Sister Alcocer and I arrived safely in Caucaia (which is where we live) in an apartment with Sister Silva (brazilian) and Sister Sosa (from Argentina). It´s been great!  We live outside our area (Planalto C) so it´s about a 20 min walk to get there.  It´s been pretty entertaining to find addresses and people that the sisters before were teaching. We´ll ask, do you know where the street Travessa da senhora de Fatima is?  They´ll either not know or point in a direction that we follow and never find the street. haha  But we´re learning quickly and walking walking walking which I LOVE!!  THe area´s really different. We´re in the country so sometimes there´s people riding a little wagon pulled by a donkey, chickens walking around, rocky/dirt roads, and more space in between houses. It was definitely a blessing to remain with Sister Alcocer. She is an incredible missionary.

Sounds like the band was a wonderful experience.  Many people deserve the honor of being recognized for their selfless and courageous service!!!  thanks to them we can go out and preach the gospel now!  Eek mom!  Lice would not be fun to deal with in a school.  I´d be paranoid too! That´s a cool idea to have people go up and talk about the revelation they received during conference. I LOVE the mormon tabernacle choir.  You can always feel the spirit when they sing.  Cannot believe that Ashlynn is 4! what happened?! Is she going to start school next year?  I think I need a recording of Brynlee laughing, that would be awesome.

Dad, it was audio translation :) and I agree that our President is inspired and called of God. That would be hard to choose only 6 favorite conference talks!

Also before I forget!!!!!  I´ve decided to extend my mission for 30 days, but I thought it might be good to gauge my family´s houghts on the subject. so thoughts?

We´re in a little branch and so I get to play the piano because no one else knows how.  But we had an investigator at church!  Alucia walked all the way there with us. She is incredibly sweet and humble. We met her this week.  She has already prayed and said she knows the church is true.  What a special sweet experience it is to talk with her. She doesn´t know how to read, so we´ll get the opportunity to read with her when we visit :)

We´re meeting so many wonderful people who just accept us right away even though we´re strangers from another country.  Such a loving and humble people!  

Something I learned this week was about agency.  It´s an incredible gift from our Heavenly Father that must be used carefully.  If we have thoughts or feelings that are negative, we must reject them immediately and not dwell upon them.  Dwelling and worrying allows Satan to have more power over you than He deserves.  Fortunately because of the Atonement of Jesus CHrist we can CHANGE!  We can have so much more power than Satan.  We can choose how to react.  We can think things through, we can read the scriptures and pray for revelation. I love this scripture in Mosias 4:9-10 

Acreditai em Deus; acreditai que ele existe e que criou todas as coisas, tanto no céu como na Terra; acreditai que ele tem toda a sabedoria e todo o poder, tanto no céu como na Terra; acreditai que o homem não compreende todas as coisas que o Senhor pode compreender.

  10 E novamente, acreditai que vos deveis arrepender de vossos pecados e abandoná-los e humilhar-vos diante de Deus; e pedir com sinceridade de coração que ele vos perdoe; e agora, se acreditais em todas estas coisas, procurai fazê-las

So yeah it´s in portuguese, but it´s amazing!  I know the church is true.  I know Christ is at it´s head.  It has all the pieces that the Bible talks about but no one seems to understand.  We have a prophet, we have apostles so the church will never be led astray.  That´s a guarantee!!!  What a wonder it is to be a part of such a wonderful work :) Sure love you all!

-- Love always and forever

Sister Harston