Amor do Pai Celestial

If I only had words to express to you my feelings this week... I´ll do my best. 

How the time has flown by. It seems like yesterday I hugged you all goodbye. Hard to believe that next week I´ll be on a plane coming home to you. this will be my last email to you as a missionary, next week we won´t have time to enter into email. My heart has been overwhelmed and grateful to be able to share my thoughts and feelings with you this week. 

This week was so incredibly special for me. Last week was so rough, but this week was everything that I needed. Heavenly Father answered my prayers so clearly, so tenderly and lovingly. How grateful I am. Monday after we emailed we went to lunch with José and his family. We had a great time, chatting and laughing. Graça is a hoot and keeps us all clutching our stomachs with so much laughter. After we ate, and shared a message, they told us to wait a moment becuase they had something to give us. José sat down and started to tell us taht he had finally made the decision. That finally his time had come and how grateful he was to Heavenly Father, to his family, and to us. Graça told us that we had entered into their lives at exactly the right moment, as two angels from Heavenly Father who brought renewed hope and faith in José, who encouraged them to not give up, who brought the spirit, who were obedient tools in the Lord´s hands to answer the prayers of their family. Everyone was full of emotion and the sweetest spirit accompanied us there. Then José gave us each an invite to his baptism, signed by him, with the date May 01, 2014. Thursday night. They told me they´d changed the date because they wanted this to be my last present before I went home. And we were the first ones to be told the big news. I don´t know how to explain the deep feelings I had in that moment. I felt so incredibly grateful and honored to have taken part in such a miraculous story and felt their gratitude and love for me and felt the love and approval of the Lord as well. My heart was filled with perhaps the greatest happiness I have felt throughout my whole mission. That family blessed me and helped me in ways they will never know, and to feel that same love radiating from them touched me so deeply. They are already well into their plans to be sealed as a family next year, and I plan to be here for it. They truly have entered into my heart as a second family, in a period of my mission that was so trying and so often so difficult, they gave me hope and happiness each day. They loved me in a way that helped me to feel how much Heavenly Father too loves me. On Thursday night he was baptized. Yesterday he was confirmed and received the priesthood. I am so deeply grateful for the privelege the Lord gave me to be able to know this family and to help them on their way to the temple. It was absolutely the most wonderful present of my whole mission. the peace that I felt that day was indescribable. 

I had the wonderful opportunity also this week to work with Sister Lima for the last time. It was incredible. We taught and taught and taught the whole day and the spirit was perfect. At the end of the day she turned to me and said, "Com dias como hoje, Bem poderíamos fazer isso para sempre." "With days like today, we could easily do this forever." Yes, yes we could. It was perfect. This work is perfect. 

So many experiences this week, so many answers to my prayers. And the sweetest peace confirming to me many time this week that the Lord has accepted my work. How grateful I am for this feeling. Weaknesses, I have many, but I know that through the atonement, the Savior has helped me to correct and overcome many shortcomings and has helped me day after day to serve the Lord. And looking back, to recognize the moments in where the Lord has been able to use me as a servant in His hands to bless the lives of others, I feel the greatest joy. 

I thank you with all my heart for your endless support. I want you to know that your prayers on my behalf have been answered and felt each day. I have reflected this week on how blessed I have been to have been so well prepared by such incredible parents, and how your support and love through my mission has blessed and helped me tremendously. I love you. So so so much. Words can´t thank you enough. But I pray Heavenly Father helps you to feel my eternal gratitude. 

I´m excited for this next week. Miracles await us. Hard goodbyes will come. But I know that this is the next step. The mission has changed my life in a way that even I can hardly compreend. It has changed my heart entirely. I wouldn´t trade this time for anything in the world. Thank you for helping me to get here. I thank Heavenly Father each day for this sacred privelege, that has truly molded me and blessed me so much. I love this people. There are so many people here who the Lord placed in my path that truly changed my life. That have entered into and will stay in my heart forever. As we serve, we find true happiness. As we love others, we feel the love of our Heavenly Father. His love is eternal and perfect. This work is eternal. I love this gospel with all my heart. I have never felt such greater joy and seen so many miracles. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. His church is on the earth. Joseph Smith was called of God as a prophet, and President Monson is the Lord´s prophet today. The atonement of Jesus Christ is for everyone. His sacrifice is eternal. How grateful I am to know these precious truths. How grateful I am to knwo that because of all of this, families are eternal. I love you. 

Until next wednesday...... 

Sending all my love and prayers and so much gratitude your way, for the last time from Brasil, 

Sister Kane

Olá gente!

Note from Katie's Mom:  Katie finishes her mission on May 13th.  She will speak in our Church on May 25th at 11:00a (Riverton Tithing Hill Ward).  There may be an open house the Saturday night before, but I will leave it up to her how she wants to reconnect with everyone (our son preferred to connect one on one and not have an open house, dunno what she will want).  She'll probably post on facebook when she returns, and she can let you know.  Thanks everyone for your support!  We can't wait to see her!  Cheers!

Olá gente! Posso escrever em portugues por favor? é bem mais fácil! 

I´m very short on time... and there´s so much to tell you! 

Quick updates.... 

Miracles are REAL. Many miracles have happened this week. José marked his baptismal date!!!!! We aren´t even in his branch anymore, but the live on our street so we pass by to say hello. His granddaughter, Isabele,( remember?) was baptized on SAturday and José was touched deeply. He said the closing prayer and asked perdão..... ai ai my brain is not working in english with the stress o time hahah... anyway, he was very touched. Yesterday we went he he has marked his date. I cried with the sweetest happiness. How I love that family. They have captured my heart completely. 

