Hi guys!! How are you doing?? Freezing in the land of ice and snow? I read Katie´s letter about seeing the lights on Temple Square - it´s so weird that all that is going on right now! I still feel like I´m in an alternate universe. I´m not very good with Celcius temperatures, but I think it must be 90 degrees here. It definitely feels like all this Christmas business is a charade! :)
But this week we did a lot of Christmas-y things. All the missionaries in our area went to sing downtown on Tuesday. It was great, we all went in our Santa hats to sing hymns, and tons of people stopped to watch. While they stopped some of us would talk to them about the Church and get their information to stop by later, etc. It was way fun, but super hot!! Then on Friday we had Zone Conference. It´s one of my favorite times here! Once a transfer each zone gets together for trainings, practices, etc. This time it was awesome, lots of great trainings with the president. And we had a secret santa type gift exchange! It was great, I got a box of chocolate:)
But because of all these Christmas-y type activities, our work was really slow again. But it´s ok, these two weeks are going to be slow in terms of work. But things are going well! Things aren´t really progressing with the people who want to be baptized, so that´s tough, but I hope they can be baptized before the end of the transfer. But I´m doing well, happy as ever! And super excited to call you guys on Christmas!! I sent Mom an email about the number and time to call, I really hope it works out for everyone! I can´t wait to hear all your voices. I love you all so much! This has to be short again as I used a bunch of time watching those videos, which were amazing! Sorry so short, but I´ll make up for it talking to you on the 24th:)
I love you all so much, thank you so much for being such a wonderful family and supporting me on my mission. Til Thursday - I´ll wish you Merry Christmas then!:)
Heather
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Almost Christmas! :)
Hey everyone!! How are you guys? Oh my goodness, I´ve spent almost all my time, again, looking at the pictures and videos you sent. Thank you so much!! It was awesome to see Carrie´s birthday party! I´m on the same computer as last week, just my luck, and it´s still slow, so I watched it as kind of a slide show rather than a video, but hopefully I can see it in real time soon. And I LOVED the 4 generation pictures! They turned out GREAT - I thought "My goodness, the women in my family are all beautiful!" :) Thanks so much for sending them.
I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas!! And even funnier, when I typed that sentence the first time, I said, "I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas there!" and then erased it when I realized it´s almost Christmas here too. It doesn´t feel like it at all! We´re singing Christmas hymns and even doing this program in our ward called Living Christmas Cards, where people tell us the addresses of friends they want to send a christmas card to, and we go sing to them (wearing Santa hats!) and share a message about the Savior...but it still feels like "pretend Christmas"! Katie asked about traditions and such, so let me think. They eat this cake/bread called panettone, which I haven´t tried yet but I think is like fruitcake. And...they have the same commercialized Santa tradition, as far as I can tell! S. Raphaela was telling me the traditional things they eat for Christmas dinner, and I don´t remember them all, but they were way different, lots of fruit and stuff, since it´s the middle of summer. Those are the only traditions I remember right now, but I´ll think of more!
As far as this week and how I´m doing, I´m doing well. The week was...ok. I think I told you how my companion kind of has the reputation of being a "hard companion", but she´s an amazing person and I really love her. But this week I kind of saw how things can be hard with her. She can get really depressed and discouraged, just emotionally fragile due to her life and experiences, so it´s sometimes hard to help someone like that, but for the most part she´s fine. But we didn´t really work much this week - our district goal is 30 lessons a week and this week we taught 20. But S. Raphaela told me when I was called to be her companion that I shouldn´t worry about numbers or anything, just about taking care of her, so that´s what I´m doing! She´s amazing and we get along really well, she just has some issues with thinking negatively due to the way she was raised and stuff. So I do my best to be her best friend and companion and help her stop thinking negatively and being discouraged. She´s amazing - she´s been teaching me songs and phrases in Spanish. And this week, she had her one year anniversary in the mission! So we ordered pizza and bought cake, and had a little party that night. It was amazing, I love her, and we´re actually doing good work too - we have 3 people who want to be baptized this month!
So everything´s going well - different than with my trainer, but still good! I heard from S. Raphaela by the way - when I went to the office today she had sent an envelope along with someone who came to our area, with chocolate, a collage of pictures of us and a little note congratulating me on 5 months in the mission:) She´s amazing as well! I´m meeting so many wonderful people here.
