October 2011

We´ve been teaching this young man named Paulo for a week or so, and he was our only investigator to go to church on Sunday. We´re pretty excited for him. He´s so ready for the peace that the gospel can bring. He´s progressing so well. It´s all pretty exciting. We´ve been noticing a lot this week that we don´t have a ton of people to teach, but the people we do have are super solid. We´ve been working really hard to improve our teaching skills and teach more according to the needs of the investigators and more with the spirit. It's been amazing to see the difference. We have all these special people to teach and as we teach with the spirit and allow him to guide the lesson it becomes a spiritual experience for everyone. Funny how it takes me half of my mission to figure out how to apply better the things I learned in the MTC.

And in other news, I made a pie the other week. It was an apple pie and it was positively delicious. I found a recipe and decided to make it. It's funny to see how I'm becoming so domestic. Some days I make dinner for us and I've made bread. It's fun. I've become very good at making rice too. Here it´s hard to see a meal pass without eating rice, I´m practically a professional. I´m still waiting to learn how to make beans though. We always have rice and beans with everything, but I haven´t figured out how to do the beans yet. But I will. I´m determined to learn how to cook all of this brazilian food, so I can make it for myself at home.

Well, this week was pretty normal. The time is just passing super fast. Sunday Sister Farias and I came down with a bug and were stuck inside all day. There´s nothing more frustrating than having a million things to do, people to visit, and your body telling you to go back to bed. But by the next day we were all better, back to work. But it was funny, the mission doctor called us to see how we were doing, and it was a pretty normal conversation. Only that he´s American so he spoke in english with me and I found it super hard to respond. I was understanding everything, no problems, but to answer his questions everything came out wrong. It was like caveman speech. I haven´t had any real problems writing emails in english or writing in english in my journal, so I´m not sure why speaking was such a struggle. It makes me a little worried to see where my english is in 7 months when I come home. But I´m sure it´ll all work out.

Anyway, the work just continues to move forward. Like I said last week, we have such special people we´re teaching. We´re trying so hard to have one more baptism together, but the transfer is passing quickly and it looks like no one will be ready in time. But we just have to remember that everything´s in the Lord´s timing. If we push too much for our own timetable we´ll just mess everything up. We have to just Trust that everything will work out in it´s own time. It´s hard to be patient at times, but it´s worth it. Vale a pena :)

So this week we had a miracle. For serious, up to this point in my mission it´s my most special experience. So the other week I mentioned Paulo who we´ve been working with. Our lessons with him have been almost sacred the spirit is so strong, mostly because his desire to learn and to change is so sincere. So this past week or so I´ve been praying a lot to see Paulo´s baptism. I think I´ll be leaving Novo Hamburgo this next transfer in the beginning of November, so I´d been praying to see his baptism. Sister Farias and I had already been talking about Nov 5th as a possibility for his baptism, the last Saturday of the transfer. Anyway, so we met with him on Saturday and the lesson went super well. We saw again just how much he´s changing and felt again like he´s ready to be baptized. So I invited him again to be baptized and he shied away. He doesn´t feel ready. But I talked with him about making a goal, setting a date to work towards, but nothing solidified.And as much as we wanted to see him baptized Nov 5th we felt impressed to let it be. He´s ready, but we let it be. I didn´t want to push for something just because I wanted it. I wanted to see his baptism, but we felt like it just wasn´t the Lord´s timing.
Then on Sunday we were all sitting in church in Sacrament meeting and during someone´s talk about the blessings of the temple in relation to our family, Paulo got up quickly and left the room. A few minutes later, he called us into the hallway to talk. And through his tears, he asked us when could he be baptized. Sis. Farias and I looked at each other and she said November 5th and he accepted. I asked what happened, what had changed, and from what I understood through the tears was that he wants to bring his family to the church, he wants his family united in the gospel. So we all cried together for a few minutes and then returned to the meeting where I paid almost no attention to what was said I was in such a shock. The spirit had taught Paulo and gave him a sense of urgency that Sister Farias and I couldn´t.

But my God is a God of miracles. I can´t express how much this gift that he´s giving me to see Paulo´s baptism means to me. But he only gave it, after I gave up my will for his. Heavenly Father loves me, He loves Sister Farias, but most of all he loves Paulo. I´m so excited for him. There isn´t anything more beautiful than seeing someone repent and change. Than seeing the Atonement literally working in someone´s life.

That´s what it means to be a missionary, to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands. But really all we do is live worthy of the spirit, bring it with us to the lessons, and listen to the person we´re teaching. Listen to what they have to say and then the spirit gives us the words we need and then more importantly, he teaches the investigator. The spirit is the real teacher in a good lesson. And it´s when as a teacher we learn to hand off the lesson to him, that things actually happen. That the students actually feel that desire, that need to change and apply the things learned.

Anyway, I love the gospel, I love being a missionary.
com muito amor e carinho,
Sister Hughes

September 2011

Greetings from Novo Hamburgo!
I´m keeping busy. There´s always so many people to visit. some days I wish there were two extra days in the week. One more to work and another to rest because one p-day just isn´t enough.