We are loving the new area. Think of the most backwoods place you can imagine.. with dirt roads, nothing but fields, horses, cows, crops, chickens in the road, in the house.... that´s our new area :) hahahah we are having a blast. So much fun. There were so many pictures I took this week that I wanted to send you but I don´t think I have time! Next week :)

We cross a bridge every day.. it goes over a big lake. The most beautiful place. It reminds me of daybreak lake... always brings back several memories haha.

I gave me last testimony today in our zone meeting....... very very strange.

We have FAMILIES here. Big families that we are teaching. So special. This week a family of SEVEN came to church. All  of them. It was incredible. I was so so happy.

I love the mission. So much. I don´t feel like I`m in the end.... Nor do I want to haha. I am happier than ever. I love this gospel. In this area I have learned so much about my Heavenly FAther and my SAvior Jesus Christ. I have come to know them in a much truer way than ever before. I have developed a sweet relationship with my Heavenly Father here and felt the sweetest peace.
I love each of you. Thank you for the endless support. I am so so proud of each of you. I wouldn´t be here without you. I wouldn´t be who I am today without you. Thank you for getting me to this point. My life has changed for all eternity because of it. This gospel is true. Let´s spread the good news.
I love you! Have a wonderful week! 

My love and prayers,
Sister Kane

O Bom Fim

Bom dia! 

Looks like everyone´s doing great. Thank you for the updates and the pictures! 

This week was great. Finally the things started picking up here! We found 2 incredible families this week! And José is close.. really really close. We´re hoping to officially and finally mark his baptism for this Saturday... it´s already marked for his granddaughter, Isabele (I´ll send a pic of her.. I´m absolutely in love with that little girl) and now it´s time for José to finally commit to his word and be baptized with her. Oh how I love that family! 

Well with all the long awaited success this week we were shocked to receive the news about the transfer... we´re headed out. To a place really really far away...... the other side of the city :) We´re going to switch branches. We´ll stay together, Sister Pereira Silva and I, but we´re going to work in the other area now. I was very surprised... opening an area in my last 4 weeks haha.. but I know it´ll be great. They are leaving a great group of investigators for us. It was interesting because we found out when all the missinoaries were at a combined activity with the two branches on fridaynight. there was a young woman there named Daiane who was baptized on Saturday from the branch where we´re headed to. When we found out we´d be switching branches, that young girl caught my attention right away and I felt strongly that we were headed there in part because of her. To help her stay strong and (hopefully!) get prepared for a mission, and to help the rest of her family enter into the path. That night when we were going to sleep, Sister Pereira Silva said that she felt exactly the same thing. Interesting how Heavenly Father works, huh? Well, guess what the name of the new branch is... Bom Fim. Know that that means? Good End. hahah. It will be a Bom Fim indeed. I´m excited. I believe I have the record in the mission of the person who stays the least amount of time in each area. Heavenly Father´s got me switching things up all the time. :) But I´m grateful. He knows me well and knows that change is good for me. 

I love this work. I am happy as can be. I don´t feel like I´m at the end. Two feet in the mission, as my wise brother always counsels me :) I am grateful for the way the Lord teaches me each day. I am grateful for the love that I feel for the members and the people wherever I am, no matter how little time I stay. New beginnings, new adventures :) Our new area is over an hour away from our house... we´re going to get thin haha. 

I love our Savior Jesus Christ. Each day as I learn more about Him, I feel a greater desire to become more like Him and to help Heavenly Father´s children know about Him. I know He lives. May we remember Him even more as we prepare to celebrate Easter this week! 

I love you so much! Have a most wonderful week! You´re in my prayers. 

Sending my love and prayers from São Gabriel, 

Sister Kane

A melhor conferência

Good morning, my dear family! Thank you for the wonderful emails. I loved every one. I love that you all loved conference as much as I did. My goodness, it was incredible, wasn´t it?? There´s so much a want to share with you! But for lack of time, I´ll keep it short and sweet. 

I.LOVED.THIS.CONFERENCE.

I have never loved a conference quite like I loved this one. I felt the sweetest spirit through the entire weekend. It was absolutely incredible to me the way that Heavenly Father instructed me and answered all my questions through each session. Earlier this week I was looking back to my notes from conference exactly a year ago... looking at the questions that I had written down.. wow how my life has changed in this last year. I could hardly believe it. I also was looking at the number of missionaries.. one year ago: 65,634. This year: More than 83,000. Incredible. I feel absolutely priveleged to be part of this incredible work in such an incredible and historical time. It´s truly an honor. There are so many things I loved this conference, so many talks that touched me deeply. I have to admit that I had an inkling of hope that President Monson would get up on Saturdaymorning and say that sisters could serve for two years... haha didn´t work. But I felt a very very sweet peace through this conference as the Lord taught me from on high and gave me the answers that I needed to help me in this last transfer and also to prepare me for the next phase of life. My hearts been overwhelmed with emotions this weekend and tears have been present at more than a few moments. I love this work. In a way I never thought I would. My hearts hurts to think that I have little time left to participate in it as a full time missionary. I can´t fathom the thought of leaving the house without this little black badge! But I know that the Lord has a plan for me. As President Uchtdorg so wisely told us, "There are no endings, only everlasting beginnings." During the last hymn yesterday, I felt a deeper peace than I have possibly ever felt. A peace that comforted me deeply. A peace that has stayed with me. I love this gospel. I love the idea of eternal progress. I love that wherever we are, there is work to do, there are hearts to lift, and people to serve. Now it´s time for me to continue running, to give it all to the Lord. There´s people here who need me. There´s people here who need help taking the first step to eternal life. How grateful I am to be a servant of the Lord with the authority to help them. I love our Savior Jesus Christ. I am certain that He lives. That He loves us. If I´ve learned one thing above the rest during this beautiful journey, it´s that our Heavenly Father and our Savior are so keenly aware of us and love us SO. MUCH. I have felt it in my life, and I have seen it felt in the lives of others. 