My time is up!! I hope you guys are doing great, drinking lots of hot chocolate for me, and not getting snowed in! I´m getting excited to call you on Christmas, I wrote mom about how I´m working out the details, and will send you the number to call and time next Monday. I love you all so much, thank you so much for supporting me on my mission. Thanks for being the best family anyone could ask for:) Til next week!!
Love always,
Heather
I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas!! And even funnier, when I typed that sentence the first time, I said, "I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas there!" and then erased it when I realized it´s almost Christmas here too. It doesn´t feel like it at all! We´re singing Christmas hymns and even doing this program in our ward called Living Christmas Cards, where people tell us the addresses of friends they want to send a christmas card to, and we go sing to them (wearing Santa hats!) and share a message about the Savior...but it still feels like "pretend Christmas"! Katie asked about traditions and such, so let me think. They eat this cake/bread called panettone, which I haven´t tried yet but I think is like fruitcake. And...they have the same commercialized Santa tradition, as far as I can tell! S. Raphaela was telling me the traditional things they eat for Christmas dinner, and I don´t remember them all, but they were way different, lots of fruit and stuff, since it´s the middle of summer. Those are the only traditions I remember right now, but I´ll think of more!
As far as this week and how I´m doing, I´m doing well. The week was...ok. I think I told you how my companion kind of has the reputation of being a "hard companion", but she´s an amazing person and I really love her. But this week I kind of saw how things can be hard with her. She can get really depressed and discouraged, just emotionally fragile due to her life and experiences, so it´s sometimes hard to help someone like that, but for the most part she´s fine. But we didn´t really work much this week - our district goal is 30 lessons a week and this week we taught 20. But S. Raphaela told me when I was called to be her companion that I shouldn´t worry about numbers or anything, just about taking care of her, so that´s what I´m doing! She´s amazing and we get along really well, she just has some issues with thinking negatively due to the way she was raised and stuff. So I do my best to be her best friend and companion and help her stop thinking negatively and being discouraged. She´s amazing - she´s been teaching me songs and phrases in Spanish. And this week, she had her one year anniversary in the mission! So we ordered pizza and bought cake, and had a little party that night. It was amazing, I love her, and we´re actually doing good work too - we have 3 people who want to be baptized this month!
So everything´s going well - different than with my trainer, but still good! I heard from S. Raphaela by the way - when I went to the office today she had sent an envelope along with someone who came to our area, with chocolate, a collage of pictures of us and a little note congratulating me on 5 months in the mission:) She´s amazing as well! I´m meeting so many wonderful people here.
My time is up!! I hope you guys are doing great, drinking lots of hot chocolate for me, and not getting snowed in! I´m getting excited to call you on Christmas, I wrote mom about how I´m working out the details, and will send you the number to call and time next Monday. I love you all so much, thank you so much for supporting me on my mission. Thanks for being the best family anyone could ask for:) Til next week!!
Love always,
Heather
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Second week in Camobi!
Hey guys!! How is everyone??
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Caroline!!! :D Thank you so much for the pictures and video!! The videos didn´t work so well, the sound was playing but the picture wasn´t working, I think this is just a slow computer, so I´ll try to watch better next week. But oh my goodness, I can´t believe how big she´s getting! She´s starting to look like a little girl, not like a baby anymore! I was thinking of her all day Saturday and hoping she had a great birthday. I can´t believe it´s been a year since I held her the day she was born...
Time is passing super quickly here!! I can´t believe it´s December there, Thanksgiving is already past and Christmas is coming up...it feels like a time warp here, where they say Christmas is coming soon but it really isn´t, because it´s the middle of summer. It feels like life´s going on normally back home but I´m in a Brazilian alternate universe! But life continues normal here.
Things are going great in the new area! We had a baptism Saturday! :D Reges, 19, the boyfriend of one of the ward members. He had only been taught once when I got here, but had already been to church a bunch and was so excited that I invited him to be baptised and...he was! :D On Saturday, Carrie´s birthday. It was great, he´s amazing, and super excited about being a member of the church.
Things are going great with Sister Velasquez! She´s very different than S. Raphaela. As my trainer, she was super in charge, super confident, always knew what to say in any situation. S. Velasquez is very different, shy, quiet, at times doubts her ability to know the right thing to say. So I´m trying to help her gain confidence, and as a result I´m gaining a lot more confidence too! Because of having to take the lead sometimes, I´m learning a lot. It´s really good, we´re really good friends. She´s super sweet, and a little bit crazy like me! We´re going to have an awesome transfer here. I´m trying to think of anything out of the ordinary this week. The baptism was the best part!
