NOSSA!

The weekly cockroach kill count was 4 here. 4 is a week high, I think they like the heat. THE ONLY ONES THAT DO! And by the way im starting to regret leaving Montana.... thats when you know its hot.

Highlights from this weeeeek... other than the cockroaches.... just kidding.

So my companion had the stomach flu! Our week was mainly spent dying without food in our house. With lots of throw up. What blessings right? But actually it was awesome because I got to read the Liahona! I read ALL of the past general conference in one day and was chomping at the bit to go tell people about what I had learned. We also gave talks about obedience in the branch Sunday. That's the problem with... I mean BLESSING of branches- you get to speak like once a month! I told about when Jessica Andrew Josh and I went camping and Jessica got stuck in that bush. How you told us we couldn't leave sight of the camp, but we did it anyway. I talked about how God gives us commandments because he knows better than us. Just like parents with children, he is OUR father. So I brought it back together talking about how we need to trust that our Father has more perspective than us. And if we cant see the danger on the other side of creek, it doesn't mean its not there! Obviously everyone loved it, and afterward I received a ton of parenting advice! HAAAAA.

Also this week our branch called a branch mission leader! The good news is that he has been returning to church after 10 years of inactivity? The bad news is he was inactive after like 3 months of membership so we get to field questions like- for the baptism you need 3 priesthood members... could it be women?!

HAHAHAHA. But we love him so much and he is really excited. We´ll just have to start a weekly apostasy list of things that happen. You are gonna LOVE ITTTT!

Also we saw a TON of miracles this week with one investigator asking - But how can I KNOW which church has the authority of God?! GOLDENNNN. 

Also I know I always have to include a good story about men trying to kiss me. So this time Ill tell you about a man that stopped on his bike and almost fell over trying to kiss me on the lips? The good news is that he said he´ll go to church Sunday! HAAAAA. Also, he wants to marry me, which here is like 300 dollars. So at least he isn't super poor? You always knew I was a gold digger!

But in all seriousness. I know that God loves us. I know that he wants us to return to live with him. I know the purpose of this world is to have families and seal them together for eternities to have eternal happiness and joy in the life to come. I know that without this the world would be utterly wasted, and for this I am here sharing that message with the world.

LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!

Sister Haley Mills

 

Sisters Conley and Mills

 

I'm crazy but you like it!

So my companion and I are flighty and trunky TOGETHER because we both received our flight plans this week. And we BOTH fly through Atlanta. And like... 30 more sisters. So you can say that will be a party, and you definitely wont be wrong!

I'm so glad you already reserved my spot so SOON after I get home to speak! Ive been practicing my English a little bit lately praying, so I hope I'll be able to talk normal? Just no one make fun of me okay? The other day Sister Conley and I were practicing different ways to invite people to be baptized in the street and she goes- I think we need to be more (in Portuguese)... "sneaky" (in English)? and I go... "sleuth" (in English)? Then we have a 2 hour conversation about if the word sleuth is a real English word or if we are going crazy. So... that's just a little sneak peak at what you all are in for!

Also, we will have Christmas in casa?! I can't even believe my little ears! Does that mean we have to buy presents? What do you guys want from Brazil? I think I'll just bring home Paçoca, Goiabada, and Coshinhas. Ask Sister DePaula about them, they are the best things in the world! 

Anyway, lets get to the good stuff. We baptized INGRID this week! It was probably the cutest baptism of my whole life! She was so excited to be baptized! She told us after I'm baptized (with hand motions) "I can't SMOKE, and I can't DRINK, not even BEER!" CUTEST THING EVER. Also, she was praying after a lesson we had with her and she goes- "Please bless me with... i have no idea (sei lá! Saude?!), health?!" ...maybe you had to be there? It was hilarious in Portuguese.

Also, favorites of the week are one man stopping us in the road to ask for my hand in marriage and I'm just chilling there drinking my açai. My companion is literally freaking out (because she is only understanding half of what he is saying) but she knew it was something about my beautiful eyes and hair?? Hahaha. So I wait for him to finish and go- thanks so much, but we are running late, you are always welcome in the church. Then my companion goes- I don't think I understood what he was saying....? Hahaha. 

In other news it turns out the 7th of September is the 4th of July here? WOOHOO for learning Brazilian history? ALSO, as it turns out NO ONE goes to church? Including members? So our little branch had like 20 people and half of them are from other cities who have callings to come help a gente out. It was so sad because this branch has literally been dying for 12 years, and yesterday everyone saw how bad it is. People started giving DYING cliché testimonies like... "I know the church is true, We just have to keep hoping more people will see that." It was awful because our little baptism was like- why is everyone so sad? There are a TON of people here! A little perspective can turn any situation for the better right? Also we taught an orphanage and a pastor this week, so we are thinking we can just have a big baptism of like... 100 people at once?

