HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

Sister King in front of the 7th of September
Street for her Dad's birthday!

Farroupilha!!!

Hello my dear family!!

Well, transfer news first. YES I got to stay in Farroupilha!! I am SO SO SO happy!!!! I was calling the Elders begging for an answer and no one seemed to know but I finally (in my last 30 seconds of email time) got a call from one of the Elders telling me that Farroupilha (Fah - hoo- peel- ia) is opening for four sisters, both of us are staying and getting new companions. I was pretty stoked. We actually jumped up and down for joy in the lan house. And then I wrote you guys. haha Anyway - I am LOVING having more time in Farroupilha! I just hadn´t had enough time with the wonderful people and ward of this beautiful city. I´m so grateful for more time!

Me and my new missionary in the trainstataion of Porto Alegre

So, the second news is that my new companion is Sister Lorena. She´s from... some state I´ve never heard of in Brazil and I still can´t pronounce it or spell it. But I think it´s close to Recife? It´s in the Northeast and she has a wonderful Nordeste accent. hehe I will have to learn so I can fit in in Salvador! She´s 20 and fresh out of the MTC. :) It´s been a fun week. It´s suuuuper weird still living with Sister Richardson but not being companions. We keep sitting together - about to start companion study and then realizing we´re not companions anymore. haha!! OOps. My poor companion. She´s cool tho. (Sister Lorena I mean) She´s pretty quiet so I´m still getting to know her and it´s definitely been a weird adjustment being a trainer. haha It´s a good experience tho. Just a lot more work. 

I opened a new area so I got a new super chique phone! 

Anyway, this week we have really enjoyed living in four again. There´s always someone to talk to, so that´s fun! haha We´ve been trying to figure out how to divide our area and have tried a few different things and keep switching investigators which has just been horribly confusing. haha We need to stop. It´s just so hard to know what to do when we don´t know if we´ll be moving soon! Also, Sister Richardson and her new companion, Sister Amorim (Also from the Northeast of Brazil) are sleeping on the floor because the mission wont send a new bed or closet until we move. *sigh* it´s been a confusing week. haha I´m exhausted. But we´re getting there. 

Us four on Sister Amorim´s birthday party

We´ve been really exploring the area called Primeiro de Maio (May 1st). It´s the one with all the hills. haha but I LOVE that area. There are so many people everywhere and it´s just been exciting to find new people this week. We are working with a family right now who has just moved into the city. The dad travels a lot (45 days at a time) so the mom is home with the two kids. She was excited to have visitors and received us well. She was also very excited to come to church yesterday but... didn´t end up being able to... this week. haha It´s an awesome family tho and we´re excited. :)

Cleaning the house, putting on all the old clothes we found cuz we were cold. 

The ward continues to love us. They´re a little overwhelmed with 4 sisters tho I think. There aren´t enough members to go around (our mission goals require 12 lessons with members each week, each companionship) but they´re all excited to step up to the task. haha It will be good. 

Today we´ve been just getting settled in a little better and trying to figure out the best arrangement for four in the house. haha so many new things for just staying in the same area! haha but it´s so good. I´m a happy camper. Seriously, I feel like I´m camping sometimes cuz this entire city smells like campfire and my clothes ALWAYS smell like campfire. And my hair. It´s weird. haha 

Friday we have interviews with President again. It´s amazing how fast the time is flying!

I love you all so much and miss you like crazy! I hope all is well!!

Drea

I´M STAYING IN FARROUPILHA!!!!!!!! :D :D hehe

Andrea sent us a "PS" announcing that she gets to stay in Farroupilha (she's very excited) and this message about her new call to be a trainer"  We've just included the first sentence of the instructional letter she received.

Teehee you´ll have to translate it buuuut... I´m training next transfer!!!! :D :D I felt pretty cool getting this email.

MISSÃO BRASIL PORTO ALEGRE NORTE

O CAMPO ESTÁ BRANCO

Parabéns Sister King !

Você está sendo chamado(a) para ser um(a) TREINADOR(A)! Uma das maiores expressões de confiança de um missionário é ser designado como treinador de um novo missionário.


GOOGLE TRANSLATE:
You are being called (a) to be a (a) COACH (A)! One of the biggest expressions of confidence of a missionary is to be appointed as manager of a new missionary. 

Transfers? Training?

FAMILYYY!!!!