But what else? Hmm, on Tuesday we had our zone meeting, all of us together downtown, and then we went with the elders in our ward (Arruda and Kamiya) to our lunch at a member´s house. But we got off at the wrong bus stop, and had to walk for like half an hour in the pouring rain! The elders had no umbrellas, and ours didn´t do much to keep us dry. Elder Arruda jumped in a puddle and covered us in mud! But then he promised to make us a cake to make up for it. So it has been super rainy like Mom said you´ve been hearing about, but don´t worry!! We´re fine, no flooding, nothing serious, just a lot more rain than Utah! See, these are the only "out of the ordinary" things I have to tell about, as a missionary I really do the same thing every day! :D
Oh, also, I spent the night in a Brazilian hospital! Don´t worry, I´m fine. I went to trade places with Sister da Silva´s companion, because she was in there after having her appendix out:( So her companion had already slept a night there, and the pres wanted to give her a rest, so I went there to sleep. It was obnoxious, like sleeping in a hospital is, but I was glad to help out S. da Silva. But as far as I can tell, Brasilian hospitals are like American ones! I don´t know enough about medicine to tell any differences, but it seemed pretty much the same, maybe not super-hospital-ish-ly-clean like ours are, with hand sanitizer all over, but pretty much the same.
Other than that, life continues as normal here. S. Velasquez and I are both kind of trying to figure out how to be better missionaries, we feel like we don´t exactly know how to be as efficient as possible and...just how it all works exactly. But we´re both working together, and I know we´ll figure it out! I´m really glad it´s going well, I had heard from S. Raphaela that when they were companions in the MTC, S. Velasquez was very depressed, super shy, etc. and that it would be really hard for us both, but it´s not at all. She´s grown HUGELY since then, and she´s becoming an amazing missionary. I have a lot to learn from her! I´ll have to tell you her story sometime, about her family in Bolivia, how she converted to the church, etc. But she´s amazing!!
Ok, I have to be quick this time, our time is almost out. But thank you so much for writing! I love you all so much and pray for you all the time. I´m so glad I get to see pictures and videos of you. You´re the best family anyone could ask for! I don´t know any more details about calling on Christmas, but I´ll let you know as soon as I do. I hear from other missionaries that you call to set up an appointment of when you´re going to call, and then call again and get to talk for like 45 min - 1 hr. So I´ll let you know when I figure it out! I love you all and hope you´re having an amazing holiday season. Know that I´m always praying for each one of you individually! Can´t wait to hear more from you! :D Have a great week!!
Love forever,
Heather
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Caroline!!! :D Thank you so much for the pictures and video!! The videos didn´t work so well, the sound was playing but the picture wasn´t working, I think this is just a slow computer, so I´ll try to watch better next week. But oh my goodness, I can´t believe how big she´s getting! She´s starting to look like a little girl, not like a baby anymore! I was thinking of her all day Saturday and hoping she had a great birthday. I can´t believe it´s been a year since I held her the day she was born...
Time is passing super quickly here!! I can´t believe it´s December there, Thanksgiving is already past and Christmas is coming up...it feels like a time warp here, where they say Christmas is coming soon but it really isn´t, because it´s the middle of summer. It feels like life´s going on normally back home but I´m in a Brazilian alternate universe! But life continues normal here.
Things are going great in the new area! We had a baptism Saturday! :D Reges, 19, the boyfriend of one of the ward members. He had only been taught once when I got here, but had already been to church a bunch and was so excited that I invited him to be baptised and...he was! :D On Saturday, Carrie´s birthday. It was great, he´s amazing, and super excited about being a member of the church.
Things are going great with Sister Velasquez! She´s very different than S. Raphaela. As my trainer, she was super in charge, super confident, always knew what to say in any situation. S. Velasquez is very different, shy, quiet, at times doubts her ability to know the right thing to say. So I´m trying to help her gain confidence, and as a result I´m gaining a lot more confidence too! Because of having to take the lead sometimes, I´m learning a lot. It´s really good, we´re really good friends. She´s super sweet, and a little bit crazy like me! We´re going to have an awesome transfer here. I´m trying to think of anything out of the ordinary this week. The baptism was the best part!
