Week 9- First move of the mission

 "Você está aqui porque está pagando pelos seus pecados" --->"You are here because you are paying for your sins."

Hi guys! 

I have completed one full week in the field. It was a good week! If you guys read last weeks email, you know my time in the field was off to a bumpy start. Things are going much more smoothly now. I think that part of the reason that first week was so tough was missing a pday. Because of traveling,  I didn't get to talk to my family or friends, which lead to my first real bout of homesickness. After Monday, things felt a lot less bleak.

This week was good! I've settled into the routine a bit more. On Monday evening, there was a really cool lightning storm and rain. I wish it would rain every day. I'm still not used to how hot it is here. In case any of you would like to experience living on the surface of the sun, just move to Teresina!

On Tuesday, I had my first Zone Conference. I got to meet some of the other missionaries and talk with President. I didn't understand much, but it was still a cool experience! They fed us Burger King for lunch, and I tried my first ever Whopper. We talked about how even though there isn’t a temple in our mission, we can still treasure the temple. I also had to bear my testimony, apparently all newbies have to. That was definitely scary. Portuguese is hard yall!!

Oh! Here is a piece of news to share: I moved today! I am now living in a house with my comp and two other Sisters. My area is still the same, but now I am living just outside of it. My new house is much closer to the church.  My old apartment was about a 30 minute walk. Now it's about 7. Why did we move? Last Sunday, Sister Maciel and I attended a dinner with another ward. They invited all the missionaries nearby. After dinner, we got a ride home from Tia Rosa. Apparently,  after dropping us off, she called President and told him that we absolutely could not keep living there, and she called our neighborhood "The most dangerous area in all of Teresina!". Lovely! Our area used to be an Elders only area, I think we are the first Sisters in Uruguai in a couple of years. Because we were not in any immediate danger, President decided that the move could wait until today so as not to take us away from our work.

It was definitely a hectic sunday and monday morning. We had about a weeks notice that we were moving, so last night we got ourselves packed. This morning at 0730, we found out that the church is closing this apartment.  That means that EVERYTHING inside the house needed to go. Furniture,  kitchen stuff... everything. For those of you who've been to college, imagine doing all of that work to pack up your apartment at the end of spring semster in about an hour and a half. It was a bit of a stressful way to start the morning.

Our new house is way nicer than our apartment, probably because only Sisters have ever lived here. So far, I haven't seen a single bug! It has two bathrooms which is awesome. Sharing one bathroom with three sisters would be rough. 

One thing that is hard about being the first Sisters here is lunches with members.  The members are used to feeding Elders. "Come mais, Sister! Come mais!" When we don't eat seconds or thirds, they love to tell us how the Elders used to eat more, that the Elders must've liked the food more, Elder Howard would've eaten a third plate... On Saturday, we had lunch at Tia Rosa's house. She made lasagna (it's closer to chicken pot pie filling in taste and texture) and she gave me a good sized serving, and it was delicious! After I finished, she asked if I wanted more. I told her yes, but just a little more. She proceeded to give me a LARGER serving. I managed to finish it, and then she tried to give me THIRDS. I told her it was delicious,  but I couldn't eat more. She responded that it's because I don't like her cooking and I think she is a bad cook. My Portuguese might be iffy, but I can definitely understand guilt tripping!!

Okay, now i'll explain the opening line. Yesterday we had lunch with members. The wife looked at me and said "Você está aqui porque está pagando pelos seus pecados." I understood it, but thought I was wrong, so I asked my comp "Did she say i'm here to pay for my sins?" The wife nodded her head and said "Você deve ter cometido alguns pecados horríveis para acabar neste inferno. Você deveria ter se arrependido!", which means "You must've committed some very bad sins to end up in this inferno. You should've repented!" Oh! She told me that Teresina is the same temperature as hell. I don't disagree.  I laughed so hard when she said all this, because I spent those first 4-5 days CONVINCED that I was here because I was being punished. For what, no idea. But I was so miserable and sad that I was pretty sure I must've done something to make God put me here. However, I no longer believe being in Teresina is divine punishment. I know I'm here for a reason,  and it is not endless torment. 

At that lunch, I also got totally punked. They told Sis Maciel and I that they have a dessert they feed to all missionaries, but we have to guess the flavor. They told me to go grab a cup from the cooler and taste it. I definitely had some warning bells going off in my head. I figured I wasn't grabbing dessert, maybe some gross food disguised as dessert? Wrong. They had tied a fake snake to the inside of the cooler lid, so when I opened it up it looked for a second like a snake was about to strike me. Ahhh!! We all started laughing our heads off. All in all, my most entertaining lunch.

Have any of you ever played crossy road? That is what it's like trying to cross the street here. Every time I cross the road my only thoughts and prayers go towards not becoming a safetyzone video and getting squished like that poor chicken. Drivers here are nuts!!

Time to end with a spiritual thought. 

1 Nephi 4:6 And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.

This week I havd really felt the Holy Ghost with me. I have felt Him guiding me and teaching me. I have NO idea what I am doing, but He has helped me. 

I also know He is helping keep me safe. On Friday night, I was trying to sleep when the thought popped into my head "Did you lock the front door?"  I got kind of annoyed. It's 2345, and of course I locked the front door. I decided to ignore it and go back to bed. So the thought came again "Did you lock the front door?". I mentally responded "Yes, of course I locked the front door. Now be quiet stupid OCD brain and let me sleep!" The thoighy came again, but different. "You did not lock the front door, go lock it." This time I was more awake, and I realized it said "You". Normally when I have thoughts like this, it's worded as "I". "Did I plug in my phone?" "Did I turn off my curling iron?". This time it was worded as "You". Like someone else was asking me this. So this time, I got up and I walked down the hall to the front door. I was still convinced it would be locked, so I kind of swatted at the handle intending to say "Ha! See? Locked!". Instead, the door swung wide open. Way to go Sarah. You've learned you live in a very unsafe neighborhood, so you try to go to bed without locking the front door.

I know that Heavenly Father knew I had left the front door unlocked. And I know that when I was baptized, I received the constant companionship of His Holy Spirit. I know that one of the roles of the Holy Ghost is do guide us and protect us, and that is what He did that night. There's a good chance nothing would have happened even if I had just gone back to bed, but there is also a chance something could have happened. I am so glad I never had to find out that "could of". 

God is watching out for all of His children and He cares so much about Him! If you are doubting that, I encourage you to pray to feel His Spirit, and pray to understand better HOW the Spirit speaks to you. I know that God will answer.

Anyways, I love you all so much! I hope you are all doing great and having fun. Thank you for the emails of encouragement,  I needed them!

Photo time!

1- Pretty storm clouds!

2- My first Zone Conference!

3- Creepy baby doll outside someones house... it is missing its eyeballs and someone clearly stuck its head in a fire. Awesome.

4- Pizza with a chocolate border! My new favorite food. It's normal pizza with meet and cheese, but the crust has Nutella in it. Divine!