December 12, 2012

Hello!

Lots of changes in the last 24 hours and not much sleep. First before I forget, I am sending a picture of the bus that we took to stake conference. One of our investigators owns the bus and took our whole ward there it was a really fun ride!! And stake conference was really good, all about missionary work. All the full-time missionaries got to stand up and be recognized. It was strange to be recognized as a real missionary.

Here is a picture of us with a man named Asis who sells fried food on the street that we eat almost every night. He is way way  great and always leaves us laughing.

So Tuesday morning we got a call that Sis. Ferreira and I would need to sleep in Natal with the other sisters and she would leave for João Pessoa in the morning and I would return to Caicó. So we rode on the bus for 5 hours together and it was perfect. Laughing, sleeping, talking, but no crying yet. We spent the night with 4 other sisters and it was a riot. Seriously, so good to get out of the Caicó bubble for a day and remember that there are other sister missionaries and life outside of this city in the middle of nowhere. I am really happy that I am still serving here though because Natal felt strange. I feel comfortable here. Anyways. The sleepover was great, but we hardly slept and I am feeling the consequences today. Sister Johnson who I met in the CTM and is really cool and really tall and played professional basketball was there and it was such a blessing to see her and speak English with her and compare starting out as a missionary with her. Here is a cool picture of me on her shoulders.

I am super grateful that I have been forced to use only Portuguese because I can see a difference in my confidence in the language than some of the other missionaries that arrived with me. The other missionaries in the bus station and the random strangers I met on the journey were all complimenting me and surprised that I only have 3 months in the mission field. Wahoo!! 

This is me with Sister Ferreira and my new companions in the bus station before we went our separate ways.

I am in a trio now with Sister Matos from Tocantins and Sister Souza from Belem. I think it will be really good. They are both really nice and happy and excited about being here. Today has been full of a lot of tears though. It started when I said bye to Sister Ferreira in the bus station and then when we got to Caicó and my new companions started making themselves at home and I felt the lack of Sister Ferreira here. It's not because I am sad about my new companions, but it is just a big adjustment. Sis. Ferreira was basically my safety net and my best friend and now she is gone and I am responsible for helping these strangers take her place. I know it will be fine though and I will adjust quickly. I feel kind of protective of this area though because I have really grown to love it and I am scared my companions will talk bad about it and won't appreciate the members here and won't see the potential. They are already a little impatient with the elders that are in our district which makes me sad because the elders are really great and they are my friends so I don't like to hear people complain about them. I think it is perfect that I am in a trio though because my companions will balance each other out nicely. They are both really different and I already have things I really like about each one and things that will be more of a challenge so it will be good to have 3 of us working together. I think Heavenly Father knows I couldn't handle just one of them being here trying to take the place of Sister Ferreira. With two it divides everything and makes it easier to see the good in each of them. 

Wow maybe this email is whiny, but I haven't slept much and it's a sad day. Oh really happy thing last week though, I GOT MY TWO PACKAGES!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! Seriously I love all the candy and Sis. F loved it too. The chocolate was a bit melted, but still good after hardening in the refrigerator. Seriously I am so happy about every single thing in both of the packages!! Thank you mom & dad and thank you Emily!!

We have a zone conference about Christmas Friday that is going to be really great. I think that is all for this week! Until Monday! Tchau!

Laurel