Sunflowers and Silver Threads: fight manfully

Ah, family.

Can I please just say that this week you all need to be really careful and not get hurt or injured or diagnosed with any weird diseases because I do NOT want to read another shocking email next week! Two weeks in a row was plenty. It is so bizarre and I feel so disconnected, half a world away, and I want to be able to call you up and tell you I love you, or drive over right away and give you a hug and cook dinner for you and laugh at your jokes and just BE with you. And it is weird to have to process these things all by myself out here on a different continent. So, Dad, no more flesh eating bacteria, ta bem!? Your assignment is to get better FAST. And the rest of you, also, be careful and don't get into trouble.

Okay. Sorry. I am being selfish. I just love you so stinking much.

Gah.

Okay.

This week was cool. We broke a barrier and had 7 investigators in church! Fernanda, Dalila, and Cristina all came. And Elias! Dude, you guys, Elias is awesome.

Then, Fabrice showed up during the 3rd hour as well, and told us he had slept in but had committed to himself to come to church, so he came, even though he came late. We are going to teach him the commandments this week and are hopeful and confident he will be baptized soon. This week if possible!

Other cool miracle: We have been praying to get in contact with Imma Mimba, Fabrice's friend who speaks French AND Portuguese, and we got a text from the elders this morning saying that they had met him and gotten his contact info! Miracle! I am SOOOO excited to meet him.

We had lunch with four Portuguese bitties at a restaurante this week. We were invited by Ana, a Portuguesa of about 60 years who is devoutly catholic but LOVES Mormons. she always tells us, "I'm not the only Catholic who loves the mormons!"

Sister Giberson is a GENIUS and a great example to me. During the lunch I was thinking to myself, "Hey, I can't really think of a way to tie the gospel into this conversation, and it's our lunch hour, and we're in Portugal eating lunch with 4 old ladies, and it's awesome, and I'm just going to enjoy it without trying to force a lesson key-indicator into it..."

But Sister Giberson was smarter and more consecrated than I. Near the end of lunch, she expertly said, "We are so grateful for this lunch, we'd love to do something to thank you! Can we give you a tour of our chapel next Thursday?"

They all seemed excited, and I added that I'd bring my violin, which sealed the deal. :) Then SG said to me, "want to share a scripture?", and I did, and it wasn't weird; it was normal and good and positive. I'm so grateful for her. :)

I am overally really really happy. We are near the 40-day effort in the mission to purify ourselves, and the extra effort makes me feel so much peace -- that I am doing my part, regardless what is happening around me.

I love you. Holy cow, I love you.

Be safe. Be good. Fight manfully for Him. I will too.

Yours,

Sister Sandholtz

me and elder da veiga. he doesn't make normal faces in photos, ever. miss this kid. Our new DL, elder munoz, is also a total gem.

me and elder staples. He was my first district leader.... now he's home. this was taken like 2 weeks before he left. he had just given his tie to another elder .. ha! I know it looks weird to see an elder without a tie!

got to go running on a division in braga.... this is like a month ago... sister miley's jersey is cool, huh?

here's what is in store for you...... be excited (this is nazare's chocolate mousse recipe I told you about.)

My cool visual aid for the Plan of Salvation :)

this is Irene

divisions with the stl's fell during the fair Senhor de Matosinhos... so we celebrated with "F. Burgers". Kind of like a worksburger in that it was HUGE

Then we got blue ice cream :)

when I was sick. this picture can tell you a lot about our lives. I am sitting in the comfy chair by the fridge where I pray each night. you can see our metro map behind me, our broken stove, boxes of milk on top of the fridge (it comes in boxes here), my violin in the corner.... it's like I spy!!