Hey Mom!

I hope things are well and that this week was great! I attached some pictures, one is right before the baptism of Manuel, which was a little crazy but turned out really well, Sister Williams and I look a little crazy because we hadn't showered, in fact, we took our first showers this morning since before Christmas because we finally got the water fixed! The other is at Cristo Rei looking out on the bridge with the statue behind us, and the last is Christmas Eve with the family who fed us that night:)

Well, this week was good, it was nice to talk to you all, and we'll talk again soon, as I'm sure Dia da Mãe (this is Portuguese, by the way, not Brasilian, which would be Dia das Mães, just so no one tries to correct me...;)) will be here before we know it! It's super crazy because I'm gonna hit my halfway mark this week! I can't even believe it! It's the fastest/slowest 9 months ever and I hear it only gets faster! That's frightening. We're gonna go out to eat with the other sisters in our house because Sister Carroll (one of the other sisters), Sister Williams, and I will hit our halfway marks all at the same time. It's gonna be fun:).

Well, for what we did this week, sadly I can never remember haha. Monday we went to Cristo Rei, which was really fun, and then we ate at an Indian restaurant which was really good, and REALLY expensive, but the people who worked there thought we were cool, and so instead of paying 33 euros like we should have, we only paid 10. Sometimes it pays off to be from America;). Then we wandered around in the rain. That's the theme for this week, rain, it hasn't stopped yet! But hey, at least we'll have lots of water later. Tuesday we only taught one lesson, the lesson for Manuel, his last one before his baptism, tithing. It went well, and he ended up explaining it to the member who was there, that was new (we're teaching them together because recent converts have to have all of the lessons again after baptism, and because we need a place to teach Manuel since his mom won't let us visit the house anymore). He's a really cool guy. Then we ate dinner at a member's house, Cátia and João and then Cátia´s grandparents, Rodrigo and Perpetua who are all in our ward. It was fun, and they were really nice to us, but we got home at 11pm! We had to call president and ask for permission to stay out, he was a little annoyed, but I think that a lot of other people had already called also. Meals here in Portugal are big affairs that take hours and start really late (they eat dinner at like 9pm, and it takes at least 2 hours to eat). Then Christmas we got up and we opened our presents in front of our paper tree that one of the mothers had sent. We read Luke 2 for companionship study (all 4 of us together), then we all caroled together in a square. After, we went with the elders in our district and we had lunch at Irmã Lidia´s house. It was a TON of food. There wasn't anything super weird and most of it was really really good:). Then we went to the capela and I talked to you (that was fun by the way! Love ya all!), and afterward all 10 of the missionaries in our ward and the other had pizza together. It was a good Christmas! People always say that the Christmases in the mission are the best, and I can see why, it was definitely cool to get to serve the Lord on that day and really understand the purpose of the Savior´s birth:). Thursday we taught some recent converts, had Manuel´s interview (which he passed! Woot! With flying colors, and Elder Bryan was like "good job on finding an eleito, sisters." That's how we sisters roll;)) Afterward we had dessert at an investigator's house. They texted us because they know that I have a weak spot for desserts and they gave us a TON of cake. I think I gained ten kilograms in 3 days. Serious. Friday, I don't even remember, other than that we had weekly planning, and that the owner of the house we live in came to check out the house and so we spent a while doing a deep clean and hiding our (well, the other sisters) empty cereal box collection from last transfer (imagine 100+ boxes of cereal on top of the cabinets in the kitchen... yup.). Sadly she didn't fix the water, she did give the other sisters a good scare though because they all went and hid and left me to talk to her! Saturday we had lunch with Irmã Lidia again. It was really good, and there wasn't TOO much this time. We had cachupa and mango pudding. It was good. Then we had Manuel´s baptism, which was a little crazy. It was sad though because none of his family showed up, neither did his friend who gave him a reference, or any of the members who were supposed to speak. So, Sister Williams and I gave the talks. The baptismal room was filled with 10 missionaries, the 1st counselor in the ward, one family of four people who I'm really grateful for, and Manuel. Talk about a little crazy. Baptisms on Saturday are hard, but at least it's a lot more likely they'll show up the next day to get the Holy Ghost! Sunday was good. We went to church, where there was a 70 who is from Portugal. He gave the ward some hard faca about getting an education, talking about how we need to know our own religion, and telling them that those people who are out of work are never going to get work again because of the economy. He also talked about the blessings of the temple and how we need to work together to get the temple here, especially since it's been 4 years since it was announced and the fact that people keep being baptized but yet the ward still isn't growing, and is instead shrinking. It was a fantastic talk. We taught a really cool lesson also. We went to one of our investigator's houses, and we brought the Restauration DVD with us, and it just was not working and I just started praying and it started working. One thing I'm learning more and more in my mission is that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers and that prayer is a very powerful thing! The spirit was really strong during the lesson. I LOVE feeling the spirit! Best thing ever! Then after, they fed us dinner and dessert. I'm getting fat. Today was good too. We got the water fixed! (The man who fixed it, he's a bishop in Caiscais, and  he's really awesome. He was a good guy, and he sang hymns the whole time that he was working. I want to marry someone like that haha, handy, and sings hymns while they work out of happiness!) Then we just bummed around all day.

Well, got to go! Love ya!

Love always,
Sister Wach

P.S. Next time we talk, I'll be on the downhill of my mission! Insane! Scary!

Hey Mom!

6 Sisters in the same apartment is alright. We get along well, and we figured out the showering stuff more or less, it's just whoever gets there first! The last person has it the worst because they have like 10 minutes to shower and to get ready! Poor things! But two of them moved out today as they were just waiting for their apartment to be ready. They're office sisters, the first in our mission! Let's see, in our apartment there is Sister Williams and I, then Sister Taylor and Sister Carrol, and then the two who moved out are Sister Duran and Sister Rivieros (she's from Peru and she's 39!!! She cooks for us sometimes, but we're awful because we don't eat it... it's gross haha). I don't know much about any of them because we only see each other at night right before we go to bed, and in the morning when we get up. They seem like nice people, I'm sure they are. My face is alright, it was getting better when I was in Benfica, but it's really humid here in Feijo and so it's getting worse again. I think I must be allergic to the humidity or something because both now and when I was in Ponta Delgada I was having problems with having red eyes too. Super annoying. My ears are the same. My retainer not might make it to the end of my mission, I'm grinding it during my sleep, so I try not to wear it as often. But, no worries, all is good, nothing that I can't wait on. 

So, I have no idea about how Skype is going to work. In Benfica we had 3 people offer to have us over to eat at their house and to call home at Christmas. Here, absolutely no one. The sisters here don't even know the members. That's really sad to me, the members are one of my favorite parts. I'll let you know next week what the plan is. Also, I sent out that package to you today. Sorry, it's nothing special.

Also, I do not want to hear anything about the Hobbit. Just passing the advertisements here I have to close my eyes! Haha

Well, this week was good. We worked REALLY hard. I like Sister Williams, she likes to work hard and we push each other. We've been teaching some cool people, we're teaching a family, but the kids are not allowed to listen to us anymore, so that's a really big bummer because they're fantastic and they all want to be baptized. One of them is still going to be baptized because he's 24 and the mother gave him permission, so we're excited about that. Whenever we teach there, the spirit is just really really strong. The poor little 13 year old though, when she was telling us, she just was sobbing. Also, the Sister Training Leaders came for a division with the other sisters in our house, and man, I felt good afterwards! Sister Nigri just kept talking about how awesome I was and how much she'd heard about me. She says that she's been told that I have a really powerful contact! So that was super cool for me:).