One thing Elder Audikitis said when he was here- "God is happy with you, but he is not satisfied." I was thinking about the implications in our lives this statement has. He is happy with you, but is he yet satisfied with you? We can do more, we can be more, and it is my testimony that this comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Saudades de vocês,

Te amo, BEIJOS,

Sister Haley Mills

The week of MILAGRES (miracles)

Okay, lie- they are ALL weeks of miracles, but this week- WOO did we see the milagres!

The first can be that I already knew about baby Jade on SATURDAY! We were on our way to our baptism with a recent convert named Sofia. She is fluent in English and her DREAM is to live in Mesa, Arizona (I have no idea why- but its just so perfect that we live there righhht?) So she said she was trying to find me on Facebook and she found DAD. And he had a picture with a baby! So she goes- you want to see I downloaded it for you! BABY JADEEEE! Ohhh que benção! I am so happy that it all happened so simply for Ali and that we have one more bebezinha in the family! She´ll be fun soon I just know it!

But really- our week- it just rocked! We baptized Maria Eduarda and it was so awesome! She was terrified of the water and it hasn't rained for a long time so our swimming pool (slash baptismal font) was filled like... to my knees. So we used the biggest man in the branch to just drop her down there and literally lunge her back up! HAAAA! But it was amazing how the spirit was there even though the situation was... a little less than perfect. But Maria Eduarda is really such a gem. She was laughing about the swimming pool after and being such a good sport. On Sunday she received the gift of the holy ghost and in her blessing they said she would be a huge help for this branch! So everyone is excited about that! And now the branch has two young women! HA!

Also, this week we had mission tur! AKA Elder Aidukitis (sp?) came here and did a little fireside/devotional with us! It was AMAZING. Did you know that when members of the 70 talk the spirit like... swirls around them? Just kidding... sort of. He was SO inspirational and he taught us so much! One thing I loved that he talked about was when he was a mission president one set of elders brought 100 non members to church in a little baby branch. And everyone was freaking out because they didn't have room for all of them in the church. This was less than 15 years ago and now they have 3 wards there! So me and Sister Conley go... VAMOS! 

So our goal now is to have the whole building filled with investigators.... we´ll see how this goes! HA! I think it would be better to have the whole room filled with baptized members? We´re working on it. We have 2 baptisms planned for this week and mais 1 for the next week! WOOOOO!

OH and the other day we talked with this group of teenagers in the street- we are like- can we come by another day and visit? They go- ya, there are a ton of us in the orphanage! HAAA! So essentially we are going to fix a whole bunch of broken families and there will be a bonitinho happy ending!

ALSO, in the lon house right now... Do you really want to hurt me- is playing. Like from the 80s. DAD you would love it here!

I had a ton more, but for some reason I am becoming boring as well!

Amor, beijos, e saudades!

Sister Haley Mills

Sisters Mills, Mayorga, Sares, and Armstrong

WOOHOO KISS ON THE LIPS!

So lets start off this week with the best news ever.

I got kissed.

An open mouth kiss from a drunk woman in the street.

Just... your welcome.

So in real news, I'm in Happy Harbor! Or in good ol' Portuguese - PORTO FELIZ! Thats right, 5 months later I finally moved and OH was it time. I loved Santana de Parnaíba, but now I have a new challenge! My new companion is Sister Conley from Nevada City, California and she has been here in Brasil for only 3 months, BUT has the same time in the mission as me! AKA we are a party!  And by party I mean she is like an obedient diligent robot who I LOVE. She visa waited in Eugene Oregon, so we have some great freezing to death stories to share. Which is perfect because OH MY GOODNESS it is HOT than inferno here! 

Our mission is split into two halves (teams) The winners (wherever I am) and... JUST KIDDING. The interior and the capital. So everyone always wants to serve in the capital because it has Walmart, temple trips, and well... people? So I WAS there and now I've been banished to the interior of São Paulo! And as it turns out it is SO HOT here! It was freezing in the capital! I already have tan lines from like 4 days here! We have a baby ramo here that hasn't really had any baptisms in years, BUT the good news is that we already have HUGE plans here and people to bring to the truth!

The first is Maria Eduarda! She has 15 years... I mean she is 15. Awkward. And she will get baptized this week! We asked her why she wants to be baptized and she said- I want to be clean and follow Christs example. If that isnt the cutest thing you've ever heard... youre cray. So when I arrived she was a little scared off by the church because the sisters tried to baptize her in a week, but I made some jokes about how we just want everyone to be happy with us and she accepted a date to be baptized this week! WOOOO! Then in church the President said- and we have a baptism this week, the name of the young woman is Duda. Stand up! HAHAHA. I pat her on the back and say- DESCULPA, how embarrassing! MAS, desculpnãodesculp, she will help this branch so much! I know that this church is true, and that its Gods will for it to grow!

