Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Hey Mommy!
I'm still here in Odivelas because transfers are next week and so I haven't been moved yet. I'll know next Sunday night:). We don't really know what's going on, and can't even predict what is going to happen. We know that a lot of sisters are coming in this transfer (only 13, which is nothing compared to the 35 that came in with me, but is more than we've had since then) so we think that our area will stay open, we just don't know which one of us will stay, but we don't think that we'll stay together. I got the envelope you sent, it was cool.
Odivelas is a really great area. The members are great, they never feed us, (and I don't think they ever will because now the mission has changed the rules about eating with members because the members must now invite an investigator- the only member who was feeding us said that he won't be anymore because there isn't enough room in his house for an investigator also) but they're still great. Soccer mania has been good, but Portugal is out, so things are a little less crazy:), though everyone is still interested in watching the other games. The weather is blasted hot. I don't know how I'm going to survive another summer. It's kind of miserable haha. 
I really like the scripture you sent, it reminds me of Luke 22:32, which is a fabulous scripture. When we become strong (or in other words, converted), we must then do the same for the people around us who need to be strengthened. 
This week was good. We worked like CRAZY and we had some crazy goals that we just blasted out of the water. I think that it was probably the best week that I've had in my mission, lesson and new investigators wise! We met a lot of families this week also, which is really cool, families are the best. We only had one person show up to church though. His name is Alexandre and he's 7th Day Adventist. They pretty much worship Saturday, so it was really interesting to have him there at church. It was also interesting because he's obsessed with the Bible and normally of course, since we believe in the Book of Mormon, we quote it a lot during church, which then offends investigators because we "don't use the Bible enough" but we were blessed and NO ONE quoted the Book of Mormon, all scriptures were from the Bible. Also, the lesson during Gospel Principles was about church on Sundays, and then there was a fabulous talk given about temples that was all backed up by the Bible, and the sister who gave it did a fabulous job! 
Also, we marked someone to be baptized. Sadly we talked to him the next day and he told us that he was MOVING!!! Ugh. So, on Sunday he moved WAY up north to a place called Moncorvo, which is a good hour drive by car from the closest branch. So that stinks. Hopefully the elders there will be able to meet with him and get everything figured out.
Today, we're going to go to downtown Lisboa, to the castle because it's our District Leaders last week in the mission, and he's never been. It'll be fun, but I won't lie, I've been there a billion times and I don't really want to go again. Haha, at least it'll be free with our bus passes! Sadly, today is the last day with them and they won't work anymore until we renew them, which we're going to wait to do after transfers. Looks like we're going to be doing LOTS of walking this week. 
 I read this the other day and thought that you might enjoy it. 
Love you!
Love, Sister Wach

Monday, June 16, 2014

Hey!
How are you doing?
I'm doing great. Lots and lots of work to be done. As Sister Rose told you, I got emergency transferred to an area called Odivelas in Lisboa. Sister Taylor and I opened an area here. It's super baking hot and it's super miserable. Our area is at the top of a HUGE hill and it's about 30 minutes from our apartment. I think we're gonna get bus passes;). It is the highest baptizing area in the whole mission though, and the ward here has 150 members!!! Which is more than double anywhere that I've served before! It's also almost all Brazilians in the ward! They have such a different accent than the Portuguese accent. They're all really strong members though, and the nice thing about most Brazilians is that they got to know the church in Brazil and so they know how it should function, or have served missions, and then they bring those strengths to the new branches and wards here that are all recent converts. Brazilians definitely are a people of faith!
I love you Mommy! Thanks for sending the pictures and for letting me know how the funeral was, it sounds like you had a lot of support and that it went really well. I was a little bumbed that I couldn't watch, but what President Nudd says is what goes. I'm sorry that this is so short, but I love you tons! If you want to look up my area on Google (have Rye help ya!) I'm serving in Famões and Arroja. Then type in my address and see how long it takes to walk there haha;).
Be strong and remember who you are!
Love always,
Sister Wach
My new address:
Rua Palmira Bastos No 1 12A
Odivelas
2675-425 Odivelas
Portugal

Monday, May 26, 2014

Hey Mom!
 To start off, I'm SO excited for Ryan! He is gonna LOVE it!!!! It'll be a fabulous mission. It'll be super nice too because he won't have the disadvantage of not knowing what's being said, and being able to teach like a master. Teaching in your native language makes your teaching way better. But Australia is gonna be SICK! That's crazy that he's going just before I get home! (By the way, I could probably just get into the MTC  with my employee badge from when I worked there... but that'd be cool to be in our tags together:)) sister Fluckiger told me where he would be going on Wednesday and I was so excited I couldn't even focus for the rest of the mission tour. Also Katie's baptism! So exciting! I can't really see the pictures, but I'm so proud of her!:)
So this week was really great, but also the end of it included some of the hardest days of my mission so far! We had mission tour this week, and so on Wednesday we rode the train up to lisboa and slept in the sisters house in amadora. Lisboa was ridiculously cold after being in the algarve which is super hot to going to 50 weather and everyone wearing giant coats! Thursday we had the chance to hear from Elder Keron of the 70. He did a really great job and taught us a lot of interesting things. He's a great guy. Also, I got to see Manuel (Elder Nazare) which was the coolest! Then I also found out that Natalina an investigator in Almada that I was teaching, got baptized! Then I found out about Ryan's call from Sister Fluckiger, and finally I had a personal interview with Elder Keron. I didn't get to talk to him long because I had to catch a train, but it was a really cool experience. He just expressed his gratitude for me being here and for the work that I've done. Then he prayed specifically for dad and my family. So, an apostle prayed for you all this week! Also he was excited for Ryan's call and was really impressed with Manuel. Mission tour was a really great experience. Then to top it all off, I got a 12 letters from Brett! I seem to be getting a lot of emails and letters from boys all of the sudden... I would say i must be at the end of my mission because I already have a few dates lined up... Haha. 4 more months, that I hope drag by super slowly. The mission is the best thing ever! Well then Friday we did weekly planning in a blanket fort in our living room... Aren't we cool? Then Saturday, the Roses took us out for ice cream because we had the cleanest apartment during apartment checks. That's where the week got hard... We happened to see a member of the ward who we really love and trust, doing something that shouldn't have been happening, and that really just broke our hearts. As a missionary you just come to love the people SO much, and when you see things like that it hurts so much to know that they're breaking their promise with heavenly father.  That had to have been the worst day of my mission, and then Sunday we had to get up and face the same problem. I won't lie, I cried, and I've not really cried my whole mission. Sunday wasn't bad though. I gave a talk on how to live the gospel in our daily lives. With talking, I've learned the best way to prepare a talk is to look for a few scriptures and make a few bullet points and just get up and let the spirit talk through you. It went really well. My piano playing wasn't so bad either:) I really am getting better.
Well,
I love you all! Have a great week!
Also, I didn't get transfered, and neither did sister Duke, its the first time I've stayed with a comp since sister Davis! That probably means that I will end my mission here in olhao, which is a crazy thought!
Love you!
Sister Wach

