A fun p-day and a Mission Conference

At the "Parque dos Passaros" (bird par), a nice little break from reality!

Is it art, or a statement that soccer turns people into happy brainless infants?

 June 16, 2014

         Today was a good day.  I bought two new pens!  #itsthelittlethings  We spent our first half of the day as a normal P-day, then after lunch we went out and worked until 9 P.M.  There is a Brasil game and we aren’t allowed to leave/work after 3 P.M., so our second half of our p-day will be tomorrow.

         We went to the “hospital” today to see if we could help Sister B.  She hasn’t felt well since December and there has been very little done to try to help her.  Hopefully we can get things figured out for her so she can start to feel better. She is a really tough girl, and she barely complains, but I can see that she is just feeling really crappy.

June 17, 2014
         Today was our P-day which we spent eating popcorn and watching church movies.  While every other human being in Brazil was watching the World Cup, we were rooting and cheering for the people building the Salt Lake Temple.  When our DVD player froze during President Monson's biography, we both instinctively exclaimed, "NOOOooooo!"  Funny how things are different on the mish!  Anyways, it was a chill day.  I wrote the family some letters.  

June 18, 2014

"Freezing" in the rain.

         Today was a great and busy day.  We walked a lot, taught a lot, and the Lord just really blessed our work.  I’m loving my companion a whole lot, and we just teach easily and really well together.  We taught 7 sit down lessons today!  I think that is a record for me at least. We taught several lessons on one side of our area and then took a van to the complete opposite side of our area to teach another great set of lessons. We have a good group of people t teach in Ancora. 

June 19, 2014 

         It was a dull day today.  We held our weekly planning meeting, then our lunch fell through, then our teaching appointment fell through, then we has to leave on a 4 hour bus ride to Andarai.  At least we got to rest and talk and relax a bit on the bus ride.  We once again realized how blessed we are to be in this companionship.  I just stinkin love my companion and an growing to really love our area – especially now that our house is in order and we are focusing on teaching.

 

Sister Brown with our very first district leader, Elder Van (I think there is a similarly awkward picture from October of last year....)

Reunion with Sister Brown

        High points of the day ----TAKING A HOT SHOWER in Andarai, and seeing the wonderful Sister Brown!  It is winter now in Rio and we are freezing (60 degrees F). I don’t have very many cold weather clothes, but I think that I’ll live.  However, when I go home in the dead of winter to Spokane….I’m gonna DIE.

 

Wall collage

June 20, 2014 

         We had a special mission conference with ½ of the whole mission. I got to play prelude for 1 whole hour, and it was awesome!  (Totally worth lugging my heavy music binder all the way to Andaria.)  The conference itself was an amazingly spiritually uplifting, reflective, and inspiring conference.  We have these conferences every 3 months so sometimes they get to be routine.  But this conference was exceptional.  It is neat to be able to look back and measure my personal progress.  One of my favorite parts of conference is hearing testimonies of the newbies and all of those ending their missions.  There is such a spiritual change that comes within these jam packed 18 months-2 years.  I can feel myself changing, growing, and learning throughout this journey.  I hope that when my time comes to go home, that my family will be able to see the change that has taken place (minus the sunfried thinning hair and the zitty sunscreened face.)  
         President and Sister Lima were pretty emotional this conference - it is literally the last time they will see many of us.  They were uncharacteristically complimenary.  it was the first time thatI've heard them give us  "atta-boys/girls"  or a "you're doing good things!" Usually conferences are a long list of, "REPENT, you sinning missionaries!"  It was a good change.  We got to each individually shake their hands and say goodbye.  We ended up leaving late and didn't get back to our area until 12:30 ---LONG DAY!  We were super wiped out. 

