Perus e sapatos

so the world cup is over. People on the streets here call all white people Germans (``Alemão``), so lots of people don´t like us. Tudo bem! The day after the Brazil vs. Germany game was interesting. People were quite bitter and everyone was embarrassed saying, ``que vergonha``(like how embarassing) that they lost 7-1. When we would contact people, some would tell me, ``I´m really mad with you guys``(thinking we were German), and lots of people told us to go back to our country. The joys of living in a foreign country... It has calmed though and it's only with the people on the street. Our members and investigators don´t seem to care that much about the world cup, which has been good. 

This week we taught a 13 year old named Thaimires. Her mom is really nice but is pregnant and sleeps a lot so it´s been hard to get her involved in the lessons, but we will be persistent. We taught Thaimires the Restoration and she is super absorbant. I think it was the only time that I taught the Restoration(and I´ve taught that lesson a lot) that I really felt like my investigator understood like everything that we said. Sometimes you just connect with people and they really get it. Anyway, we began to teach the First Vision we were all tearing up because the Spirit hit us like a wall. Sister Salles was in the middle of the first vision (``I saw a pillar of light exactly...``) when our phone went off really loud because the other sisters were calling us. This goes on the list of 1st vision distractions. Thaimires really liked the message and we gave her a Book of Mormon. The next day, we saw her on the street at night and she ran up to us and told us that she read some of the Book of Mormon and she felt something really strong. She told us that she would go get it because she thought we were just letting her borrow it. We told her it was hers. She came to church with us yesterday, and she liked it but said it was way different from any other church she has been too. She goes to a church called ``Assemblia,`` where she said there is a lot of yelling and it´s only like an hour. Some of our other investigators have commented on that--kind of saying that our church isn´t as fun or interesting because they don´t get all ``riled up with the Spirit``(I can´t think of a direct translation but its like how you feel at an intense sporting event). 

Also this week we had interviews with President Dalton. He gave a brief training before, and then the assitants gave a training again on the Plan of Salvation and the Laws and Ordinances lessons because we need to practice them a lot in order to really help people understand how families(for generations before and after them) can be together forever through temple ordinances. I really liked 2 stories that were shared that day. 

1. Story about turkeys. There once was a turkey who told all his turkey friends that he knew how to fly. The turkeys didn´t believe him because they were fat and they thought it was impossible. However, one night they decided to trust their turkey friend and try to fly. It worked! They flew all through the night and visited a ton of cool places. When they landed in the morning, they talked about how incredible their experience had been as they walked home. President Dalton said, ``We do the same thing after really spiritual meetings/conferences. We fly and have incredible experiences, but we walk home. Why? We need to apply what we learn. Practice what we learn, so that feeling doesn´t go away.``

2. Story about President Packer. He was a mission president or a seventy--I think he was a 70. He held a conference with a mission, and the missionaries were really excited to hear from a 70. President Packer began to talk about how to shine shoes. The missionaries left confused. Then they had another conference with President Packer. They were really excited to hear from a 70 because this time he would teach them something great. He came and taught them again how to shine shoes. These missionaries were amazed. Why have we had 2 trainings with a 70 about the same thing? Then they had a 3rd conference with President Packer, who got up and said, ``Today we will learn how to shine our shoes.`` A missionary who was quite frustrated said, ``But we already learned that twice.`` President Packer said, ``Look at your shoes. I don´t think you understand how to shine your shoes.`` Our assistant said, ``Lots of times we hear the same things over and over and over again. Why? We must not be understanding it because we aren´t doing it. That´s why we have heard over and over and over again that we need to read our scriptures daily, say personal prayers daily, share the gospel, have family home evening, do family history work. We aren´t understanding because we aren´t doing it.`` That was pretty powerful for me. 

Other than that, we stayed inside for like most of the week due to the world cup so I don´t have much more to say. Oh except one morning, Sister Stephens and I had like 2 hours before lunch to contact people together. We tried to teach soem people, but our Portuguese was really failing us. We invited a ton of people to church though! I´ve gotten pretty good at that. I think its funny whenever I teach/contact with her because our vocabularies are both really limited, but somehow we found like 7 new investigators so it was a testimony to me that the Lord works with the weak and simple! 

