Juntos Para Sempre!

We showed the video "Juntos Para Sempre" which means "Together Forever" to a family we are teaching, and it made me homesick for the United States and my family!  But while watching it, I also realized more my purpose for being out here.  Leaving our families for a short time, to help others be Juntos Para Sempre!

For Noite Familiar (Family Night) I taught a family how to play our Johnson game, Headbands!  We used clothespins to stick the cards on peoples heads.  It's still really hard for me to speak Portuguese, but I'm able to get across more and more each day.  It's super hot here - 90 degrees with high humidity, and the many mosquito bites are itchy, but then there's fun things like, sugar from real sugar cane - like the Bamboo.  You cut off a piece and drink the juices, Yum!

We encountered many people this week who were ready to hear the gospel.  One lady already had a Book of Mormon and when we entered her house she had a "pass a long card" in one of her picture frames.  Another man/boy (around 23 I think) rode up on his motor scooter and asked if we were from "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."  He asked tons of questions because he had looked us up on Mormon.org!  Another man said he was Catholic and has felt there's "something missing in his life."   When we taught him about Joseph Smith's first vision, and he cried when we sang Joseph Smith's first prayer. 

One man that we have been teaching finally got baptized!  He comes to church and likes the restoration story and reads the Book of Mormon.  When we invited him to pray, he said he wanted to get baptized!  We invited him to get baptized on Sunday, and he counted on his fingers: 1,2,3,4,5 days...Ok!  So on the baptismal day, we forgot we had to clean the baptismal font.  So we ran over early, cleaned it and filled it up with buckets of water.  It usually takes 3 hours to fill and we only had 1.5 hours.  But nos consequimos!!!

OI!!!


Wow, I don't even know how to describe this place.  I live in Cabedelo on a peninsula...you should Google it!  It is super hot, 90 degrees and lots of humidity.  Luckily the showers are always cold, which feels good - most of the time.  I love the people here!  Everyone calls us "minja filha" which means "my daughter."  They are seriously the sweetest people.  This cute older woman, Luzimar, made cake on Sunday for us. 

Kim and her companion and the Mission President and his wife.













































































































I'm able to speak Portuguese a lot better, and Sister Borges is working on my accent.  I'm usually able to pick out enough of what people are saying to answer questions and teach according to their needs.  The members of the church give all that they have to others, which sometimes isn't much...it's really humbling to see.


Yesterday we ran into a group of eight Phillipinos who couldn't speak any Portuguese so we talked to them mostly in English. They saw our black name tags and said, "Mormons! Mormons!" It's way cool that they recognized our church and knew that they could ask us for help. :) Tchau! Love, Sister Kim Johnson