the joke is on me - Lages week 54

hello! i know its been a fatttt minute since i've written but i am here now alive and well. and to sum up this last transfer and my lack of emails thereof i will share this scripture "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." haha lol kidding kind of. but anyways! this past week i was transferred BACK to Lages (my first area) which means back to the coldest area in my mission... god is humorous. 

saying bye to my family of Rio Tavares was superrrr hard. i am constantly reminded of a quote that i mentioned in my farewell talk 10 years ago that if we cant be with the people we love, love the people you're with! and i know i always say this but its truly incredible how much love you can gain for the people here in just a short amount of time. i am already counting down the days until i can return to my mission and see everyone again! 

sooo Monday i met my new comp sis Maldonado from Argentina and we took the bus to Lages. here we live w sis Miller and Barbosa and we are all doing "white wash" in our areas. its been almost 20 years since they have had sisters in this ward so its been pretty weird for them to adjust. we only get called elders like 4 times a day tho :) so this week consisted of a whole lot of door knocking, getting lost, meeting the members and freezing our butts off. yeah in case you're wondering Lages is still the coldest place i've ever been to in my life!! pray 4 me

some little miracles that happened this week- as we were going through the area book we found some old investigator/ less active paper/records things (not really sure of the name in english oops) and decided to try them. we tried a less active member named Maria, she let us in and we shared a message.  she said we could come back anytime and that she would ´try´ to come to church. when we tried the other investigator Jandirá, she told us its been years since she's been to church but she will also try. when we starting asking the members about these two ladies, they told us that they were sisters (what the) and they were shocked that Maria even let us in bc she hasn't let the missionaries in her house for years. then they also told us that she always says she's gonna go to church and never does so we shouldn't get our hopes up. but we were determined so Saturday night we stopped by their houses, they ended up being together and we told them we would be waiting for them tomorrow morning! well Sunday morning came around and they showed up!! but the best part was that Maria was crying throughout all of it and afterwards came up to us, thanked us and told us she had been feeling lost for so many years but today she found her way back home. this was a pretty special experience for me. and just a simple reminder that everything happens for a reason! i was a little bummed finding out i would be going back to my first area but through these little experiences from this week i was quickly reminded that i am exactly where the Lord wants and needs me to be! 

thats it for this week but i will try and be better at writing this transfer. have a good week folks! "the Savior knows you and loves you. He knows your name as you know His!"

loves, sista kener