Dachshund and Bacon to the Rescue

 

September 22, 2014

         Well today was a big bummer of a P-day.  We got everything done early because we were literally dying of exhaustion and we wanted to rest as much as possible today.  So what happen?!  The mission office secretary calls us and wants us to come in after lunch to take them the keys to our other house (the terrible one that isn’t even within mission standards.) So on our one day off (really it is only 8 hours), we had to go ide a but 1 hour away, take pictures of the dumpy house, and then ride in a hot bus 1 hour back through the favela.  Ughhh. 

         But on the up side, there was a really cute and sweet weiner dog that made my whole day.  I took pictures with her!  Oh, and the secretaries are nice Elders who are good friends of ours. 

         Other than our “rest” being a complete bust, we had some good teaching appointments tonight.  We FINALLY managed to go our with our Relief Society president and visited a less active sister who actually went to church yesterday!  Afterwards we visited with a family that really needed the help of the Relief Society so that was a blessing to have our president with us.

September 24, 2015

         We had divisions with Sister G. Santos and Sister Cruz today.  They live with us, so it was the BEST division because we didn’t have to travel or sleep in anyone else’s bed!  Plus, we love these sisters.  They’ve bee  the best housemates, and when you live with missionaries you can tell what kind of missionaries they are. These good sisters have a great relationship, are exactly obedient, work hard, and there are focused on their work.  I had the best division I’ve been on.  Sister G. Santos and I worked together so easily, she taught extremely well, and we had a GREAT day!  At he end of the day, I literally had no idea what kinds of goals to set because these sisters are so on top of things.  These two will be LT’s in the future for sure.  So instead of talking about goals and areas needing improvement, we just expresses our respect, gratitude, and admiration for what they are doing, and encouraged them to keep doing what they are doing.

         Scary story: We almost got hit by a car today. People here are really terrible drivers.  I am really grateful for a metal rebar that the car hit before it would have hit us – it quite possibly saved our lives.

         Gotta love it story: I still HATE riding buses. But today was different.  Today we got on a bus with a big smiling happy older man who decided to sing and play his guitar…REALLY well! The bus driver was flipping the bus lights on and off and everyone was singing and smiling.  It was this magical surreal moment that I am glad that I did not miss.

September 25, 2014

         Well, I gained a lot of respect and love for President Cabral today.  I found out that I have been invited to interview at Loma Linda University and Mayo Clinic, which is just wonderful news.  I tried calling him all day, and then finally was able to talk to him at about 9:30 pm.  I explained the situation and that I would have to do the interview via SKYPE.  I was very nervous about what he would say about it, but you know, President is a great man.  He congratulated me and my hard work and academic achievements and approved the Skype call on one condition – that I would go to the mission office and Skype using HIS office so that nothing would go wrong with the connection.  He then asked about dad and my brothers, my family, and how I am doing.  He praised me over and over again and I just felt his love and concern so strongly as he expressed that he and Sister Cabral are thinking and praying about me and our family.  He encouraged me to communicate with my missionary brothers and make sure to set up a family fast to help us feel united in this process.  I am thinking that the 13-14 October would be good – right before Dad’s transplant. 

         So between normal mission stress, transfers in one week, my dad’s transplant, and all that grad school stuff, I am pretty dang stressed.  I can feel myself feeling a lot more anxious.  It is better when we are teaching, but I haven’t been sleeping as well lately.  I am getting another dang cold.

 

September 26, 2014

         Well, I feel sick again with a sore throat, fever, and fatigue.  I think that all this stress is just worn me out.  But we made it through weekly planning and lunch, then I crashed and slept for a few hours.  Meanwhile Sister B. was also feeling poorly.  We made quite the pair.  We did suck it up in order to go to Sidney and Joel’s house for and AMERICAN breakfast-for-dinner. Oh it was just soooo good.  Eggs, bacon, and pancakes with a divinely delicious homemade syrup.  Yum!  SB and I just about died.  We love this sweet family. The have three little kids and it was so fun to be able to lay with them a little bit.  We stayed and chatted with them for a while. They are the nicest people, but Sidney is having a hard time adjusting to Brazil. I hope that in some small way our visits and phone calls help her to feel loved and wanted in our ward.  She said that Sundays are the hardest part, culture and language wise. 

