisemakers, It was CRAZY!!!! I LOVE IT!! You seriously can’t imagine how crazy they are for soccer, and EVERYONE loves it! It’s so
awesome. They won the game, and everyone was out last night, dancing, partying and wearing yellow and green. So cool. Unfortunately our mission president doesn’t allow us to watch it... bummer.
I accompanied in church on Sunday-they haven’t had a pianist in a LOOOONG time, and were really excited to have me play. It was fun. I just love it here! Everything is different, but I am adjusting and loving it. I will try to take more pictures, but I put some up on flicker and hopefully it works. Let me know if it does.

OO- Ha-ha, my first day here it rained so much! In the morning it rained and I used my coat (which was great) I for some stupid reason left it at home in the afternoon, and we got soaked! Mom- My bag was AWESOME! Nothing got wet and it was so great!! We were wet all day, but whatever. I always feel wet here because it is so hot and humid. I hope I don’t die this `summer` or winter for you guys!

The food has been good here so far. There hasn’t been anything that I don’t like! I think, as long as they have rice and beans, I will be fine. I have told everyone that I am allergic to fish! Ha ha! I am positive that I couldn’t keep from gagging if they served it to me, so I just say I am allergic. I’m sure its saved me a number of times already because they are always surprised when we say that, I think they eat it a lot here. But other than that, we are so poor and have hardly any food. It’s funny, and we have to be creative!
Well everyone- till next week! I love you all and hope all is well. Just to let everyone know, I would LOVE letters! They are sent to the mission home, so I only get them every couple of weeks. So don’t expect a quick response :) Thank you for your prayers and love! Pray for my investigators- we hope to have at least 2 baptisms this week!
Love you all! Tchau!
Seeester `Bella` Gordon



My companion (grey shirt) and two other sisters.
A street decorated for the Cupo Do Mundo in Brazil. The whole country freaks out here and almost half of the streets look like this. Sooo sweet!


a little friend i found in my house! hahah

my apartment.