Letter From Claudia Queiroz

Dear Sisters of the Riverwoods Ward:

Thank you so much for your great love and support. We have missed you so much. You are in our prayers. We think of you often.
The Riverwoods Ward had many trials in 2009. We were sadden by these difficult times. We would want to be there and give extra love to all of those Sisters who had hard trials. Your trials are our trials. We have shed tears for your trials because of our great love for each one of you.

We love our mission. It is the best and hardest thing we ever did. At times I want the time to go fast so I can go home and relax, and at other times I want it to go slow so I can feel the intensity of the mission Spirit a little longer. The Spirit is so close here. I feel inadequate all the time, but have learned to rely on the Lord. I also learned that "whom He calls He qualifies." I have to give many talks all the time and the Lord blesses me over and over again. The messages just seem to pop into my mind...a great miracle!

Our missionaries are divine. We love them so much. By now more of our missionaries have finished their mission than the ones we have here. Many of them are already married. They come to visit us, they write letters all the time. We have acquired a new family. About 450 missionaries will serve with us. That means a lot of wedding gifts. I think I will "go broke" in a few years...haha...

On my p-days, which are rare, I go shoe shopping. I have to say that we have the prettiest shoes I have ever seen in this city. And yes, not even the missionary Spirit changed my weakness for shoes...It is a lost case for sure! The good news is that they are cheap here, so if anyone wants to come and shop for shoes...

We had both Branden and Danyel for Christmas and it was awesome. Branden is finishing his mission in a couple of months and I am so sad about that. He is our right hand here. The Lord brought him to the right place after all. Dan is taking good care of our company and he is living in our house in Vintage. He is still single. He is a faithful son and I know that the Lord is preparing someone special for him. To be honest with you I am getting urged to be a grandmother, so if anyone has a single niece or daughter to introduce to him, please don't be shy...

I found for him in Brazil a blond Brazilian girl named Pamela Walter. It was perfect because her full name would be Pamela Walter Queiroz. She would have her father-in-law's name. I was so excited, but Dan did not like her. Pamela even told me that she wanted to name her first born son Walter, so my grandchild would be named Walter Walter Queiroz. How about that? It was perfect. Dan did not agree. It was so much easier in older times when the parents got to choose the spouses for their children...

Branden says that he has many waiting for him, but we will see about that.....haha.... I have to say that he is tall and handsome.

Well, I better go. I can't wait to go to the activites with all of you again. You live in my heart.

Love,

Sister Claudia Queiroz