Monday, May 19, 2014

Hey Mommy!
I'm unhappy that Katie's baptism got moved. I got her a cute card and I wanted her to be able to read it on the actually day, but thought that it was still a while to go! Also, I have just not had enough time to write in it:P. It's cool to see a program done by the members. Tell her that I'm excited for her and that I love her!
It sounds like it's gonna be an insane week. The more insane the better right? I'm bummed that Rye still hasn't gotten his call! I guess I've got to wait until next week!
Also, I did get the shirt from Aunt Cherie this week, it's SUPER cute. Way too cute for missionary work haha. I wanted to wear it on Wednesday but I decided to wait and wear it at zone conference, and that day, I got some weird green stain on the shirt, and then I wanted to wear it on Thursday (I was impatient to use it), but I didn't, and I ended up cutting the shirt that I was wearing open on the arm when I bumped into someone's blinds and they slit the sleeve. Oops. Thankfully when I decided to be patient and wear it on Friday for zone conference, everything went great haha. Thank you also for the money! I already know what I'm gonna get haha. I got my Livro de Mórmon finally in the mail this week and I decided it was so beautiful that I want to do one in English also! They're expensive, but it's only something I can have done here, and it'll be a reminder of my mission forever:). I wanted to send you pictures, but turns out that the computers here at the library don't let you because the ability to read the camera is blocked:P. Super annoying. Let me just say, they're beautiful.
This week was good. It was unusual because Tuesday and Wednesday we had divisions with the Sister Training Leaders, which went well and was fun. Sister Ornano and I stayed up really late talking. Sister Duke went to Faro, so that was nice since we didn't have to plan plans for two companionships in one area. That's the worst thing about divisions. Then on Thursday we did our weekly planning because we had zone conference on Friday. The zone conference was good. We had interviews with President. Mine are always really short. I can't decide if that's good or bad. It always works out that the person in front of me has an interview for 30 minutes, then the one after me has one for 40 minutes, and then I get 5 minutes (though this one was a little longer, 8 minutes!;)). President is a really good guy.   Then Saturday and Sunday, to add to the weirdness, we had District Conference. Our area 70 came and spoke, so that was really cool. The Saturday session was neat because he talked about how to share the gospel using new technology. Sunday was good, but just not as interactive. We had an investigator there at both though, so that was really cool. His name is Mario and he's 28. Sister Ornano and I contacted him on Wednesday and he told us that he wasn't really interested because he doesn't believe in God, but said we could come by anyway on Friday. Well, we missed the appointment on Friday because we ended up not leaving zone conference until almost 6 pm, so we called and rescheduled for Saturday. He told us he still wasn't interested, but that he had read the pamphlet. Saturday we went over and again he said he wasn't interested and didn't want to talk to us, so we just asked him if we could leave a Book of Mormon with him, and leave with a prayer. He said yes. During the prayer, I just had this strong feeling to invite him to come to the District Conference (which was in like an hour). So I did, and he accepted! When we came back to get him, he told us that he had read the introduction to the Book of Mormon, and though he didn't really understand it, he had liked it. He also had changed into some nice pants (he's a handsome young man and he's got good fashion sense). We went and he said that he really liked it. He still keeps telling us he doesn't believe in God, but that he liked the message. Then during the whole conference, Elder Texeira (the 70), he kept calling Mario out, talking about how he, Elder Texeira feels about the missionaries who baptized him and how Mario will feel the same about us, and just baptism this and baptism that. Sister Duke and I were both bright red, as the members behind us kept wacking us on the shoulders and telling us good job. Poor Mario must have a sign on his back that says "invite me to be baptized". Then afterwards, we invited him to come on Sunday and he said yes! This time when we passed he was dressed even better! That's one of the things I think shows that the spirit is working, the fact that they change the way they dress for church (speaking of which, Gilberto came in a white shirt and tie and black pants! Talk about changes!). Mario also told us that he had read until "the first book of Nephi, chapter 2" haha, and that he didn't believe in the stuff about Joseph Smith because it doesn't make sense to him (we'll get there!). Then during the whole conference, he was sitting on the edge of his chair wide awake. He liked it, but still says he doesn't believe in God. We told him he has to pray to ask if he's there. He'll do it, and figure it out. Later, the branch president even called to ask about how teaching him was going! The only problem, which is really sad, is that when we went to pick him up, we found out he lives JUST BARELY in the elders area! Dang it. So, we're gonna pass him to them this week.
This week is gonna be good though. We're going up to Lisboa for a mission tour this week and so we won't be here for part of the week and then Sunday is transfers. I'm assuming that I'm staying so don't worry about that. It's always nice to have a little bit of a shake up during the week! The only crazy thing is that I can't believe how fast this transfer has gone! It's so weird to think that in the same amount of time that it has been since I picked up Sister Warner from the train station, I'll be at home! I keep hearing that the transfers get faster and faster, and it's so true. I just can't imagine them getting any faster!
I love you tons!
Have a great week!
Love always,
Sister Wach

Monday, May 12, 2014

Hey Mom!!
I'm glad I answered all your questions because I am just too tired to do so today. Haha, the hike and the sun took it out of me. Plus I got carsick on the way to and from the hike. Turns out that Elder Rose is a crazy driver (don't tell him that) and that the really windy, crazy Portuguese roads don't sit well with me. I guess I just like being behind the wheel instead of in the backseat;).
So this week was really good.
First off, I learned how to gut fish. Lot's of fun. We gut 16 fish.
Then also we've been teaching some cool people. Nuno and Vanessa are two of them. They are really strong in their church, but one of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ here in Olhão, Luís, is really good friends with them and so we've been teaching them. They're a great couple. Then Doris. She's the Brazilian I talked about yesterday. She's great also.
The hike was really great. We hiked to a small spring, which was beautiful, and we picked oranges and a fruit called nêspera on the way. They were delicious. Then we ate lunch at a park afterwards, it was really fun. It was hot though, 95 degrees. 
Um, sadly, the pictures took so long to send that I'm out of time. But I almost have what you sent. It would have come today, but we weren't home, so we're gonna go pick it up at the post office after this.
Let me know ASAP when Ryan gets his call!
I love you tons!!
Love,
Sister Wach
 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Hey Mom!
 First off, I got a new camera. It was 70 euros, which I think is somewhere in the range of $90. It's a good little camera and I've had a lot of fun playing with it. I'd decided I just couldn't not take any pictures for 5 months. About Mother's Day, it depends when the elders´parents and Sister Duke's parents go to church. Also, because by the time you get out of church it's already really late here. It's going to be 7pm already here and other people will still have to go. Would you be alright with doing it earlier in the morning? I don't want you to leave church early though. This is kind of stressful this way because we were just going to use the senior couple's tablet and laptop. Now we have one phone in the chapel. 
I'm excited for Rye to get his call! I'm gonna guess he is going to Argentina, only because every single one of my comps that has a brother on a mission has a brother serving there, so it's my turn!;).
Okay, your questions. This is the second senior couple, because I was able to spend a few weeks with the senior couple in Ponta Delgada when they got there. They were really nice. The branch is really great here. There are lots of recent converts who are really strong. Also, I still haven't gotten my Book of Mormon, which stinks because S. Caldwell and I sent ours in at the same time, and she got hers almost 2 weeks ago! I'm gonna call on Wednesday and see what's going on with it. Also, speaking of S. Caldwell, she got her trunky call this past week! That means that she knows what time she'll be flying home and what day and all that! Insane!!!
But this week was really good. We had Zone Meeting, which was fun. We practiced inspired questions, and the senior couple was nice enough to give us ride there so that we didn't have to take the train. Also, I got a few letters! I wasn't expecting any because I haven't gotten any at a Zone Meeting in a long time, but the other missionaries are right, people start to remember you exist when you get to the last 6 months of your mission! (Not to mention, that they were all boys...;))(oh, and I got a letter from the elder who went home...;)).
Also, our the District President, turns out he's a beekeeper! He's pretty cool. He's from Venezula. He gave us some honey, and it is super tasty.
Also, I just thought that I'd say some funny lines that some of the kids from the branch said this week:
"Are sister missionaries not allowed to do their hair"- Immanuel (age 5) (rude haha, but super cute, no, we just choose not to do our hair)
During the baptismal questions for Gilberto, the question about homosexual relationships...
"Of course not (as in he hadn't had one), you're my dad, and I have a mom, if not, I'd have two dads" Tania (age 9 and a recent convert whose dad was baptized)
During a prayer...
"Thank you for letting us be in the church today because this church is really good..." Nato (age 5 and son of the branch president)
Also, Sister Duke got locked in the bathroom this week. Talk about some fun. I had no idea what to do. It was 7am in the morning and we were getting ready to go running when I heard her knock on the door. Turns out something is wrong with the handle. And of course, I had to go to the bathroom also. So, I called the Roses (the senior couple) and they were nice enough to come and save her from the bathroom. While we waited, I gave her some reading material, a pamphlet haha. Good thing she puts up with me:).
Also the senior couple has been really great and have taken us to a park a couple times to run. It's really cool. The last time we went we decided to climb out on this old dock which was pretty cool. Of course I chickened out. I just didn't want to die, so S. Duke went to the end by herself:). They're gonna take us again tomorrow. They're really great. I don't know what we'd do without them.
I've also been playing the piano in church still. I'm getting better each week. Turns out that practice does make perfect after all! Haha. I sure wish that I'd practiced when I was taking lessons so I wouldn't have to practice here. At least I don't sweat anymore while I'm playing during sacrament. Thankfully, the branch is just happy to have someone who is willing to try and play. Though now they've got me playing for the primary program too. Great. The Children's Songbook is out of my league.
Also, we had a cool thing we did yesterday. It's called "Resgatar" and it's like a rescue type of thing. After church, a few of the members got back together and we went and visited less actives and people who hadn't come. All the groups had some really cool experiences, and I don't think that it will be the last time that they'll do it:).
Then, saving the last for the best, we had a baptism this week!!!! Gilberto, whose family was baptized last transfer, got baptized this week! He went from not having any interest when I first got here, to doing a complete 180! He quit smoking and started coming to church too!! He's a really great guy. It was all because we focused on the temple and the fact that families can be together forever. They're a great little family. Also, Gilberto changed SO much. He is just FULL of smiles now and he is just always happy. I'm grateful I was able to be here to watch him change. It was a really spiritual experience:).
Well, I'm gonna call you at 1:45pm ish on Sunday okay? That should be 8:45pm here. I think that's right. I'm gonna call at my time.
Also, tell Katie thanks again for the bracelet because I was totally ahead of the style here. At first I was the only one wearing one, and now EVERYONE has them haha. It's really funny.
I love you all tons!! Talk to you soon!
Love always,
Sister Wach

