Singing in the Rain

Hello Family!!

 



Epic rainstorm!

How is everyone?! It's so good to hear from you all!! Thank you so much for your emails and letters! :) This week has been good. It has been raining like CRAZY and cooling off a bit, so I feel a bit more at home. haha seriously though - we had the most INSANE rainstorm on Thursday! We were on the subway home and when we got off, we saw a ton of people waiting inside the station. We were like "psshhh... we can handle a little rain... step aside pansies!" (Don't worry, we didn't say any of that.) I stepped outside and INSTANTLY I was DRENCHED. Not even kidding, I was SOAKED (yes, those words needed to be yelled). Luckily I had my raincoat on, but it wasn't exactly zipped up until I was already well drenched. haha I had so much fun though! We started booking it home because we couldn't stand the walk of shame back into the station soaking wet, so we ran. I love running in the rain, but that was like... running in the shower! And that's just weird.


All wet from the storm

Anyways, we had a lot of fun and laughed and maybe screamed the whole way home. No, we only screamed when we had to cross the streets because it was basically a river. Not even kidding, the water went up to my ankles on the shallowest part we could find to cross. My poor shoes! haha but it was SO AWESOME. Like, puddle jumping. Only unavoidable. haha We stopped to take pictures and then ran the rest of the way home. When we got inside we had to ring out our socks, skirts... everything. And my watch STILL has water in it. I don't think that's a good thing, but it's still working. haha maybe I should have gone for waterproof. Oh well... It was crazy! haha I got some good pictures. Don't worry. That was a good day.

 

Eating dinner on a member's roof!

 

The next day, we went to our Relief Society President's house for dinner. She served in Rio, and she knows I'm a visa waiter, so she made us a Brazilian meal! Beans, rice, and pao de queijo!!!!! It was so good! Then she made me teach our lesson in Portuguese and only talked to me in Portuguese! I almost cried, I was so excited! haha It was so so good. Our Ward Mission Leader, and one of our Ward Missionaries also served in Brazil, so it's basically awesome. I make them speak to me in Portuguese, so at least I'm getting a little practice right? It's so nice.

We also got to attend an ASL Baptism this week! There are ASL Elders who serve in the deaf ward here. They had a baptism this week and... have you ever thought about how people who sign give blessings? Or say a baptismal prayer? I sure hadn't, but it was pretty cool to see. haha it's basically the same, they just put their hands on your head, sign, and then put them back on your head to close. Anyways, it was a very beautiful baptism, and also just very interesting. haha 

Jobie received the priesthood on Sunday!! He's so great. We're so excited for him! Rob has gone almost 4 days without smoking, which is pretty incredible. KJ and Aimee are so much fun to teach! They keep all their commitments and even go beyond. Last week we asked Aimee to listen to Elder Holland's talk - Safety For the Soul. She came back and had listened to like 5 general conference talks and had gone to see the CES Broadcast (which none of us where able to go to... haha)! They're so cool. 

We kept accidently matching outfits all week!  Look at these pictures ha ha!

 

Lets see... not much else happened this week, but it's been good. It's starting to feel a bit more normal now, so that's nice. And waking up at 6:30 is starting to get better. I'm still not a fan of having to exercise that early, but I'm getting there. haha I've still been reading my Portuguese BOM every day and I've passed where I am in my English studies! Mwahaha! I've been reading D&C during my English studies, so that helps. But anyways. D&C is really cool to read while you're on a mission. I'm pretty sure that entire book was made for me. :) jk... but really. Sister Weyandt (Why-ant) and I have fun and we work hard. It's a good combo. haha

Sometimes my companion gets bored
while I do my language studies
and she decides to do my hair.  Hahaha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh one more thing...our apartment complex. The smoke alarms here? THEY'RE AWFUL. Seriously, every time we cook they go off. And every time any one else cooks... theirs go off. Last night at like midnight, I was startled awake by our neighbors smoke alarm. I thought I smelled smoke so I started panicking and realizing there's no way I could ever open our fire-escape window. I was about to go start packing my bags (you know, cuz that's smart) when I realized I was being ridiculous and irrational and there was no smoke. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was scared I'd dream of fire. And I did... it took me ages to fall asleep, but I dreamed that the Manhattan temple burned down. We were in it, and I smelled smoke and had to yell at everyone to get out. I ran down to all the basement floors and people had already passed out, so me and my super human strength carried them outside. haha Apparently I'm a fire hero now. 

 

Twin Tower beams on September 11th

 

I hope you are doing well! I love you so so so so much! Thanks for being so supportive and helpful. I miss you! 

 

ate mais!

Drea