Maracujá!!

Querida Família!!

I know I say this every week, but reading your letters is always SUCH a boost.  I leave email time breathless and crazed from reading so fast and writing so fast, but so happy to have heard about how great you are all doing and how awesome you are.  I am so so grateful for each one of you.  Mom and Dad, I am so grateful for the way you two love and support each other.  And for the way you love, support, and teach your kids.  How did we get so lucky!?

I learned a new word this week: rapaziada.  It means "a group of teenage boys".  I am now calling Ben, Joe, and Coby the "rapaziada" (ha-paws-ee-ah-duh) in my brain.  Or, "os rapazes" (ha-paws-ush).  Man, you three are rad.  I got a letter from Mom ths week that said you´ve been going off cold cereal to save money to come PARTY with me in Portugal in a little over a year.  (What!?  Already!?)  YOU ROCK!  

We had a Zone Mtg. with the Fluckigers today!  Awesome!  Except it was like they robbed us of Pday.  Bummmmmer.  Oh well.  :)

Things are picking up a bit!  We learned (again) of the power of fasting this week!  We have been struggling to create a teaching pool.  We decided to fast on Friday to find someone who would want to progress and to have help generating a teaching pool.  We saw so many miracles!  Right after we started our fast, we went to see a woman named Selia who was being taught by the missionaries a while back.  I immediately felt love for her and her family.  Her husband is a menos ativo of many years, and they have these 2 beautiful daughters who need more than anything to be raised in a Christ-centered home.  I am hoping that we can figure out what they need to hear to have the desire to start progressing toward lasting conversion.

The next day, we had 3 lessons that went really well -- including one who accepted the convite suave!  It was like the Lord gave us the start of our teaching pool all within the time we were fasting!  It was really incredible.

Will you pray for me to have the strength I need to do this?  I have never felt so exhausted in my entire life.  It is hard to remember everything I need to do and hard to take good care of the sheep out here when you feel like you are running on empty all the time.  Missionary work is demanding, emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally!   They werent lying when they called it work!!

Sorry this letter is kind of lame!  I am doing good and growing.  I will try to write more stories next week!  

Will you pray for Selia and Nelson, as well as Joao and Isidro and Mira?  Oh man I have to tell you about Mira sometime.  Sorry this is so lacking!  How annoying that I just asked you to pray for people who I didn´t even describe!  Will do better!!

Well, you already know this, but I love you all into little teeny tiny pieces!!

Pedaços!!!  Abraços!!!

Sister Sandholtz

P.S. I LIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!!!!!!!!!!?!!!!!!!!  Still can´t get over that.  :)