And our ward is good. It´s not big, but I haven´t been asked to do more than give a talk. They´re all so good. It´s amazing what happens when the members trust us missionaries. We had a neat experience yesterday where we were working in a neighborhood and almost all of our appointments fell through. so I turned to Sister and asked where she wanted to go, who to visit, and almost immediately she said Magali. After she mentioned this member of the ward I felt super good, confirmation that that was where we needed to go. So we went and visited her, everything normal. Then we asked if she knew anyone who we should teach, and she told that she had the thought that very morning to tell us about her neighbor. The spirit for sure guided us there to talk with her about her neighbor. We´re excited to see what the fruits of this referral are.

We´re just working working working. We don´t have a ton of investigators, but the ones we do have are all super special. It´s so neat to see how the Lord places people in your path so you can help them.

Then Saturday we had a baptism!! Marcelo, the husband of a member got baptized and it was amazing. He´s such a good man, and he was so prepared for the gospel. Marcia, his wife shared with us the other day how a few months ago, she and her brother who´s a member would be talking about the church and Marcelo would try to say something negative or wrong about the church, and finally, Marcia told him that if he wanted to say something to first read the Book of Mormon. and now he´s a member. It´s amazing the power of the Book of Mormon. Sunday morning when he was confirmed I thought about how little we actually did. We were there to teach him what he needed to know, but really he, and the spirit did all of the work. We were just there as spectators. But regardless we´re a part of the family. And the baptism really was super special. There was a spirit so sweet in that meeting. He´s going to do great things.

There´s a million more people I could write and talk about, but I´m tired so I won´t. But life is fantastic, we´re just working hard. That and I just love Sister Farias to peices. We´ve decided to grow our hair out super long so that we can sell it and have enough money to visit Portugal together after our missions. haha. We´ll see how our master plan works out.
But life is good, I´m super happy.

We found a super special family this week that we´re teaching. They´ve truly been waiting for the gospel. Everything just continues. There´s lots of work to do, lots of fun to be had. And spring is arriving with plenty of sunshine. They even have Azaleas here. I took a picture and everything.

I´m ridiculously happy to be staying here in Novo Hamburgo with Sister Farias. We´re ready to keep up this pace and get a lot done this transfer. Então, tudo jóia :)
Enjoy some of the pictures we took at the Santuária das Mães.

August 2011

Oi gente!

Saturday we worked in a neighborhood kind of far again, but it was so worth the bus fare. We´re teaching the husband of a member there and he´s progressing so well. When we began teacing Marcelo his wife warned us that he´s a slow mover, that he doesn´t like to feel pressured. So we´ve been taking it easy. But in the week since we last taught him he´s read about 19 chapters in the Book of Mormon and he prays before and after every time he reads. He doesn´t like to be pressured but he has such a sincere desire to learn for himself if what we teach is true. He´s coming along so well.

Then we had another neat experience with another family in this neighborhood. Last week when we met them we just left a super short message and promised to return. So we returned and when we were talking with them they expressed some of their concerns with some religions, and their experience with God and how they feel in relation to him, etc. Then they talked about how when we showed up at their house the other week they felt a peace when we were there with them. It was incredible to hear how they recognized the spirit. It was one of those special, holy cow I´m a missionary, kind of moments. They´re a super special family too.

Basically all of my good news comes from this one neighborhood that we have to take a bus to get to. A good chunk of our area here is tall apartment buildings and larger houses belonging to wealthier people. But there in Roselândia the neighborhood is a little more humble. But I think the difference is working with a member there. With Marcia working with us, we have so many of her friends, family, and neighbors to teach. And so many of them are just ready for the gospel. It´s way exciting.
Anyway, but life is just good.

We´re just continuing to work. But today is our last real p-day of the transfer so Sis.Braga and I decided to do something more exciting. So this morning we went to Lomba Grande. It´s a little town kind of far from the center where we live, but it´s still in our area. So we caught the bus and went there for the first time for either of us. We heard there were touristy things to do so we went. Turns out there´s almost nothing there. Maybe in the summer there´s more to do, but all we found was a tunnel of trees over some road. And we had to walk pretty far in order to find it too. We walked forever and finally found it, then walked for forever again just to find a bus stop to take us back to Novo Hamburgo. It´s kind of annoying to be more tired on our day off than on our usual work day. But it worked out. It really was pretty out there. Very rural with lots of pretty views. It´s interesting to think what spring and summer are like here. It´s winter now and all of the trees are still green, but everyone says spring and summer are much nicer. It´s hard to imagine things being more green.

I wish I had something else of note to share, but our week was pretty mundane. Now we´re just getting antsy for transfers next week. We´re so curious to know what´ll happen. If we both stay, if one of us leaves... etc. But I´ll let you know if anything changes next week.

