The 9 Girl Family

Karla

I met the 9 girl family in 2004, when they were the 3 girl family. The oldest, Karla, was a part of the Living Stones program. We did home visits, and the mother was so kind, that I kept coming back. Over the years I kept in contact with the family, and it seemed like each time I visited, there was another baby girl. 

Josefa, as my little bride

Our friendship grew. I asked when their birthdays were, and the mother handed me their birth certificates to find out, ashamed she couldn't read or remember them herself. After that we tried to always celebrate birthdays when we could. The 4th daughter, Josefa, was my "little bride" at our Brazilian wedding (similar to a flower girl, but who dresses up like the bride). 

When they met Sofia

I was so excited to bring my daughter, and my second daughter, once they were born, to meet the 9 girls. They came over for pizza. Just before the pandemic started, we took them to see Frozen 2 in the theaters: their first time ever to go to a mall, or a theater.

There are thousands of families that you come into contact with when you are a missionary. Some of them grab your heart and you don’t even know why. Sometimes you don’t even remember their last name, and so you just call them the 9 girl family. Their story got wrapped into our story. There will never be a time when I visit Brazil and don’t try to visit this family.

in 2023 with this beautiful mom and one of her 9 girls

I often think about our friendship. I think about how “saviorism” played into it: us having so much, and they having so little. Did I mess up and try to “make it all better?” Sometimes. And sometimes we were just friends, running down the path to jump into the murky water for a swim.