If You're Happy Then You Will Be!

As background, when Kat’s sister Corinne was three years old, she and I were walking along hand in hand and she said “Dad, you know what; if you’re happy then you will be.” It’s now a Clark Wardle family axiom – a self-evident truth that requires no proof.

For those of you who have enjoyed her email and sharing her mission experiences, now would be a good time to send her a note. Mail to Brazil is slow. She’ll be home five weeks from today. I’m certain she would love to hear from you.

Sister Katherine Wardle

SHIN CA 05 Lote B1

Salas 304/307

71503-505 Brasilia - DF

Brazil

Regards,

Clark

P.S. I’ve inserted hyperlinks for those of you who want to click through to see what Kat is talking about.

Hi fam!

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to write super quick today. We're going downtown in a minute, and we're already kinda behind schedule - so I'll be brief.

The big lesson that I'm learning is about "If you're happy then you will be" because it is SO SIMPLE. The big idea in the church is to just act, just do. We know the gospel - so live it. Stop being wishy-washy. We know the commandments - so obey them. Stop making excuses. If life is hard and you dont think you can be happy - get over it; be happy.

ACT, WORK, DO. I love how simple the gospel is. I think it’s so funny how we, as people, love to complicate things with our own little excuses. Corinne was WAY ahead of her time when she said that quote.

Alma said basically the same thing, and i was just studying this today, so I'll pass it to you really quick because i loved it. My Book of Mormon study usually goes like this - I read the great lesson on

faith he taught in Alma 32, and then i get all excited knowing that Alma 34 is another good chapter with solid plan of salvation doctrine.... so usually i read Alma 33 really fast without paying much attention. BUT, I realized today that in the context of the situation, Alma was teaching the little poor people about how to live the gospel, not just "how to plant a seed of faith" and so at the end of chapter 33 he bears his testimony of christ, and then tells them that there is a lot to do to live the gospel. And then he says, "All this ye can do if ye will." Haha. And reading that, I just hear Corinne's words echoing out. We just need to do it... We just need to act... but only if we will. And who's going to stop us? We're the only ones who stop us from living the gospel principles, from doing what we need to do. I'm not kidding; the simplicity of the restored gospel is so amazing to me. I love it.

Anyways - this week was reaaaaally good. We have some men and families we're teaching and they're actually progressing!! Yay! The Ward is helping us out so much; they're so great. I love Lago Sul. The members are worried about us, and the missionary work, and the investigators, and they're involved, and they care, -- it makes all the difference in the world. Yayyy.

This one man we're teaching is starting to really gain the strongest testimony, and when I hear him pray with sincerity at the end of the lesson, my little heart just melts.

Things are great. Couldn’t be better. And transfers are next week - this transfer FLEW by. And I hope I stay in Lago Sul with Sister Tsukuda. If I get transferred for the last 4 weeks I'll be semi bummed, but its all good.

Which brings me to the last 4 weeks - LAST CALL FOR LETTERS. A very big thank you to Nickole Canfield and her letter, and for everyone at home, I would kindly remind you how much missionaries love getting mail. And that everyone says that, "at the beginning of your mission people still miss you and they write you a bunch, and then in the middle everyone forgets about you, and then at the end of your mission you get a bunch of mail." So let's see if this comes true, and if I get a letter or two this last month. Thanks a bunch :)

welp, love you, gotta go

Sister Wardle

Elder Bednar has Beautiful Eyes

Hello my wonderful faaaaamily

This week was really short - it feels like time is going quicker and
quicker. On Tuesday we had a conference with Elder David A. Bednar. it
was SO cool. This was the third visit our mission has had from an
Apostle since I've been here, and this one definitely marked me the
most. As we did with Elder Richard G. Scott and with Elder Russell M.
Nelson, the whole mission lined up and we shook hands with Elder
Bednar. But this time, the quick moment of shaking his hand really
left an impression. He was so personable during the whole conference.
He didn't come, give a talk, and leave. He came and said, "today we
are not having a mission conference. Today we are having a revelatory
experience." And then the whole rest of the time it was like a big
Question and Answers session.

A few weeks prior, he had sent a talk for the mission to read and to
study, and then during the conference he asked us to simply respond to
the things which we had learned. It was really interesting, and then
he commented, asked another question, and it continued like that. The
cool part was how clear it was that he was not there to be the
"teacher." he left 100% of the teaching to the Holy Ghost. we all
learned a lot. and he talked about how we need to use this process in
our teaching to really make the investigators become a part of the
learning by faith experience. he explained that 'teaching by the
spirit' is important, but that doesnt bring about conversion. what
brings conversion is "learning by faith" - and he was speaking not
just as investigators are baptized, but as members are converted as
well. and we learned how we are agents, and not objects. therefore we
need to act as agents seeking to act in our own learning and
conversion process, and to also treat others as agents, helping them
to act in their learning and conversion.

it was basically dynamite. in the course of the afternoon we had
together, he was so natural, and made it seem SO simple to use this
teaching method, but it just goes to show how he's really developed
this technique of letting the spirit do the work, and the so called
'teacher' isnt really the teacher, but is just acting as the conduit
to let the holy ghost teach and convert people. i loved the
conference. If anyone wants to read the talk that we all read (hint:
its REALLY worth devoting some decent study time) I'm attaching it,
but i dont know if it will work. its called, "Seek Learning by Faith"
an address given to CES Religious Educators at the Jordan Institute of
Religion on February 3, 2006.

in other news, here are a couple of pictures from sister tsukuda's
camera.
1 - me and her going to the conference with elder bednar - last week
2 - all of the sisters together at the mission home - a month ago
3 - a few of the sisters at the stake center watching general conference

yayyy

welp, i love you a whole bunch, and hope you have a wonderful week!!
Love, sister Wardle




Olha que BONITO...

Key indicators for the week ending on October 17th

HI FAM

Every week we report on the key indicators of our work. The numbers
are designed with goals and to track progress and make us progress. We
report on, baptisms/confirmations, lessons with members, other
lessons, referrals, etc. This week was very very good. Not just with
numbers but with other key indicators that I feel like are really
changing in the ward. I LOVE IT. there are some other key indicators
that you cant really place a number, but its the kind of thing that I
see in the attitude of the members, and they way that they are, and
their feelings for missionary work. we are making some serious
progress. yay.

This week we had a lesson marked to go teach a family in French. we
knocked on a womans door, and i started talking to her in portuguese,
but i could see that she was kinda struggling to understand me. I
thought, "dang it my portuguese must be really bad today." and then i
paused for a second and said the word "well" and started talking
again. She noticed that i had said an english word, and switched to
english right away. Turns out she's french, but her english is way
better than her portuguese so we talked in english, and marked to go
back on sunday. and just as a little blessing, the Relief Society pres
is fluent in FRENCH. she was SO excited to go teach with us. haha
cutest thing. she got all excited and got her book of mormon in
french, and we went to go teach her. fun stuff.

um, sorry this is super short. but i have to go. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
bummer, i feel like i have more to say, but thas all for now.

love you!
Sister Wardle

Tsunami, Toshiba, Sukudo, Mitsubishi... TSUKUDA

HI FAM

I so HAPPY. The new transfer is off to a lovely start. My new
companion is Sister TSUKUDA. She japonese! Just kidding, she's
Brazilian, but her grandparents are Japonese, and she has a wonderful
last name... Tsukuda! (it took me the whole first week to start saying
it right-- i had to keep looking at her name tag haha)

She is WONDERFUL. (sister canfield, she got here shortly after you
left. pity that you didnt get to know her, she's a gem)

On Tuesday we had Family Home Evening with the mission! Presidente
Pizzirani used to do this Mission FHE when we had transfers. It was
super fun and we got to see everyone every six weeks, but then he
stopped doing it. But this last week we got to see the whole mission
together and it was way fun to hear about all of our old areas and
ward news, and updates about the recent converts, less actives, etc.
Then we practiced a little for a visit that we're going to have from
an apostle. Elder David A Bednar is coming to Brasilia just to visit
our mission. He's going to be here for 1 day - just to meet with Pres.
Pizzirani, and then to have a conference with all of the missionaries,
and then he's leaving again. I'm rather stoked.

On Wednesday we planned for some new ideas to use in the area this
transfer. I have some high high hopes to really make things work. I'm
so glad that the mission presidents have instructions from the church
mission department to leave missionaries in the areas for longer time
periods. we got a chance to really know how to work better in the
designated ward. and we can really develop better relationships with
the members to work together. I used to think that it was a bummer to
stay in an area for a long time because i liked to get to see other
cities, other wards, etc, but now i realize how to keep working in the
same area can be a blessing. anyways, its going to be a good transfer.

On Thursday we had a mini-conference with all of the sister
missionaries. SO FUN. it's been like 6 months since we had a Sisters
play date, and so it was really good to have an afternoon at the
mission home with little activities for the sisters. hah I love sister
Pizzirani. (nós atualizamos nossos cadernos de desejos... so cheesy,
gotta love it)

On Friday our district leader gave us a district challenge. We had to
make 100 street contacts in one day. This may or may not seem easy to
you guys at home, but just to explain the situation a little... The
required minimum of street contacts per day is 10 per missionary. In
other cities and other areas, this is extremely do-able. BUT in Lago
Sul its extremely difficult just to make 10 contacts a day because
there is no one in the streets. So to make 100 contacts was indeed a
challenge. But we did it! yayy. haha and only about 35 people live in
our area, and of the 35 we got like 10 addresses out of it, and of the
10 addresses about 5 people are going out of town for the next month.
ah welp, at least we have 5 addresses!

