Hey guys!!
The internet isn´t working yet, so I hope I can send this to you guys today and you don´t worry about me. But anyway, I only have a little bit to tell you about my week! I actually got on before and read all your emails, didn´t have time to write, and now that I do the myldsmail site isn´t working. But I´m sure it will soon.
So, to tell you about the week! It was great! A couple of exciting things. Wednesday we had Zone Conference, which happens once every transfer, so it was my second. But it´s quickly becoming something I look forward to a lot! All the missionaries from our zone (the Cruz Alta area, a couple of surrounding cities and the 14 of us here) get together in our chapel. We have training sessions all morning from the President and his wife, lunch (it´s really silly to like this part so much, but the Relief Society always makes amazing food!) and then after, everyone gets interviewed by the President to see how we´re doing and such. While other people are being interviewed, the rest of us have music lessons and other fun stuff with the President´s wife. And the last two Zone Conferences are where I´ve gotten your packages!:) So it feels like a holiday or something.
Thank you so much for everything you sent, by the way!! I was so happy to get your letters and everything. I even got one batch of letters that you sent to the MTC back in August!! So it was fun to hear about everything going on back then. I still need to go through the letters and see everything you asked about so I can respond. This week it felt like I literally had no time! But I´ll answer them next week. But thank you so much for loving me and supporting me and sending me your thoughts everything!
So what else happened this week? Zone Conference was great to reenergize Sister Raphaela and I, after last week we were a little….just lacking in energy or something. But now we´re both doing a lot better. So the week was good!
But what´s something exciting that I can tell you about? We had a very memorable experience in which we taught a pastor! One of those things that´s cool among missionaries, “Whoa, you taught a pastor? Crazy!” But I don´t know if it seems quite as cool to you guys! But it was so interesting, we´ve been teaching this man named Inacio, about 50-ish, who belongs to an evangelical church. So he´s always really interested in seeing where things are in the Bible, etc. So when we showed up this week, he said “Oh hey, my pastor wants to talk to you guys! Can I call him now?” So we said sure, he called and said “The Mormon girls are here!” and his pastor came over. It was very interesting, he told us how it was a “lack of etiquette” to teach someone who already had a pastor – basically we were “stealing his client” (not his words, but what it sounded like). So we said we never force our way into anyone´s house, we were there because Inacio invited us in, and if he didn´t want us to come back we wouldn´t. But Inacio said “No, you´re welcome whenever you want!” right in front of his pastor. Yay for him! But Pastor Jose got kind of angry, just saying like, “You´re girls! You can´t tell me things like that! I was preaching before you were born!” and stuff, but as we were leaving Inacio said again, “You can come back whenever you want.” So that was exciting!
It was such an interesting experience, to think about how other religions have “pastors” and such who are professional ministers, maybe even have gone to school to be such, etc. And we´re just “girls” as he said, who decided to give up our lives for 18 months to walk in the rain, eat cow heart, ask to come into people´s homes and chat with every type of people imaginable…And yet, we were called by a prophet of God to do it, and have authority to teach, the same way Christ´s apostles did. It´s really incredible to have this responsibility, and all the blessings that come with it too. Who would have ever thought that I´d be here in Brasil, having all these crazy experiences, trying to avoid Bible bashing while talking to a pastor? What a crazy 18 months!
But everything´s great here! I´m doing really well, totally happy and healthy. Trying to make the most of this last week of the transfer! We found out for sure at conference that we´re both leaving, this area will be “closed” for sisters for a while, and two elders will be taking our place. So we´re trying to leave this area in perfect condition, perfect records of all our teaching, and we´re trying really hard to mark the marriage dates of Cirlei and Elenice, two women who want to get married so they can be baptized. So this last week will be crazy trying to get everything done!! But I´m excited. It will be exciting to go to another area and have another companion, but I´ll miss Sister Raphaela like crazy!! She´s really the greatest companion I could ask for, and I´m sure I won´t always be so lucky, but I know I can get along with anyone I´m paired with. So next Monday when I write I´ll be able to tell you which area I´m going to and who will be my new companion!!