I love you. I am so grateful to know that we are sealed forever. I am so proud of each of you. Have a wonderful wonderful week! May you feel my endless love and prayers! 

Sister Kane

CONFERÊNCIA!

Bom dia começa com alegria!

Thank you for the wonderful emails! Seems like everyone´s doing great! Getting excited for conference, are we? Wooohoo! I am so so so excited. I can´t wait! It´s truly the most wonderful time of the year. The most rewarding weekend of all. Joe, I´ll try to at least take a sneak peak of you translating! You´re the coolest! I am so proud of you! We´ll see what announcements the prophet has for us this week :) 

This week´s been great. Lots and lots and lots of learning. As always :) This week I´ve learned more about the importance of looking UP. Many times we look to our side, to our friends and family for help, before looking UP. I´ve always had the dearest of friends at my side through the mission and I often made that mistake of looking to them for advice instead of looking up first. Here I´ve learned to look up before looking anywhere else and I´ve felt the greatest difference. It´s incredible to see how Heavenly Father is so ready to answer us and to help us. He literally is just waiting for us to look up and to ask Him and He answers us immediately. 

We are teaching some great people. Janine is the greatest. She´s 24 and she is loving everything about the gospel. She wants to be a missionary :) Haha. But sadly she´ll have to wait becuase she´s got two little boys already. But she is really special. She honestly accepts everything we teach with so much excitement and willingness. People like her bring so much joy into a missionary´s heart! José is progressing.. haha he´s a stubborn one. But we marked is grandaughter´s baptism for the 12th and we´re praying that he´ll finally make his choice and be baptized with her. But I love this place. The Lord is touching hearts here. Mine included.

My companion is doing well. I am so grateful for her. She teaches me so much! She is one of the most special people I have met on my mission, who is changing and blessing me more than she thinks she is. I have no doubts that we knew eachother before we came to the earth and that we were already chosen to be companions one day here. The Lord placed us together at this time for a wise purpose in Him. How grateful I am. 

Well, gotta run. Have a wonderful week, and a marvelous conference!! Woohoo! Oh how I love that Tommy Monson. I´d like to be more like him! 

I love you! Thank you for the endless support and love! You´re in my prayers. 

Sending my love and prayers from São Gabriel, 

Sister Kane

Pics from Sis Kane

February 24

Bom dia, família! 

Thank you for all the emails and updates. Everyone seems to be doing so well. I am so proud of each of you and so grateful for your examples in my life! Thank you for the endless support!! I think I´m the most blessed Sister ever. :)

We´ve had another wonderful week here in Cruz Alta. Have I mentioned how much I love this place? So very much. I hope to stay here until the end! We´ll see what the Lord´s got planned :) The beginning of this week started off a little nuts, a little stressful, but the weekend was perfect. On Saturday we helped in a stake service project, painting and cleaning a school. We had way too much fun! It´s always been a dream of mine since the beginning of the mission to be able to PAINT in a service project, and finally my dream was fulfilled :) I´ll send some pics. I think I ended up painting myself more than painting the school haha. The Lord placed some very special people in our path this week. People truly prepared for the gospel. Yesterday we had several people confirmed to come to church with us, but on our way when we called to confirm again, they all cancelled and said they wouldn´t be able to come. I was a little stressed with that and started to reflect on what I need to change and improve so that we might be able to help our investigators better. We set some goals, and headed on to church, praying for a miracle, that someone would show up. There´s a recent convert, Carol, who´s 14 years old and an incredible young woman. Pure missionary already (she´s been a member for 4 months). We started teaching her family this week and it´s been incredible to see Carol´s joy as she watches her mom and sister accept the gospel. They both had confrimed that they´d go to church but then cancelled.. when we got to church we went to find Carol and decided to go to her house and talk to her mom and sister to come to church. Carol was a little doubtful and had a hard time believing that they´d come. But off we went, the 3 of us praying and asking for a miracle. When we got to her house, her mom (who´s paralyzed from the waist down) had gotten herself up and was getting ready to come to church. The look on Carol´s face when she walked in was perfect.. she was so surprised and so happy. When we got in the car, Carol hugged us and quietly said, "I love you guys. Thank you so much." Her joy was indescribable to have her mom at church with her. She was so so happy. It was the miracle of the day. The Lord is so very kind. So so so very kind. I love this work. There´s nothing that brings greater joy. Last night as we walked home, there was a thunderstorm collecting on the outskirts of the city... it´s the most incredible thing when this happens because there´s lightning within all the clouds..before the rain starts to fall. i don´t know how to explain. I´ll send a few pictures, but the pictures don´t do it justice. It was the most incredible sky last night... we walked home feeling so much happiness, so much love for this place. My heart is captured here in Rio Grande do Sul. Days like yesterday, I could stay here forever. I love this gospel. I love learning and growing each day. I love being able to feel closer to the Lord each day. There´s truly no greater joy than this. The time is running before me... I can´t believe who fast it´s gone. I´m so grateful for the time here and for the precious time I have left in this blessed place. If you could all stop praying for the time to hurry up and pray for it to slow down I would greatly apprecite it ;) haha. I love you very much. Have a wonderful week! May you feel the Lord´s great love for each of you and recognize His hand in each day! 

