Live with Faith

Dear family,

Well, first of all, I am sure you all want to know the news about transfers...I am staying in Lapa (Lisbon) with Irmã de Almeida! It will be good. So, by the end of the next transfer, I will have been here in Lisbon for the same amount of time that I was in the Açores. I will have had a year of my mission in two areas. It is kind of interesting to think about. I know I have lots of lessons to learn from this. I am thinking that patience is probably one of them because when I feel like I am ready to move on, I realize that I have to stay exactly where I am and keep working. Maybe it is preparing me for the future...in a good way, of course.

But, I am so HAPPY that I am staying with Irmã de Almeida. She is so amazing. I couldn't have stayed with a better companion. It will be great this next transfer. We just have to keep baptizing the elect--especially all of those amazing families that are waiting for us.
This week was a little crazy, but it was good. We baptized the daughter of my first recent convert here. We baptized Daniela (9 years old), daughter of Linda. We also baptized a Brasilian woman named Gildete (Jill-det). When the baptism finally happened, it was great, but we have been experiencing problems with our water heater, so we had cold water AGAIN! (I am really wondering if I will be having water problems in my future...) We ended up going to another chapel where the Assistants were having a baptism. We just used their water. So when the baptism was scheduled for 1:00 pm on Sunday, it didn't happen until about 3:00 pm and by the time we got back into our area and to work it was about 5:00 pm. Yeah, I am definitely learning that Satan works overtime on Sundays and he was definitely working on not having them baptized. But, after lots of work and running around, everything worked out in the end and they were both very happy and wonderful.

Gildete's grandson was there for her baptism. He says he wants to be baptized this next weekend, so we are planning on him...( His name is Guilherme and is 11 years old). Very cute kid.

Thanks for all of the news and updates on everyone. I love hearing news. It is hard for me to believe that the real world is still rolling. I get lost sometimes in the mission world that I forget how things still move on. Oh, and thanks mom for the new mantra: "Live with faith, walk with hope, choose joy." That is exactly what I need to be doing.

Well, that is about all. Enjoy the snow. Thanks for everything--all of the support! I really feel it!

Love,

Irmã Pérez