It was so good to hear from you guys, I´m so glad you´re doing well! The video of Caroline dancing was ADORABLE! I can´t believe how big she is, that she´s crawling so fast, and dancing…wow!! It was so great to see her and Katie in the video, and Beatles Rock Band looks amazing!:) Thanks so much for sending videos and pictures. I love you all so much, and can´t wait to hear from you again! Keep cheering for the Utes for me even though they lost to TCU. Oh and hey, when you get a chance, I want to see pictures of Caroline from Halloween!!
Big hugs to everyone, mom and dad, Katie and Alex, huge squeezes for Caroline, a big glass of ice for Grandpa, Grandma, Marla, Bruce, Ashley and Chelsea (I finally got the letter they sent in August!), Andy and Leyla (what an adorable picture of them! Thanks for always writing me Leyla, and I promise to write back soon!) And give Grandma Madsen a big hug too and tell her to get feeling better! I love you all so much, you´re always in my prayers. Til next week!
Love love love,
Heather
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Photo link
I uploaded MTC photos here!
http://s610.photobucket.com/albums/tt190/heather_327/MTC/
I hope it works for you guys to see, if not let me know!
Love you!!!
http://s610.photobucket.com/albums/tt190/heather_327/MTC/
I hope it works for you guys to see, if not let me know!
Love you!!!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Hi guys!
Hey everyone!!
First of all, thank you SO much for all the pictures and videos!! I just spent almost 45 minutes looking at everything and it totally made my week to see all of you!! Unfortunately, now I have to hurry a bit, but it´s worth it to have seen you all looking so adorable. I can´t believe how big Carrie is!!! She´ll be walking so soon! I LOVED seeing her dance! Those pictures of her through the fish tank are beautiful, and her eating the popcorn made me laugh out loud! Thanks so much for making videos for me! It was so great to see grandma and grandpa. I´m so glad you´re all doing well. Thanks so much for thinking of me and making sure I get to see everything! :)
As for me here, it´s been a pretty normal week. We didn´t have any baptisms, and it was kind of weird because we didn´t even teach very much, we were really busy getting ready for this musical fireside in our area. All the missionaries here go together to organize a fireside, it was awesome! President and Sister Myrrha came from Santa Maria to speak, and we sang musical numbers in between. It was really fun! I even sang a solo in one of the songs, can you believe it? It didn´t even really scare me! Killing spiders, talking to strangers, singing solos...the mission has been conquering all my fears!;) But it was great, although not as many people came as we had hoped.
So that was the most exciting thing of the week, that and that Andréia has now been telling me about all you guys because apparently she found you on Facebook! It was so funny, she ran up to me and showed me a picture on her phone...it was like worlds collided in my mind when it turned out to be Katie, Alex and Caroline! Crazy. But she´s really excited, she loves to practice English and wants to go to BYU for college. So I´m sure she´s loving talking to you guys!
Let´s see, what else is new here? This transfer is winding down! I can´t believe it, time is flying by. I can´t believe it´s NOVEMBER! And the leaves are all changing colors there...here it cooled down a bit, thankfully, last Monday was seriously the hottest I´ve ever been in my life. I´m a little worried for summer! But it rained, and washed away the heat for a little while. It´s the weirdest pattern here, it gets hotter and hotter and hotter until it rains, then sarts building up again. I don´t understand the weather here!!
But....let´s see, what fun Brasil facts are there for you guys this week? Oh, I ate cow heart!! It was exactly like normal meat. I didn´t even know, so I might have even eaten it before, the irmã who was feeding us just randomly mentioned that it was cow heart, her husband´s favorite. But seriously, it´s exactly like normal beef. What else? Oh, yesterday I found out something weird - apparently you have to "register" your child when they´re born, I don´t know exactly what it involves, but their name was to be approved, and you can´t name them anything "foreign"! Someone said they liked my name, but "too bad I can´t use it for my kids". So weird! No wonder they´re so amazed by people from different countries, they´ve never even heard a foreign name. We´re lucky to have grown up in America!