Buttt other than that we walked. A LOT. I've never worked so hard in my life. And im new blood here so the bug bites will start to die off here in the next few weeks! As it turns out white skin is their favorite flavor? 

TE AMO! Saudades de vocês!

Sister Haley Mills

PS tell Jade to come OUTTTT she has to be fun before I get home!

 

Sisters Mills and Mayorga

 

One moreee!

"Sooo remember that time when all we ate were... tangerines... dooo dadooo da dooo dooooo." - Regina Spektor.

But really. 

You know there is something really hard about writing every week, because the mission is one of those- you had to be there things. I try to explain in the best I can but its just one of those things you have to understand. There were 6000 ups and 6000 downs and interestingly enough the words "up" and "down" don't exist here. its the same as above and below... sooo fact for inquiring minds.

Jade will come! I have faith that little baby will jump right out of there when the time is right. PROBS on Dads birthday to upstage him! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! Also, I cant believe Josh will serve a mission in New York! That's so cool! Tell him congrats, its the hardest thing I've ever done in my whole life, but at the same time I wouldn't give a second back. AND tell Uncle Baloo CONGRATS when the time comes. Being a Grandpa is something I will never know anything about, but I'm sure its almost as cool as being an Aunt.

This week we set a goal in our zone for everyone to baptize ONE more person than they already had. (My idea) (just kidding- idea of the spirit) so we all go out and start finding people who have already been to church who fell through for some reason or other. We think about the neighbor of a less active so we call her and ask if we can come visit. Then we receive a call from someone in a different ward who used to live next door to them as well and he says- have you ever visited Felipe? Ive been thinking about Felipe. So this is all obviously a sign right? So we go there AND we mark a baptism for Sunday of Felipe. WOOHOO right? Sooo he is a teenager who has already been to church something like 5 times, but the missionaries never even visited him because he literally lives in the boondocks. So we mark a date and the next day it is POURING rain and we didn't have money for the bus. So we are walking the 4km to his house and we get a call- his mom retracted permission. HE CANT GET BAPTIZED. And he is DEPRESSED and we are DEPRESSED. And my companion is screaming in the rainy dirty street- does she even LOVE her son?! It was like a Travis Mills film you know? HAHA. So we all calm down a little and say a prayer. We decide it is best to turn back. Not to visit. So yesterday we decide its time, and we make the trek there and talk to his mom. She is like- okay- he can GO to church he just cant get baptized yet. SO that's a step. We´ll work with it! Small victories every day!

On another note my companion has announced to the whole world that I am a full-fledged Brasilian. I CANT eat without rice and beans. Like- I don't get full, people ask what we eat in the US and I start to think... I don't even know how anyone gains weight there without eating a kilo of rice and beans at every meal. Its a problem. Also, recently its been SUPER dry here. Like... Arizona dry. People complain about it and I'm just like- NORMAL.

The other sisters moved in this week and President called me yesterday to say we are going to have 2 more in our house. Transfers are today so we will see who stays for it, but just imagine 6 sisters in one house. Our bishop was like- I've never even seen that happen. Its gonna be CRAZY. I told president to pick the other two sisters with wisdom. If anyone likes to pick fights we are DONE FOR. Also, when we were talking to President apparently he was talking in English and we didn't even notice. So after Sister Armstrong and I are like- WOW that's so cool 3 sets of missionaries in one ward. And our companions are like... WAIT WHAT HAPPENED?! Hahaha. I think I've had one of the most unique missions you could even have. When I start putting it all together people are just dumb-founded. Ive also lived with Sister Armstrong now for 5 months, in 4 different houses 4 different times. Its cool. We are besties. 

My President in Montana one time told me- some people need the mission more than the mission needs them. Lately I've been feeling like I need the mission more than it needs me. I cant even remember who I was before this great test in my life, but I never want to go back. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior. That he is OUR Savior. He only could unlock the gate of heav´n and let us in.

With amor,

Sister Haley Mills

PS - say cururuquara 6 times fast. (Its one of our cities.) OR carapicuíba.

 

 

A whole bunch of random

Oiiii gente!

I'm so glad Leslie (Clouse) was so inspirational because honestly it is SO hard to give talks these days. You see miracle after miracle and your like... I don't even know which one to focus on! God loves us! WOOO!