Out-going Mission President Lima and wife with Sister Burris

Out-going Mission President Lima and wife with Sister Colvin

Elder Van and Elder Siebers

Sister R, Sister C, Sister Z

 

Sister Rosario with Sister C

"World Cup" is a forbidden phrase

Do you want to know what it is like to live in Brazil during the World Cup?  We wouldn't really know because we are not allowed to talk about it with members or investigators, we can't watch any matches on TV, and when Brazil is playing, we are not allowed to leave our houses. I promise that you know more about it than we do.  I can tell you that not many people are interested in talking about anything else other that soccer so it is a difficult time for missionaries.
          Yeah, it´s pretty nuts down here. Luckiy Rio das Ostras is far enough away from the main city (ie, 4 hours in a bus) that it is pretty chill. Though we DO have at least one person EVERY DAY that tells us, "oh, this area appears calm, but be careful because there has been a lot of assault and rape and crime and such." uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--thanks??? We are following all the rules, and are always with members at night, so we feel pretty safe, but it IS a little disconcerting to hear, "oh yeah, this area has these bad things happening."
 

June 9, 2014

            Tomorrow I will hit the 11th month mark in the mission, almost 2/3rds done!  It is so strange to think that in just a few months I will leave Brazil, the people, the heat, the culture, the dog poop…. I can feel some of the culture becoming a part of me – especially the Brazilian directness.

Sister B. getting to work.

           Opening an area is really hard.  Our area is HUGE!  Beyond huge. We have between 16-20 barrios within our ward boundaries.  It is just overwhelming to think about all of the people and areas that are within our care and responsibility.  Sister Burris and I are praying and searching for the best way to take this area on.

            We had a fun Family Home Evening with M. and her family.  She is an incredible lady.  Her husband has been inactive for 10 years, but she took it upon herself to insure that her 4 kids all grew up within the gospel.  She is so strong and determined. (She reminds me a lot of my own mom.)  M. kids are so cute and just hilarious!

Sister Trussel - just arrived in country. She was 

part of Garrison's MTC district

Sister Zarate!

June 10, 2014

            We had a zone training meeting today and Sister B and I did the teaching.  It went well which is always a boost to our spirits.  Afterwards we taught L. in the chapel – and gavehim a quick church tour.  We ended in front of the picture of Christ knocking on the door and discussed about how Christ always asks permission to enter our lives.  It is our choice to let him in or not.  But Satan never asks permission, he just barges right in.  Leo opened up about a lot of his concerns and we were able to have a very spiritual lesson with him.

June 13, 2014

            We had a bad day today. Lot of things falling through and lots of “ida e voltas” – tips back and forth and back and forth.  Our area is massive and I feel like we’re just wasting a ton of time riding in vans.  It was a long, cold, and rainy day.  The bishop asked us to give talks on Sunday, one day to prepare. To top it off, our shower is back to a FREEZING condition.  I think that I will try to sleep off my bad mood.

Mosquito bites - BITE

June 14, 2014

             Well today was mostly frustrating with a happy ending.  Our lunch fell through, then a teaching appointment, then another teaching appointment, then we struggled to find someone’s house (never did find it), then…the most pathetic attempt at a baptismal service I’ve ever seen.  I don’t even want to go into details, but both Sister B and I were completely unimpressed by the lack of care and concern that the members showed.  Thanks to us, the font was filled, the room was set up, and we pulled of a last minute service that was just “okay’, but the whole event leading up to the actual service was a total mess. That being said, our dear sweet Marta was baptized and she was just beaming.  She went out and bought all new clothes that were within the standard of the church to start using.  Even though we entered in on the tail end of the teaching process, we feel a great love for her! 

The GREAT Bishop Alvino and Marta

 

Transfer to Rio das Otras with my 1st American Companion

Rio das Otras

June 2, 2014

            I’m being transferred! So is Sister Romao.  I don’t believe it- we are handing over a drastically improved area to our zone leaders.  They are going to get al the credit for our 5 baptisms…which shouldn’t bother me, but sort-of does. At least they are good Elders.  I am headed to Rio das Otras in zona Macae.   Sister Romao and I got up early on Tuesday morning and finished getting our things together.  I made the final touches for Elder Hawks and Elder Covey leaving our area book perfect, leaving a weekly progress record all filled out, addresses of everyone, a VERY clean apartment (kudos to Sister R who is an amazing cleaner!), and we even left them cookies in their fridge!  I left the area how I would like to find an area.  I like to think that my love for the people and the work is reflected in the details. (I would say that Sister Colvin’s love language is work.) Unfortunately, not everyone thinks or works that way.