Te amo! 

Sister Sadie Bledsoe

Bemvindos Daltons e meu anniversario!

This week was pretty eventful--the Daltons arrived and they toured the mission. They are awesome!!! President Dalton is a really big man(he´s like 6'6" and very large), and Sister Dalton is adorable but doesn´t speak like any Portuguese. President Dalton talked a lot about his focus being the temple. He wants us to be missionaries that help everyone get to the temple because we will baptize and retain more families(instead of individuals) that way. He also wants us to teach all 5 lessons before and after baptism for every person. He told us about his experiences in California in his stake with effective baptismal services. Normally, we have a talk about baptism and the Holy Ghost, and we sing hymns while we are waiting for the person who got baptized to change clothes. He told us that instead we will have a spiritual thought before the baptism about temples, then the baptism, then while we are waiting the missionaries will teach the 1st discussion-The Restoration, then the person who got baptized will bear their testimony to their friends and family(this requires some motivation because usually they are nervous to talk in front of people but practice with them before). He said that when his stake did this baptisms soared. Baptisms are one of the most special and spiritual meetings we have in the church, and we should use them as effectively as we can. 

He also talked about how all recent converts need a friend, to be nurtured by the good word, and a responsibility; often that responsibility won´t be a calling right away, but every member has a responsibility to do their family history work. He said, ``We will save baptisms and retain our converts if we will teach and help them understand their responsibility to save their ancestors. We will teach them about the temple and what we do there. We will teach them about the plan of happiness. We will teach them about the spirit world and where their ancestors--their moms, dads, grandparents-- are right now. Their ancestors are waiting for them. They are waiting on the other side of the veil. They need the ordinance of baptism to be saved (John 3:5). They need help. Your investigators are perhaps the only people in the world that can help them. When they understand their responsibility to help their ancestors, their immediate family, and future generations, they will keep commitments. Baptism will be about more than just them. It is just a step, a very important step, in getting to the temple and saving their family.`` We practiced teaching lesson 5 about the priesthood, temples, and family history using the My Family pamphlet. The doctrine needs to be taught simply and clearly (like 1 Corinthians 5:29). 

This week we also taught our investigators Rosalia and Valmir. We brought Gabriel(Biel) our 12 year old recent convert. He is awesome! He has like no fear to contact people on the street, and he is epic in our lessons. He asked them if they have prayed yet for an answer. They said no. He then bore his testimony about his experience when the sister missionaries began teaching his family. He told them about his first prayer on his knees. He said he didn´t receive an answer right away, but he kept praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church. He bore his testimony of the change that happen in his home. His mom stopped coming home drunk. They have such a stronger relationship now. He can feel the peace and they are so much happier. He committed them to pray and told them that he wanted to come back with us(the Sisters) and follow up with them. 

They came to church this week too! We had a very powerful fast and testimony meeting where both Sister Salles and I bore our testimonies and cried at the pulpit. Rosalia was in tears when we came back to sit next to her. She told us that she has difficulties praying, but I know for sure that she felt the Spirit at church yesterday. 

Also our invetigator Antonia (Gabriella and Gabriel´s mom) told us that she hasn´t drinken coffee since we saw her last (like 2 weeks ago) and she wants to get married and baptized soon. We hadn´t visited her in a while because she wasn´t progressing and was never home, so we were really excited for her. 

Other than that, yesterday was pretty uneventful. Today is Sister Costa´s birthday--I am only 1 day older than her ;) 

Love you! 

Sister Sadie Bledsoe

Youth!! 6-30-14

I am still here in Jd. Campinas and the work is going well...well that is when we can work. We had to stay inside two days this week due to the World Cup. Brazil keeps winning, and they have a game this Friday too. Our Brazililan companions get really trunkie during the games, and they are praying that they will be allowed to watch the Finals of the World Cup because they say that it is sacred for Brazilians. Other than that, we are still teaching some cool people and  trying to work with the youth here because they are so awesome here. 