So we´ve started a new transfer off with a bang. Sister Braga was transferred and Sister Farias has joined me here in Novo Hamburgo and I just love her to death. She´s from Forteleza, way up in the northeast, and has the longest most beautiful hair I´ve ever seen. Lots of times when someone has really long hair it looks unkempt, but hers is so shiny and pretty. But most importantly she´s a hard worker and a phenomenal missionary. I like her lots, we´re working really well together.
And in other news, we´re preparing Marcelo for baptism! So Sister Braga and I began teaching him, and right off the bat he was so sincere and diligent. Then last week we were talking with Marcia, his wife, and out of the blue she tells us that Marcelo wants to get baptized. But we didn´t invite him right away, for some reason we wanted to wait until the next lesson. But then this Saturday we went to teach him again, and Sister Farias in a very simple direct manner invited Marcelo to be baptized and he accepted. The spirit was super strong and we´re all super happy for him. He knows what´s right. He´s a very sincere person. When he dedicates himself to something, he sticks with it.

Anyway, so I´m doing really good. Last week I reached the halfway point of my mission and it´s super strange. Sometimes it feels like I´ve been out for more time, other times it feels like I just left. The mission is almost like the twilight zone in the way time passes. But it´s good.

So the weather here has been kind of insane. Since I got here in Novo Hamburgo at the begining of July it´s been off and on hot and cold, but never really getting super cold like it was in Venâncio. But this week it´s started to get cold cold again. I think we might have a few more weeks of winter, but all of the members say that in September it starts to get warmer. I am tired of winter, but I´m a little scared of a Brazilian summer. From what I´ve heard it gets super hot, and it´s really humid here. But I already have sunblock, so hopefully all I´ll get are freckles. I´ll make sure to be careful though. But I have another few weeks before I have to worry about it.

July 2011

So I´ve been trasfered here to Novo Hamburgo, about 40 minutes from Porto Alegre by bus. It´s a decent sized city with a fairly large downtown area with tall buildings and such. And our area is a good chunk of the city. It´s big, but that just means there´s always plenty to do. I´m sad to leave Venâncio Aires, Sister Inhuma and I were really starting to have a lot of success there, and I love the members and the people. There are families there who are literally like second, third families for me. But Novo Hamburgo is nice. It´s very pretty here. It feels like we´re nestled in the mountains. It´s very hilly, and from some parts of the city you can see for miles. And with Sister Braga we´re working very hard. My legs are already tired from all of the walking, and climbing hills. There are seriously hills almost 90 degrees. But she´s actually pretty easy on me. At times we take a longer route so I don´t have to climb some of the really steep ones before being more adjusted. And Sis. Braga´s pretty awesome. She´s from Rio de Janeiro and talks super fast with a lot of slang. So at times I don´t understand her, but for sure my portuguese is going to improve with her help. She´s very good about correcting my speech without making me feel stupid. Though there are things she corrects that I´ve been saying since the begining. I don´t know why my other companions didn´t correct me. But she´s a hard worker and we´re getting along very well already. And she´s going to teach me how to cook like a brazilian. I´m going to learn how to make rice and beans, and this cake we saw in a bakery that she said she knew how to make with bananas on top. It´s going to be great. I hope she know how to prepare bananas to eat with dinner too. Here you can cook the bananas, fried maybe? and eat them with the rice and beans, meat, everything. It´s so good. You wouldn´t think so, but really, it´s like my new favorite thing.

And Novo Hamburgo is a lot warmer than Venâncio was. I don´t know if we´re having a heat spell or something, but it´s been super warm this week. It´s chilly in the morning, but by the time we´re halfway to our lunch appointment we´re taking off our coats and sweaters and socks. And especially after lunch when we´re walking quickly to our appointments it gets pretty warm. In Venâncio everyone said that the worst of the winter was in July and August, so I´m curious if this warm weather will stay or it it´ll get cold again. Either way I think I´m prepared.

So I got the package Thursday and it´s perfect! between you guys and the package from Jackie I´m swimming in snacks and goodies. While I was opening the package my companion was like who is this child and where did my companion go? I got a little excited over the pop tarts and swedish fish, and the much needed shoes. They´re perfect, thank you.
Sister Braga has a lot of Brazilian pride and was asking why the snacks were better than what they have here, and I tried to explain how pop tarts are comfort food, but I´m not sure she grasped the whole concept of comfort food. But all the same she´s enjoying the snacks along with me. She especially likes the milanos.

This week was good. I´m not sure if I have anything distinctive to share. The area´s really hard. It´s big and there hasn´t been any real success in a while. At times it feels like we just walk and walk and walk all day without anything really happening. But our numbers are improving. In the two weeks I´ve been here we´ve had more lessons. Slowly but surely things are looking up. This weekend we´re going to a neighborhood kind of far, we have to take a bus to get there, because a member there has a sack full of referrals. We´re excited to get out there. All week we´ve been feeling impressed to go there, and so we were super excited when Marcia arranged to go with us. Neither of us know the streets there so we need a member who lives there to help us navigate. We just love Marcia. In the two weeks I´ve been here she´s brought a non-member friend to church with her every Sunday. So we´re pretty excited to work in Roselandia, this neighborhood.

But really life is good. Sis. Braga´s a lot of fun. Even when we´re tired we always find something to laugh at. The other night we were walking home and it started to rain. neither of us had our umbrellas and this was RAIN. It was pouring and we were still on the other side of the city of our apartment. But we had fun singing songs. I sang "Singing in the rain", and we just laughed and laughed. By the time we got home we were soaked through, but tudo bem. Nothing warm pajamas and hot chocolate couldn´t cure.

