sim, nas aguas November 25, 2013

Santa Maria, Brazil... I love you!

GOOD
●zone leader invites us to have a little picnic last p day… alright I’m in!(more details below)

●this week we had district prayer at 10 am and 10 pm every day via conference call… prayers of only gratitude. it was pretty legit. happy thanksgiving amercia!

●i’m so glad i’m not an elder. grateful for elders… yes. but let’s be real, skirts are WAY more comfortable on hot days!!

still walkin... in case you were wondering:)

 

Here we are: sis m & sis a@ santa maria overlook!

BAD
●this week i more or less got shocked by an electric fence (via umbrella) so that was cool. 

●door knocking/clapping on hot hot daysL
●sometimes brazil hates me!  i have to pay 120 reis for my package. stoppppp. 

●it’s one thing having to cut investigators… it’s another thing when they cut you. feeling like everyone hates usssss. 

 

irma andreius has byutv & carpet... two thumbs wayyyy up

AWK
●my tan lines. 

●i think i ate sardines this week. 

●forgot my name tag one day. we all do it sometimes right? (don’t worry, we returned home 

   and i put it on.)

just got done with some lunch out at the farm

AWESOME

●a baptism this week!! thursday adriana becomes a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of 

   Latter-day Saints!

●held first english class!! it’s quite interesting, considering sister clay and i have only been here
   for less than 3 months. 

english class is in session!

please meet your teachers... sister faldmo & sister mora

 

●noite familiars!! (family nights)… treats, games and the good ol gospel message. and BAPTISMS!! see below.

●investigators that KEEP COMMITMENTS! IT’S A MIRACLE!!

●walking to lunch an hour away when suddenly a car pulls over and pushes open the passenger door. I LOVE MEMBERS!

downtown... centro decorated for Christmas. Brazilian style

p day-- the hike:

ok, so this elder explained that in their area there’s this really pretty view of the city and we could have a zone picnic there. ok cool. so we start walking to their area and quickly i notice how grateful i am for camobi. their area is ALL uphill, i swear!! and we aren’t even there yet! we’re just in their area walking!! oh my goodness. then,  30-40 minutes later we finally get to this view… and there’s still 135 steeeep stairs! so that’s cool. so glad i was so excited to wear jeans. should have stuck with my basketball shorts. i can look cute every other day of the week. i only have like 10 stairs more. so i decide to run the rest of the stairs. all the rest of my zone is in sight watching. i start... and i trip and FALL in front of everyone. happy p day sister faldmo! needless to say… today’s pday will NOT be as adventurous. 

the stairs that hate me

sim, nas aguas is the title of my post today because this was the response of one of our investigators when i asked her if she wanted to get baptized!! ("yes, in the waters") this was during an fhe tuesday night with the cute neighbors that we teach together, at a member’s home. we started the lesson on prayer and all of a sudden she told us how she, her sister, and her brother had been reading the book of mormon together every day and how this had completely changed everything. there was more love in their home and they were happier. i really was speechless when this happened and was holding back tears. this is the same girl that we’ve only taught once because she said she didn’t believe in the book of mormon.  she’s 16, her younger sister is 12, and their brother is 10… and i never could tell if they seriously were reading when they said they were or if they were just trying to make us happy. but they are! and they are feeling the spirit because of it!! but just to make my life a little more complicated, before our fhe they told us that they were moving… tomorrow… out of our area! L so we were good little missionaries and gave this reference to the elders in their new area. i’m just happy to know i could plant this seed.

noite familiar turca

ALSO we have adriana... goodness i can’t talk enough about her.  we’ve only been teaching her about 4 weeks. but… this week after a noite familiar when we were all saying goodbye she got everyone’s attention, thanked us for everything, and asked the member whose house we were in to baptize her on the date we had asked her to think about!!! this thursday (thanksgiving day in the states) she will be baptized! she prayed about it, she’s kept all her commitments, and she wants this for her life. 

adriana above with sis mora & me

 

 

  adriana and her mother and the members whose home we are in 

 Things are good... thank you so much for all of your letters, packages & support!

