Kisses, Baptisms, and Blenders

I want to start with that one time I accidentally broke the rules. And by that I mean- they have this custom here where everyone kisses everyone on the cheek. Only we cant kiss men... I guess. HAHAHA. AKA I accidentally kissed a 30 year old youngster. My companion was in shock- shes just like... WHY DID THAT LOOK SO NATURAL?! I was panicking obviously, because everyone just knows not to do it, so I didn't know what to do when he went in for it! If that wasn't bad enough after that we were teaching a lesson and this guy in his 20s walks into the house. And like... gives me a nugie? What is that called when people rub your head? Mas... it was like gentle. And awkward for everyone. People think Sister Fuller and I are BEAUTIFUL sisters (like as in... blood) and always want to touch us. That's the moral here. BUT it sometimes gets us into houses so Ive just kind of accepted it!

Speaking of getting into houses the other day it was POURING rain. I mean POURING. I sent you the picture. And we needed to escape the rua (road). So we clap at the rain woman's door (I just made that up, her name is actually Rosali HOSE-AH-LEE). We tell her we are messengers of God and we have a message. So she gets us towels and are just chatting for a second and she goes- I would like you to tell me more about the message God has for me! SUREEEE! So we tell her how the church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. That the authority of God was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in these latter days. Then I ask her to be baptized and she says- com certeza (essentially CERTAINLY!) and accepts a date for next week. Our lives... they kill me. I LOVE BRAZIL.

Oh then we were having almoço (lunch) with a member (they feed us lunch here) and she says- oh my son wants to be interviewed for baptism next week by the way. wait... whaaa? He hasn't even been meeting with us! So we met with him yesterday, and it sounds like he will be baptized this Saturday. Again. Life is like a dream over here. OH and we had a baptism this week of TIAGO! Technically he was the other sisters, but we serve in the same ward, so it was super cool to see him join his family in becoming a member of the church! And then his baby was blessed during sacrament and the mom had to hold here and then everyone just put their hands on her while she wiggled around like a cute little Brazilian baby. HILARIOUS.

Oh and speaking of hilarious. I accidentally agreed to give my third talk in sacrament meeting in Brazil. And by that I mean almost every week I have spoken? No worries, people always yell out correct congugations to help me. Mas, no one ever tells me I sound like Sheri Dew here? Probably because Sheri Dew can actually speak her language... Um dia. Um dia. (Shout out Sister Armstrong, she always says that)

So on Sunday we were chatting with some people who like to practice their english with us and help us with our Portuguese. So I throw out some new vocab one of the Portuguese Elders taught me. Bacana. And everyone DIES. Apparently its like saying groovy or something from the 70s. Its exciting to know I am such a hip American you know? Then one of the boys gets all excited because I am from Arizona (i redeemed myself with this. Thanks for having me in Arizona mom!) because apparently he has a hat that says ARIZONA. I say ohhh? SERIO? Qual time? (aka which team?) Turns out he just has a hat that says Arizona. Im like.... WHY?! A guy who speaks a lot of English goes- it could say BLENDER and we would love it. Liqidificadora... that's legal (cool).

Uhhh lots of other awesome things happened this week a highlight of which is I have MASSIVE tan lines because I am ALWAYS burnt. Minha vida.

Anyway, I love yall MUITO!

Its a good thing Im here doing what the Lord would have me do or Id be home in a heartbeat. That's how much I miss you!

TCHAU!

Sister Mills

 

 

pelo menos a bonita

 I love you all and I do have like 10 minutes, so here it goes! Its a good thing I prepared a list during conference in... wait for it..... ENGLISH! Best day(s) of my life actually!

-People ask me if I am Irish here. Like on the daily. Sometimes I just say yes... OOPS.

-The word for Red hair and the word for horrible sound a LITTLE too close for comfort. SUPES awk.

-I got my first Brazilian sickness. It took a week, I was as surprised as you probably are, I thought Id be down on day one! Because of this, I learned to say Diarrhea in Portuguese. Its my favorite word...All the other Americans were sick too, so dont worry Im not crazy.

-Half the world thinks I have the best Portuguese ever for only being here 2 weeks and the other half just stares at me blankly when I try to ask them to be baptized. Well, in their defense I forgot to make it a question and accidentally demanded it? No worries though, they accepted. Obviously. Oh and once people burst out laughing at the end. THAT was when I knew I was awesome.

