Opposition in all things

SB captures my best side.

 July 21, 2014

            This past week has been one thing after another, and Sister B and I are just plain wiped out. There is a huge cultural and economic divide between our ward members.  We have the very very rich in the Barra, and the very very poor in the Favela Rio das Pedras.  It’s definitely a very different challenge for me.  We are opening an area in Barra da Tijuca which has never had sisters probably because ½ of the area and 2/3 of our members live in the favela.  I have already worked in really poor areas before, but this one takes it to another level.  It’s just so sad to see people living so humbly.  The other 1/2 of our area (which is HUGE) is the Barra.  Oh. My. Gosh.  Culture shock for me!  It is so stinking rich.  One of our members is a big oil tycoon and we ate at his “house” last week.  We had to show our ID. And then be privately escorted to a beautiful high-rise penthouse.  Our lunch (a 4 course meal) was prepared by their personal chef. The interesting thing about these members is that they came from humble circumstances themselves and so they are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get to work.  They are perfectly willing to help us teach in the favelas. 

One our our beautiful ward sisters.

            The very next day we had lunch again in Barra and the member wasn’t even present so we chatted with their maid while their cook prepared the meal.  It’s all very odd.            

            Today was very normal, bordering on laid back.  We’re still living in Recreio/Cumorim, which is a LONG way away from our area, so we just ended up working in the other sister’s area tonight doing contacts. We had some great interactions and we both feel like the quality of our contacts has improved dramatically. 

            Other new, I’m feel like I am getting sick.  Shocker.  I am sure that it is related to stress, and filth, and cockroaches, and cold showers.  I will survive.  What else, we waited about 2 hours today trying to get pictures sent on the computer.  One Lan house wasn’t even open, one’s computers didn’t have the program needed to read our cameras, and the other one finally worked – but only had one computer.  

According to Wikipedia:
Barra da Tijuca (Brazilian Portuguese: (mostly referenced as Barra) is a famous borough in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located southwest of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known for its beaches, its uncountable lakes and rivers, and its highly Americanized lifestyle. Although representing only 4.7% of the city population and 13% of the total area of Rio de Janeiro, Barra is responsible for 30% of all tax collected in the city. Barra da Tijuca is classified as one of the most developed places in Brazil, with one of the highest HDI (0.970) in the country, as measured in the 2010 Brazil Census. Differently from the South Zone and Rio's Downtown, Barra da Tijuca, built only 30 years ago, follows the American standards with large boulevards creating the major transit axis. A mix of modernity, sustainability and nature create the newest side of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The borough's masterplan designed by Lúcio Costa, same urbanist of Brasília, creates a region filled with many gardens, shopping malls, apartment buildings and large mansions. In recent years, due to the development of the Brazilian economy, Barra has received more than 100,000 new residents and many companies' headquarters looking for a more modern address.
Those born in Barra da Tijuca, or those who live there, are called Barristas. The neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca is the cultural, economic, and administrative center of the borough, and is believed to be the safest of Rio's upper-class neighborhoods due to its lack of favelas and plentiful private and public security. Barra da Tijuca neighborhood is well known for being the home of celebrities and soccer stars. Barra, as it is popularly known, will host most of the venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will be the first held in South America.

Favela Rio das Pedras.

Favela Rio das Pedras.

I probably shouldn't look so content to be sick.

July 22, 2014

            Well, I’m sick.  Shoot.  Thank heavens I have a great companion who encourages me to rest.  I have already slept 10 hours today and I am still exhausted. It is so hard to just stop and let your body rest on a mission, especially because there isn’t much to do at home as a missionary.  Other than that, it was a super chill day.  I made cookies for Sister M. Silva and Sister Alcanfera to thank them for letting us stay with them while we wait for our house to get finalized.  We are supposed to move next week.

July 23, 2014

            I’m still not feeling very well, but we had a pretty good day of work today.  We went to the island again (ie. chunk of land in the middle of a cesspool.).  We actually had some success there.  I think we are going to try to go there at least once a week.

            We’re struggling to find people to teach, and I can feel my drive and focus waning.  There is a lot more incentive when you are working for and accountable to other people.  Seeing as we are hanging out here all by ourselves and it is hard to keep the energy level up.  This area is really overwhelming.  I just feel completely unqualified and ill-equipped to take on all of its unique challenges.           

            In other news, the beaches are really beautiful here, and there are a LOT of beautiful, dark, mostly naked Brazilians lounging/playing volleyball/walking on the streets.  The poor Elders sure had a lot of distractions here.