What else? We just keep plugging along as usual, sticking to the exact same routine every day, studying all morning and teaching all afternoon. There are the nicest people here - Marcos and Jovana especially are attached to us. They worry that we´re hungry and always try to feed us, even though they don´t have a ton to spare. I finally brought my camera to get pictures off it, and there are a bunch of them on there, but it looks like I´m only going to be able to put MTC pictures on photobucket. They´re taking forever, so I had to cancel the beginning of the Cruz Alta pics. But I´ll do those next week. But when I do, there are a bunch of Marcos and Jovana on there! Their wedding, the dinner we made them at their house (to repay them for all the times they´ve fed us), their adorable daughter Roberta.
I´m getting nostalgic for all these people now, because it looks like I´m getting transfered in two weeks! Like I told you last time, just a rumor, but it´s looking likely. I can´t believe it´s my last two weeks here! But it will be good to get to another area. There´s really not too much to tell you guys, I´m sorry! I made sure to remember about the cow heart, but there´s really nothing else very unusual. Like I said, the exact same routine every day...vida missionária!:)
But I´m doing great and loving every minute of it, even when it´s hard. Don´t worry, I just mean, like, hard to get up at 6:30, hard to walk in the heat, fighting-laziness kind of hard:) But it´s so good for me to learn to work hard, and worth every minute of it. The things I´m learning here are priceless. I´m learning so much every day, about myself, about the world, about the gospel. I´m really learning that the gospel really is the way to live a complete, fulfilling life - it really is perfect. The people of the church aren´t, but the gospel of Jesus Christ truly is perfect.
I love you guys so much, thanks so much for writing me and supporting me! I think about you guys often and wonder what you´re up to and how you´re doing. I´m glad you´re taking care of grandpa and he´s not going without his ice on Sundays;) Enjoy the fall for me, cheer for the Utes against BYU!! Oh, and if you can, get a picture of Carrie in her Utes gear! I only saw a little bit in the picture with the popcorn, but it looked adorable!:) Ok, I´m already over my time limit, but love you guys!
Til next week!
Love,
Heather
First of all, thank you SO much for all the pictures and videos!! I just spent almost 45 minutes looking at everything and it totally made my week to see all of you!! Unfortunately, now I have to hurry a bit, but it´s worth it to have seen you all looking so adorable. I can´t believe how big Carrie is!!! She´ll be walking so soon! I LOVED seeing her dance! Those pictures of her through the fish tank are beautiful, and her eating the popcorn made me laugh out loud! Thanks so much for making videos for me! It was so great to see grandma and grandpa. I´m so glad you´re all doing well. Thanks so much for thinking of me and making sure I get to see everything! :)
As for me here, it´s been a pretty normal week. We didn´t have any baptisms, and it was kind of weird because we didn´t even teach very much, we were really busy getting ready for this musical fireside in our area. All the missionaries here go together to organize a fireside, it was awesome! President and Sister Myrrha came from Santa Maria to speak, and we sang musical numbers in between. It was really fun! I even sang a solo in one of the songs, can you believe it? It didn´t even really scare me! Killing spiders, talking to strangers, singing solos...the mission has been conquering all my fears!;) But it was great, although not as many people came as we had hoped.
So that was the most exciting thing of the week, that and that Andréia has now been telling me about all you guys because apparently she found you on Facebook! It was so funny, she ran up to me and showed me a picture on her phone...it was like worlds collided in my mind when it turned out to be Katie, Alex and Caroline! Crazy. But she´s really excited, she loves to practice English and wants to go to BYU for college. So I´m sure she´s loving talking to you guys!
Let´s see, what else is new here? This transfer is winding down! I can´t believe it, time is flying by. I can´t believe it´s NOVEMBER! And the leaves are all changing colors there...here it cooled down a bit, thankfully, last Monday was seriously the hottest I´ve ever been in my life. I´m a little worried for summer! But it rained, and washed away the heat for a little while. It´s the weirdest pattern here, it gets hotter and hotter and hotter until it rains, then sarts building up again. I don´t understand the weather here!!