A normal night after planning--writing in our journals like good ol´ little missionaries

Sister Burris and I have gotten into the habit of playing with plants in front of houses while knocking on the endless doors that no one wants to open...

September 27, 2014

         I am still feeling under the weather, but we worked hard today which was really god! Unfortunately, we had a lot of things fall through, but we did find and inactive man who said he would go to church tomorrow, so we will see.  We stopped by our ward mission leader’s house because it was his daughters 7^th birthday party.  There were  a LOT of people there.  There is a custom here that birthday parties are more for the parents than for the kids.  They go all out and spend tons of money on huge parties. Andre sums it up well by saying, “everyone loves parties, except for me!”  Haha, I can relate.  He is such a funny scientist man.

         Sister B. and I jus practiced some interview questions for the LLU interview.  Only 3 more weeks!  I am excited, but very nervous about speaking in English.

One of the priceless pictures in our book of mormon book for children ("and the people were happy")

 September 28, 2014

         Today was the best day.  We worked so hard and the Lord blessed us with some great new people to teach.  We topped the day off by watching the General Women’s Conference.  Man did that ever make me trunky.  I just miss how strong the church is in the states.  I miss singing in English, I miss good music!  The choir sang a medley of “I am a Child of God” and the line “Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way, “ just hit me hard.  I felt the immense love and care that our Heavenly Father feels for us.  I know that my parents and my heavenly parents care about me and are happy with what I am doing.

Hungarians and Hope

September 15, 2014

         Well, I am very sad.  We marked with a family to go to a teaching appointment with us to visit B. and M., and it completely fell through.  They left us waiting for 10 minutes on their doorstep.  The poor sister that went out with us had already had a similar experience on one of the few times that she went out with the Elders.  She even made a cake and everything!  It is so hard to be rejected, but it is so much harder when there are members involved.

         Second sad thing, Mom emailed me  to let me know that there are TONS of secondary applications that have to be done for grad school.  Most of them involve additional essays.  What?!  Couldn’t the have put those details into the supposedly “centralized” application process?!  So I once again dragged my sweet companion to the church to work on MORE essays #dayoff #itbetterbeworthit

         On the up side, my mom, dad, and grandma all sent wonderful life history experiences in their emails today.  I love hearing things about my parents in their youth. It helps me remember that they have already faced many great trials in their lives and they can help me with the ones that I am currently facing.

         Another positive note is that of H., our 13 year old investigator.  I wish that you could hear the questions this young man asks!  They are some of the most thoughtful, insightful, and interesting questions that I have ever been asked during my mission.  It is so exciting to teach someone who is so very thirsty to learn.  We really do love him.

September 17, 2014

         Today has been just another one of those utterly WONDERFUL days where you have spiritual confirmation after spiritual confirmation that Heavenly Father loves you, knows where you are, and is proud of the work you are doing.  Sometimes when I am teaching I feel the Spirit guiding me to say certain things – may times to bless the investigators, but many more times to bless me.  I feel like ach time I bear testimony, the Spirit smooths a gentle healing balm of comfort and confidence over my soul.  I love my mission.  I love this phase of my mission, where I know the Lord is pleased with the work that I am doing.

the Camorim sisters that we did a division with

         We did a division with Sister Sasine and Sister Martillo today – they are great, positive sisters.  Having a positive attitude and cheery outlook on life is so essential to doing good missionary work.  We love doing divisions with these positive good sisters.  I am starting to see that Sister Burris and I are really obedient…we follow all the rules, even the dumb ones.

Sister G. Santos (who got to Rio the same day we did last year!) who had her 21st birthday last week. She is a great, kind sister! I would love to serve with her someday.

