Week 35💌- Happy Valentine's Day!❤️

 Bommm dia! Vou me esforçar ao máximo com este e-mail, mas provavelmente não ficará ótimo. Esqueci de escrever no diário de quarta a sábado... mas tá tudo bem!

Segunda: Happy pdayyyy! Today was a great day! I got to call my brother Steven in the AM, and we talked for almost an hour and a half. I love this time to talk to my baby brother (who isn't even a baby anymore, he is 18). I then got to talk to Audrey. She is adorable.

We went to the grocery store and got enough food to last us until pay day. Once home, I called my parents and we talked all day. Isabel did Sister Johansen's makeup and then she did mine. It was fun being pampered. Once home,  we did our daily exercises. 

Terça: Today was a good day, but it was LONG. We started off with our beach babe exercises. Guys... I can do 10 pushups without stopping 💪 i am basically a bodybuilder now. We had lunch all the way in Parque Alvorada (it's an hour and a half walk), but they paid for our Uber!! They also made a delicious churrasco. 

Today we got to watch a BYU devotional where Presidente Oaks spoke. I have never had a desire to go to BYU...until today. Major FOMO, imagine having a prophet speak at your school?? After the devotional, we picked up Cayoh and Thyago and did some good ol fashioned missionary work. We had 5 lições com membros, our goal for the week was 10. Halfway there,  baby!! 

Sister Ferraz and I got into a disagreement today...but it was our only one for the entire week! We brought Eloa, Sofia and their 4 yr old brother to the church. I am never bringing their brother anywhere, ever again. He was such a handful. And he dropped the f bomb in the chapel. But, I got to teach piano so we're all good!

When we got home, Cayoh dropped off a cake through our window. His dad's birthday is tomorrow,  and his mom makes a cake every year. His dad was shot and killed in a robbery when he was a toddler. I felt bad eating the cake. I still ate it though #bigback

Quarta: Our water shut off last night and didn't come back until lunch. So no one got to work out OR shower. It was miserable. We were also SUPER cold, I wore a sweater for the first part of the day. We had lunch with Irmão Andre. He also made us a Churrasco. We then started our fast. Our mission is doing a mission wide fast during the month of Fevereiro. Every day will have 2 or 3 duplas fasting.

We taught Luisa and Fransisco O Restauração. They are such cute old people. Normally I'm not a fan of old people, but these ones are cuties. 

We had a conselho de distrito tonight. It was going well, right up until the end. The LZs asked the Sisteres em Alvorada (us) to sing the closing hymn. We were all a little sleep drunk, and the other sisteres starting laughing. That made US laugh...and so no one could sing because we were just cackling. A little embarrassing...I was crying bc I was laughing so hard. 

After the devotional, I was minding my own business when all of a sudden Sister Johansen said "Here!" and dropped a CAT onto my lap! He is Irmã Ivaneide's cat, and she brought him in through the window. He is the cutest kitten ever and I love him with all my heart. I didn't want to give him back!!

Quinta: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!🥳😘 I love you!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABEL!! I love you!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER FERRAZ!! 🩷HAPPY 9 MÊSES SISTER JOHANSEN!!💗

Whew. Dia 12 de Fevereiro is a popular day! We had conselho de distrito today. Our LZs told us that we have to have the escritura da missão memorized before our next conselho. Dude. I just memorized the cultura! Conselho was good though. The LZs joked and said that I would sing the closing hymn and say the prayer. Hardy Har Har. 

We went and got Burger King to celebrate Sister Johansen's 9 mêses and Sister Ferraz's birthday. Idk what Burger King is like in the States, but it's pretty good here! Whoever was in charge of their Playlist was inspired by Pai Celestial bc it had a lot of Taylor Swift. Also a lot of Ariana Grande, not normally a fan, but we were jamming today. 

Also. Literally EVERYONE wore blue...except me. We made some pretty funny America themed videos. MY PRONOUNS ARE U. S. A. 🦅🇺🇲🤠

Ummm let's see. Thalia showed us her boob. Literally just whipped it out. Love Brazil. I got to teach English tonight at the church! It was a lot of fun actually. I taught body parts and we sang "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" together.

Sexta: I actually remember nothing about today after lunch. My bad. Lunch was so fire though! Presidente Orlando took us to a fancy restaurant that was a Churrasco buffet. I got to eat salad with Ceaser dressing!! It wasn't quite the same, but it was still good. The restaurant had a tax on food that you leave on the plate...and my eyes were way bigger than my stomach.

After lunch, he took us to get açai. I guess the rumors are true, your girl has a second stomach for dessert! I love açai, and I love Presidente Orlando. He is my new best friend.

Sabado: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY💗💋dude...today was weird. Carnaval started today, so maybe that's part of it. There was SOMETHING in the air though. The morning started off with this guy named Alessandro asking where we lived. He is a referral from irmão Aldair. He ended up getting weirder and weirder. He asked if men here are different than in the US. I responded with "como assim?" and here was his response: "In general, it encompasses the way they dress, speak, walk, even the way they flirt—especially since you're a visually attractive woman, and every man tries to start a conversation sometimes." Oh! Yeah okay. 