But what else? Hmm, on Tuesday we had our zone meeting, all of us together downtown, and then we went with the elders in our ward (Arruda and Kamiya) to our lunch at a member´s house. But we got off at the wrong bus stop, and had to walk for like half an hour in the pouring rain! The elders had no umbrellas, and ours didn´t do much to keep us dry. Elder Arruda jumped in a puddle and covered us in mud! But then he promised to make us a cake to make up for it. So it has been super rainy like Mom said you´ve been hearing about, but don´t worry!! We´re fine, no flooding, nothing serious, just a lot more rain than Utah! See, these are the only "out of the ordinary" things I have to tell about, as a missionary I really do the same thing every day! :D
Oh, also, I spent the night in a Brazilian hospital! Don´t worry, I´m fine. I went to trade places with Sister da Silva´s companion, because she was in there after having her appendix out:( So her companion had already slept a night there, and the pres wanted to give her a rest, so I went there to sleep. It was obnoxious, like sleeping in a hospital is, but I was glad to help out S. da Silva. But as far as I can tell, Brasilian hospitals are like American ones! I don´t know enough about medicine to tell any differences, but it seemed pretty much the same, maybe not super-hospital-ish-ly-clean like ours are, with hand sanitizer all over, but pretty much the same.
Other than that, life continues as normal here. S. Velasquez and I are both kind of trying to figure out how to be better missionaries, we feel like we don´t exactly know how to be as efficient as possible and...just how it all works exactly. But we´re both working together, and I know we´ll figure it out! I´m really glad it´s going well, I had heard from S. Raphaela that when they were companions in the MTC, S. Velasquez was very depressed, super shy, etc. and that it would be really hard for us both, but it´s not at all. She´s grown HUGELY since then, and she´s becoming an amazing missionary. I have a lot to learn from her! I´ll have to tell you her story sometime, about her family in Bolivia, how she converted to the church, etc. But she´s amazing!!
Ok, I have to be quick this time, our time is almost out. But thank you so much for writing! I love you all so much and pray for you all the time. I´m so glad I get to see pictures and videos of you. You´re the best family anyone could ask for! I don´t know any more details about calling on Christmas, but I´ll let you know as soon as I do. I hear from other missionaries that you call to set up an appointment of when you´re going to call, and then call again and get to talk for like 45 min - 1 hr. So I´ll let you know when I figure it out! I love you all and hope you´re having an amazing holiday season. Know that I´m always praying for each one of you individually! Can´t wait to hear more from you! :D Have a great week!!
Love forever,
Heather
First week in Camobi!!
Hey guys!!!
Oh my goodness, I already wrote you, but accidentally erased it :( So I´ll try to write everything again!!
So let´s see, I´ve just finished my first week in my new area, Camobi! (area of Santa Maria). It´s been amazing! But let me try to update you on everything so far! So let´s see, after I last wrote you last Monday, that night we had a Family Home Evening at Marcos and Jovana´s house. Jovana just got called to be a Young Women´s counselor, and it turned out she had some of the young women come over and decorate the house, and they made it a little goodbye party for us! So they put like posters and letters on the wall, we took tons of pictures, etc. (Oh, speaking of which, I updated the photobucket a little bit last week! See if it worked.) So it was really hard to say goodbye to them!! Marcos and Jovana were the family we were closest to, and the young women who came were also really close to us (you know how teenage girls are). So it was really hard to say goodbye at the end of the night!! It´s so crazy about the mission, it´s hard to leave home and you think you´ll never adjust, but then it´s hard to leave your first area, and I´m sure every area after that! Crazy.
But we eventually said goodbye, and went home to pack for the next morning. We stayed up really late doing that, but eventually got it done. So the next morning we went to the bus station, and another family was there to see us off, Rosane and her daughters Claudia and Malika. It was kind of crazy - Rosane, the whole time we were there, had said that she had been baptized when she was young but wasn´t interested anymore, etc. But she admitted that she actually had never been baptized! She had said it so we wouldn´t pressure her to be baptized, or whatever she thought we would do, I´m not sure. But she said that after seeing Claudia´s and Malika´s conversions, she saw how wonderful the church was and what it does for people´s lives. And she said she had been to the cartorio (city hall? I´m not sure - where you go to get married) to ask for her birth certificate, to get started on her marriage papers so she could get baptized as soon as possible!! So that was crazy to find out, but amazing to know we had made a difference in her life!