          I will be sister training leader – senior with Sister Burris (and yes if you think that sounds like an AMERICAN name you would be correct!!!!)  We  will be opening an area for sisters.  All I know so far is that zona macae is the farthest from the mission office, is a huge area, we live by ourselves, our house is very far from the chapel, the area is calm and beautiful and close to the beach.  It will be a huge change for me, that’s for sure! 

  Our last FHE in Jacarepaguá, with Alexandre & Franciele, and Edna. They are great people with amazing testimonies of love and sacrifice!

Picture with our former Mission President and our new area Seventy.

The view from the veranda of our new house!

 

 

New Comp and I walking to our house

Here we are...looks great from the outside!

           

Sister Colvin and Sister Burris

I just have to lug these bags up those stairs.

 Sister R and I (with the help of our zone leaders) lugged our 5 suitcases onto the bus and rode two hours to the Rodoviaria Novo Rio, where all of the missionaries meet to do transfers.  We ended up leaving around 11 am…and didn’t get to our house until 4:30 pm – that was one long bus ride!  But, I stinkin' LOVE my new companion.  We just mostly chatted and enjoyed the scenic ride. It was actually beautiful in a nice bus with private seats. We arrived at our house, which is a lovely little upstairs space with a nice veranda overlooking a quiet beach town street.  But when we entered the house we were hit by a WALL of stink, filth, garbage, and insects.  I took loads of pictures, but it doesn’t even do it justice of how utterly disgusting the Elders left this house….GROSS!  One of the Elders (I won’t give names) is now our district leader.  Soooo I have to try to forgive him as I;m wading through his trash and killing his fruit fly farm.  Seriously awful!  We didn’t even end up working at all on Tuesday because our house was so trashed.  In fact, it was so bad that Sister Lima took 100 reals out of the Elder’s account and put it on our cards so that we could buy cleaning supplies, and so that they would learn to NOT leave their houses like this again.

           

Moldy disgusting filth

Uggh!

          

Trying to figure out the drainage issues.

Pile of trash left by the Elders

Moldy Fridge

Fruit fly farm

June 4th, 2014

          Wednesday started with a bang at 4 am when the blinding light entered our curtain-less bedroom.  We both tried to go back to sleep, but the stress of 1,000 problems to resolve didn’t let us.  Some of the problems include: clogged toilet, clogged bathroom vent/pipe (contributing to the foul stench in the apartment), broken shower, and literally hundreds of fruit flies, filth everywhere, etc.  We cleaned until 8:00, then did our studies, and headed out for our first lunch with Irma Magda.  Our new area is HUGE.  We didn’t have very clear directions of how to arrive there, so naturally we ended up getting lost. (Shocker!)  Just picture two super white American girls reading a map on the side of the road,  with everyone passing by and giving sideways glances. Yeah. We were getting pretty flustered and I said a quick prayer that the Lord might help us out.  Barely 30 seconds passed by (I am not even kidding), and an energetic 13 year old member of our ward (who we had not yet met) hopped out of a van and approached us offering help.  I am 100% certain that it was a direct response to a simple prayer for help.  She  had taken a different route that usual, and noticed two white missionaries looking very lost.  She offered to help and knew exactly where we needed to go because she happened to be best friends with on of the kids in the family  

          After our lunch, we went straight to our district meeting in Cabo Frio (1 ½ hours in a bus), then after the meeting we went on to Andarai (4 hours on a bus) to meet with the sisters there.  It made for a long and unproductive day, but at least it was spent in good company.  We spent the night with the Andarai sisters (I got to see Sister Brown who finally had been transferred after serving for 10 months in Campinho.)  It was goot to see her again. 