On Saturday we had our Concert Night. We have been planning this ward
activity for MONTHS. omg if it were in the states, i'm pretty sure
that we would have planned and excetued the activity in 4 weeks, tops.
But things work just a little differently here. But we finally got it
all together, thanks to some big time help from Amy Zimmerman (this
wonderful American lady in the ward who i love) and Danny Boy, and
another lady named Ameli. Loooove these people. The activity was a
cultural night for the community and we had a free concert of
classical music at the church. We had a winds quintet, a few clarinet
pieces, vibraphone, and professional musicians from the city who came
and performed. It turned out really really well. There were a few
people from the ward who sang, and then the ward choir sang at the
end. The visitors loved it and the members were shocked with how well
it went. hahahaha. i love brazil. they were like, "oh wow, now we feel
like we can actually invite our friends to ward activities" therefore
- it was a success.

On Sunday we had these 2 new guys at church. Blessings sent from
heaven. We made a contact with a guy in the street on saturday, and on
sunday morning he showed up with his friend. Yay! Then our lunch fell
through and we made food at home!!! Any other days when we dont have
lunch with members, they give us money and we end up eating out. But
since it was sunday, we couldnt eat out, and she gave us money on
saturday night, so we bought rice and beans and beef. I learned to
cook!!! (sorta). it was a huge step. i'm so very pleased.

On Monday we had such a good day of work. Hahaha the good days of
missionary work in Lago Sul are semi few-and-far-between, but
yesterday was really really good. it makes me excited for the rest of
the week.

WELP, thats the update.

I love you so much!
Sister Wardle

SHE"S COMING HOME!

We found out that Sister Kat Wardle is coming home on December 13! Thank goodness its before Christmas.

a Tribute to the Beatles

hey there familyyyy!

HEY JUDE - shoutouts really quick
Happy Birthday to Elizabeth next week!
and to Alicia Lagendijk - did you ever get the book i sent you?
and to Elisabeth Hilverda and Emily Morris - I have letters for you
that I wrote ages ago, but i dont know your addresses, so if you could
send them to one of my sisters to send to me, i'll send you a little
letter

8 DAYS A WEEK
you guys, its getting ridiculous. I am eating so well every single
day. I eat like a king in this area. And not just any food - but like
8 days a week I'm eating american food. I loved that package that
elizabeth and paul sent a little too much. I'm eating pbj sandwiches,
pancakes, breakfast burritos, danny boy gave us a tub of ice cream and
i had a chocolate milkshake for breakfast the other day. and Amy (an
american in the ward) makes the yummiest treats for the choir
rehearsals (i'm the ward choir pianist?). The other day she brought
graham crackers with chocolate frosting. omg so delicious. has anyone
ever tried it? and this other lady in the ward made homemade bread
that is EXACTLY like macaroni grill. the secret receipe is out. bottom
line - yum.

HARD DAYS NIGHT
We just keep working. its the greatest thing. It gets harder, then it
gets easier, then it gets hard again. Just when you get something down
right, and you feel good about it, something happens and you realize
that you dont know how to do something and you have to learn all over
again. isnt it nice to make progress?

HELP! I NEED SOMEBODY
hah, so this was the big lesson of the week. I learned about a very
important aspect of missionary work. Its super common for the members
to ask us, "so Sisters, how's the work going?" And I always (no matter
what the circumstances may be) always tell them how great its going. I
thought that I was showing them a good attitude, and energy, and
excitement by telling them how everything is wonderful and we're
having a great time working hard. But the truth of the matter is, we
had nobody to teach, nobody progressing, and nobody to take to church.
I think that aside from just trying to show them how I was in good
spirits and 'keeping the faith' that I also had a lot of pride getting
in the way to truly ask for help. So I finally learned to humble
myself and have a heart to heart with our ward mission leader. He
realized that we were serious about the work, and he gave us some
great ideas. Then on Sunday, he randomly called us out of Relief
Society, and we went around to the different classes to ask for
referrals from the members. The sweet part was, that we didnt have to
give the schpiel to ask for referrals, but he was the one talking and
asking the members to help us out. As a result, the members were more
willing to tell us about their friends and started listing off people
we could teach. I was beyond shocked. I cant even tell you how much i
loved it. So this week i really gained a testimony of, "ask and ye
shall recieve." turns out it works.

LET IT BE
With the up's and down's and the hard's and the easy's, I'm also
learning to have patience and trust in the Lord. I'm also learning
that we have to trust in the Lords time. "missionary work is to do be
done with urgency, but not rushed." So I just try to keep that in
mind, and do the work Heavenly Father wants me to do.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
The good part about His plan and His gospel is that its the same thing
everywhere and with everyone. Nations, languages, and races dont
matter at all. We have the message of ETERNAL TRUTHS. Eternal in all
aspects of the word. I love the gospel. I love being a missionary. I
love the message of the restoration. I love my Savior. I love the
prophet. I'm so excited for General Conference. I love my family and
my friends.

Sister Wardle

All is Swell

HI FAM

So I've decided that if I were a mormon surfblog writer, forecasting
the surf report with good waves, i would announce the conditions as,
"All is Swell." The chorus of "Come Come Ye Saints" is such a good
life anthem... and its basically the update of the week, all is swell.

This week I read a scripture that I was reallllly needing. I cant
actually remember the reference - i think it might be D&C 127:4...?
anyways, its to the saints that are building the temple in Kirtland,
and the Lord tells them to REDOUBLE their patience, their
perseverance, their diligence, and their work. And thats not to say
that they weren't already doing good work before this revelation was
given. But God requires that we redouble our work. So thats what we're
doing :)

As a result, we decided to break out of the Lago Sul comfort zone and
leave the area around our apartment. (aka pra nickolecanfield - we
stopped walking up and down the endless streets of Solar de Brasilia,
and the ridiculously overworked Jardim Botanico 5. We're working in
the QI-s and QL-s down by the lake...) We have been working in some of
the different parts of the area and it has been going surprisingly
well. There are great people here - and we're excited about the fresh
prospects, fresh investigators, fresh everything. I happy. Haha, and
as a total coincidence we came up to a man who was looking at
something on his rooftop, and introduced ourselves, etc. He was like,
"I already know all about you're church, my wife is a member" Except
that people say stuff like this all the time, but they're usually
confusing us with another church. But then we later found out that his
wife really is an active member, but that he's inactive, etc etc. The
good news about it is that we talked to his wife and she's super nice,
and we marked a family home evening with them and then invited like
the whole street. yay for referrals. So there is a definite good vibe
in the other parts of the area. It requires quite a bit more on our
part, and thats exactly what I'm needing right now. yay for
challenges.

The only thing i was going to tell you from last week, but then i
forgot was about the fastest prayer to ever be answered in all time.
We accidentally got on a bus that took us almost out of our area, and
then we realized we were going the wrong way so we got off at this
dark and deserted corner. And then we had NO idea where we were, and
we had no money to get back... oopsie. So after being on the corner
for all of 15 seconds, I told my comp that we werent going to do
anything until we said a prayer first. so we said a prayer. check.
then we we turned around to go up the little hill where there was a
little light of a gated neighborhood, to figure out where we were. I
started to call one of the elders to let him know the situation, and
when he picked up i started to explain but before finishing the
sentance, we heard someone calling our name, "Siiisterrrsssss" And
then we looked and saw a member of our ward - Celia to the rescue! i
almost cried i was so happy to see her. She was like, "what are you
girls doing here? do you want a ride?" Seriously the fastest prayer
ever answered. I loved it. I was SO grateful because i'm not
kidding... i was scurred. Anyways, my testimony of prayer tripled that
night.

So here's some outrageous news - we had a baptism in our area this
week. Outrageously cool circumstances for this baptism. His wife has
been a member her whole life, but he never ever accepted the doctrine
of the Restoration. Because it would mean that his church activity in
another religion was based on falsehoods. So that was it. end of
story. he had already been to church a bunch of times, but never
believed in the church because he never believed in the restoration.
Then one night, totally out of the blue - his wife was reading the
Book of Mormon out loud to her 5 hear old son. Her husband was out of
view, but he was listening to them reading, and he felt in his heart,
and knew in his mind that the book of mormon is TRUE. And he knew that
Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the restoration is true, and that
the church is true. And he decided to get baptized. GAHHHH is that the
coolest thing ever or what? He's pals with President Pizzirani, and so
the two of them worked everything out, and then President Pizzirani
came and baptized him on Saturday night and he was confirmed Sunday
morning. miracle. miracle. miracle. the Spirit brought by Book of
Mormon is the coolest thing ever. read it. love it. live it.

K well, we best be going.
I love you a bunch, and have a wonderful week!

Sister Wardle

side note: Tomorrow I'm going to the foot doctor! hooray! my feet are
horrifyingly thrashed hahaha.

There's a lizard in my sink

Hi FAM!

