Monday, July 15th

Family!

This week was good. But it is hard to keep being patient when I can't understand what people are saying! But Sophia and Armando were married and baptized on Friday!!! It was fantastic! We had a little "festa" after the baptism and it turned out so well! It was to celebrate their wedding and baptism. I made sooo many sandwhich's which I cut into 4's (so they were cute little triangle sandwhich's) Those went really quick. And Sister Brooks made cookies and cucumber bread. Which is actually really good! It wasn't anything like I was thinking. Ha. But there was a lot of people there and other members brought food and another member made the cake, and she made two! And they were heart shaped! It was so cute! But Sophia and Armando don't have money so they couldn't really do anything themselves so we all helped out and it was fantastic! And we got a little notebook thing for people to sign because it was all we could find with such short notice at a little chinese store thing. But I know I didn't write the language correctly. Ha. When they read it they will probably just laugh. (: But I try! And yesterday, on Sunday, Armando wore a white shirt and a tie! He looked so good, and they all just looked so cute and happy! I was so happy! And they also received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday as well! They were just so so happy! It was a fantastic day! (: So I found out a week ago that they don't have taxes here when you buy stuff! That made me excited and it was weird. Ha. Cause I bought a pair of sandals because it is hot and my feet were so hot! But we took a taxi for the first time! And it was the fanciest taxi I have ever seen. It was a really nice mercedes car. So the third and so far last time we ate at Sophia and Armando's house, we had potatoes and a meat sauce thing to put on top-with the chunks of meat with bones. But this time I was prepared and didn't just bite into the meat. I picked at it. So I saved my teeth and my appetite. :) But the potatoes were super good! I was literally surprised at how good they were! But it was funny because Tiago (The little boy) was trying to help us say the Portuguese word for ear which is "orelha." And we just couldn't make the sound the Portuguese make when they have the "lha" or "lhe." I don't understand it. They use the back of their tongue or something. But he was literally trying to correct us for 8 minutes! Lol. And he would have us pronounce each individual sound after he pronounced it. It was so funny and so cute. It is kinda sad that we still can't get it and a little 4 year old boy is trying to help us by slowly pronouncing each sound of the word. Haha. Everyone at the table was just laughing at us. So after dinner we went back into their family room, and Armando turned on Ghangam Style (if that is how it is spelled lol) And Tiago danced along with it. It was the cutest thing ever and he was so excited!!! Haha. though it was a little weird because we were listening to a song that we know from America. But you know what is so funny!? The Portuguese love American music! They listen to it all the time! So we will be in a store or on the bus and they will be playing American music that we know! I love it. (: It actually makes me really happy. So I don't know why they won't let us listen to it. Cause it helps! Ha JK ;P Oh, I don't know if I mentioned it again, but it just makes me laugh, another guy thought I was Brazilian, and then another guy thought I was Italian. Ha. I guess I don't look super American. Which is weird because I always have thought I look American. And white. Ha. So I miss clogging so much! When we are at the church- they have tile floors-and I love the sound it makes with clogging. So I just can't hold my feet still. So when we were walking down the hall I was doing shuffle steps off to the side as I was walking. And when we stopped and turned around, Elder Checketts was laughing at me a little and then gave me a high five cause he thought it was cool and funny at the same time. But we are planning to go to the church and write letters and dance a little today! Cause today is P-day and we can do it! I am more excited about it than I should be! Lol. I seriously appreciate so many things soooo much more since I have been gone! Especially in relation to not wasting time. So there are birds here that are like swarms (like bees) and they are so annoying! I think of gangs when I see them. And at night they hop, yes they practically hop from tree to tree cause there are a bunch of trees in a row down the road outside our window, and the first thing that popped into my head was "Gaddianton Robbers." Cause they are secretly hopping from one tree to the next and they are all together in a secret pack. (: And they are black birds so they just look hidden and scary. Especially at night. So what we do at night when it is super hot and we can't sleep, we all get our hair wet using cold water (it feels amazing!) in the shower and go to sleep with wet hair. It works wonders! So we have a new investigator. She came to church with us yesterday! And I felt a little bad because we don't have any really good teachers because they all just "read out of the book" and so Anita-that is her name- was falling asleep! Ha. I felt bad. But the other classes were a little better. But I think they need to be taught how to teach. But I couldn't help because I can't speak the language. (: But none-the-less it is still good. But we were excited because she had already read and prayed and we had just met with her for the first time on Saturday, and she asked us on Sunday to give her more to read! So we were excited about that. Though we got so lost when we were trying to find her house. She had to walk all the way to where we were to find us to take us back to her house. So the thing about the Portuguese is that they aren't very good when it comes to cleanliness or hygiene-though some are. But her house was cluttered everywhere. There were even piles on the side of her house of stuff. But about a month ago they had a fire in their house. And there was ash tracked through the house and you could smell it. I don't think it is good to breathe the air in that house. But she is super nice, and she loves to talk. That was our longest lesson ever because she just wanted to talk. And I didn't know what to do and Sister Brooks didn't know what to do so we would let her talk and then get back on track with the lesson. It is funny cause she would respond to our question and it would be about the lesson, then she would start telling us a story that is completely unrelated. And it would take a sec to get back on track. I have never met so many people in my life that just love to talk and could literally talk for hours! It is quite funny. Even to complete strangers, they just are so social! Anyways, this week was hard to find new investigators because no one wanted to talk to us! And there are so many people on ferias. Like, vacation. So they aren't from here or our area. One thing that I have noticed that tends to happen quite frequently, is when we are having a difficult day, and no one wants to talk to us or isn't interrested, and we get sad, but as long as we keep doing our best, at the very end of the day, it is like the Lord blesses us and we find novos! That happened yesterday. on our walk home, we hadn't found any new investigators, but there was a father and a son sitting in the park. We decided to talk to them and they wanted to know more! So being here is definitely helping me to strengthen my faith and hold out to the end. Even though it is hard not to be discouraged sometimes. I am learning that as long as we continue to do our best, even in hard times, the end will come and we will be blessed! Isn't that just like life!? Cause life is not easy, and it is so hard sometimes. But it does get better. We just have to keep pushing till the end! Anyways, I love you guys! (: Be safe!

Love Always,

Sister Stokes