Week 11- My first church talk in Portuguese

 Hi everybody!

It has been a good week!

Last Segunda I had the opportunity to go to the mall! I needed to exchange some dollars for reals. There are two malls nearby, one with a confirmed working exchange site and a maybe. The other sisters in my house needed to go to the federal office which is located in the maybe mall. Uber is expensive and we were running low on funds, so we decided to try the maybe mall and go with them. No dice! But we got lunch and I bought a new shirt and some sunglasses. We are going to the confirmed mall today.

A mission is a great opportunity to learn new things about yourself, right? Segunda,  I discovered a new fear of mine. After the mall, Sister Maciel and I went grocery shopping and then went to a members house, Marlene. Sister Oliveira needed to rest, and Maciel and I still hadn't called out families yet, so we left to give her a quiet house. At Marlene's house, I started to make cinnamon rolls. I didn't have measuring cups or a mixer, so I was already a little stressed. I got the dough made and I rolled it out. I turned around to grab butter and cinnamon... and when I looked back at the dough,  there was a 3 INCH LONG COCKROACH ON MY DOUGH. I immediately started to hyperventilate and tear up. I was so afraid. Elder Coelho came in and thought that my terror was immensely entertaining,  so he took his sweet time before killing the thing. And then he proceeded to make fun of me for being scared. Oh well, now I know that I am absolutely terrified of cockroaches! And if I can go the rest of my mission without seeing one, life will be great. Elder Coelho did make crepes though to try and make me feel better.

On Terça, I got asked if I was from São Paulo! We were visiting with a part member's family (their teenage son is a recent convert) when the grandma asked me if I was from São Paulo because I have an accent. Her daughter immediately responded "No. She is from the US! Look at how white she is!" Hahah guess that sunscreen is working.

Quarta, we met with Thonny again and he gave us more cake and ice cream. He has a LOT of questions. We taught about the Restoration. 

Quinta, we crashed Cidade Leste's District Council. Ours got canceled, and we figured why not go to theirs. It was my first time seeing a DC, and it was so interesting and so cool watching all of the missionaries give each other advice. We also went to visit our Investigator,  Mario. Mario attended church a couple of weeks ago, and we met up with him later that week and gave him a Livro de Mórmon.  On our way over to his house Quinta, my comp said that we were going to invite him to be baptized,  and I was going to be the one to do it. So after teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I asked him if he would like to follow Christ's example and be baptized, and he said yes! His baptism is this Domingo. He has been so receptive and so ready to listen. I am so excited for him. 

Sexta and Sabado we didn't have lunch with members, so we were on our own. I made French Toast for the first time! I never made it at SUU, I dont know why. It is so easy and so delicious! Maple syrup is not a thing here, so I put some leite condensado on it. It was fantastic.  

Sabado and Domingo we met with a new Investigator, Noemia. On Saturday,  she started crying after about 5 minutes of us being there. I could not understand why! So I tried to look as sympathetic as possible and listen as hard as I could while mentally scrambling to figure out why she was upset. Afterwards, Maciel informed me that her mom had recently passed. 

Domingo was a good day! I gave my first talk in church, in Portuguese! I wrote it in English and then put it paragraph by paragraph into good ol Google Translate. Afterwards, everyone said that I did a good job and that they could understand me. I am not sure how much of that is true, but I'll take it! After church, I made another attempt at cinnamon rolls seeing as how I had to through out my last attempt. I still didn't have measuring cups or a mixer, but I had a spoon, my waterbottle, my hands and a whole lot of prayers. And it worked! They aren't perfect, but considering the fact that I eyeballed EVERYTHING... they're pretty fantastic. I made buttercream frosting in a blender. I also had to keep relighting the oven, bc our oven runs on propane and has a nasty habit of going out. But it was a success!!

A quick update on my arms: things aren't getting better. I am covered in bites, some of which have become small open sores. Not cute. Enough members and investigators have expressed concern to where we finally had to get Sis Tonini involved. She made me an appointment with a dermatologist for tomorrow morning. Yay.  Hopefully I can get some answers as to why my skin is reacting like this, and maybe some medicine to help. Because benadryl is just not cutting it apparently. Wish me luck!

I know this was really long, so I am going to end with a spiritual thought.

D&C 58: 27-28

27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; 

28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

Heavenly Father loves to give us direction. He loves to help guide us. He also gave us agency, and He trusts us to use it for good. He isn't going to spell out every tiny decision that we have to make. We have the commandments, we have the Holy Ghost, and we know right from wrong. It is up to us to make choices that align with those things. As long as we are exercising our agency for good, we can expect our eternal reward which is life eternal with our Heavenly Parents.

I love all of you so much! Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week. It means so much and makes my day a lot brighter. 

Picture descriptions:

1- Crashing DC!

2- Cinnamon Rolls!!

3-Winnie the Pooh being Sacrificed??

4- Jamilly and I after Sacrament