But....let´s see, what fun Brasil facts are there for you guys this week? Oh, I ate cow heart!! It was exactly like normal meat. I didn´t even know, so I might have even eaten it before, the irmã who was feeding us just randomly mentioned that it was cow heart, her husband´s favorite. But seriously, it´s exactly like normal beef. What else? Oh, yesterday I found out something weird - apparently you have to "register" your child when they´re born, I don´t know exactly what it involves, but their name was to be approved, and you can´t name them anything "foreign"! Someone said they liked my name, but "too bad I can´t use it for my kids". So weird! No wonder they´re so amazed by people from different countries, they´ve never even heard a foreign name. We´re lucky to have grown up in America!
What else? We just keep plugging along as usual, sticking to the exact same routine every day, studying all morning and teaching all afternoon. There are the nicest people here - Marcos and Jovana especially are attached to us. They worry that we´re hungry and always try to feed us, even though they don´t have a ton to spare. I finally brought my camera to get pictures off it, and there are a bunch of them on there, but it looks like I´m only going to be able to put MTC pictures on photobucket. They´re taking forever, so I had to cancel the beginning of the Cruz Alta pics. But I´ll do those next week. But when I do, there are a bunch of Marcos and Jovana on there! Their wedding, the dinner we made them at their house (to repay them for all the times they´ve fed us), their adorable daughter Roberta.
I´m getting nostalgic for all these people now, because it looks like I´m getting transfered in two weeks! Like I told you last time, just a rumor, but it´s looking likely. I can´t believe it´s my last two weeks here! But it will be good to get to another area. There´s really not too much to tell you guys, I´m sorry! I made sure to remember about the cow heart, but there´s really nothing else very unusual. Like I said, the exact same routine every day...vida missionária!:)
But I´m doing great and loving every minute of it, even when it´s hard. Don´t worry, I just mean, like, hard to get up at 6:30, hard to walk in the heat, fighting-laziness kind of hard:) But it´s so good for me to learn to work hard, and worth every minute of it. The things I´m learning here are priceless. I´m learning so much every day, about myself, about the world, about the gospel. I´m really learning that the gospel really is the way to live a complete, fulfilling life - it really is perfect. The people of the church aren´t, but the gospel of Jesus Christ truly is perfect.
I love you guys so much, thanks so much for writing me and supporting me! I think about you guys often and wonder what you´re up to and how you´re doing. I´m glad you´re taking care of grandpa and he´s not going without his ice on Sundays;) Enjoy the fall for me, cheer for the Utes against BYU!! Oh, and if you can, get a picture of Carrie in her Utes gear! I only saw a little bit in the picture with the popcorn, but it looked adorable!:) Ok, I´m already over my time limit, but love you guys!
Til next week!
Love,
Heather
Month 4!!
Hey everyone!! :D
How are you guys? I didn´t hear from you at all this week, I hope everyone´s ok! And I hope you weren´t worried about me either - I asked Andréia to email you guys saying that P-Day switched to Tuesday this week. I hope she did and you guys weren´t worried.
But, what happened this week? With no questions to write back to it´s hard to think of what happened...But let´s see, on Sunday I made 4 months in the mission! (I think that makes more sense in Portuguese). I can´t believe it, time is flying. What else...well, "spring" is officially here, except it turns out there really aren´t 4 seasons here, only summer and winter:/ It´s really really really super hot now, a couple weeks after being really really super freezing. But seriously, hotter than anywhere else we´ve been. But I´m being really careful and using tons of sunscreen, so don´t worry! But after the mission I´ll be an expert on surviving extreme temperatures:)
Oh, so the reason we switched P-Day this week was because yesterday was Dia dos Finados, Brasilian Memorial Day. Much closer to our Memorial Day than to Mexican Dia de los Muertos, just take flowers to the cemetary, remember your ancestors type thing. But the president wanted us to take advantage of the holiday to go contact people at the cemetary, so we worked Monday and have P-day today. It was good, we made tons of contacts, only one really interested and doesn´t live in our area, but it´s good to talk to as many people as possible! Honestly, it´s really hard for me to make contacts, just go to a place with tons of people and start talking to everyone in sight. But it´s really good for me and I´m getting better every day. What else happened this week...we didn´t have any baptisms.
