Update 2015-02-11

Dear Family
David said he checks the blog daily so I thought we should at least update weekly.  We love you all so much Your lives bless us abundantly.  I thought I would share the rainy season with you.  How to describe the rain here.  It is often like a waterfall from heaven lasting only about ten minutes.  Today the sky is totally gray and the rain has been coming down for several hours but more often the sky will have puffy white clouds, some blue sky and a gray puffs dumping rain.  I love the rainy season here, it is delightful.  And it cools off the air for a while.  The thunder and lightning are spectacular. It pretty much rumbles the earth and fills me with excitement.  Dad and I are having too much fun and we love this experience.  Dad told the elders we would feed them once a week (if their appointments fall through - which happens regularly) and that computes to fun.  I love having them in our home speaking portuguese.  I think I learn best in that setting.

  Short story Sister Reber shared with me about Cáceres which is where Dad and I were last week for the Family home evening.  When President and Sister Reber arrived three years ago they came into a very relaxed mission, rules were more like guidelines, really.  President was talking to an elder and felt to ask several times how is the work going for you.  Finally the elder said, "They hate me here. All the Elders hate me."  So president asked "What do you want to do?"  To which he replied, "Work".  So president said that he would open an area several hours away and trust him and his companion to make it grow.  This elder was well into his mission but he left Cáceres a hero because of the work he did there.  They still talk about him and how much he loved them all. And the group is doing well.  There is a great moral in there somewhere I am sure. We have four great elders serving in that city now and I am sure it will just keep growing.

This was part of our group at the Cáceres home evening.

Mom´s little sermon.  Remember how I wrote about the fortifications of Moroni and how he put the strongest men at the gate so Evil could not enter in and get on equal ground.  And I likened it to parents being strong and being at the gate not allowing Satan into their home and always making preparations to keep him out, because Satan´s forces will keep attacking. (The Lamanites came with shields and breast plates thinking they could easily overpower them.  But they were astonished by the defence they had prepared.) Now for the addition to that thought.  The keeper of the gate is the Holy one of Israel and with Him as your leader and by your side you will not fail in this most sacred of callings.  The key is never negotiate with the enemy. Example:  Lehonti (Alma 47:13) he came down off the mountain and met with the enemy and look what happened.  Just saying, no middle ground with Satan.

Well that is it for now.  We love you all so much.  Stay firm in the truth and keep praying for us, we so appreciate it.
The church is true.
Love Mom And Dad