Hey Mom/ public!!!

Thanks so much for the photos and stories from home.  They really made me laugh. 

This week I got to go to the Policia Federal at the airport in Galeão to renew my vista.  It was really cool getting to remember my short time that I passed on that island a few months ago.  It was a pretty easy process and I got all fingerprinted and everything so Im legal here again!  Elder Namanny is going to be going back there in April to grab a plane home :O  

This Sunday was really cool at church.  Vani and her two sons were  there dressed up all pretty and Cilene got to church safely without being kidnapped too :D  We had some really cool talks that talked about how to strenghthen your home and how to raise kids.  I dont have kids yet, but it was interesting to hear about haha.  After the sacrament was passed and the first person was talking, I felt a small tap on my shoulder.  I looked over and saw a little girl who smiled at me and said *oi*.  I opened my eyes up really wide and my mouth opened a little as I tilted my head and tried to remember who this girl was.  All at once I remembered- it was Barbara- a little 9 year old from Nova Iguaçu.  She pointed to the back bench.  I looked and I saw everyone -  Eduardo and his wife Roseni, Maria Eduarda, Ana Carolina, and Tia Daisy.  They smiled and waved at me.  The surprise to see this family that Elder B Ribeiro and I helped be baptized back in Nova Iguaçu was so great that the emotions all pooled together, and I felt the urge to laugh and cry and jump in the air all at the same time.  When the sacrament meeting ended we got to talk.  They told me that they are very firm in the church.  Eduardo had the chance to baptise his daughter Ana Carolina this last Saturday (as she turned 8) and that everyone is doing really well.  Tia Daisy had made a promise to me when I left that she would become firm in the church (she had been inactive for a lot of years).  She told me that she is now has received a teaching calling and is giving lessons each week.  Roseni, who was really timid, is now giving talks in sacrament meeting. And Maria Eduarda is firm with her testimony and is dying to serve a mission.    It was really great to see them, and they helped me to remember what a grand effect this gospel has in the lives of those who live it.  The ward back there is doing really well.  Eduardo gave me a policia militar shirt with my name stiched in it (from his work) that matches the hat that he gave me when I left the area.  I couldnt stop smiling for the whole rest of the day.  

We are working really hard to help some new pesquisadores come out of the woodwork, and we are finding a lot of really great people.  There is this *different* kind of religion here that is called spiritism or cadecista that believes that we are going to reincarnate.  Here in Sulacap, there is a heavy slavery history, so this religion is really strong here.  We found a family that is a bit divided as the dad is evangelic and the mom is espirita.  They are wanting to go to church on Sunday and accepted the invitation to read the book of Mormon and pray about it.  

If you could, keep all the missionaries in your prayers- and their investigators.  I realize more and more each day that even if we labor with all our might every minute of every day alone, the results are nothing compared to when the Lord steps in and gives a hand.  I hope all is well with you guys!!

Love, 

Elder Stinnett