Oh, and also, we got "dumped" by a family we were working with, so that was hard. When we called to ask when we could come again, the mom said they just weren´t interested anymore. (Sometimes it´s a little like dating, can you see the parallel? It´s weird to say, but it really is...) So that was hard, but it´s ok, it wasn´t their time yet. But I really learned something from that combined with an experience later in the week. Later, we were out trying to find new people by knocking doors, and I went up to talk to an older-ish woman sitting out smoking in her lawn chair. Apparently I had preconceived notions by looking at her, because when she invited us in I really didn´t think it would go anywhere. But when we started talking to her, it turns out she was still extremely sad over losing her mother 8 years ago, so we taught her the Plan of Salvation and reassured her she would see her mother again some day. It was extremely spiritual, and we all cried. But she said that she was sure that we had been sent from God.
So that was an incredible experience, and it really taught me something. That other family we were working with were the picture perfect people for missionaries to be working with -- young family, 3 kids, a military dad, just seemed like a "Utah" family if you will. But it turns out they weren´t ready. And then someone who didn´t seem picture perfect, older (a lot of times older people are really set in their ways and not open to change), smoker...was perfectly ready for our message and ready to accept the gospel. So that was a really good experience from this week. I definitely learned we can´t judge who´s ready for the gospel and who´s not! Only the Lord knows, so we just have to trust Him.
So all in all it was a good week! A few good new people, lost a few, but always progressing. Surviving the insane heat, getting to be even better friends with Sister Raphaela...it´s crazy that we´ve started the 4th week of the transfer! Transfers are only 6 weeks and we know that she´s leaving after this one, because she´s already been here for 7 months. Actually, we found out that I´m leaving too! Or, it´s kind of a rumor, but no harm in telling you guys. But the rumor is we´re both leaving. She´s pretty sure she´s going to Livramento, on the border of Uruguay, and thinks I´ll be going to Santa Maria, just based on her figuring of who I could possibly be paired with. So changes are coming!! It´s crazy, I was kind of planning on being here for a long time. But a change will be great, I´m excited!
But that was my week, not a whole lot of news, just continuing to work hard and grow and change every day. I love you guys so much and I´m so grateful to have you at home supporting me. Thank you so much!!:D I watched that video of Caroline again, and it was even cuter the second time! Give her huge hugs and kisses for me. Make sure to get Grandpa his ice first thing on Sunday night;) I love you all and think of you often, and pray for you every night. I love you guys, have a great week and hope to hear from you soon!!
Love,
Heather
How are you guys? I didn´t hear from you at all this week, I hope everyone´s ok! And I hope you weren´t worried about me either - I asked Andréia to email you guys saying that P-Day switched to Tuesday this week. I hope she did and you guys weren´t worried.
But, what happened this week? With no questions to write back to it´s hard to think of what happened...But let´s see, on Sunday I made 4 months in the mission! (I think that makes more sense in Portuguese). I can´t believe it, time is flying. What else...well, "spring" is officially here, except it turns out there really aren´t 4 seasons here, only summer and winter:/ It´s really really really super hot now, a couple weeks after being really really super freezing. But seriously, hotter than anywhere else we´ve been. But I´m being really careful and using tons of sunscreen, so don´t worry! But after the mission I´ll be an expert on surviving extreme temperatures:)
Oh, so the reason we switched P-Day this week was because yesterday was Dia dos Finados, Brasilian Memorial Day. Much closer to our Memorial Day than to Mexican Dia de los Muertos, just take flowers to the cemetary, remember your ancestors type thing. But the president wanted us to take advantage of the holiday to go contact people at the cemetary, so we worked Monday and have P-day today. It was good, we made tons of contacts, only one really interested and doesn´t live in our area, but it´s good to talk to as many people as possible! Honestly, it´s really hard for me to make contacts, just go to a place with tons of people and start talking to everyone in sight. But it´s really good for me and I´m getting better every day. What else happened this week...we didn´t have any baptisms.