 
 

Monday, April 21, 2014

Hey Mom!
This week was good. It's rained a lot (which we're especially sad about because today we were going to go to an area called Tavira and go to a beach called Praia de Barril and play in the sand, sadly though, we woke up and it was rainy and cloudy, no worries though, patience is a virtue, and we'll just go next week.), but I'm still steadly working on my feet tan lines. Tan lines are the best. As a sister they're graduated tan lines on the legs (because of varying lengths of skirts), and super strong neck and feet tan lines. My face is still really white though thanks to some serious SPF 70 given to me by the dermatologist. Yeah! White face! 
I really like my new area. As I already said, Sister Davis served here, but since then, there has been A LOT of growth. They have a new chapel and a whole lot of members. It's just a branch, but there are 60 or more members every week, which is a lot more than the ward in Almada. The members here are really great too. Almost all of them are recent converts from the last two years, and they're all still learning, but they're willing. They don't feed us though because the sisters in the past didn't want to "get fat" and so they refused all meal offers from the members, and so they stopped feeding the sisters (they still feed the elders though, so I think we can get them to feed us). Some people just get to worried about getting fat in the mission. You just have to be smart, but also remember that we're never gonna get this opportunity again! Speaking of which, my wheat and sugar free diet didn't work out. Sister Dukes (who was here for a transfer and a half before I got here) can't have either of those, because she's allergic to wheat and sugar makes her sick, so I thought that I would be a good comp and try and do the same, but I failed. By Wednesday I had bought 2 donuts and a loaf of bread. Turns out I'm a sugar and wheat addict. We have been exercising really well though, as in, we ran more than 12 miles this week. I think that the most I've ever run in one day in the mission is probably a mile, but on Saturday we ran 4 miles! I almost died. Turns out that I'm a little out of shape. 
Sister Duke is really great. She is super cute and super nice and she always makes me feel good about myself. She's also a hard worker and has no fear. Sister Dukes also likes to run. She ran like I did before the mission, a marathon and just lots of daily distance running. The only difference is she kept running in her mission:). I'm lazy.
The chapel here is really nice. It's on a well known road called Avenida da Republica. It's number 216 if you wanna check it out. It's new and they're painting it again right now just for good measure. Though, actually, I just looked it up on google, and the picture is from before the chapel was there, and so it's just the front of the chapel which is totally graffittied by a famous graffiti artist here called Sen. He gets paid by the government to graffiti the whole place.  But take it on my word, the chapel is really nice, though it's already too small for the use of our branch. Oh, and guess what, they don't have any one who can play the piano here! I've never seen a ward so happy to have anyone plunk away at the piano awkwardly. Who would it be who is playing the piano? This Sister here. Yup. I'm learning to play the piano in my mission. It's going alright, I'm not going to be a piano mastermind, but I've heard worse, and plus the branch here doesn't notice the difference, they're just glad someone is willing to play.
Our apartment is nice. It has a backyard (which is just a tiled area behind the house which is REALLY dirty, turns out that no one has stepped back there in a really long time), which has annoying dogs in the backyard that is next door and also a floor above, who always bark when we come outside. It's a perfect sized apartment. It's not so big that it takes forever to clean, but then not so small that it's  cramped and dirty. We have two rooms and a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. The water heater works perfectly which makes it already way better than the apartment in Almada. 
I also haven't eaten any fish here yet, though Luis, one of the members, said he would catch some for us and bring them to us. I actually during my mission have eaten some really great fish. It's not my favorite food still, but it's growing on me. 
For Easter we didn't really do anything. It was a REALLY slow day for missionary work, because not only was it Easter (which is not a very big holiday here), but also there was a soccer game between Benfica (my favorite team, and yes, they won) and the team from here in Olhão. Turns out that no one likes the team here, and so we heard honking and music and parties all night long because everyone was so excited that Benfica had won. But we did make ourselves some good food. For breakfast we had banana and chocolate pancakes (made with rice flour), then for lunch, bean burgers on rice cakes (Sister Duke's last comp was a vegetarian and so she taught her how to make them) and a chocolate bar we bought ourselves to celebrate, and then for dinner we had pork with vegetables and rice. It didn't really feel like Easter, though we did boil some eggs. Sister Duke decorated hers, and I was just too lazy, mine are still in the fridge.
We don't really have any investigators, and really aren't teaching anyone. We just do contacts all day with the Jehovah Witnesses. They're EVERYWHERE here. We do have a family, Família Santos, that was baptized last transfer that is really great.          
The mom and daughter were baptized but not the father, who was smoking. He wasn't really progressing because he wasn't coming to lessons or church, but when we went there the other day, he was there. We've decided to really focus on the temple, and so that seems to have been the key. Sunday he came to church, and he's been at every lesson since I got here. Sister Dukes is a beautiful artist and so she drew a picture of the Spain Temple and gave it to them. I also gave them one of the pictures you sent me (it's on their fridge), and we gave them each a small pass along card picture of the temple to put in a spot they can see it everyday. Then, when we went over there the other day, we read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with them, and found out that he has been reading on his own and has read over 80 pages!!! He also is really understanding because he really liked 2 Nephi 4, which is the perfect chapter for people with addictions. He said that he knew it was for him. So his daughter, Tania, took all his cigarettes and threw them away, and then we took the box and we decorated it with the temple and scriptures from the chapter he liked, and then we put in rolled up scriptures that look like cigarettes. It turned out really great and he really liked it. We also had a member with us, Luis, who was reactivated last year by Sister Davis, and he gave him a blessing and did a really great job. The dad, Gilberto, his whole face just changed afterwards, it went from lined and wrinkled and tired to full of light, and smooth. It was really cool to see. He then said he would quit smoking and has been doing well since then as we can tell by the fact that he is shaking. Then we went and visited again, and we read 2 Nephi 31 and Mosiah 18:8-11 with them and we marked him to be baptized. When we teach with families, I really like to focus on the kids. No one makes it simplier than kids. So we were focusing on Tania and I had this idea, and I had her come over and I whispered in her ear things to repeat. It was super cute. I had her first ask her dad if he loved her and wanted to be with her forever, to which of course he responded yes (he loves his family a lot), and then we had her invite him to be baptized on the 27th, to which he said yes (we talked to the district president though, and he is a really smart man, and thinks we should move his baptism to the Saturday after the 27th, so that Gilberto can get the Holy Ghost on Sunday instead of waiting a whole week without it. Which we think is true, especially for someone who has been smoking, a week without the spirit would just be too much of a temptation to smoke, and when people smoke, they tend not to come back to church if they mess up, especially if they are waiting between baptism and the Holy Ghost. Plus, baptism doesn't mean anything without the Holy Ghost, its just like a nice little bath. We don't know how to go about moving the date, but we know it's right, and so the Lord will provide). We're really excited for him and his family. Afterwards, the mother, Ana, she asked if they were going to go to the temple, and he said yes. It was the cutest thing.
Thanks for the email! Have a great week! I love you tons!
Love always,
Sister Wach
 

