week 3 transfer 4

This week was awesome!!!! we had mission tour and Elder Massagaurdi (im pretty sure I just slaughtered his name) our Area authority was the speaker. I didnt understand totaly of what he said, but i got a lot of inspiration for what I need to do in this area of my mission and this time in my life as a missionary. We finally have someone with a marked date for baptism, a gal named Raquel, a friend of one of our recent converts, debra and edwardo. I love Debra, she reminds me of Hayley in some ways.
So I have a story to share:
The Miracle of the Map

One day two missionaries were working in the City of Cuiaba, bairro Jardim Cuiaba, a fair distance from the rest of the missionaries area. The senior companion had finally decided to let the jr. companion be the map carrier, for she had proven herself capable of finding the places they wanted to go. After placing in mind where to head to next to visit a less active member, the junior companion put the map in the side pocket of her backpack, one without a zipper. Easily accesable, she thought. Not certain it was a secure location, but not wanting to change its place, she chose instead to check every few mins to see if it would move. After doing this a dozen times, she deemed it secure. half a mile later, the junior companion decied to check the map again. To her chagrin, the map was not there. THE ONE AND ONLY MAP THAT AREA VERDÃO OWNS, WAS GONE!
quickly retracing their steps and praying for success, the dupla stopped at the last place the junuior companion remembered checking for the map. Nothing was there. the wind surely had blown the map to a place they´d never find. But in the mind of the junior companion was a place just a little bit futher up the rua, she said to her disgruntled companion, um pouco mais! um pouco mais, there in a pothole in the side walk was the map, in perfect condition.
MIRACLES happen, ya´ll. God answers your prayers, even when it comes down to as simple as a map.
and yes, i was the careless junior companion.
Other crazy thing, I think im starting to forget my english. I contacted a man in the street and we got to talking, he´d lived in florida for 5 years and so he was trying his english out on me. I had to think about my response to respond in enlglish, it wasnt automatic to say something in english. Not that my portuges is great, its kinda like being a baby not knowing how to speak at all.... but hey, its progress. And president said to get me ready to really know this area, im probably going to be training next transfer. yikes!
love ya´ll,
s. smith

week 2 transfer 4

this past week just flew by!Said goodbye to 2 sisters here and my Sister Randall (down south to Campo Grande) Its looking like I´ll be here in Cuiabá for another transfer after this one; we have 5 new sisters coming in next month! That is exciting, because sisters kick butt. I´m starting to actually enjoy reading my scriptures in portugese since I´ve been banned from them in english during personal study. Ive been reading the last few chapters in Alma. I just love the war chapters. I get to almost watch a movie in my head; and you learn so much about the people, and how you can relate stratagems to your own life. Im just very grateful to have the scriptures; they are always such a source of comfort and peace, and of direction. Its just so amazing how the Book of Mormon just answers every question-no other book could possibly do that. My testimony of the Book of Mormon is bem simples, ITS TRUE! I dont know how anyone could read this book and not know that it is of God. Past tuesday Sister Randall and I got to go with the other new elders and the departing missionaries to have lunch with president and sister Oliviera. Oh my gosh, food, AMAZING! Honestly after living here, i will never cook rice the same. it was a great experience as a newbie to hear the testimonies of those who have completed their missions here, and sooner than I will realize, it will be myself and sister randall saying goodbye. Pres. Oliviera will be finishing his mission the same time as we will. got to run, my comp is going to vomit......until next week!
WebRep

transferencia 4 semana 1

Indeed, I will be staying here in Verdão por another transfer with Sister Albuquerque. Sister Frischneckt just ended her last transfer and is flying back home to utah this thursday, and Sister Randall is heading down to Campo Grande, a good 12-13 hr bus ride. Lucky duck! ha!Im excited to start afresh and have a few more bairros added to my area, my comp and I will have two areas to cover until the next transfer when we get 4 more sisters into the mission! wa-hoo! President Oliviera loves sisters, i think part of it has to do with his own conversion experience being sister missionaries who taught him the gospel. Thanks mom for forwarding the email from Sister Manning, Im so happy to hear that things are progressing with Mario, he is definately an elect.This week I am excited to trying to put the shoulder to the wheel and keep up the excitement, i did alot of pondering and praying about what I can do to help keep the work going and the only thing to do is be excited about it! GREAT things are going to happen, Sister A. and I are going to tear it up in Verdão!Dad, I decided that the missing link in the family tree commenced in Brasil. I see all these homens on the rua men on the street, and i think, man he could be dad´s brother, or cousin. When i speak portuguese well enough that people dont have to question what language i am speaking, i am going to say im from the North, rather than estados unidos. Cuz some people just arent very polite after they learn this. Tommrow sister Randall and I willl go with Sister F. and sis. Hatten to have almosço com presidente Oliviera; you get lunch with presidente when you leave and when you arrive, so that will be fun. I look forward to the day when I can understand him. His accent isn´t too heavy like most Cuiabá people (speak very poor portugese and very fast) but he talks really softly.We´ve been trying to work with our less active, not active people here in the ward, whereas we have so many. It is really saddening to find someone, who knows the church is true, but they just have no desire to return because of the actions of the members. We met one woman this past week; so strong in faith, but she said she stayed there for 8 years and she just could not put up with the things that were going on there. Our ward needs to grow; if Verdão grows we´ll get to have a building of our own! ITs crazy, i feel like im still in Oakdale; im facing almost the exact challenges here as there, just with a little more population to work with and in a different language.I keep thinking about how in the last days the wheat will be seperated from the Tares, and even memebers of the church will be sifted; I see it now. There are many people who arent strong enough or willling to do what the Lord asks. It makes me have even more of a desire to stay strong to what I know is true; to gaurd my covenants and endure to the end. Of all the things we have to do in this life to recieve salvation and exaltation, its the enduring the to end that is difficult.Stay strong ya´ll,eu amo vocês!sister smith