I am INCREDIBLY happy I already have my bachelors as well! I was thinking the other day about what a blessing it is, to be one of the only missionaries who isn't worried thinking about their life back home all the time. Everyone is always trying to figure out what they will do when they return and I'm just over here like- I've got one thing done! WOO! Andrew will finish up soon I am sure! Just having a bachelors will help him so much, he could really work anywhere, just saying that he speaks English and Spanish fluently! AND has a degree!

 

So I was a good little girl this week and made a list of things to tell y'all!

Starting with walking. HAHA. Sooo the other day after district meeting, our district leader was like... do you have almoço? noooo. Do the other sisters have lunch? nooo. zone leaders? no. sooo why don't we all go to a restaurant? PERFECT. We start walking. After about 20 minutes we ask- how far away is this restaurant? The elders- uhhh mais o menos 20 minutos. Perfect right? So we are walking.... walking... how long? Ummm 20 minutes. But you guys walk slow. SO we arrive there after an hour. Which for us is not that long of time walking these days. BUT then the elders suggest that we can just walk to our area because it is the same distance and we end up walking 8 kilometers and MORE THAN 2 HOURS LATER.... Hahaha. We were all dying laughing the whole time. Afterwards I thought- man... the bus only costs 3 reais. WORTH IT. So what we learned this week is- DON'T TRUST ELDERS. Just kidding. But not.

We have a member that was telling us about her marriage plans for December and how she is going to invite me to her wedding because it will be after I go home. So we are leaving her house and I hear something about an invite for the wedding and I scream out "QUERO!" buuuut then my companion tells me that she was talking about her 40 year old brother she wants me to marry.... AWKWARD. She changed topics...

The other day we were making contacts in the street. And this one woman was in a hurry you know. And she yells out as she passes, "outro dia eu vou parar." Another day I will stop. And I starting thinking about that one song Dad loves- "when you comin' home, I don't know when, but we´ll get together then!" How often do we think- I'll fulfill my callings tomorrow. I'll visit someone who needs me tomorrow. I'll read my scriptures tomorrow. What we do TODAY is what determines where we will be tomorrow. If we leave the day of our repentance until tomorrow, tomorrow may never come. We need to live in the moment of action. Not only today will I be nourished by the good word of the Lord, but NOW. 

This week we had a fireside for all the youth about going on missions. I get up there to bear my testimony and everyone just starts bawling with me. I started to realize how short my time is here. I go home in 4 months... when did this happen? Every moment counts. Every second. Every person. Vamos trabalhar. 

Speaking of people, I cant remember if I told you about Denner. But he is our favorite less active. He works in this photo shop the old stake president owns and I am not kidding you, we visit every day. They give us money for our lunches, or we need to use the phone, or we want to print pictures, or talk to a member of the family about an investigator. So one day I gave Denner a scripture to read and ever since we have been passing and reading scriptures with him everyday.  He´s 25 and going through a divorce, and has been less active now for 7 years. And wait for it... HE WENT TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!! Our whole ward was freaking out! Never mind that I said he HAD to come or I would be transferred this week, but he WENT! And he said he will never leave again. We had all these investigators at church and I here I was FREAKING out about Denner! HA! 

And speaking of transfers, I think I might stay here forever. I talked to President yesterday for 40 minutes and he was like... how the HECK do you know so much about this stake? So... I'm pretty sure I'm never going to move. But its okay because I LOVE IT HERE and the other sisters are probably going to move innn! WOOO! Party house! ... I mean missionary house!

Love you and miss you a ton!

Sister Haley Mills!

 

 

Highlights from this week

I can't believe Leslie (Clouse) is already home?! PARA BENS! What language was she speaking again? I bet its crazy to hear her! Que legal! And EVERYONE is having babies I know! Everyone loves it here when I say- my sister in law has a baby in the oven. People laugh for a good 10 minutes. Apparently that isn't a phrase here? I just embrace it.

And now. Highlights from this week-

-I taught my companion about dishwashers the other day when we were washing dishes. And now she is OBSESSED. Everyday she tells people- did you know they have a MACHINE in the United States that washes dishes. I thought she would be equally as excited about a dryer for clothes but apparently they exist here, just not for the poor (aka us!) 

-Remember my recent convert Tamires? WELL her boyfriend has been coming to church with us and he is PROGRESSING. And when I say progressing, we have just got to marry them so he can move here and get BAPTIZED (he lives in a different city) so that will take a couple of weeks but I am so excited for them to have a little Mormon family. He has changed so much knowing the church. The other day he was like- this just all makes sense you know? SOOO VAMOS BATIZAR.

Love you and miss you dearly. The word trunky is outlawed in my sphere of influence, so be careful y'all. Still got 4 months!

SAUDADES!

TCHAU!

Sister Haley Mills