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
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
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
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
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
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.
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
Monday, July 5, 2010
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
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
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