One night this week we were waiting outside of the chapel because no one had keys to the building. Bishop whipped out some pass-along cards and we split up with the youth to invite people to church and offer pass-along cards. It was so cute! There was like no one in the streets, but the youth would go in like a pack of 6 and run down the one person in the street. I´m pretty sure it was the most effective contacting because they could stop everyone. 6 youth would surround the person like every time, and they would all introduce themselves. It was adorable! My favorite was the bishop´s 10 year old son; he would go up to people and say something like ``I know that this church is true. I feel it in my heart every time I go on Sundays. Here is a card. You can call this number and get a Book of Mormon--another testament of Jesus Christ. You can come any Sunday; you will be received really well there.`` Ah it was so cute! All the youth--recent converts, investigators, etc. all were super pumped. 

Then the next day was the ward activity ``Hot Dog Night.`` We invited Rosalia and Valmir (our investigators who are an older couple with no children). We stopped by a few hours before the activity to also invite them to a baptism that was going to be right before the activity. They said they would come. I was a little skeptical because they hadn´t been to church yet and we were asking them to go by themselves(we weren´t going to pick them up). We got to the church for the baptism, and I had a feeling that we should unlock the gate for the parking lot in case they actually came (they have a car which is rare). Minutes later, they walked in and I almost died. SO happy. They were all dressed up. Ah it was just so cute. The baptism was cool and Rosalia is really enjoying all the singing we do. Valmir made some friends who also love soccer (Valmir had expressed to us earlier that it´s hard to make friends when you´re old, and I was like ´´not here`--the ward is so great). Anyway, next was the hot dog activity and the Relief Society room was packed! It was epic. By the end of the night, our investigators were so happy and telling us that they would be at church the next Sunday! Activities are so important, especially for missionaries. It helps our investigators so much to feel like they are a part of a family. It´s pretty sweet to see them getting integrated into the ward. 

Rosalia still has some doubts because she was raised Catholic and doesn´t have too much of a desire to get baptized. We did have a really good lesson though with them and a recent convert, Renato. Renato is pretty shy, but when we were trying to resolve her doubts about baptism, Renato shared his testimony. He opened up his Book of Mormon to 3 Nephi 27:8 where Jesus says, `` And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.``

He is really soft-spoken but his testimony brought the Spirit so strongly. He testified that this Church really is the church of Jesus Christ. It literally is His Church. It was so simple, but so powerful. 

I know a lot of people think that it´s weird for missionaries to prosylete--for example, yesterday I talked to a very hostile man who really hated Americans and said some choice words(Sister Salles told me after) about us as missionaries. Knocking doors, talking to people on the street, etc. seems strange to a lot of people in relation to religion, but our message is just that important that we have to share it in whatever way we can. This really is The Church of Jesus Christ. 

On Sunday, we had ward conference. The youth were going to perform two musical numbers. Jennifer, our 14 year old investigator, really wanted to participate because she has really enjoyed being a part of the youth choir and the youth activities like seminary in the ward. We saw her in passing before our gospel principles class, and I noticed that she looked sad--you know when someone has tears in their eyes. She said she was fine, so we let it go. As we entered gospel principles and sang a hymn, I had a feeling that we should go talk to Jennifer. I told Sister Salles and we went to go find her. After some prying, she told us that she wasn´t going to sing because she didn´t bring the right clothes. I looked at Sister Salles and we decided to help a sista out. We ran home and got some options for her. She ended up singing in their choir and it was beautiful. They sang ``Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing`` in Portuguese and ``Joseph Smith´s First Prayer`` in Portuguese but to the tune of ``If You Could Hie to Kolob.`` wow it was so good. This ward is so cool. I want to stay here my whole mission! 

happy 4th of July! love you!

Sister Sadie Bledsoe

Sweet is the Work-6-24-14

Happy world cup week!...again... Brazil won yesterday so we will be housebound for at least one more day. Since I emailed last, we had two days where we couldn´t leave our houses--yesterday was one of those days so we got to email today. 