SIDE NOTE:  It is not just the Elders who are slobs – the sister’s house in Andarai was NASTY!

Sister B. struggling to scrub grease off the walls

Almost Done!

A greatly improved bathroom!

June 5, 2014

             We woke up early to get ready so that we could be on time for zone training which started at 7:30.  The training went to 4:30 pm, and we didn’t get back to our area until 11 pm because of the traffic.  Ugh!  I don’t know why we have to have such long training meetings – it is a long time to sit on a church pew.  I am not good at just sitting. It was fun to see some old friends: E. Van Wagnen, S. Packer, E. Neu (who is now a great zone leader!)  I also got two letters from my brother and one from Bessie Porter (she gets a big hug when I get home).  It is so nice to get mail and kindof special to get handwritten notes from my brother.

June 6, 2014

            Friday was our first real day of work in our area.  We had weekly planning, then hit the ground running. Unfortunately the “running” was actually a lot of walking in circles and getting lost.  But hey, that’s just what happens when you stick two Americans together in a new city with ZERO credit on the telephone, and only a crappy map to guide them.  We got lost a lot this day, but lovely Irma M. and her daughter, C. helped us a lot.  We found a new investigator, L., who is a family friend of some ancient slow-progressing investigators.  He is a nice man in his mid-40’s who had a lot of really great questions and sincerely seems to be searching for religion.  We’ll see.

            We also had our coordination meeting with our new ward mission leader, Hisashi.  He is a really neat guy.  He is Japanese-Brasilian, speaks Prtugese, Japanese, and Englush.  He works as an off-shore helicopter launch pad coordinator.  He is a proactive go-getter!  We are going to do great things together.

            After our meeting a brother and sister from the ward drove us home and attempted to fix our shower.  It is almost lukewarm now, which is at least tolerable.  I really miss having a nice hot shower….which makes me think about all of the things that I miss at home.  When I get home I want to:

• Go to the temple
• Spend as much time as possible with my family
• Sleep for about a week straight
• Get a massage
• Get a treatment for my poor frizzy sun-fried hair
• Take a hot shower
• Sleep on a comfortable bed
• Snuggle with my dogs
• Play a tuned piano
• Ride my pony.

There are loads of other things, but these are at the top of the list. 

June 7, 2014

            We had a really good day of work today.  We visited J., who is returning to activity.  The Elders found her one day through a street contact.  She had been inactive for 3 years.  She is amazing.  I am very impressed by her determination to come back to church and get her life in order. 

June 8, 2014

             We had stake conference in M., which was great.  It was broadcast from Salt Lake City specially for Brazil.  Sister Carol M. Stephens, Elder Scott, Elder Ballard, and others spoke.  Elder Scott tried to give his talk in Portuguese but I had a hard time understanding his accent.  Fortunately it was the same talk that he gave to us while we were in the MTC.  I got to visit with all of the missionaries in our zone inclusing Sister R. (my last companion).  She was kindof unpleasant to me which makes me even more grateful for Sister Burris. 

A Day in the Life of Sister Colvin

Jungle walking in the middle of the city.

 Monday, May 26, 2014

            Well it’s already 3:10 on a P-day and I feel like we’ve just been walking and walking and running errands.  (Oh wait, that’s what’s happened…) Augh. I’m worn out.  Actually, I really don’t feel like writing today.

10:20 pm

Sister R. marching right along!

Funny Story:  Sister R. wanted to buy a Brasil Jersey, and she remembered a store that sold them.  When we got there the shirts were hanging from the ceiling at the store entrance.  Then we noticed that the store was definitely not just a store for jerseys…it was a MACUMBA (African spirit worship) outlet! There were a bunch of weird things – weird statues, a ton of candles, a bunch of pots that people fill with food and leave on the street corners to feed the “spirits”. 