Oh, and also, we got "dumped" by a family we were working with, so that was hard. When we called to ask when we could come again, the mom said they just weren´t interested anymore. (Sometimes it´s a little like dating, can you see the parallel? It´s weird to say, but it really is...) So that was hard, but it´s ok, it wasn´t their time yet. But I really learned something from that combined with an experience later in the week. Later, we were out trying to find new people by knocking doors, and I went up to talk to an older-ish woman sitting out smoking in her lawn chair. Apparently I had preconceived notions by looking at her, because when she invited us in I really didn´t think it would go anywhere. But when we started talking to her, it turns out she was still extremely sad over losing her mother 8 years ago, so we taught her the Plan of Salvation and reassured her she would see her mother again some day. It was extremely spiritual, and we all cried. But she said that she was sure that we had been sent from God.
So that was an incredible experience, and it really taught me something. That other family we were working with were the picture perfect people for missionaries to be working with -- young family, 3 kids, a military dad, just seemed like a "Utah" family if you will. But it turns out they weren´t ready. And then someone who didn´t seem picture perfect, older (a lot of times older people are really set in their ways and not open to change), smoker...was perfectly ready for our message and ready to accept the gospel. So that was a really good experience from this week. I definitely learned we can´t judge who´s ready for the gospel and who´s not! Only the Lord knows, so we just have to trust Him.
So all in all it was a good week! A few good new people, lost a few, but always progressing. Surviving the insane heat, getting to be even better friends with Sister Raphaela...it´s crazy that we´ve started the 4th week of the transfer! Transfers are only 6 weeks and we know that she´s leaving after this one, because she´s already been here for 7 months. Actually, we found out that I´m leaving too! Or, it´s kind of a rumor, but no harm in telling you guys. But the rumor is we´re both leaving. She´s pretty sure she´s going to Livramento, on the border of Uruguay, and thinks I´ll be going to Santa Maria, just based on her figuring of who I could possibly be paired with. So changes are coming!! It´s crazy, I was kind of planning on being here for a long time. But a change will be great, I´m excited!
But that was my week, not a whole lot of news, just continuing to work hard and grow and change every day. I love you guys so much and I´m so grateful to have you at home supporting me. Thank you so much!!:D I watched that video of Caroline again, and it was even cuter the second time! Give her huge hugs and kisses for me. Make sure to get Grandpa his ice first thing on Sunday night;) I love you all and think of you often, and pray for you every night. I love you guys, have a great week and hope to hear from you soon!!
Love,
Heather
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Hey guys! :D
Hey everyone!! Oh my goodness, I got a huge stack of your envelopes on Wednesday, Mom! It was great! I loved reading about everything you guys have been up to since Katie´s birthday.
And now I have a whole list of questions to respond to, which makes it a lot easier for me to think of things to write about! I have to hurry, so I´ll just jump in: I am getting used to being a weird alien American, even though people here are so funny about it! No one´s ever left their little city, so it´s like I´m from another planet to them.
In Church I talked about the principles of the gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, enduring to the end). It was terrible portuguese, I don´t know if I mentioned they let me know the night before, and I had like 10 minutes to prepare that morning. But it turned out fine! :)
Andréia is the member (recent convert, only 3 months ago!) who comes to teach with us a lot. She´s 16, doesn´t have a job, just school.
My shoes are holding up pretty well! The Danskos better than the other ones. But the mission sells shoes that are really ugly but really sturdy and comfortable and I think I´m going to buy some. I got the package you sent!:) Already answered about that. I don´t need any money! We all get credit cards that get money deposited on them twice a month. So I´m good!:)
We do cook for ourselves sometimes, if our lunch falls through or something. S. Raphaela is a good cook and likes to treat me like I really am her daughter (I told you about mission-lingo, how she´s my "mom", right?) so she usually is like "no no, don´t help me!" and makes pasta or something. I´ve already written a little about what we eat with the members. Meat, rice and beans, french fries...pretty normal stuff!