So that was my week. I´m tired, but happy. I´m excited to get fired up tomorrow at Zone conference.

More of June

So this week was pretty typical. The problem with our chuveiros got fixed. So we´re taking warm showers in the morning again. What a blessing. Although the water´s never exactly hot. It´s not cold, but not hot either, so needless to say, my mission is teaching me to take short showers. But all is well, we´re just plugging along.

Anyway, winter is starting to settle in. At least in the morning is super cold, but by the time we leave the apartment the sun is shining and it´s hot out. But Sunday was cold cold cold. Even in the afternoon there was a little bite to the air. Winter here is a lot different. I don´t think it´ll be as cold as it is at home, but no one has heating in their houses. Even the people who are a little more well-off. Everyone just wears a lot of sweaters and slippers when they´re in the house. The mornings are the worst though. It´s so hard to get out of bed when the bed´s the only warm place in the apartment. But we do, and everything works out.

We´ve been teaching Luana who´s 15 and soaking up the gospel like a sponge. Oh well, it´s too late now. I´ve been transferred. I´ll find out tomorrow in the bus station in Porto Alegre where I´m going. I wanted so bad to see Luana baptized, but tudo bem. I know the Lord has a purpose in moving me. I got an email from Presidente Pavan saying
"OK. OBRIGADO. VOCÊ ESTÁ FAZENDO UM GRANDE TRABALHO MISSIONÁRIO. PARABÉNS.
AGORA O SENHOR PRECISA DE SUA AJUDA EM OUTRO LUGAR. SEI QUE FARÁ UM BELO TRABALHO EM SUA NOVA ÁREA.
SERÁO NOVOS DESAFIOS E TAMBÉM MOMEMTOS DE MUITO CRESCIMENTO.
PRES. PAVAN"
Translation: ok, thanks (in response to last weeks email). You are doing a great missionary work. Congratulations. Now the Lord needs your help in another place. I know that you will do a beautiful work in your new area. There will be new challenges and also moments of much growth.
Pres. Pavan.

So here we go. New adventures. I´m always a little apprehensive about a new transfer and always it works out just fine. I had hoped to have another transfer with Sis. Inhuma. So far I´ve only ever had one transfer with every companion. I´ve never had more than 6 weeks with anyone. With the exception of Sis. Dangerfield in the MTC. But even that was a little different. We were a trio and then after 6 weeks, it was just the two of us. I hope at some point in my mission I get 2 transfers with someone. Just watch, now I´ll have a companion I don´t like for 2 transfers. Ahaha.

June 2011

I´m not sure why, but here I´m a cat magnet. All of the cats in all of the houses I enter are instantly my best friend. Especially in the house of a recent convert in our branch. One of her cats Frederico always jumps up on my lap as soon as I sit down. Apparently he doesn´t like anyone else. Marile calls me the cat whisperer.

Last week I bought some more long sleeve shirts and a sweater, and so far they´ve been enough. But if I need more I´ll for sure take care of it. Though shopping here´s kind of annoying. Maybe not all of the stores, but in this store I bought stuff in last week, the sales clerk hovered the entire time we were in there. And I mean hovered. She was at my elbow the whole time, sometimes she would leave for a second but only to show me some other shirt that I didn´t want. I probably would have bought more if she had just let me be to wander and pick out what I wanted. But it worked out, I got what I needed.

I´m not dreaming in portuguese yet, at least not that I remember. But I think Sister Inhuma told me a few weeks ago that I spoke in my sleep in portuguese. It does feel like I´ve been here longer. I have about a year exactly left on the mission. It´s weird to think about. Some days it feels like I just got here, and others it feels like I´ve been here for ages. And this transfer especially is going by so fast. We´ve started the 4th week of 6 already. I could have sworn Sister Inhuma just arrived.

The real lives of brazilians really are like soap operas. Everyone´s so dramatic. Sunday was o dia dos namorados. It´s like their Valentines Day. And there was this huge dance in Porto Alegre, called the dance of roses. And what happens is, if a boy gives you a yellow rose it means he wants to be your friend, a pink rose means he wants to talk with you, and a red rose means he wants to date you. And there´s this 18 year old girl in our ward. She was telling us the other day that if she doesn´t recieve a rose at this dance she´s going to be so sad. She didn´t know what she would do if she didn´t recieve a rose. But no worries, she recieved 2 roses, from what I understand, one pink and one red and was very pleased with herself. She´s so funny.
The people here are very dramatic, very passionate, and very open and loving. And despite being quiet I think the people like me too. At least the Irmãs are always calling me little doll, or dear one. Maybe because I´m small and pale they feel maternal towards me. Será.

I´m not sure how exactly, but we taught 27 lessons this week. Usually we have more like 17. The elders are green with envy too that we had so many lessons and then 6 people in church. The Lord is really blessing us. We´ve worked really hard this transfer and it feels good to be having a little bit of success. All week we invited everyone we know, everyone we´re teaching, to come to church. Then Sunday, we had 4 of our own investigators. Then out of no where these two old men come out of nowhere and participate in all of our meetings. We thought they were friends of a member, but they literally just wandered in off the street. So naturally we got their addresses and set up a time to visit and teach them. But it was way interesting to see how we had set a goal, and then we tried real hard to reach that goal, and then where we fell short, the Lord stepped in and brought some friends to church for us.