Spiritual story:  We had a great lesson tonight with a new investigator, Mar. We taught the Restoration and the spirit was the kind of strong confirmative feeling that just fills you up and leaves you feeling confident and warm.  I am so grateful to have experiences like this to help lift my heavy heart.

Some of the MTC District reunited.

Elder Fox and Elder Mountain

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

            I have only a few minutes before study time.  I got emails from Stewart Brim and Becky Smith yesterday that were really sweet notes only I didn’t have time to respond to them. I hope that they read this note and know how much I appreciate their encouragement!

            PM: Today was the first day in Jacarepagua that was actually fun and productive.  We organized a “Capela Aberta” activity with our zone.  This is my 4th or 5th time doing this activity, and it was a huge success, far better than I prayed for.  All of the missionaries worked hard and we were able to give us over 50 referral!  We did church tours with people off of the street and it was just great.  The best part was getting a small break from my companion.  It sounds terrible, but it was so nice to just do contacts, teach lessons in front of the chapel, and do church tours by myself.  We stayed close to one another of course, but divided and conquered!

            My comp and I still don’t click well. We are able to laugh and joke around at times, but during lessons we just don’t teach in unity.  She talks 80% of the time – teaching really well with examples, scriptures, personal stories, etc…but the problem is that I don’t have anything else to add.  I don’t want to be repetitious or drag our lessons out forever.  The cure to not teaching in unity is an effective comp study with realistic practices.  Only problem is that because she is senior she gets to control what we study and practice.  My insight and ideas are brushed off. I’m in the “I’ll just wait it out and see what happened with transfers” stage right now.

             Today we also planned a surprise birthday celebration for Elder Hawks, who turns 21 tomorrow. It ended up being fun especially because the whole zone (including Elder Mountain and Elder Fox) were there to celebrate with us. Anyways it was a good day full of work, action, and plenty of distractions to keep my mind off of my family.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

            We had a good day today despite cold 60 degree weather and lots of rain.  I changed clothes and shivered through the whole day.  (I am going to die when I get home in the dead of the Spokane winter!)  But, we found 2 new investigators with a lot of potential. 

            We taught R. who is struggling through a recent divorce.  It was so great to teach and testify of the healing and enabling power of the Atonement. I have been praying to be able  to have experiences that would lift my spirits and help take my mind off of home and this experience was an answer to those prayers.

Friday, May 30, 2014

            Busy Day! FINALLY, the work is starting to pick up!  We only have a few minutes before 10:30 so I can only bullet point noticeable moment:

• Gorgeous Brazilian Chris Pine
• Family on the street corner
• “Vai la –conversa c/Brian na Igreja!” Lolz
• a GOOD companion inventory
• FHE c/todo mundo

I've worn out another pair of shoes!

Saturday May 31, 2014

            Wow, I am so tired tonight.  My body is aching with the amount of walking that we did today.  My day in review:

