More Pictures and Cool Things

Alright... so... transfers happen this coming week. And we decided to just do NOTHING today but sleep (and party with our brand new refrigerator!) and we are just gonna be crazy headless chickens next P-Day.


Which I'm pretty sure will be my last in Cruz Alta.....


yup and I hate talking about leaving the cities that I love because I feel like I just got here!!!


aaaaaaaand! Something super neat that happened this week was the splitz that I did with Sister Rocha and her little American companion Sister Cornick (from Missouri) it was honestly a very spiritual experience. I had the priviledge (privaledge? Prevalage? Privalidge... wow I need to study more in English) to hold a little interview with each of the Sisters and testify of the reality of the Savior.


It's such a simple thing. Testify of our Lord and Savior. But it's such a sweet feeling when you feel a love for someone that is outside of yourself. I know that our Redeemer loves and knows and works with every one of our Sister missionaries.


super cool.


okay. Enough with cool spiritual things. Let's send pictures until you all get SICK OF IT MUAAAHAHAHA


a picture of Elder Santos Melo at the radio station last Saturday.


oh!!! A funny thing that I forgot to say about the radio!!


alright... just a warning to all those who have a future interest in radio shows. Don't try to be funny and send a "thumbs-up" or smile to the radio guy running the sound on the other side of the glass. He won't understand. And he will think that you are trying to communicate with him.


and yes. It was a fail. haha That was probably one of the funnest nights at the radio.


The second picture is of Sister Rocha, Sister Cornick, and me on the day of our splitz in a little city called Santo Ângelo. awwwww..... I love and miss Sister Rocha a TON.




Aaaaand..... we held a family night at the Patriarch's house and my companion is trying to teach our little investigator how to do a fun trick with a pencil. .... and no she never got the hang of it. hahaha but the picture turned out pretty cool.


So.... last P-day my companion and I decided to try and melt all the ice in our freezer. (because it was gettin ridiculous) aaaaaand...... after all that work with boiling water in hot pots and a blow dryer.....


our fridge never worked again. All our food went bad... we were all eating warm fruit and stale bread for a week... and there was a pot of nasty spaghetti that went bad.... it was pretty much an ugly sight.


So the mission house sent a new refrigerator! yaaaaayyyyyyy!!! And I am so very happy with a nice new fridge. It's just like that time when I broke the blender... and afterwards I got authorized to buy a nice new blender that is so much better than all the other blenders in our mission! Woooot! Let's break things more often to get nicer things! hahaha


haha.... no just kidding. Let's pretend that I never said that. ;)

Stuff Stuff and Stuffing

This past week we held our own little Thanksgiving!! yaaaaay!! With 3 americanas and one brazilian.... yeah.... it was bound to happen.

It was kind of a lot of work because.... with all of our traveling, and normal daily missionary tasks... we had to really split up our time and money to get a little feast. (which we ended up not eating on Thursday night because everyone got home from proselyting really tired. So we ate a Thanksgiving breakfast. :D)

We bought all the stuff on P-Day. And then slowly throughout the week, with incriments of 30 minutes in the morning and at night we made Green bean casarole, funeral potatoes, jello with banana chunks, stuffing, and apple pie. :) It was super rocking awesome. Our house was sooooooo hoooooottttt after all that cooking!

But it was comforting to eat american.... kind of food. :)
There's another picture of us before leaving to lunch sneaking a little snack from the fridge. I'm eating hummus (hummus...?? whatever) a paste made from garbanzo beans that I make every week because I find it oh so very delicious. And Sister Aune chose the.... less healthy route hahahaha

Guaraná is a very popular soda pop here in brazil. Very tasty. And yes, I will try to bring some home to share with you all.

aaaand.... one time we were waiting to meet a member half way to her house to eat lunch and..... I was losing my mind. I cannot stand to be still soooo... we took pictures of my insanity. (we ended up not even waiting. we just left to search for her house because it was hot, I don't like waiting, and we were both getting cranky from hunger hahaha oh dear.... I'm feeling like I need to study chapter 6 of Preach my Gospel.)

The third picture is just a little picture of the enormous statue of a ..... Saint? (I am seriously forgetting English. What a frustration) It's normally a little statue that catholics put on their tombs and in their homes and they worship them. She protects their homes and their past loved ones. When they pray they generally pray to her. Well... Our lady Fátima is very popular. And because the majority of the country is catholic.... they made a big monument for her. And every sunday tons of people go to the monument grounds to do religious rituals and pray to her to protect the city of Cruz Alta and to feel comforted.

We pass this statue every day walking to our area. So... I decided to take a picture. I'll try to get a better picture later. But I'd also like to take a moment to recognize how SLANTED AND AWFUL THAT HILL IS AT THE BOTTOM.

okay. Now you all know. :) Have a great weeek!!! love you all!


love,
Sister Hennefer

So... vomiting and passing out in a City 5 hours from home is awesome

Well!! The traveling this past week was simply exhausting. And I am so grateful to be back in our area to actually get some WORK done! I don't like the visits to Santiago and São Borja because they're so far away we have to stay 2 days out of our area. But.... this week it was actually 3 days... because, as you all guessed, Sister Aune and I got sick during the trip!