Oh, also, lots of funny things happened this week. First, someone told Sister Duran that I talk in my sleep in Portuguese. No idea who, so that's a little creepy because it means someone is spreading my secrets around the mission... haha. Second, remember how Dad told me to get an electric blanket? Well I did, and I didn't think it was likely to work, but I figured I would try it anyway, well I finally tried it this week, and there was a HUGE pop and sparks! It was great! Then, I also ate octopus!!! We ate it at a members house and it was awful! They'd caught it the day before and they cooked it with rice and it was stringy and chewy and you could totally tell that it was tentacles and the sucking cups and then there were random unrecognizable parts! Yikes! Also, I get to give a talk on Sunday about Christmas, it's gonna be interesting. 

Well, I'm sorry, but I'm out of time already, I have no idea how that happened. I'll find out what the plan is for calling, and I'll let you know next week. 

Love you!

Love,

Sister Wach

Oh, and I've sent some pictures, two should be sent to Sister Pinto as she will recognize both... one is Pedro here in Almada, and the other, Santa, is Adão in Benfica! The other of me is my reaction when I realized how much crap I had to pack to transfer!

Hey Mãe!

Sounds like you've had to much fun for one week! Thanks for all that you do! Yes, I did get your package, I got it probably on the 3rd? So it was good:). Though, it was quite the stress to lug to my NEW AREA:). It was a little rough, the move. Poor Sister Stokes, last night, we stayed up until 2 am and I packed and cried as I tried to figure out where I'd gotten all the junk that I had, and how exactly I was gonna get it all there. Well, long story short on that one, not everything made it here. So be it. I'm a missionary, I can live without it, but somehow I seem to have gotten a TON of clothes! So, I'm now in Almada! It's not far at all from Lisboa, in fact it's just across the river. I got to cross the really famous bridge on the train, the one that looks like the San Francisco bridge. It was cool. I wanted to see the statue of Christ that's here in Almada (it's a copy of the one in Rio, Brazil, the Portuguese are copy cats;)) last transfer, but it wasn't in our zone and so I couldn't go and I was kind of sad because I saw lots of pictures online of it before I came and I didn't think I would ever get to go. Look at me now! It's super close! I'm now serving with Sister Williams who has one less transfer than me. She seems sweet. It's a little weird because we live with 2 other pairs of missionaries. Six sisters and one shower... sounds like tomorrow is gonna be INTERESTING:). Man, the fact that I even got here is a miracle! It was a rough morning. I woke up at 6 after going to bed at 3 (lots and lots of trying to figure out how to pack stuff. Before I leave this area, a large amount of it is going to stay behind). Then Sister Stokes and I got ready and we cleaned a little, and we took the trash out. This caused a bit of a problem. The apartment in Benfica happens to be on the 7th floor, and so we took the elevator down to floor -1 where the trash is, but we forgot that sometimes this causes the elevator to stop working (maybe 1/5 of the time), and we just happened to have luck enough for this to happen. So then we climbed the stairs up and we had to lug my 3 70lb bags down the stairs all the way to the bottom. At one point I just started crying. Poor Sister Stokes haha. Thankfully, as we were dragging the last one down, the heaviest, an angel left his apartment and fixed the elevator. I think we must have woken him up. Then we had to drag them and we flagged a taxi. Then we took it to the train station (poor Sister Stokes was supposed to wait there at the station for her new comp until 1:30! So from 9 am until then, by herself, sitting outside in the cold! I hope it didn't turn out that way!) and I caught a train with my huge bags. The problem with this is that the train stops for about 20 seconds and I knew I wouldn't be able to take my bags off the train, and so I just started praying. It was a day of praying. Then Heavenly Father sent me another angel, a young woman named Joana. She helped me get my bags off the train, then she asked me where I was headed and turned out she was headed there too. Then she helped me with my bags, helped me get to the trax station, buy my ticket, get on, and then get off with the bags, just barely not missing her own traxs train. Then I sat and waited for my comp to show up. I told her to show up at 10 because I figured that's when I would be there. Well, I got there at 9:25 and I had a good little wait until ten in the freezing cold. Thankfully I'm from Utah because it could have been a lot worse for me than it was because all the Portuguese people around me were whining about it haha. Then my comp was sweet and she helped me pull the two heavier bags because I couldn't do it because I had blisters on my hands from lugging the bags down the stairs. Good times. Transfers. But Heavenly Father really does answer prayers, he uses other people to do so. We are his hands. He loves us and he wants us to be happy and to always be comforted. Yesterday, Sister Stokes and I were sitting in the house during lunch and I just started feeling a little tired and worn out and just a little down, and so I just said a quick prayer and I felt like I should just open the Book of Mormon sitting next to me. I did so, and I turned to Helaman 10:2-5. Which says:

 2 And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his own house, ^apondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him.

 3 And it came to pass as he was thus pondering—being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities—and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a ^avoice came unto him saying:

 4 ^aBlessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with ^bunwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine ^cown life, but hast sought my ^dwill, and to keep my commandments.

 5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that ^aall things shall be ^bdone unto thee according to thy ^cword, for thou shalt ^dnot ask that which is contrary to my will.

Talk about cool. Heavenly Father is the best. Our Heavenly Father is so merciful! He loves us and will never give us anything that we can't handle and he'll be there along the way to help us. That is something that I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn here in the mission.

Well other than transfers, it's been just a good, crazy week! First off, the Accutane is working. My face is clearing up really good, and also, no weird mood swings. I don't know why, maybe it's because it's not actually Accutane but instead is a generic brand? Second, we've had some changes in our mission! We are now no longer allowed to use backpacks, sisters and elders, all must use side bags or not carry anything, and the other is that we sisters will now be driving in some of the areas with cars! That'll be cool. I hope that I don't get moved to one of those areas because I don't want to get anywhere near the wheel of a car for another (little bit more than) 9 months. Plus it's stick shift. No thanks. But it'll be cool for some people. On Sunday, Eduardo was confirmed! It was good. Afterward, he had some interesting questions for us. Turns out he got a new girlfriend and it's one that he's liked for a while, and he wanted to know more about the Law of Chastity. We sent him with the ward mission leader. Haha. I didn't get to say goodbye to Jéssica though, so that was really sad:(. Thankfully the Benfica area is an area I'll visit at least once more before I go home because of the office. We also had a ward Christmas party on Sunday. It was really fun and turned out really well. We did a goofy skit. It was filmed, but I don't know if we'll ever see it, but it was great. We sang this song in Portuguese that goes something like, "If I weren't a missionary, what would I be, I'd be a..." I was a gardener. My lines in Portuguese were "carving the dirt, carving the dirt, oh it's hot!" It was super cool with the six of us because what you're doing is that each person is swinging around in ways that should hit the people on their sides but we were so perfectly in rythm that we move out of the way just in time. Elder Ryan would swing his hands over my head and I would duck out of the way just in time and then he would move and I would stand up and swing my arm and Sister Stokes would move out of the way just in time, and so each one of us were doing this, all six of us. It was cool. Then, we did it blindfolded. The ward thought it was great. Also, we have a man we've been teaching and he's practically ready to be baptized! He's just waiting because he wants to read the whole Book of Mormon first. We tried to convince him otherwise, but we decided that he's reading at a good enough pace (he read 200 pages in one week) that it would be fine. He's a good guy and I'm excited for him. Then one of our usual drunks, João that we talk to in front of the same bar where we met Eduardo came to the movie night on Sunday. The turnout was really sad this time, only 4 people, and all of them men. I think it strengthened their testimonies, but the problem was that we couldn't go in and instead had to stay outside in the cold! But João liked it and he really wants to know more. I love being a missionary! It's totally beyond exhausting, but SO SO good at the same time. 

