Week 33💌 - Moved to a new house

 Óla gente! Oi meus queridos!! Quero dizer que amo vocês, com todo meu coração.

This week was not an easy week for me. I'm going to be honest. This week was frustrating, disappointing, disheartening...tudo. But, there were also some rays of sun that poked through the storm clouds. Let's get into it!

Segunda: Happy pday gente! We spent almost the entire day at Irmã Ivaneide's house. I am personally not a fan of spending time with members on pday. I love members, but for me, they are part of the work. 8am-6pm, I don't have to work. That includes talking to members. However,  Sister Ferraz is super attached to these members. She views them as a second family. And because she is struggling so much, we need to let her do what makes her feel most comfortable. Which is be with this family. We showed up around 12, and were there until the end of pday. 

I spent the day on the phone with my parents. I was able to get some good advice from them, and from some of you about how I can help my companion. Thank you to everyone who sent thoughts and prayers. I also got call my brother Steven and sing him Happy Birthday, which I'm sure he appreciated. And I got to hold a parrot!!! That was so freaking cool.

Terça: Sis Ferraz forgot to turn off her 0430 alarm from last week...so everyone woke up at 0430. Well, everyone except her. Unfortunately, once I'm up, I'm up. So I was dragging today. We had Conselho de Distrito today in person. We brought Coke Zero and Juice, and the LZs brought cake. Conselho was really good, our LZs have good energy. And they aren't as number focused as other leaders. They are more people oriented.

We had lunch with Irmã Ivone and her family. Her daughter Michelle fights with her kids a LOT. And complains about her kids and their behavior, while they are sitting right there. Which is a little awkward, not going to lie. But to each their own. I can tell that she does love her kids. 

We picked up Thyago, Cayoh and Clarice to help us with our lessons today. Thyago is 18, Cayoh is 14 and Clarice is 11. They all say that they like to come because they want to practice being missionaries. Which is great, right? Except they don't actually practice. The only one who contributes is Clarice.

When I asked Thyago and Cayoh to pray or bear a testimony, they just rolled their eyes and got huffy before doing it. They just distract Sis Ferraz and our investigators. And our investigators need both of us to teach, it can't just be me. 

We found a woman named Cleonice. She was so sweet. She said that she can't go to church esse Domingo because she has to visit her little brother who is in rehab every first Domingo of the month, but she will be there the week after. After that lesson, we went to pick up Clarice's little brother Cauê. He is about to turn 8 and be baptized, and his mom wants him to be taught by the missionaries, not the ward. So...we're gonna have a baptism this transfer! 

We brought our small army to the church. Sis Ferraz and I taught Cauê o Restauração. Then, Sister Johansen and I taught piano lessons. There were about 6 people, so we split in half. I went through the basics with everyone, and then we devided to do drills and explain more in depth. I didn't realize how much I had missed teaching piano. I know I teach people everyday, but teaching piano is more fun. Teaching the gospel is more satisfying, but it's more tiring as well. 

Quarta: Today was a miracle, but first: Guess who is sick...me! I woke up DYING from a cold. I hate having colds so much, because they never end. If you are nauseous, you feel better after puking. With colds, they just linger. I literally could not get up at 6:30 though.  Every inch of my body hurt and I was dizzy. I stayed in bed until about 8.

We had lunch today that was 26 minutes away. I was so miserable the entire time. BUT, lunch had salad! So that was awesome. After lunch, we all decided that we needed a quick nap and then a sweet treat. So we went home and took a 30 minute powernap. Then, we got açai. The açai here is horrible. It has the texture of water and tastes like dirt. And it's not bc I got açai 0, the other sisters reported the same problem.

We went out with Thyago today. I am so done. Next time we bring him or Cayoh with us, I am going to set some ground rules. Pregar Meu Evangelho says we need the PARTICIPAÇÃO of members, NOT the presencia. So new rules: you will pray and/or bear a testimony in every lesson. If not? I will replace you. Because he rolled his eyes every single time and made a face when I asked him to pray. 

He is also a huge distraction to Sis Ferraz. I went to make a contact, and I introduced myself. I then went to introduce Sis Ferraz. I said "Eu sou Sister Starley, e esta é minha companheira,  Sister Ferraz." But when I went to point to her, she was standing 40 ft away, yapping to Thyago and not paying attention at ALL. I was so frustrated. I know that I am senior companheira, but I can't do everything alone.

I was feeling really sick. I was so dizzy and the heat wasn't helping. At one point, we had to go home so that Sis Ferraz could switch her shoes, because her sandal strap broke. I sat down and prayed asking for enough strength to work until 9, because I felt so sick. Once we started, I felt almost at 100%. I continued feeling amazing until we walked through the door at 9:05, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to sit down. God gave me enough strength to do the work of two missionaries today, and to feel good while doing it.

Quinta: Today was hard. Sister Ferraz and I were not getting along very well. It started off fine though!