Sending my love and prayers from Cruz Alta, 

Sister Kane

February 17, 2014

Bom dia, querida família! 

Well, this set of emails has been a fun one hahah... Jessi totalled my old car...my first companion, Sister Nascimento, is well in the works preparing for her wedding, other nutty news,and I also nearly cried when I received the email asking for my information for my flight home..... ai ai ai. I remember one year ago when my trainer received that email and she nearly cried as well... I never thought my day would come! It´s a strange strange strange thing. I can´t believe how fast it´s going. A little bit of a whirlwind today! hahah.

This week has been a great one. Every week, every day is great. I couldn´t be happier. Perhaps my emails seem a bit redundant with that phrase haha, but I can´t explain the true happiness that fills my heart each day here. It´s priceless. 

This week I´ve learned more about how the Lord places certain people in our lives,always in exactly the right moment, to enter into our lives and stay in our lives for eternity. There are so many people here who I absolutely love, who I am certain were placed into my life to stay for eternity. Companions, other missionaries, recent converts,members...so much love fills my heart. Can you believe I´ve been in Cruz Alta for nearly 8 months now?? I can´t believe how fast it´s gone. I love this place. I hope the Lord lets me stay here until the end...! 

One of this people who entered into my heart during these weeks is Vitoria. A young woman, 13 years old, who has passed through much more than any 13 year old should have to pass.She was baptizedon Saturday, and was able start a new life. She´s got a complicated past, but Heavenly Father wanted to give her a new chance,a new beginning.That´s what I Love about this gospel.It´s perfect. Our Heavenly Father´s love is so infinite, it doesn´t exclude anyone,it invites every single person to partake of the happiness of the gospel.Vitoria is changing her life.Little by little, her face glows a little more, her smile gets a little wider. This gospel is for everyone.

We had zone conference this weekend.We gave a training about listening and loving the investigator.Big crowd this time.. it was a good experience. We were reunited with many friends in this conference and we had all our sisters there.. so fun. It was so great to see everyone and remember some of the great memories together. Eternal friendships here. How grateful I am for each of the people the Lord has given me the opportunity to meet. I love this place. It´s passing far too quickly...But we´re embracing every singleday and loving every moment. The happiness is deep and eternal.

I love each of you!! Thank you for being so incredible and so faithful. How blessed I am. Have a wonderful week! 

Sending my love and prayers,

Sister Kane

Some Pics

Tuesday Night Radio Show to share the Gospel!

The Girls

Katie now serves as the female version of Zone Leader.  She gets to travel all over to help the Sisters and see old converts.  She loves it!

Hotter than Hades; Happier than ever!

Bom dia! 

Se eu pudesse escrever em portugês, eu ficaria muito feliz... mas.... 

Well, if I could write to you in portugues I would be very happy! My mind has quite a challenge with english...

Thank you for the wonderful emails and updates. You fill my heart with happiness! I am glad to hear everyone is well and happy and working hard. Baby B is the CUTEST. Take advantage of the cold!!! Here it´s like walking in a sauna everyday... I´ve never sweat like this in my life hahaha... drops of sweat fall from my face.. drops. Daily. Yuck. But, it doesn´t stop the happiness :) 

This week has been wonderfully busy and wonderfully exhausting and wonderfully happy. We had the opportunity to go to São Borja again this week to work with the Sisters there. Eeshh... Let me tell you... São Borja is the bordering city with Argentina. It´s called a "fronteira" city where the weather gets all the extremes. (I´m sorry, I feel like my grammar isn´t making sense.. and the other american elder here is just as lost as I am and is not helping haha). It´s hotter than hot and colder than cold in the winter. 44 degrees celsius. Eesh. If i´m not mistaken, I believe it´s over 110 degrees farenheit. Imagine that! Hahah I decided after that that I´d accept willingly the 37, 38 degrees here in Cruz Alta. But we had a great time with the sisters there, even with that glorious heat. It´s so fun for me to work with Sister Claret, one of my dearest friends and roomate of 5 months here in Cruz Alta. 

We´ve been running around to prepare everything for this upcoming week, and trying to keep up with our work here and in helping the sisteres. Heavenly Father has helped us so much!! Even though our time is often short, He always makes time for us to accomplish everything and to able to visit our investigators and recent converts, etc. This week I have felt such an outpouring of love from our Father in Heaven, and an overwhelming love for the people we are teaching. Many times throughout this week I have found myself choked up as I testify to God´s children how much He loves them. I´ve felt it so clearly this week, for the investigators, the other sisters, the recent converts. So much love and true desire to help them in their difficulties. It seems like my own worries and difficulties have simply gone away, because my greater worry is for each of them. I remember Dad always telling me that when I was younger.. if you´re having difficulties or not feeling happy, go and serve someone else. Make them happy, and you´ll find happiness and solutions to your own problems in turn. How grateful I am so be here. The time flies by. Each day has become increasingly more precious to me and I pray to able to help each of God´s children in this area in the way that He needs me to. I love this work more than my words can express. I am so grateful for the daily growth and progress here on the mission. I love you so much! Thank you for your examples and support! 