We´re not the only missionaries in the area, 14 in Cruz Alta total, in our ward it´s us and a pair of elders, then 10 more, 5 other pairs, in the other 3 wards. Hmmmmm, no one´s really said they had weird beliefs about Mormons or Americans, they just all are dumbfounded when they hear where I´m from and say "No way. Say something in English!" :P
As far as what´s so compelling about the gospel here...I´m not sure exactly what it is, but Brazil has become known as the "second home of the church" outside the US. It has the greatest number of members and such. The people are like you thought, generally non-practicing Catholic, but a lot of evangelicals, like Assembly of God and stuff. But the message is perfect for them, they already believe in Jesus Christ and everything, and it makes sense when we explain how the Church was the Jesus organized and how no other churches look like that today except ours. But the south, where I am, doesn´t have nearly as much success with the gospel as the northeast...no one knows why! Something´s different about the culture.
I´m not driving at all. People kind of do believe in ghosts! Or black magic, definitely. There´s a religion called Umbanda which is like voodoo. They kind of have Day of the Dead, Nov. 2, but it´s just like our Memorial Day, go to the cemetary type thing, not like in Mexico.
There is a ton of fruit here! Tons of different kinds! Ameixa, amora, things I´ve never heard of, it´s all delicious. I am getting enough rest, we´re required to!:) It´s great.
Speaking of volleyball, did I tell you that Laurie Baird entered the MTC while I was there?? S. Raphaela´s favorite Erico Verissimo books are Clarissa and Musica Ao Longe. She´s making a list for me of Brazilian literature.
People DEFINITELY have pets here, all kinds of animals, horses, cows, sheep, one house has this TINY little baby lamb that´s always tethered on their front porch, cutest thing ever, tons of cats and dogs. My allergies are fine, not bothering me at all. My coats held up great for the little time I used them!
As for "everything about Sister Raphaela". She´s not really "from" anywhere, she lived in 20 different cities in the 21 years before the mission! But she was living just outside of São Paulo (city) before she came. She´s the oldest of 4, her brother just entered the mission field as well. Her hair is naturally curly! She didn´t do college before the mission, but like one semester before she came she got accepted to a dance program! She was studying "dança de salão", which to us is like "Latin Ballroom" with other stuff thrown in that we don´t have in the US. It´s really hard for her to be away from it. She´s super confident, everyone´s best friend, a great teacher, we get along great. She´s amazing! And I told her Katie said she could come stay with us and she´s totally serious about doing that after the mission!:)
As for this week, it was great! We found some interested people, Josi and Luciano, and Cirlei and Elenice, two women we´ve been teaching, decided they want to get married and be baptized! Ok, get married to their husbands, in case you read that wrong :) So that´s great, we´re working on getting their weddings all arranged. And on Saturday was the baptism of Vinicius! He´s 14 and way awesome, his family has some crazy stuff going on, like brothers involved in drugs, but it´s just made him even more determined to be a good person and never get involved in that stuff. He´s great!!
Everything´s wonderful here! It´s starting to turn into summer already. I´m great, healthy and happy, everything´s wonderful. Just working as hard as I can! I miss all you guys, and I LOVED The video of Caroline almost walking!! I can´t believe it. Send HUGE hugs and kisses to everyone! I looked at your pics and video so used a little more of my time than usual, so I have to end here. But I love all you guys to death. Thank you so much for supporting me on my mission. If you could all continue to pray for me, that would be great. Send huge hugs and kisses to Caroline for me! And cheer extra loud for the Utes.
Love you all! Til next week!
Heather
And now I have a whole list of questions to respond to, which makes it a lot easier for me to think of things to write about! I have to hurry, so I´ll just jump in: I am getting used to being a weird alien American, even though people here are so funny about it! No one´s ever left their little city, so it´s like I´m from another planet to them.
In Church I talked about the principles of the gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, enduring to the end). It was terrible portuguese, I don´t know if I mentioned they let me know the night before, and I had like 10 minutes to prepare that morning. But it turned out fine! :)
Andréia is the member (recent convert, only 3 months ago!) who comes to teach with us a lot. She´s 16, doesn´t have a job, just school.