-We got a call from the mission office that we are moving... tomorrow. And we have to take our fridge and everything with us... uhhh... who has a car?

-We have the best recent converts. And investigators actually. People here are so humble. We share the Restoration of the Gospel and they are just like- of course we still need Prophets, we had them in the Biblia, it just makes sense. LOOOOOVE.

-Conference was amazing. I loved the apostolic testimonies that were running wild. We are the children of a God. He is our father. He loves us. Get over your problems. HAAAA. 

I tried to guess the names of all the talks when they come out in the ensign (joke) (shout out Sister Helm) and for President Uchtdorfs I was like- even if you think your life is awful, jokes on you, it could be worse. Or my other favorite- you've only got 4 minutes to save the world.

-I also loved that Elder Eyring invited our investigators to be baptized.

-And that Elder Perry followed up. He is amazing.

-I dont know if I told you about this, but one time I prayed for Charity and accidentally prayed for chastity. Not a joke.... we need it though riiiiight?

-We clap at peoples houses and then shout their name in a man voice. Sister Armstrong asked her companion if she wanted to hear how Americanas would do it and then straight up screams MARIAAAA! Hahaha.

-I love to say still cute though and I finally found out how to say it in Portuguese- pelo menos a bonita. At least she is beautiful? Nao sei.

Eu amo voces muito.

Work hard, play harder

So we get an hour to email here. Not kidding. Me emails are going to go downhill here I can feel already, mas, desculpnaodesculp. - I have the Brazillians saying that PS. Its hilarious.

So... IM IN BRAZILLL! WHAAA WHAAAA?!?!?

I feel like Im in a dream to be honest. Mainly because I dont understand anyone and Im thinking... this cant be real life. And also because I have a huge rash on my legs and like 12000 bites from perne longos (mosquitos) but I dont even care! Its not hot here also... I guess I missed summer. Okay thats a lie, sometimes its hot if we are walking up a steep hill for more than 10 minutes, but its actually sort of cold? Awkward. Like a humid cold. Who knew right?

So I made a huge list in my planner of things to tell you, but this morning Sister Armstrong and her companion (Sister Parreira) moved out, so we were supes busy and I forgot my planner. Soooo here it goes from memory! Hope I dont forget any highlights!

-We had a baptism already. Cristina. Good name right? We almost had two, but the other person failed the interview... uhh we are working on it.

-My companion was once white, but now is tan... AKA HOPE.

-Speaking of hope I already have tan lines....

-The language is coming along... sort of. I have an American companion, you get the jist.

-We take buses everywhere. And I dont even hate it.

-We see miracles all day everyday. Its like a different world down here.. Everyone we talk to lets us in. Then we are like... wow, we are awkwardly in your house... Hahaha.

-Everyone thinks we look alike (Sister Fuller and I obviously) we are convinced it is like the asian thing. They also think we look like Sister Armstrong, who has brown hair... so.... welcome to Brazil?!

-The shower is just like... with the toilet. And then you squeegie all the water around. Or like us- you have a dip in the floor that holds it all hostage and you slip around on water all morning.

-People are impressed with my Portuguese for how short of time I have been here, but that doesnt mean anything because half the time I just pretend to understand them? Then lean over to Sister Fuller and say... que?

-My second full day was Zone Conference. I started crying during lunch. Not kidding. It was like watching a 10 hour foreign film. Wish I was kidding. I fell asleep, to the sound of Presidente Martins Rio sotaque. I think he appreciated it; Sister Armstrong and I were mentioned like every 5 minutes, so we would both jolt awake to listen. Everyone knew. Com certeza.

-I accidentally said fart instead of lost durante a lesson... AWKWARD.

Anyway, I have to go, mas, eu amo voces muito. Eu estou muito animada para a nova sobrinha. AKA A NEW NIECE WHAAA?!?! Congrats. And thank Dal for seeing Vmars for me. And you tambem. I knew I would like the movies.

TCHAUUU

Cheerful flexibility as Pres. Mecham used to say.

LOVE YOU ALL MUITO!

SISTER MILLS

Love!

Oi! Desculpa mas eu nao tenho tempo escrever hoje o..... esta semana.

I am here in my mission though! LOVING IT. Havent met my companion yet, but I know its sister Fuller! Pretty sure we are already friends on Facebook from before our missions? STOKED. I am going to be in the same area as my companion from the MTC, Sister ARMSTRONG. It is splitting into two areas! We are so excited.