Love you! Thanks for everything!

Love always,

Sister Wach

 

 

 

Hey Mom!

Sounds like things are going well there!  If I don't email on this coming Monday, it's because I've been transferred. I'm in the hot seat this transfer as I've been in this area two now, so we'll see. Though it's to bad that no one wants to come to Portugal because the weather isn't half bad. I didn't even wear a jacket today. The sun is shining, the sky is clear, and there is a nice crisp breeze. It's a beautiful P-day! Too bad we aren't doing anything cool this week because we only pick bad weather days to do cool stuff:P. I'm glad that everyone likes my newsletter thing, it was not anything to special, but that is really what I've learned from the mission. There really is so much to be done that I wasn't doing before. Also, I hope that I do get some letters;). I never get any except the wonderful ones that you send. Everyone else has forgotten I exist and I'm not even halfway through my mission yet;) Though speaking of that, tomorrow is my 8 month mark! Wooot! Super insane. Time flies! That's really cool about Alex! I wish we could do something like that here! Maybe then people wouldn't think we were TJs...:P. We get mistaken as them all the time and it's super annoying. I'm way cooler than any old lady TJ and I've got the truth and you don't have to study 2 years to have it. They love to Bible bash, I just always walk away. No reason to play games with someone who doesn't want to accept the truth. You didn't go Black Friday shopping?! Sad. Next year, I'll drag you out and you'll go with me because you'll have missed me so much;).

Well, I don't have much longer left because I just spent half of my computer time (we pay for it and it's not cheap) helping a sweet little lady figure out how to use her computer and get her plane ticket off of an email her husband had sent her. I hope she can figure it out now because I still haven't written President:). Naughty Sister Wach. That cute little lady, just walked over and asked me if I'd stolen one of her papers. Portuguese people, I swear. Crazies:).

This week was good though. We taught people and we spent a lot of time working with members and some projects that we're working on here in the ward to try and get the members to give us references. We also had a movie night like we had in Ponta Delgada and that was really fun. We had ward counsel and the members keep being like we need to have good activities, so that we can help to integrate the new members and they can bring their friends, but they just talk about how whatever they need to do it needs to be well planned and blah blah blah. Then I presented the idea to do a movie night during the counsel and bishop just kind of brushed it off because it needed to be well planned and they talked for about a second about doing it once a month. So afterward I went to the secretary in the ward and I told him to write down an announcement that we were having "Noite de Cinema" at 7 that night. So we did. Poor bishop. He called afterward to see how it went, and I must say for myself that it went fabulously! We had 19 people there (the first one!!), they were the firm members plus also some less actives and lots of recent converts. It was so great! We watched the Testaments and a lot of them cried! Not a dry eye in the whole chapel! We're doing it again next week too. The only bummer was that then afterwards we had to clean up all the popcorn that the children had scattered over the WHOLE church! We also had Thanksgiving! Sister Stokes and I made a ton of food! We had meatloaf instead of turkey, but it turned out good:). We had to use a bunt pan to cook it in though, so it looked silly:). The elders almost died when they saw all the food. Needless to say we used all of our money for the week on that and instead ate lots of sandwiches and spaghetti the rest of the week:). Sister Stokes sent her mom pictures so just look at her blog haha:)

Love you mom! Sorry that this is so short!

Love always,

Sister Wach

Hey Mãe!

Well, this week was INSANE for us. Monday we went and we partied it up in Lapa (where the cruise ships dock) for all of P-day! We saw a whole bunch of cool stuff. We went to a castle, a whole bunch of cool squares with famous statues in them, then we rode the elevator of Santa Justa, and then we went to a super cool museum that is made of a super cool church that was damaged in an earthquake and then a fire and so it didn't have a roof. It cost to go in, not much since I had my BYU ID and I said I was a student, but it was totally worth it. That was probably the coolest P-day I've had so far in my mission:). Then Tuesday was the start of an insane week. We're teaching some really cool people, all of them young, educated, mission age men. It's pretty cool. We went from spending all day in the road having people reject us to just not having enough time to teach our investigators! On Tuesday, we taught a man who I'd met last transfer with Sister Briggs who had come to church on Sunday. We'd talked to him in the street a few times and we always set up meetings with him and he never was there and we invited him to church and he never came. But we'd met him because he'd walked up to us and he asked if we knew where he could get "Joseph Smith´s Bible." We then handed him the Book of Mormon. The other times we saw him, he was always drunk or smoking, and he told us that he had read all of the book of Ether because it was the name of a drug, and he told us that the way that he gets spiritual experiences is by using mushrooms and that we should try it. Needless to say, we said no. But, after that, Sister Briggs and I nicknamed him "Eduardo Mushrooms." Well, on Sunday he showed up at church and we didn't know it until the elders texted us and told us that we had an awesome investigator in priesthood and that he was already ready to be baptized. Then, I saw who it was, and I thought they were insane. Well, Tuesday, we actually taught him! It was really cool. We went to his house with a member, and we taught the first lesson, and so as part of the first lesson, we always ask them to be baptized, well I did so, and then I felt like I should just keep going, and I ended up inviting him to be baptized on Sunday, and he said YES!!! Then we had him pray to know if it was true with us in the lesson, and he did so, and we just sat and waited to see how he felt, and we waited and waited and waited and waited until he finally looked up and was like "I don't normally feel this kind of peace, I think that's my answer." Then started the craziness! Wednesday we taught him the lesson, The Gospel of Jesus Christ with The Word of Wisdom, which he accepted. Then on Thursday we taught EVERYTHING else. It was insane. We did have a little bit of a misunderstanding though:). That night, a member came and said that she'd seen him smoking and that he'd been all excited to see her and to tell her that he was getting baptized, and so we went and found him, and I guess that we'd had a bit of a misunderstanding with the fact that illegal drugs are included in the Word of Wisdom...oops:). His interview was supposed to be on Friday, but we'd had another mistake where we had given him a talk by President Monson because he wasn't sure that he was a prophet, and we told him to read it and pray, but when he got to the interview we didn't have time to talk to him beforehand because we were teaching another of our investigators (Hugo, who is VERY VERY handsome, and super awesome. He speaks English like a pro and he's super nice:)) and the lesson had run overtime, so he went into the interview and the first thing he said was that he didn't know that President Monson was a prophet (we're bad missionaries, that was our fault), and so Elder Ryan, the DL, helped him to look up another talk online and rebooked the interview for Saturday. Then Saturday came around and he didn't show up!!! It was so stressful, and we were like, he's not getting baptized! But, we'd already scheduled members to do everything for the baptism, and so we decided it was easier to cancel all the things for the baptism Sunday morning that it was to try and put it together Sunday morning, and so we called and double checked with all of them, and we made the paper program. Then Sunday rolled around and the time that we'd texted him and told him to be there came and went and we were like, nope, not happening. Then 15 minutes before church, he just strolls up to the chapel and tells the elders that he's there for his interview! Then the elders called us (we were on our way to see if he was in the bar we always saw him at so that we could beat him), and we had to run around with our heads chopped off trying to get everything ready! Baptism days are the best, and the worst. Best because someone is getting baptized, and worst because everything that can go wrong goes wrong. First, the font wasn't on. Then the baptismal clothes (we're lucky we even had some in his size, he's a bigger guy) were super dirty. Someone hadn't washed them or hung them up. Then I couldn't find my USB stick where I'd saved the program. Then one of the speakers, who was also doing a musical number didn't show up. But, thankfully everything worked out just fine; the font filled in time and the water was warm, we scrubbed the dirty spots out of the clothes, I'd been blessed that I'd saved a copy of the baptismal program from Jéssica's baptism on the computer and deleted it, so all I had to do was restore the copy and change the names, and then the young women stepped up and did the music number instead and Aline prepared a talk in 5 minutes that was really good. We even had an investigator there! We were the only ones of 3 pairs of missionaries that had anyone in church, and we had 3 people! Plus, to top the day off, we had a delicious dinner at a members house. Then today, we've had a good day also! We took a nap and then we got haircuts! I just got mine a little shorter and I got my bangs back, but Sister Stokes cut off like ten inches! She had hair almost to her bum and now it's just longer than her shoulders! She looks adorable! I also got to see my twin, my favorite elder today, and my MTC comp and we're gonna go and get lunch:). It was a really good week. Missionary work is so much better when there is work to be done! 