So that was a good way to leave, but then we got on the bus and drove away. When we got here to Santa Maria, we met up with all the other missionaries who were being transfered in the bus station. It was fun to see everyone, we all had a little reunion and ate there in the bus station, but then it was time for Sister Raphaela´s bus to leave for Livramento (border of Uruguay, one of the "cool areas" of the mission). But then I realized that we had to say goodbye! It was really hard - we´ve gotten so close. It´s crazy the relationship you have with a companion - probably the only time you´ll be with someone 24/7 for 12 weeks! And the relationship you develop is super close. So it was really hard to say goodbye to her.
But she got on her bus, and I went off with my new companion, Sister Velasquez! So, all about her! She´s great. She´s 24, and is from Bolivia but lived in São Paulo for 3 years before the mission. She was S. Raphaela´s companion in the MTC, so they have the exact same amount of time, they´ll both make 1 year on Dec. 11. She´s awesome, we get along well, and she has a good desire to work. So it´s been great here!
Now about our area. It´s huge!! It covers 20 km! But it´s great. There´s a University here, and it´s much more of a "city" than the "town" area I was in in Cruz Alta. Lots more urban, so that´s kind of cool. But still a small town, comparatively in the world. So the ward is really good! The companionship I´m replacing had 3 baptisms last week, and the people are AMAZING. Really, truly converted. Rosana, who was just baptized, had cleaned out her closet the last time we went there and had huge bags of clothes that didn´t fit the standards. She´s seriously amazing. So I´m really looking forward to working here!! The ward is good, the leadership is good, everything seems to work really smoothly. And we´re sharing a ward with a set of elders again, who I love! Elder Arruda and Elder Kamiya. They´re both great, and we see them a lot. Theý like to work with us, so we´ll be doing a lot of work as a foursome. So everything is amazing so far!! I´m really excited to work here.
My time is almost up, so I have to hurry, but know that I´m doing fabulous and everything´s great! I´m happy and healthy, and our house here in Camobi is awesome:) So don´t worry about me, for sure! I´m loving the mission, and I´m so glad I decided to come. I´m learning priceless things here. This next transfer will be great! (oh yeah, and I can get your mail every week now that I´m close to the mission office!:D)
So thank you guys for all your love and support. I love you so much!! I´m always praying for you - please pray for me too. Hope to hear from you soon!! :D Big hugs and kisses for Caroline!!
Love,
Heather
Oh my goodness, I already wrote you, but accidentally erased it :( So I´ll try to write everything again!!
So let´s see, I´ve just finished my first week in my new area, Camobi! (area of Santa Maria). It´s been amazing! But let me try to update you on everything so far! So let´s see, after I last wrote you last Monday, that night we had a Family Home Evening at Marcos and Jovana´s house. Jovana just got called to be a Young Women´s counselor, and it turned out she had some of the young women come over and decorate the house, and they made it a little goodbye party for us! So they put like posters and letters on the wall, we took tons of pictures, etc. (Oh, speaking of which, I updated the photobucket a little bit last week! See if it worked.) So it was really hard to say goodbye to them!! Marcos and Jovana were the family we were closest to, and the young women who came were also really close to us (you know how teenage girls are). So it was really hard to say goodbye at the end of the night!! It´s so crazy about the mission, it´s hard to leave home and you think you´ll never adjust, but then it´s hard to leave your first area, and I´m sure every area after that! Crazy.
But we eventually said goodbye, and went home to pack for the next morning. We stayed up really late doing that, but eventually got it done. So the next morning we went to the bus station, and another family was there to see us off, Rosane and her daughters Claudia and Malika. It was kind of crazy - Rosane, the whole time we were there, had said that she had been baptized when she was young but wasn´t interested anymore, etc. But she admitted that she actually had never been baptized! She had said it so we wouldn´t pressure her to be baptized, or whatever she thought we would do, I´m not sure. But she said that after seeing Claudia´s and Malika´s conversions, she saw how wonderful the church was and what it does for people´s lives. And she said she had been to the cartorio (city hall? I´m not sure - where you go to get married) to ask for her birth certificate, to get started on her marriage papers so she could get baptized as soon as possible!! So that was crazy to find out, but amazing to know we had made a difference in her life!