Sei que Cristo é nosso Salvador. Ele nos conhece e nos ama perfeitamente. Que vocês possam sentir isso durante essa semana. 

Amo vocês!

Sister Kane

April 28: 3, tres, 1-2-3... TRIO

Oi cute family!! How is everyone doing? Thank you so much for the WONDERFUL emails this week. Seriously. Loved every single one. You are the best :) Sounds like you guys are busy as every with the yard and everything else. Lots of work! Summer cleaning haha.. we are preparing to take on the winter here :) But how great to hear that everyone is well. Jess, way to go on your talk :) I know you did wonderful, because you have such a powerful testimony that it doesn´t even matter if you were nervous because your testimony was certainly carried into the hearts of everyone there :) Love hearing about all the mission calls. Crazy things are happening! The Lord is hastening the work. So cool to see it all rolling forth. 

Everything is going great on this end of the world. One sister who lived with us went home this week because of health problems, so we are in TRIO now :) Haha I´ve never heard anyone speak highly of a trio, and admitedly it´s not proving to be my favorite thing in the world. I think we have 3 of the most opposite personalities in the world. But it really is going well :) We are laughing up a storm in the streets. We´ve started a new game that we play in the streets.. it´s a word game, it´s rather ridiculous, but we never cease to laugh throughout the day. It´s good to keep our spirits hight, no matter how ridiculous our ways are :) Our teaching as a trio has definitely got some work to do... but we´ll get there. Besides it´s only going to be for two weeks until transfers. 

We´ve got a great group of investigators right now. We have two baptisms set for this week. One is the mom of the young girl we baptized a few weeks ago. She is SO special!!! Ah, she brings such joy to my heart :) The sweetest spirit is always present when we teach her. They are truly the humblest of families. This family has nothing. Nothing. But they are deeply rooted in their faith in Christ and find joy in what matters most. It´s going to be such a special baptism! Yoohoo!!

Yesterday was a conference via satellite with the 4 (i think) southern states of Brazil. We heard from various area leaders and then from Elder Richard G. Scott. Oh, he´s so wonderful :) He speaks Portuguese... he also speaks Spanish... and sometimes he forgets which language he´s speaking and mixes the two :) Hahaha is portugues is very difficult to understand, but it was great anyway. He´s such a dear! 

In other news.. I have athlete´s foot... hahahah seriously Brazil is not doing much for my beauty or for my feet. Gross. But... I´m treating it and it appears to be getting better. (Thank goodness for that first aid kit you sent with me mom! It had exactly what I needed :) ) 

Passed 5 months in the mission this week...can you believe it?? Holy cow. It goes fast. 

This week I studied the sermon on the mount again. It´s so beautiful. If you´re needing something to study this week, study that. It´s great. So applicable. Also if you haven´t read Our Search for Happiness, READ IT. It´s perfect. This goes for family, friends, members, and non members. This book is perfect. It will help your faith and answer any questions you have about the gospel and the church :) 

Well.... I think that sums up the week okay. I am one happy little missionary. Life is wonderful in the service of the Lord :) 

Have a wonderfully happy week!! Know that you are all in my prayers. Thank you for your love and example! I feel your prayers and support daily. I LOVE YOU, family!!! 

Sending ALL my love from Brazil, 

Sister Kane

April 15

Bom dia familia! 

Thank you so very much for all your emails and wonderful words of wisdom :) I love you! So great to hear about all the happenings back home. You all sound wonderful. Keep the good news coming, okay?:) Did you guys enjoy conference? How´s school, work everything going? Mom, glad you got connected with the branch president here!! It will be so fun to have that link! He´s great and loves talking to our families :) 

Então... I´m here in São Borja!! It´s going great! So much to tell... let´s begin eh? Well, leaving Parque Pinheiro was very difficult... I cried, Sister Nascimento cried, we all cried :) A lot. But, eventually we had to just rip of the bandaid and I had to leave my little family there and my mommy and head on to new adventures! I don´t know if tranfers get easier over time, but I hope so! Haha because it felt like I was leaving home all over again. And leaving behind our investigators was one of the hardest parts.. to now leave them in the hands of other missionaries after you develop such a love for them and desire for their well being and progression in the gospel. But I suppose that´s the way the mission goes huh? And of course, Heavenly Father kees a close eye on all of them. But, we arrived here late Tuesday night and entered into the nightmare of a house we live in :) it´s horrid, but.. i was also very spoiled with the house in Parque Pinheiro, so... I guess it´s only fair to have a crappy house now haha. But it´s right next to the chapel which is SO nice. Everything is very close to home here which is great. We live in the city here.. it´s refreshing.. civilization :) It´s a nicer area here than the other area.. there´s some beautiful homes here! And there´s stop lights.. also something we didn´t have in the last area haha :) My companion, Sister Prisbela is great. She works so hard! She has a huge desire to talk to everyone, to teach everyone. I think that she and Sister Nascimento are possibly the two most opposite sisters in the mission :) But she really is great, and I know I`m going to learn a lot with her. She has a great love for the work and for the Lord. 

We had two baptisms yesterday! It´s a little different because I met them just a few days ago and haven´t been a part of their journey, but it´s still wonderful to see people take this step in their lives and to see the happiness that shines from their eyes :) I´ll send pics. 