This week we got a new pet, his name is Luis the Lizard. He appeared
in our sink one morning, and didn't leave for the longest time. And we
didnt have the courage to pick him up and get him out of there, so we
just left him and went about our merry way using the bathroom sink.
Everytime i would go to the bathroom, or brush my teeth,etc, we would
comment about how he wast STILL there. Then it dawned on me, maybe
he`s in the sink because he cant get out? So finally I got up the guts
to get a plastic cup, scoop up Luis, and threw him out the window :)
I`ve grown so much on my mission.

This week was a little up and down again. But, its all good. I got a
SWEET package from elizabeth - THANK YOU for the american goodies! oh
how heavenly, the pancake mix with maple syrup. Loved it. I got the
box yesterday at our district meeting, and then we were ate lunch with
Barbara and her brother after the meeting. I opened the box and when
they saw the stuff inside, they went crazy. haha. Barbara and Gabriel
were so confused with the fruit roll ups. They couldnt figure out what
to do with the wrapper, how to unroll it, how to eat it. It was so
funny to watch. ha. And thanks for the tortillas!!! I had just been
talking to my companion like 3 days before, trying to explain the
concept of a breakfast burrito to her. and I was telling her how the
Llama just whips 'em out super fast on any given summer morning. She
was also really confused with the notion of ham, cheese, and potatos
for breakfast. hah. i`m so happy to be able to show her now. So
thanks, babalab

I also got a bunch of pictures from mom with 4th of July and bridal
shower festivities. I`m so glad you all look so good. In all future
family photos, I kindly request that I be placed in the back so as not
to exhibit the year-and-a-half's worth of rice, beans, and meat, I've
been eating. Thank you.

K, so i have a question, Why did I never know that R. Q. Shupe was a
famous author? This week at one of the member's houses, I saw on the
coffee table a book called "Brigham Young - Images of a Mormon
Prophet." One of the two authors on the cover was R Q Shupe. So I
said, "Hey, I know that guy! He taught my dad how to surf and his wife
was my seminary teacher. But he didn't write a book; he's a lawyer.
This must have been his dad." Then i flipped through the book and saw
in the back the information about the author, and read aloud, "R Q
Shupe is a lawyer... he and his wife Susan Taylor Shupe have 7
children and reside in California." hah, so congrats to Brother
Shupe, whose fame and literary works have now extended to Brazil. (and
this was a brazilian family too -- not one of the american families.)

there is one other thing i wanted to tell you guys, but i am beyond
out of time, and so i'll tell you about it next week. But someone
remind me to tell you about the fastest prayer that has ever been
answered in my life. k thanks that'd be great.

LOVE YOU!
Sister Wardle

Wedding Bells!!!

Only the siblings can explain the etymology of Llama and YaYa. Llama is
Kelly Wardle who will be married on Friday and YaYa is Alexis Wardle
(Kat's cousin) who was married last Saturday.

Clark


Hi familyyy

Congratulations to Llama and YaYa!! (Could there be two better
nicknames in this world?!)
Alexis, I'm so happy for your wonderful marriage that happened on
Saturday - Congrats
and KELLY, I'm so happy for your wonderful marriage that will be on
Saturday - Congrats
to the both of you - I expect pictures (duh)

It is seriously so important to have marriages sealed in the temple,
and I am SO grateful for the best family ever. After being here for a
little over a year, I realize how incredibly blessed I am, and a
little embarrassed for the way I used to take it for granted. Its just
not that common for church members in Brazil to have 5 generations of
good faithful hardworking church members, to have parents sealed in
the temple, 5 kids born in the covenant, AND those five kids being
happy and firm and steadfast in the gospel, AND all of my aunts and
uncles and cousins. I just love you guys :)

Anyways - I was telling you the other week about the big changes that
were going to be happening... well they happened! We received a rather
rigorous training this week that came directly from the 12 Apostles to
go out to ALL the world. It was way good. There were 8 Chapters of
training to go through, and nothing is 'new' persay, but its just
putting more of an emphasis on things that are already in the Preach
My Gospel manual. we had three days of training all day. We were at
the stake center from 9:00 am until about 6:30 or 7:00 pm every day,
and getting back to our areas at like 8:00. I felt like we were in the
MTC after sitting all day and just learning and practicing. But it was
cool.

The sections were: (I'm mostly writing this for you, nickole because I
imagine you're curious, but feel free to skip)
1. Doctrine of Christ and our Missionary Purpose - Loved this one
2. Power of the Holy Ghost in Conversion - realized what I had been
doing wrong my whole mission...oops (jk)
3. Revelation through Prayer - so good
4. Revelation through the Book of Mormon - an obvious one
5. Revelation through Church - makes all the difference
6. cant remember off the top of my head - haha clearly this one made a
big impression on me too ;)
7. Teaching People not Lessons - DUH
8. How to Start Teaching - way more objective (thank you presidente
pizzirani)

AND there is a movie that we watched in the MTC called, "the District"
and they made another one! "The District 2" it just shows clips of
missionaries teaching in real life situations. haha i dont know why i
get so excited about watching the clips. maybe because its the only
other movie i've seen in a year other than, "The Restoration" or
"Introduction to the Church."

So the training was good. Other than that the week got really short
because we basically only had Friday and Saturday to get everything
done. Here's the stories...

Friday - we had the funnest lesson. There is this member named Neuza,
and we are teaching her neighbor named Lourdes. They are both like 75
years old, and Lourdes is the sweetest thing. Her family is super hard
core Baptist, but she really wants to learn about the church. We've
been teaching her lessons, and presented the Book of Mormon to her
last week, and she promised to read and pray about it. But her family
is telling her all day every day that she shouldn't investigate the
church because she has to be Baptist. So we set up to teach her at the
neighbors house in a nice happy "Neuza" environment. Lourdes told us
that she had been keeping the book of Mormon in the guest bedroom, and
hid it in the bottom drawer of the nightstand, and that she had been
sneaking out of bed at 2:30 in the morning to read it in the middle of
the night, so she wouldnt wake anybody up and no one would know that
she was, "thinking about being mormon." cutest thing ever.
During the lesson at Neuza's house we would be explaining stuff and
teaching, and randomly the two of them would go off on their old lady
chit-chat. They've been neighbors/besties for like 20 years. There was
one part where sister armstrong was explaining about temple marriages
and being sealed for time and all eternity, and Lourdes goes, "Well
we've got to tell John about this. He's been my little friend for 59
years, and we've gotta get sealed!" SO CUTE. i love old people.

Friday Night - i love mormons. i love mormon activities. i think its
so funny how people have a hard time understanding how we have a good
time and stay so happy without drinking, etc. This is why - Friday
night we had a Fathers Day activity, and it was a Carbs Dinner Night.
hahahahaha. That wasnt actually the name of the activity, but the idea
was like this (imagine the invitation), "Hey guys, lets all get
together on friday night and eat carbs! Everyone bring a plate of
pasta/pizza/lasagna/bread and then we'll watch a slide show of happy
moments with our dads!" It was so much fun!! I'm not kidding, I love
these activities! good times

Saturday - We went to teach this lady. hah wow. lifestyles of the rich
and the famous all right. She went to church with us like 2 weeks ago,
but its really hard to find her at home during the week, so we just
showed up on Saturday afternoon. They were having the ritzy-est BBQ of
all time. haha it was like a catered bbq in their mansion home. We
stayed for a little while and got a boat load of referrals - nobody
from our area, but oh well. It was fun.

Then it was in huge contrast to the cute little Damian - the guy who
got baptized a few weeks ago. He is so sweet, i cant get over it.
Saturday night we were going to see him and we were running across a
field at night around to the front gate where he lives. Sister
Armstrong was running and didnt see this hole, and fell s u p e r
hard, and i wasnt sure if it was a 'laugh or cry' situation. so i
waited for like 1 second, and she just shouts, "That was the Worst
Fall of my Mission!!!" haaaahahahahah i died laughing after that. just
thinking about it and replaying it in my mind is SO funny every time.
Anyways, we were going to meet up with Damian (actually, now that I
think about it, there was really no reason whatsoever for us to have
been running in the first place. we werent in a hurry. Why the sudden
energy burst? no idea, but i'm so glad it happened because it was so
funny) so we got to Damian, and he saw that she was covered in dirt,
and we told him what happened, and then he didnt really say too much,
but then the next time we saw him, he brought us a flashlight as a
present. he was like, "next time you wont fall because you'll have
this handy dandy little lantern to light the path. see how it works?
(then he showed us a flashlight as if we had never seen it before)."
SO CUTE. I love him.
Other cute thing about him - he was retelling us the story about when
he was confirmed and he recieved the Holy Ghost, and his way of
describing it was so sweet. In his words, "I think I must have been a
man of little faith, because I didnt think that anything special would
happen, I thought it was just going to be normal. But after I recieved
the Spirit, I just felt like my heart was being filled up with
something that felt so good. And it filled me right up with tears too.
And thats why I was crying when I sat back down next to you."
adorable. And he usually has nothing to do because he works labor all
day, so to occupy his mind, he writes us songs!! Everytime we go, he
sings us a song he wrote about "his little blonde flowers" haha i wish
you could all meet him. It is impossible to leave his house in a bad
mood, because he's just such a sweet heart.

Anyways, I think that is just about literally everything noteworthy
that happened this week. Oh - and go figure about the random change of
P-day being Monday today instead of Tuesday. Next week will also be on
Monday because its transfers. (This transfer FLEW by) But then after
that p-day is back to tuesday.