July 24, 2014

            We had interviews with Presidente today and he was running behind schedule because he was taking a lot of quality time with each person.  I really love this new president.  He talks and talks and is gentle and kind especially with the sisters. It was nice to hear an “atta girl” and “keep up the good work!”  As missionaries we (especially sisters) are often so hard on ourselves that we end up forgetting that, yes, the Lord is please with us and our work.  Presidente helped me to feel special and appreciated. 

            Afterwards Sister B and I bought Chinese food and FROYO!!!! It was so good.  I had forgotten how very much I LOVE Froyo.

Real life wild capybaras, the world's largest rodent.

July 25, 2014

X-ray machine as old as my parents.

            I am still not feeling better so I was told to go to the doctors.  Normally in the states it would be a simple thing to do that would not require too much effort on the part of the ill person.  But here in Brazil it is entirely a different story.  First t of all I live about 1 ½ hours away from the members of our ward so it is impossible for us to ask for help from them.  So our little trip to the doctor’s started with a 20 minute walk in the rain to the bus station where we waited 15 minutes for a our first 45 minute bus ride.  We then walked another 10 minutes to another bus station, boarded another bus, rode 20 minutes, got off, climbed a huge pedestrian footbridge over 4 lanes of traffic, then walked the final 5 minutes to the hospital.  There we waited 30-45 minutes to see a doctor, another 45 minutes for a blood test, and yet another 45 minutes for a chest X-ray.  When that was all done, we waited 2 hours for the results.  It was quite an ordeal.  Sister Burris is a great sport and has really been sweet and helped to take care of me.  But by the time we reversed the travel and returned home, I was just plain WIPED OUT.  So I am on some antibiotics for sinusitis and ? fluid in my lungs.  

Rain and more Rain.

July 26, 2014

          I have completely lost my voice, even my whisper is almost gone.  We tried to make it through companion study, but I ended up feeling so tired, and then just caved and slept most of the day.  We did get word that our house is finally approved and I am so excited to get out of this cockroach infested cramped space.  It will make a huge difference actually living in our area.

          It has been really cold and rainy here.  Our ward mission leader's wife is letting us borrow some of her sweaters and they are saving us. We had a missionary photo shoot.

July 27, 2014

            Still sick, but I went to church anyway and got there 30 minutes early to greet members and organize the sacrament room.  It was a darn good thing because Presidente and Sister Cabral decided to make a surprise visit to our ward.  They saw and sympathized first-hand with the many difficulties we and other missionaries have experienced and expressed.  They gave talks in the sacrament meeting and they were VERY direct, tactful, and wise. It was very good.  I was pretty much wiped out after church and we stayed in the rest of the night.

           

July 28, 2014

            I woke up feeling worse, gosh dang it.  This is just plain obnoxious.  We have basically been stuck home for a week.  Poor Sister Burris.  I am going to break out some of the antibiotics that my mom packed for just such an occasion and then try to get back to work.  We are really missing our work routine. It really does help lift our spirits and give us focus and purpose to our days.  Without teaching, we are going nothing but twiddling our thumbs.  There is only so many games of banagrams and pass the pigs that two people can play.  I have tried watching church movies on our little dvd player out of desperation. Aggghhh, I have to get back to work            I have been thinking lately about how my post mission life will be.  My family, friends, school, etc.  I am so excite for that next phase of my life. I love my mission  and have had some of the most incredibly humbling and life-changing experiences down here, but MAN O MAN will I be ready to come home.  I just wanna hug on my family, go to the temple, get my teeth cleaned, and spend some time with my horse and piano. #trunky.

WARNING: Fiesty alert

It is crazy hard to transport your things by bus.

Transfer time

Sister R. and me at transfers.

July 14, 2014

            I got transferred, again. Presidente took a TON of missionaries out of their areas (ie. 26 areas had BOTH companions leave), and moved things around a lot.  Rio das Ostras now had 4 Elders.  Presidente took ALL of the sisters out of zone Macae.  But, Sister Burris and I are together again.  Yay!

July 15, 2014

 

The pile of trash cleaned out of the Elders pigsty.

           This transfer was incredibly poorly organized. We were transferred to Barra da Tijuca, only our house was in a FAVELA and Presidente didn’t even know about it until I mentioned it yesterday.  So then we got stuck with the Cumorim sisters who are also opening an new area.  Both companionships are moving into yet ANOTHER disgusting mess that the Elders left behind.  I’ll spare you the details, but I will say that I never want to clean up so much pubic hair ever again in my whole life.  SHAME on these  Elders who don’t take care of their houses.  I called both of them out though (both of them were from my original district.)  Hopefully I guilted them into repentance.  Their mothers would be so ashamed of them.

