Ola Mãe!

So this week was great. I don't have a lot of time to write since it took me so long to read all my emails from you haha:) But we definitely this week had a week of personal challenges and miracles all rolled into one. Our numbers have been really really bad the last few weeks (tipo 5 novos last week), but this week we killed them! We ended with 20 novos and 26 lessons! We found two families and we actually have a teaching pool! Ah, the power of fasting! Monday we had training like all day, and after we emailed and went shopping, and then Sister Sandholtz and I ate at Burger King (well I did, she had this place called Walk to Wok and she just thinks it's hilarious to say that she got Sister Wach to walk to Walk to Wok haha). Then Tuesday we found 8 novos, 6 of them were from two different families, which was awesome, also the Sister Training Leaders came to do divisions with us. I trained with a Brazilian. She was really nice, her name is Sister Almeida. We taught a really powerful lesson to a woman named Carla on Wednesday. Then Wednesday, the sisters from the island of Terceira called and said that S. Caldwell had LICE. She'd just spent Sunday night to Monday with us using our stuff and laying in our beds... so the Brazilians gave us lice checks. I was free of them, but poor Sister Sandholtz had eggs all over her hair. She was a trooper though because then she went and taught a lesson with the sister training leaders lice and all. I would have stayed home and been freaking out. After the sisters left, we called the casal over us medical wise and they told us we could stay in the rest of the evening, and so I spent 5 hours rubbing this delicing oil into S. Sandholtz´s hair and then running a little comb through it. Irmã Alexandra was nice and brought us dinner though. It wasn't so bad. It definitely proves that the mission changes people because there is no way I could have done that before! I didn't even think about barfing. I'm just glad it was me who had to comb them out instead of me with them on my head...:). We only found one alive though and I hope he isn't alive anymore. For once I'm glad that I like my showers so much (I went back to showering twice a day...:)) or else I would have had them also...:). The things we learn in the mission... patience, charity, love, and how to tolerate disgusting situations! Thursday I don't even remember or Friday either... sorry:) The life of a missionary is that you just can't remember anything:). S. Sandholtz asked me what my favorite food was before the mission and I can't even remember...:) Saturday we walked LOTS. We had a really great lesson with a young man named Carlos that we're really excited about, and then we had a lunch appointment with the branch presidente and his wife in the elder´s area and so we walked an hour there and then we had to be in Arrifes and so we like ran the hour back and up the mountain. Mira, the appointment in Arrifes dumped us though, so that was really sad. She said that she was baptized Catholic and that even though it doesn't mean anything to her, we have to respect that.  The rest of the day was great. We taught some really awesome lessons. I've realized something and that is that when we're in the house or that when we're just kind of walking around, it's so hard to be a missionary, but when we're teaching, I love it. Sunday we had church and we had a young man named Andre there. He was really cool. The elders kept telling us we should walk him down to the baptismal font and mark him for baptism during church... he hasn't even had the first lesson;). Then we walked to the very top of Arrifes and we taught a woman named Ascenção who the missionaries taught before. Today, because we're not have a real Pday again (that's 3 out of 4 Pdays that we haven't actually had Pday...) we got up, showered (normally we run, but we decided not to today), and then went and did an hour of studies so that we finished at 8h30. Then we put our PJs back on and we slept from 8h45 until 10h30, it was great:). Then we packed up and now we're just finishing so that we can head to Lisboa! Lisboa will be interesting that's for sure. We're staying for 3 days! I'm excited.

Two other cool things happened this week! We got a referal from the church website (!!!), which never ever happens! and then one of the girls in our branch, Daniella, decided to serve a mission. She'd been swaying on it and she'd been waiting for her patriarchal blessing to come (she'd already had it, but they're really slow at sending out the typed copy) to see what it said, and she was worried about her job (she nannies the american consulate´s kids). But I told her that my blessing didn't say anything about it, but that I'd learned that the mission is something you'll never regret doing but you could always regret not doing. So that was cool.

Well I'm out of time, but I'm gonna write you a letter on the airplanes and the two hour layover we have about my blessing:) and something else this week:).

Com Muito Amor,
Sister Wach

This is Ricki:)  Meg also said that she will be able to look and see if her suitcase was stolen, slashed with a knife and stuff stolen.... this week.  The mission office told me that a claim will be filed for stolen items.  :):):)