Surprise Package!!!

How does mom fit all that junk in one medium flat rate box?

September 18, 2014

         We had mission conference.  This translates to getting the same training that I’ve gotten for the past 15 months.  I remember that I used to get a LOT out of conferences, but now the only thing I get is a sore bum and achy spine from sitting in the same spot all day long.  Though I LOVE Presidente Cabral on a personal level, I do NOT love his trainings.  I feel like he speaks mostly to the disobedient, naughty missionaries, and since I am neither disobedient or naughty all I get from the trainings is someone yelling at me for no good reason.  SB and I always leave the training feeling really tense because we’ve been yelled at and scolded all day long.  But we reassure each other that we are good, hardworking, obedient, dedicated missionaries.  All we really need is an “atta girl”.  Hearing even the smallest words of encouragement would go a long long way down here.

September 19, 2014

         Well, Today we didn’t work very hard and weren’t very diligent in our efforts, and I feel terrible.  We’re both so stinkin tired  - between divisions and conference, we feel completely wiped out.  So, it wasn’t our best day.  But it also wasn’t our worst.  We visited with a less active member who we have been working with for the past 2 months.  We’ve been pretty gentle with her, but today I felt the impression to speak more boldly.  She uses every excuse under the sun to justify her wrong-doings and says, “but God knows he intentions of my hear, and he is always with me.”  I felt the overpowering impression to speak out and said, “ Do NOT say that.  When you are drinking, smoking, partying, and sleeping around, you can’t possibly believe that God is with you.  The same God that said He cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance?!  That God is most definitely not with you when you are knowingly sinning against His Will.  That God does know the intentions of your heart because your intentions are manifest by your actions, which tell God that you want to have nothing to do with Him.  So you see, God is not with you, not because he left you but because you have turned your back on Him and walked down the path of bad intent.”  I must admit that I surprised even myself with these bold statements, but afterwards I expressed our love and concern for her.  In the end, she actually thanked me for saying what I said.

September 20, 2014

         We were in the Barra side (think rich) of our area, and as we were crossing he street there were two well-dress gentlemen in their mid 50’s standing by the bus stop.  They were speaking the strangest language I have ever heard.  It turned out that they were waiting for the same bus that we were, so I tried to strike up a conversation with them.  I quickly discovered that they do NOT speak Portuguese and only speak broken English, but they were so eager to try to communicate with us. So, we found out the they are plastic surgeons from Hungary visiting Rio for a medical conference.  Unfortunately, they learned that no one in Rio speaks Hungarian. 

One of the gentlemen recognized our name tag and asked, “Elder?” 

“No,” we replied,  “We are sisters, but we work with Elders.”

“Mormons?” he asked

         “Yes!”

         “Joseph Smith?”

         “Yes, yes.”

         “19th century prophet?”

         “Yes,” we couldn’t believe our ears. “How do you know about the Mormons and Joseph Smith?” 

         “15 years now, Elders in my city.  Very good people Mormons.”

         Naturally we gave them pass along cards and told them that they could get more information about the church in their language if they went online.  They were such nice men and it was a very positive little interaction.  Who knows, maybe someday they will stop an Elder on the streets of Hungary and tell them about their experience at a bus stop in Rio.

September 21, 2014

         Today was another great day!  We had 5 investigators at church, most of whom are progressing really well.  Our members have developed a better relationship with us.  It is really exciting to see how hard work pays off.  We has strong lessons today, minus the sister that described how she talked with her dead husband’s spirit. THAT was odd, but our investigator didn’t seem as uncomfortable as we were, so hopefully everything is okay.  We ended our day with a meeting with our ward mission leader.  We got through the whole meeting and talked about all of our investigators and less active, and then he told us that he was really worried about us a few weeks ago because of some things that happened around R.’s baptism.  In other words, I was frustrated with the lack of support from the ward and voiced my frustrations…loudly. ANYWAYS, he was thinking about what he could do to help us and to cheer us up and he figured out a way to contact Sister Burris’s family.  Her parents wrote the nicest note and sent a little video for us.  This was probably WAY against the rules to watch, but it was really nice to see. They were so kind and just said all kinds of wonderful words of encouragement.  We cried a lot, but you know, I think it was just the kind of pat on the back we were needing.