Welp, I LOVE YOU!
Kel - once again, happy marriage, I would've loved to be there when
you went through the temple, and I would love to be there when you
turn into a Frisby, so my internet congrats will have to suffice.

Love,
Sister Wardle

I LOVE WALKING

DISCLAIMER: "I LOVE WALKING," or for you Caddy Shack fans, "Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga."

I'm a little surprised that she's quoting Caddy Shack lines to her companion (don't judge me - I didn't let her watch the whole thing). However, just like Carl (Bill Murray) in Caddy Shack, I hope Kat receives total consciousness. So she'll have that goin' for her, which is nice.

Clark Wardle

HI FAM

Remember in Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Darcy makes some comment to
Elizabeth, and then she responds, "I'm very fond of walking." Well
have I got news for Ms. Bennett, I LOVE WALKING. I cant tell you how
many times I replayed that scene in my head this week as we walked,
and walked, and walked, and walked. I wish I had an odometer to give
you and idea of how much we walked. haha. I think Sister Canfield is
the only one who would appreciate the notion of how far this is - but
we went from irmã Lena's house (the wife of Paulinho in the bishopric
who lives in condominio do lago sul) all the way down to irmã neuza's
house (who lives in mormonlândia). miles and miles and miles. The
whole week was nothing but walking haha it was ridiculous. so out of
no where I just kept shouting, "I LOVE WALKING" to keep the spirits up
haha. we were getting home at 9:00 on the dot because we couldnt stand
being on our feet any longer, and planning, showing, and getting into
bed by 10:00 and sleeping like rocks. But because of this week i have
an increased testimony of how much the Lord blesses his missionaries
with strength, because the next day we just had energy again and we
were pretty much good to go to walk another 50 miles per day.

haha, one day after a particularly long walk we got to a lovely
little gated community with 2 workers cleaning out the front entrance
pond. and I saw the cold dirty water and jumped in. haha i was so
happy. I took of my sandles and just waded in the 1 foot deep water.
the cold water after the hot, dusty walk, was the best part of my
week. - well tied for first place. but it was pretty good.

Each transfer we have our little daily planner-books, and I always cut
out pictures from the Liahona to make my planner prettier than those
of the Elders'. And the running joke for this transfer is on my
planner. I had decided that 'whatever happens in lago sul, i dont ever
want to ever get discouraged' so I found a picture of a pioneer woman,
who is by herself out on the plains and in a snowy wasteland, and put
this picture on my planner. Then whenever there are
less-than-wonderful moments, Sister Armstrong and I look at the
planner and go, "at least I'm not her." Which is true. We have it
pretty good. and then I always tell her, " well at least [fill in the
blank]... so we got that goin' for us... which is nice" (i dont really
think she gets it, but I still haven't told her what its from
hahahahahah)

anywayssss the other best part of the week was this way good lesson
we had about the Plan of Salvation. Sister Armstrong and I were
clicking big time. We decided that the lesson would be better if we
talked about Christ with every single principle instead of just the
part to testify about the Atonement and then say at the end, "and this
whole plan is possible because of Jesus Christ" or something lame like
that. So the lesson went way way better. i was happy.

Tomorrow, Wed, and Thurs we are having new training about the
worldwide changes in missionary work. I'm stoked. I love getting
training. I love practicing. haha i used to be so self conscious about
it, but know i love it.

k shoot, i gotta go.
haha we had a sleep over last night with Sister Lima, Sister Moreira,
Sister dos Santos (curto prazo) and Sister Braga. good times. wellll I
love you. have a wonderful week.

Sister Wardle

Porcupine Trail is famous!

Hi fam

This week was sweet. We had 2 great baptisms of 2 great guys. Daniel,
and Damião, who i guess would be named Damian in English? Anyways,
Here's the little blurb about Damian - he's 64, married, has 8 kids,
and lives and works right next to the church. 3 weeks ago we were
getting off the bus on sunday morning at 7:45 to go to the ward
executive committee meeting, and Sister Armstrong says these exact
words, "Good morning, brother. Want to go to church?" And we spent 3
minutes explaining about, and inviting him to church, and told him
that it started at 9:00. haha, then at 8:50 am, he was standing there
in the doorway, ready to go. We loved it. We taught him all about the
church, invited him to get baptized, and he is the most humble and
accepting man ever. Such a sweet heart and he has the sweetest
responses. He is very simple, and explains things as they come from
the heart. He was baptized on saturday night, and then at church on
sunday morning he was so happy with all his new friends at church.

There are some WAY BIG THINGS coming up. there is a way cool man who
for a very long time has been very shut off to the church, but there
is some very big hope on the horizon for him. yay. i wish i could say
more, but i cant :)

also - there are big changes in the mission and missionary work
worldwide thats coming from the 1st presidency. the zone leaders and
district leaders are receiving training, and i'm anxious to learn
about it and apply it for the rest of my mish. I'm glad to stay here
for a few more months! speaking of this - the unofficial release date
will be december 28. So I'll hold off on singing "I'll be home for
christmas" until 2011. ah welp, sugar. but no worries, its cool baby!

K, so here's the thing about porcupine trail - who knew it was so
famous?! There is a man named Marcos here who was recently baptized
with his family, and we went to get to know them, and he's way cool. I
dont remember how we got on the subject, but all sudden he's talking
about Moab biking. hahaha I was like, "i've totally been there, and i
rode those trails with my dad before coming on a mission!!!" Here we
are 10,000 miles away, talking about the same bike trails. I loved it.

anyways, i gotsta go. the church is true. i love my mission.
next week we're having p-day on monday so write before sunday night.
k thanks love you bye!!
Sister Wardle

the book sells itself!

hi fam!

Lago Sul is GREAT. I cant figure out why, but things are going really
really well. In two weeks I've seen one of the strongest conversions
happen -- possibly in my whole mission. Its so rad! Here's the story
- right next door to our apartment, there is this lady who is a member
of the church. She is the president and her husband is the CEO or
something of 8 companies, grouped together in what is called something
like Brasilia Steel Group Holding. I am crazy with curiosity to google
it and learn all the facts - put that on the to-do list for when i get
home. (sidenote - she's not living there permanently, they have a
gonzo house in Sao Paulo, and another huge one their building here in
Lago Sul.) But there's this guy who is in training to be one of the
companies executives, so for now, he's spending a lot of time there.
His name is Daniel. I call him Danny Boy.

DANNY BOY is an ELECT. oh. my. gosh.
I met him the 2nd day i arrived in this area. he previously was a
member of the 7th day adventist church, and so we were talking to him
that 2nd day of being here and he just asked, "hey i have some
questions about why you guys keep sunday as your sabbath day" We told
him we'd be thrilled to talk to him about it and set up an
appointment. that was on july 13. he went to church with us that
sunday and met Presidente Pizzirani, talked to a few people, liked the
church, etc...

until that point, we still hadnt had the chance to teach a lot of
doctrine, we just gave him the pamphlets and he was reading them. Did
I mention he is BRILLIANT. other sidenote - he speaks English better
than most Americans, he has studied pharmacy, economics, physics, and
plans on finishing his law degree. Just to put this into perspective -
there is a famous brazilian test here in the national capital called
the Vestibular. Everyone and their dog studies for this test and tries
to do well to get a government position here in Brasilia. 45,000
people took the test, and Danny Boy came in 15th. He is a smart
cookie.

Anyways, he was reading the pamphlets and understanding everything
perfectly, but we still hadnt presented the Book of Mormon to him.
Finally we got to teach him about the book of mormon, and he
l.o.v.e.d. it. It was by no special teaching, or by no credit to us
whatsoever, but he gained such an incredibly firm testimony and had
such a special witness from the holy ghost, and he knew it was true.
It was SO COOL. The way he described it was so real and so simple, and
it was soooo cooooool. I am not doing well at getting it across today,
so i'll just leave it at that. But the bottom line is, that it the
Book of Mormon sells itself. It is the greatest evidence of the
Savior's mission on earth, and it completely brings people to Christ.
it is so so good.

Then this week at church I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting
about the Book of Mormon and i had a hay-day. I was SO happy for the
chance to speak. I feel like this ward is sleeping a little bit. They
have everything going for them, so it seems they are just a little
complacent and a little to comfortable or relaxed in their
testimonies. This is not speaking of all the members collectively,
obviously, just some. So on Sunday, I decided that I would try and
wake them up a little with a rousing Book of Mormon message. I hope it
got through, and I felt like it went well afterwards. The message was
basically, "MEMBERS - do you realize what we have as members!?!?! Do
not make the mistake of taking this for granted, leaving it on the
nightstand during the week, or reading without applying. We dont study
to learn, we learn to CHANGE. We learn to come unto Christ." And then
I used one of my new favorite scriptures in D&C 3:20. this scripture
is money.

So another fun thing that I like a lot is that Danny Boy knows how to
read music and he as a great voice. I love sitting with him in church
because he sings so well haha. and its funny because its like singing
with Dad. Because DannyBoy has more of a natural affinity for the bass
line, but he switches to tenor or soprano or alto with the different
verses - just like me and dad liked to do. and he'll make these little
witty comments during the song and i think its so funny. So I'm
looking forward to singing with you in sacrament meeting, Dad, and I
miss you a bunch.