            Our house:  Well, my bed is a mattress on the floor, and my desk is a filthy sofa with a plastic table.  There are tons and tons of cockroaches and mosquitoes and fruit flies.  It is just gross.  On top of the filth is the fact that this house is 1-2 hours from our area and the only mode of transportation is by bus.  I think that I have already expressed my deep hatred of buses here in Rio, but yeah, it sucks.

            On the bright side, our zone and district leaders are great young men.  We have Elder Hawks as a ZL again.  He is great.  He is now in Jacarapagua where I left 5 baptismal dates, and I am in his old area.  It is cool to see how much he sympathizes with our situation and how willing he is to help us out.  Our other ZL has yet to win me over.  Our DL, Elder Alves, was my former Dl when I was with Sister Ramao and he is a great guy. Good leaders make my life so much better.

After a thorough scrubbing we discovered our couch was supposed to be white.

 July 17, 2014

            I woke up with cockroaches crawling on my arms and neck. This area is really trying my patience and endurance. Our “house” is problematic.  First of all we live above a bar.  In order to turn on the “light” in one of the rooms, you have to plug in an extension cord that is attached to a single light bulb that dangles above the desks.  The flush the toilet, we have to run a hose from a separate faucet and fill the tank manually every single time. The shower…I have actually managed TWO hot showers this week, which is literally a miracle.  But even then, these electrical showers just are so shoddy that they work maybe 40% of the time.  Lots of times they stop working about 3.4ths of the way through the shower.  Uggghh.  What else?  Oh, I have some short of bug that is biting my hands leaving small itchy red bumps all over my fingers/hands/wrists. 

            Oh the joys of serving in Brazil.  Only 23 more weeks.  I mentioned to Sister B the other day that I feel like I am running a half marathon (which is the farthest distance that I can actually relate to), and I have hit the 9 mile mark.  That is where you feel wiped out having just run 9 miles but know that you still have three more to go.  The phrase “endure to the end” has become more important to me.

July 18, 2014

            I am so tired, and I am getting sick.  Today I got up, exercised, go ready, switched my laundry, started our personal study, then ended up feeling like crap and sleeping until about noon.  Then I got up and we left for work.  Almost 1 ½ hours on a bus later, we arrived at lunch with a really nice sisters and her 12 year old son., Gustavo.  He was a super cute kid.  When we asked him what he likes to do, the first thing he said was, “read the Book of Mormon!” He then proceeded to detail the accounts of his favorite storied with an impressive amount of energy and enthusiasm.  Way cute!

            I am realizing more and more that I just have no patience to work with less-actives. It’s always the SAME excuses – “I’m too busy, my health is poor, other people offended me.”  It drives me crazy.  I have learned to bite my tongue and let my sweet patient companion take the reins with the less-actives.

            We had a few very positive teaching experiences on the street and we even found a man, J. , who has already had a lot of contact with our church, but has never attended a Sunday service.  He asked us what he could do to visit our church. Another cool moment was teaching with Brother Xavier, who is an 84 year old former patriarch. He is just like a Brazilian Mr. Rogers.  He has been teaching twice with us now and he has a spirit that just radiates from him.  I just love being around him.

            Those are all the positives.  All of our ward members tell us about how hard our area/ward is.  When we try to show excitement and optimism, they just cut us down with another negative comment. It is frustrating.

July 19, 2014

            Today I had a break down inside of the bank after an ATM machine ate about $150 .  The inside part of the bank wasn’t open because it is Saturday.  Anyways, I just feel like I am so emotionally wiped out this week that the littlest things are getting to me.  There have been countless things that have gone wrong or have been really hard this week, and I am just at the end of my rope.  I ended up called Elder Hawks and venting to his sympathetic ear.  He gave Sister Burris and I a good pep talk, and we made it through the rest of the day without losing it. 

            One cool thing we met P. and A.  P. is coming back to church and A is a very intelligent investigator. 

My newest planner

July 20, 2014

            Well, we worked out tails off this week and we still have a ton to do.  This is by ar the most challenging areas I’ve been in and even the members and missionaries say that it is one f the hardest areas in the mission.  Church today was just plain sad.  Only about 50 members came to sacrament meeting, and no one sat by each other.  We have a lot of work to do in the ward itself. 

Only 3 more miles to go.