         We watched that new Mormon message this week, which made me reflect a lot upon my mission.  There have been countless nights where I literally collapse into bed utterly exhausted and wondering if I actually made any sort of difference in the world. The video helped me to remember that we never know the breadth of our small acts of service.  My biggest desire is to help someone – anyone, really, be happier and come to know the Savior more intimately.  If I can do that, I am doing my job.  I love where I am in my mission right now.  I love that I can say that I’ve worked hard, been obedient, and loved these tiny wonderful Brazilian people with my whole heart. I am so excited to see what these next 14 weeks will bring.  AND THEN, I am SO excited to see what my next adventure will be – school, family, dating, marriage, profession, my own future family – I just have so much hope for what the future holds.  I know that the Lord guides our paths and if we follow Christ’s footsteps we will always stay on the right path that leads us back to our Father in Heaven.   

        

 

More rejection and dog stories

September 8, 2014

P-day was just fabulous today! We had time for everything AND my head is back to 100%.  Mom, I am so grateful that you were able to talk to President Cabral and get a sense of his personality.  Outside of his general calls to repentance, he is a wonderful man with a golden heart.  He took time to talk to me at mission counsel and make sure that I was okay. Actually, I really do feel like I can lean on a lot of people for support.  When I first learned about Dad’s cancer, I talked to all of my MTC district and they have prayed for me and helped me through this trial, especially Sister Tingey and Elder Neu.  I talk to them often at greenie training and many mission counsel meetings. I am so grateful that it was Elder Neu who translated for you because he already knew about the situation.  I do want you to write to me about how Dad is doing throughout the transplant procedure but don’t send me pictures because that would be too much for me to handle. 

            We had a wonderful night, we taught Henson, a 13 year old boy with a really good heart.  He is working towards baptism.  We also had a great lesson with B. and M. where we had a whole family home evening planned, but the spirit led us in a completely different direction. Gotta love the spirit.  They still have a lot of doubts and questions, but they are sincerely searching for something more in their lives.

September 12, 2014

            Wow! I am wiped out.  Also, I haven’t written in my journal all week because I haven’t been in our area this week. We had divisions with Fregusia (S. Alves and S. Bobelenyi) on Tuesday and Wednesday, and with Iraja (S. Ararejo and S. Lopes)  on Wednesday and Thursday.  I tell you what – divisions really do WIPE you out!  Especially when you are the companions that goes to the other area.  You walk and walk and walk, you have to be “on” at all times, and you have to cheerlead your missionaries.  Both divisions went well and we feel like we helped our sisters, but we sure are glad to be back together in our area. 

            Today we had a lot of rejection.  We had a brutish experience with a Jehovah’s Witness today who basically dominated the conversation and was very pushy and close-minded.  We also worked really hard to find new people to teach, but to no avail.  People lied to our faces, and even referrals rejected us flat out.

September 13, 2014

            More rejection today.  M. told us that he received his answer and that answer was for him to go back to his old church.  Sooo what can you do, we testified about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and we’ll see what happens.  On a more positive note, English class was just great.  Almost all of our students stayed for the spiritual message and one asked up for a copy of The Book of Mormon.  We also had a really fun ward BBQ (churrasco) which has a great turnout.  R., our recent convert, and A. and P. came.  R. is a social butterfly and everyone talked to him and made him feel comfortable.  It was a great fellowshipping activity (and a nice break for us!)

