March 24, 2009

Minha familia querida!
OH I love you all! Thank you for all the loving and kind words of encouragement! They help so much. Thank you grandma!
Mom, for you, please don´t worry about me too much. I am doing just fine, and i just learned how to use my card here, honestly I haven´t had to use it because the mission money has been sufficient, but this week I had to for the first time. We get reimbursed for things like medicine, water and things like this, but I really would like to buy a new pair of shoes, sandals. My shoes are great, but for everyday i think it is better to have some good sandals and i can buy them here, honestly i think things are just fine, and the dollar here is worth 2 raise so it is great! If you want to send money, put it in my fund, like Jim did, and now i know how i can use it, but don´t worry i don´t think that i will need it. I had to have some work done at the dentist, this is why i needed a little extra money this time.
But I would like recipes. With all this Portuguese in my mind recipes for the most part have escaped, i am only remembering about half. I think I would like recipes for cookies, and banana bread, and i don´t know what else is important in life! :) Life is good!
I am loving, living! happy. Interesting though something that happened just yesterday for the first time on my mission. I taught a lesson and was clearly rejected, but for some reason this made me really sad. I get rejected all the time, but this time it was a different feeling. I had been happy, but seriously I started crying as we walked away. It was such a strange feeling. my heart yearned and agency prevailed. My companion was sympathetic. Interesting and I remembered my setting apart and how President Doty counseled to not become too discouraged when people rejected.
I am enjoying the work. It is difficult to feel like I am doing the very best I can, but I know that it makes a difference. Many times people will say the difference our message has made in their lives, and i have honestly made friends with some of our investigators as my prayers, and an increase of vocabulary have been working in my life! Yay! I am feeling a little more comfortable with Portuguese. I love this ward and area, We have transfers next week and i hope i will not be transferred. I would love to witness the baptisms of the people, my friends, that we are teaching now.
This is a scattered e-mail, sorry!
You are all in my thought and prayers! Not a day passes when I don´t think about you all!
I am so grateful for the trails I have especially when we visit others and hear what life is like outside the gospel. It is amazing that these things happen in the church to people, but with Christ things have so much more hope. So much more bearable to bear our cross with Christ. So many don´t know this. I love being a missionary to bring this hope to all the world!
I love you all!
Sis Judd