Never again will I eat from the Bus Station, okay? Thank you. learned my lesson. Amen.

and now some pictures! woooot! (if ya'll want the detailed story of my sickly adventure ask my mom cuz I sent her an email. :) .....(sorry, Mom... now everyone's gonna start emailing you)

And Sister Aune and I are getting a kick out of our Last 6 Months theme! but now it's..... 4 months DUN DUN DUN! it's called our 4-Month-Face! With every thought, every action... we want to make the most of it! Every opportunity of service or being healthy---take it!!!

The most powerful miracles and works that the Savior did were at the end of His life. And we want to make the most of the end of our missions! BOOM! we're stoked. :)

Anywho... it's called 4-Month-Face because.... in Portuguese it makes more sense. But in English it doesn't give the same HIYAH vibe... but whatevs! Life goes on.

the first picture is of us at the Radio Station! Every Saturday night we get to talk on the Radio!!! This past Saturday I anchored for the first time! It was super fun. sister Aune hates it hahaha but I'm loving it.

These are my shoes that entered in this state of poverty after only TWO WEEKS from buying them.... I am sad. That is why I have a face of death in this picture with my super sad not very durable shoes.

aand... one time were heading back to our area from lunch And there was a horse in our trail. we didn't really know what to do so... what are two american girls gonna do? We're gonna take a picture with it.

and then two people passed by super chill and the horse moved out of the way like it was nothing. Wow..... talk about an obstacle that was not even really an obstacle.

The first picture is of a giant cuia! Cuia is that little wooden cup thing that the natives use to drink chimarrão. Yerba mate? I think is how it is in spanish.... but anywho. It's really a big culture thing.

n public restrooms you have to take your toilet paper BEFORE entering in the stall. .... kind of weird, right?

In our early leave for São Borja on Wednesday, we were the ONLY ones on the entire bus!! Whaaaaa!!! The bus driver came out to announce his usual speal and then looked at us and said, "well... I guess we're the only ones. ... use your seatbelts and let's have a good trip." hehehe we chuckled.

aaaaand... unfortunetely the time is up!


I love you all and have a super special awesome THANKSGIVING WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT


love,
Sister Hennefer

tons of thiiiiiings!

.....so.......... From the very first MINUTE of our companionship we started cracking up about something. aaand.... it's been like that ever since! It's going to be a very fun and enjoyful month and a half (actually... 5 weeks....)

We are totally full of tons of THINGS TO DO! 

BUT! We're getting geared up for another 5 weeks of traveling. This week we're headed over to São Borja on Wednesday and then Thursday morning we're headed over to another little city called Santiago. And then Friday morning we'll get home to Cruz Alta and do our weekly planning session on Saturday. It's gonna be an awesome and inspiring splits. I'm excited to see how our little Hispanic sisters are doing learning Portuguese! (and of course... I just completely adore São Borja) 

And yes, Mom. I know that you love maps. And if ya'll are curious about how my travelings work out you can look up a map of the "Rio Grande do Sul" 

That's the state in which I'm serving. And from there look up the cities where I've lived and traveled. But don't look up Santa Maria. you will not find satisfaction in this route. 

anywho!!! let's send pictures!

This transfer we made a goal to take a picture every single day before we leave to work! Because.... I seriously need more pics on my camera. aaaand.... these are some of the results.

hahaha our first day.... Sister Aune sneaking food from the cabinet real fast before we run to lunch.

aaannndd... one time we found the shape of Rio Grande do Sul with the RGS's flag colors! woot! So we took a picture. (and then we ran away because there was a creeper man watching)

okay. real fast before time runs out.

Last week because of transfers I was left all alone the only Sister in Cruz alta for a whole day!!! so I stayed in a member's house waiting for my bus to show up later that night. 

so I got to have a personal study on a comfy couch, with a cat! hahaha pretty awesome. 

well! Love you all! sister aune and I are gonna laugh a lot... eat tacos (because ...of the three americans and 1 brazilian that live in our apartment it was the brazilian who has taco seasoning!!! hahahaha) 

and then we're gonna laugh some more and sleep until it's time to work again. :) It's a good life. 

oh...and a thought..... Every single one of my past companions (except sister Rocha) is now at home...wow... I'm feelin' old. 

love you all! byyyyyyye

Transferrrrrrrrrs

And once again, my dear ladies and gentlemen. Transfers have come upon us. And my dear little Peruvian friend has gone home to her country.


But! A couple of funny stories before I let you all know who is my next awesome companion!


Alright... so.... Sister Hernandez and I were walkin' along and there was a man (who honestly was one of the sweetest men that stop us randomly on the street.) who was, indeed, one of those a little bit special.