This week has been a little bit of a whilrwind and I´m not completely settled in yet. But I really am very excited to be here. The Lord always knows best, and though it was a huge surprise and challenge to be transferred, I know the Lord has great things in store here in São Borja and that the timing of the change was wisdom in Him. It was time for the baby bird to leave the comfort of the nest :) The Lord is truly in the details of our lives. Every little thing. He organizes it all. And with so much care and love. I know that this is truly His work, that the gospel brings a deep joy and happiness that nothing else in the world can bring. I know that our Savior lives and that He sacrificied everything that we might have JOY. The Lord desires nothing more than our happiness in this life and the life to come, and the gospel is the way to obtain it :) 

Have I mentioned how great the mission is? :) It´s really really great.

I love you to the stars and back, cute family. You are my light and joy! Thank you for the prayers, love, and support. I feel it daily and couldn´t do this without it! Have a most wonderful week, FULL of joy and laughter :)

Sending all my love from Brazil, 

Sister Kane

April 8

Bom Dia Familia!! Como vocês estão?? 

Well, I just had a whirlwind of a moment... I logged on, was reading emails chipper and carefree as can be... then we got a phonecall from the LZ... I´m being transferred! Holy cow... I´m in a little bit of shock right now... We thought we were safe :) President had told us both that we´d be together until the end, all our leaders ensured us yesterday that we´d stay together until Sister Nascimento goes home after this transfer... but..... the Lord has other plans it looks like :) Bah... I´m a little shaky and the tears are fighting to come out. I´m headed to São Borja tomorrow morning... 6 hours from here. My new companion is going to be Sister Prisbella, a Brazilian. Very sweet. A little bit nervous based on some of the things I´ve heard, but.... we´re walking forward with faith :) I´ll say tchau to my sweet companion tomorrow morning and hope to see her again at some point after the mission. She is an angel. Funny how the Lord works... I sent an email a couple weeks ago feeling stressed and frustrated with the companionship, and now I´m sitting in tears at the thought of having to say goodbye to her. We´ve grown closer than ever this past week and half or so and are genuinely the best of friends at this moment. Ah, minha nossa. But, here we go :) This is the mission and I know the Lord knows what´s best for me. I know that I´m headed onto a new area, new adventures, and new experiences. It´s going to be great! Faith in every footstep. :)

Okay, anyway... thank you so much for all the emails! Everyone sounds wonderful! Joe, look how cool you are on TV!!!! I had a feeling you´d be interpretting for conference finally :) How neat. I really wanted to watch conference in ASL.. but the other Americans weren´t all over that idea :) But what a neat experience! You are incredible! Glad to hear you guys had such a wonderful time in St. George :) 

This week was great. Really. Sister Nascimento and I had more challenges and more difficulties, but more laughs and friendship than ever before. We have some wonderful people here that we are teaching and I know Sister Nascimento will continue to help them progress to baptism. It´s been a wonderful, wonderful journey here in this area and ward. 

Conference!!!!! Yoohoo!! Oh, it was so so so wonderful. I was on cloud nine all week anticipating conference, and on cloud ten the whole weekend. It was amazing. Conference was a little different than sitting at home on the plush couches with the smell of mom´s homemade food, but it was just as wonderful and sweet. We watched it in English which was the first greatest blessing :) I was a little worried that we wouldn´t be able to. But we had 6 of us americans crammed into the ward secretary´s office and watched it online :) It was so great. And we only spoke english while we were in there which was also great haha. It´s refreshing once in a while :) But the talks were absolutely incredible. Exactly what I needed. And definitely powerful for our investigators as well. Oh, how I love this beautiful gospel. What a blessing to have the truth. What a blessing to have a living prophet and apostles. THIS is true, and everlasting happiness that ONLY comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Well, my mind is a jumble right now so I´ll leave at that for this week :) Until next week from São Borja.... bah. Send prayer please, I need them :) I love you to pieces. You are the light of my life! Thank you for all your love and support! 

I LOVE YOU!! 

Sister Kane

March 25

Hello cute family! How are you doing?? So lovely to hear from all of you! You are such rays of sunshine. Time is super short so I apologize in advance....

This week has been a little slow.... Lots of walking, lots of trying to find new people. But its been good. Lots of learning and trials this week, which always brings a little bit of growing pain, but it´s been good :) The weather is a little nuts... hot, and cold, hot and cold. Sound familiar, utah? :) 

We found a very special family this week! They have great desires to change and accept the gospel fully in their lives. We found them when they were at the lowest of lows, the dad without a job and food nearly running out, and they were desperately searching for some light in their lives. Good thing we´ve got light to share :) The dad has since found a job, they are growing happier each day, the son will be baptized this Saturday, they are preparing to get married and the rest of the family will be baptized in April :) They are wonderful. 

This week has placed many challenges in our way, and the difficulties of a companionship have shined through many a times this week. As much as we love each other, there´s always going to be difficulties. But each difficulty presents a new way to learn and to better ourselves! 

The Lord is completely in control of our lives. He is in the details of every day, every moment. He knows our thoughts, our feelings, our difficulties, our desires, everything. And He knows exactly how to help us as well. He stands ready to help us and walk with us. But it all depends on us--it depends on our faith, our willingness to do our part, our diligence. And it´s only after we exercise our faith and do our part, that the miracles come. That the changes we desire come. It all comes down to faith and work. But I´m certain that when we do what He asks, He jumps at the chance to help us in every single way. 

