Five!

Boa tarde família!

I just love you guys. This week was wonderful.

Here’s what I told president

Our investigator Paula has been having a really hard time committing to a baptismal date, so much so that our last lesson was a "do or die." We prepared the lesson to every detail we could think of, practiced, and prayed a ton to be able to have her accept a date so we wouldn't have to drop her. When we started the lesson she said, "Ola Irmãs, na segunda-feira vou saber meu horario para trabalho, e na primeira fim de semana que tenho o sabado e domingo livre, eu quero ser batizada e receber o Espirito Santo."(Sisters, I’m going to know my work schedule for the month on Monday, and the first weekend I have a Saturday and Sunday off I want to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.) We hadn't even said the opening prayer. We are joining her in prayer and fasting that she can have this Saturday and Sunday off to be baptized because she wants to receive the Holy Ghost on the 7th, her wedding anniversary.

At church we were greeting a recent convert and asking how her children were doing. She said that her son was doing well but her daughter had failed her exams and would have to stay back a year in school. She said that she was thinking about and hoping maybe we could talk with her daughter and help give her some direction. We went over for dinner a few weeks ago and loved her daughter, who is clearly in the confused teen years, and we got along with her very well so our recent convert hoped we could use that as a way to get her interested in the gospel and have better values. We are so excited to go teach her on Thursday.

So yeah, basically really great things are happening. We are finally seeing some pick up in people. We have started to get references and meet people that are progressing faster and more deeply.

Also, did you all watch that broadcast, the Work of Salvation? I loved it. I was a little bit of a mess in the musical numbers. Hymns in English are so different that Portuguese ha-ha you feel the spirit a lot stronger. Speaking of which, we actually watched the broadcast twice. Once during church in Portuguese and again after in English with other missionaries. I’m very glad I got to see it in English. I’m still really blown away by how much I can comprehend Portuguese, but the second time I watched it I felt like I received so much more inspiration on how to be a better missionary right now and even more when I am at home.

it’s really hot here, my companion and I are having a good time together, everyone likes making comments about how I am "dead" and "starting to smell" because I’m so close to finishing. But the ward has been so sweet and loving and trying to spoil me because they know I’m ending my mission here.

I love you guys tons!!! Have an awesome week!

Irma Dean