Almost a Heart Attack
December 31, 2012
How did I know Spencer would have to say something about POOOOOOPY or something like that? Yet, this was retold by a Brazilian missionary? Thanksfully, I have only encountered two men “going” in public, and they weren’t doing it in a bag. One was a police officer. How professionallllll. Rachel Wins BEST SISTER AWARD GOES TO........ drum roll........ RACHEL FREUND! I actually love having only one sister because I can say without shame that she’s my favorite sister. The. End. [Not the end of this blog post. Not at all. Don’t miss what’s next.] |
CHRISTMAS DAY 2012
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The Ants Come Marching 2 By 2
There are some days where we find a cockroach already dead on the ground. We give a prayer of thanks that we didn’t have to kill him, and we give more thanks that God’s creatures—called ants—do the clean-up within our Personal Study time. I’m still befuddled by the fact that almost every house has problems with these pesky ants, and we have the merry privilege of housing a mountain of ants at the door jamb of our front door. The... upside... the privilege... the consolation prize... shoot, what’s the word???? The BENEFIT! Yes, the
There are some days where we find a cockroach already dead on the ground. We give a prayer of thanks that we didn’t have to kill him, and we give more thanks that God’s creatures—called ants—do the clean-up within our Personal Study time. I’m still befuddled by the fact that almost every house has problems with these pesky ants, and we have the merry privilege of housing a mountain of ants at the door jamb of our front door. The... upside... the privilege... the consolation prize... shoot, what’s the word???? The BENEFIT! Yes, the
This Sunday [December 30], I almost had a heart attack. No lie. Okay, well, maybe not literally; but it wasn’t because of STRESS or potential ulcers, it was because our beautiful future “stake center” chapel was CRAWLING with members. With our spirits low from the unsuccessful trip to our investigator’s house (Ione was scheduled to be baptized on the 6th but didn’t come to church... and we ended up annoying the shirt off of her neighbor), we jokingly took pictures of our “investigators” in the traffic in front of the chapel. At this time of year, Cabo Frio attracts about 950,000 people; and transportation gets pretty sticky (literally, too, because it’s hot; and we take the bus). The main street that our chapel is on gets pretty puckered up, and we took the advantage of doing contacts in front of the chapel for those who were waiting for a bus. Hey, it’s one way of getting people to church. “Do you need to use the bathroom or drink water while you wait? Come on in! We have air conditioning in the session called Sacrament. You’ll be waiting for quite a while, trust me.”
We did end up making a contact with a 14-year-old rapaz [boy] of GOLD, who will be the next baptism in Juiz de Fora. When we made the contact, he asked about the name of our church; and he liked it. He liked it all. So much to the point that we presented the Book of Mormon to him, and he wanted to grab it out of our hands that moment. When we finally devolved it to him, he said, “Yes, I finally got it.” He, among his “street friends,” was a gem and such a gentleman. You’re welcome, Elders of Juiz de Fora. There was no need to invite on the street because the church was already buzzing with members. Bishop instigated a Call-Out to all the members, organized family nights, made personal visits, etc. to call to repentance and energize members who live furthest away. I was so excited yet overwhelmed. President and Sister Lima were to attend, as well; AND we were to have a baptism of Carla Fabiana’s daughter, Kamilly. What made us more ecstatic was that THE WHOLE FAMILY of Deise and José came; AND Kelrem (non-practicing Adventist) said she will make it, which we thought meant her husband would come, too. However, he decided to paint their old house before they had to turn in the keys. I cringed when she said that. He was the one who didn’t like having the Sabbath day on Saturday, as was the tradition of Adventists; and, yet, here he is, not honoring EITHER day of the Lord. “Oh, Jerusalem.” Dicéa also came, all sweaty, but she came. Who knows? Maybe she’ll progress? She also stayed to watch the baptism. |
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Fifth Sunday means everyone meets together for the last meeting. The priesthood and Relief Society reunited in the chapel, and it was more full than our normal SACRAMENT MEETINGS! Okay, so I was getting really excited. Sacrament Meeting actually did flow into the Cultural Hall! SCORE! We didn’t meet our goal of 401. We had 301, faulting 100, which in Portuguese is “cem.” I think God was trying to tell us also, though, that we were “sem,” which means “without.” What was missing? What do we need to do to divide and become a stake? Nevertheless, it was a beautiful sight to behold. We had lunch together, too. However, those who live in Araruama left early to get home. Why the rush? Lunch is right here!