My shoes are holding up pretty well! The Danskos better than the other ones. But the mission sells shoes that are really ugly but really sturdy and comfortable and I think I´m going to buy some. I got the package you sent!:) Already answered about that. I don´t need any money! We all get credit cards that get money deposited on them twice a month. So I´m good!:)
We do cook for ourselves sometimes, if our lunch falls through or something. S. Raphaela is a good cook and likes to treat me like I really am her daughter (I told you about mission-lingo, how she´s my "mom", right?) so she usually is like "no no, don´t help me!" and makes pasta or something. I´ve already written a little about what we eat with the members. Meat, rice and beans, french fries...pretty normal stuff!
We´re not the only missionaries in the area, 14 in Cruz Alta total, in our ward it´s us and a pair of elders, then 10 more, 5 other pairs, in the other 3 wards. Hmmmmm, no one´s really said they had weird beliefs about Mormons or Americans, they just all are dumbfounded when they hear where I´m from and say "No way. Say something in English!" :P
As far as what´s so compelling about the gospel here...I´m not sure exactly what it is, but Brazil has become known as the "second home of the church" outside the US. It has the greatest number of members and such. The people are like you thought, generally non-practicing Catholic, but a lot of evangelicals, like Assembly of God and stuff. But the message is perfect for them, they already believe in Jesus Christ and everything, and it makes sense when we explain how the Church was the Jesus organized and how no other churches look like that today except ours. But the south, where I am, doesn´t have nearly as much success with the gospel as the northeast...no one knows why! Something´s different about the culture.
I´m not driving at all. People kind of do believe in ghosts! Or black magic, definitely. There´s a religion called Umbanda which is like voodoo. They kind of have Day of the Dead, Nov. 2, but it´s just like our Memorial Day, go to the cemetary type thing, not like in Mexico.
There is a ton of fruit here! Tons of different kinds! Ameixa, amora, things I´ve never heard of, it´s all delicious. I am getting enough rest, we´re required to!:) It´s great.
Speaking of volleyball, did I tell you that Laurie Baird entered the MTC while I was there?? S. Raphaela´s favorite Erico Verissimo books are Clarissa and Musica Ao Longe. She´s making a list for me of Brazilian literature.
People DEFINITELY have pets here, all kinds of animals, horses, cows, sheep, one house has this TINY little baby lamb that´s always tethered on their front porch, cutest thing ever, tons of cats and dogs. My allergies are fine, not bothering me at all. My coats held up great for the little time I used them!
As for "everything about Sister Raphaela". She´s not really "from" anywhere, she lived in 20 different cities in the 21 years before the mission! But she was living just outside of São Paulo (city) before she came. She´s the oldest of 4, her brother just entered the mission field as well. Her hair is naturally curly! She didn´t do college before the mission, but like one semester before she came she got accepted to a dance program! She was studying "dança de salão", which to us is like "Latin Ballroom" with other stuff thrown in that we don´t have in the US. It´s really hard for her to be away from it. She´s super confident, everyone´s best friend, a great teacher, we get along great. She´s amazing! And I told her Katie said she could come stay with us and she´s totally serious about doing that after the mission!:)
As for this week, it was great! We found some interested people, Josi and Luciano, and Cirlei and Elenice, two women we´ve been teaching, decided they want to get married and be baptized! Ok, get married to their husbands, in case you read that wrong :) So that´s great, we´re working on getting their weddings all arranged. And on Saturday was the baptism of Vinicius! He´s 14 and way awesome, his family has some crazy stuff going on, like brothers involved in drugs, but it´s just made him even more determined to be a good person and never get involved in that stuff. He´s great!!
Everything´s wonderful here! It´s starting to turn into summer already. I´m great, healthy and happy, everything´s wonderful. Just working as hard as I can! I miss all you guys, and I LOVED The video of Caroline almost walking!! I can´t believe it. Send HUGE hugs and kisses to everyone! I looked at your pics and video so used a little more of my time than usual, so I have to end here. But I love all you guys to death. Thank you so much for supporting me on my mission. If you could all continue to pray for me, that would be great. Send huge hugs and kisses to Caroline for me! And cheer extra loud for the Utes.
Love you all! Til next week!
Heather
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