So, we found out about transfers today buuut... I still don´t know if I´m leaving Farroupilha. haha yeah... I don´t know how that happened either. My name is on a list of people who will train next transfer... I don´t know how it got there. But I´m not on any lists for being transfered and neither is my companion. But no one told us if we were getting four sisters here in Farroupilha or not. So we don´t know if I´m staying or if I´m opening a different area. haha so... I should probably find that out. I don´t really know what to do. Maybe I'll just show up at transfers tomorrow without bags and let them know I´m not leaving Farroupilha. haha! I´m just kidding. But seriously, I don´t know what to do. haha!

I was trying to get a picture in front of the cityscape
looking from primeiro de maio...
but I didn´t know what to do with my hands...
so that just kind of happened.  hahah

Anyway, twill be a new adventure ahead. I´ll let you know how it all goes. :) This week was lovely. It was long and we worked so hard. It also got back up to like 30 degrees and I thought I was gonna die from heat stroke. I don´t know how I survived our 40 degree summers last year. Winter was short lived. Buuut... it´s cold again today so I´ve decided this place is just crazy. But I love it. haha

My district this transfer

I don´t have a lot to report from this week because it seriously feels like such a blur. We got a visit from the Sister Training Leaders and had a lot of fun with that. It´s cool to have 4 people in the house. Anyway, Sister Cardoso and I went to Primeiro de Maio (that place with lots of hills) and taught a ton of lessons! We found a bunch of people at home and it was pretty exciting. We lost track of time though and had to RUN home. Up and down hills and - I thought I would die. But I´m alive. It was fun. These are random stories. My head isn´t working very well cuz I´m still nervous for what´s happening with transfers! haha

In front of the entrance to Farroupilha

We bought Açaí smoothies last week to celebrate our week of excellence and learned that "smoothie" is the same in Portuguese. But Brazillians can´t pronounce it so it comes out "smoochie" and I almost DIED when she asked Sister Richardson if she wanted a smoochie too. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Okay. That´s all. 

Jen made us real American brownies this week and invited us over when we were having a bad day. Okay. So maybe we called her and told her we were having a bad day and she then said we could come over. haha it´s nice to be spoiled sometimes. :) 

The work has been wonderful here. We´ve found so many cool people to teach. We´re teaching someone who was almost baptized this week but decided he needs a little more time. He´s only been to church 3 times but remembers EVERYTHING we teach. It´s insane. He´s been reading the Book of Mormon and when someone in church said that Nephi was a prophet who led his family out of Jerusalem, he was like "Wasn´t it Lehi?" haha I was stunned. It´s pretty cool to have someone to teach who actually understands and remembers. anyway, the work has been good. I just love Farroupilha. If I stay, I will definitely be super happy. But, if I go, I´m sure there will be great adventures ahead. 

I also found cookies this week that have superman and batman on them and I call them my justice league cookies. I only bought them because they looked cool, but they turned out to be wonderful and delicious too. I need to go buy more. 

I´m pretty sure this is the most random email I´ve ever written! I´m so sorry... I haven´t slept much lately. I think I´m starting to go a little crazy. haha this could be interesting. Pray for my new missionary! m

I love you all so much! Thank you for your emails and for being so awesome!! I miss you and pray for you every day!!

Sister King

Hello Again! :)

Hello my dear family!!

Another week has passed and we´re already in the middle of August!!! What in the world?! The time is sure flying. We´re heading in to the last week of the transfer and getting nervous about who will go and who will stay. haha we´re hoping to receive another bunk bed this week indicating that President will send two more Sisters here and we´ll both get to stay (we would divide and each take one of the new sisters to be companions with)- but that´s a bit of a long shot but... one can hope, right? haha I don´t want to leave Farroupilha!!! 

Salto Ventoso!!!

This week has been good. As you´ve seen already I think, we went to Salto Ventoso (a big waterfall) with Jen (the American in our ward that I´m always talking about. haha) on Pday last week! It was SOOOOOOOO COOOOLLL!!!! Oh my goodness, I was like giddy. haha there's a part you can walk behind the waterfall and just chill there (literally). You can feel a slight mist from the waterfall but you don´t actually get wet. Which is good cuz we´re missionaries and we can´t get wet. haha It was seriously so cool tho. It´s a gorgeous area and we were really happy we got to go. It was supposed to be a stormy day, so we got lucky.

