Wonderful wet week in Novo Hamburgo

Hi dear family!

This was a wonderful and wet week for Sister Oliveira and me here in Novo Hamburgo. And I mean WET!!! It was rainy all week long and ended with huge wind and rain storms on Saturday and Sunday. It was super nice to have a break from the heat and the sun and Sister Oliveira and I had fun in the heavy and windy Brazilian rainstorms, but it kind of made the missionary work difficult. :) You should have seen the streets!! They turned into rivers!!

Sunday was a wonderful day....Maiara was confirmed! And she was glowing and smiling and very happy :) I love that girl so much!! Now that the school year has started again here, Maiara moved back to live with her grandma in Estáncia Velha, a city about 15 from Novo Hamburgo, so we don´t get to see her very often anymore. Just on Sundays when she comes to church with Deise´s family.... Sister Oliveira and I were used to visiting her almost every day when she was preparing to be baptized, so we´re missing her a lot!!

On a sad note, the baptisms of Sônia and her daughters Débora and Denúbia probably will have to be postponed until the next transfer, because once again the rain kept them from coming to church on Sunday :( It was kind of frustrating...as a district we had decided to focus extra hard this week on bringing investigators with us to church, and Sister Oliveira and I had a huge list of families that were planning on coming... and then late Saturday afternoon the rain starting pouring and the streets started filling with water and almost all of the people we had invited called to tell us they wouldn´t be able to make it.... But! We had a wonderful lesson with them the next day and talked about Heavenly Father and His love for us and how we can show or love for Him by putting Him first in our lives....and they promised that nothing in the world will keep them from coming to church next Sunday :)

Story Time! So this Friday, Sister Oliveira and I were walking to an appointment and we decided to cut through the plaza in the center of Novo Hamburgo. On the weekends the plaza turns into a kind of mini fair...with crowds of people and a bunch of stands selling different things....fruits and breads, souvenirs, and crafts...it´s super fun! Sister Oliveira and I passed by one table filled with books and stopped to look for a while. Suddenly, Sister Oliveira started laughing and pulled me over to one side of the table to point out a book that she had found....a brand new copy of O Livro de Mórmon for 10 reais! :) The owner of the stand, "Sé dos Livros" is his name, looked over at us to see why we were laughing and Sister Oliveira introduced herself and asked him what he knew about the book. And his answer "Nothing...tell me about it." Perfect :) So we talked to him about Jesus Christ´s visit to the Americas and told him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon...and he said he would start that very night! :) He was such a nice guy! Very smart and intelligent...I think he reads 100 books a week...and at the same time very humble and willing to listen to our message. It is very interesting how the Lord leads us, without us even knowing that we are being lead sometimes, to the people that He has prepared to receive our message. Oh, and the best part of the story....do you know what his full name is?? Joseph Smith!! haha....well, really it is José Schmitt...but they pronounce them both the same way here in Brazil. Sister Oliveira and I couldn´t believe it when he told us :)

Well!! I love you all!!! Thanks for being the best family in the world! :)

Love, Sister Jamie Gee