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!