The last few weeks we´ve been working with a less active family in our ward. They all came to church last week for the first time in over 10 years, and everyone was pretty excited. Their daughter, Karolaine was baptized this week!! We´re still working with Indianara, their other daughter, and we´re excited for the progress of their entire family. I think one of my favorite parts of missionary work is working with the less active members. I don´t know why - there is just such a joy to be seen in their faces as they begin to remember the joy and peace that comes from living the gospel. It´s been good. :)

Karolaine´s baptism!

The ward here is amazing. It´s absolutely tiny, but everyone wants to help! We already have a member to come teach with us every single day this week and - it´s only Monday! Seriously, I´ve been so impressed and surprised at the excitement the ward has in helping out the missionaries. We´re pretty blessed.

That´s about it for this week. The week sure flew by! haha I´ll let you know next week how transfers turn out. We still haven´t made it into the new apartment - it´s gonna be a while it looks like. But maybe some lucky sisters in the future will get to live in the center. haha! 

I love you all so much! I hope all is well! Thank you for your emails and for all your support! I love youuu!!

Sister Drea

PS Oh yeah - and last week, I don´t know if I told you but I taught Gospel Principles! haha and this week, I got asked to speak again in Sacrament Meeting, only this time with like 20 minutes to prepare. haha! I thought of Mom and Dad - they always have to do that on the spot! But... I felt pretty cool. Anyway. The end.

Amazing Week!!!

Hello my dear family!!!

Man, I don´t even know where to start! I think someone up above must have gotten sick of reading my impossibly boring emails and decided to send me an awesome week this week! hahah Seriously, this week was full of good things. We´ll start at the very beginning. haha

First of all, ever since we got here, a lot of the members/our investigators have been encouraging us to find a new place to live. That sounds weird, but lets just say we don´t live in the best part of town. And no one really worried when it was Elders... haha poor Elders. Anyway, we also live like a 35 minute walk away from EVERYTHING and it just wastes a lot of time. So the first counselor in the Bishopric decided to go house searching for us and found 4 places for us to look at. So, this last week, I walked into a realistate place and - all in Portuguese - got us keys to four houses in the center of the city. I felt so legit house hunting in Portuguese! haha anyway, it was SO much fun and we have found the perfect apartment right in the center of everything and we´re hoping to move this next week. Actually, we have no idea how long it will take/ what our contract is with our current apartment, but we´ve been pretty excited nonetheless. And everytime we walk past the new apartment we sigh and say "if only we lived here!" haha anyway, it was just a fun new adventure.

Off the balcony of our possible future house!

We also had Mission Tour this week! I don´t really know why it´s called Mission Tour, they don´t even say it in Portuguese, but it´s not a tour at all. It´s just when someone comes to our mission to talk to us who isn´t President or Sister Wright. haha Anyway, it was pretty fun. Our Zone hired a bus so we didn´t even have to pay to get to Porto Alegre! It was sweet. Half the mission was there, and I was reunited with Sister Furtado in Lindóia! It was fun to be back 'home.' haha I really enjoyed hearing Elder and Sister Leal talk to us. Sister Leal is SO funny and basically called us all out for being boring robots. She was like "I wouldn´t want to listen to you either!!" hahaha ehem. It was funny. She encouraged us to be more excited about our message and to be ourselves as we teach - not robots. I was happy.

                                                         Friends at the mission tour! 

Sister Loss goes home next week!! CRAZY!

We´ve been working this past week a lot with the less active members. We found a family who hasn´t been to church in like 13 years. The Dad is working now to quit smoking, the Mom to stop drinking coffee, and two of their kids are preparing for baptism! :) They were all in church yesterday. So cool. We´re hoping for another set of sisters next transfer, so we can both stay and because this city could really use more sisters!

I think some of my favorite work as a missionary is seeing people come back to the church. It breaks my heart meeting so many families who just don´t go because they´re lazy or because they were offended 10 years ago. I love to see the light that comes back into their eyes as they remember why they joined the church in the first place.

The beautiful green chapel - my home chapel in Porto Alegre!

We taught someone this week named Andrea and her son took a bite out of my umbrella.... I have really bad luck with umbrellas.