This week we taught an older couple, and I think that they are really going to progress! We found Rosalia one day when we were walking. We invited her to church and she said that she had been once before. She then started to cry as she expressed some discouragement about her home situation with her husband and their relationship. We tried to visit her, but a week passed before we found them home. Our first visit was a bit rushed so we didn´t get to teach much but we left a pamphlet about the Restoration. We returned like 2 days later and Rosalia had read the pamphlet. It was so cute she said, ``I read it and I really liked it, but I´m sorry I just didn´t have time to answer all the questions in the back.`` Then as we taught the Restoration she recognized the vocabulary from the definitions in the back of the pamphlet, and she asked lots of questions. Valmir, her husband, was there for the lesson, but he just read the scriptures that we asked him to read. At the end, we committed them to get baptized. They had already been baptized in the Catholic church, but after some explanation and testimony, they accepted a baptismal date. We asked Valmir to say the closing prayer. I just helped him with the outline like addressing Heavenly Father, thanking, asking, and closing in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. He said a beautiful prayer and he even asked for help to be baptized in the Mormon Church--it was so cute! I was shocked because he seemed mole to me. The next day we visited them they had read together from the Book of Mormon and discussed the chapter. They had more questions about baptism, but we talked about the Book of Mormon more and gave them another chapter to read. I am so glad that I am able to teach a family! They don´t have kids but they are just so cute and are learning the gospel together. It was a testimony to me that you can´t judge who will accept the gospel and who won´t. It is also so important to invite everyone in the house to hear our message because it is so powerful when families learn and accept the gospel together. 

Jennifer is the only one in her family that really wants to learn about the gospel right now, and her mom still won´t let her get baptized. Her mom says that Jennifer still needs to change before she will let her. We gave Jennifer the For the Strength of the Youth pamphlet and we will teach her more church standards. She is rapidly reading the Book of Mormon though; she is in Mosiah. She will read for like 4 hours a day, and she goes to seminary everyday. 

Larissa also needs permission still to get baptized, but her mom is more willing. However, they have a pastor who tried to convince Larissa that we are liars and our church is too. We talked with Larissa after and she said that she didn´t listen to him. She really likes the church and doesn´t ever hear anyone at our church talk bad about other religions, which she likes. 

It´s interesting to me how many people know of the Church, have been to church, have a copy of the Book of Mormon, have heard the lessons from the missionaries, etc. We talk to tons of people on the streets, in houses, etc. and lots of people still aren´t interested or they are inactive. I believe that the prophecy that the message of the Restoration will sound in every ear is being fulfilled (``The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”)

On Sunday, a member of the high council asked our ward to look around and ask ourselves why our chapel is not full? This is the truth. We know it. He asked us if we are really doing our maximum because this work is just that important. 

I like this quote by Elder Holland about our responsibility to prepare the world for the second coming: ``Because ours is the last and greatest of all dispensations, because all things will eventually culminate and be fulfilled in our era, there is, therefore, one particular, very specific responsibility that falls to those of us in the Church now that did not rest quite the same way on the shoulders of Church members in any earlier time. Unlike the Church in the days of Abraham or Moses, Isaiah or Ezekiel, or even in the New Testament days of James and John, we have a responsibility to prepare the Church of the Lamb of God to receive the Lamb of God—in person, in triumphant glory, in His millennial role as Lord of lords and King of kings. No other dispensation ever had that duty.`` 

I have also been thinking about what stops us from preparing the world for the second coming and on my mission I have met many people who have distanced themselves from the church because they dislike the ward leadership or the members. Jesus himself prophecied of this in Matthew 24:10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. He doesn´t say that many shall offend--he says that many shall be offended, making it a choice. He also said that many will betray one another; you have to be close to someone/friends in order to betray someone. Then he says that we will hate one another. Hate is the absence of forgiveness. Jesus taught, But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;. The work will hasten rapidly if each member applies these principles and we learn to love and forgive. It is hard to forgive, others as well as ourselves, but I have seen it in my own life. The sweetness of forgiveness is hard to describe. Such a weight is lifted when we use the Savior´s atonement--we shouldn´t let that great sacrifice be in vain; we must use it to change and become more like Him. I hope that I am becoming more Christlike on my mission. I want to learn to love people the way that he did. I am grateful for his life, his ministry, his atonement, and his resurrection. I am grateful to be able to participate in his work. It is so sweet. 