Alright. a quick back story. Is that in Brazil everyone calls the Sister Missionaries "Síster". Even though the word in portuguese is "irmã". I do not know why but.... ever since the gospel has reached portuguese speakers it's always been that way. Even in all the church manuals and books and magazines-- when you're talking about missionaries, the men are "Élderes" and the girls are "Sísteres".



So, this being an English word in origen, there are some people who sincerly struggle to pronounce it. And usually the little kids just call us "tia" (chee-yah) which means "aunt" or "teacher"


The missionaries lightly chuckle amongst themselves and usually just move on when someone struggles to pronounce the word Sister. And no problem.


But this guy just seriously cracked us up. We were crossing the street at a traffic light and he stopped us, " Síssiuu! Síssiuuu!"


Well... "Síssiuu" not being a word in any language, we knew he was trying to call us. And then he totally cracked us up as he said,


"you two are very pretty." And gestured towards Sister Hernandez with a little bow, "Sísi one!" and then gestured to me with a little bow, "and Sísi two!" and promptly when on his way. He complimented. He numbered. He had done his job.


okay!!! one more quick story before I have to catch a bus to Santa Maria!


We went to do some visits with a member and a member bought an american candy, Wafer. And then she said, "hey do you want a wafer?"


My companion laughed at her face and said, "Wafer? HA! it's wah-fair" ....and then she looked at me "what is it in English?"


"Wafer"


"oh, that's right."


yeah.... it was funnier when we were walking together.


but anywho! now she's gone in Peru and my next companion is actually an American!! Sister Aune! She and I arrived in the mission field together! And now we're companions! woot! She is the only other Sister MIssionary in my group. And now we're rocking the american sister team here in Cruz Alta!


Well my folks. Love you all! havea great week! tchau!


love,
Sister Hennefer

I have pictures! Yippee

The first picture I'm sending you all is a picture of the baptism we had on Saturday!! A little family! :) (awwww que amooor no meu coraçãozinho!!)


Alright. So the mom's name is Simone. She has three children. And the two of them were baptized along with her. Bruna and Bruno. They met us a little while ago and imediately started working with us to get baptized. Simone imediately stopped drinking coffee and started buying a coffee replace that's called Cevada.


And on Saturday the three of them were baptized! yippee!!! Okay... I wish I could say that it was like... you know.. the best moment of my life.


But I will not lie. .... there were many children......and little patience...... and I'm sure that from here in 5 years I'll be chuckling about it.... but for now I have a hernia and a headache. (no, jk I don't actually have a hernia do not panic.)


and theeeennnn a super cute picture with me and my little peruvian companion. awwww and the dress that she gave me. awwwwww que liiiindOOOO


aaand... then a picture of me with a BofM in front of the chapel in a feild. (It's a new dress, I was feeling good... we took pictures)


It's been an eternity since I've had time to send some pics. so....


sorry to those of you who hate to recieve a million pictures cuz.... three pics at a time is how we roll.


OH!!! Did I mention that we crossed the point of NOT FUNNY.? Because I got lice... again.


yes my dear friends, family, and other folk. I got lice for the FOURTH TIME on my beloved mission. Once for every city that I go to.


I take two showers per day, wash my clothes like a normal person, and I do NOT use brushes, combs, or hats of dirty people.


but you know what? I just think the little guys like american blood. And that's what I've decided. Becuase I've never gotten lice in my life until Brazil....


A picture of my companion and her last pair of shoes. She goes back home in two weeks so she's just gonna tough it out because shoes are a waste of money at this point of her mission. This, is the typical Sister Missionary shoe after... 3 months. We totally beat up and destroy our shoes. I cannot even count how many shoes I've gone through these past 13 months.


I made prayer rocks for our investigators!!! And we did it missionary style.


liquid white out, sharpies, and nail polish shine!!! yahoo!!! (except that... the first time I didn't realize that I bought nail OIL and not nail POLISH and I just rubbed flipping OIL all over the rocks... how... ugh stupid stupid... frustrated... waste of time.... okay it's all over now)


aaand..... a lovely picture of me with a flower hahahahahahaha


have a great week, everyone!!! I love you all THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much!!! And remember to give my mom the BEST FLIPPING BIRTHDAY EVER ON THE 30TH OF OCTOBER!!!


And have a great halloween!!! And send many pictures of your halloweens because here in Brazil they don't have it! D*8 what a sad life!! the children don't even know what they are missing!!!


love,
Sister Hennefer

Birthday!

Thank you all for the Happy Birthdays. It was a happy one, indeed. :) 21... feels like... you know... yet another year hahaha

I love you all THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much!

umm.. just an update.... this week I'll be doing some traveling to two little cities. The first one is tomorrow to Santo Ângelo... that'll be cool! A little American Sister MIssionary is still being trained over there. I'm excited to follow up with them. And then onnn.... I think Friday we're going to a little city called Santiago. :) wooooot!!


OKAY. LOVE YOU ALL. BYE
love,
Sister Hennefer