Well, that's all I got for you today! Love you mom!

Love,

Sister Wach

 

Hey Mom!

The stuff didn't help my face at all. I have taken it every day without missing even one time and nothing changed. I stopped taking it, and I talked to Sister Fluckiger instead and she had me go to a dermatologist. So, I'm now on Accutane. Turns out that I don't have to do all the really crazy stuff that I had to do the last time I tried to take it (going to the doctor tons, taking birth control, etc) because the doctor thought we were nuns. Good stuff. My face hasn't changed too much because it's only been a few days, but we'll see:). When I'm done taking what she gave me, I'll go back to taking what you sent because at least I'll have the other in my system also. Sister Stokes is really great. She's super sweet. I'm glad Sister Pinto liked my picture. Inacia, the woman in the picture, She´s 92. But, she comes to church every week and she says she wants to help us and walk with us because our portuguese isn't good (supposedly, but hey, people say they understand), she also insists that she wants to pay her tithing and that she paid to be baptized. She always says that this is "the church of the future." Boy is she right, the church of the past, present and future far beyond what the mind can comprehend:). Gotta love old people:). Sounds like ya´ll had a fun week! A little bit crazy, but crazy is better than boring:). I don't mind hearing about the project, it sounds like it's going really well:). Oh, and I did get the seeds. Thanks! I got two things at the same time from you because the elders in the office had been hiding them from me haha:). 

So I have some lovely things that are gonna add a little stress to your next few days:). Christmas packages have to be sent from the US by the 21st of this month. If not, then we won't get them by Christmas. They might get to the office in time, but we won't get them until after Christmas the next time that president comes. I can't really think of anything that I want, but I do have a few things to ask for. I was wondering if you could send me a new watch (I gave mine surgery, it was falling apart and so I sewed it and then I taped it... it's a wreck;)), some mascara (I like the Covergirl eyelights waterproof one in the color black gold, so if you can find that one, that's great, if not, no worries), a white short sleeve shirt from Downeast Basics, and a thing of deodorant (the kind they have here is awful. I like the Dove kind, but whatever, beggers can't be choosers:)), and I think that's it:). Sorry, it's a long list for short notice:P.

Well, this week was good. we were busy, so that was nice. We spent a lot of time with the members, which is my favorite. One thing I've learned about missionary work is that when the members are your friends, it is just so much better, they're willing to take you to meet their friends, or to spend the day working with you. The members here are awesome. Every week we teach an English class, we also have a gospel principles class, and family home evening, plus this week, I taught the young women how to make brigadeiros in the microwave, which was way fun. We were supposed to have the young men too, but they ended up going to a soccer game in our area in the stadium of Benfica that was Portugal vs. Sweden. Portugal won. They scored one goal, Ronaldo (who is very very nice looking...;)), scored it and people are still excited about it. When the game ended we happened to be in the area (we got in house late because we couldn't even walk through all the crowds, and I lost Sister Stokes twice!), and it looked like a gigantic mass of thousands of people leaving a funeral. They all looked so sad, I thought they'd lost. The Portuguese are so different that us in the US! We would have been going crazy:).

I can't think of anything really to say, we haven't been up to anything new. Arlindo (Jessica's grandpa), nothing has changed with him (he fell up the stairs in his apartment building and so he couldn't walk to go down them so he could go to church, and so he didn't come:(). Guilherme didn't come to church, which was super super sad. We did have a man who showed up though named Eduardo. Sister Briggs and I met him last transfer. He came up to us and asked us how he could get Joseph Smith's Bible, and so we handed him the Book of Mormon. Yesterday was the first time I haven't seen him drunk. I think he liked church a lot though, so that's cool. He always has lots of wacky questions. Sister Briggs and I called him Eduardo Mushrooms because he told us one time that that's the way that he has spiritual experiences and how great mushrooms (the drug kind) are, and then he tried to convince us we should try it. I couldn't believe that he actually came to church so that was awesome. Then the girl that we met last week, who was the friend of a member, she went to YWs and to seminary once this week. She really likes the church, she likes that we don't scream when we pray. She says she wants to be baptized, but she's still underage and she doesn't have the time right now to talk to us. I hope we can figure it out though because I would love to see her and her niece baptized:). Oh, Yesterday, we spent almost all day with an inactive member. She was super nice, and she's gonna come to church on Sunday because Irmã Ellen is gonna give her a ride. We stayed to long and We had 30 minutes left before we could go inside and we tried to contact a few people, but it was super pathetic. We contacted this man and his dog, introduced ourselves and asked him if he believed in God, and he said no, and we were so tired we didn't even keep trying to talk to him when he walked away haha. Then we decided to wander on our street and contact everyone that we saw... which was no one because it was cold and dark and a Sunday, but we were about to turn back when we saw a young man and we decided we should talk to him. His name is Hugo and he speaks English perfectly and he's really awesome. He was super curious and we ended up teaching him the first lesson in the road, in English, which it is super hard to teach in english, especially to pray. We're gonna meet with him this week, and we're excited about it. It's funny, because we were so anxious to go inside and we had like 15 minutes til we could go inside and we talked to him and we ended up going in 5 minutes after the latest we can be outside (we can go in the house at 9:30 and we HAVE to be in the house by 10 or else we have to call the Zone leaders)! 

Well, I've got to go! Love you all tons! This gospel is true!

Love,

Sister Wach  

Hey Mãe!
My new companion is Sister Stokes, she's not so new, since we're now going on week three together:). She's sweet. She's almost a year older than me, she's very pretty and she's from Henderson, Nevada.

