Week 62

helllllo family!

wow, this week i heard some great news! my sister is engaged! i was so happy to find that out!  the only bummer is that they planned the wedding date while im STILL in the mission! now i will never be able to see the wedding of a family member :( but, im still happy! they are such a cute couple and will be great together!

so some interesting things about the week. so easter was sunday which was way cool, kinda. in brasil, everyone is catholic and they celebrate something called semana santa (holy week). on friday, people who are catholic cant do anything related with money. this would mean that they dont work, and dont buy stuff. EVERYONE here is catholic, so everything was closed. this was a serious problem because we were ALL sick that day. the toilet paper ran out after the first person.. we had to ask neighbors and members to bring us toilet paper :) easter is interesting here because the people focus more on the betrayal of christ by judus more than the resurrection. everyone here makes scarecrow judus' and set them on fire. its a very interesting way to celebrate the resurrection. 

the group of young men here is REALLY small, so we decided to help out a little. the branch president re-called the young mens presidency and we planned an activity. there are about 3 young men who will go to church on sunday. sometimes 2. for this activity me and my companion were able to bring 10 young men just from our area (less actives and non members). we taught them how to play a game called ninja that they all loved! they thought it was really cool that we played with them. as you can see in the pictures, we had a good time. the president was super happy :) 

this week we also went after some less active couples, with three couples we were able to establish a goal for them to go to the temple and be sealed in september! this was a really cool experience and something that is SO important in our lives. 

i have really been loving my work here because we have been able to strengthen the branch so much! its cool when we can do alot more than just teach people. its so much fun working with the president and helping him plan stuff for the branch and trainings and things. its also great to have the confidence of the members too - they all love us. the day that i have to leave will be super hard because i have so much love for all of these people!

it has started to rain super hard lately, and every day. we get home soaked almost every night. yesterday returning home we had to wade through a river that had formed in the street, there was one part of it where the water got up to my knees almost! these are usually the days that i miss my car a little bit :) i will be super grateful to just have a bike again! 

my companion and i are still doing great. we get along well and have been teaching well together. i've been enjoying the opportunity to train again. 

i'm so happy with all the good things that are happening in the family! keep sending me good updates!

i love you all!!

-Elder Lambert