Monday, April 14, 2014

Hey Mom!
This week was good. A little stressful though! We found out that not only was I getting transferred, but that Sister Caldwell was getting transferred also! We got blue washed (that means that elders took over our area), and then got sent in all directions! Sister Caldwell is up at the highest part of the country, in the Porto area, in Villa Nova de Gaia. Manuel will be in the Lisboa area, serving in, I think, Linda-A-Velha, which happens to be the area that President lives in. I got sent down far down south into the Algarve, in the area of Olhão. I'm excited to be in Olhão, especially since it's cool because Sister Davis (Kelsey) served here too, right before she trained me! But, so our area was taken over by elders. I'm sure they'll do a great job. It was a little crazy though, because we found out we were getting washed on Friday, and then on Sunday we found out that we and the other sisters were being moved out of our house! So the problem was that at 11 pm, we were running around trying to pack our bags and we didn't get to really clean. Sorry elders. I don't know if the other sisters living with us cleaned, but I sure hope so. We at least made sure that our bedroom and study room were clean, but the kitchen and bathroom needed to be cleaned. There was, of course, hair everyway. That is always the biggest complaint of elders. Just wait until they get married! 
Well, Olhão seems great so far. It's more rural that Benfica or Almada, but less rural that Ponta Delgada (I have yet to see a cow...). We're also right next to the ocean. I've missed the ocean, hopefully we'll get to go and see it! It's also cool because the zone leaders are in our ward and also a senior couple who are really great. I have yet to see any Africans though... bummer. I love them. I'm really sad though that we won't get to see Natalina and Helder baptized next week though. They were supposed to be baptized this week, but it didn't end up working out. It was sad to say goodbye. They'll get baptized next week though, and they'll be great members.
Manuel will head into the mission field on Wednsday. I know that he'll do a great job and that he is really excited.  The bishop of the ward wasn't too happy though because I think they were thinking about calling him as the young men's president... oops:).  I know that whatever happens it will all work out. His life has been truly blessed by the gospel and I'm grateful to have been a part and to now get to watch him bless other people's lives!
My foot is fine, also my cold is gone. I'm just tired now from missionary life, and from not sleeping and riding a bus for 4 hours to a new area.
Here is my new address:
Sister Wach
Rua Almirante Reis Nº 219 r/c dto.
8700-376, Olhão
Portugal

 

Monday, April 7, 2014

Hey Mom!
Thanks for the email! Also, thanks for the packet, I got it this week:). Though you didn't explain what any of the stuff in it was! We loved the ranch packet and we ate it with pizza, chicken nuggets and potato chips in between the two Sunday conferences. Oh, by the way, this coming week will be transfers. I think it's really likely that I'll be transfered because I've been here such a long time. 
What you think of conference? I LOVED it! We didn't get to see all of it though, so that was sad. On Saturday we watched the Women's Broadcast, which was super cool. We had an investigator and her two children there, and I think they all really liked it. She's marked to be baptized this coming week. It's a risk though because she works on Sunday and so we're just hoping that something will work out by then. We've been teaching her for like two transfers. She absolutely loves the Book of Mormon and she and her kids read it every night together as a family. We also had three other investigators there, sadly, their mom won't let them be baptized, but we are still working with them. I absolutely loved Elder Holland's talk. I did cringe a little though as he was like yelling at the pulpit, but his talks are always the best. Then after, we watched the first conference for Saturday (it started at 5pm so we were able to watch it all). I thought it was really good. Then Sunday we watched the Priesthood session, which I think was actually my favorite session. Then after we had lunch with a member who is from the US and has been inactive. We had food that was American! The elders didn't know what to do with the salad dressing and their faces were great as they were totally disgusted by it all (they're both from Cape Verde). We ended up missing the second Saturday session and I'm watching it right now. Then we saw the 1st session for Sunday, which was one of my other favorites. I really like Elder Uchtdorf's talk and the story he told about the Alaskan flight. It made me tear up a little. Goofy sister missionaries. The last session, we watched the first hour of because it started at 9pm. President gave us permission to stay out until 10:30pm, which was nice. We had an investigator there also. She kept asking me which one was the prophet, and she was taking notes. There was a drunk man in the back though who kept yelling, so that was really funny. We'd walked him out of the session that was at 5pm (We'd walked in on him talking to three helpless first transfer elders, who had no idea what he was saying or what to do haha. Sister missionaries to the rescue!), and I guess he just decided he wanted to see them all! Hey, whatever, right? Everybody needs to hear the words of the living prophets! It's crazy to think that my next conference will be at home! Yikes! Less than 6 months left! There are only 9 sisters ahead of us to go home before our big group! That's nothing, and half of them are going home next week!
This week was good. Sister Caldwell's foot is alright, we didn't get to go to the doctor, which kind of stunk, because another sister needed the appointment instead because she'd fallen really hard. We got to go to the doctor anyway though because I'm sick. The doctor said it was nothing bad (there are only two kinds of sick here, bad and not bad, they don't actually tell you what's wrong with you:P). It was fun. I'm feeling a little better though. Just a sore throat, runny nose, a fever and a few aches and pain. Life:). But, we didn't do anything for our year mark, though we did take a nap and have some ice cream.
Oh guess what! Manuel will be in the mission next week! He's going on a mini mission (6 weeks!). I don't think it gets any cooler than that! He's super excited and we're excited for him. Though we're attempting to find clothes and things for him because he has pretty much nothing. He has one shirt, two ties, a suit jacket, and a pair of pants that I bought him last transfer. A lot of missionaries are going home this transfer though so I'm hoping that I can talk my district leader from when I was in Ponta Delgada into giving  me his stuff:).
And, I'm gonna get some super cool scriptures. I'm excited. I'm gonna have my Portuguese scriptures rebound and decorated. I want to use them for the rest of forever, like Grandma and Grandpa Wach:).
I love you tons! Have a great week!
Love, 
Sister Wach
 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Hey Mommy!
This week was good! We're still teaching a lot of the same people. We're still teaching Natalina, who is doing great. We'd been trying to mark her baptism date, but she just had a whole bunch of doubts and wouldn't say yes, but this week, we were able to have Manuel with us, and he did amazing. We were talking about General Conference and that we have a prophet, and Manuel just cuts in and says to her that he just feels like he needs to invite her to be baptized. So, she says that she's already been baptized (and we had tried to kill that doubt like ten times, but it was just like she wasn't hearing us), and he goes on to say that he's already been baptized 3 times but how he has finally been baptized in the right church, and all about how the Church of Jesus Christ is the only church with authority to be baptized and etc. He did great and he ended up marking her with a date for baptism! I just hope that we can get her to church enough times before that! Why is it that people have to work on Sundays?! Also, Manuel got his patriarchal blessing, and he LOVED it! He said that he's never felt anything like it at all. He REALLY wants to serve a mission. We're excited for him, because he is already a WAY better missionary than us! We've also been teaching his uncle and aunt and it's going really well. They're great people, and the uncle already knows a lot about the church and the aunt is loving the Book of Mormon. They're a great family. The uncle says there is no way I'm from the US, but instead that I'm African. He's really funny. 
We also had Zone Conference this week, which was really really good. It was fun because Sister Sandholtz was there and Sister Radvansky (from my MTC district and she was Sister Caldwell´s comp at the same time that I was comps with Sister Sandholtz) too. The spirit was really strong and to add to it, the lunch was really yummy haha. 
We also got into a nice little fight (of words) with the TJs this week. It was totally my fault. I do not like to talk to them, usually, I'll walk away, but I was bad and talked to them instead. And so it ended with me yelling my testimony and then ending with the words "and Jehovah is not God, it's Jesus Christ" to which the TJs started screaming at. It was not very Christlike of me, and the spirit wasn't there. Bad bad Sister Wach.
Also, I hurt my foot this week! Though it's Sister Caldwell's fault! We were in the kitchen and she was making a snack and she was shaking a bottle of brand new mayonaisse, and she let it slip from her hand and it landed on my foot! It hurt SO bad haha. There isn't any damage that doesn't allow me to walk, but it was pretty funny. 
I love you tons! Have a great week!
Love, 
Sister Wach
 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Hey Mãe!
Well, this week was great. There isn't too much to say because we only spent small spurts working because of Sister Caldwell´s ankle (we aren't gonna be able to go to the doctor until APRIL 3rd!!!). I've definitely learned how to work effeciently though! Our numbers were some of the best I've had in a few transfers just because we knew we were so short of time. 
On Sunday, I played the piano during church! It was a little crazy, but thankfully, the secret is that the piano in this ward plays ITSELF! I just had to sit and push the buttons and pretend that I was playing. The last song though, the tempo was really high, and so the piano was playing REALLY fast, and I didn't know what to do, and so I just kept going. After church, all the members came up to me and were really grumpy about how fast I played haha. They don't know that it plays itself and so wouldn't let me off the hook. If anyone had come to the elders baptism a few weeks ago, they would know that I can't play...:). We had a fun activity this week that we put on, we played mafia, only we called it "Lamanitas" like Lamanites, and we made homemade ice cream, which was super easy and super tasty. I'll get the recipe for you. Oh, and Manuel is getting his patriarchal blessing this week, which is super cool and is going to talk to the bishop about serving a mini mission. Natalina is doing well, though still can't come to church:(. We did have 2 other people in church though. A man named Manuel, who is Portuguese, and a woman named Anabella who is also Portuguese. They both have a lot of potential, the only problem is that they never have any time for us to teach them! We had an appointment with Manuel yesterday, and we called and he canceled on us because he was too busy reading the Gospel Principles book that he'd gotten from our ward mission leader! We also had a house check this week, and we passed with flying colors. Sister Markham (a senior missionary) just couldn't stop talking about how beautiful our house was (we did spend quite a while cleaning it!). Oh, and we went to McDonalds with our elders, which was fun, they're both from Cabo Verde and so they are both a little bit crazy:). Also, we were knocking some doors in an apartment and we heard someone start ringing doorbells trying to get it. We got down to the bottom from knocking the doors, and realized it was the TJ missionaries!! Yikes! I don't think the residents of the apartment were very happy with the fact that they got double knocked haha. 
I also have been studying something really cool. It's called Election of Grace. That means that where we were placed in this life, is because of what we did in the life before. We were placed so we would be able to find the gospel. It's way more complicated that that, but it's what we talk about when we talk about the "Elect" and that many are called but few are chosen. Look up "Election" in the Bible Dictionary. It's a really cool concept.
Love you Mom! Have a great week!
Love always,
Sister Wach