We´re really finding some incredible people to teach. At the end of last week we found this family, Lizete, the mom, Luana and Luiza, her daughters. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and left them a copy to read and pray about. The older daughter Luana was so excited to read the Book of Mormon. I told them about how in my copy of the book I´ve been reading and marking the references to Christ. His names and his own words, etc. and how my book is just full of color. Almost every page has a marking. And Luana said I want to do that too! It was super exciting, and all week I couldn´t wait to get back there and teach again. Then Saturday there was a branch activity and we invited the family and Luana came and it was perfect. We invited one of the other young women to come and stay with Luana during the activity to she´d have a friend, and she was perfect. Grazila showed her around the building explained things without making her feel stupid or left out. It was just perfect. Then Sunday Luana came to church and really liked it. We´re so excited.

And then our biggest miracle this week was Davi. Davi is 8 years old and has wanted to get baptized for ages, has already been taught by the sisters and everything. Davi´s grandma called and told us that his mom had granted permission! We freaked out in the happiest most joyful way possible. We were literally celebrating in the street. So July 2nd Davi will be baptized and we couldn´t be happier for him. For an 8 year old he has a testimony so strong. He told us about how he had prayed about whether or not the church was true, and then he was reading the scriptures and found his answer that yes this was the right path for him. An 8 year old, receiving revelation through the scriptures. Que coisa maravilhosa.

So needless to say, I´m doing really well. I´m busy busy busy, but it´s a good busy. And Sister Inhuma said that last night I was talking in my sleep in Portuguese, so I´m thinking this is a good sign. It´s hard sometimes to recognize that the language is improving. But then yesterday we ran into Alvori in the street. Alvori was baptized my first week here, and we hadn´t seen him for some weeks. And I could understand probably 90% of what he said. When I got here I could only understand probably 15% or what he said. I don´t know why, something about his accent or the way he speaks, it´s more difficult for me to understand. But yesterday I understood almost everything he said. It was an exciting moment.

May 2011

This last week or so has been craziness. We´ve just been working working working. We´ve been teaching and meeting so many special people . Although we´re a little sad today since it´s transfers. We got the call this morning that Sister Mota´s been transfered, so tomorrow she´ll be gone to some different area and I´ll recieve a new companion. We wanted so bad to stay together for another 6 weeks but the Lord has other plans for us. I´m mostly just nervous about knowing the area without Sister Mota. I hope I can navigate my way around to our investigators well enough. That and I´m going to miss Sister Mota a lot. It´s weird how you can be such good friends with someone without being able to communicate in the way you want. But she´s an amazing person and a good missionary. She´ll be missed for sure in Venâncio. So starting tomorrow we´re off to new adventures.

Anyway, the past week or so we´ve had some tender experiences. Always we´re praying to find people prepped and ready to accept the gospel, and last week we were walking down the street and passed a woman in her yard, and we turned and decided to talk to her. Her face instantly lit up and she let us in and we left a Book of Mormon with her and her husband to read. Specifically we gave them 3rd Nephi 11 to read. So when we returned a few days later, without even asking, Marciana tells us that she´s been reading the book we gave her and that she likes it a lot. Then she asked what does Hosana mean? And it led right into our next planned lesson and everything. It´s not as common as we´d hope for someone to actually read what we ask and then be so excited about it. She came to church yesterday and just soaked everything up.

Then the other day we were visiting with Dona Onilda and her daughter Joana. Onilda´s about 83 if I remember right, bedridden, and a lot weaker than when we met them a few weeks ago. She´s completely dependent in everything to her daughter Joana and is very very quiet. She only speaks a teensy bit, and it´s been less and less every time we visit. But she loves it when we sing hymns. So we were visiting them and Onilda asks for Chimarrão, not for herself but for us because that´s what good hostesses do, offer Chimarrão. So while Joana was in the kithchen making the chimarrão, Sister Mota and I sang a few hymns for her. During the first hymn, Sister Mota nudges me and gestures to Onilda, and she´s laying there crying, she was so touched by the music. And when we finished and Sister Mota asked how she liked it, she simply said "I cried." Then after Joana returned we told her what had happened and Joana started to cry. She wouldn´t tell us why exactly, but we think it touched her that her mother was so affected by the music. And Onilda being so weak we think Joana´s a little sensitive right now. But we love visiting them. There´s something special about their home.