And, one of the coolest parts about my week was Saturday afternoon. We had just passed by the church to shed a few layers (Farroupilha randomly decided to get suuuuper hot) and were about to head to a far away bairro to knock some doors when I saw some people in a car waving furiously, honking their horn and pointing at us. I thought it must be some members, but when I looked closer, it was a family I taught in São Luiz!!! Remember how we taught English class every week? These were my only students - they came every single week (they´re not even members!). And about half way thru my second transfer the daughter, Bianca, went to England to study English and got back just 2 days after transfers. I was super sad saying goodbye to the family because I didn´t get to say goodbye to Bianca but they told me they´d find me in my new area. I totally didn´t think they were serious. haha! Especially after I went so far away. I bawled my eyes out. I still can´t really believe they found us. It was such a miracle to be passing in front of the church at that moment - we could have been anywhere! Anyway... I was pretty stoked out of my mind. My companion didn´t really know what was happening - I was just freaking out! haha it was definitely so happy. They drove 2.5 hours JUST in hopes of finding me in Farroupilha for Bianca to show me her pictures and say goodbye.  brought us treats and hugs and happiness. :) The Lord has sure been good to me. I´ve been a spoiled little missionary. I was so touched. I still cry just thinking about it. haha I love them. 

Jen made us cheesecake!!!!!!!!

Anyway, this week has been so happy. We´ve found some AWESOME people to teach and had 5 people at church yesterday! hehe the work is picking up and we´re pretty excited. The weather this week was insane. Yesterday, it wasn´t hot or cold. Just normal. But WET. We didn´t even have to be doing anything, just sitting at church and we were sweating. We weren´t hot... just sweating. So weird. So gross. Sorry for that TMI. haha

I love this area. I hope to stay! I feel like I´ve already changed a lot here and ... it´s been exactly what I needed. I´m so happy. :)

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for you! I hope you have had wonderful weeks as well! I miss you like crazy! 

Sister King

August!!

Hello my dear family!!

It´s hard to believe another week has come and passed! This week has gone by so fast, I hardly know what to say! haha

Me with a sign for a mercado with my name! haha I love it.

We´ve found some cool people this week that I´m excited to be teaching. One is a part member family with some absolutely adorable children! We´ve only been twice but they just instantly helped us feel at home. I love it when that happens. :) Julius Cesar came to church yesterday, so that was pretty legit! :P

I have really quickly come to love this city. I think the Lord is helping me with my directional challenges because in my last few areas, I´ve ALWAYS been able to find my way home! haha Actually I´ve only had one area that I couldn´t find the way home. But I also didn´t speak Portuguese then. Anyway... what I meant to say is that I´ve come to know this city so much faster than any other area and it makes me happy! It really is a gorgeous city and the ward here is SO amazing. It´s the tiniest ward ever, but every single member wants to help and every single member really makes an effort to reach out to us and make sure we´re at least taken care of. I`m so grateful for this ward. I love it! It´s well run, it´s well lead, and I never have to worry what people will say to our investigators. It just makes me happy. :)

Entrance to 1st of May bairro - the CRAZY hill we have to climb.

Something funny about this area is that it has like all the same road names and bairro names as all my other areas combined! It´s crazy. In my last area, we lived in bairro São Jose (we lived on Av. Farroupilha! haha ironic.), but worked mostly in bairro São Luiz. Here, once again we live in bairro São Jose and work a lot in bairro São Luiz. There is a street called Rua Porto Alegre (my first area) and various other streets from my last areas too. I get confused a lot telling people the church is on the wrong street cuz I´m so used to my last area, and they´re all the same road names! haha oops. That´s probably not a good thing. BUT - I always correct myself. Anyway, I just thought it was funny.

   

This zone is another zone that´s pretty far away from Porto Alegre. It´s not as far as Passo Fundo but the zone is a lot bigger. We have to ride a bus for an hour and a half every week to go to district meeting, and an hour and a half back. It´s a treck. haha But it´s fun cuz we get to see other cool cities along the way. haha anyway...

This week has been HOOOT. It blows my mind. I think the weather is crazier than Utah weather and I just didn´t know that was possible. It´s supposed to get up to 30 degrees Celsius this wednesday! We´re like hitting summer weather again. So weird. But, it´s nice. Being cold is hard. haha

Yesterday we ate lunch with a family who has 10 cats, 7 dogs, 25 chickens, and 15 sheep!!! hahaha It was kind of a millenial feel. Also because they have BYU TV and I watched Music and the Spoken word and totally bawled my eyes out. haha But anyway, I loved all the animals!

Anyway, that´s about it for me. I´m sure loving this city and this ward and working here is wonderful. It can still be hard, but it´s always worth it. The Lord is so good to His missionaries. I love you all so much and I´m so happy to hear from you! I hope you all have wonderful weeks!

drea