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Hey Mom!
Sounds like a fun week. It was nice talking to you and Dad on the phone. A little weird, but cool. 
This week was good. We didn't work to much because Sister Caldwell hurt herself and so walking is a bit of a no go. We work for like 4 hours and then she´s out. Then we don't do anything for a few hours and then work for a few hours at the end of the day, which is the most productive part of the day. It's interesting, last transfer we had the other sisters in the house and they stayed there all day, and I was a little jealous, I thought a nap or two would be nice. Now, all I wanna do is work! But, we've been blessed, because even though we just work a few hours everyday, we have been able to kind of keep up what we had before she hurt herself. But Sister Caldwell is super awesome, so I'm grateful to be serving with her. 
Manuel is doing great. He is going to be getting the Melchezidek Priesthood soon, and he is working on getting his patriarchal blessing also. He's still working towards serving a mission. He also baptized someone on Saturday for the elders, and gave a talk on Sunday. One thing that's cool about staying in this area so long is that I've been blessed to watch his progress. I think he's the most active member that the ward has. He's always at everything and he is the one who is willing to do whatever is asked. He liked what you wrote, he understood it without me reading it to him. He can read english alright, he just can't understand by hearing or speaking. I had a great laugh at what he wrote to you. 
As for other investigators, Natalina is still doing well. I'm gonna attach a picture of her and her kids.
Oh, and it's like SUPER hot here. I do not know how in the world I'm gonna survive another summer here. I'm already wearing the least amount of clothing possible!
There's actually four of us in the house right now. Me, Sister Caldwell, Sister Cardoso (she's from Porto), and... Sister Stokes! Super weird to be in the same house with her and not be her comp! 
For P-day we went to Cristo Rei. My third time there. Yeah. If I stay another transfer here, I AM NOT going back haha. It's cool but one time was good enough.
Well, as always, I can't remember what we did this week. Though we did go without gas, after going without electricity last week haha. So I've had like 3 showers in 2 weeks. That's how the mission rolls! 
Oh, and no, I still haven't gotten what you sent. Probably this week. The packages take a little longer than letters.
Well, I just wanted to say that I love you all tons!! 
Love always,
Sister Wach
 
 
from Ricki:  The mission president emailed me a week ago and said that "he felt that Chris and Megan needed to talk"  he had said to Skype but I didn't want Meg to see Chris so skinny and sickly looking so I asked if they could just talk by phone.  Meg went and got a phone card and we talked to her for about an hour.  Chris told Meg not to come home for his funeral, that he was proud of her and that she needed to always live the gospel so that they could see each other again.  At the end of the conversation Meg told Chris "that she would be expecting a visit from him after he died."

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Hey Mom!
Thanks for the email! Just so you know, I did not get transfered. I stayed, and Sister Warner got transfered. Kind of a bummer because as much as I love this area and all the people that I've met, I would love to be able to see a new place and work there. But, it gives me the chance to stay a little longer and know the area and members better. Plus, I'm excited that I'll get to stay and keep watching Manuel progress.  My new comp is Sister Caldwell. She served in the Açores on a different island at the same time that I was there, and she stayed the night with us at the apartment there a few times.  I'm excited to work with her, though I miss Sister Warner (she's going to serve in Porto with Sister Hayes, my MTC comp!) already! We were just finally starting to figure things out! It's kind of interesting because that keeps happening to me. I've been in three different areas, and including the MTC I've had 9 transfers and out of those I've had 8 different comps (Sister Davis is the only one that I had 2 transfers because she was training me). That's really unusual to have so many comps, but it's cool because I've gotten to meet lots of cool people and learn a lot from each one. I'm hoping sometime in the future I'll get a comp who is Portuguese because I would love to have the accent. My accent sucks haha. My voice is just too American.
Well, this was a good week. We met LOTS of new people, and I think we have a few who could actually progress! We have this adorable little family that we're teaching. Natalina is the mother, then Helder and Jéssica are the kids. They're adorable. We went over there the other day to teach them again and instead we ate dinner there! It was cool. Though, it was the second time we'd eaten with someone that day, and the 6th time that week. I've never eaten with members so much. I'm getting so fat in this area haha. 
We also watched a lady get robbed this week. It was really interesting. It gave me even more love for the Portuguese. We were walking and there was this creepy man, and I thought about contacting him, but he was just too creepy, so we kept walking to our appointment. Then the appointment fell, and so we went outside and we were walking back the way that we'd came and we saw this old lady in front of us screaming and wacking a man with her cane. We were so confused and had no idea what was going on haha and then we realized what was happening. Turns out he had stolen her wallet and was running away with it. Well, when he started running, he was being followed by like 10 Portuguese men and the number was steadly growing the more people he passed. It was cool to watch people react like that, it reminds me that there really are good people in this world. Sometimes, as missionaries we just see so many things that are sad and wrong, it's just fantastic to see when things are good. It was funny though because it was like a slow motion chase, I'm pretty sure that I could have caught him way before everyone else did haha, but as missionaries we decided it would be better if we comforted the old lady instead:). 
Well, I'm out of time, but I love you tons! Can you believe that today is my 11 month mark and during this next transfer I'll hit one year?
Love,
Sister Wach