Lago Sul is so luxurious. I love this area. Sometimes I feel like I'm
on an episode of Brazil's "Cribs." On days when we go into these
mansions, every single time i cant help but start singing, "life
styles of the rich and the famous." good times. but i think the joke
is getting kinda old after these 2 weeks. Good thing my companion has
a lot of patience :)

The other day was Pioneer day and we had homemade ice cream and home
made strawberry jam and and home made bread, and COOKIES at Amy's
house. I love having Americans in the ward! 'twas scrumptious. and on
saturday we're having a waffle party at their house for the new
members.

omg i forgot to tell you about Damião. Cutest little man. I'll save it
for next week cuz i'm starving and i still have to do the shoutouts...

CORINNE - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Remember those text messages you sent me
from moms phone, and from kelly and jette's phone, that one night i
went out that one time? Well i wish you the same birthday well
wishings... lol i hope you pick up on this joke :)

nickole - adorei a mensagem, minha safadinha. obrigada! rs, ainda não
contei pra vc, mas o primeiro dia que eu tava aqui, almoçei com o Rule
(porém a facebook mensagem que vc recebeu) ele falou q vc disse q eu
tava gordinha e que era pra ele dar raisens pra almoçar. ele falou q
ele estava esperando "some huge thing to come rollin in here" kkkk por
causa do que você falou. VALEU. rs, não mas ele é gente boa. foi ele
que estava tentando arrumar um casamento pra vc e o neto dele?
legal... EU AMO VOCÊ. que saudades. bjo.

breezy - GAWHEYVIIS (bob sponge laugh) miss you. 1.985.263 mas dias. sweet.

lucky seven :)

HI FAM!!!

welp, thank you for the prayers because this week was incredible.
Emerson and Rosali were MARRIED and it was beautiful and the whole
family was BAPTIZED and it was beautiful. AND the biggest miracle of
my mission happened this week because Douglas was baptized too.
Bringing the total to a very happy seven baptisms on Saturday and
seven incredible confirmations on Sundy. There were so many special
moments and i want to tell them all but I'll just go with the
sum-up...

(Wait, here's the background on Douglas - I've been in this city for
almost 6 months and I've been teaching Douglas off and on for 6
months. he's such a good guy, and i dont know why i love him so much
but there has always been some weird sort of connection with him. His
sister started being taught by the missionaries over 2 years ago, and
every missionary who passed through this area always tried teaching
him and helping him stop smoking/using drugs/drinking. Ever since I
got here, Douglas told me, "Sister Wardle, I'll get baptized before
you leave Gama, but now isnt the time." He said this for months and
months and then finally 2 weeks ago he decided he was ready. So he
finally started to keep the word of wisdom and got serious about
church and his baptism. - k there's the background)

Monday night - Emerson came to the church and he was ready to give up
and he didnt want to get married because some legitimately crazy stuff
was happening at home. and when i say legitimately i cant even express
how many ridiculous things happened. But we had a way good lesson with
him and with another member at the church and we talked forever and
then he went home. Sister França and I were way worried...

Tuesday night - we were on splits and sister franca was teaching
Douglas who was also ready to give up thinking that he wouldnt be able
to keep the word of wisdom and he was feeling really weak spiritually
speaking - and that he wouldnt make it to get baptized. Meanwhile
back on the farm... I was on splits with Lucigeni and her husband
Luis, and we went to teach Emerson and Rosalí. holy cow the devil was
at work this week. Emerson was in tears, Rosali was being crazy,
everything was pointing to the end of the world, and then Luis -
wonderful Luis - helped so much in the lesson. We were there talking
forever and it came to the end of the night and I had to meet up with
my companion and we had to be home before 9:30. So we had to end the
lesson and Luis and Lucigeni took me home, but then Luis went back to
their house with another member and kept on teaching, helping, and
left a way stellar priesthood blessing on the home. he honestly
performed a miracle in their home.

Wednesday night - we had marked to go on splits that night, but we
decided it was better to have both Sister França and I together to
resolve any problems. But thanks to the miracle of Luis and the
priesthood power, everything was totally fine at their house when we
got there. It was almost hard to believe haha. You would never think
that this couple had any problems whatsoever and they were as happy as
clams at high tide. We had a wonderful family home evening with them.
Emerson was presiding the meeting and he was so cute and nervous but
it was great. Eduardo (who is like the little firecracker problem
child) gave a really great mini-message that he did all by himself
teaching about faith that Nephi had. (I didnt even know that he had
already read 20 chapters in the book of mormon. i was very pleasantly
blown away) And then Sister França and I taught a special lesson about
baptism and the holy ghost. then we had hot dogs :) haha hot dogs with
corn, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, mayo, mashed potatoes, little
mini-french fries. Hot dogs in brazil are quite the production.
delicious...

anyways - oh ya, meanwhile Douglas was doing well. His other sister
has a really terrible influence on him and always tries to get him to
smoke or do ridiculous stuff. But we were walking clear out to their
house every morning before lunch to teach and strengthen him. He lives
on a little farm outside of the city. Its like an hour to walk there,
45 min to teach, and an hour to walk back. good times good times. but
to tell the truth i loved our little daily nature hike because its
different from walking the same dirty city streets every day.

Thursday night - everything good to go. Douglas happy. Emerson and
Rosali happy. the 4 kids happy and anxious to get baptized.
Me and Sister França and the RS President going semi-crazy with wedding plans.

FRIDAY - THE EVENT. At 3:30 pm we went to set up for the wedding and
we got there and the chapel was SO dirty. We had to clean the whole
church as fast as humanly possible with 5 people. i LOVE the
presidency of the relief society. If it weren't there's no way we
could've done it alone. We set everything up, it was beautiful. In the
mean time it was nice and hectic trying to coordinate with the whole
fam. There were 6 kids under the age of 12 to get ready, get the
wedding bands, get the dress, and take care of the bride with the
shoes, the hair, the make up, the nails, etc. But everything was
great.

Finally everyone arrived, everyone was happy. Then the Bishop told me
at the last minute that the pianist couldnt make it. (We had planned
with a guy who plays piano almost as well as elain mcmahan to play the
piano while the bride was entering.) except he had like a car break
down or something, so at the last minute i was designated to "wing it"
haha so i played a made up version of Canon in D and it was another
little miracle that i remembered it from forever ago. I was way
nervous because this was THE MOMENT, but it was all good. So with
canon in D, our wonderful bishop at the pulpit, Emerson waiting just
below him, the sliding doors opened at the back of the chapel, and
beautiful all dolled up rosali came in. The youngest little chubby 2
year old daughter came in first carrying the wedding rings, and then
Rosali came in being escorted by her oldest son. Then i looked over
and emerson was all teared up, and so was the bishop, so i started
crying too hahah. Anyways, the wedding was great, the ceremony was
great, the reception in the cultural hall was great. Everyone loved
it. yayyy

SATURDAY 10:00 am - Douglas got baptized. yayy he was so cute and so
typical douglas. he's a total jokester but its so fun to see him
normal and sober and with the happiness of the gospel. The light that
shines out of his eyes these days is the most rewarding thing i think
i've ever seen on my mission. He wanted a really simple baptism with
almost nobody there. So we invited just his family and the bishopric.
Except-- that being the case there wasnt a designated speaker, so I
gave a short talk, and i cried through the whole thing haha. but it
was great. he was just a little mad at us afterwards because the water
was really cold because I didnt know how to work the heater for the
water, and I had promised him that the water would be warm. oh well.
haha we told him that in a year when he goes to the temple, the font
there is always warm.

SATURDAY 7:00 pm - Baptism of Emerson, Rosali, Junior, Eduardo, Elias,
and Helena. have you ever seen such a happy family in white in your
life? i submit that you have not. it was great.

holy cow this is getting really long, sorry if you're getting bored,
but Sunday was way good too...bear with me.

SUNDAY MORNING - Sacrament meeting. whabamm. it was fast and testimony
meeting but we had 7 people to be confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost
so it kinda took a while. All of the confirmations were way sweet and
each person recieved such specific blessings. I loved it because we
know them so well, but the men who were giving the blessings dont know
them that well. It was such and example that they were blessings from
the priesthood and true blessings that God wanted to give each of them
individually. AND the Bishop had an inspired idea to give a name and
blessing to the two youngest kids who werent baptized. yayyy. And just
to top off the cake, Arthur (young man we baptized a couple weeks ago)
blessed the sacrament.

This week was great, the church is true. It is so evident to me that
this is the Lords work, and I'm so happy and blessed to play a small
part. I love the gospel :)

Love,
Sister Wardle

end of june?

Hi fam

is anyone believing that its already the end of June? what the flip,
what happened to the time? next week is 4th of july! yayyy how
wonderful. the other day one of the members brought a hymn book in
english to church, and after the meetings i wanted to play the hymns
that only exist in the english version - aka all the patriotic
american ones. In the first few notes of "America the Beautiful" i
started tearing up and crying hahahahaha. I had no idea i missed my
country so much. It reminded me of the time that Dad and I learned the
Canadian national anthem just to sing it for grandma and watch her get
all misty eyed. good times.

anyways, America really is a choice land above all others , and i hope
you all have a WONDERFUL 4th of July. Please take pictures of the
BBQs, ward activities, packed beaches, parades, and all that good
stuff. you can be sure that i'll be sportin my red white and blue this
sunday.