Santana do Parnaiba --- thats my area. dont ask me how to say it...

My new address is and forever will be... 

Sister Haley K. Mills

Av. Nova Cantareira, 1146 fundos

Tucuruvi

Sao Paulo, SP

CEP: 02330 - 001

Brasil

The CTM...times dois

Oh hey there.

 

I'm in the MTC, for a second time. It's FIIIINE. (mas, here we call it the "CTM" so... Para bens to me sim?)

 

The most exciting part of all of this is that... I AM IN BRAZILLLL! I don't have much time, por que we went to the Campinas Templo this morning and I literalmente have not slept in over a week- can you say jet lag?!? Sorry, that was off topic... don't have time today because we are going with the Elders out on the town. Yep. We have field trips here.

 

Also, I wrote you a whole nice long email about the PROS and CONS of the CTM... mas, the internet went out and it wouldn't send or save. Entao... Add that to the list of cons, and dairy free strawberry oreos to the list of pros, sim?

 

Love you muito. Desculpa for not writing more. We are literalmente disobediente right... NOW.

 

MISS YOU!!!

 

Sister Mills

Finally In Brazil ! !

Oi! Tudo Bem for real this timeeee!

 

I love you, not much time, but I am in BRAZILLL! The CTM. I made it! Apparently I leave in 12 days?! It's actually super exciting, because we have Brazilleros everywhere wanting to learn english, so we just do switchsies. I've been here for only 3 hours and already know more Portuguese than I knew after 6 weeks in the MTC... uhhh... BEM VINDO A BRAZILLLLL!

 

Eu te amo muito!

 

Sister Haley K. Mills

Para bens para... me?

Happy 8 months to myself today! Eat something healthy for me, because we know I won't! 

Ohhh this week. 

Let me start with a little story I like to call- HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME. It goes a little like this...

So, I've been stressed out of my mind with, the area, the companionship sitch, the VISA waiting, my stress-eating (props to you mom for losing all that weight ps! I'm such a fatty these days, thankfully it's so cold I just throw a coat over my unzipped skirts? #FAT), and well, you know, just repenting of waking up at 6:24 instead of 6:23 AM (according to President Mecham the apostles are all 7 minutes early to everything?). 

So I heard from the parents that I had my VISA and I knew it was on the way, so I prayed that President would tell me when he was here for interviews last month, even though we aren't supposed to know til right before we leave (trunky whaaa?) I knew that I would stop getting sick every single week if I had one less thing to stress about. So I'm in my interview and President. Not kidding. Goes- just so you know, you have your VISA. I got your travel plans two days ago. And the date they wanted you to leave on was like APRIL, so I called them and they had made a mistake. You wouldn't have left til MAY when they realized it. Oh so now you leave March 10th. You have a month. (AKA DO WORK). President Mecham is a man of God (listened to the prompting) and God loves me. That is the moral of that little tale.

So.... I HAVE MY VISA AND I LEAVE MARCH 10TH! I couldn't tell anyone til March 1st, and I STINK at keeping secrets, but just for Presdient Mecham, I DID IT!  AND NEXT MONDAY I'LL BE ON A PLANE TO... SAO PAULO! ESTOU MUITO ANIMADA! EU NAO PRACTICAR MINHA LINGUA... QUE VERGONHA.

Oh yeah, this week. Umm well I sort of used up all my email time emailing everyone really excited "I got my VISA messages!" Sooo.. 

Transfers are on Wednesday and Sister Wilbert and I are getting a tri-panion. Proabably because they don't know what to do with my before I leave? Sister Erbe is her name. She served by me in Wyoming so I already know her and love her. She is an AMAZING musician. Hopefully she can sing lullabies? 

AND we had TWO snow days this week. It's super awkward as a missionary because you are like... wait... we just stay home and read the Book of Mormon for a whole day?! AWESOME! Then at like 4 pm you start to get antsy and wish the Zone Leaders would call the whole thing off. Blizzards for days up here. Yesterday it was -30 with the wind chill and we were the only ones in the area who didn't cancel church. H-core. So I go outside in just a cardigan and almost get hypothermia. No worries, I learned from my mistake. NEVER AGAIN. My hand literally stuck to the scraper and I had to rip it off (like the Christmas movie where he licks the pole!) 

Anyway,

I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU MUITO!