Monday, February 24, 2014

Hey Mommy!
Love the pictures, looks like it was really fun! Oh, and Tay is SUPER tall! Wow! That's cool that you got to see Sister Pinto, I just talked to her the other day. I told her to tell you I said hi! Haha. 
This week was good. A little bit crazy, but good. Monday, we went to Lisboa and we just kind of wandered around. Tuesday I don't even remember what we did. Then Wednesday we had divisions with the Sister Training Leaders. It went well. Sister Call and I took Manuel with us, and it was really cool for him. We found more people in those few hours than I have in any day in my whole mission! Manuel did some of the contacts just by himself and kept telling people he would call them or pass by to take them to church. He did great. We even ended up getting dinner because one of the doors we knocked gave us dinner! Manuel afterward was like "I was really hungry and I was praying and Heavenly Father answered my prayers!" He's awesome haha. Though, in one of the houses, Sister Call´s camera got stolen. She left her bag in another room with the son of a family and we went and saw their baby. Oops, later we realized it was gone. On Thursday we went and we got the camera back. Talk about a miracle! We weren't exactly sure how we were gonna do it, but we went to the apartment and we knocked and said we'd left something. We explained to the mother that we thought maybe the camera had "fallen out of S. Call´s bag." She got the hint and she called up the son on the phone and she chewed him out in Creole. Then she went and found it in his room. Sadly all the pictures were gone, but thankfully Sister Call had saved her pictures a few days before. We did her a favor and took some really great pictures of us getting ready for bed to replace the rest (hehe). Then on Saturday  I learned something really important. We worked really hard this week looking for new people and doing contacts, and just everything seemed to keep falling. We've also been trying to do activities to strengthen our ward and Miratejo, and almost no one comes. Then Saturday, our ward mission leader planned this big activity about how the members can help to teach and what they need to be doing, and only three people came. A recent convert from the other ward, and two older members from our ward who fell asleep. The recent convert talked about how no one was taking care of him and how he was going to go inactive, and one of the other members left. It was a disaster, and I just ended up sitting at the back of the chapel on the floor crying. All I could think about was just how hard working as a missionary is when the members don't want to help and I just thought, why are we even here. Why don't we just give up. It was Satan speaking but I couldn't help it, and we went out to keep working. We ended up finding a man whose mother had just died and we were able to teach him the 2nd lesson. The spirit was really strong and even if he doesn't progress, at least he knows that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. Then on Sunday S. Warner and I had the pleasure of going to watch 5 of the people she taught in her old area get baptized. That experience just changed the whole way I was feeling. The ward is SO strong and loving there. They just reached out in love toward the new members and the missionaries and the new family was SO happy. It's things like that in the mission that make me realize that there are people here in Portugal who really are ready for the gospel and will be loved and kept strong in the gospel. I regreted those feelings from the day before. It's interesting that one of the things that I think that I've learned the most in my mission is that Heavenly Father loves us and that when things like that happen that are hard, He will turn and show his love or show us that missionary work really is worth it. I'm really grateful that I'm here and that I have the opportunity to serve here in Portugal.
Also, two funny things happened. First off, someone called us "As Primas dos Élderes" or the cousins of the elders. No one knows who we are, so they always say weird stuff like that we're their wives or girlfriends or whatever, but that was the funniest one yet:). Then, at the baptism, I got called Branca de Neve (Snow White) like 4 times by 4 different people haha.
Love you tons! 
Love,
Sister Wach
 
I just thought this was cool because at 3:02, you can see Sister and President Fluckiger! Sister Fluckiger is wearing green and you can just see President's hair haha.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014


Hey Mom!

Thanks for the emails as always.  I'm glad you got some time to rest even if it meant you were sick. I got sick this week too and it was kind of nice to just stay home for a day. I slept for like 8 hours. I think that mostly I was just super exhausted because the next day I was great again. Don't worry about transfers yet, they're on the 3rd of March, so there is one p-day left, so you could write this week and then not write the week after. I don't know if I'll actually be transfered though because we've had some interesting stuff happen this week and it's possible that Sister Warner will leave and I'll get transfer jumped. We'll see. The other sisters who were in our house are still sick. The luckies got to spend the week in the mission home! Though, they haven't left the house (they're now living in another house that was empty that belongs to the mission, thank goodness because it was really hard to leave the house to go work in the rain and wind while they were still in their pjs) in like 15 days to work, and that sounds REALLY boring. One of them goes home in 2 weeks, so that's gotta be kind of sad for her that she's not working. I'm gonna make sure that when that time finally comes around, that I don´t have any energy left and feel like I've left it all on the field.

Well, this week was good. We're still just looking for people to teach, which is kind of a bummer, but after trials comes the blessings! We´ve had lots of blessings and miracles and just funny things happen this week.

Sister Warner and I were looking to go and contact an inactive family and see if they still lived in an area, but they weren't there, and we realized that the neighborhood was really green and beautiful so we decided to walk through some gardens. While we were walking I saw these huge lines and groups of caterpillars and of course was fascinated and had to step on a few and poke them with my umbrella. Then a man came out of his garden to see what was going on, and he told us that they were poisonous (no worries, I didn't touch them with my hands) and we contacted him and he showed us his garden. It was really beautiful and we ended up teaching him about the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit was SUPER strong. I think it was the coolest contact I have ever been in. Then we marked to go to his house. Later when we tried to go back, he ended up having to leave just before we got there. His mother was there though and she answered the door. She was super grumpy. Then we introduced ourselves and she did a 180 and was SUPER nice. Turns out that he'd talked all about us and how he thought she would love to hear what we had to say. It was really cool because their family is really special. I really hope that we'll be able to teach them more in this coming week.

Funny:
1. Cigano Children-
On Saturday, we were walking through a really ghetto area (our whole area is ghetto, but this was a really ghetto area) and there were a whole bunch of cigano (that means gypsy) children and they were all yelling at us "What's your name?" in English, and so we stopped to talk to them. They were super adorable, and one of them said the funniest thing! She said to us that she knew the wife of God´s name and that it was Gloria. It was cute because I can understand why she'd make that mistake in Portuguese because when you talk about the wife or girlfriend of a man, you say it like "Ana of José" and it's the way it's possessive, so in portuguese the phrase is glory of God so that would be the same thing. At home, Glory isn't a name, but here it is:). Super cute.
2. We ironed LOTS of clothes-
People here iron EVERYTHING and we offered to help out a woman we wanted to teach, and it ended up taking FOREVER!
3. We were walking and we said good night to a man walking past, and he put his hand to hide his face, like that would make it so that we couldn't see him and wouldn't contact him! Some people are just a little goofy. We laughed forever afterwards.

4. Creeper
Sister Warner has got herself a stalker! She met him on her last day in her last area (he contacted them and that was all the contact she had with him), and since then she's been getting creepy emails from him that have her nickname on them, and the other day she got a Valentine from him at the mission office, then to top it all off, this week, during church some of the young women knocked on the door of the class we were in and gave me a bag and said that someone had given it to them and said it was for Sister Warner. I got the WORST feeling and I knew immediately who it was from and what it was (I knew it was either flowers, or the part of me that watched to many crime TV shows thought it might be a hand). He'd given the young women flowers for Sister Warner and turned out he was outside! When church had ended he was outside waiting for her (too bad that he didn't come in to church and sit during sacrament because at least then we would have had someone at church...). So the elders went and yelled at him and then we got a ride home. She also got a creepy email from him today. President didn't emergency transfer her, so it's not anything to worry about. But man, sometimes I'm grateful for my acne (and that I'm not blonde) because it makes me ugly haha.