September 14, 2014

            Funny story:  Today we went to the island. We were teaching a lady in front of her house, and at the very second that Sister B. started reading a scripture, her dog burst through the door and jetted out which started a frantic chase all over the yard.  Everyone was helping, but the dog was so quick that no one was able to catch her.  In the midst of all this, a sister called us on the phone to confirm our lesson with her.  Right as I picked up  the phone, the dog ran past me and I snagged her firmly by the scruff.  She, in turn, took my arm in her mouth.  I just stayed there holding on to her all the while reassuring the sister on the phone that we were on our way.  It was quite the scene!  But the dog was caught, she didn’t break the skin of my arm, and we made it to our next lesson early!

Running Around like a chicken with its head concussed!

September 1, 2014

            Today was just great! (minus the dinosaur speed internet connection)  It was Sister B. 21^st birthday and I tried really hard to surprise her, which is really quite impossible when you are literally together 24/7.  But, when she showered or was sleeping while sick, I made a little birthday scavenger hunt with 21 clues.  It was topped off by warm delicious cookies for breakfast.  THEN President and Sister Cabral called and sang to her, which was such a sweet gesture. We emailed our families, then ate FROYO for lunch (and I wonder why I have gained some weight?) Then we ran errands, and at the end of the day I arranged for flowers to be delivered.  The only problem was that our intercom wasn’t working, so I sent the other sisters to get the flowers from the front desk. They called out Sister B.’s name fro the balcony and it was cute.  Sister B. was pretty surprised!

Lunch with an adorable tiny Irmã.

Sister Training Leaders and Sister Cabral

September 2, 2014

            Conselho de Missao was SO long today, SO, so, so long.  We got up at 6, left at 7, got there at 8:30, it finally started at 9:30.  And then….we sat in training until 12:30.  Then we had a little lunch break followed by more sitting until 7:30 PM.  It was a LONG day.  I have already sat through a lot of long conferences, but this one topped them all.  SO long.  Fortunately the material was really spot-on and we received some good training.

            One of the weird things that happened during this conference was that one of my good friends, Elder Neu (AP) told me that he had talked to MY MOM yesterday and translated the conversation for president Cabral.  Nothing big, just preparation about what will happen with Dad’s upcoming transplant situation.  I don’t know why, but just hearing that brought a lot of emotions to the front that I didn’t even know I had. I’ve been really mentally and emotionally healthy and happy theses past few months.  I suppose that I cope with stress by compartmentalizing and working hard to distract myself.  But, when I spoke with Elder Neu, it was interesting to see how subconsciously I am still very anxious about Dad’s situation.  I have learned what triggers my anxiety and how to manage it, but having a trigger out of nowhere like, “I talked to your Mom yesterday, “ for some reason hit me pretty hard. I really do love President Cabral on a 1-to-1 level.  He expresses a genuine love and concern for us, and he expressed how he is willing to help me with anything I need through this process. Despite the fact that he is a LOT to handle during training, he is a good man with a good heart and for that I am grateful.

Eating lunch with one of our favorite families in the ward -- Irmão Moura and his sweet girls! He is a chef and is just basically bomb.com.

September 3, 2014

            Today we were waiting for lunch to be ready and we say the ugliest chicken.  I decided to take pictures of it. We were on the 2^nd floor and I crouched down to get a better look.  Then I stood up quickly and WHAM, I hit the back of my head HARD on a concrete beam.  It hurt way more that any fall that I have taken from a horse, bike, skiing, etc. it hurt then and still hurts now actually.  But I did the self0chekc for signs of concussion and everything seemed okay.  So I just took some motrin and we had lunch.  Afterwards we went to the chapel to give our zone training.  During zone training, I had different levels of pain and some blurred vision.  The meeting went just okay.  It is now 9:55 pm and my head still hurts. I am fairly certain that I have a concussion but I don’t want to call Sister Cabral.  She will just send me to the hospital where we will waste 4 hours just to have them tell me what I already know.  So I will try to sleep it off.