Then yesterday Sister Mota and I gave talks in church and it was a powerful experience too. So we´ve known we were giving talks for a week or so, but we´re busy and haven´t had time really to figure out what we would say etc. And on top of it I had to give a training, kind of like a talk, in our district meeting on Thursday, so we didn´t have the preparation that we wanted. I would read stuff that I wanted to share, but everything was so scattered. So come Sunday morning neither I nor Sister Mota really had anything gelled to share in Sacrament meeting. But I had a few notes and got up and started talking, and ended up actually filling my allotted time. But I shared an experience I had had the night before, where I was talking with Sister Dangerfield on the phone and we were talking about how when we were in the MTC, all the time we´d have little A-Ha moments where we´d realize that we were missionaries. And I mentioned that I still have those moments where I kind of take a step back and realize what I´m doing. And Sister Dangerfield asked what the little experiences are like for me. And I told her about how when I´m in a lesson or giving that training, and the spirit´s giving me the words to say and I´m actually speaking portuguese, and I recognize that it´s for sure not me and that I´m recieving divine assistance. I take a step back and and think about how this work that I´m doing is so much bigger than me. If it wasn´t important than the Lord wouldn´t help me in such a profound way. And he has helped me. There´s no way I could learn portuguese in 2 months, not speak it for almost 3, and then be able to communicate with people after only a month or so in Brazil, without His help. It really is the Lord´s work. Anyway, so I shared in Sacrament Meeting what I had told Sister Dangerfield, and today our branch president said that when I was speaking about my struggles with the language and bearing testimony of the importance of missionary work, I was speaking fluently. I don´t really remember this, well, I don´t really remember much of what I said actually. But it was interesting, When Sister Mota finished her talk I leaned over and told her that she said everything that I couldn´t, and she responded that I had said everything she needed to start hers. Anyway, it was just a neat experience to see how the Lord guided us to say what the branch needed to hear.

This week has been a little doida (crazy) but good. Tuesday, because of transfers Sister Mota went to Porto Alegre, while I stayed in Santa Cruz with some other sisters to wait for my new companion. And we had a lot of fun being tourists. There´s this huge park with a cave, and monkeys and lots of pretty things to see and we had a lot of fun taking pictures and chatting. Then Tuesday evening, my new companion Sister Inhuma arrived and we returned to Venâncio Aires. Sister Inhuma is great. I´ve really been blessed with great companions on my mission. Every transfer is a little nerve-wracking since girls are crazy. But I´ve been super blessed. So Sister Inhuma is from Recife, way up in the Northeast, and has only 3 months left on the mission. She and Sister Mota were actually companions in the MTC. But we´re having a lot of fun already and working hard. We´ve already had some adventures in the apartment. Our Chuveira broke this week. It´s a little machine? tool? thing that heats the water in the shower, so we haven´t had any hot water for our showers all week. So we´ve been heating water on the stove and managing well enough. But then yesterday morning our gas for the stove ran out, but all was well since the Branch President was coming over later to fix our Chuveira. But when he came over he couldn´t quite manage it, so he took it home with him to fix there. But thankfully he arranged for someone to come deliver a new propane tank. Bah, adventures. So this morning we at least had hot water from the stove to use. But I think if I understood correctly President is bringing the chuveira tonight. So hopefully we´ll have hot showers again soon.

But we´ve had some good laughs over everything. Sister Inhuma loves to laugh and she´s super friendly, so all of the ward members love her already, as well as our investigators so the transition has been easy.
It´s crazy that we´re coming into June now. It for sure doesn´t feel like it. We´re moving steadily into fall, and we wake up every morning cold cold cold, but by the afternoon it´s hot again. So I never know what to wear in the morning. But it´s really not super cold yet. Everyone says in July and August it´s the worst. So we´ll see how it turns out.

April 2011

Sister Mota and I are having a ton of fun and working hard. We had the opportunity to go on splits with our Branch President´s wife and daughter, and ended up finding a family of 5 to teach! We were visiting with a less active family, and the wife mentioned that the family living across the street would be interested in the gospel, so we walked over and taught them about the Book of Mormon and invited them to read and they said they would. It was awesome. Now we´re just trying to figure out when to go back. They live kinda far and on splits we got there by car, but it´s a rare thing for us to have a ride. So we´re trying to figure out a way to get there again to teach. We´re pretty optimistic that the whole family´s getting baptized. Anyway, I´ve found that I enjoy talking with children the most. They´re always so friendly and a lot less intimidating to talk to than their parents. I get a little scared speaking to people in portuguese because 8 times out of 10 I don´t understand what they´re saying to me, but with kids it´s a little less pressure. And they´re so funny. It´s like with the nametag comes this instantaneous love on their part, and they just want to sit next to me and ask me questions about the United States or hear words in english, etc. I just love their sweet little faces. On Sunday Sister Mota and I popped into Primary and were swarmed by the children wanting to shake our hands or give us hugs. Then we got to play a game with them. So much fun.

But despite all of the walking and walking that we do, I´m afraid all of this delicious brazilian food is making me fat. Southern hospitality is nothing compared to brazilian hospitality. Every house we go to they feed us this or that. And then because this week was Páscoa (Easter) we were eating chocolate chocolate chocolate, and it just continues. Even for normal lunches, people are always telling us, Eat Sister! Eat more! So, I´m going to work real hard to not have to buy new clothes.

Well, things are just peachy here. It´s starting to get colder which is kind of a nice change from the sweltering heat, but people keep warning me that the winters are super cold. So we´ll see if Washington prepared me well enough.
But I couldn´t be happier. And this week on Friday we´re having a huge mission conference, with all of the Porto Alegre North mission, as well as the South Mission, because Elder D. Todd Christofferson is coming to visit. So we´re getting super excited to go hear an apostle speak to us. And Sister Mota has been asked to give the opening prayer. She´s so nervous, but she´ll be fine. Aaaaand, we heard from the office elders that my MTC companions got their visas, so they should be there at the conference and I´m so excited to see them. I love Brazil and I´ve been making friends, etc. But there´s something different about seeing an already familiar face.
Well, Thanks for all the love. Eu amo vocês muito muito muito!