The baptism wasn’t the best in the world. It was exactly like normal: the faithful, hungry members waited around until everything was ready; our ward mission leader was disappointed that we didn’t bring a DVD of his that we didn’t borrow; and the door to the lady’s room was locked, so we had to mop behind Kamilly and while she was getting dressed. While some members murmured about the slippery conditions, other members didn’t even know that a baptism was going on. And, to top it off, our investigator father of our family wanted to have an interview with President Lima; so our investigator family didn’t see the baptism. BUT
we will pray that they enjoyed staying in the church for as long as they |
did. They even stayed for the “serão” that consisted of Bishop talking about our goals to divide and President Lima giving some great gems of wisdom. Kelrem was lost in the crowd and left without us saying goodbye. I think she got a ride home.
The Letters Came Marching 2 by 2, Also.
Sister Carvalho received her Christmas box of 11 candy bars and millions of Top Ramen and crackers. (I’ll never get the tradition of eating raw carbs like they do here. After- dinner snacks include: crackers with “requeijão,” which is kind of like cottage cheese/cream cheese; cake; bread; milk; and the powdered chocolate milk, Nescau). She also received a beautiful new LARGE sewn blue and white polka-dotted dress and more love from home. All of the chocolate was melted, haha. I got my birthday box! The presents are already waiting for me under our “Christmas tree.” We’ve decided we didn’t get our fill of Christmas; so, instead of Carnaval, we’ll celebrate Christmas again. :) |
Heck, we might as well have some more Christ-centered lessons, because it’s usually during Carnaval that people forget to follow Christ’s example. The mission Lima Letter talked about our miracle ward, and I just have to beam with gladness to be part of this ward. Bishop William is the best. Ala Cabo Frio and Eu Amo Meu Bispo are the facebook groups that our ward has, hahaha.
There is a ward member of gold. His name is Irmão Carlos. He gives us peanut butter candies every Fast Sunday (not sure why he gives them on Fast Sunday, hahah) and $R10. This past week he has been calling us and telling us we can pass by his house whenever we needed. Little did we know that he lives near Carla Fabiana this whole time! How sad. When we were leaving Carla’s one day, I heard someone yell, “SISTER NELSON.” Sister Carvalho thought I was crazy... and I began to believe her. Then, Irmão Carlos called us and said he saw us pass by his house today. He then said he had been talking to his colleagues at work, and he wanted us to pass by there the next day. The only problem was we had just 2 more copies of the Book of Mormon left! We had to tell him to schedule some other day after President Lima brings us more. We scheduled THAT Sunday, in fact. When we entered into the candy store that he works in, I was super uncomfortable. It was Sunday, AND there was chocolate literally up the wall, AND the only people working were men. Strange. And Irmão Carlos—bless his heart—wanted us to contact these men while they were working. I was thinking, “Shoot, this could be a problem with the boss.” The first person he presented to us WAS his boss, hahahahaha. He was polite but very stressed. I could tell he wasn’t that interested, but we gave him a Book of Mormon, met his wifey (THEY’RE LEGALLY MARRIED), and said we’d pass by later. #2 was a humble man, not very studious, but VERY curious about the Book of Mormon. We marked a day to pass by and give him the book with his wife (LEGALLY MARRIED), but he wanted it that very instant. So we explained it right then and there. #3 was Anderson, much more studious and very religiously hungry and curious. We talked more in depth with him; but he was more than just a box stacker, so the boss wasn’t too happy that we were taking a long time. When we got to Joseph Smith—which we weren’t planning on explaining—he waved away the calls of his boss and said, “I’ve heard much about this Smith man. Please, go on.” We left that place with our heads in the clouds. THREE FAMILIES here in Cabo Frio!!!!!!!!!!!! We had been working more in São Pedro but knew our focus needed to be in Cabo Frio; and thanks to the sweet teaching of Dear Irmão Carlos, we had a teaching group here. AND we were determined to work with Irmão Carlos and HIS family. One of his three kids is a member but never comes, and no one else is a member. Just faithful old Irmaõ Carlos. Miracles. Yes, Miracles. |
When President and Sister Lima went to Cabo Frio on December 30th, they delivered mail. Sister Nelson received her birthday box but not the third Christmas box containing her presents.
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The lagartixas [geckos] have been coming out in full force, too. When picking up our boxes in the church at the end of the day, I went for the juice and Sister Carvalho went for the bathroom. As I was downing a refreshingly chilled cup of juice, I heard Carvy scream. I went running into the bathroom.
“THERE’S A LAGARTIXA IN THE STALL!!!”
“Well, what do you want me to do???”
“THERE’S A LAGARTIXA IN THE STALL!!!”
“Well, what do you want me to do???”
I jumped on the other toilet and saw a teeny weeny gecko at the very edge of the stall wall. Good heavens.
I grabbed him and headed for the door. Silly daughter.
I grabbed him and headed for the door. Silly daughter.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New Year’s Eve Party (LDS-style) at Marcia’s house
New Year’s Eve Party (LDS-style) at Marcia’s house