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My Companion Lost her Mind this Week

Well, where to start. First of all, this week is Thanksgiving...so here's what I think. I think you should all remember that you are thankful for me, and on your day off from school and work, you should write me letters. :) I think it's a good plan. And it'll help me celebrate the non-existent thanksgiving here in Brazil! Great plan...let's do that. :)
As for other things....This week was hectic, but oh so wonderful! It had moments that were harder than anything I've ever done before, but it had moments where our level of happiness was up in the clouds! Let's start with...Tuesday! Tuesday after our district meeting, The Zone Leaders (Elders Smith and Nóbrega) came to our area to knock doors with us all afternoon. So we went to a new area, where I've never worked before, and we split. They went in one direction and we went in another, and we just started knocking and teaching. And it was fantastic....FANTASTIC. We found almost everyone we talked to was married. Married legally and all. Or did not live with anyone and therefore did not have the necessity to get married. They talked with everyone in the street and kncoked a bunch of doors too, but in the end, only gave us one name, but she (Poliana) is stellar, and we are working towards baptism with her. We marked for the 28th, but as she did not go to Church yesterday, it will probably happen on the 5th. Anyway, she is stellar, like I said, and we are going to try to baptize her husband too. Anyway, that night, Tuesday night, we taught a lesson with them to some people we had not previously taught, but had marked an appointment that night. And they took over the lesson, which was actually good, because it gave us a chance to see how this work is really done, and it was powerful. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson, and I learned more in that 45 minutes than in 8 months of practices and trainings...because it was real, not people pretending to be investigators. But this was real. I learned a ton and we are applying what we learned that day, and already we are seeing results!
We also went to talk to Patricia's father this week. We had it all planned out, what we would say, how we would explain about baptism and the church and the Young Women program and everything. We were sure we'd get his signature. So we went there, and talked with Patricia and her grandmother a bit, and then we wanted to sing and say a prayer, so we invited her dad...well, he didn't want anything to do with us, and went back into the house and shut the window in our faces. Oops. But I'm not giving up yet! We are going to go back there this week...it's been 4 months that I am here, and I want to see Patricia baptized! Haha, she is so prepared...it's just a matter of preparing the father. But i have faith that now is the time, or at least tha ttime is arriving here shortly!

What else did I learn...oh, when you set goals, and write them down, and really make it a goal, not just a wish, things happen. When I did that last Monday with a goal about baptisms, things started to happen. We found married couples who are interested in the gospel. We had people popping up out of nowhere. We had former investigators returning! Here's a great story for you...Friday, out of nowhere, Néia called and said "Sister Ogden, I have an investigator for you. Can you be at my house at 6pm?" Of course...we changed our plans to be there, and when we got there, we first saw Ana Flávia, who I haven't seen in ages. Oh what a blessing that was! Then we met Aline....and I found out who she was and nearly died of happiness! There is a family of a father and 5 children who live up the street from Néia. I have already taught the father, two of the daughters, and one of the sons. The other daughter and son were not living at home at this time. Anyway, none of them were interested....that was sad. Anyway, Aline is the other daughter!!! So we met her, taught her, answered some questions, and marked her baptism for the 28th. She went to Church yesterday, and brought with her Maiara, her sister who had told me she wanted nothing to do with the church! SO we went back there last night to talk more with them, and now they will both be baptized next Sunday. This was a miracle, and this is truly seeing the Lord's hand working with us!
Also, we had Jorge pop up out of nowhere. He is a reference from Elder G. Silva, our District Leader. He lives in our area, but knows a family in Elder G. Silva's area, so we went there one night last week to meet him and have a family home evening with this family. We are going back tonight, and he already accepted the invitation to be baptized, so that should probably happen on the 4th. Bummer that transfers are coming up so soon...now that I am seeing the work really pick up here, I'm almost positive I'll be leaving this area! It was the same in Vila Industrial when I left! Haha, but it's not about me...it's about baptizing this people and bringing the gospel to everyone. Whether I see the baptism or not, the important thing is that it happens and that the work continues to move forward.
Anyway, I had a ton more I wanted to say when I was thinking about all this yesterday, but my mind has changed. I have to save some stories for after the mission, right?! Haha. Anyway, this week was fantastic. This coming week is the last full week of the transfer, and we are going to work harder than ever to get there people in the water!
I love you all! Thanks for everyone you all do for me. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by....it's crazy.

Love,
Karen

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