Oi de Brasil!!!

Olá!!
Greetings from Brazil! It is insane to think about how a week ago I was on my way here. Brazil is crazy and wonderful all in its own way. In the airport after arriving in Sao Paolo I bumped into a bunch of elders all going to Brazil. It looks like a ton of missionaries got their visas the same time I did. Waiting for my plane to Porto Alegre I bumped into a bunch of different elders and sisters I knew in the MTC. But it sounds like me and one other elder are the only ones from our MTC district to have received our visas as far as I know. I did hear that my MTC companions are still in Alabama, as well as the other elder coming to Porto Alegre.

Yes, Monday is P-day and we do have access to a little internet shop where we can email. Emailing president was super hard in portuguese.

Anyway, So President Pavan and his wife picked me up from the airport and I stayed in the mission home that night. Sister Pavan is just so sweet. She doesn't speak any english, and my portuguese is a little rough, so communicating was hard, but even still she went out of her way to make me feel welcome. Driving in Brazil is absolute insanity. The cars make 3 lanes out of a two lane road and then there are people on motorcylces driving in between the already limited space between cars. And everybody drives so fast. Im so happy to be walking everywhere. So then Wednesday morning President took me to the mission office where I met the assistants and the 5 elders who arrived a few hours after I had on Tuesday. Then we all went to the Federal Police something or other where we waited for ages to get our paper work certified.

Then the assistants took me in a taxi to my first area, Gravataí. Except it´s not really my first area. President has had me working here with Sister Gonçalves and Sister Sousa for this week, because transfers are happening tomorrow actually, so tomorrow we go to Porto Alegre and I´ll be assigned to an official trainer in my first area. But my current companions have been amazing. They´re so patient. I speak more portuguese than I understand and it´s frustrating for us all when they´re trying to explain something and I´m just not getting it. Both are from Forteleza, Brazil and speak no english. But we´ve been having a lot of fun, and they´re very encouraging. I´m treated no differently than if I was brazilian and could understand what they said. I´m still expected to teach my portion of the lesson and talk to people on the street. So I´m learning, but it´s hard.

But I´m already falling in love with the country. It´s so so so beautiful. There´s trees everywhere and the people really are so friendly. I´ve felt so welcomed here. And even we can eat fruit right off the trees in the street. I had some sort of berry that Sister Sousa was eating the other day and it was quite tasty. I don´t remember what it´s called or else I´d tell you. It´s funny though, we talked to this woman the other night who had never met an American before me. I was her first to have ever laid eyes on and she had so many questions. People here are just fascinated by the snow. They´re always asking if there´s snow where I live. It´s funny, before I left Washington, an elder who served in the next mission over had just returned home from his mission and I asked him what the weather was like and he said it was getting cold since winter is coming. So I arrive thinking it´ll be at least a little more like fall, but it´s still super hot. Though in the evening it does get into maybe the 70s and my companions from the northeast are shivering and complaining about the cold, and I just laugh. But I have heard it gets into the 40s when winter comes for real. An elder from the states said that in Caxias which is probably a colder part in the mission, it got to about 30. So I´m not super worried. I think Washington prepared me well enough.

Anyway, Brazil is amazing. Everything is different, but I´m just loving it. It´s hard not really speaking the language because I want to learn about everything so bad, but I´m limited in what I can learn until I can understand the answers. But I know it´ll come. And before I know it I won´t remember how to speak english.
So next week I´ll have to tell you about my first official area and my trainer and everything.

After two and half months in Cheney, Washington, it's time to go to on to Porto Alegre Brazil! Flying to the southern hemisphere tomorrow morning! Hurray!!!

Paige on a bike

So this week was awesome! We're just plugging along. And we got hit with a surprise Monday when the mission office called about our car. Since we're covering only half of Cheney, and it's such a small town, they took the car to give to elders or sisters who need it more somewhere else. And since it looks like we're pretty much done with the snow and ice here, we pulled out the bikes. It's been such an adventure. The first day or so on bike were absolutely miserable, but my puny muscles are adjusting and I'm getting stronger. With the exception of yesterday, it's even been kinda fun peddling around town, despite looking like mega-dorks with our skirts and helmets. But yesterday was just as miserable as the first day again. Sundays are just crazy in general. So we have a meeting at the Cheney ward building at 7, so we left at 6:30, wiping the frost from our bike seats. Then after that meeting, we have to peddle over to the institute building for another meeting at 8:15, then back to the other building for church with the Cheney 1st ward. Then back to the institute for the single's ward. So after making the 10-15 minute bike ride like 4 times, we were so exhausted. We pushed through though, and despite our Sunday feeling like it lasted a million years, we had a good day.

This week we found and have been teaching this man and his son, who actually move back to Hong Kong on Wednesday, but they're so prepared for the gospel. We know we were meant to find them and prepare them for missionaries in Hong Kong. The son has such a desire to know that God is there and loves him, and his father has already had so many special experiences with his prayers being answered. It's only a matter of time.

