OHHHHH, we're halfway there....

And I am most definitely livin' on a prayer... Or maybe 5,000... It's at least somewhere between 1 and 5,000. I've lost count by now.

Life has been pretty good this past week. There were a few crazy stressful moments, but overall things are up and I'm learning Portuguese one word at a time!

This week we taught a lot of lessons. And during those lessons miracles happened, the spirit was felt, and people are getting baptized! Oh yeah! Now, if only these investigators were real... I have to say though, it's amazing how much you can love a fake investigator! It feels so real when you're teaching. You're completely following the direction of the spirit and relying on His guidance during the whole lesson, and then when you leave, you feel so giddy and excited because the person prayed or went to church or said they believed what you were saying was true! But then you come back to reality and realize that in the CTM, it's all practice. But the thing is, that doesn't matter! Because, even though the investigators are actually our instructors pretending to be someone else, we're still missionaries. We feel the spirit while we're teaching, because 1. It' s truth. 2. because we're not acting, we're being who we really are, representatives of the Lord's church!

This week was not easy by any means, but since when is life easy? I've learned a lot of things. I've learned that when I desire something, and exercise faith toward that desire, the Lord will bless me. For example, I have a desire to learn Portuguese, and so, I've decided to read The Book of Mormon in Portuguese. The. Whole. Thing. Gordon B. Hinckley promised that if you have a desire to learn a language, and you read The Book of Mormon in that language, you will become fluent. I'm trusting in the Lord on this one. He sent me here for a reason, and that's to teach the people of Brazil in their own language the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a very daunting task, but in the word's of Cinderella(the brandy, Whitney Houston version) Impossible things are happening EVERY DAY! It's so true!

I love the Lord, I love you all, and I am so grateful to be here in Brazil! I wish I had more time to write and respond, but I have 30 seconds left...

Have the best week ever!

Love,

Sister Stevens