I hope you all have a great week! 

Te amo, Sister Sadie Bledsoe

Copa do Mundo Madness!!!!

It´s actually not tooo crazy here on a daily basis...we can´t leave our house when Brazil plays though. Today isn´t my p-day but I still get to email. Tomorrow when Brazil plays we have to stay inside so we don´t get much of a p-day today. Tudo bem. It has been fun to see how much people care about a sport though. Wow. On Thursday, Sao Paulo hosted the opener. Traffic was crazy that day and the day before. When the game started, we didn´t have to watch the game to know when Brazil made a goal because there were horns and sirens and fireworks everytime. It was insane. So loud! I´ve never heard streets this loud in my life. Our Brazilian companions were super trunkie, and Sister Stephens and I just chilled watching Ephraim´s Rescue. 

Other than that, we are still able to do a little work with at least the investigators that we already have and our recent converts. The 14 year-olds that we are teaching were supposed to get baptized this past Saturday but neither of them have gotten permission from their parents yet. It doesn´t help that they don´t have good relationships with them, which is a bummer.

 However, we helped the other sisters in our ward with their baptism this Saturday. Gleice had a baptism scheduled for like 4 o´clock, and Sister Stephens and I (2 Americans who don´t always completely understand what is going on) were sent to go pick her up and walk with her to the church. Well, that would have been easy, but when we got there we were like ``are you excited for your baptism?`` and she frowned. I was thinking ´oh no. this isn´t even my investigator. I barely know her. Sister Stephens barely speaks Portuguese. I have no idea what to do.` Then she told us that she didn´t feel entirely free because she doesn´t feel completely free of her addictions to cigarettes and alcohol. I didn´t know really anything about this situation, but I knew that she had already been interviewed and found worthy to be baptized, so we tried our best to just cheer her on. We bore our testimonies and that still wasn´t going anywhere. So I´m thinking ´now what do I do. everyone is waiting at the chapel and I need to get her there somehow.` When Gleice went inside her house, Sister Stephens and I said a prayer and then within like a minute, Sister Costa and Salles showed up. I was so relieved. We had a mini-lesson and discussion with Gleice then knelt in prayer on her kitchen floor. There were tears as we assured her of her decision. We encouraged her to forgive herself and promised her that she would have more power to abstain from alcohol and cigarettes after her baptism and be receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. After that Sister Costa and Salles left again to pick up some things from the store, leaving Sister Stephens and I with Gleice again. Gleice continued to doubt being baptized that day. We then tried so hard to cheer her on. Then another tender mercy. Her friend offered to drive us to the church. Yes! Very rare to get rides to places because not many people have cars. When we got to the church, Gleice wanted to talk to bishop first. She did and decided to get baptized. It was a beautiful baptismal service. She was so happy. After that day, she was so much happier than I have ever seen her. There is visible peace and a light that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. Baptism for the remission of sins has a power to cleanse and then the gift of the Holy Ghost sanitifies and helps us to make the right choices. Her example was a powerful witness to me of faith and forgiveness. When she finally felt worthy, she changed. 

From this experience with Gleice, I was reminded by a quote by Elder Holland in his recent talk ``The Cost--and Blessings--of Discipleship``: 

 In addition to teaching, encouraging, and cheering people on (that is the pleasant part of discipleship), from time to time these same messengers are called upon to worry, to warn, and sometimes just to weep (that is the painful part of discipleship).  

Something that changed me this week was receiving an English Ensign/Liahona of General Conference! Whoop! I especially enjoyed this counsel from President Eyring:

 In the evening you will get on your knees and thank God for the blessings of the day. You will thank Him for parents, for teachers, and for great examples to follow. You will describe in your prayers specifically who has blessed your life and how, during that day. That will take more than a few minutes and more than a little thought. It will surprise you and change you.

As you pray for forgiveness, you will find yourself forgiving others. As you thank God for His kindness, you will think of others, by name, who need your kindness. Again, that experience will surprise you every day, and over time it will change you.

That changed me and my prayers this week. I believe that everything can be traced back to your prayers. 

Hope everyone has an exciting week. Watch the World Cup for me ;) 

Love you!