Welppp, sorry but i have no time. I love you a bunch, and please pray
for Emerson and Rosali this week... they need it.

LOVE YOU
Sister wardle

we've got spirit, yes we do...

HI FAM.

so have you heard about the world cup? Given the noise generated from
Brasil alone, i dont think its possible for anyone not to literally
hear the world cup craze. Everyone here is asks me if I'm rooting for
Brazil or the USA. i'm going with brazil. :) I have watch with the
brazilian flag, and earrings in the shape of the country with the flag
too. haha and on the days that brazil plays, i wear yellow/green/blue.
But you guys have to see the way Brazilians get pumped up for these
soccer games to believe it. it is unreal. it puts every other "sports
fanatic" to SHAME.

for the past 4 weeks people have been going crazy for the world soccer
cup. the apartment buildings put up HUGE flags, or HUGE banners of
yellow and green. And everyone gets string and puts up pieces of
yellow and green plastic and makes these decorations in the street
that go from the electrical wires all the way down the street. And the
people paint the curbs in all the sidewalks in the city alternating in
yellow and green. and they paint huge banners or logos or flags in
the street. or ginormous murals on random city walls to cheer for
brazil to win the world cup. and everyone has those flags that hook up
to the car window. or people get big flags and put them on the hood of
the car. and every single store you walk into sells brazilian flags,
t-shirts, key chains, paraphernalia, everything you can imagine, and
more. its sweet. I thought that BYU vs the U of U was a good example
of an excited group of people. but no.

Brazil has spirit.

Aside from the world cup soccer fans, we've got some good spirit on
the mission too. I'll just tell you real quick about the incredible
spirit of the restoration of the gospel. It kicks trash. This week we
taught the restoration with a recent convert named Bruna from aguas
claras. she has a friend in our area and she came out to Gama to teach
her friend, Raissa, with us. The cool part about the lesson was how
Bruna was so stoked to be there with us to help her friend have the
same spirit of the restoration. I was telling about joseph smith to
raissa, and as I was saying the first vision, out of the corner of my
eye i saw Bruna reciting it with me. with a glow in her eyes. she has
been a member for a month, and she had it memorized and recited it
with love. it was so cute. anyways, raissa accepted a date to get
baptized. we're working on it.

another example of the spirit of the restoration was a street contact
we made, and it turns out the guy had been baptized like 25 years ago.
he only stayed active in the church for 2 years, because his wife is
semi-crazy and doesn't let him go to church. but while we were talking
to him, he got all teary and looked at us and said, "i know that the
church is true." then out of no where he started humming "How firm a
foundation" and then switched to singing, "oh how lovely was the
morning..." and started full on crying in the street, just from the
spirit of the music of the restoration. we were like, poor thing, just
come to church again - dont you realize what you've been missing for
23 years?

another one was teaching Emerson and Rosali and our family of GOLD. we
went and watched the film of the Restoration with them and the kids.
usually its a struggle to teach with 6 kids under the age of 12 and to
keep everyone paying attention, but during the movie no one moved, no
one talked, no one wiggled, no one giggled. the only words were when
God and Christ appeared and the choir is singing, and Emerson said,
"whoa i just got goosebumps." At the very end, the son who is 11 years
old said, "that's it? sister wardle, dont you have another movie
that's like 2 hours about Joseph Smith? i want to watch more." We had
a sweet lesson that explained more about the restoration, and
blessings for their family, etc. at the end Rosali was pretty
emotional and she said the closing prayer, kneeling with her whole
family together. she's been having a real struggle to quit smoking in
preparation for the baptism. But ever since the night we re taught the
restoration, she hasn't smoked a single cigarette. its because the
spirit of the restoration, and the spirit of the truthfulness and
fullness of the gospel is SO TRUE.

No one and nothing beats the Spirit of the gospel. not even brazil
during the world cup.

I LOVE IT.

have a wonderful week,
Sister Wardle

Its good to have a testimony

HI FAM

I love and MISS you. This week has been, oh you know, ups and downs. I
just want to tell you really quickly about how grateful I am for the
truthfulness of this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ, and how
grateful I am to be a member of the church. I am almost coming up on
one year, and I can't count the number of times that I've born my
testimony. It is growing stronger, and i know that the church is true.
My testimony and my heart grew this weeek when I had the priveledge
and pleasure of hear those whom I have taught bear their testimonies
to me. feel free to open up my tear ducts and just let the tears flow
faster.
1. Arthur bore his testimony in front of the whole ward in fast and
testimony meeting on sunday. He adorable up there with his white shirt
and tie and telling about how he knows that this church is true. And
he received the priesthood afterward, awwwww.
2. Emerson bore his testimony about how he is so happy that they
entered the papers to get married. He said, "if i had known that
things would already start to get better so fast after keeping this
commandment, I would've gotten married a long time ago." We taught the
whole family about the proclamation to the world on the family, and
they loved it.
yay. the church is true.

in other news, MOM thank you for the Ensign. i love it. As far as
other letters and stuff goes, I think i'll get it all tomorrow because
we're having a conference. yay.

k sorry, gotta jet.
LOVE YOU
SisterWardle

family of 8 becomes 9?

Hello Family, and DANIEL

Welcome to the FAMILY! (in the near future)
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE WONDERFUL ENGAGEMENT, KELLY AND DANIEL.

I
AM
THRILLED

Yay. Purple and coral? or something like that? I say congrats, and get
married whenevs you wants - august, novembro, december next weekend -
as long as its in the temple, does the date really matter? keep me
updated with wedding plans, announcements, invites, flowers, pictures,
and anything else thats happening on the down low, and i'll be just
happy as a clam at high tide

In other news, you know, missionary work is good. we had a wonderful
week with wonderful things happening every day. Excellent progress
with Rosa an Arthur - two of the sweetest little testimonies ever. I
LOVE the transformation the gospel makes, and seeing how people make
subtle but meaningful changes in their lives to keep the commandments
and live the gospel. When we were teaching them on saturday night, we
were getting ready to leave and head home. it was 8:45, and Rosa said,
"we'll walk down to the little bakery with you to buy milk, because
tomorrow is sunday and we cant buy stuff anymore." so cute :) yay for
keeping the sabbath day holy.

good news: the birth certificate of Emerson arrived!!! Remember that
family of GOLD with 8 people that has been investigating the church
all month? they havent been able to get married because the dad lost
his birth certificate, but we 'ordered' a new one, and it finally
arrived, so we're going to the civil office to start the process for
their legal marriage this friday. I hope everything goes according to
plan for it, and then it takes 30 days for the documents to go through
the full process. we'll start planning their wedding for next month.
Mom you said that planning a wedding in 3 months is a challenge? We're
going Lon and Cheryl wardrop style - planning a wedding in 30 days.
bahah jk its going to be so low key - they'll get married in the Gama
chapel, and it'll be a very very simple affair. but i'd really like to
spruce it up with a balloon arch. i'm thinking like a cbad or byu
homecoming theme? haha all those years of asb planning will go to good
use. brincadeira.

funny news: unibiótico! There is this activity they hold at the church
called unibiotico. have no idea how to say it or if we have it in the
states, but its this full body excercise thats supposed to good for
your body, your skin, your internal organs, and your mind. its a mix
of yoga/pilates/and mellow aerobics, for all ages and gender. (this is
not a commercial, just background info.) we were talking to a lady
here who participates in it, and we were super curious to know how the
exercises go. Her name is Kenia, and she was super embarrassed and shy
to show us how to do it, but i was like, "no worries, we'll do it
together, just teach me how to do it." finally she gave in, and
started out with little stretches, then showed us some "exercises."
i. died. laughing.
we both laid down on the floor at the church (this was going on during
an interview, and we were doing nothing, just waiting). so we laid
down and she put her arms and legs in the air and started wiggling -
but like out of control wiggling. and it reminded me of mom when she
would show us the stuff the old byu frats used to do to rush the
freshman, like "i am a dying cockroach!!" you guys, i was crying, i
was laughing so hard. i love unibiotico, and highly recommend it to
all.

physical therapy news: its pretty much a love/hate relationship.
its good because it makes my hand better.
its bad because at the end they ice my wrist and its real cold and
turns red for a long time.
its good because they play all these 90s hits on a satelite radio station
its semi-annoying because there are random timers going off all the
time for 10 different patients' exercises, etc.
its funny because the beeping timers make me think, "its time to get
the cookies out of the oven"
its bad because it throws off our schedule for the morning
its good because the bakery close by has really good cheese bread
(claro que é pão de quiejo por nickole e bre - quase igual ceilandia)

scriptural news: we finally got a new box of books of mormon! yay.
what a relief. i dont know how well known this personal factoid is
about me at home, but i absolutely loved having a full tank of gas
when i was at home. for me, there's some sort of inner
peace/tranquility/happiness/comfort in knowing that i have a full tank
of gas. Well its pretty much the same thing with a brand new box of 40
books of mormon. there's this happy feeling of knowing, "ok i'll be
good to go for a while," basically the same as a full spiritual tank
of gas? i dunno... just go with it. other scriptural news, we had a
great follow-up lesson with a woman about the book of mormon. we were
teaching her to read, pray, and ask for an answer. We repeated this
commitment for a long time with her, but she kept saying, "I'm just
not getting an answer..." so finally one time we went there, and we
were getting ready to cut her and stop teaching, but this time was
different. We went, and shortly after the opening prayer, she said,
"Sister Wardle, you were right, I got my answer." of course i got all
giddy when she said that her answer came directly from the book of
mormon, in Mosiah 5:2. its the response that the people give to king
benjamin, when they all say, "we know that these words are true.. and
we have no more disposition to do evil..." etc. 100% golden answer. i
love the answers from the book of mormon. i love love love it.