Well, it was a good week, and I love you tons!!
Love always,
Sister Wach


 

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Hi Mom!
If anyone understand being tired, it's us missionaries:).I'm glad that things went well with the funeral and the wedding. I didn't recognize Brooke at first, she looked very pretty. I was like why in the world did my mom send me this random picture of this random wedding? But, you should be careful about what you write in your emails to missionaries, soda happens to be a soft spot for foreign missionaries, poor Sister Warner would give her right arm for a Diet Dr. Pepper or a Diet Coke. 
Well, this week was good. On Monday after I emailed, Sister Warner and I went and got our matching companionship thing, we got ourselves some super crazy and mission innapropriate skirts (they're cheetah print;)). Tuesday was good. It was a little crazy because one of the sisters in the house had gotten hurt and she can't walk and so she and her comp had spent the day in the house, and then we had another sister who was leaving and going home the next day. Then to add to it, in the morning we always sing together for companion study, and one of the sisters wanted to sing "Aonde Mandares Irei" (or "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go"), and so we did. But, the thing about that song is that it's bad luck. If you sing it near transfers you'll either go or you'll stay but it'll not be what you want, but it'll be what the Lord wants. Well, the sister wanted to sing it and she said to us "it's bad luck, but I think that we're far enough from transfers that it will be alright," and so we sang it. Later that night, we got a call from President, and she got emergency transfered! Oops:). Then it RAINED SO SO MUCH!! It was ridiculous. Then Wednesday, Sister Duran went home, and the sister who was being emergency transfered to the house showed up. So then we had our companionship in our house, and then we had Sister Hill (the new sister, who was sick), Sister Decker (who can't walk), and Sister Rivieros (from Peru, and is 39 years old) in our house. Since Sister Decker and Sister Hill couldn't go out, we had Sister Riveiros go with us. She still has that new missionary fire (she's in her 3rd transfer) and just wants to work hard, so that's great. Nothing else interesting happened the rest of the week, but Sunday was really good. On Sunday we went to get our investigators and no one would come. So we went to church and we went to pick up before sacrament (it's the last meeting). It was raining REALLY hard, and it was REALLY windy. By the time we met with the investigator and got back, the sacrament was over and testimony meeting had started. I was really bummed about it because we hadn't had sacrament in 2 weeks because of stake conference last week. But, then I had every missionaries' dream happen. Manuel got up during fast and testimony meeting and he bore his testimony. He did SUCH a good job. He bore his testimony about the Book of Mormon, which was just really cool because he was having doubts about the Book of Mormon. He said that he had been praying to know that the Book of Mormon was true, and he went out with the elders to help them teach, and they were explaining the Book of Mormon when he said he just felt this burning feeling and knew it was his answer. Then after, Sister Warner wanted the sacrament and so we asked the ward mission leader if we could have it blessed for us, and guess who blessed it for us! Manuel! Super cool, and it was his first time, and he did amazing. He's gonna be a fabulous missionary:).
Well, it was a good week. I love you tons! Have a great week! 
Love always,
Sister Wach

P.S. You should watch this. I was watching this while I was writing you, and it was fabulous. The part about President Monson shaking all the children's hand made me tear up haha. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014


Hey Mommy!

Sounds like some serious fun! I'm jealous! I'm sure Brazil is great, just from hearing about it from Dad, I'm sure that it's paradise. I love Portugal.   Tell him to ask the missionaries for pamphlets too, maybe the first and the second lesson pamphlets. How did the funeral go? What a great opportunity to do missionary work! Find some references for the missionaries! Remember how you sent me a card by her of the Manti temple? Well, it's now in the hands of a recent convert, who is 13, named Ariana, who thought it was absolutely beautiful:). Good thing you sent me 2:). 

This week was good, it was a little rough, but good. We still don't have any investigators and no one is progressing, but it'll all work out. There is someone here who is prepared to hear the gospel, they're just really hidden. So pretty much all we do all day is do contacts and compete with the Jehovah´s Witnesses. There are a TON of them here. It's ridiculous. They're kind of funny, they're always little old ladies in long skirts, with pamphlets, sunglasses, boots, long coats, and crazy hair. Whenever we pass them I like to say hi, just to see the looks of shock on their faces that I said hi. Haha. They're spoiled though, they only go out on days when the sun is out. Though, that's happened a few times this week. Spring is in the air! I took off my jacket for a little while today and it was great!

Not much happened this week, but we did have something that was kind of cool. When I got to this area, there was a woman named Dica that the sisters were teaching, and I taught her once with Sister Williams and then she never was home again (turns out she got a new job), so we just stopped passing.  Then on Friday, we were looking through the Area Book for people that we could pass, and Sister Warner kept seeing the name Dica, turns out she'd been contacted a few times, and I just kind of brushed it off and said that she was never home. Then later, we contacted a girl and got her address and marked an appointment with her. Then before the appointment we contacted a young man who we see quite a bit, and he acted like he was scared of us. He wouldn't give us his contact info and said he didn't know his address or his phone number, so we just let him go and we went to the appointment with the girl. When we got there, a woman opened the door and looked at us like she knew us. Then I looked behind her in the house and recognized the house, and realized it was Dica! I didn't recognize her because I'd only seen her once before, but I'd seen what the entry to the apartment looked like because other people had opened the door. But it turned out that it was the house of the girl too. Then we talked with Dica a few minutes in the house (she asked why we'd not come back because she said she wanted to be baptized...) and we looked at their family photos and we saw a picture of the boy that we'd contacted! Turned out he was her son and the girl was her daughter! So we are going to be teaching them again. It was a miracle for sure! 

Well, I love you tons!!! 

Love always,

Sister Wach

P.S. I'm still talking in my sleep, though I think not as much because we turned the heater off because it was making it to hot and making it harder for me to sleep:).


From Ricki:  So you know what Megan is referring to:)-  Chris' younger brother David who also had cancer passed away on January 29th after his two year battle.  We went up to Eugene, OR to attend.  Chris spoke at it - he did a fantastic job:) 
Also - Chris is headed to Brazil.  He and my father are going on a cruise.  They will stop at 14 ports, mostly in Brazil where he served his mission.  After the cruise they will do some traveling and then head home from Sao Paulo, Brazil.  No - I'm not going I can't leave my babies for that long. lololo.  I'm excited for Chris to rest, be warm, go back to "paradise" (as he calls it) and eat lots of food.  He's suppose to come back tan and fat:):):):)  No he isn't well but hey - he can be sick here at home where it is cold or he can be sick where it is warm........ I sayyyyyyy go for WARM:)
 

Monday, January 27, 2014


Hey Mommy!!

So, this week was a great week. I LOVE my new comp! She's super fabulous! Love her to death:). Manuel is doing awesome. Still prepping for the mission, and as you can see, he came to a baptism (of the other sisters in the other ward) dressed very nicely (see attached photo). He goes to institute every week and is really excited to be a ward missionary (just like you!) and the ward really wants to send him out on a mission:). As long as he doesn't get deported to São Tome (The problem is that the church is not in São Tome), then we'll all be happy. He's also been working on his family history. Our little eleito! We've been fasting that his stepmother will let us teach the rest of his family, nothing yet, but we're gonna try some brownies, no one can say no to brownies.

So, when I say that this week was great, I really really mean it this time:). I love my comp! We worked really hard and had fun too:). We marked a man named Luis for baptism, but then he unmarked himself when he refused to keep the Law of Chastity (sick haha) and said that those things were "natural" things (he wouldn't take the fact that the scriptures say that the natural man is an enemy to God) and that he didn't believe that was a law from God. There are some really interesting people in this world, plus I can't believe anyone would even break that law with him:P. We saw him the day after, and he had changed his mind. He says he really wants to be baptized and that he will obey all of God's commandments. We're gonna really pray about him first, a baptism isn't worth the risk of his soul if he backs out of that. Missionary work is a little scary when you think about the fact that people who get baptized and make wrong decisions and don't repent are condemning themselves... yikes. We also found a family of 7 people in one day! We were fasting and we were tired and grumpy, and Sister Warner, who had just come from training a greenie, told me to go and contact a young man, and being a willing companion, I contacted him. Turned out he'd just moved here from São Tome to be with his family here and he was very nice, but didn't have a phone and didn't remember the number of his house. So we stood there kind of stumped about what to do until an idea came to my mind to ask him if we could just walk to his house with him. We did, and we found a huge family of seven smiling family members who were really nice and totally open to listening to us. Then, the best part of them all, that is usually the scary thing here, I asked them if they were married, and THEY WERE!!! We're super excited about them. That same day, we also ate at TWO houses. I was extremely full. 

