Greetings from CABEDELO!! August 20, 2014

Dear Mom, Dad, Family, and Friends,

Well, this week was a great week. Things are really starting to work out well in our area. I started giving a free English class this week and we were able to find new investigators. And the best part is that Bishop Paulo is a teacher so we went to the school where he works and went classroom to classroom to announce the class. It´s been really interesting :)

Dad:

Loved the photo that you sent of you and Mom at the Windjammer, Tradewind (whatever it´s called) :) cafe. haha, wow it seems like so long ago that we went on that cruise, the Radiance of the Seas. Hope you guys are having a fun time. 

I hope that you have been able to relax a little bit and get away from at least some of the work that you have to do. Sounds like you´ve been pretty busy with work work and church work. Hope you´re having a good time though. 

We gave the lobsters to our Ward Mission Leader because he was a cook and they cooked them but then they never game them to us, but it´s all good. Jorge gave us fish, already cut up and ready. It´s funny, everytime we pass by to teach him or just pass by, he always wants to make us food. Yesterday we were passing by and he had just made a "vitamina de abacate" or in English, avocado smoothie. yah, so here in Brasil, avocado is something that you eat sweet. They make this smoothie with milk, avocados, and sugar. haha, I was explaining to Sister Maciel that in the US we eat avocados with salt. haha, she was completely disgusted, "Avocados?! With salt and pepper?!" haha, but avocado smoothie is actually pretty good. 

hey Dad, I have a question for you, so I was reading this morning in D+C 107 about the priesthood and I wanted to ask you about verse 16 that talks about how you have to be a literal descendent of Aaron. Could you explain that more? Thanks :)

Mom: Glad to hear that you guys are having a great time. Oh, before I forget, I got your cards and...I got the package of Old Navy shirts from March! thank you thank you thank you! It actually came at the perfect time when I was really needing new shirts! 

Oh, and it was perfect that you emailed about the tickets but the mission secretary called this week and was asking about what airport I wanted to land in or if you guys were going to come to pick me up. yes, will definitely have to start planning but it´s good now that I know for sure that you guys will come cause I have to tell the secretaries to not buy a ticket. I cried a little after they called and asked me what airport I wanted to land in, it really hit me that the time has gone by so fast. 

Well, I talked to a few sisters from BYU in my zone and they said that there´s still time. It would be great if you could look at some apartments in October if you guys go to conference. Also, these sisters return home in September so I can ask them too when they get back. 

Oh, and thanks for starting to buy new clothes as well :) that´ll be great.

Bryan and Lindsey: Wow, I really can´t believe that Norah is going to be in kindergarten. It seems like yesterday that we drove up to Ithaca when she was blessed. Glad to hear that she´s doing well. 

Taylor: Glad to hear that you´re doing well! We´ll definitely have to listen to some Brazilian music when I get back! Wow, I can´t believe you´re going to start your senior year of college, what?! Send some photos of you and your girlfriend :)

Well, please pray for Eli and Jessica. They are two investigators that we are working with. They are really great, they just need a bigger desire to be baptized this Sunday! But I´ll write more next week about them! 

I hope you guys liked the photos that I sent as well! I have been trying to send more photos!

I love you all the MOSTIEST!

Love,

Sister Hicks

LOBSTERS and Happy Father's Day (Brasil) August 11, 2014

Dear Mom, Dad, Family, and Friends,

Well, this week went really well. We had another baptism! woohoo! Things are starting to pick up in our area. So Jorge was baptized yesterday. His mom, Severina, is an inactive sister but she came to church yesterday for the first time in a very long time. It´s so great to see members come back to church. Well, as you guys saw in the photos, he gave us about 11 or 12 lobsters to eat. He´s a real pro fisherman and gave us these lobsters :) We hid two of them on the other sisters´ study table, haha when they arrived home they moved the bag that was hiding them and they flipped out! haha, it was a pretty great prank :)

Mom: Loved the pictures that you sent from the cooking class! Looks like the food turned out really well! Oh and the small box that you sent still hasn´t arrived. And thanks for putting more money in my account as well. 

So about classes and housing, I´ll talk to some other sisters during district meeting tomorrow and I´ll let you know what I think. I really have no idea where I´ll live or classes or anything! aah! It seems so far away! 

haha, that´s so funny about Greg, I don´t know why we still doubt him, he really does know best! 

Wow, Jonathan Henderson came home, I had forgotten that he was on a mission, that´s so cool! 

and wow, have so much fun in Bermuda! Be sure to send me photos! 