That´s been the majority of my thoughts during this week. Lots and lots of learning. And lots of outpouring of love from Heaven :)

Thank you so much for all your support! For the many emails of love and support I received this week. I am so very blessed! 

I´m sorry this email is so short... and boring.... :/

I love you all so much! You are incredible! You are always in my prayers! Have a most wonderful week, filled with joy and blessings and lots of laughs :)

Sending all my love from Brazil, 

Sister Kane

Pic from March 18

March 18

Oi queridos!! Tudo bom?? Can you believe it´s P-day already? Holy cow. I think I say that every week. But this week went especially fast!

So lovely to hear from you all! My goodness, Bentley is darling. So stinking cute. I die every time I get a new picture! So so darling. Is he signing yet? :) You all sound wonderful though! Becoming an apple family are we? ;) Que legal.

Okay so new rules on emailing! First rule, we only have 40 minutes now... boo. Just FYI. I´ll be even more rushed now, but going to do my best to send a decent email out, tá bom? :) Second rule, the first presidency just changed the rules this week for all missionaries everywhere that we can email friends, recent converts, whoever we want now. Interesting! Don´t now why the change, but kind of cool! So friends, feel free :) I´ll do my best to be in contact with everyone! I love hearing from all of you.

But don´t worry, family, you definitely come first :) Always and forever.

So.. this week... we had two baptisms on Saturday! Our little eleitinhos :) Rafael e Ricardo. I´ll send photos. They´re great. Little powerhouses.

The work is going. It´s a little slow right now.. We have 3 families that we´re working with that are all very special. Two I´ve already talked about, that have received the missionaries several times. But they´ve both committed to try again and that they want to progress and prepare for baptism. They are incredible families! Theyre just very very slow to take action and to actually progress. But we´ll see what happens. All in the Lord´s hands :) The other family we found this week. They have 3 sons. They are very humble, very sweet. And searching for the truth. They are ready for the gospel! We just have to wait for the parents to get married legally which takes at least a month if not more, and then I´m certain they´ll be baptized! They have great faith and huge desire to follow Christ. Perfect, right? :) Just have to deal with that marriage thing first. Nobody here is legally married... it´s very rare to find it. But the other 2 families already were married! Yoohoo!

Umm... what else. Oh, COLD. Winter has begun. It´s very early here to start with the cold. But it has definitely begun. Last week we were dying of heat during emails, and this week we´re bundled up in boots and scarves. Seriously. It´s FRIO. Nighttime is sooo cold. Thermals, leggings, sweats, 3 blankets... that´s what I used last night :) Haha at night when the sun goes down, we cling to eachother in the street with shattering teeth just trying to keep warm until the next house. But I love it! I love this weather! Life is good here in Santa Maria :)

Well.... that´s about it for this week. Not much too exciting! My English is a joke. Yes, my english. You´re going to laugh when we talk on Mother´s day. Holy cow.. can you believe how soon that is? Almost 4 months in the mission already... sheesh!

I´m going to attach photos now. Sending all my love!!! You are the best! Anjos do céu. Thank you for all your support, love, and prayers! Miss you!

Hugs and kisses from Brazil,

Sister Kane

March 11

Oi queridos!

Thank you so much for the emails! How wonderful to hear from each of you. You are the coolest! Seriously. I love hearing all the cool things you´re doing and all the great experiences you are having. You are such rays of sunshine. I love ya with all my heart!

Mom and Dad, can´t wait to hear about your cruise and see pictures!!! How fun for you. I´m excited to know everything that you did! And mom, so so cool about your experience with the Book of Mormon! Look at you! So very cool. I´m so proud of my missionary mom :) Really, that is so neat. That she accepted with tears in her eyes, and full of gratitude. Please write me and tell me all the details of that experience!!

Baby Bentley gets cuter and cuter every single week. Seriously. Oh I want to hold that cute little face!!! Minha nossa, he´s going to be running and talking and signing by the time I get home... crazy. By the way, it´s half way through March... did you know that? I cannot believe it! Where is the time going? Holy cow.

Okay, well admidetly (I don´t know how to spell that word...) I don´t much to report this week! It was a rather slow week here... most of our plans every day fell through and our investigators are slow to progress. But we found some really great people this week too! The other day we were in a neighborhood, second day in a row, trying to make contact with two young men that have gone to the church several times already, but we´ve yet to find them at home. We had just knocked on Rafael´s door and no one answered, but we knew there were people in the house. We walked away with the idea that he wasn´t interested and we were going to have to find others. We were talking about how we wanted to find more "Henriques" (he was our baptism last month and was just so powerful, so prepared). Next thing we know, we hear "Sisters!" from down the street and turn around to see Rafael. Long story short, we ended up teaching him and his mom, and he is SO powerful! He´s only 13, but he is an outstanding kid, I tell ya what. So humble, so well mannered, understood everything we taught perfectly. Then right after we went to teach the other young man, his friend as well, Ricardo. Also outstanding and powerful and ready for the gospel. We´re hoping to baptize the two of them this saturday :) We´re calling them our "mini Henriques" or "eleitinhos". (Eleito means elect in Portuguse, but you can add ´´inho´´to mean little... our little elects haha).

Anyway, they are great. We´re excited for them. We´re also working with a wonderful family of 6, who already seem to be members. They are awesome and have a very strong faith. They´ve already received the missionaries many times, but I think we´re going to be able to succeed this time. They seem to be ready now. Ah! A family!

Satan is working hard here in this area. The ward has a lot of issues, and probably triple the number of inactive members than there are active. If not more. But, we´re going to bring them back! Lots of work to do!