So that was a good way to leave, but then we got on the bus and drove away. When we got here to Santa Maria, we met up with all the other missionaries who were being transfered in the bus station. It was fun to see everyone, we all had a little reunion and ate there in the bus station, but then it was time for Sister Raphaela´s bus to leave for Livramento (border of Uruguay, one of the "cool areas" of the mission). But then I realized that we had to say goodbye! It was really hard - we´ve gotten so close. It´s crazy the relationship you have with a companion - probably the only time you´ll be with someone 24/7 for 12 weeks! And the relationship you develop is super close. So it was really hard to say goodbye to her.
But she got on her bus, and I went off with my new companion, Sister Velasquez! So, all about her! She´s great. She´s 24, and is from Bolivia but lived in São Paulo for 3 years before the mission. She was S. Raphaela´s companion in the MTC, so they have the exact same amount of time, they´ll both make 1 year on Dec. 11. She´s awesome, we get along well, and she has a good desire to work. So it´s been great here!
Now about our area. It´s huge!! It covers 20 km! But it´s great. There´s a University here, and it´s much more of a "city" than the "town" area I was in in Cruz Alta. Lots more urban, so that´s kind of cool. But still a small town, comparatively in the world. So the ward is really good! The companionship I´m replacing had 3 baptisms last week, and the people are AMAZING. Really, truly converted. Rosana, who was just baptized, had cleaned out her closet the last time we went there and had huge bags of clothes that didn´t fit the standards. She´s seriously amazing. So I´m really looking forward to working here!! The ward is good, the leadership is good, everything seems to work really smoothly. And we´re sharing a ward with a set of elders again, who I love! Elder Arruda and Elder Kamiya. They´re both great, and we see them a lot. Theý like to work with us, so we´ll be doing a lot of work as a foursome. So everything is amazing so far!! I´m really excited to work here.
My time is almost up, so I have to hurry, but know that I´m doing fabulous and everything´s great! I´m happy and healthy, and our house here in Camobi is awesome:) So don´t worry about me, for sure! I´m loving the mission, and I´m so glad I decided to come. I´m learning priceless things here. This next transfer will be great! (oh yeah, and I can get your mail every week now that I´m close to the mission office!:D)
So thank you guys for all your love and support. I love you so much!! I´m always praying for you - please pray for me too. Hope to hear from you soon!! :D Big hugs and kisses for Caroline!!
Love,
Heather
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Transfers!!!
Hey guys!!
So, this morning we had our transfer meeting, where we find out what will happen in the next transferencia....
So I already know where I´ll be spending the next 6 weeks! It´s a change this time, not just staying here with Sister Raphaela...and I can´t think of any more ways to draw it out...;) I´m going to...*drumroll*...
Santa Maria!! In the Camobi area, with Sister Velasquez! I´m so excited! It will be really cool to be there at mission headquarters, seeing the president more often, kind of in the middle of things rather than out here more isolated.
And here´s what I know about Sister Velasquez so far: she was Sister Raphaela´s companion in the the CTM! She´s Bolivian, so Portuguese is a foreign language for us both, but she´s been out almost a year now. And Sister Raphaela says she´s super sweet and great to get along with. So I´m really excited!! :D
It´s been kind of crazy to be leaving Cruz Alta - we both knew we were leaving like a month before because we found out from our Zone Leaders, and then it was confirmed by the President like 2 weeks before, so everyone knew we were leaving, and is all sad to see us go and stuff. Yesterday was our last Sunday, and it was sad because a million people promised to come to church (we really just wanted them to come, but used the excuse of they had to come to "see us off", etc) But it was raining that morning, which meant only about 20-30 people showed up. People here are wimps about the rain!! NO ONE leaves the house when it´s raining. They´re all worried they´re going to melt. But then, very few people have cars either, so it´s a little different than home, but still.
So yesterday we took pictures with a million people and said lots of goodbyes. Tonight we´re having a Family Home Evening with Marcos and Jovana. I think it will be really hard for them - they´re really attached to Sister Raphaela. Everyone´s really sad to see her go, she really made a mark here. I was only here for a bit (she´s been here 7 months), so it´s easier for me. But still crazy to say goodbye to so many people!
