Family!

The new area is good. It is actually quite hard. We don't have really anyone to work with right now. We only have one true investigator and he is marked for baptism for the 17th. He finally stopped smoking! We ran into him on the street and he told us he hasn't smoked in two days!!! He is taking this medication to help him. So whenever he gets the desire to smoke, he takes a pill and it helps. So we are just helping him prepare and be ready for then. But he is literally the only one. So we are talking to a lot of people in the street. Which is really hard because I have come to realize there are a lot of really rude people in this world. It is super sad. So we have this 92 year old member who was baptized not too long ago. She is the funniest thing! She is so lively for being 92! And she can walk so fast! It just makes me laugh so! And she is so fragile looking, but she is seriously so tough. And she is super short. Ha, and she thinks her neighbor is a witch. So she is a little bit crazy. Some of the things she says are just so darn funny. She is just old. Me and Sister Wach (pronounced walk) were talking about how we should have gotten her a witch hat for Halloween. She would make the perfect witch. Though she despises witch's so I don't know if she would let us put it on her head. Lol. And there is Jessica. She is a 10 year old that was baptized a month ago. She is soooo stinking cute! I love her so much already! Our goal is to baptize her mom and her grandpa now! Though right now it is hard with her mom because she just had a baby and he has been in the hospital for 3 months. And so she is there a lot. And sunday morning so she hasn't come to church recently. She has only gone to church one time. The day of Jessica's baptism. So apparantly we have a member family that pays for us once a week to go eat at this really nice restaurant at the buffet! They are so sweet! And the food was so good! We ate with the Elders this last tuesday. And I had my very first fried banana. I was nervous to try it cause it looks funny and it is breaded. But it was actually soooo yummy!!! Ha. I want another one! And apparently we teach a drug lord. Ha. But I haven't met him... we went to stop by his place in this ghetto, and his door was wide open with all his lights on and his tv on, but he wasn't home. Haha. I think that is so funny. It's like, he knows anyone would be crazy to steal from him. That's kinda sad actually. But Sister Wach said he actually truly wants to change his life around. And we got frusterated a little bit with the Elders in the area next to us because we met this man (Sister Wach had given him a BoM) And when we saw him on the street. He re-told to us the entire story of Nephi and his brothers and Laban and about Joseph Smith and the angel and the plates and how the angel came three times and so many things that were very specific. And he said his prays everytime before he starts to read to ask God to bless him with understanding so that he can understand what he is reading. He is soooo cool! And we called the Elders at least three times, so multiple days, and they still hadn't tried to get in contact with him! I don't get that. He is so amazing and I wish he was in our area. He is so sweet too. Oh! So it was Halloween!!!!! Ha. Though it didn't even feel like it. Sister Wach did a Halloween dinner surprise. She is so cute. She was talking about how excited she was for it the whole week. And she made me go into the bedroom while she prepared the food and stuff for it. Besides that, the only Halloween-ish thing we did was help Jessica, that 10 yr. old recent member decorate her broom for her class. Cause they were having a contest the next day in school (so on Halloween) on who has the best broomstick. :) So holy cow! I seriously can't believe it is almost November!!!! My 6th month mark is this month! How crazy!!!?? Ha. Where did the time go. On the 15th of November. Sister Wach said we have to do something special. (Well, as special as us missionaries can actually do ha) So we will probably make a cake. :) And go out to eat for lunch. We actually rarely ever go out to eat unless it is with a member (which I actually have never done) or we just randomly decide to one day. But it is just more expensive so we just never do it. So two days ago, we were in that ghetto place (and it is all black people that live in there, and they are all super nice!) and we met a 22 yr old  named Emilson. He is so cool!!! He knows english! And we got talking to him about school and we told him about BYU! So we gave him BYU's website and he said he would look it up. We told him he has to go there for school! How cool would that be!? We invited him to english classes too, but he never showed... But thats ok. We will go visit him again. Me and Sister Wach joked about how if we were stuck in Portugal where there really weren't a lot of guys to date, we would date him. Haha. It was so funny, I voiced it first and then she said, OH! I was thinking the exact same thing!! It was funny. So two days ago I went a day thinking I had lost my agenda! And I was so sad!! Cause it was the secret santa gift from Sister Duran. She was the one that made mine. But it turned out I had just left it in the mission office. Ha. I don't even remember sitting it down in there. But I was so happy when we walked in there and I saw it sitting on the desk! Anyways, there isn't a whole lot that happened this week. Oh, besides the fact that the ground has literally been out to get me this week! I don't know what it is but I feel like I have never tripped so much in my life! Ha. But luckily they all have ended ok. So no need to worry. :) Well I love you guys! And I will  post pictures this time! It should work this time on this computer. Sorry, it wouldn't work last week on that computer. And that is right! I did let Steffy have that necklace during the duration I am gone to remember me!!!! I completely forgot!!!! Ha. I love that necklace. It is so cute. So wear it everyday Steff! :) Well, I hope this next week goes well for you all. I love you all soooo much! Don't forget it! Until next week!

Love Always!!!

Sister Amanda Stokes :)