Well, this week was good. It started out a little rough, but ended fabulously. We went to Linda Velha for Pday and we went to the Torre de Belém, a monastery, and the Monument to Discovery. It was all really cool and I took lots of cool pictures. Tuesday we had training and interviews with President. It was good. It's always good to learn to be a new missionary. Then we, on Wednesday, had the sister training leaders come and we did divisions and so I spent the day with Sister Gibbs, who came into the mission with me. She was great, and it was just what I needed. I'd been having kind of a rough time lately and I had just felt like I'd kind of lost Megan somewhere along the way, the fun spirited and hard working part. I was just tired and kind of ornery. But in the training with President we'd been given these new books that the church is now giving missionaries that talks about better adjusting to missionary life, and we were challenged to use it, and so I decided to do just that. I'd already read it all, because I'd borrowed it from the office with the office elders' permission a few weeks before, and so I decided to look in a part that I remembered reading about "rededicating yourself" to the Lord and so I decided to give it a whirl on Friday:). When I woke up on Saturday, I just found myself ready to have a great day, or at least to fake it. We ended up talking to LOTS of people and it just turned out great. Then I had more confidence for Sunday, so on Sunday, Sister Stokes and I taught our first lessons of the transfer that weren't just in the road lessons! We even had a member present for all of them! It was an absolutely fabulous day. We had two really cool experiences. The first one we had just taught a lesson at a house when a little girl that I had seen before came up and stood by us to stare at us. I'd talked to her before and given her one of our cards with Jesus' face. I asked her if she still had it and she said yes, that it was on the wall in her bedroom. Then we asked if we could talk to her mom, and she said she didn't live with her mom but with her aunt instead. We went with her, and the person who opened the door at her house was one of her cousins, who just happened to be a friend of the member's from school. Then the member invited her to an activity we're having (I'm going to teach the youth how to make brigadeiros in the microwave) and said she'd come and get her before so she could come to the activity also! Then afterward we taught a lesson with a man who had been taught in the past by the sisters named Guilherme. We were a little apprehensive because we read his record that we have from the last time he was taught. we got to the lesson, and he lots of questions. We didn't have answers for them, so
I told him that he just needed to pray and he would know that the church was true and if he knew that, then the rest wouldn't matter. He told us after that he had done that already but that he hadn't received an answer. So then I told him that I was the same way. I hadn't felt any warm feeling in my heart or anything fancy when I prayed to know it was true, but instead I had put it into practice and learned that it was true. So I promised him that if he put it into practice then he would know it was true. Then a member invited him to an activity about eternal marriage and I told him that he should go if he really wanted to know and come to church also. He said he didn't have time because of school (he's working on a masters in engineering), but I told him that if he really wanted to know, he had to do the work to find out. Then we left at that and we went to our apartment to get our jackets and a quick dinner. When I was making dinner I felt like I just needed to call him, and so I did. When I called him I told him that if he would act like a member, read his scriptures, pray, keep the commandments in the pamphlets (he'd had all the lessons the first time around, but had a ton of questions about each "rule" and so we just handed him all the pamphlets and told him to read them), and go to church, he would know that it was true. He said that he didn't have time, and I pointed out that it was just ten minutes of scripture reading, and two one minute prayers, and an hour of church, and he said he would do it. I know, with all my heart, that if he does what we told him to do (which is what the spirit told us to say), he will know it's true. It was a cool experience, to be able to promise something like that as a servant of the Lord and say it without a doubt. Afterward, we were on fire, and so we did 8 contacts in half an hour. It ended up being a really good day, and it was nice to have such a pick me up after two rough weeks:). All in all, it was a great week, I even finally got the recipe for microwave brigaderios. I made them for some of the ward, and they loved them. I was told a few times (this is hilarious that this what a Brazilian man considers to be something that you have to have in a woman) by a few of the Brazilian men that after the mission I am finally ready to get married haha. So the qualifications for marriage for Brazilians living in Portugal is to be able to make good brigadeiros haha:). We're also teaching a man named Arlindo, it's Jessica's grandpa. He's really great. He can't walk though because half of his body is paralyzed and so a family (the same family that pays for us to eat out) picks him up on Sundays. He says he knows the church is true and he wants to be baptized (we had a really powerful lesson with him about it) but he says that he won't be baptized until he can walk to church by himself. So, we'll just see what happens there. We're still teaching Andre, but he probably won't be baptized this week because we haven't been able to get into contact with him.
Well, I got to go, but I love you tons!
Love always,
Sister Wach

 

Hey Mãe!
I bought myself some really ugly rain boots this week. The next time
that you send one of those flat packages, do you think that you
could send the church magazines for November? It takes a really long
time for us to get them here, and I'd really love to read the talks
again, plus I miss the New Era and Friend:). If not, no worries:).
Jessica loved the stuff that you sent and she was super excited about the ring, Jessica's friend in the ward, Bruna, she just
turned 8 and was baptized yesterday (more later on that) and so I gave her one also. They love them. Sister Briggs did get transferred, she's now in Viseu, and my new comp, is coming from there, her name is Sister Stokes (I think) and she only has one transfer less than I do. I haven't met her yet because right now I'm waiting in the area of Lapa (the area where the cruise ships dock) with the sisters for her to get here from the 4 hour bus ride (can I just say that I am jealous of four hours to sit and do nothing? haha). I'm hoping that we'll be good friends.
Well, this week was good. We had another rough one, but it was still
good. It rained lots, and it's starting to be a little cold. I don't
think I've ever been as wet as this week. It was like once a day there was a flash flood. I even, as I said, bought some really ugly
rain boots. It's good though, only the elect walk in the rain:). Oh,
remember last week how I wrote about that weird phone call that we
got? Haha, well he called back on Tuesday morning and I answered
because I didn't save the number in the phone, and oh man, hilarious, and awful:). I couldn't really understand him the first time he talked on Monday, but it was super easy the next time. It was a wrong number, a really wrong number. He was really surprised that our services as missionaries were free and he wanted to meet up at night on Thursday. I don't know if that got the point across to you, but Sister Briggs and I had a good laugh. He was Brazilian, and he kept calling us "raparigas," which is no big deal in the portuguese that I speak, it just means girls, but in Brazilian Portuguese it doesn't mean that haha. Oh, and one of the recent converts from our area, he came to a class that the ward members do every week... drunk! Way drunk haha. It's so interesting that I had no idea how to tell that stuff, and now... the stuff you learn on the mission:). He's a good guy, he comes to church every week (sometimes drunk) but he'll figure it out, he's just going through a rough patch. So, not much else has happened this week, I really have no idea what to write about, a lot of the mission is the same. Like I said above, one of the ward members got baptized, so that was really cool. Her dad was in charge of everything, and the
poor guy had no idea what he needed to do. We offered to help but he
said he had it under control (then, 15 minutes after the service was
supposed to start, he asked us to make programs for it haha, and
nobody turned on the font because they didn't know how and so I did it during the second hour of church... good thing she's small:)), it
turned out really good though, he even cried, so that was awesome to
see:). They've been members for about three years, and the whole
family was baptized:). They're going to go to the temple in December
to be sealed. The older brother baptized Bruna, so that was cool too. As missionaries, we can only hope that the people that we baptize will stay, and I hope that the elders who found this family know what an asset this family has been to the ward:). I hope that I can find people like that also:). They asked Sister Briggs and I to do a special musical number right before, so she played the guitar, and I sang, we sang Secret Prayer (I think that's what it's called in English, in Portuguese it's Secreta Oração), it turned out good. It was really cool to get to be there and see that, especially since so many people are converts, it's awesome to see the next generation:), and to see the way that this gospel changes lives. It's amazing to see the miracles in peoples' lives. On Sunday, during the baptism, a woman spoke, and she asked why didn't she receive the gospel when she was younger, and she wished that she had, and then the next speaker said the same. I just think about how spoiled I've been, to be born and raised in a family that really values the gospel, where I never lived in another way. I've been truly blessed, and I'll never take that for granted again. This gospel really is true, and I'm so grateful for all that it's done in my life. Well, today has been really nice so far. The office elders took me to Lapa to stay with the sisters there (Sisters Hayes (my MTC comp) and Baird) and it's just been so refreshing. They're like a burst of fresh air:). I love you all! We're gonna go to a German store and I'm super excited because I hear that they have some great stuff, Sister Sandholtz always talked about it and how I needed to go there, and now I finally will:).
Love ya tons! Thanks again for everything!
Love always,
Sister Wach

Hey Mãe!