--Sister Sadie Bledsoe

``a verdade é tipo uma faca...`` (June 9, 2014)

What a week. It´s always strange trying to capture a weeks worth of laughs, lessons, and experiences...especially this week. I am still loving my area and my companion. I didn´t get transferred so we are all still here, and there will be lots of good things in the next few weeks. We are teaching some investigators who are really getting prepared to be baptized and our recent converts are continuing to learn and progress towards the temple. 

This week we stopped by Larissa´s house to teach her, and like always there were a ton of people there. We sang a hymn and taught the Restoration to her sister and friend. They were pretty interested, but when we were about to teach about the First Vision, their other friend walks in. He is like 15 years old and super immature and starts like rattling off some Portuguese slang. When we got him to sit down, he was still being immature, but we were able to continue teaching. When I recited the first vision, it was crazy, there was complete silence and everyone was staring at me--like really paying attention. Then the moment I finished he was back to laughing/joking. After the lesson, Sister Salles was like, ``That ALWAYS happens right before you talk about Joseph Smith. Something always happens to distract people or draw away the Spirit,`` then she joked, ``the devil always sends his servants.``  That 15 year old definitely wasn´t a servant of the devil like literally, but it really was no coincidence that he came at that time. It is important for all of us to understand the reality that there will always be an opposition to truth. 

We also went with a recent convert, Sandra, to invite her next door neighbor to visit the Church on Sunday. We knocked on the door together and it was so awkward. She was really unhappy and said she was Catholic and a bunch of other mean things. I was ready to leave, and Sister Salles finished an invitation to church. She was about to shut the door when for some reason I said, ``Do you have kids?`` She stopped and started talking about her kids and grandkids. At that point I knew she was crazy because she did like a 180 and invited us in. She talked and talked and we tried to teach her but it was like impossible so we decided to just leave her with a hymn and a prayer. We sang ``Nearer My God, To Thee`` and the Spirit was just undeniably there. After it was completely silent and the look in her eye, you could just tell that she felt the Spirit...But then she looked at us and said, ``Are you actresses?``...no...``of Global?``(some tv network) then she rattled off a whole list of news networks/tv programs that we could possibly be from. She asked us if we were journalist. again, no. We said, ``We are missionaries and representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called by a prophet of God to be here and talk to you about what we know to be true.`` She was unhappy again after that so we just left with a prayer. We went back once more with the member because the member had been friends with her for 20 plus years, but that visit wasn´t any better. However, my testimony was strengthened that 1) the promise in D&C 100:5 is true-- ``you(servants of God.us as missionaries) shall not be confounded before men.`` the Spirit testified to Damiona´s heart and she denied it. 2) in 1 Nephi 16:2 Nephi talks about how Laman and Lemuel reject the truth because they are guilty and it cuts them to the heart. Seriously, truth spoken and driven to a person´s heart by the Spirit is undeniable. 

We also had a going-away conference/training with President Pinho this week. The whole mission was there, which is super rare. We got to watch Ephraim´s Rescue and the departing missionaries bore their testimonies. 3 of our 6 assistants are leaving, so I think we will go back to having only 2 assistants after this transfer. They also talked about the World Cup, and we will continue to do what we always do, missionary work. Each missionary will pray to find, teach, and then have a baptism every week, which really is possible. We also have another training this week on Thursday for just the sisters in the mission. Thursday is also the first day of the world cup, so who knows what will happen. I know that it will be crazy here though, no doubt. The streets are already painted and Brazilian flags are everywhere! I´ve never seen anything like it. I will try to send pictures but know that they don´t do it justice. 

We also had stake conference, which was really good. I want to share some thoughts:

-Our mission never ends. It didn´t end for our Savior after the Atonement, after He was crucified or resurrected. He lives and leads this church. His mission is our mission and He is at our side. 

-To the members who sacrifice a lot to feed the 6-10 missionaries in some of the wards in the stake: the Lord will recompense/repay you for all you give. 

