Week 37💌- Transfer News

 Hey guys, welcome back! Today is transfers, and I have news for you. I am going to be staying in Ala Alvorada and training a new sister. I am not sure who she is yet, I won't know until Quarta. Please pray for me you guys, last transfer was the hardest transfer that I have had as of yet. I learned a lot, but man. I am tired!

Presidente and Sister Tonini white-washed Vila Nova. Sister Johansen is going to be an LTS. She is freaking out, because she only has 9 months on the mission. Sister Sanabria is leaving as well. So, it is just going to be me (and 3 other sisteres).

Segunda: Happy pday! Today was just a chill day. I spent most of the day in bed, calling my mom. I got to work on my crocheting, which was super fun. Thank you for the material, momma! The other sisters went to the mall (without me, thanks Presidente). They did bring me back a perfume though, it smells so good!! 

GUYS. BIG NEWS! They announced the groundbreaking for the Teresina temple!! It is going to be on April 18th. I REALLY hope that I have the opportunity to be there in person.

Terça: Today we had lunch with Irmã Ivaneide. I have had a few lunches on the mission that were weird, and a couple that I didn't like. Guys...this one was really bad. Normally the food there is top notch!! The pasta tasted and smelled like fish. I asked if there was fish in it and she said no, but I literally saw the fish head and guts on the counter. Maybe some cross-contamination? Sei lá. 

After lunch, Sister Johansen and I made our own Transfer Board. We tried to guess who was going to be with who, who would train and who would be an LTS (spoiler alert, we failed miserably). We then visited Thalia and Cleonice. Both are very nice, and Cleonice has genuine interest in the Book of Mormon. However, neither of them are progressing. If they don't come to church this Sunday, we will have to cut them. 

Irmão Wanderson invited us to get pizza with his family. It was a CHIQUE pizza place. The waiters were all wearing ties, the women guests were wearing freaking semi-formal gowns. Some of them looked like prom queens. We all felt really out of place in our work clothes with our muddy shoes. It doesn't help that everyone stopped to stare at the Mormon missionaries. The pizza was fantastic though, and way more expensive than we could've afforded. Thank you Irmão!

Quarta: None of us had lunch today, so I just drank a protein shake and went to bed. It was actually so amazing you guys. After we woke up, we went and met with Thamires. We were there for like 3 hours. It was a really really good lesson though. And...she said that she would like to be baptized! Only catch, she needs to be married first. But, she said that she would talk to her boyfriend about it. Apparently he wants to be married, so it should be all good! Also, she made us cuscuz!

We then went to visit Artur and had a brief lesson with him and his sister. Marked a novo! We then visited Eloa and Sofia. We showed them a children's video sobre batismo. They both want to be baptized, but their mom said that they can't be baptized until they are 11 years old. After that, we went to irmã Ivaneide's and ate cuscuz (sim, de novo).

Quinta: Today was such a good day you guys. It was off to a rough start. The LZs sent Vila Nova a long audio thanking and congratulating them for their hard work. They send us a single text asking if we have updated our Pregar. When I said yes, his only response was "eita". It's Quinta, and we have one novo and zero lições com membros. We decided to do a divisão, because the LTS aren't coming. I stayed in Alvorada with Sister Sanabria, and Sister Ferraz went with Sister Johansen in Vila Nova.

Divisão of freaking milagres!! We started off the divisão with açai, claro. I told Sister Sanabria that we needed to focus on finding novos. I was hoping to find 3 or 4 novos. We found TEN!! And had FOURTEEN lições com membros!! Rapaz! It was so much fun working with Sister Sanabria. I love her energy, it was a lot of fun.

We went to the church so that I could teach English. Our only students were Eloa and Sofia. I thought that Sister Johansen was going to smack Eloa. She kept messing with Johansen's stuff and trying to eat her food. She also tried to walk off with $5 and when I called her out on it, she said that she had forgotten it was in her hands. Uh huh, sure. At least the kids enjoyed themselves!