Thanks so much for the package! It was great! I couldn't eat all the candy, so I ate a bunch and shared a bunch and then tucked the rest away into one of my suitcases so that I can eat it later in the mission:). I'm making a list for my Christmas package, so just let me know when you want to know what's on that list haha. Don't worry, it's a short one:). I just got the second package, thanks it was great also. I'm excited to give Jessica the stuff, she'll love the ring. She is so adorable, you would love her. She was confirmed yesterday and so we had someone else bring her to church instead of us (we're gonna leave eventually so someone else has got to take care of her) and we walked in and she was there, said a quick hi and then ran off to Primary, where she was the first one there and she sat in the dark and studied her scriptures. She's the best. I've now baptized two AWESOME people. If it was just those two I baptized (I hope I baptize more), but if it's just those two, at least their absolutely amazing. The baby, Nuno, he's still in the hospital. He caught a cold and so he has been having trouble breathing and he also isn't eating. He's the tinest thing. Truthfully I'm worried that he might not make it, he's just struggling SO much right now. I think that'll break Asto's heart. 

Sounds like things are going well at home. Sounds busy. Being busy is always better than doing nothing, that's for sure. Can you believe that it's almost Halloween?! Are you partying already? I know that's your favorite holiday. Halloween doesn't even exist here. It's sad, though they are putting up the Christmas decorations.

This is the last week of the transfer, but I think it's really really unlikely that I will be transferred from here because I've only been here for one transfer. I think Sister Briggs is more likely to go to another area that I am. Transfer calls are this coming Sunday, but you can keep sending letters to the Rua Jorge Barradas address because I'll get them no matter what, even if I am transferred.  

Well, this week was good. As always, the weeks are a little rough, but they're always good. Last Pday we went to Lapa and we saw this cool statue and we saw the sisters from our zone there, so that was cool. There's also a castle and a bunch of cool stuff there, but we didn't go because S. Briggs had already been, so I'll just go with my next companion. It was fun and I'd imagine that's probably where the Hutchins were docked when they came because there was a cruise ship and I have never heard so many people speak English in one day! I also met some Brazilians from Port Alegre that I talked to and told them that dad had served there. It was really cool, my art history teacher would have been really jealous;). Today, we went out to eat with the elders in our district (we go with them like three times a week to eat) and the restaurant we went to was near a monument and a monastery, so they let us stop by and it was really cool also. It's a monument to Christopher Columbus and it is placed in the exact spot where his ship took off. The Portuguese are really funny about him. They love him and have lots of pride in him, there is even a mall in our area named after him, but the funny part is that they rejected him and said he was crazy and they wouldn't pay for him to go on the voyage and yet still have so much pride in him! The rest of the week was pretty normal. We worked with the members a lot more this week so that was great. I'm finally getting to know them and they're really awesome also. I think the members are one of the things I really love about the mission. They're just such great people! We're also teaching two really cool Brasilians, Ramo (yes, his name means branch) and Lilian, who we've only taught the first lesson to each, but we're supposed to teach them both today after Pday ends. On Saturday, it was pretty cool, the phone rang, and it was a number that I didn't recognize and so I answered and the person asked if I knew who it was, and I thought I knew who it was, but I didn't think it could possibly be her because it was pretty much impossible, but it was! It was Cátia, from my last area.  She's awesome, I miss her and Anna tons! Sunday though, was the fun day. First, we  had Relief Society and then Gospel Principles, and then the fun part, Sacrament. When we sat down, the bishop came up to me and he was saying something that I wasn't understanding and when I finally understood, he was telling me that one of the speakers hadn't shown up and he wanted me to speak!!! I asked him what about and he told me missionary work. Pois. I tried to prepare a little something (Elder Fuller helped me a little, he's a lifesaver) and then when I got up there, I didn't use any of it, but I think it went well, who knows. I'm gonna be good at public speaking without reading it off of paper. When I get home, I won't have any problems, well as long as I do it in Portuguese...;). Then, I sat back down after, and one of the members granddaughters came and sat next to me, she kept putting her head in my lap and on my shoulder and rubbing her head on me and I just had this sudden thought "look at her head" and I looked, and she had LICE ALL OVER!!! Hardest sacrament ever. Afterwards, I went home and I changed all my clothes and I covered all my hair in cooking oil and then I took a shower. I'm paranoid, I'll admit it. If I get lice, I'm getting a really good haircut. Then later, we went to a devotional with some of the youth and afterwards we were talking with some of the members (it was all the members in our stake and the Amadora stake) and I was speaking to one and Sister Briggs was speaking to a recent convert from April and I looked over at her and he was whispering into her ear that she was beautiful!! Boy did I pull her out of there fast and I was not happy with him, and then I realized he was WAY drunk! Oops. We get told that we're beautiful all the time by weird people. Today, the phone rang while Sister Briggs was doing her computer time, and so I answered and it was some man named Pedro and I couldn't understand a word he was saying (our cellphone is REALLY awful) and so I had no idea what he was saying except for that I had a beautiful voice haha. Then I took the phone to Elder Fuller who told him off and the man tried to say that he had the wrong number but afterwards he called again. I have no idea what he was saying, but for once I was glad the phone doesn't work very well because I'm pretty sure it was crude. Men are pigs. Elder Fuller says that we should just walk away from any man who says that kind of stuff to us, and I told him then we would never talk to any men haha. 

Also, I keep forgetting to tell you, remember how you were telling me that Harry Potter was based off of a school here in Portugal? Well, that school is in my area and so I get to see people in capes all the time. One time, one saw us and he asked if we were Mormons, Sister Briggs was trying to be funny and so she said "Yeah, wanna get baptized?" Boy, did he run away so fast! She felt bad, but it was hilarious! 

I've also learned a lot this week. I'm happy for my trials. They're hard, but I would never have become who I am without them. We don't change and grow when things are easy. I've been trying to pray and say thank you to Heavenly Father for all the trials, aches and pains, and things that go wrong in a day, and it's been making me feel so much happier. It's amazing the difference a change in attitude makes!

Well, I love you all! Thanks for everything!

love always,

Sister Wach

Hey Mom!

Thanks for the letter, and for the package. I got the package today. Tell everyone I said thanks! It came on Friday but the laws here in Portugal are really awful when it comes to packages and so whenever a package comes it pretty much always has a fee that has to be paid and normally the mission pays for the fee and then we pay them back (so they can hold the package for us) and so the elder who was picking up packages didn't have enough money to get mine too and so he left it there at the post office. Thankfully, the elders said that my package had a really cheap fee compared to others. Some of the people have to pay over $100!!! It's kind of ridiculous because if they can't refund the mission then the mission doesn't take it out of the post office and so it just gets sent back to the parents, then they've wasted however much money it was. So, I had to wait the weekend to go and get it. I went and got it this morning:). It's great, thanks a ton! I'm wearing my new skirt right now and I'm excited to eat all that candy, you guys are the best:).