            Pain aside, we had some GREAT lessons today!  R. is committed and excited for baptism.  He has opened up quite a bit more lately.  We taught M. B and R. with the young women’s president who is like a superwoman.  It is so reassuring to see good leaders inspiring and elevating the people they serve. M. and B. are o GOOD.  They are willing to help their family and we can already see some direct results of our invitations.  Their relationships are becoming even stronger.

September 4, 2014

            Well, my head still hurts pretty badly.  Sister B finally just called Sister Cabral after I laid down during personal study.  So we made another trip to the hospital….wasted another 4 hours….had them tell me exactly what I already know – “you have a mild concussion.”  I think that I am learning why my Mom and Dad never took us to the doctors when we were little.  #biggestwasteoftime

            We taught ZERO lessons today. I think I feel a lot more tense and stressed and maybe even anxious when we are not teaching. On a mission you feel guilty for being sick, injured, etc….it is so hard because you are wired to work, work, work and do countless hours of selfless work. It is challenging to know when you need to stop and take care of yourself.

Here is Gracious George - he does nice things for others in secret.

            Funny story about Sister B and Sister C. – the directionally challenged sisters.  We were headed out to teach the cute American family that moved into our ward recently and do a FHE activity with them.  Well they are still in a hotel for now called the “Promenade”. We asked around and all he Brazilians pointed us in the right direction.  We hopped on the bus (#1) and then got off at the hotel. We asked the reception desk for the family and yeah…no family.  They checked for us and found them at another hotel which was literally on the opposite side of our area.  So, we got on another bus (#2) which was PACKED beyond belief.  We couldn’t even see out of the windows because there were so many people shoved up against the windows.  You guessed it, we passed out stop, crossed our area boundary, got off the bus, and had to run precariously across 6 lanes of traffic.  Finally we got on another bus (#3) and then ended up getting off at the right stop. We again had to cross 6 lanes of traffic and ended up finally getting to the right hotel.  BUT, in the end we got there and enjoyed talking in English with an adorable family.  We even did the “Gracious George” activity that my mom sent for me to use.  

September 5, 2014

Our best helper!

            Well if yesterday’s bus saga wasn’t bad enough, we cancelled our lunch appointment because my head is still hurting quite a bit.  Anyways we had to travel from Fragvesia to R. apartment in Barra, which should have only taken us abut 45 minutes.  Only the one bus that takes us directly there wasn’t coming.  So we got on another bus only to see the correct bus pull up to the stop behind us.  We got off at the next stop thinking that we could get on the correct bus, but it didn’t stop there.  Then we got on the second bus of the day which only took us ½ way to R.’s house.  The 3^rd bus got us the rest of the way there where the elders were waiting for us to do R.’s interview.  The interview went well. 

Then the bus saga started again.  Three buses later we are still 20 minutes from the chapel so we just decided to walk the rest of the way.  We spent the next hour cleaning the font, scrubbing the floors, setting up chairs, writing on the chalkboard, moving pianos, tables, etc.  Who was helping us?  No One. Actually, a cute 4 year old came and helped us towards the end. But, not a single soul from our ward.  I called our ward mission leader to confirm that the had called everyone to invite them to the baptismal service.  He hadn’t called anyone…WHAT?  And he is sick so he won’t be able to do the baptism.  UGHH.  I wished that I found that out before 7:30 the night before the baptism.  I called him out and something must have worked because he said that he would call people to come to the baptism.  I just called our zone leaders who said that they would perform the baptisms.

September 6, 2014

            Sister B and I are happy because the Lord is putting great people in our path and we are doing our job well!  But our ward is very complicated and there are tons of politics involved. Our ward mission leader pulled through for us and we had a few people from the ward show up.  Most of them were cleaning the building and came just so that they could have cake.  But, it ended up being a nice service and R. felt pretty special, so that’s what counts.  

This is what really matters!

 September 7, 2014
          I just have a few pictures from today...

Sunday is stressful for missionaries.

How we break our fast in the handicap bathroom at church....yes that is frosting and cookies, pathetic.