Then Sunday, we had a miracle in church! We'd invited a whole bunch of people and we'd passed lots in the morning and yet no one who we had marked to be there showed up, but we still had 3 people! We'd done a contact in the road on Saturday who is from France, and he came and brought two friends from France! We are going to pass their addresses to the missions in France. I hope that there are some missionaries there who speak Portuguese! We also had a fun party for one of the sisters who is going home next week. It was kind of crazy, because she was supposed to go home at the end of this transfer, and President called and he said he felt like she should be sent home a month early! So, she's on her way home! 

Oh, and poor Sister Warner, I wake her up all the time! I've never talked more in my sleep than this past week! I think that the practices that president has got us doing are stressing me out because I keep having dreams about doing the practices, and then I wake both of us up repeating the practices and scriptures out loud in my sleep... oops:). Just thought that was funny:).

Then today, Sister Warner and I went to this cute little used clothing store, and I (for my birthday and for my halfway mark, which it's almost been a month, but oh well) got myself some really cute used skirts for super cheap:). I'm pretty excited about them:). Now the problem is just how am I going to transfer with them? Good thing that winter is almost over and I can just leave that stuff here...:)

Well, I love you tons and I hope that you have a great week! This week, carry a Book of Mormon with you, give it out to someone who needs it. I promise that you will find someone:). 

Love always,

Sister Wach

 

Monday, January 20, 2014


Hey Mom!

It sounds like it was a good week. Eventful is always better than nothing happening. Give Jake a kiss for me and tell him I said I'm sorry that he hurt himself and that I love him! I did receive your package! Thanks a ton! I also got a few cards, which was really nice, and Gma e Gpa Wach sent me some tights, which I was needing because the tights here stink and I have holes in the toes of all my others:). The life of a sister missionary:).I'm still in Almada, but I got a new companion. Her name is Sister Warner and she's from San Fransisco. I had to wait in the train station for 4 hours for her to get there! Thankfully, Sister Galloway from my district in the MTC had to wait too and so she and I waited for 3 hours together:). Manuel is doing fabulous, he just got called as a ward missionary and he's really excited about it, but he was really sad that Sister Williams left. It's cool because the ward has a goal, they want to have him out on the mission by the end of the year, so they're working on that! I just hope that he can figure out his citizenship because right now he's not a Portuguese citizen, he's from São Tome and was just here studying. But I know that if the Lord wants him to serve a mission, then he'll get everything figured out:). The emails that I send and receive just stay in my LDSmail because it's too expensive to print them out, and I would have to lug them around during my mission and that would stink. I'm just hoping that I don´t get transferred from here until the end of winter so that I don't have to take any of my winter stuff with me. We have no new investigators, which is really hard. We've been strictly obedient and we've been doing contacts ALL day every day, but sometimes we just have our faith tested and then we receive blessings. I can feel that things are about to turn around here with Sister Warner here with me. My birthday was great. I got up and the other three sisters sang Happy Birthday to me, and then Sister Williams made pancakes for breakfast. Then we went out and worked for a while and then we had a cake that I'd made (from the package because I got it the day before) for lunch and all the 6 of the sisters were there. It was really fun and they tried to sing to me in portuguese but it went really badly haha. The song is different in Portugal than in Brazil and so none of us know it all the way, we hit this point where when the Portuguese sing it the words become inaudible and so we just kind of all mumbled at that part haha. Oh, and Cátia from São Miguel called and wished me a happy birthday, so that was really cool. Then the rest of the day we just worked:). It was good. I liked it a lot. On Sunday, we do go to all three classes, except instead for going to regular sunday school, they have one especially for investigators and recent converts that we go to. 

Things are going well here. We really still aren't teaching, and that´s hard, but as long as we just keep trying, everything will work out. Truthfully, there is not anything to talk about. Sister Williams and I taught our first first lesson (the restauration) together for the first time in the transfer, so that was interesting. We're working on finishing up teaching our recent converts and just looking for new people. 

Oh, and I learned some AWESOME news! Remember José, my first baptism, the one in Ponta Delgada? Well, before I moved from the islands, he moved back to Canada, and so next month he's going to go to the temple for the first time! Then in October he's going to Utah to see all the temples!! So I might be able to see him right after I get home! I'm SO excited for him! He is really really awesome!

Well, I love you! Give everyone there my love! Thanks for everything mom!

Love always,

Sister Wach

 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014


Hey Mom!

I love the picture! It's adorable! Tell everyone that I said thanks and that I love them all!:). I'm glad that you had a great birthday! It sounds like it was a fun day, though I do not want to hear what tasty food you ate or what movie you went and saw that I have to wait 9 more months for;). That's cool that you got to go to Sunday School, and I'm excited for Ryan to start his mission papers (I want you to send me a video when he opens his call) and I hope that Jacob LOVED the temple:). I haven't gotten the package yet, but I'm sure it will get here eventually. The dermatologist went well. The lady said that it's looking good, and she's right, I'm not really clearing up everywhere, but my forehead is really clear and she said the rest will be in a few more months. It was kind of a nice day when we went because we had to go back to Benfica. We'd just finished divisions with the sister training leaders (I went with Sister Nigri from Brazil, who is really great, and I learned a lot, and I contacted a TJ on accident and wow, in the end of the contact, he was crying and he even let us pray with him! It was a super strong contact!  Afterwards, Sister Williams and I took the metro from here in Feijo to Pragal where we took the train, and then we took another metro to Alfornelos and then walked to the office. I'd actually gotten a package from Gpa and Gma Wach which was really nice of them, tights, which was perfect, because I had just gotten a hole in my last good pair of black ones:). Then we went to lunch in the mall (I had Brazilian food, tell Dad he should be jealous;)) so that was a change:). Then when we got back to our area and we had a ward activity where we watched a movie:). It's always nice to have a little change.

Well, this week was good. We saw the drunk man who I almost hit with my umbrella a few times. He had a lovely metal stick this time and wanted to know where my umbrella was haha. We see him all the time, and he always says "Ola Sister! Onde está a guarda chuva?!" I think I'll remember him forever:). 

Well, truthfully,  I can not think of anything else to say about the week! It was one where everyday was the same. It was a little rough:). It was cold and dark and rainy. Plus we have absolutely no investigators. I don't think we taught any actual lessons this week other than for our recent converts. Manuel is doing really good. He's been going to the Young Single Adults activities and he likes to walk with us in the road and do contacts. He also is going to talk to the bishop this week to talk about preparing to serve a mission, or at least a mini mission. Oh, and during church yesterday, the bishop gave a really strong talk about how the members need to bring someone to church next week for Ward Conference, and invited everyone to do so, and so after church, Manuel was telling us that he was going to bring someone.  He's a really great guy. Then Pedro, who was baptized just before I got here, he got the priesthood on Sunday (Sister Pinto actually found him when she was here, and she calls him every Sunday to make sure he went to church, in fact, I got to talk to her yesterday on the phone! Super weird:)), and he's super excited to use it. Then another recent convert who had gone inactive, she came to church on Sunday because we taught her this week with one of the counselors in the YWs (the girl is 15), and wow the counselor did amazing! The counselor, Irmã is a recent convert also, who was baptized in São Miguel and moved here. There are SO many amazing members here! 

Our only investigators that we have, we're going to drop. It's really sad. The man, M., is just to much of an atheist, and the mother just thinks we're entertainment, those cute little American girls;). We went over to their house yesterday and we talked about the Book of Mormon and we watched the film The Testaments with them, and M. was really rude and just laughed through it. Sister Williams and I were pretty offended by that, and when we got out of the house, we both decided that we weren't going back because we're not helping anything, plus the house is just not a good environment. I've never taught in house and had an investigator that makes me doubt what I'm doing until now (Sister Williams said the same), and we decided that it wasn't worth it to keep teaching them. Maybe one day they'll both be ready. I think that one day M. will accept, but not just yet. It’s always sad to drop people, because we just come to love them and we feel sad that what we've got, that will bring joy into their lives, isn't what they want.

It's almost time for transfers again! This is the last week of the transfer! Kind of crazy! Sister Williams will probably not stay any longer, so I could have a new companion next week! 

Well, I love you tons! Have a great week!

Love always,
Sister Wach