Hello my amazing boy!!!
It is Monday! My favorite! How was your week!? I have so many questions I hope you can answer. How is Carlos doing as a new member? How about your other investigator? Is he progressing? Did you guys get your stove set up? (see my earlier email about gas leaks and a carbon monoxide monitor... ) Do you have access to a walmart or something like that? Where do you do your shopping on pdays? Did your food last the week this time? What do you typically get fed for lunch each day? Do you get fed 7 days a week? What will you do today for your pday? It is spring there basically, right? I've been watching the weather for you and it looks pretty nice. Do you get a lot of rain? Humidity?
I can't believe you will have transfers coming up next week. Do I have that right? Do you think you and Elder Lima de Silva will stay with you? How many transfers does he have left? Are you guys getting along well? I love the video you sent with you and the little boy dancing. Soooo cute! Have you met any members of your ward that you are getting close with? I hope there are members who look out for you and are helpful.
I really hope you got your birthday package this week! I mailed you three small christmas packages this week and i can see that they are in route to Brazil and have left the US. I really hope you get them in time and they don't get held up in customs. At the last minute I was trying to buy some collar stays for you but couldn't find them anywhere but on Amazon. Since I was mailing your package that day I didn't wait for amazon. However, I dropped by the drycleaners and they had some random ones so I included them in your package wrapped in a yellow receipt. I'll send you the collar stays in your next package.
This week was uneventful. I had a good week in seminary. I find this year is a good class but I'm aware that many of my students are struggling in significant ways. Luke Cordy was sent away this week to a kindof camp for troubled kids. I'm pretty sure Isaac doesn't know about this so don't say anything to him. It would just worry him. But the Cordy's are so worried about the decisions Luke is making and they are willing to try anything that might help. He will get home on December 11. Another one of my students was put in a mental hospital for suicidal thoughts. Another girl was in a mental hospital earlier this year for suicidal threats. Its hard to watch these young kids struggle so much. I really grow to love them and it weighs heavy on me. I have 3 other students (that I'm aware of... I'm sure there are more) that are medicated for anxiety and depression. It seems crazy to me that it is so common. I think of the scripture about how before the second coming "mens hearts will fail them." There is a lot of stuff to cause stress in this world. I pray for the Lord's peace for them all the time. The seminary bonus is.... we are off this week!!! You may not even be aware that it is thanksgiving this THursday. So we are off for the whole week. So thankful for that!
I read a talk that reminds me of your experience as a missionary in Brazil right now... the good and the difficult parts. This is a great talk and I'll send you the whole thing. Here is the part I wanted to share with you… It's Elder Neal A. Maxwell. " The highest compliment I can pay to you is that God has placed you here and now at this time to serve in his kingdom; so much is about to happen in which you will be involved and concerning which you will have some great influence... it is because you have a rendezvous with destiny that will involve some soul stretching and some pain that I have chosen to speak to you tonight about the implications of two things we accept sometimes quite casually. These realities are that God loves us and, loving us, has placed us here to cope with challenges which he will place before us. I'm not sure we can always understand the implications of his love, because his love will call us at times to do things we may wonder about, and we may be confronted with circumstances we would rather not face. I believe with all my heart that because God loves us there are some particularized challenges that he will deliver to each of us. He will customize the curriculum for each of us in order to teach us the things we most need to know. He will set before us in life what we need, not always what we like. And this will require us to accept with all our hearts—particularly your generation—the truth that there is divine design in each of our lives and that you have rendezvous to keep, individually and collectively." Just remember when you are facing a difficult time out there, some of this might be by design by a loving heavenly father who wants you to grow and become more like him… he wants you to learn something. When I have something so difficult in my life, I try to ask,"What do you want me to learn?" It helps me to see the challenge differently.
We have Thanksgiving this Thursday. It won't be even close to the same without you. But I thought I'd share with you a few things I'm thankful for. I'm thankful that Thanksgiving means that Christmas is around the corner and that means we get to SKYPE! I'm thankful that you are safe and protected and that Heavenly Father puts His arms around you to keep you safe and to help you feel His love and your family's love for you. I'm thankful for a wonderful son who loves His Savior so much that he would leave everything he cares about to serve Him and His children. I'm thankful for the ways you are growing and learning and becoming the man the Lord designed you to be. I'm thankful for the most amazing family that ever was… for the love we have for one another. I used to worry about my children growing up and leaving me. But I know that our bond is stronger than that. Even though miles keep us apart I feel incredibly close to you. I'm incredibly grateful for the children Heavenly Father entrusted me with. I'm grateful for a loving husband that brings fun into our lives and works harder than most to take care of us. I'm grateful that I live in this wonderful country and belong to the Lord's church. I'm thankful for my Savior who has given me the gift of eternal life and the chance to live with Him and my family for eternity. What did I do in the pre earth life to deserve the rich blessings that are overflowing in my life? I love you my son! You will be in my heart all day on Thanksgiving as I say a silent prayer thanking my Father for you!
I love you infinity + infinity and even more than that!
love,
mom
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