Dad: Sounds like the talk you gave about the stripling warriors´ mothers went really well. I had never stopped and thought about how their lives had been. Really interesting point. :)

And I really liked the quote that you included from Elder Cannon. It´s interesting to think about being a part of this generation. 

Taylor: Hey Taylor! Haven´t heard from you in a long time! Hope you´re doing well and know that I´m thinking and praying for you! Keep me updated on how the new apartment life is!

Well, Thursday morning we had our zone meeting and I found out that Sister Stolk, my "daughter" in the mission was called as a Sister Leader Trainer, I´m so excited for her! Aah! I asked the APs to do a phone conference so that I would be able to talk to her! It was so great to talk to her for a few minutes! She´s still in Campina Grande in the same zone!

Well, I don´t have much time to write but I hope you all liked the photos I sent. haha, Sister Maciel and I like to goof around. 

Well, I love you all the MOSTIEST!!!

Love,

Sister Hicks

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! August 6, 2014

Dear Mom, Dad, Family, and Friends,

Well, to start off...I wasn´t transferred! I´m still here in Cabedelo with Sister Maciel, it´s our third transfer together! But I was expecting to stay here. I stayed with Sister Stolk for 3 transfers, Sister Cameron for 3 transfers, and now Sister Maciel for 3 transfers. 

And also, we had a BAPTISM on Sunday! So it was actually a miracle. So, last Sunday, Wellen, one of the sisters in the ward who goes on splits with us a lot, came up to us after the sacrament meeting and said that her son wanted to be baptized. Well, then she said that he was only 8 years old. Well, I thought to myself, oh that´s great but it will be a ward baptism, it won´t count for the mission. Then we asked her, "Well, when does he turn 9?" And she responded, "Oh, tomorrow is his birthday."

In that moment, I was soo happy, I really couldn´t believe the miracle that had happened. We had been fasting to have investigators come to church and not a single investigator had gone to church that day. And then Wellen came up to us and told us that her son wanted to be baptized, it was truly a miracle. 

So he hadn´t been baptized earlier because his grandmother and great-grandmother didn´t want him to be baptized, they thought he wasn´t old enough, and he didn´t want to be baptized against their will. 

Well, we had a family night/birthday party at Wellen´s house the following day, Monday, and the bishop and his wife came and Wellen´s family came. The bishop gave the lesson and it was really great. So afterward, we talked to Wellen and she said that her mom and grandmother said that if Alisson wanted to be baptized they would support him :) It was truly a miracle. 

Oh and also, I made the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that you sent me mom and everyone LOVED them. haha, it was so funny, everyone was like, wow, this is so good, what do you call this? It´s funny how something so normal to us, cookies, is something completely different to other people :) Maybe the cookies played a part in making the family change their minds :)

Mom: 

Thanks for putting more money in my account :) You´re the best. Oh and I definitely second the idea of getting a new wardrobe, haha :)

That was a cool missionary moment that you shared. haha, it´s definitely true that the LDS church is not the church where you can be anonymous, ex. visiting teacher, home teacher, etc. It´s funny because we have been trying to track down a lot of the less-actives on the ward directory and many of them have moved. Well, I think the stake president works for the police and the bishop said that we´ll just give the names to him and he´ll track them down, haha 

That´s so great that Jake got his call! And I loved the email that you forwarded from Danielle, she looks great!

Oh, so that picture of Rosa is actually a different Rosa, but it was still great that she went to church and two of her sons who are also less actives came to church as well :)

Dad: 

Glad to hear that the fishing went well, you sure did look happy in the photo that you sent :)

Good luck with all the ward conferences, I´m sure it´ll be great :)

Keep me updated on Grandma and Grandpa as well.

Kelsey: 

I absolutely loved the photos of Guy that you sent! He is so adorable! I hope he is feeling better. That must have been so horrible when he was so sick. 

I have been keeping a journal and write every night. It´s really cool to go back and read some of my journal entries from the beginning of my mission. It´s crazy how fast the time flies!

Lindsey:

Loved the blog post! Wow, Freya really does look a lot like Alice! At least to me she looks a lot like Alice :) Hope everything is well!

Bryan: 

Glad to hear that Freya is a good sleeper and good luck with the job hunt. I´m sure the right thing will turn up. :)

Kimball:

Glad to hear that you are doing well and also, good luck with the job hunt as well. I hope things improve with the company as well. Loved the pictures you sent! And that´s so great that there´s going to be a baptism! Woohoo!

Well, I have to go but I´ll write more next week! 

I love you all the MOSTIEST!!!

Love,

Sister Hicks