Sexta: because we met all of our goals for the week, we were able to focus on meeting with people we were already teaching. We tried to meet with Luisa and Fransisco, but they weren't home. We taught a lesson to a menina that had been taught a couple months ago. She was more interested in my nationality than the Restoration of the Gospel. 

We then went to visit a part member family. The daughts are members, the parents and son are not. Last Quinta, the dad passed away. The girls got home from FSY Quarta, and he died the next day. Apparently it was really sudden. We went to visit with them and their mom.

Their mom at first glance seemed like she was doing just fine. I thought for a moment that they were divorced, because she didn't seem bothered. It wasn't until she sat down next to me, and I smelt the alcohol on her breath, that I realized just how much she is hurting. I tried to give a spiritual message and cried. I also cried through the prayer. We stayed and ate dinner with them.

When we got home, I taught some WhatsApp messages to our investigators who have weird work schedules. I am so grateful for technology!!

Sábado: Today was another good day! Today was the baptism of Irmã Ivaneide's granddaughter, Lina. Because she is 9, she counted as a Vila Nova baptism. We all got to go and watch. Lina is so cute you guys!!

After the baptism, we got to watch the Tabernacle Choir's Songs of Hope performance. They traveled to São Paulo, and transmitted it live on YouTube. I would highly recommend watching it. It was a beautiful performance, there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd. There was a performance from some children in São Paulo where they talked about the coming of Christ to the America. They talked about him blessing the children. They then sang the song "I know that my Savior loves me". It was a tearjerker. 

When we got home, we all waited for the ligações of death. Sister Tonini called Sister Johansen first. We were all eavesdropping outside the door. We heard Sister Tonini call her to be an LTS. She started crying. After about 5 minutes,  I thought that I was in the clear. The second I sent the text to the LTS saying that I didn't get a call, Sister Tonini called. Whoopdedoo. 

There is a new question they added to the interview "Are you loyal to Presidente and I?". Sister Tonini told me that she didn't even have to bother asking that question. I guess being the mission snitch pays off kkkkk. She told me that I am going to train a newbie, and that they are whitewashing Vila Nova. As soon as she hung up, I started crying. I have no desire to train.

Everyone was crying, except Sister Ferraz. Sister Johansen was especially mad that she has to pack. I was up until 3 am trying to get stuff together. I have to stay in Teresina until Quarta, so I needed to pack a backpack and we need to clean the house. Fun times! I looked like a freaking racoon from my masca. I don't care that it was dramatic, I am really going to miss these girls.

Domingo: Happy Fast Sunday! Today was the last day of Sister Ferraz, Sister Johansen and Sister Sanabria. We all teared up during Sacrament. We all bore our testimonies, I was very brave. Here ya go mom! Merry March!

After church, we all posed for pictures. I took 90% of the pictures, but I was included in some of them! Yay!! After that, we went to eat with Irmã Fabiana and irmão Cleiton. After that, we headed home to finish packing and getting the house ready. We are going to spend pretty much our entire pday traveling, so I got to call my family. I talked to steven for almost an hour. It was great. We kidnapped the kitten for a little bit so that Sister Johansen could say goodbye.

Spiritual Thought: 2 Corinthians 4: 17-18

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Sometimes it can feel like our trials are going to last forever. All we can see when we look to the future is our dificuldades. It can feel overwhelming and it can be easy to lose hope. 

However, the Lord promised that our problems are not going to last forever. Everything that we pass through is for our eventual benefit. Sometimes while focusing on the visible issues, we forget the unseen forces that are always by our side. We forget about God's perfect love, our Savior's Atonement,  our faith, the Plan of Salvation,  all of these things are eternal. Our trials never are. Even if they last until death, they cannot cross to the other side with us.

Remember to keep your head up! Look for the ways you can learn from this experience. What is God trying to teach you? Be humble enough to learn. 

Pictures:

1. I love cigarettes (packaging) here. They don't mess around

2. Chique pizza place

3. 🦜🦜

4. Anyone want to go swimming?

5. Call me Miss Starley

6. Our anti-kidnapping training. Thank you captain obvious

7. Tchau Sister Ferraz!!

8. Batismo da Lina

9. I'm going to miss these girls