 

 i felt lucky lucky lucky blessed blessed blessed this week to be here with these special people. i know it’s hard to keep commitments and obey commandments but when we do, we are blessed and our lives change and improve for the better. i don’t think i can say anything more or better than these stories. 

 

i'm on top of the world

com amor, 

sister faldmo

"... the fruits of our labors" November 18, 2013

GOOD 
●since they don’t have thanksgiving here… christmas decorations started a long time ago and this week we got to decorate the mission office!! lights, trees, and stockings. and downtown will be decorating tuesday! tomorrow we will see the finished product :)

                          sister clay and I helped out the elders in the mission home with their tree

                                                                               my stocking is hanging in the mission

                                                                               home waiting for all of your letters:)

 

 

got to go on split with & sis sis J this week... love her!

●i tried to explain how to make french toast in my broken portuguese. the next morning my sweet companion tried it out and gave me some. let’s just say i need to work on my cooking vocabulary... “A” for effort. 

me & my comp sis mora... just hanging out on the porch after teaching an investigator @ their apt

 

●when all the neighbors listen to our message-- five lessons in one sitting ladies and gents. #efficient. (mom did i spell that right lol oops… no she didn’t so i obliged)

●an investigator gave us coca cola this week #merica #notaddictedipromise
BAD
●somehow we had a hurricane here friday. i’m serious. it was insane!
AWKWARD

everyone is REALLY short here... but we

passed our cleaning check with elder olivera and got peanut butter! ●when an investigator asks if we (mormons) can wear makeup… conveniently on a day we didn’t have a lot of time to get ready. do we really look that bad?

●i put on jeans today for the first time in… since the provo mtc. so like 12 weeks. AND THEY FIT!! thank goodness. --today we’re having a zone picnic in centro and we get to wear jeans!!! #itsthelittlethings

   maybe the best dessert yet. a brownie with homemade

chocolate and strawberries. I DIED. thank goodness for irma patrica

●i now know why we have lunch with members. not because it’s cheaper for us or good to build those relationships… but because i almost set the apartment on fire today!

AWESOME

●one of our recent converts is friends with a sister from my provo district on facebook. (long story) sister shumway (shoutout) was chatting with her when we got there, and we got to give her some references of friends and family. --heads up to y’all in the states. just because i’m miles away doesn’t mean i’m not trying to teach you too!

●I LOVE THE YOUTH OF THE CHURCH! shout out to nat! she’s learning english and preparing to finish high school there. 1: we talked in english 2: her testimony is rock solid 3: i think she’s already a better missionary than me. 

●this sunday two of our cute investigators… 13 years olds, were waiting for us in the street before church and trying to wake up their neighbor too. #FELICIDADE!!!

●we got to talk to the young women about missions this week! it was suppppa special. when you talk about this experience (serving a mission) you start to notice how important it is to you and how grateful you are for it ALL (ups and downs and inbetweens)

 sister mora & I and this amazing YW pres

after speaking about serving a mission to the YW

 

●in other news… i heard mr lonely and kiss kiss on the radio  in a store this week. 

this week was legit. as mentioned above... i love the youth of the church and those here in camobi. i think i’m still considered the youth of the church but they are so much stronger than i was 5 years ago and they strengthen my testimony all day errr day. parabens parents! also… the Atonement. i feel really strongly about this. when you think about our message, the gospel of Jesus Christ, everything-- EVERYTHING is only possible and works because of the Atonement of our Savior. i’m trying to study it more so that i can bear stronger testimony of it because i am convinced that if i do this-- people will understand the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives.  

here's my zone... with me in the farrrrr back left

sunday we had a five investigators at church and it was legitttt. i think we are starting to see the fruits of our labors. 

 ariana... an investigator that we are teaching who is a gift from God to us... LOVE

"Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us."

all is well here. lovin life. getting tan. my jeans fit… and i LOVE this work. 

xoxo

sister faldmo

no longer 101 dalmations... 101 days on the mish:)

she'll be comin' round the mountain... november 11, 2013

GOOD

●sister williams, from my provo district, got her visa and is in our zone! so i got to see her tuesday and will see her tomorrow as well!

 it's true... she's here:)

●tomorrow is zone meeting which means i get to see sister jackman as well! i miss her so dang much. It’s kinda not my style… but people call your trainer your mom, but i have two different moms now so my new one is my stepmom… good but not your mom.  