I woke up still dying of a cold. I tried to get up at 6:30, but my aching body just laughed at me. We had lunch with Daisy, she's a 22 year old RM. It was fun to have a girl's lunch. She told us about her dating life, and about Paul Wesley's dating life. For those of you who are uneducated,  Paul plays Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries. Apparently he is dating a Brazilian and they vacation a lot in Brazil. If only my mission was touristy...sigh. 

After lunch was when the problems started to pop up. Sister Ferraz was chateado with Sister Sanabria because Sister Johansen made a joke that a member had a crush on Sis Sanabria. And that upset Sis Ferraz. We were walking and she stopped on a street and snapped at me to pick a door. 

Okay...guess you want to do porta-a-porta. I knocked on a door and a woman named Thamires answered. I asked her what score she would give her relationship with Deus on a scale of 1-10, and she said 2. I told her that our purpose was to help people increase that number, and she asked us to come in and talk to her. 

We were able to talk to her about our purpose on Earth. We had a really amazing conversation about what it meant to be a true Christian. We all agree that a Christian is a disciple of Christ in both words, deeds AND heart. If we are giving with a reluctance or out of obligation and not because of love, there is no point. 

After that, we headed to the church for Noite de Integração. Once we got there, I sat to practice the piano while we waited for more people to show up. After a few minutes I looked up and didn't see Sis. Ferraz. The other 2 sisters were here, but she was nowhere to be found. I ran out into the hall and found her in the bathroom. I told her that she can't go anywhere without me. She got huffy and said we are in a church and she was just going to the bathroom. I told her even then, it's the rules. Bad things can still happen in a church. She got so pissed, she didn't speak to me for the rest of the activity. The activity was fun though!! Sis Johansen and I taught English.

When we got home, Sis Ferraz went into the bedroom and slammed the door. She was not happy when I told her the LTSs were calling for an acompanhamento. The second it was done, she went back to sulking in our room. When we all came in to sleep, she tried to go sleep in the living room. Sis Sanabria let her know that's against the rules, and Sis Ferraz said she would come in once we were asleep. And true to her word, she was in bed when I woke up.

Sexta: This day was another miracle. It started off horribly, but ended on a good note.

Sister Johansen, Sister Sanabria and I are starting to actually work out. I was so good at woeking out every day while I was in training, but then I got lazy. NO MORE! #6monthstosexy #startingthegrindnow. It was so embarrassing though bc we were all so out of shape. We were sore from doing 50 jumping jacks. I'm sorry, since when were jumping jacks even a tiny bit hard?? And don't even get me started on our pushups. 

So unfortunately Sis Ferraz was still pissed when she woke up. She didn't come out of the bedroom all morning. So at 9:30, I went in to do comp study and planning. I was ao tempted to smack her on the head with my planejamento. Because as soon as I finished praying, she popped in her ear buds. She had them in the ENTIRE time we were planning. We didn't even do comp study.

Sis Ferraz told me that she didn't want to go to lunch. I thought maybe she got my cold, so I told the other sisters that we'd be staying home. Sis Sanabria got pissed. She said that she wasn't letting me miss out on lunch because Sis Ferraz is still sulking. Apparently this happened a couple times last transfer. She went in and told Sis Ferraz to get up, that we were already late, and lunch was an hour away. Sis Ferraz started dragging her feet. It took 10 min from when Sis Sanabria told her to knock it off to when we actually left.

However, about halfway through our walk to lunch, Sis Ferraz had a panic attack. She had been lagging behind, so I told the other sisters to go on and we would meet them there. A few seconds later, she started crying and hyperventilating. I told the other sisters that we would be going home, and called Irmã Ivaneide to come pick us up. We couldn't go home because Sis Sanabria had the keys, so we went to her house. Sis Ferraz went to go lay down.

I called Sis Cayax, who was my LTS a couple of transfers ago and asked what I should do. She said it's a big enough problem to involve my LTS and Sister Tonini. So I called our LTS, Sis Lelles and Sis Andrade. They told me they would come over and do an emergency divisão. Once the other sisters got back from lunch  we speed cleaned and then they came over. They went and talked to Sis Ferraz and then came and talked to me.

I started crying and I couldn't stop. I was so tired and frustrated with Sis Ferraz and mad at myself for being frustrated with her. I am also still sick, which doesn't help my emotional stability at ALL. We did have a really good conversation though. They told me that if she chooses to go home that it's not on me, it's about her. 

I did the divisão with Sister Lelles. It was really awesome. It was so nice to get some space, get away from the contention. We found a woman named Camira who lost her husband a couple months ago. We were able to teach her the Plan of Salvation. I am so grateful for the Spirit that I felt during that lesson. It had been a while since I'd felt the Spirit. When we got home, we had a good discussion with the other two sisters and then went to bed.

Sabado: Happy Saturday y'all! Today was a really really good day. So long, but so good! We woke up, and Sister Sanabria,  Johansen and I exercised again. We did our 50 jumping jacks, 10 pushups, a workout video and ended with 50 more jumping jacks. Our LTS left, and we got ready to move. 