            We did have a small miracle today.  We were doing a “Capela Aberta” and I invited a young woman from off of the street to do a church tour.  We had and AWESOME member help us out, and then afterwards the young woman got emotional and said that the week before she had been at her lowest low in her life and she prayed that the Lord would help her to fell better.  She said that she felt that this church washer answer to her prayer.  Unfortunately, she is not in our “area” so we passed on her information to the missionaries in her area. 

            Cool side note: my accent and Portuguese are progressing because most people ask me if I am from the southern part of Brazil.  #miracles (I am really terrible at languages)

Quote for all time:

Apostle Orson F. Whitney of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained: “ No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called he children of God…and it is through sorrows and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain eh education that we come here to acquire.”

"Good thing they don't know I was born in Germany"

July 7, 2014

         Today was not p-day, because this stinkin world cup is dragging on forever. It has really interrupted our routine and rhythm for the past few weeks – we literally have not had one normal P-day yet this transfer.

         This morning I started my PT school application.  After about an hour of trying to re-learn how to use a computer properly, I ended up accomplishing very little and decided to print the 50 pages of instruction (there goes $20).  It was a really good choice to print them off though because I had the chance to read it thoroughly on our 2 hour bus ride to Cabo Frio for our district meeting.  Now I have a lot better idea about what I need to do!  I think I’m going to try for the early admission application to Eastern’s program – which means that I have to get everything done really quickly.

July 8, 2014

         Sister Burris and I are sitting at home at 5 pm on a Tuesday night. I’ve taken a 2 hour nap, figures out how to use our oven, swept the kitchen…and that’s it.  It is raining hard and Brazil is playing Germany in the semifinals of the world sup.  We worked a few hours this morning, and had more people asking us who we were than ever before.  We excitedly told them that we were missionaries, and then after about 5 seconds they were like, “oh, you are not German?”  Uh, nope. Then they would say, “Good, because if you were, it would be really dangerous for you guys today.”  We seriously had like 10 people stop us and say this exact thing to us.  One elderly lady even, ever-so-lovingly, described how a man had recently been decapitated here in Rio dad Ostras, and how they found his head floating/bobbing along the ocean shore a few days ago.  Oh…thanks?! We seriously have at least one person every day warn us about our “dangerous” area, or tell us details of some terrible something that happened. 

Watch out, Brazilians are upset.

         On top of that, our zone leaders call just to say “don’t leave your house under any circumstance. Germany has scored 5 goals in the first 30 minutes and the Brazilians are MAD.  You two look German and you have to be extremely careful today and tomorrow.  If something seems strange, call for the President right away and go home and stay there. “  Uhhhh??? AHHHHHHHH….the crazy Brazilians are going to decapitate me!!!!

         Well, other than that, things are pretty shill around here.  I really DO love this area, which probably means that I will get transferred next week gosh dang it. L

        

July 10, 2014

         Today I hit the big one-year mark on my mission, and I am not gonna lie, I am feeling TRUNKY.  I’m going to be really ready to head home when my time here comes to an end.  I love my mission and the work we do here, but I would be lying if I said I don’t ever get homesick, miss my family, imagine how my post-mission life will be, etc.  I figure that I have to acknowledge that these feelings are present, an then just move on with life. Usually I’m really good at the “moving on” part of things, but this week I’ve been particularly distracted.  Maybe it is because of the school application, upcoming transfers, FINALLY hitting the year mark, I don’t know, but I’m needing to re-focus on the peole and the work down here.

Cookies from Mom!

My Comp decorated my desk!

         My sweet companion decorated my desk this morning and wrote me a nice note for my “anniversary”. It really meant a lot. She is a great companion, I’m really going to miss her if she gets transferred (or if I get transferred) I’m nervous about what will happen.

Celebrating one year mark at McDonalds

         Cool part of today was our lesson with L.  We did a follow-up of the Plan of Salvation, and he explained what he understood which was an impressive recount of the plan.  It was better than most members could give.  I am so thoroughly impressed by his understanding and spiritual maturity. 

July 11, 2014

         Oh my goodness.  I am so so tired.  Today was one of those days where EVERYTHING fell through.  Every. Single. Thing.  Even our lunch fell through.  It was a long long day.  We tried to make the most of it, but after being on your feet and walking for more than 6 hours, you just feel like curling unto a ball and sleeping for about 100 years.  Add in the fact that it’s raining a ton down here and the roads are completely flooded with human feces –infested cess-pool water, getting splattered with said mud and water, and forgetting your umbrella in the van (Sister B left hers, poor thing), and you have a hard day that just kind of tries your faith.

