Monday, February 24, 2014

Fatima and Luzinete were baptized!! February 17, 2014

Hey Mom, Dad, Family, and Friends,
 
So yesterday was super great. Fatima was baptized and has still been able to quit smoking! She´s such a rock! Saturday morning when we were walking with her to the baptismal interview she said that she woke up and really wanted to smoke. She said that the temptation was super big. But she said, "No, I´m not going to give in!" She just put a piece of candy in her mouth and kept on going. She´s super awesome! And Luzinete, she´s so great. She has gotten to know the Church for a while because she works with the wife of a bishop in another ward and she just decided that she wanted to be baptized and just stayed strong. Her husband doesn´t support her much but she just keeps on going!
 
Oh, also, we had a mission-wide conference that was sooo great! Elder Fernandes (he was the mission president here before President Hall-the most recent mission president) and his wife spoke to us. It was such a great conference and the best part was that I got to see all my buds! When Sister Stolk and I saw each other we just started to cry! haha, it was so good to see her and catch up. It´s only been a month but it was so fun to see her and talk to her! We´re definitely going to be friends for a while.
 
Hey Mom, David Lewis emailed me saying that he lives with Sister Cameron´s "friend" but I can´t respond back to him because of the new rule. His email address is david.lewis@myldsmail.net. Could you email him for me and say that I got the email and that that´s so cool! Thanks!
 
Also, just a reminder, it´s already transfers! So, I´ll be emailing next Wednesday, not monday.
 
Oh, other super exciting news, Queimadas was officially turned into a ward yesterday! so now it´s the Queimadas ward, not Queimadas branch! I am so happy! Also, Danilo (recent-convert) was called to be the ward executive clerk and he´s going to receive the Melcezidek (spelling is completely off) priesthood really soon!!!
 
Mom:
I´m so proud that you´re still my strong Olympic fan, just know that I´m here cheering on Team USA with pride!
 
Oh and I´m sooooo happy that Jason got his visa! That is sooo exciting! I am so happy for him! Definitely an answer to prayers!
 
haha, sounds like the Valentine´s dance was fun! haha, you go Mom! I wish I could have seen you and Dad during the dance instruction :)
 
Oh, thanks for the Ensign, I finally got it this week! You´re the best! Also, I´m going to write her but I got a package from Sister Holtom, it was Christmas cards from the Cub Scouts, tell her thanks from me!
 
I definitely know the feeling when you see people come back to the church. That´s another rewarding part of missionary work is helping to bring back the lost sheep.
 
I can´t believe the snow storm that you guys had! That´s crazy! The picture of the grill, what?! haha, and I´m not even surprised that Greg still went to work! "He needs to work!"
 
Send all my love to Mrs. Russo, Em, and Chester! I hope that you´re able to meet up with them and tell them all how much I love and miss them!
 
So, I haven´t eaten too many weird foods yet. One thing that I learned yesterday was that it´s bad manners to so eat one helping of food. It´s a sign that you didn´t like the food so you ALWAYS have to do the Greg-style and eat two helpings :) haha, oh something that I had yesterday was passion fruit ice cream! It´s sooo good here! passion fruit is called maracujá here.
 
My bishop is super cool and is sooo willing to help. We had a meeting with him yesterday and he said, you guys are doing a great job it´s us that need to help out more!
 
The language is improving a lot too, it helps to live with two Brazilian sisters!
 
Dad:
First off, thanks for including that talk from Elder Hugh B. Brown. It was exactly what I needed to hear this week. Thanks Dad. You always know exactly what to write.
 
haha, I hope you get back into your Olympics mojo soon! haha, but Mom said you´re doing a great job commentating so keep up the good work! :)
 
That´s heart breaking about Sister Gregory, I hope the doctors are able to help her soon and that she´ll start feeling better quickly. I´ll definitely keep her in my prayers. I don´t remember her, what ward is she from?
 
That´s super exciting about Sister Brown too! Wow!
 
Bryan:
Haha, I´m glad to hear that you didn´t forget your birthday and that you had a nice dinner and cake (with the girls´ help)
 
haha, I laughed when I read that the ward nursery was like a "Ukranian nursery" haha, that was really nice of you guys to buy all of those new toys for them!
 
Lindsey:
I´m so glad to hear that Valentine´s day went so well and that Norah was able to give out valentines, those were the days :)
 
I can´t believe Norah is going to Elementary school next year! That´s so crazy! She´s growing up way too fast!
Sounds great too, all the volunteering that you guys are going to do!
 
Keep enjoying the warm weather! :)
 
 
 
So about a week or so ago, I was reading in the Ensign and I came across a talk that is really great about missionary work. Elder Nielsen, of the Seventy, gave a talk entitled, Accelerating the Lord´s Game Plan (something like this) It´s a super great talk and the part that I liked the most was that he said that as members, we need to pray for the missionaries in our ward and for their investigators by name. So, just a challenge for you all to go up to the missionaries in your ward and ask for the names of their investigators. We´re doing this in our ward now and it seems to be helping a lot!
 
Well, I´ve got to go but thank you so much for all the love and support! I love you and miss you the MOSTIEST!
 
Love,
Sister Hicks

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