Pictures!

Found some pictures that somehow snuck past my observance.

Enjoy!!

Precious package

showing off the package from Kenna! Hymn book covers :)

Gaúchos

The Gaúcho (gah- ooh- shoe)

In Southern Brazil, especially where I live, there is a very strong culture called ... Gaúcho. I do believe that in English it would be something like ... Gauchan. That feels more comfortable to say....

Everybody and their mom (literally) has what they call Chimarrão (She- mah- how) or Erva Mate (Er-vah Mah-che). It's a green herb/tea thing that EVERRRYONE is addicted to. It's not actually against the word of wisdom... but I think it probably should be because... the people here get up at 5 in the morning to drink their Chimarrão. Or else they get headaches.

They put it in a little wooden cup/bowl thing and they drink it with BOILING HOT WATER.

It's very normal to walk into the store and see many people with 2 liter thermuses and the wooden container that is called a cunha. (koo- ñah) People driving with cunhas in their hands, people atending bank or ticket boxes with their chimarrão in hand....

yes. I have even tried it.. it just tasted like..... grass in hot water.

When people are gathered around their front rooms, chatting or watching TV they pass around the little cup thing to one another and take turns drinking from it.

The straw they use is metal with a round filter on the bottom to avoid drinking the flakes of the tea. Just the juice. It's so... odd. And I totally thought it was drugs when I arrived. hahaha

anywho! That's just a little bit more of the culture that I wanted to share with you guys! Gauchans are seriously one and only. And I encourage you all to look them up online and just read about the many crazy things that I am learning here! hahahaha

umm... what else this week? ah! I traveled to a little city called Panambi this past week to do a Splitz with Sister Tenorio and the newby! It was awesome! That branch is actually made up of 3 surrounding little cities!! Holy HUGE BATMAN!!! But .... they'll never leave the limits of Panambi because... it would just be a lot to travel between 3 cities.... unless they had an investigator there... then yeah they would have to take a bus every day..... wow.
but that's all for now, folks!

love you all!


Sister Hennefer

Cruz Alta and a new calling

Wow...
wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooww...

This week was so insane my head is still reeling. With tons of conferences (zone/mission conference and general conference) together with Transfers and tons of traveling... I am simply exhausted!!! Holy moly batman!!!

Okay. Let's talk about.. .Cruz Alta. A beautiful city. And our area is... so...very... GIANT. But! all of our investigators live next to the chapel! *YES!!!* It's just that..... we live in down town... and it takes 45 minutes (walking fast) to get to our area. ...

well I'll just say that I am grateful for the days I had when I lived literally next door to the chapel ... and also when I lived in the area in which I worked. hahaha But all is well! Cruz Alta 4th Ward is awesome. Our bishop has been in this calling for 11 years and he is still on fire!! We have I think... 65 (more or less) youth in this ward!!! Holy crap! That is a ton of teenagers!!! But it is so so awesome! Today we got a couple all ready to get MARRIED! yipeeee! And then they'll get baptized and in a year from now they have plans to be sealed in the temple.

*do a little dance!* ....*but missionary appropriate;)*

My companion's name is Sharon Celeste Hernandez. This little ball of fire is from Peru!!! (which means "turkey" in Portuguese... so... yeah we make a lot of jokes about that) She is my second hispanic companion. Her Portuguese is better than Sister Ramos's was.... but her accent is still really strong and it cracks me up. Actually.... it cracks everyone up. And she is such a goof ball!! She's been a STL for two transfers already (that's 3 months) And now she's training me! Yoohoo!! She's awesome. Sister Hernandez actually was my last companion's SECOND trainer. (Sister Rocha) Sister Hernandez is on her last transfer. Yes, ladies and gentlemen I finally have the privilege and honer to "kill" a companion. And I'm stoked. Because she isn't a dead companion. We are prepared to send her flying out of the Rio Grande do Sul with the gospel still flowing in her veins! It's forbidden to speak of home. And .....we're doing a trade! I'm helping her out with her English and she's teaching me Spanish! Wooot!

Okay... let's talk about my new calling! But before I talk about my calling... let's just talk about my mission limits.