Oh yeah, we moved today instead of last monday. And guys, I am so glad we did. Because there is NO WAY that we could've moved between the hours of 7pm and 9:30. We started moving at 8 am, and we only had everything in the house by 4pm. It was still a complete MESS, but we were all so tired and hungry. We had to cancel lunch, so no one had eaten. We also did not have any drinkable water bc our water ran out Thursday and with everything going on...we did not buy more. (And we still haven't bought water and it's monday, but I digress).

After moving houses, we took ourselves out for a reward: subway and açai! Ik, expensive. But moving brings out the worst in the most tightnit families, which we are NOT. So the fact that we all got through this without any fights, that is worth a reward. While getting açai, we played the Brazilian version of MASH. Sister Sanabria and Sister Ferraz ended up with their crushes, and Sis Johansen and I did not end up with our boyfriends. Sad.

After that, we split up to go work. Sister Ferraz and I marked 4 novos! We were trying to find this one lady, but turns out she moved. The kids in her townhome area were happy to talk to us though! They loved the fact that I am American. Sophia, Eloa, Juliana and Vitor. The girls are 8, 9 and 10 years old. Vitor is 14. The girls said that they want to go to church tomorrow. Vitor said no, but he is interested in the activities. He also said we should talk to his friend that got dumped because he is sad. So maybe that'll happen next week!

I told the girls we had to ask their parents. Sophia and Eloa's mom was so incredibly chill. I was shocked. She was so chill with 2 random young women asking if they can bring her daughters to a random church. Completely unbothered. Juliana's dad was a little warrier, but he said she could go. Guess we are going to pick them up tomorrow!!

Domingo: Happy Sunday! Happy Dia do Senhor!! We picked up Sophia, Eloa and Juliana 8:30 and brought them to church. They were ready for us with their sunday dresses on and hair styled. They are so adorable. Today was fast and testimony meeting, and both Sister Ferraz and I bore our testimonies. We sent the girls off to primary, and went to the YSA class. The girls absolutely loved primary. The primary teacher just doted on them and made them feel so loved. They said that they want to go to the atividades during the week and church again next week!!

After we brought them home, we went to lunch. It was a delicious lasagna. We also ate sorvete. Dude, Sis Sanabria was dying. Girl was so tired, she almost fell asleep at lunch. We got home and she and Sis Ferraz went to bed. Sis Johansen and I journaled for a bit and then started to organize the tornado zone that was our house. Once the other 2 woke up, they helped. Now our house looks like a house!

At 8, Sis Ferraz and I went to talk to a recent convert. He was baptized a transfer ago. I texted him last night and asked if he'd be at church, and he said he had something he wanted to tell us, but it had to be in person. Uh oh...that's not a good sign. When we got there, he said he is leaving the church. When we asked him why, he said it's because of baptisms for the dead. That he doesn't think it's right. 

We explained the significance behind the ordinance. I shared the scripture John 3:5-  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Christ said that unless someone is baptized with water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. But what about those who never had the opportunity to be baptized? I then shared 1 Corinthians 15:29- Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

I told him that because of the Plan of Salvation, we will all be resurrected and then judged by the Supreme Being that is our God. I told him that one of the things we will be judged by is whether or not we received the saving ordinances, like baptism. But not everyone has that opportunity, many people died without being baptized.

That means that they could not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. But because of baptisms for the dead, they have the opportunity. I told him that agency existed in the premortal life and still exists after death. The spirits have the chance to accept the vicarious baptism or not. I told him that baptisms for the dead is not something new, it is part of the doctrine that existed in Christ's time and that exists now.

He pulled up a YouTube video about a guy saying that Paul wasn't actually talking about vicarious baptisms. Sister Ferraz told him to pray about it. You can find any opinion on the internet, both for and against baptisms for the dead. But the only opinion that matters is God's opinion. He said he would pray about it. While we were walking home, I had the thought to send him another scripture. I sent him Isaiah 55: 8-9 - 8 ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This was really hard for Sister Ferraz. Please guys, pray for her. Pray for her to feel at peace. Pray that she can know that she did her part, and now it's up to him. 

After that, we all went back to our old house to shower (the shower at our new house only works 50% of the time...and there's only one shower with 4 girls). Then we went to bed.

Spiritual Thought: one thing that helped me get through this week was scripture study. While I was studying, I was struck by how many names were given to Christ. I decided to do a little internet dive and find a list. I wrote 70 of my favorite in my Book of Mormon and then made this photo. 

My invite to you is to think about who Christ is to you. What name do you give him? And then please let me know! My favorites this week were Friend (D&C 93:45), Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) and Counselor (Isaiah 9:6).

Sorry for the rant fest that was this week's email. If you made it this far, congratulations! You have my eternal love and devotion. I love all of you so much (even if you just skipped to the end to see the photos). Have an amazing week!

Pictures:

1. I cut Sis Johansen's and Sis Sanabria's hair 

2. World's safest bridge. It's about 15 feet above a ditch. Yes, we crossed it.

3. Lessons with members!

4. Moving day!

5. Failed MASH

6. Juliana, Sophia and Eloa

7. They are so adorable!

8. Poor Sister Sanabria