My comp and I are doing fine. She's a nice girl. She's a hard worker. Jéssica and her mom are okay. The mother Asto, scheduled a hair appointment for during church yesterday and so Jéssica didn't get the Holy Ghost and we got in trouble with our elders because the last three of our baptisms haven't gotten it (I was only here for Jéssica and I have yet to meet the other two people). It's really sad and it makes Sister Briggs really stressed out because the others aren't answering our calls. One of them, she got offended, and then the other, he got a new job and now he works on Sunday (he also almost backed out of his baptism, so we're not sure what's going on with him) and we have no idea where he lives (don't ask me how that happened) and his phone doesn't work anymore. It's so sad to see when that happens, when the people miss out on blessings or when they receive trials or blessings to show if they really are committed to the gospel and then they decide to stop coming to church. The church is true, and that should be all that matters, not whether or not they were offended. I think that's one of the hardest things here. A lot of people are offended. The Portuguese people just have a lot of pride, in their nation and in themselves, which of course can be good, but it can be bad also. No worries though, Jéssica will get the Holy Ghost next week if it's the last thing that I do! The baby, Nunu, isn't doing to great. He came home from the hospital (he's stinking adorable) and then he had to go back because he caught this nasty cold that's going around. It's a bummer because Asto wants to be baptized, she's just never home for us to teach the lessons or to come to church because she's always there. I hope he gets better soon so he can come home.

Sorry about having a crazy week! Tell Katie to brush those teeth!:) Don't worry, I think I have some too (cavities). Dag gummit. That lipgloss sounds gross, but it looked beautiful on Jacob. Tell him he should wear it everyday. Poor baby Katie, tell her I love her:). Oh, and about the messiness... you would be surprised how much the mission changes that... I'm OCD now about cleaning. I absolutely hate when there are dishes in the sink or when the floor is messy. I think I've gone crazy. I always put all my stuff away too. You wouldn't believe it haha. Oh, and I made that chicken recipe you sent me and the cheesecake. The elders like the cheesecake alot, though I didn't have vanilla wafers and so I tried to use these super cheap Portuguese cookies called Bolachas de Maria, and it was gross. They burned. The chicken was great. I made it first on chicken that was boneless (boneless chicken is SUPER expensive here) and it was delicious. The second time I made it on a whole chicken (they come like that here, with the neck and little hairs on the skin and all) and Sister Briggs said it was delicious. I couldn't stomach it. Though, she's trying to make me fat, she makes this Brazilian food called Pão de Queijo almost everyday and man, I can't help myself, they're just SO good haha. Will you please send me the recipe that dad used to make the Brigadeiros in the microwave for Christmas? They're Sister Sandholtz's favorite and so I wanted to make some for her and send them with someone who is headed to the islands. I asked all the Brazilians in the ward, but I think they've been in Portugal so long that they forgot haha. One said he would bring it to me, but I think he forgot also.

Well, this week was good. We walked lots, and talked to lots of people. We're a little dry in the teaching area because none of our investigators are progressing, but things are still good here. I'm happy to be here all the same:).We've met some good people this week in the road, so we're just hoping that they'll turn into investigators. We had a family in church this week, so that was good. I just have to humble myself to teach them. They're nuts about they're religion. They're spiritualists or something like and boy, do they know how to talk! Good people though, with good moral values, now we just have to get them headed in the right direction because Satan has got a good grip on them! Oh, tell Sister Rodrigues that Inacia is doing great, she's a cute little old woman and that Adão brings her to chuch every week, and that she's still telling us that her neighbor is a witch. Also, that Irmão Edson took her to his house this weekend and all the primary kids were there for an activity with Irmã Zíla and so they learned how to sing I'm a child of God and they sang it to Inacia. I think she had a good time, and now the ward knows about the state of her house. No one should leave a 92 year old to live alone. That's the problem with Benfica. Lots of old people. It was probably hopping in the 1950's, but now all those people are old and they didn't have any kids to take care of them. One day, the streets will just be deserted here.
Inacia is pretty good at doing stuff on her own though, at least for a 92 year old. She still walks after all:). Also, tell Sister Rodrigues that Inês still hasn't gotten the Holy Ghost and we try to meet with her every day, but she says she's too busy for us. She got offended at a JAS activity and now doesn't want to come back. I don't know if she can do anything about it, but maybe she could try and contact her on Facebook?

The church here is young, and the members are different than in the states, but wow, if you could just see the youth here! They're amazing. A lot of them were baptized without their families being baptized also and they come every week by themselves. They're amazing. One of them, she's an orphan, her name is Marisa. We went this week to where she lives (we had a CD from Portugal EFY for her, which is a great CD by the way, I don't know what it's called in English, something like Stand in Holy Places probably), and she lives in a CATHOLIC ORPHANAGE like forever away. Sister Briggs saw her first nun, she was pretty happy about that. Marisa is fabulous though. There are lots of them. Another that I like a lot is Kemmer. His mom and sister were baptized also, but he was baptized first. One day the missionaries talked to him the street and they asked him some serious questions, that got him thinking and he went home and talked to his mom about them, next thing you know, they're talking to the missionaries and he's baptized! They're great members, they're like a light in the dirty bairro:), now if only the dad would get baptized. We've been working with him, but he doesn't have a desire which is a big bummer. Irmã Odete says she knows he´ll get baptized later. I sure hope so. There are just a whole bunch of them. I'm really glad that they're the future of the church here. Now if we can just find a few more to strenghten them too. 

Well I have no idea what else to say, but I love you guys! Also, keep up the missionary work, Loretta will get it soon. Do you go to a weekly meeting with the missionaries and the ward mission leader? If not, you should ask the ward mission leader about it, because you should have one every week and you should be there to know what they need. They'll give you a paper with all the numbers and addresses on it of the people they're teaching, and it's your job to call those people and fellowship them. I know it seems kind of awkward to call random people, but one of the hardest things for us as missionaries is to get the ward to participate, and yet the work is 1000 times better with their help. The people the missionaires are teaching will need friends in the church to help them to stay firm and to learn more. Keep working hard, you'll recieve lots of blessings for it:). This is a great time to do member missionary work. The work is hastening and all the energy of the church is now being put on missionary work (did you see the Friend and the New Era?! Awesome) and as members it's our job to jump in and help! Think of someone that you could share the gospel with and do it!

Love you tons!

Love,

Sister Wach

P.S. Tell people to write me paper letters, the kind you send in the mail. I'm needing some letters!;) 

 Ricki – If anyone wants to send her a paper letter let me know I can take it to the post office for you.  It usually cost $1.10J The address is on the blog:)

Hey Mom!

Things here are great. We're working hard. We're a little dry when it comes to investigators, but we've got some really great appointments with some this week. All Brazilians. I have a hard time understanding Brazilian Portuguese. It's SO different. The accent is just SO different. We talk with lots of shhhing noises and the words are said as if you were saying them like they're read, so noite sounds like 'noit' with a silent e like we would do in english. But it's going good. I still speak with an american accent, but I'll get it soon enough. 

