Week 12- 4 cases of lice, 3 baptisms, 2 hospital visits and a partridge in a pear tree!

Hi guys!!

Wow, it's been such a crazy week. Let's start with the positives!

Mario was baptized yesterday!! Actually, three people were baptized yesterday.  Mario, and investigator in the Cidade Leste ward, and an investigator in an Elder area. So we had a joint baptism.  We had 10 missionaries in attendance, and President Tonini! It was incredible. The spirit was just unmatched to anything I've felt since coming here. I am so glad that Mario took this step in the life-long process of becoming like Christ. He was baptized by Irmão Nelson, a recent convert himself. 

Yesterday was fast Sunday, and we got to break our fast with a delicious lunch prepared by the wards' karate instructor, Irmão Nelson.  He is also an amazing cook. He always has a new cake or pudding for us to try when we visit him. Lunch was fantastic,  and thankfully very light on the stomach (I'll get to why in a minute). 

I am also 52% done with D&C! 10/10, would recommend for those of who you've never read it.

I am going to be so honest, I think that this week is the hardest week I've had since being on the mission. Segunda was awesome. It was pday, and my comp and I went to the mall to exchange money. We then came home, rested and talked to our families.

Terça was my dermatologist appointment.  Apparently at that hospital,  it's first come first serve. Doesn't matter if you have an appointment or not. So we showed up 10 minutes early to my 9am appointment, only to be told that there were EIGHT people ahead of us. So we went down to the cafeteria to eat and study. At 10, we decided to go check on the progress. The doctor wasn't even there yet! I finally saw the dermatologist at 11:15 who prescribed me some medications and had me buy a strong lotion and body wash. So things are improving on that front!!

When we got home, I had a headache so I decided to lay down for a minute because we can't leave the house until 1530. About 5 minutes after I laid down, I could hear the other Sisters making kind of a commotion. I had earplugs in, so I couldn't make out what was going on. All of a sudden, I felt someone messing with my hair. I waited a sec for her to stop, but she didn't.  So I sat up and asked Sis Centeno whats up. She told me "todos nós temos piolhos". I had no idea what that meant, so I asked her to repeat. She did, and I was still lost. So she repeated a THIRD time, this time pantomiming bugs and pointing to my hair. By this point, I was feeling a rising sense of panic. So I asked her to put it into Google Translate: "We all have lice." LICE. 

I immediately started crying. I hate bugs, and I have OCD which makes me kind of a clean freak. I won't even sit on my bed unless I have showered and am in clean clothes. So to find out that I had lice... yeah I was freaking out. My comp said it's probably because we hug all the women, so by getting our heads close to someone who has lice...

Everyone kept assuring me that lice isn't that big of a deal, that we would start treatment that night, but I couldn't stop crying. I was so angry. I was so angry at God. Missions are a Priesthood responsibility for men, but completely optional for women. After everyone went downstairs,  I told God how upset I was with Him. "I don't have to be here, I am here because you asked me to be. And what have I gotten so far?? Bug bites over my entire body, sores, a new language, it's been 102⁰ all week, AND NOW YOU GAVE ME LICE???" I was so angry, I couldn't stop crying. Thank goodness for missionary life, because a missionary's schedule doesn't allow for wallowing in self pity. About 30 minutes later, my alarm went off letting me know it's 1500. So I got in the shower, dried my tears and left to go work at 1530.

And even though I yelled at Him, God still sent me an angel. We went to go meet with Mario, but he wasn't home yet. His neighbor Carol was though.  She is 20 and has 4 kids. Her oldest is 8 (Yep! You did your math correctly, she was 12 when her first was born). She came over to talk to us, and she told my companion, pointing at me: "Ela parece uma barbie" --> "She looks like a Barbie". That compliment just helped turn my horrible, lice infested day around.

For the lice, we took oral medication that night and started the lice shampoo for 4 days. We have one more doce of the oral medication  tomorrow and then we should be immune for the next 6 months (with any luck).