-The stake president had all the missionaries stand. Literally, the missionaries were like 1/3 of the audience and the room was full. There has to be at least 40 missionaries in this stake right now. The stake president said, ``Look for the missionaries in your ward. Do you know their names?...the names of their investigators?``

-Abish was a member missionary. She brought the whole world to the missionary. She had faith (Alma 19 verses 16-17,28-29)

Also some things that President Pinho said:

--Remember the desire of your parents. They want you to return home after your mission. They want you to come home healthy and happy. Imagine the desire of your heavenly parents, who have a love much greater than your earthly parents. Your calling is to help Heavenly Father´s children have the homecoming that you want after your mission. 

--The members in your wards will either be Marys or Marthas. Some will love to feed you. Others will find and teach and baptize and retain with you.

--When you like soccer, you talk about soccer alot. When you like food, you talk about food alot. When you like baptisms alot, you talk about baptisms alot--that is why we talk about baptisms with everyone we can

So much more happened this week, but I don´t have much time. Know that the work is working and I´m so happy to be a part of it. 

Eu amo voces bastante!

-Sister Bledsoe

                    Zona Casa Grande!!!

Sister Phillips! my companion in the Provo MTC

my zone/district in the MTC

these flags are painted on like every street

this little guy isthe mascot. he is everywhere too....and these are just the streets. I will try to get pictures of the flags hanging in the streets. its crazy

Foto da missão 

sisters of the mission

FÈ e PAZ

So this week was cool. For lunch one day I ate rice and beans with an omelete and french fries on top; totally normal here- sweet. It was good. It´s also quite cold here; its almost winter! 2 winters in a row is strange.

This morning I read the talk ```Safety for the Soul`` by Elder Holland about the Book of Mormon. So epic. One of our investigators, Jennifer is reading the Book of Mormon really fast. She just started and is already like 50 pages in. She underlines really strong words and asks some weird questions, but I think she is really enjoying it. Truly, there is a peace that the Book of Mormon brings that is amazing. It especially helped her this week because on her way to seminary(seminary is at night during the week here) with Larissa, they were ´assaulted.` Basically, two guys tried to rob them but they just had their copies of the Book of Mormon, which apparently these guys didn´t want. Larissa and Jennifer ran to the chapel though and Jennifer was really spooked. We sat outside and talked to her for awhile. She showed us where she was in the Book of Mormon and we sang a hymn. There was a peace that was tangible. I was glad that everyone was safe and that we could feel at peace amongst the craziness of the world. 

This week we have continued to teach many recent converts and they have given us some good references. Gabi, who was baptized one of the first weeks I got here, is trying to help her mom get married and baptized. She bore her testimony yesterday that she has noticed a huge change in their home since they met the missionaries. I know that they can feel a difference because I have seen them actually apply the principles, instead of just learning them. They read the scriptures and kneel as a family in prayer. These simple things really change homes and families. I´ve seen it over and over again. Gabriel, her brother, just got the priesthood. They both go to seminary everyday. They are living the gospel and they love it. I am grateful for their examples and enthusiasm for the gospel. I love being able to see them so happy and grateful to have been baptized and to have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The youth that I have met on my mission are so strong and faithful. They are so great. 

This week I have been thinking about the Atonement a lot and Christ´s grace, or the power that allows us to change. I liked this quote by Bruce C. Hafen: ``Some Church members feel weighed down with discouragement about the circumstances of their personal lives, even when they are making sustained and admirable efforts. Frequently, these feelings of self-disappointment come not from wrongdoing, but from stresses and troubles for which we may not be fully to blame. The Atonement of Jesus Christ applies to these experiences because it applies to all of life. The Savior can wipe away all of our tears, after all we can do...The Savior’s atonement is thus portrayed as the healing power not only for sin, but also for carelessness, inadequacy, and all mortal bitterness. The Atonement is not just for sinners.``

This week I hit the ´metade´(or middle) of my mission. crazy! I have noticed how much I have grown and changed in that time, but I also know that I still have many weaknesses. I am grateful that my weaknesses can still become strengths through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I am continually blessed by the sustaining influence of the Holy Ghost, and I know that miracles still happen today, according to our faith. I hope to strengthen my faith everyday and help others too. 

---Sister Bledsoe

(or as my Argentino District Leader says ´´Sister BlessYou´´)