The weather has been nice again, so that's great. I don't really know what we've been up too. The days all just blend together, but the last few days have been awesome with conference. Earlier this week I got to do some training with the Sister Training Leader, Sister Santos, and that was awesome. Turns out she was Sister Davis' last comp before me and so S. Davis talked about her a lot. It was funny because S. Santos (de Brazil) and I do like everything a like (because S. Davis was her second comp, you kind of find your way of teaching with your second comp), and so it was hilarious to notice all the similarities! Saturday we watched the Relief Society broadcast in the morning and then we got to go to President and Sister Fluckiger's house to watch conference!! It was so awesome! It was from 5-7, the first session, and it was great. I felt like the whole thing was about member missionary work. Sister Fluckiger made a delicious dinner too, which was awesome. We had barbequed hamburgers. It was like being in the US. It was cool too because there was also an RM there with her fiance. It just happened to be Sister Gangee, the trainer of Sister Davis, which then makes her my grandma in the mission (if that doesn't make sense, ask Dakota or any other missionary)! That was cool. She's marrying one of her converts from the mission. He went inactive when she left his area and has been for a year, but now he's going back to church because of her, so at least that's good. The power of women não eh?. Then on Sunday we went and watched the Priesthood Session in Portuguese with one of our investigators, André, who is moving to Angola this week, so that stinks because he loves the idea of the temple. Then we watched the Saturday afternoon session and the Sunday morning session at President's house again and we got to eat more delicious food. I brought Tarte dos Três. It was a hit and S. Fluckiger wanted my recipe! Oh yeah! There was the cutest little recent convert there, and she felt just SO privileged to be there! She is probably 70 and she was just shaking with excitement and amazement at the beautiful house the WHOLE time. Darling~.

Today we went to the ZOO! You know how I feel about the zoo. No thanks. But they have DOLPHINS. It was super expensive to go, but the dolphins made it all worth it. I'll show you the videos in a year. They had an awesome dolphin show. We went with the elders in our district, the office elders, so that was really fun, and before that we ate at the Brazilian restaurant. I don't know how everyone here has been eating there for three transfers. I can't eat there anymore. Haha. 

Well, got to go! Thanks for everything!! Love you tons!

Sister Wach

Hey Mama:)

I don't have a lot of time left, but I just wanted to say that this week was good and that we had a baptism this week! The little girl that I said that I found my first day here with S. Davis, she was baptized. It was the coolest thing ever. She was just so happy and I'm hoping that it will help kick start the mom so that then she'll be baptized next. She said she wants to be, she just doesn't feel prepared, which is our job of course. I ate at another Brazilian restaurant this week and we eat at the buffet owned by the member every week. I think I have eaten more Brazilian food this transfer than Portugese food, especially since the two members that have feed us this past week are Brazilians too... haha. Brazilian Portuguese is so hard to understand! I understand the Africans and the Portuguese but when it comes to the Brazilians I have to listen really hard and make them repeat themselves sometime haha.

I'm glad that you're having fun. I'm sad that I missed out on going to conference with you guys. I'll be there next year! Crazy! Tomorrow is the day that I will officially go home. It could be earlier than that, but it can't be after the first of October, so after tomorrow you can know for sure that I'll be home by then:).l I can't believe it's already been six months! Fastest six months of my life. Especially September and August, they just FLEW.
Keep being a good example and a good friend. Watch for opportunities to share the gospel. It will bless their lives, they just don't know it yet.

 Tell everyone that I said hi!

Love always,

Sister Wach

 

Hey Mommy:)

This week was good.We didn't hit our goals, but transfer weeks are always a little bit of a shake up; getting to know a new area, meeting investigators, and just working things out. Benfica is pretty cool. It's really dirty and ghetto, there isn't a single tourist spot in the area, but I'm glad to be here. My companion, Sister Briggs is really great. She's from Minnesota and she's in her second transfer, so I'm training her. She speaks amazing Portuguese and she likes to work hard. Her first transfer was really rough, she wanted to go home and she had been praying for a new companion because the first one was just not working out. Now, here I am, and I totally understand how she feels. She's great though and I think that she's starting to see the mission differently already. 
The work here is at a full on sprint. It's kind of crazy after working in an area where the work was crawling. We have four people marked for baptism in the next little while and we're teaching a whole bunch of progressing investigators, it's super crazy.SO DIFFERENT. I don't think that I could have gone from an area any different to São Miguel. Though the ward members here seem really great also.
Monday, I got here and it was rough, actually until Thursday was a little rough. Because we're by the office (not the mission home), we're kind of like a hotel. We have one room and a tiny little living room. Both very small, and yet we have 6 mattresses so that we can house others. So until Thursday we had people staying with us until they left, one of them was S. Briggs old comp- talk about awkward. It was like stepping all over someone else territory.  This week we taught some people that were actually home! It was weird because we taught the third lesson and I've hardly taught that lesson because we just didn't make it to teaching it in São Miguel, and now I've taught it 3 times in one week! We also ate at a Brasilian restaurant, like the one in Salt Lake with the people who bring around the meat. It's owned by one of the members and so every week, we and the office elders go for free! It's awesome. All the members here are either Brazilian or African, which is strange for me also after coming from an area with only Portuguese.
Because I still don't know the area too well, there isn't too much for me to talk about, but there have been a few things that have happened that were really cool! When I first got to the mission, S. Davis and I spent the night here in Benfica while we waited for our flight to São Miguel. While we were here we had the opportunity to teach some lessons and do some contacts. We contacted this woman named Asto and her daughter Jessica and S. Davis and I were just sure that they'd been baptized. Well, they weren't, but they are still being taught. Asto, at the time was pregnant, but she gave birth really early and so the baby has been in the hospital and she never has time for the lessons and hasn't come to church, but Jessica, absolutely loves the church and everything about it, she really wanted to be baptized, but she hadn't been to church either because of her mother not being able to go. Well, this week, we had church on Saturday (stake conference) and so right before, S. Briggs and I decided to go and get her. She absolutely LOVED it. She said that she felt so happy. The temple president and his wife from Madrid came and spoke and Jessica loved the idea of temples too. She was so perfect, the most well behaved 9 year old I have ever seen in church. Well I asked her during it when she wanted to be baptized and she said she was thinking the 29th of September. So, now, she's getting baptized on this next Sunday! Her mom already gave her permission and everything! How cool is it that the first person that I ever talked to in Portugal (Jessica and I walked together carrying her mom's heavy groceries and we talked about what she liked to do the first time I met her) is now going to be baptized and I'm going to get to watch?! Oh, and another cool thing is that she even remembered me! She saw me and she gave me a big hug and then she told me that she'd seen a picture of Sister Davis when she was working in the Algarve, and she also told me that she remembered that my favorite color is purple. Crazy huh?
I forgot to tell you last week, that Irmã Alexandra bought me new shoes again. Super expensive ones. It was really nice of her. They're from a sports store and they look like hiking shoes only they have straps on the top. In Ponta Delgada I was starting to lose my tan, and here it's coming back and I've got some great lines on my feet because of the straps;)

That's really cool about the card that someone sent. That was really nice of them. If you figure out who it was, tell them I said thanks a ton!

Well, I've got to go, but I love you! Thanks for everything! Have a fantastic week! Work hard with that new calling, it's one of the coolest there is. You're doing what Christ has asked us to do, to help him save his sheep. It's a fantastic calling. I hope that I can be one too when I get home. I would do it so much differently than I did the first time around.

Love always,
Sister Wach

 

From Ricki -   The card that Meg is talking about was a card we received this week from an anonymous person that had $100.00 in cash for Megan to put in her mission fund.  Thank you, thank you whoever you areJ  Not only did you help Megan but you also helped Ryan with his mission fund.  As most of you know Ryan has been paying $25.00 a month towards Megan’s mission (he works at Chick fil a).  So, you helped TWO missionaries  (now Rye can save 4 months worth for himselfJ) – thank you, thank you. 

The calling she is talking about is that I am now a ward missionaryJ hee, hee.