But let´s see, what can I tell you about this week? It was pretty good, really hurried trying to get everything done and leave our area perfect for the elders who´ll be coming. And we still barely got anything done! I haven´t packed anything, I´ll have to do it all tonight. But I´ll get it done somehow! :)
Wow, and it´s crazy to think it´s my last night with Sister Raphaela. I´m really going to miss her, she´s been an AMAZING companion. Hardworking and pushes me to be better, but understanding, sweet, fun and a little bit crazy like me:). I really couldn´t have asked for a better trainer. I realize I´m probably not always going to be so lucky... But I know I can make it work with anyone! :)
So, what else...Gah, the internet place we´re in right now has Christmas decorations up! I can´t believe it´s the end of November!! Time is passing REALLY fast. I think it must be Thanksgiving this week, right? There´s no Thanksgiving here:( So think of me, and eat lots of turkey and mashed potatoes for me!! :) But I´m excited to see what Christmas traditions they have here. And Christmas means I´ll get to call you guys! I´ll give you more details on that when I know more.
But I´ve got to be quick! We have a TON to do before we leave tomorrow morning. I´m so glad I got to hear a little bit from you guys. I hope you´re all doing great! I love you all so much, and think of you often. I hope to get more of your letters soon! In Santa Maria I´ll be able to get them every week:) Thanks so much for loving me and supporting me on my mission. I love you guys, have a great week!! Hugs and kisses for everyone, and a big squeeze for Caroline!
Til next week!!
Love,
Heather
So, this morning we had our transfer meeting, where we find out what will happen in the next transferencia....
So I already know where I´ll be spending the next 6 weeks! It´s a change this time, not just staying here with Sister Raphaela...and I can´t think of any more ways to draw it out...;) I´m going to...*drumroll*...
Santa Maria!! In the Camobi area, with Sister Velasquez! I´m so excited! It will be really cool to be there at mission headquarters, seeing the president more often, kind of in the middle of things rather than out here more isolated.
And here´s what I know about Sister Velasquez so far: she was Sister Raphaela´s companion in the the CTM! She´s Bolivian, so Portuguese is a foreign language for us both, but she´s been out almost a year now. And Sister Raphaela says she´s super sweet and great to get along with. So I´m really excited!! :D
It´s been kind of crazy to be leaving Cruz Alta - we both knew we were leaving like a month before because we found out from our Zone Leaders, and then it was confirmed by the President like 2 weeks before, so everyone knew we were leaving, and is all sad to see us go and stuff. Yesterday was our last Sunday, and it was sad because a million people promised to come to church (we really just wanted them to come, but used the excuse of they had to come to "see us off", etc) But it was raining that morning, which meant only about 20-30 people showed up. People here are wimps about the rain!! NO ONE leaves the house when it´s raining. They´re all worried they´re going to melt. But then, very few people have cars either, so it´s a little different than home, but still.
So yesterday we took pictures with a million people and said lots of goodbyes. Tonight we´re having a Family Home Evening with Marcos and Jovana. I think it will be really hard for them - they´re really attached to Sister Raphaela. Everyone´s really sad to see her go, she really made a mark here. I was only here for a bit (she´s been here 7 months), so it´s easier for me. But still crazy to say goodbye to so many people!
But let´s see, what can I tell you about this week? It was pretty good, really hurried trying to get everything done and leave our area perfect for the elders who´ll be coming. And we still barely got anything done! I haven´t packed anything, I´ll have to do it all tonight. But I´ll get it done somehow! :)
Wow, and it´s crazy to think it´s my last night with Sister Raphaela. I´m really going to miss her, she´s been an AMAZING companion. Hardworking and pushes me to be better, but understanding, sweet, fun and a little bit crazy like me:). I really couldn´t have asked for a better trainer. I realize I´m probably not always going to be so lucky... But I know I can make it work with anyone! :)
So, what else...Gah, the internet place we´re in right now has Christmas decorations up! I can´t believe it´s the end of November!! Time is passing REALLY fast. I think it must be Thanksgiving this week, right? There´s no Thanksgiving here:( So think of me, and eat lots of turkey and mashed potatoes for me!! :) But I´m excited to see what Christmas traditions they have here. And Christmas means I´ll get to call you guys! I´ll give you more details on that when I know more.
But I´ve got to be quick! We have a TON to do before we leave tomorrow morning. I´m so glad I got to hear a little bit from you guys. I hope you´re all doing great! I love you all so much, and think of you often. I hope to get more of your letters soon! In Santa Maria I´ll be able to get them every week:) Thanks so much for loving me and supporting me on my mission. I love you guys, have a great week!! Hugs and kisses for everyone, and a big squeeze for Caroline!
Til next week!!
Love,
Heather
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