• 6:30 – awake, morning prayer, exercise, watch my comp do crazy jump rope exercises as I stretch and massage sore thigh muscles.
• 7:00 – eat breakfast, which today is ripe papayas and honey drizzled on granola, whole wheat toast and a leftover brownie or two ; )
• 7:30 – slather on sunscreen, throw on clothes not even caring if they are cute, start a load of laundry, stare at a zitty face in the mirror accentuated by frizzy sunbleached hair...sigh, throw hair into a quick braid, don’t even bother with any makeup.
• 8:00 – begin personal studies, delve into the lives and deaths of the Jaredites, find scriptures/ideas that we can apply to investigators, read about the marvelous Plan of Salvation….which causes me to remember Dad and Mom.  Push those thoughts away.
• 9:00 – companion study = 1 long hour of struggling to feel intellectually stimulated, planning, more practice on how to teach “the Sabbath day”.
• 10:00 – language study…finally.  Review flashcards of horse terms in Portuguese, which obviously apply to proselyting.  Memorize another scripture in Portuguese.  Memorize another hymn. Work on another grammar principle. 
• 11:00 – wait for comp to finish getting ready
• 11:30 – finally leave the apartment, walk for 45 minutes to our lunch appointment, sit awkwardly on the couch as members of a very quiet reserved family move in and out of the room.  The chicken isn’t ready yet.  More awkward waiting. 
• 1:00 – eat a wonderfully delicious meal, break the ice with members, exchange mission stories with the head of the household. (this meal marked the beginning of our fast.)
• 1:45 – share a message, feel the Spirit guiding my words.  Irma compliments us on the investigators that we are bringing to church.
• 2:15 – head out to face the hard routine. Walk and walk and walk some more.
• 2:45 – ride in an over-stuffed VW bus sandwiched between two chunky Brazilian women with sacks full of groceries.  Wind through a favela, dodge scruffy dogs and drunkards, climb a mountain.
• 3:10 – squeeze out of the VW bus, laugh as comp points to literally 200 stairs and says that’s where we have to go.  Remember that today we are fasting.
• 3:30 – arrive exhausted at a member’s brick shack. Smile at their positive outlook on life despite such dire circumstances.  Feet attacked by fire ants.  Stop smiling. Descend 100 of the steps to try to contact a referral.
• 4:00 – referral isn’t home.  Great. Teach her toothless mother about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She’s not interested. 
• 4:30 – thank the member for their help, descend some more steps, ride in another bus to return to our main area. 
• 5:00 – wait for an investigator in front of their apartment building.
• 5:15 – still waiting
• 5:20 – start talking to random people passing by, invite them to come to church and hear our message.  No one bites.
• 5:30 – investigator calls, she is stuck in traffic, we reschedule our lesson.  Look to comp who is as exhausted as I am. Ride in another bus, walk some more, climb another hill.
• 6:00 – G. finally signs the marriage papers giving us hope that we can clean up this mess that the Elders left behind (by marrying this couple, baptizing them both…only to leave the sisters to discover that the marriage was not valid and the baptism was a “dunk em and drop em”…leaving the husband unimpressed with the missionaries.)
• 6:15 – We finally get to meet our 15 year old investigators mom and have a great lesson
• 6:45 – Walk some more, ride another bus. 
• 7:00 – arrive back in our main area again, climb another hill, lesson falls through, descend the hill.  Go to plan B, but that lesson falls through too. Resort to contacting people on the street. No one stops to listen.
• 7:45 – Walk and walk and walk some more, contacting referrals from our “capela aberta” activity.  Feel weak and dizzy and woozy because of our fast.  Say a mental prayer.  Press forward. Find someone at home! A young mom! A family! She is receptive and we mark an appointment for our next visit.  Stay on our feet – go to our next referral.  The bell-man calls her apartment, they clearly talk, but then he comes to the gate and says that she didn’t answer (cross that name off the list).  Just 49 more to go.  Walk some more, discover that someone completely lied about their address. (cross that name off the list)
• 8:30 – walk back to the chapel, finish contacting our required 30 people daily – nobody stops to listen. 
• 9:00 – arrive in our apartment, exhausted. Pray, plan, write in the area book.
• 9:45 – take a shower. The water is scorching, then freezing, then scorching. Sigh. Yet another thing that I miss about home.
• 10:15 – write in journal (I finished this entry Sunday morning)



A great family home evening!

• 10:30 – nightly prayers, collapse into bed.  Knee pain is irritating. Apply topical anesthetic cream that someone left behind.  Sleep like a log

Sister R waiting at church for our investigators.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

            Today was a great day even though we walked a LOT.  My knees are killing me, but we have 5 people with baptismal dates! We hear about transfers tomorrow.  I think that Sister R. will end up leaving this area.  She has been here a very long time.  We will see. Time to rest these achy knees.

Sister Nida - one of our awesome missionary moms!