Things are going well.. the other sisters are powerful and very hard working. We´re just trying to keep up with them haha. They´re great. It´s a little tough having two in the same area because we knock on the same doors and visit the same members sometimes, but the Lord needs us all here and so we´re making it work!

Hmm... I´ve been trying to remember other things...... But know that your daughter is well and happy! How grateful I am to Heavenly Father for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime.

Time is winding down.. gotta run. I love you with all my heart! You are incredible! I thank Heavenly Father every day for giving me such a wonderful, strong family. What a blessing. Truly. That so many people don´t have. Thank you! I LOVE YOU!!!

Have a marvelous week! Filled with light and faith!

Sending all my love from Brazil,

Sister Kane

Feb 25

Hi sweet family!! How are you?! So lovely to hear from everyone as always. Thank you for all the updates and stories! Mom and Dad, your cruise is this week!!! Woohoo!! How fun! I want lots of pictures and stories okay? Have the time of your lives! Congrats on 25 awesome years :) You guys are the coolest. Loving all the Baby Bentley stories as usual :) So fun. OH, I got two packages earlier this week! One was from Mr. Cheneys for St Patricks Day :) THANK YOU!! Always lovely to have more cookies and treats :) and the other was the package with the memory card! Thank you so much!! It was so fun to sit and look at all the pictures of baby and all the happenings as of late. So so fun. I love you guys! You are each looking just as beautiful and dashing as ever. Especially Baby B. Give him a big kiss for me today.

Então... this week was nuts! So busy, so strange, so good. Lots of everything. First off, BAPTISM! Everything went so well and the Spirit was beautiful. He is a very special young man, and he and his wife will become strong leaders in the church, no doubt. Haha the confirmation on Sunday was a little stressful... He didn´t show up until right before the meeting started (we have classes first, sacrament last).. we were running around trying to find a phone to call him and find out where he was at and if he was going to show or not... but all went well, and Henrique is officially a member of this beautiful church :) What a blessing. It was great weekend.

In other news..... I´ve got a nasty ingrown toenail that has caused a whole lot of trouble this week. We had to come into the city two different times to go to the doctor and have it removed. It was horrid... I ´d let it go for way too long and it was all sorts of infected and gross, and so painful... she looked at it and just shook her head with dissaproving eyes at the silly american who can´t cut her toenails right... oops. But she proceded to just dig at it... no anesthetic, no nothing... just went right in. Haha the assistant was pinning my leg down with one arm and I was squeezing all the blood out of her other hand.... I cried. I admit. It was awful. BUT, that´s what I get, right? :) Haha what a pleasure. WE had to stay in the house the rest of the day because she wanted it elevated (It bled a lot..) and I couldn´t walk. She was also very concerned about the infection spreading... Haha sorry Mom, I know I shouldn´t be telling you all of this... I´m fine, I promise :) But we had to go back two days later and she dug at it again.. it had gotten worse, yay! But she wrapped it up and everything again... we had to stay in the house that day as well... and now we are going back later this afternoon... hopefully it´s getting better and not worse. We´ll see! So.. it´s been a fairly intersting week haha. Lots of time sitting in the house because I wasn´t allowed to walk... lots of time lost because of this. But, we still had a baptism and still met a lot of our goals, so tudo bem :)

The work is going... we´re still trying to find new people. People who are ready and going to progress. A huge problem here is that everyone lives together but isn´t married.. and it takes about a month to process everything to be legally married and nobody has the money to do it... so we´ve run into that problem multiple times, where we are kind of at a stand still with our investigators. But hopefully things will move forward and we can find new people this week!

The new girls are coming this week! One Sister, Sister Robinson, is an american who will be training a brand new Brazilian straight from the CTM. Sister Robinson is actually from Riverton and went to Riverton High! Funny. I didn´t know her in high school, but I recognized her and we know several of the same people. Small world! We´re excited though. It´s going to be fun. Mom, you asked about the house.. it´s very big, very nice... the nicest house in the mission. Plenty of room for two more sisters. We ´ve got a lot of work to do here to strengthen this ward, so it´ll be grea tto have two more to help!

Que mais... Portuguese is good. Still frustrating sometimes.. but it´s getting there. I can understand much more now.. still lost at times.. but I´ve now become a master at just watching the facial expressions of my companion when people are talking and just mimicking that.. haha it´s ridiculous. But it´s going well... talking and underst anding more every day. There were a couple times this week that I spoke with people in English and it was so very strange.. It sounds so weird now. And I kept getting confu sed and thinking I was speaking incorrectly. Funny. Sign of progress in Portuguese though, right? :)

All is good. We are happy. Things are happy. All is well :) I´m learning ever so much here. Every day. So much about myself, especially this week.. .lots of reflecting and self evaluating this week. I´ve got so much to learn and to change! All in time though, one thing at a time... I´ve been studying a talk called A Four Missionary (I think... I don´t know exactly how they translated it.. I have it in Portuguese), but it´s so powerful! It´s been teaching me a whole lot and I´m trying to apply things from that.

Well.. that´s about it on this end of the world... Tudo certo :) I love you so much, family! You are angels. Thank you for all your support and love. I rely on it daily! You are the greatest examples. I love you so very much! Miss you tons.

Have a wonderful week!!! Mom and Dad, have so m uch fun!!!!

All my love,

Sister Kane

Feb 11 pic

Feb 11 pics