Quarta and Quinta were very chill. On Quarta, we met with Maria and her mom. Maria is the Recent Convert who works at an açai place, her mom is the one who made us grilled cheese. They were babysitting Maria's nephew, who thought I was super cool. He gave me all the toys in the house.  Quinta, we met with Nelson who fed us pudding and then took us to karate! We also met with an 11 year old RC who chose me for both the opening and closing prayers. Ai. 

Now for the other bad news of the week. Sabado, after lunch, Maciel and I both started to feel really sick. We went back to the apartment and pretty much just curled up in the fetal position.  We were both feeling some bad stomach pain and nausea.  We took some Pepto, but it wasn't helping. Maciel started throwing up. I refused to move, so I didn't throw up.  We still had to go and work, so we left our apartment and met with Noemia. By about 1700, we were not in great shape. So Maciel sent a message to Sister Tonini and asked if we could go to the hospital. She told us to hold off until tonight and if we weren't better, to go then. Normally we'd wait 24 hours, but with the baptism on Domingo, that wasn't an option. We ended up going back to the apartment at 1900 and laying on the floor again. By 2100, we were on our way to the hospital. 

While waiting for our Uber, Maciel asked what I thought made us sick. She was wondering if it was lunch that afternoon (there were a lot of flies outside near the food) or Sexta (Sexta was rooster (feet and wings and everything on the bone)). I told her it was probably the water we received from a media reference Quinta. She asked what I meant.

For some background, every missionary must complete a safety training before leaving the CTM. We have to watch videos on all aspects of missionary life that cause trouble, and one big one is diet. We are told in the video to never drink water unless we know it's safe. Especially because the water here is so bad. We are then told this again, the day we arrive in the field. It's drilled into our heads.

Quinta,  we met with a media reference for the first time. Maciel asked him for water before we left, and he brought us two glasses. Maciel accepted hers and downed it. I looked at mine, and I could SEE bugs and dirt in this water. I got the prompting that I needed to do 1 of 2 things: refuse the water or pour it into my water bottle that has a filter. I didn't do either, because both seemed too rude and too obvious.  So I drank it.

I told Maciel this, and she was horrified.  Apparently she hadn't looked at the water before drinking. If she had, she would've put it in her waterbottle. 

We arrived at the hospital and they gave me 3 medications intravenously.  For those of you who don't know, I am super afraid of needles. So that day just kept getting better! And there was an issue when the nurse stuck my left arm, so I had to have the needle in the other arm. They also gave me a long list of medications to buy at the Pharmacy. So that is what we're going to do today. Buy medicine and then rest. 

So to recap this long email: 4 cases of lice, 3 baptisms, 2 hospital visits and a partridge in a pear tree!

Now for the spiritual moment:

D&C 105:6. And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.

God gives us commandments for our safety. They aren't there to prevent us from having fun, they aren't a cage trapping us. They are more like a shark cage. They keep us safe from the pains of the world. Breaking these commandments might seem like a good idea in the moment, it might even sound fun. But sin never was joy. 

I had to learn the hard way that disobedience can lead to suffering. I broke a huge mission rule, a rule that was put in place to keep me healthy. I also was not looking out for my companion. I allowed both of us to drink unclean water, and now we are both sick. 

So please guys. Be obedient.  This doesn't just apply to my missionary friends (but seriously guys, do NOT drink water with bugs in it. It would be way better that you offend someone than get sick). We are here to learn to be obedient to God, and that starts now.

Anyways, I love you all! I know this email was superrrr long, so here are some pictures to end!!

Picture Descriptions:

1- Baptism Dayyyy

2- BATISMOOO (L-R: Presidente Tonini, Irmão Nelson, Irmão Mario, Maciel e Eu)

3- Everyone!!

4- Lunch with Irmão Nelson, Marlene and her kids, Jamilly and Elder Coehlo on Domingo5- 

6- Açai with Jamilly and Ana Livia - I forgot my name tag that day... I also got called a blonde and a redhead 6x this week. 

7- Me with all of the toys!

8- Waiting for our IVs

9- I am just a tiny bit paler than my comp

10- 10- Party central, IV central... same thing

11- It wouldn't be a weekly email without another creepy toy!!