mission news: this is the last week of the transfer here in Gama. I've
been here for 3 transfers, and I'd really like to stay here next
transfer because i LOVE this area, love the ward, love the people, and
especially because i want to be here for the marriage/baptism of
Emerson and Rosali, and their family with Junior, Eduardo, Elias, and
Melia, (with little Eleina and Ana Clara too). But i dont know what
happening with the mission. There's talk about drastic changes in the
mission, but nobody really knows anything for sure - the elders are
just chatty. so we'll see what goes down.

food news: there is a burger place here called Geléia Burger. Its as
good as In-N-Out. seriously.
Its another really good reason i like this area :) plus they serve açai. yum.

k so thats the end of the news.
i love you all!
until next week,
sister kat

what does mamma say about slidding down the banister?

hi fam!

good news, the doctor took off my cast. yayyyyy i'm free at last!
i'm doing physical therapy for the next week to regain all the range
of motion etc. its good

so as my birthday present to me, Heavenly Father gave me two excellent
presents
a marvelous sunrise (why were we awake at 5:00 to see it? who knows)
AND a phone call from the young mens president saying that Arthur and
his mom Rose want to get baptized. BEST PHONE CALL EVER.

we have been working with them for over a month, but feeling
discouraged with the lack of progress they were making. but in
reality.-- they were progressing :)

happy birthday - happy baptisms.

k, sorry this is short.
gotsta go
love you so much
KAT

5 days to mothers day!

Hello faaamily

Our mission changed P-Day to tuesday again. go figure.

The place where we use the internet every week has the same guy working here and today for ONCE he changed the music. Usually it's this terrible Brazilian style of music called funk (it's like a guaranteed headache in 30 seconds or less). But, today he's playing classic rock and roll from the U S of A. Right now it's "Eye of the Tiger" and it makes me miss D-rock.

This week's rating was average to good. Unfortunately our baptisms fell through. But, we have some good prospects for this week. I don't have much time but i'll just tell you one quick story...

Last week we were teaching a family who we found because the wife had requested a DVD from a pass a long card. We went and delivered the DVD and left a message with them. When we were getting to know the couple, the dad told us how his son was in jail for something that he didn't do and it was really un-just and how he was hoping and praying that his son would be freed and that the legalities would be sorted through so he could get out of jail. We left a short lesson about how when we keep the commandments we are blessed and left an invitation to go to church. We are trying extra hard to help people fulfill commitments by promising specific blessings. Sometimes as missionaries we hold back on promising a specific blessing. But, really this is a lack of our faith, not the faith of the investigator. So, we decided to go big or go home on this one. We promised him that if he went to church with us on Sunday that the paper would go through and his son would get out of jail. The dad agreed to go to church, but the mom didn't.

The next day we went to follow up. The woman didn't want to have anything to do with anything. She didn't even open the DVD, and she was ready to return it to us. But, she said that it was ok with her if her husband wanted to keep learning about the Church. The husband, Luis, had really been touched the night before and he was willing to keep the commitment and go to church.

Sunday morning we showed up at 8:00 and he was standing at the gate, ready to go, with the pamphlet we had left in hand. He went to church and liked it, and turns out he has a few friends who are members of the Church. The next time we had the chance to talk to him, the first thing we did was to ask about his son. Luis was alll happy and he was like, "my son is free, he got out of jail." yayyyy. I think it was more a test of my faith than it was for his. So, it was pretty cool that it worked out. We are teaching him the gospel now. :)

The Church is true. Ask for specific blessings and make specific promises to be obedient and the Lord blesses us. Yay.

Side note - The music playing right now is AC/DC you shook me all night
long - i'm staying focused on the mission and humming MOTABs ;)

Mom, Dad, Paul, Elizabeth, Llama, Crown, and Jette i am so excited to talk to you on Sunday. I've been working on my English ever since Elder Nelson basically burned all the Americans when he told us that he thinks it's pathetic when returned missionaries go back to the United States and claim to have forgotten English. He says its no excuse, and that we should excel in both languages. ai ai. eu tava me estressando apenas com o portugues o tempo todo, e agora tenho que me estressar com os dois idiomas. que bom. :)

EMILY LONAS - Congrats on the wedding. I'm so happy for you and i got your letter today (the 2 in one was excellent and i LOVED the plan of salvation teaching aid you included).

ALICIA LAGENDIJK - I miss you a bunch and I have a letter in the process of being written to you. Thank you for the patience and the support :). Tell Evan I love him and think he's adorable.

Side note 2 - The music is AC/DC Thunderstruck - makes me miss Corinne and her ridiculous cds (sick mix 12-22 for me when i get home).

BRE - que saudades! caraca q isso - vc vai embora dia 8 de dez? rapaz,
eu nem consigo pensar nisso agora. como é que vc já sabe da data? Por
favor me perdõe pela falta das cartas. rs parece que eu peguei aquela
caneta de novo, e eu vou ter que começar os cinco passos mas uma vez.
mas não se preocupe com os negócios dos cachorros ou os hospitais
aqui. não é nada quando você comparar com a história da sua
companheira que vc tava treinando. flip. desde o ctm, eu falei pra vc
q vc é a folha, e suas companheiras e responsabilidades são os
pedrinhos. kkk lembra? mas amo você, e espero que tudo esteja bem
agora. Vam pra a pria de floripa? já tô ai. bjo!

K gotsta go,
love you all!
Sister Wardle


I apologize that the last two post were out of order.

hi

Hi Fam!

It was so wonderful to talk to you yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed
myself. The overall best part was just the fact that everyone is doing
so well. I am so so so grateful and so blessed to have a wonderful
family. Thank you for being firm in the gospel and in the church.
Thank you for having testimonies. Thank you for supporting me on my
mission. I love you SO much.

Other than that - I feel like since I talked to the fam on sunday, i
dont have much to say today. So instead of anything specific I'll just
throw out some random commentaries:

So i was thinking about gifts for people at home... There is a lot of
jewelry in Brazil thats really different than the type of stuff we
have in the states. Its super cheap (both in the sense of quality and
in cost) but its kinda out there. I dont know if any of you want it or
if you'd rather have something else. Personally i would pretty much
never wear it or use it because to me it all looks like costume junk.
But if anyone is wanting some jewelry from the streets of Brazil, feel
free to let me know and i'll bring some home.

Other random: I really like the people who we are teaching who give us
food. This one family - our elect family that needs to get married and
baptized - gives us cheese! The dad's name is Emerson, and he drives
to Minas Gerais (another state) just to buy cheese and then he sells
it in Brasilia. and he gives us free cheese when we teach his family.
Every time we walk out the door with a huge sack of cheese i remember
that one Nsync song, celebrity, when justins like, "if i did have
cheese like ever-y-day..." hah but its like uncanny how good this
cheese is.

Then there's this other guy named Tomaz who gives us fruits. His mom
sells fruits at the street markets on the weekend, and so when we
teach him on Friday nights there are tons of crates of fruits in the
front. and we walk out of the house with a sack full of banana maça,
papaya, melons, and other goodies. delicious. I wish sister canfield
could be here so we could make smoothies.

nickolecanfield shout out - (rs, sabia que é esse jeitinho que a
bárbara fala seu nome, como se fosse um nome só? ah, mas tenho
saudades de vc e queria que vc ainda estivesse aqui. oh ps, eu pedi
permissão da sister pizzirani para ter um encontro com a sis hill e
christensen no meu aniversario semana que vem. E não foi autorizada.
:( rsrs talvez seria melhor se eu seguisse sua dica que voce falou pra
bárbara o outro dia. pois é, próximo vez, neh?)

Other news - the Carlsbad 4th ward primary kicks trash! on mothers day
the primary in our ward sang a primary hymn for the moms, and it was
nice... but lets just say that the C-4 primary really has it goin on.
yay

oh ya - highlight of my week - yesterday we had lunch with the
Bishop's family and omg they have THE CUTEST kids you have ever seen.
Pedro Jonas (4 yrs old) and Cecilia (2 years old). When we got there,
they had just gotten out of the shower and pedro jonas came to the
gate in a towel. loved it. cecilia was running around like a little
naked baby. loved it. then they put clothes on (kind of a let down)
but its ok. on the kitchen table there was a big fruit basket with a
bunch of LIMES. emily lonas morris you would have loved it. i was
teaching pedro jonas to juggle (kinda) and he did a really good job
and we practiced for a while. He would get SO proud of himself when he
caught the limes. and we had an altogether lovely time. then cecilia
got a runny nose and her mom was teaching her to blow her own nose.
she would take such a big breath of air, blow all the snot out, and
then put the tissue up to clean it out. it was so funny. instead of
just blowing it straight into the tissue. we were all cracking up.
love those kids.

