Hey! Wow, it´s been forever, I´m so sorry! A lot has been going on, and it´s been awesome! We just got back a few days ago from the jungle- ha ha, not really but kind of. We went to a Baptist camp in the mountains for a leadership retreat with the International Leadership Institute. It was really great. Jesus keeps sending us Americans ha ha, which has been such a blessing! We got to hang out with a cool pastor from Carrolton, Ga and Alvom Steerburg, a pastor from California that lived in Brazil for 7 years and was the president of the Mission Society for 7 years! It was great! Jesus has been lining things up. This trip has not turned out to be what we thought it would be, but it has been good. So far God has done a lot of pouring into us when we expected to do ministry. The leadership conference was exactly that. It was really cool- the whole thing was about leadership obviously, but the different sessions were all answered prayer. Things I have been praying for all year were addressed in the different sessions. God is using that to guide me into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him, so it was great. Now I just have to put what He gave me into practice and run harder towards Him to greater intimacy! Kelly Anne had a great time at the camp too, until she got some nasty food poisoning. Not going to lie, the food down here is a little different. Ariela, Jesuan, Kelly Anne, and 5 other pastors on the retreat got sick. It was rough. No more black beans ha ha. We went to Rio de Janiero a couple weeks ago with the Christ for the Nations group! That was AMAZING! We were planning on going with them the Sunday afternoon they went, but we felt God saying don´t go. That was hard to hear. Our first few weeks here weren´t the easiest- there was not much to do so we spent a lot of time just sitting around. So we desperately wanted to go to Rio to do slum ministry with some other American college kids. But we felt God saying no! He led us away from going with them through scripture, devotionals, emails people randomly sent us, someone from home even randomly texted me the morning we were leaving asking if there was anything going on because he felt the need to pray for us. We had our bags packed and everything, knowing that we didn´t know if we were supposed to go and went to church. Then one of our new CFNI friends got up and spoke a direct message from the Lord for us ha ha. It was undeniable- he was planning on speaking on something else and God said he needed to talk about this instead. He talked about obedience, and how we can only get closer to God through obedience. We need to always remain obedient to Him, no matter what other people are saying or how they feel about it, or how unqualified we are. He talked about David and Goliath and some other scriptures about obedience. I cried, KA was mad ha ha. But it ended up being a great thing! We still don´t know why we couldn´t go- the next day we spoke at the youth service, we got prayed over by a church that night and basically adopted as their missionaries (they gave us money later- that´s another crazy story!), and then we went to a bar-b-que and Ana Luiza´s elementary school on Tuesday. So nothing huga happened. We are wondering though if it had to do with being obedient to our parents. The CFNI was going to do slum ministry, the one thing our parents asked us not to do. We asked them about it and they said that it wasn´t the really bad drug slums like everyone always thinks about so it would be fine. But when we got to Rio on Wednesday we found out they went into the worst slum in South America- drug lords, assualt rifles, bullet holes in houses, ect. Nothing happened to them, but I´m glad we didn´t go. We would have loved to- it would have been awesome- but our disobedience would have subjected us to the enemy, and taken off the Lord´s protection of us. It could have been bad. So yeah, it was great! As I mentioned we did end up going to Rio. It was funny, we were supposed to go with Miriam and Hannah on Wedneday night just to see the concert and then come back the next morning. There were issues with where we would stay though se we didn´t know if we were going to be able to go. We sat in our room on our beds all day just waiting, bags packed and all. We prayed all day, asking the Lord just to let us go, just for one night! Ha ha, it was miserable. But then Miriam called at like 5:00 and said she would be there in 30 minutes! We were so excited! So we got in the car and were like 30 minutes down the road, out of Volta Redonda, and we asked Miriam what time we would be back the next day, so that we could call Al and tell him, and she said we wouldn´t be back until Saturday! Ha ha, we just looked at each other and laughed! The Lord had been so good! He´s funny : ) So yes, we got to go to Rio with the CFNI team and it was suich a blessing. We were fed! We got to worship in English, truly worship! The Holy Spirit´s presence was so heavy it was amazing! And God set things up, answered prayers in our own hearts in preparation for the ILI retreat the next week- it was really cool. So basically He has been preparing us for something, but we don´t know what. I´m wondering if He is about to do something in the states this year that is going to be big. All the Americans we keep meeting are going through the same time spiritually, a lot of desert times. And usually Jesus sends us through desert times before He does something big along the lines of revival and restoration, according to one of the books I´m reading. So maybe He is going to do something awesome in the American churches- maybe restore them to what He intended. Can´t wait to find out! So yes, we are at our friend Cassia´s house right now. We are staying with the Amaral´s the rest of our time here, with the exception of another trip to Rio the 14th through the 20th. Its going to be great! We have a lot of ministry lined up so please be praying for that! Tonight KA is speaking at the youth service, and we´re going to an orphanage in a few hours-so excited about that! Kelly Anne is also getting her hair straightened for free! A woman in the church offered to do her hair for free! That´s another crazy thing- ha ha, we have not had to pay for anything! We have paid for a few meals at restauraunts but that´s it. No one will let us pay- it´s crazy how God provides ha ha! Tomorrow night we are sharing our testimonies and speaking at Anselmo´s church too, so please lift that up, that God´s truth and word would be made clear and known and that the messsage He wants spoken will be spoken. Wednesday we are going back to Rio to pick up some Argentinian missionaries with Miriam and have some tourist time! I think we get to go to the beach, the Christ, and do some shopping. It should be fun! The beach here is amazing- we were out there for an hour a couple weeks ago and I got a tan! Ít´s soooo pretty too! You have the mountains and the beach in one place- I think Rio de Janeiro is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen! We are having a bonfire with the youth and their friends on Friday night too, so please be praying for that. And thursday is a holiday in Brazil, I think Valentine´s Day. So we are playing paintball with some friends since nothing is really going to be open for ministry on that day! And then saturday we were hoping to go hiking in the mountains with some Brazilians to a waterfall, but it depends on whether or not Cassia has to work since we don´t have a car, and then on Sunday we go to Rio to work with the American team from Athens, Ga. Our last week will be spent in Volta- and it should be awesome! We are going into hospitals and praying for people for four days. Ya´ll can start praying for that too! We´re about half way! Thanks so much for praying for us- you guys are amazing. I will try to keep this updated more. Our internet availability has been hit or miss. Thanks so much! Love ya´ll!