As you all know, my mission's name is called Santa Maria, Brazil Mission. But Santa Maria is actually just one city amongst the 17 cities that my mission covers. The state (or "region") that I'm in is called Rio Grande do Sul (The Great Southern River) Where... actually I think we have several missions that cover RGS... but mine fits right there in the corner where the country border line touches Uruguay and Argentina. Yes... in my mission we actually speak Portuñol. I'm learning and hearing a lot more spanish in daily vocabulary that I ever did in the States. It's pretty cool. I've already served in two cities that touch the country border line (Uruguaiana and São Borja)

What do teenagers do when they're bored? They literally leave the country. Just cross the bridge over to Argentina and hang out *shoulder shrug* aint no thang.

anywho!!! 17 cities. Cruz Alta (where I am now) is my 4th city in RGS and my 5th area. As STL's we take care of 8 sister companionships spread out throughout 7 cities. 5 of these sister companionsships are training and 4 are "whitewashing". Although we belong to the Cruz Alta Zone... because we're the STL's.. we actually take care of all the Sisters within the 3 zones around Cruz Alta. (There are 6 zones in all of our mission)
Yes.... I will be traveling a LOT. D8 hahaha but I'm excited. I've got a ton of things to learn!

Oh! quickly before I forget. of the 5 sisters that are new... one of them is American (aawww....pobrezinha has to learn portuguese!) and 2 are from Peru (they also are still learning Portuguese!) and the other 2 are from brazil.

Well! I want to say so much more! like... here I get to talk on a Radio Show every Saturday! Suuuuuper cool! aaand.... the Portuguese scriptures are coming out all new and improved and I'm sad that I'll be home by the time that happens!

okay!! Love you tons! I'll give you all the address next week! have an awesome week!


love,
Sister Hennefer

AAAAAnd another one gone, and another one gone... another bites the dust!!!

This weekend comes the news... who goes where? Transfers are gonna be intense! I've got four and a half months in São Borja but just 3 months in this area... hmmmm.... any predictions?

Too bad! Because by the time I read your predictions I'll already have the news about transfers and where everyone is going so... HA!

In other words; please do not send letters or packages straight to Santa Maria. I am not serving in the actual city of Santa Maria... (well... I was like... 9 months ago....) But not anymore!! I'm in a city like 7 hours from Santa Maria and the Assistants get cranky when they have to hold on to random letters... and I get sad because your letters arrive super delayed. :) yippeee!!

okay... and... novidades....ah! I had no idea that Aunt Julie had surgery!! what! Or that Jenni and Josh were even pregnant! What!!!

How did it go?

And is the baby super cute??

Aaand.... oh! I


-new email here :)-

woops... did that again sorry.

I've been thinking about Uncle Hank recently. How is he doing?

love you all!! Have great weeks!!!

love,


Sister Hennefer

Look! A tiny bit of time to send pictures! Yaahoooooo!

I just want to say...

...I was not transferred!! Yippeee!! In fact Sister Rocha, Sister Tenorio, Sister Araúja de Souza, and I are ALL staying for at least one more transfer! I am stoked!!! I can't even believe that all four of us stayed. Especially Sister Tenorio. She's been on the mission for... one year and... like a month and a half? And this is the very first time she's stayed with a companion. ....cool beans!! And by the end of this transfer I can say with pride and gratitude that I have lived with Sister Tenorio for 6 months.

I'm so excited to be in São Borja. This is a branch that we are working so so hard to become a ward again. And you know... with the hundreds of people that we talk to in one week... of all the people who stopped coming to church, or the people who are struggling to get along with church leaders... it always always always comes back to one thing:


Hurt feelings.


Please. As a representative of Jesus Christ and as a missionary and as a member I beg of every single person in the universe one thing: Say nice things to and about each other.

In your talks, in your journals, in your activities--let us all just be kind!! It is shockingly easy to be offended. And the process from "Ah, this week I won't come to church" to 20 years of inactivity is frighteningly quick. Please be aware of what you say to one another.


And be even more aware of the little grudges your holding on to. And be rid of them!


And now... proof that my companion, Sister Rocha exists!! :D Yay sister rocha!! And then a picture of Sister Rocha WITH uma rocha (rock)