We left to go head for lunch, and Alessandro's prediction came true. We were walking down the street and a naked 2 year old boy ran up to me and started hugging me. His brother then came up and hugged me too. Lunch was good, but we got the bad news that Presidente is only going to allow 2 of us to go to the mall. That led to a friendly debate where everyone tried to play the martyr. And sister Sanabria lowkey insinuated that she doesn't trust Johansen's opinion and wants me to go with her...but I think I'm staying home. 

Alessandro sent a new message saying "A truly lucky man is the one who marries you, has you as his wife and companion, and the pleasure of having you in his arms." Awww guys I'm such a delight 😜 he then said "But December is a long way off, don't you think? You still have time to do lots of things that will create lasting memories." Yeah... uh huh. He then asked "What kinds of memories are you looking for in this passage?" And I told him "Helping people find their purpose through Jesus Christ". He told me that's a good purpose and sent a gif of someone licking their lips and saying delícia 😈.  He sent that again later after saying he'd be at church tomorrow... sos 

Today was full of drunk people. We did only porta a porta all day today. One dude was really drunk and kept getting REALLY close to me. He kissed my hand and called me princess. He then started messing with my bracelets and asked for one. I didn't know what to do, so I gave him one. He started crying and called me princess again and kissed my hand again. Shout out José for the Valentine's Day kisses! 

We met a really amazinf couple, Maria Lu and Luis Carlos. Luis was ALSO drunk and kept telling me that I look like his favorite granddaughter and called me Barbie. Maria Lu said that normally she doesn't let people into her house, but that she knew we were different. She said that she had prayed yesterday for peace, and then we showed up. She started crying and said that our presence wasn't a coincidence. Her husband said that we brought immediate peace. She made us chocolate milk and gave us garlic bread. Luis Carlos showed me his super fancy calculators (I lowkey really wanted one). But man the smell of alcohol was FORTE.

When we got home, the house was pitch black. I started looking for the other Sisters because it was 9:40, and they should've been home. Spoiler...they were. They freaking jumped scared us. Check the Google photos for the video, it was pretty comical. The sisters did make us air fryer cookies sooo we are all good. Alessandro sent a "you up?" text at 10:22. Bro. Dude.

Domingo: Happy Sunday!! Apparently Alessandro had a live-in girlfriend and she found his weird texts to me and kicked him out. Happy ending to this story!! Church was great, we brought Eloa and Sofia with us. After church, the other sisteres had a baptism. After watching the baptism, Eloa and Sofia asked if THEY could be baptized too. Please pray that their mom's heart can be softened!!

We had lunch today with the Cunhada de Bispo again. It was so good! It was a Churrasco. I am starting to see a theme for this week... and they had coke 0. After lunch, we all napped. I was planning on napping for like an hour, MAYBE 2. I went to bed at 2:30, and woke up at 7:45. Holy freaking crap. We had to hurry to our Noite Familar with Aldair (the member who passed along the scorpion). He gave us another update that Alessandro said his girlfriend kicked him out and that she is psycho and crazy and he wanted to smack her. So guess I dodged a bullet ;) 

Also found out that the entire ward was scared of me because I seem serious and frio. Brooo I'm not scary!!! They were all talking about how bad they felt for Sister Ferraz when I showed up because I seem so serious. Now they love me...but cmon!! Sister Ferraz is the one who refuses to smile,  not me!

We then cleaned the house, and then I got more or less caught up on journaling. Sister Johansen and I stayed up until 1:30 talking about our post mission plans. I'm a tad tired right now. ALSO and you guys should be so proud of me. I killed a GIANT cockroach in the bathroom this morning (2") and didn't scream or cry! 

Spiritual Thought: Today's spiritual thought comes from the BYU devotional. I highly recommend that you all go give it a listen. 

He said that the best way to overcome doubt is to draw closer to Christ. He invites everyone to become fully active in the church. He then offered 4 ways to come unto Christ 

1: Focus on Faith in Jesus Christ

“Strong faith requires more than strong desire, It means daily trying one step at a time with prayer and scripture study.”

2: Increase Humility

“Humility is one of the powerful commandments we have been given to guide us in our mortal journeys. It prepares us for our appointed meeting with our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Take care not to become distracted,”

3: Seek Help From Other Well-informed Believers

“Do not be persuaded by false or inaccurate information. Discuss your concerns with faithful, well-informed friends, and always take those concerns to the Lord,”

4: Be Patient

"Overcoming doubts or resolving conflicts between evolving scientific understanding and sometimes-incomplete teachings of religion can be a lengthy process.Hold on to the first article of faith even if something else is uncertain. And while you wait, wait upon the Lord, which includes trusting in His timing as well as His promises"

I invite you all to focus on coming more unto Christ. I promise that by following the guidance of the prophet, you will see an increase in your faith.

Anyways,  that was my week! Today we have pday de distrito,  so I am not sure if I am going to be able to respond to all of you guys. I will try though!! And if not this week, vai dar certo pra semana que vem. 

Eu amo vocêssss!! Tchau!!

Pictures: 

1. Isabel did our makeup

2. Happy Tuesday!

3. Our new cat!!

4. Happy birthday Sister Ferraz and Feliz Mês-versario Sister Johansen!!

5. Aw thanks.

6. 💍

7. Hey, you up? Also check the gif

8. 🌺🌴