Grateful

August 25, 2014

            Today was great!  Sister B and I enjoyed having the house to ourselves until the other sisters arrived from transfers.  I’m living with Sister Alves (Sister Brown’s companion during Carnival) and she is quirky and funny and sweet.  But, she is LOUD!  She just is a verbal processor so she is constantly talking.  The plan is that they will be moving to a new house in about a week. 

            We are teaching one of the most prepared families I have ever met.  We had a family home evening with them and they invited the mother invited her sister to attend. Her sister was baptized when she was young and she was recently reactivated in Ala Camorim.  The husband of the family is a very sharp and nice man.  He has a genuine interest in researching the gospel.  He has also kept every single commitment that we have asked him to.  He even gathers his family for family prayer and scripture study.  Our activity was really fun.  Everyone drew pictures of the story of the tree of life as Sister B. read it to us.  It ended up pretty cute and everyone liked it a lot.

Our family home evening

Beautiful little lane on the island.

 August 26. 2014

I don’t have time to write so it is bullet point journal entry tonight

·      R. is progressing towards baptism.
·      Our new Zone Leader is great!
·      We had a member teaching with us this afternoon and evening and she was the bomb!
·      Our housemates are driving me a little crazy…no quiet time.
·      I got attacked by mosquitoes today!
·      Summer is coming and my feet are sweating again…hyperhidrosis here we come.

August 27, 2014

            Today Sister B and I made another trip to the hospital.  She was wheezing really badly so we got her checked out to see if she had an infection.  Everything came back normal so the doctor thinks that she may be having some allergies.

August 28, 2014

            Today I got my trunky call from one of the assistants, Elder Maciel.  He called to tell me that my flight home will be 31 December and asked me which airport I wanted to fly into.  He will buy the tickets this next week or so, and then send flight plans via email to me, my parents, and our stake president. It is so strange to think that I am almost done with my mission in Rio.  Only 17 ½ weeks left and man they do go fast.  It is really interesting to see how much I have grown this past year. I used to let leaders, numbers, failed plans, and people just really get to me.  I measured a LOT f my personal satisfaction by the external results of my labors.  I loved helping people be baptized and always was at my emotionally highest and happiest when we had lots of baptisms.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love baptisms, but I know that in the past 3 months with Sister B., we have learned to be happy and grateful not just FOR things, but IN and OF our circumstances. 

Some amazing food prepared for us!

I’ve never seen so grateful for a hot shower, a supermarket that is close, a wonderful lunch, and a cockroach free house as I am now.  There are so many small and simple blessings in life.  Yes, there are oh so many challenges, and I can feel the wear and tear that this mission has taken on my body, but I can genuinely say that I am excited to wake up every day, exercise, eat, study, plan, work, help people, etc.  I am so thankful for my trials, especially those I have passed through with Sister B. We’ve had our share of weird and extremely HARD trial, but we’ve become refined through this process.

how missionaries have parties--watching temple videos on a miniscule screen

 August 30, 2014

            Well, Sister B is sick, coughing and wheezing.  I feel sorry for her.  She is so tough, and also stubborn!  I wish that I could help her.  We stayed home today so that she could rest.  We watched “The District 2” for he 15^th time and played bananagrams.  I hope and pray that she feels better tomorrow.

August 31. 2014

            Today was just great! Out sacrament meeting numbers have jumped from 50, to 70, and today we hit 96!  We are just thrilled to see people coming back to church, becoming more active, and reaching out to fellowship others.  The ward counsel is working effectively and our investigators feel welcomed.  We had 4 people come back to church today and 4 investigators come.  It was just wonderful and amazing to see this work move forward.  I just teared up today as I looked over our ward and felt this powerful genuine love for these people.  The Lord loves them so much. I am very grateful that I could stay here with my companion and continue His work.

September 1, 2014  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER BURRIS!

          Today I made some birthday cookies and a fun scavenger hunt for my companion's 21st birthday!!!