It's so crazy how quickly you can develop that attachment and love for people.

But in general everything's going good. we're just working hard and teaching lots.

Beginning of March in Cheney

At a district meeting.


My first pizza in the field.


So we found out about transfers last night and it's been kind of a rough night/morning. I'm staying in Cheney with Sister Ginos and Sister Jensen as my companions, but Sister Peck is going to Colville, up super close to Canada, and she's not happy about it. I'm doing ok. I'm feeling a lot better about it this morning than I was last night. I'm just not wild about change right now. It's going to be weird being in a trio again, and getting used to new companions, etc. But it'll all work out. Poor Sister Peck doesn't want to leave at all.

I love my family so much. I'm so grateful for the family I was sent to. I have loving, supportive parents, and awesome siblings. You would not believe how normal we are. And I am so so so grateful.

February in Cheney

Busy teaching


We got snow!

Ola!!
So this week was awesome. I am healthy again so it's been a lot easier to get out and work. Sister Peck hasn't been feeling well though, but we're working hard regardless. And one of our investigators Mike has a baptismal date! We're so proud of him. Last week we committed him to the first Saturday in March so he'd have something to work towards. But then this week we were talking to him about it and he said that the 26th kept coming to mind for a baptismal date, so that's what we set. It was so exciting to see him recieve that revelation to know when he should be baptized. And he picked the date without knowing that it was the day his son John was getting baptized. So we'll have a father son baptism and we're so excited. It's going to be so tender for them to share that date. And they're such a nice family, we're so pumped to see them united in the gospel.

And then we've been teaching a different Mike in the YSA ward who's trying to come back to church, and I was talking with Sister Peck after one of his lessons this week about how his lessons feel like sacred ground because the spirit is always so strong. And it's because he's so honest and sincere in his desire to learn and to repent. He's been doing so good. We're just so proud.

Then a miracle! I had called a former investigator earlier that week, and he called me back. That's a huge deal. People never call back, members, non members, it doesn't matter, people just don't return our calls. But this young man called me back to set up an appointment.
It's so rewarding to see weeks of hard work start to really pay off and to see miracles happen in people's lives, and to see miracles happen in the work.

January in Cheney, Washington

So here I am in Cheney, Washington. It's cold but it's awesome, and today we're going to wal-mart so I can get some turtlenecks and warm socks. So as a part of my first area we cover Cheney 1st ward and the West Plains YSA ward. So we cover a part of the town and then all of the Eastern Washington University campus. So a handful of our investigators and the people we meet are college age students, which is a lot of fun. And then the rest are in the family ward, but it seems like everyone we meet is just so nice.


And my companion Sister Peck is amazing. She feels insecure about training someone but she shouldn't because she's so so amazing. She's from Las Vegas and went to school at BYU Hawaii and actually knows one of the sisters I lived with in the MTC. She knows Sister Roy and it was so fun to make that connection. But she is just so in tune with the spirit and is so good about following those promptings immediately. Another thing I love about her is her sincerity too. She's absolutely sincere in everything she does. When she talks to investigators or members, or anyone, you can feel the love and genuine concern she has for them in the most sincere way. I love that she's perfectly honest with her feelings and her thoughts. She has such an honest and wonderful love for the Lord and for His gospel and it's infectious. Plus, as an added bonus she loves EFY music. So now that I can listen to music again, she's right there with me asking me to replay songs that we just happen to both love. So we are getting along fabulously, and just teaching the gospel.
Being in the field is different than I expected, but it's good. It's less teaching lessons and more sharing scriptures with less actives, but we're working hard to invite everyone to come unto Christ. But it's amazing the instantaneous love I have for everyone we teach. To have that sincere desire for them to change their lives and then to recieve revelation on what they need, and what to teach them. It's amazing. I hope I can be here long enough to watch an investigator progress towards baptism from start to finish, but we'll see.
I've been asking everyone I meet if they know anyone who speaks portuguese, because I really really want to find a portuguese family, or anyone really, and be able to touch them and teach them in the language of their heart. and then yesterday in church I was explaining to a young man in the ysa ward about the whole visa waiting thing, and then asked him to let me know if he found anyone who speaks portuguese, and he mentioned a woman who works at a bicycle shop behind the library who is from Brazil, so tomorrow I think Sister Peck was going to show me where it is and we'll go talk to her. At the very least I hope to just practice speaking the language. I do have time in the morning to study, but it's no substitute to actually speaking it. So hopefully that'll work out. I'll keep you updated.
But in general I am just happy and healthy. I'm already loving Washington and the people. We went and visited a couple who Sister Peck baptized and this sweet man, his name was Bob gave me a Christmas ornament he made. I guess all the sisters got one around Christmas time, but he let me pick one out too. I just wanted to tell Daddy about it, since he loves working with wood, but it's just this little wooden ornament, he carved it with a scroll saw. I'm not sure what that means, but it's out of redwood and the only finish on it is just some mineral oil, and it's just the prettiest little thing. I hung it above my desk along with a map of the country I found. So I'm just settling in nice.