●for training this week we had a ton of district clips to watch so we made popcorn and all four of us watched it together on our beds.
●the mission office has apparently been hoarding my letters… and i’m making quite the name for myself with all the office elders and assistants.
●my eternal investigator (i just can’t let her go… she will be baptized someday!!) gave me the cutest ring yesterday. #perks

BAD

●missionaries are like the mailman/postman… we deliver messages in all sorts of weather (including the weather right now aka the clouds dumping rivers at a time), we’re always broke, and dogs ALWAYS hate us.

 

 

                         on a more prepared day...                       and on a not so prepared day

and this is what the bottom of your skirt looks like even with an umbrella when you stand waiting at someone's door for 40 minutes

 

AWKWARD

●two weeks ago our district leader said that president parrela would be visiting all the houses close to centro so to make sure we cleaned well. but he said ´´it’s like the second coming. we don’t know when but we know it’s coming… so be prepared´´ (you know you’re on a mission when....) welp.
●tuesday we got a call from the service missionary over all the houses, he is looking for a new house for us. long story short, it ended with president and sister parrella coming to visit and us… #frantic. I’ll let you do the math but everything was spotless when they ´´randomly showed up´´ at 8pm and our fridge was stocked with fruits and things in accordance with sister parrella’s missionary diet. gold stars for all the camobi sisters! (word on the street is this week we get peanut butter for having such a clean house!)

president and sister parella think we're the best!

now who says i can't clean?

●teaching this awesome lesson... then the drunk uncle comes in with some interesting questions. #everyonehasthatuncle...
●my first shower en route… on the road... no boots, no umbrella, nothing, nada.

AWESOME

●volleyball last week on pday! it was sooo much fun even though 70% of everyone playing was horrible but after, my district went for some ice cream :)

sun & volleyball... what more could i ask for??

still walkin' for miles:)

●i would be lying if i said this week was happy go lucky, but i got to talk to sister jackman this week (thank goodness she is a sister training leader) and she didn’t pityme… but she told me exactly what i needed to hear, complete with a chapter from the book of mormon that i studied that day and it helped me so much. #tendermercies (alma 26 for those who need a little boost… it all is great but verse 30 gave me the motivation i needed)

●we begin teaching our english class next week!! any and ALL suggestions welcome.

popsicles on the hot days is also awesome!

●let’s just talk about the fact that we got a gem of a reference this week. talk about being completely ready and prepared for the gospel. and not to mention after the first lesson, she had a snack prepared for us. She’s like another mom here in brazil :) #thechurchistrue

●my life sunday. FIVE INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH PEOPLE. THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN. and members sat by and befriended every single one of them. i love them. i love this ward. i love this gospel. we’re getting somewhere!

              we have made it through 3 months!!!     yes, we made the #3 to celebrate

i made it through another week. There’s still a lot of adjusting to do here in camobi, but i really think this will end up being a good transfer. we have great investigators right now and they have so much potential! being a missionary isn’t easy… i never thought it would be though. the good part is that already i hate and love these trials so much. for every trial i can remember a scripture or experience that helped me get through it. this is what it’s all about. i feel lucky to be here and i know i’m exactly where i am supposed to be. (except for the fact that it’s a little awkward that the woman on the computer next to me is on facebook and let’s just say she doesn’t leave much to the imagination with her pictures, but moving on...) keep doing your thing in the u.s. of a and i’ll keep doing my thing here and hopefully we will all be closer to our Savior and feel His love more and more everyday.  we are all children of God which is pretty dang legit. and because our Savior died for us… what have we done to show our gratitude? that’s what i’ve realized... there’s always something MORE we can do. :)

ya... somehow, I still have a lot of stuff:/

xoxoxo

sister fald.