Shakira, Teaching English, and Riding in a Police Car!

Hahaha first things first... LOVED that Elf picture! Are there really only 20 Fridays until Christmas? Holy smokes, I´m excited. It also sounds like you guys had a super fun week. Dad, glad you guys got to enjoy the fair and thank you for that article... I´m going to read it for sure! I can´t believe school is already starting again soon. That´s crazy! Hope everyone is getting prepped and excited! And Tawny got married?! Holy cow!!! Tell her congrats for me! Whoever she married is one lucky guy. And boa missão for Sam Lee too. I can´t believe he´s already leaving for his mission. Based on this paragraph, it seems like I can´t believe a lot of things, yes, one of them also being that I´ve almost spent a year here in Brasil. It´s still not one year, so I´m keeping calm, but it´s getting there!

The English class is going well! There aren´t as many people showing up as we would have liked, but the people that do show up make it fun. It honestly isn´t affecting my decision for my major that much, but I think I still would like to do Elementary Education. What has changed the most is whether or not I want to continue with Spanish. I´m going to finish my minor, com certeza, but it´s just going to be a bit difficult to relearn Spanish and remember Portuguese too! But it will all work out :). And the mosquitoes, yes I´m alive! When I got here, it was  a lot worse, but now they´re used to me and almost never bite me.

So this week, a miracle happened. Last Monday, we were at M´s and she casually asked if I remembered V, her kind-of son who had visited the church with them a couple Sundays back. I said yes, and she mentioned, even more casually, that he wanted to be baptized. I kind of exploded with excitement and in unbelief! I only really believed it when he showed up soon after and confirmed what she had said earlier! So we spent this whole week preparing him to be baptized this coming Saturday. We´re spending more time preparing people now because we get to teach all five lessons before the baptism, and afterwards too. That includes lessons on eternal marriage, family history, temple work and more. So we´re packing a lot into one week (since he´s working this entire next week and won´t be able to receive us much) to get him ready. It´s so great to see someone though who´s so determined to do what´s right and leave behind his old life. He´ll make a great contribution to  the church and in God´s Kingdom.

Today, I was also studying a lot about family history...  And is there anyway that you guys could send me the information (names, birthdays, death dates, wedding dates, cool stories, etc.) about you guys, my grandparents and great-grandparents? That would make me a very happy sister! I know, now more than ever, how important our family history work is. It´s just as important as missionary work!  I love you all so much and, as always, hope all is well! Stay strong and remember... 20 Fridays until Christmas, WOOOOOOOOHOOOO!!!! Hurrah for Israel!

Com amor,

Sister Ball

Adventures up on top of the morro.

one of our investigators is a policial!

During divisões with Sister Martin, we made a goal to buy a treat from every little stand that was selling something that we passed. So I got to buy this little beauty--it was like a peep in a cardboard-tasting ice cream cone with a balloon stuck on top. Gotta love the creativity :) 

Our area

 Yesterday, I took the braids out of my hair that Sister Barros had done and decided I looked like Shakira from 2001. So I got in the most hippie get-up I have and took a picture.