OTHER HIGHLIGHT that is even more of a highlight than watching a 2
year old blow her nose - Megan Lynn Rasmussen Fagergren! holy cow, i
got your wedding announcement today and i am SO happy for you! you and
dave are a beautiful couple. And i'm stoked that tomorrow is your
special day! of the 5 wedding announcements that i have received while
on the mission - this was the first time that i got the announcement
before the day of the actual marriage. (albeit by one day)
Congratulations for you both! yayyy eternal marriage in the temple
yayyyy.

oh ya, and yesterday the zone leaders brought packages for our
district! i got an excellent package from Martha - THANK YOU VERY
MUCH, and big envelopes from mom and dad. Thanks for the easter
decorations haha. oh well. i'll give them to the families we're
teaching with little kids. they'll love it.

welp, have a wonderful week.
love, Sister Wardle

Added is a picture Kat sent the week before from a conference with Elder Scott of the 12 apostles

Kats and Dogs dont get along

HI FAM

This last week has been eventful to say the least. Lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start (sound of music)

Monday
I didnt really get a chance to say much about the conference we had last week, but it was incredible. It was like a spiritual pep-rally. I needed that boost, and it has really made a difference this week. One of the things i really liked was when Sister Nelson spoke about being the type of missionaries that our mothers are praying for us to be. I thought it was so cute and motherly of her, but then realized that it really means a lot. Thinking about how mom prays for everything, everyone, and their dog, i realized how i can and should do better to be the type of missionary that my mommyyy wants me to be. And how moms pray for all their childrens, and how if each of us tried harder to be the type of children that our parents pray for us to be, we would all be a lot better off. Then you take it to the level of our Heavenly Father. If i try harder to be the type of missionary that Heavenly Father wants me to be. ANd if each of us, as children of God do more to be and to become what the Master has in store, we can all reach our divine potential.

Tuesday
Transferrrrs. Goodbye Sister Lima, hello sister França. They are super different, but i'm learning to get used to the change and it'll be a good transfer :)

Wednesday
we were going about our merry little way finding new people to teach, and we met a man named Robson in front of his house and he was going to introduce us to his sister who lives next door. We said hello, she opened the gate, i walked through the gate, and was attacked hahaha. This dog came out of NO WHERE and bit me near the ankle. It wasnt bad at all but it mostly just scared me and i screamed like a little girl. So we went in the house and washed it with soap and water. It hardly punctured the skin, but you can never be to careful, right? Then a few minutes later we were leaving the house and I walked out the front door and we were headed towards the gate, when I was attacked AGAIN. This time it wasnt quite as funny. The ferocious beast jumped up and bit the back of my thigh. It tore my skirt and he really dug into my leg, and its a legitimately deep gash. But I didnt want to stay. I tried to play it off like everything was fine and made a lame joke how the dog just didnt like the color of my bright green skirt, but basically i wanted to get out of there. We left and then i called Sister Pizzirani (mission preisdents wife) and she called the area doctor. Haha then the Area Doctor called me and it was like the most morbid phone call of my life. He told me how we needed to clean it and signs of infections etc. and how if the dog has rabies then i will absolutely with certainty die in 10 days. or i could go get the rabbies vaccine. obvoiusly i opted for the vaccine and we spent the rest of the day in the public hospital to get the stinking shots. now we have to go back to the house everyday for 10 days to monitor the dog and make sure the dog doesnt die or have rabbies, because if it does it will turn into a real mess. But the good news is that Robson went to church and accepted a date to get baptized this sunday :) So its all good, baby.

Thursday
The blessed day of thursday april 22 was the day for me to take off my jumbo cast. I was so glad! The cast wasnt that bad at first, but after time it got really old. And less and less comfortable too. The inside padding was super packed down by the end of so many weeks and it got way hard--basically like a ski boot after a couple of seasons. So i was thrilled to take it off, and wash my arm. I had a funky allergic reaction to the inside of the cast and my arm came out super red and bumpy haha. But the cast isnt off for good, it just got smaller. Now i have a cast that just covers my hand and goes almost to the elbow. Its like a micheal jackson glove. Right now i'm trying to coordinate a p-day to get together with sister adams to have her teach me to moonwalk. The downside of this day was that we were at the hospital the whole day. there was a power outage while we were there and it took forever to get everything rebooted and all the systems going again. typical. loved it.

Friday and Saturday
Finally we had two good solid days of work without interruptions or disasters. We had some excellent lessons these two days. The spiritual pep rally got me stoked again, and I loved teaching the message of the restoration. I feel kinda selfish sometimes because i love teaching about joseph smith and the livro de mormon. i like to have my companions teach the other parts of the lesson so i can have the good stuff. i feel the spirit so strong with the restoration and the first vision and it makes me so happy to talk about it. So these two days were gooood.

SUNDAY - miracles
We got up early, went around to get everyone who said they would go to church, pretty normal -- until we actually got to church. In gospel principles there was a man and woman there who we had never seen. They were intelligent, participated, asked questions, responded, etc. Nobody knew who they were - they didnt come with other members, they just showed up. And they have 6 kids. The bishop was like, "sister wardle, did you see that enormous family at church today?" haha, but we found out that they used to go to church all the time in taguatinga, but they couldnt get baptized at the time because they arent legally married, and couldnt get married because there was a problem with the documents. Anyways, long story short, they are elects. and they fixed the problem with the documents. we went to teach them yesterday afternoon and the entire family sat together and we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ. The 12 yr old son said, "but i was already baptized in the catholic church" and the dad said, "ya but that baptism was wrong and didnt have authority, this is the correct baptism in this church." (acredita!?) Then we told them how they need to get married to get baptized, and the dad looks to the mom and said, "what do you think, will you marry me?" Then the mom giggled and said, "sure!" cutest thing ever. so in about 4 or 5 weeks this family will be together in white getting baptized, and in about a year they'll be heading to the temple.

Alrighty well this email was the longest thing ever, but i just want you to know that i LOVE my mission. and i love you all so much. And i'm pumped to talk to you on mothers day! yay its just around the corner.

Much love,
Sister Wardle

I attached a picture of naked baby that i stalked for a week (yay!)
and a picture of the doggy bite on the back of my thigh (yuck!)
and a picture of me and a few other sisters.
On the far left is Sister França (my new companion) and then me (please notice the shirt that i made. i bedazzled an anchor on the front. classy, i know.) and then sister Lima (yes, we bought matching 5 dollar skirts that dont really fit and that i will never again wear in my life because its about 3 sizes too small) and next to her is Sister Silva - the drill sergant

transferrrs

Hi Family!

quickest email ever...
today is transfer day. i'm staying in Gama again (3rd transfer here). Sister Lima is leaving and my new companion will be sister França. She is brazilian and from the north-east of brazil. i've talked to her like one time in my life on the day she got here, and it was for 30 seconds. (hi welcome to the mission. etc.) i dont know her at all but i'm excited to get to know her :)

the conference with elder nelson was i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e.
we had 4 general authorities and their wives and all 8 of them spoke. it was like a mini general conference and they said everything i had been needing to hear. It was so so good. Sister Nelson is a GEM. Elder Nelson is the sweetest thing ever. the others were brazilian members of the quorum of 70, and they were equally excellent.

real quick random side note - thats funny that you guys celebrated darren collins bday because i had a dream last night about hanging out with the collins and siaosis and we rode beach cruisers, went surfing, and told stories about D rock.

other shouter outer is a big congratulations for emily for her wedding! i hope it is a magical affair and i cant wait to hear about it/see pictures (hint hint)

k, welpppp, gotta goooo
love you so much!
sister wardle

oh ps and las, value pela dica! gostei muito das copas pra ensinar a restauração. espero que vc batize tdo mundo até o pózinho, rs rs. MAS. 4513584 dias

families can be togeeeeeether forever

Hey fam-bam!

How much did we all love general conference? First up – how about the incredible themes about the importance of families, the relationship between parens and children, and raising strong youth in the gospel. Mom and dad, thank you for bringing us up in the church. Made me miss my fam. But thats ok because i felt close to you guys especially during the Sunday morning session... because... i saw aunt mary ellen singing in the choir! in the second to last hymn, i saw her for like 1 second, and obviously got all teary an couldnt handle it, but it was great. mary ellen, you're lookin good, as always. :) i LOVED the music of the sunday morning sesh. kelly and daniel you are SO lucky to have been there to soak it up live. carumba, This is The Chist was amazing.

Other thing i loved - we had two complete families of investigators with us, and it was m.a.r.v.e.l.o.u.s. we had the family of fransisco and aureni - cutest little family ever - wants to get baptized, but works every sunday, but wants to stop working on sunday to keep the sabbath day holy. Other family of Paulo and Ana Lucia. When we met them Ana Lucia was the lady who wanted nothing to do with the book ofmormon, but at the endf of the lesson she was loving it. Well she and her husband had split up, but they are kindof in the process of getting back together, but its VERY tense still. and ana lucia is paranoid about raising two teenage boys. anyways They came to conference together, and i was sitting next to her, and during the session i saw him reach for her hand and they stayed holding hands listening to the messages from the prophet and apostles anbout protecting and taking care of the family. sweetest thing ever. i love this gospel.

k i have to RUN and teach these wonderful people. This is going to be a gnarly week. :)

love, sister kat.

and ps just to clear up what seems to be a bit of confusion, i broke my HAND, not my arm.
k love you bye