Monthly Archives

August 2011

Brazil

This week…

24 August 2011

“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look at the stars.” -Henry van Dyke
This week… taught 35 lessons, 174 contacts, 20 new investigators, and 6 people at church! Yay! I love when people are at church. And sunday was a rainy day (thank gooooodness), but we still had peeps at church. Yippee skippee!
And then after church we had one of the best lunches ever with like three different families. It was a little churrasquinho festa. :) And the Work and the Glory was on the tele. Oh how I loooove church movies. Especially about the Restoration! Anyways, the members here in Aracruz are wonderful and help us a lot.
This week, did some english teaching. I mean teaching about the Book of Mormon in english. There’s a Dutch man here named Herman who is friend of some members and every single thing in his life is falling apart right now. He doesn’t really speak portuguese but he speaks english so I was teaching him and he’s reading the Book of Mormon and praying and it’s a wonderful getting to know him and to learn from his example. So many things to learn from every single person.
I was talking to some guy on the street this week. His name was Elder.
I love the Pearl of Great Price.
I want a fusca, aka vw bug.
Our new district leader is Elder Gneiting. I was in the mtc at the same time as him. He’s a funny one. :) And now that Sister Morales Elder Jotinha are gone (ps obrigada por peanut butter!!) I’m got to start playing piano, which is lovely of course.
I love you all lots and lots and hope your days are full of joyfuls and progresso.

Brazil

Aracruz Round 4

22 August 2011

Oi queridos!
We had transfers this week. Just full of happy and sad feelings! Most thankfully, our dear Presidente let Sister do Prado and I go to the transfer meeting in Vitória even though we weren’t transfered. I looove transferências! It’s sooo good to see everyone! So wonderful. Most of the pictures this week are from transfers because it was just a marvelous day seeing some of my most favorite people and playing in Vitória.
But sadly Sister Dias and Sister Michelotto were transferred and I miss those crazies a lot, but we’ve got Sister Cunha and Sister Vieira here now, who are just wonderful.
And another sadly/happily, Sister Morales is now home and I had to say goodbye. :( but que alegria to have such good blessed souls in my life!
And at transfers I got heavenly mail! Muito obrigada to dear Denise, Holly, Mom, and of course the whole Cottam family. My goodness I am blessed with wonderful peeps.
Sister do Prado and I had a great week of missionary work, as always. :) We found some super super wonderful people, but most unfortunately, they didn’t go to church. Why don’t these peeps go to church?? It takes so much work and we go to get them and they pretend they’re not home and ladeedahdada…
Anyways, Mirian, the wonderful mother of two of our recent converts, finally came to church. Three months of trying to get her to church and she finally went! Yay! And she loved it, all three hours. Adn she said how she just felt so much peace. Now she just has to stop smoking and then… batismo! But they are some of my most favorite people here in Aracruz and I”m happy I’m still here.
By the way, my little dedinho, aka little big toe, is doing good. I had a few glorious days in flip flops with a big ol’ bandade, but now I’m just using regualar spiderman bandaids and some cream.
And the new Assistente, Elder Lopes Silva, called last night to ask about a girl Sister Morales and I were working with when we were in JArdim da Penha. Her name is Elisangela and she most unfortunately decided not to get baptized at the time, but they’re working with her again and how lvoely it is to know when the seeds you have planted are reaping fruits!
Well I’m learning oodles, basically that we can do anything and nothing is impossible. :) But seriously, pode fazer qualquer coisa com o Senhor.
PS Bye Buddy. Hope you find your dad. :)