         I guess that one cool things that we are trying is to have quality contact and today we tried out a new thing, a “religious survey” with 4 quick questions.  Just about everyone we talked to wanted to participate.  The questions are:

         1. Before we were born, where were we?

         2. What is our purpose here on Earth?

         3. After death, but before we are judged, what happens to our spirits?

         4. Do you believe that families can be eternal?

         It is really interesting to hear all of the different results and it was shocking to realize how few people have stopped to think about where we came from, or potential, and where we will be if we are obedient.  The Plan of Salvation gives us so much identity and purpose.  

Saying goodbye to so many people:

Last District meeting in Cabo Frio

 Our last family home evening in Rio das Ostras--with Michelle, standing on the far right

One of our ELECT investigators in RdO. 

Remember that cute little girl who saved our tails the first day in Rio das Ostras? This is her!

With our amazing relief society president, Sabrina. She is a return missionary and is just the BEST. 

CUTEST kids in the world!

 Roger e Ramy--we love them! 

With Carol, Magda, and the kiddos. This family was so stinkin cute, and Irmã Magda is one of the strongest ladies I know. Her husband is inactive and works on a big boat, so he´s gone a ton of the time. She singlhandidly does everything! 

Our going-away present haha! They always called us the "Barbies" and gave us these cute presents so we can always remember them.

Opening a new area

Barra da Tijuca - the same area where the newly proposed Rio  temple site is located.

      Sister Burris and I were transferred to open ANOTHER area in Barra da Tijuca (ie, RICCH RICH RICCCCHHHH area). I am running on 0, we are feeling very stressed, so I will update you more next week.  I also couldn't find my card reader in my suitcase, so I will send pictures next week.  In the meantime, Mom and I will spend the rest of my email time working on graduate school applications.  I tried working on an essay last week. ROUGH, mom. ROUGH. I stared at the page for about an hour and only got 2 paragraphs out....I honestly am really worried about it. My brain just doesn´t function in English any more. 

A view of Barra da Tijuca beach

 

New Mission President

 

View from the bus

June 30, 2014

            We spent the day in meetings for Mission Counsel. It was fun for me to be able to trade ideas on how we can help our areas and missionaries.  It was also great to get to know Presidente and Sister Cabral.  Presidente is a great little man (seriously, he is shorter than I am!)  He is very warm, friendly, and personable.  This is a huge change from Presidente Lima who was an excellent president and an inspired leader, but who is quite rigid and cold.  I must say that so far I am loving the change.  The new president seems to be a lot more in tune with the emotional side of things.  One of the things that he taught was that we should be teaching “with the end in mind.”  We need to focus on helping our converts have the temple in their sights – not just baptizing them and leaving them on their own.  He passed some very specific instructions to help us focus on the quality of our teaching and preparation.

Visual Aids for FHE

At the end of a long day!

I love getting packages with my favorite things!

July 4, 2014

            Today we woke up at 4 am, got ready, sand the national anthem, and then traveled the 4 hours by bus to a our special “get to know President and Sister Cabral” event in Niteroi.  It was a great conference, and once again I was struck by their warmth, humor, and kindness that was shown to all the missionaries.  It’s a big change from President and Sister Lima.

            I got my PACKAGE today!!! Thanks Mom!  Everything in is was just perfect.  Sister B. and I are loving hearing general conference in English! 

            We got home and there was yet another Brasil futebol game, so we jammed out to the conference talks – Sunday morning session.  Once again my thoughts turned to Dad and my family and how this particular conference session was so saturated with emotion.  I was once again amazed by how every single talk seemed so specifically tailored to our needs and worries.  How grateful I am for living prophets and apostles who are inspired instruments of the Lord.

July 5, 2014

            We had a great day today.  We worked hard and taught a lot, and just had a good full day of work.  We ended our day teaching L.  Lessons with him are natural and  casual.  We usually end up teaching through conversation.  Today he was super excited to show us what he learned in Alma 36, and then asked questions about tithing and other commandments.  He is doing really well at avoiding temptations.  He is just one of those people on my mission where I am humbled and in awe that the Lord has trusted me to be here helping him to come unto Christ.  It is the BEST feeling.  Sister B and I always leave our lessons with L. with this feeling.

            A few not so great things happened today:  Our LMA bailed on our meeting, and one of our recent converts is headed in completely the wrong directions and has decided to live a completely materialistic and worldly way.

Flooded streets of Rio das Ostras