Mission Week 30: June 26, 2017

June 26, 2017

MY NEW COMPANION IS AWESOME!!!!!!! SHE IS SOOOO GREAT AND SERIOUSLY AN ANSWER TO MY PRAYERS FOR THE LAST 3 MONTHS!!! I AM SOOOO GRATEFUL AND HAVE A GREATER TESTIMONY THAT HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES US AND HEARS AN ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS!!!

LETS BACK UP FROM THE BEGINNING....

MONDAY (THIS PAST WEEK)---- 

So, after I got done emailing you guys and heard about the transfer, I was kinda freaking out--- I would be turning to be a senior companion, moved to an area farther away for the first time, and with ANOTHER AMERICAN WITH LESS TIME THAN ME IN THE MISSION!!! I WAS EXCITED BUT OVERWHELMED! Just the week before, I had been talking to some of the other American sisters with much more time than me, and they were saying, "I cant wait until my Portuguese is good enough, so that I can be trusted to be with another American companion," and I thought, "me too! I want to have an American companion again someday!" but then when I saw Sister BOTT on my transfer email, I freaked out! So much excitement and sooooo many nerves all at once! 

Sister Ferreira and I went back and finished up getting our stuff ready to go- and I. and J. (members who I love and gave the BYU shirts to) picked us up and took us to Londrina. They were so cute and emotional to say goodbye to me... I was happily surprised to see that they felt about me how I was feeling about them and their sweet kids! I will miss them sooooo much! They took us to the mission office and waited for us while I went in to make plans with Presidente and Sister Pereira.

Presidente wanted to send me out that night to get to my area to work the whole day on tuesday, but I explained that it would probably be better for me to stick to my travel plans so that I could travel with Sister Whitaker who is a new sister and has never traveled before---and because Sister Pereira and I had already made plans to go to the Costco store together again. I walked him through the plans and he was awesome and let us keep it!!!

MY NEW AREA IS THE CENTRO CITY OF BAURU- SO WE HAVE A CHALLENGE BECAUSE WE DONT HAVE MANY HOUSES TO KNOCK AND THE HOUSES WE DO HAVE ARE LOTS OF WEALTHY PEOPLE AGAIN...WE do have some favelas which are the homeless neighborhoods...but we will really have to be creative to work well with the members to get into more apartment buildings here....a little different than what I'm used to, but I am excited for the challenge! I am pretty used to being in wealthy areas by now...hahaha

WE ALREADY MARKED TWO BAPTISMS IN OUR FIRST 2 DAYS THOUGH! HAHA ONE WITH A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL NAMED M.-  WE ARE GOING TO WORK HARD THIS WEEK TO HELP HER PREPARE FOR BAPTISM. 

AND WE HAVE D. WHO IS 65 AND SINGLE -- HE IS EXCITED TO BE BAPTIZED THIS WEEK SO WE ARE HOPEFUL THAT HE WILL KEEP HIS COMMITMENTS THIS WEEK!! 

My apartment is right by the chapel which is soooo nice and we literally live in the middle of the city! It's sooo fun! Sister Bott is a real foodie so we are going to be spending lots of fun days and money to try lots of yummy dessert places and food that she didn't get to try with her other companions! haha we are excited!!! We are already making huge plans for the Fourth of July--- #AMERICANAS DUH!

 

 

My apartment is old, but its not terrible and I feel comfortable already! #tendermercies! haha

Anyways...my district is really cool! We have some really cool elders and Bauru is known for baptizing lots, so the pressure is on! but I am excited!!! Lots of changes to the zone this time, but it will be good!

Bauru Centro Ward-- because it has more money- the people are more professionals- its expensive to live so close to the cities--- the people are older and we only have 10 youth in our ward... of course iIalready have talked to the bishop and he is wonderful!! And the Ward Mission Leader and I get along great!! They had us speak yesterday in sacrament and I spoke about charity and missionary work. I told the story of Christ by the sea shore asking his apostles if they loved him and they telling them to feed his sheep---- I gave ideas about how we can serve just because we are living the first and great commandment to love God and others. The bishop afterwards told me that I was an answer to the prayers of the ward--- that they need new, and young, and excited missionaries to help the ward have new life and excitement-- that because the ward is older, the members are more complacent with the attitude of,"I've already done my part"--- I was so happy to have had to opportunity to speak the first Sunday getting here to really establish myself in this ward! I literally hugged every irmã (sister) in the ward and people were flooding us with references after sacrament meeting!! SO GREAT!!!