Brazil

Big Toe News

19 August 2011

Queridos Pessoas, :)
The most eventful event of the week, would be related to my big toe. Well it’s been infected quite badly for 7 weeks now, and then I got some other little random infection that popped up wednesday and so I finally decided to go to the doctor.
Let’s start with Thursday morning. We went to the capela, and had our last district meeting with our dear district and our dear district leader. We had a lovely festa with brownies, popcorn, and spiritual thoughts. :) And the best part was when the elders gave us four sisters blessings. Oh my goodness how I was needing a blessing and it pretty much changed everything. Obrigada sacerdocio and lovely elders! It helped so so much. My little big toe was blessed too.
Then after lunch, me and these three dear Sisters headed to the doctor, waiting for an hour in the waiting room, then waiting for an hour and a half in the operating room place, then ol´ Dr. Sixto finally came in.
He fillllled my toe with anesthesia (don’t know how to spell that, or say that, I1m a little confused as to which word is portuguese and which word is english and I think I mixed them together). Basically, after he put in the first couple needles, I didn’t feel a thing. And thank goodness too.
The doctor man grabbed the knife thing and just cut my toe nail in half. Then he got some giant tweezer things and ripped the nail out. Then he took the little knife again and cut off the big blob of infected skin. Twas bleeding quite a lot, but I wasn’t watching. But the sisters filmed it for me and I’ve watched it a couple times now. Still make me cringe. Poor dedinho.
Sister Michelotto was saying how he was cutting my toe just as if he were cutting the fat off a piece of beef. And then after that he got some sort of tool and was zapping my toe. Like burning it to make it scar faster and stop bleeding. So that was that. Then he put a giant bundle of gause on my foot and some cream and some tape and I was good to go. :)
That was thursday afternoon. Then Sister do Prado and I went home,  and I propped my foot up in the air, made cinnamon toast and hot chocolate, and wrote in my journal. Twas lovely.
Then friday I stayed home all day too. Sister Dias stayed with me for the first part of the day, then Sister Michelotto. I made paper snowflakes, ate mango, read Moses, and didn’t shower. I almost forgot I was a missionary. :)
Saturday I was back to normal work walking all day long and teaching peeps.
It doesn’t hurt or anything and it healing quite nicely. I’m taking some antibiotic to get the infection out of me and a little something else so that I don’t feel any pain. Every morning I go to the hospital and they change the bandaging and such. I think tomorrow will be the last day I’ll have to go the hospital and that I can just change it myself. It doesn’t bleed or hurt or anything but it isn’t very pretty.
We have transfers tomorrow. Emoção! Sister do Prado and I will stay here in Aracruz and unfortunately our dear Sister Dias and Sister Michelotto are being transfered. So sad. We’re getting two new wonderful sisters tomorrow night. The saddest part is that I don’t get to go to Vitória for the transfer meeting and I don’t get to see everyone and have a little festa at the bus station. And I dopn’t get to see Sister Morales again for a long time. :( But everything has it’s puropse and tomorrow we plan on finding uma família who is married with lots of kids and all ready to be baptized.
The greater the sacrifice the greater the reward.
This morning as I was about ponderwondering, the scripture Proverbs 3:5-6 popped into my head. It helped me a lot. Tis true né? Sim papai.
I love you peeps a lot and everything is bom demais.

Brazil

“Mãos que Ajudam”

17 August 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August! I believe it is now getting much hotter here in Espírito Santo. Everyday I’m reminded of how I am not a big fan of the heat. :) It’s not too wicked hot, but my goodness how I miss making a good snow angel now and again. :)

This is the last week of the transfer. I’m excited for transfers. I’m needing some sort of change. I’ve been here for 4 months and I seem to be talking with all the same people on the street. I don’t really want to leave Aracruz because I really love these members and recent converts so so much, but I think I need a little change. We’ll see what happens in a week.

Had a lovely week. Had a wonderful Helping Hands service project in Colatina. “Mãos que Ajudam.” And I got to wear tie dye and jeans! Twas fantastic! And there was a reporter there and she interviewed me (just because I’m from the USA) and it was funnnny. It might be on youtube if you look up “Mãos qu ajudam Colatina 2011” but I don’t know for sure.

Then we had FESTA JUNINA at the church on Saturday night. Basically the typical costume is like ugly, hence the pictures with us with unibrows and blacked out teeth. :) You just go kind of redneckish style and there’s fun little dresses too, and dances and yummy food and everything. Twas a lovely festa and it was so funny when us 4 got to the church dressed up nice and lovely with our braids and blacked out teeth. I love Brasil.

Tis marvelous to be a missionary. I’m just learning oodles everyday. I love these people a lot a lot and things are going pretty well. We’re just searching all the streets to find our elect family to baptize, but we haven’t found them yet. You’ve just got to endure to the end. Enduuuuuuure memso. 

I’ll send lots of sunshine your way. There’s too much here. :) 
PS We discvovered a store that sells brownies! Yahoo! And I made cookies this week for a birthday party with one of the elders in our district. Hallelujah for cookies. Oh the joys in life.

Tchau!



Chelsea’s at the end of this video:
http://murilovisck.blogspot.com/2011/07/colatina-es-reportagem-da-globo-sobre.html