transfer 3 week 6

Its been another difficult week here in Area Verdao B. I´ve been reflecting alot on my experiences in my last area in Oakdale, things were very similar to here. I am trying to see what changes I can bring to help improve the area. Its very easy to get discouraged, but I know discouragement comes from Satan; he doesnt want the work to continue. I´ve take the advice of my last trainer, sister Hislop. ``Dont ask why but HOW can I improve the situation´´ Sister Albuquerque and I are praying and fasting for some miracles, and seeing how we can be more diligent and obedient to recieve blessings. I cant believe this transfer is almost over. Im learning so much more about patience and listening to the spirit, and to truly love the people I teach. We had one investigator at church sunday, we taugh him, his mother and brother the first lesson on saturday and Luis wanted to come to church with us. He seemed to really enjoy the classes and sacrament meeting and appears to be excited to meet with us again tonight. I will most likely be staying here in Cuiabá, sister Randall is probably going to be transfered down to Campo Grande. I cant wait for when i go there, Sister Albuquerque tells me I wont be able to hardly stop taking pictures, its very beautiful there, very different from Cuiabá. Haven´t tried anything crazy this week, just enduring the heat and the sweat. Yesterday was so hot, I was thinking, Heavenly Father, are you trying to kill me? Nope, just close to it. Literally the refiners fire, não? I hate to think about when it really gets hot here....staying hydrated.....I already drink 6 bottles of water during the day! I´ve lost 2.5 kilos too...probably all the weight I gained in the MTC and in Louisiana. Sister Alburquerque said I´ll probably loose at least 5 more. With all the walking and the sweating, go figure! haha
Hope everyone is happy and healthy. I read about Morôni this morning, in Alma 48, he´s my role model. Im tired of being discouraged and tired of low numbers and dissapointing my leaders, myself and most importantly God. I´ve felt satan really working on me the last few weeks and its been really hard to stay focused and have the desire to be diligent. But I have the fortune of many people who love me and support me that I´ve been able to relflect on to give me strength. Thank you all for your love and prayers.
This is God´s work; No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Pursecutions may rage, mobs may combine, calamuity may defame. But the works of God will go forth Boldly, Nobly, and Independent, Until it has penitrated every climb, swept every nation, and sounded in every ear...until the Great Jehovah shall say, The Work Is Done! (from the wentworth letters, joseph smith jr...)
Remeber we are all missionaries for the LORD!!
Love
sister smith

transferença 3 semana 5

This week, todo mundo were either bebidos* or duidos**.
Im not baptising either of those folks, since they are not in the right mind for anything.
This week has been another interesting week, still dont understand what people say, but im understanding more words. :)
Contacting is really fun, Its all practice for me. haha My trainer has about 3 months left in the field, and we´ll probably be together for the next transfer, we´ve got new training materials! hurrah!

I´ve been pondering alot about the things I learned and experienced in Louisiana in comparasion to here in Brasil.
Being here in brasil, cuiabá is hardest probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
When I wake up, I honestly dread the day. But once I hit the street, the sun blazing down on minha cabeça and minha mochilla, I get pumped. Lets go save some souls! Having the language barrier is really difficult, but I see how this is really helping me rely more on the Lord. I have never felt more alone than I have here. But at the same time, I constantly feel the Love of our Heavenly Father, comforting me and helping me to stay postitive and strive to see the bigger picture, past the sore feet, past the stench, past the thirst and tiredness.
All in all, I can say I definately am being stretched, much more than I imagined. And Im grateful for it.
you cant appreciate the joy in life with out the pains, no?

Thanks for all the pictures of sadie, bethany! SHE IS A DOLL!!! i wish i had more time to email everyone back individually, but the computer im using is slow and it took a while for me to look at the pictures. They were food for my eyes!
Emily looked lovely, it was good to see how things are happening in the family.
Next week hopefully I´ll be able to send some pictures.
I got some sandalas that are more comfortable for my feet hurrah! and sister alburquerque rigged up´a backing for my chacos, using straps from her old bra! haha! oh the life of the missão!

So here´s a little story about hands.
Saturday, there had to be some sort of holiday going on (oh yeah, its the weekend! thats holiday enough!) tudo mundo were drunk, sister Frischneckt and Sister Randall got their hands kissed twice by different drunks in the street, and my comp and i went to visit one of our less actives, Jonas....well he had been drinking. Lets just say i had to dodge to miss a third kissing on myy hand. yes....akward.....
indeed excitment!
love ya,
sister smith
Mosiah 8:18, Eter 12:12

vocab for the week:
*drunkard
**crazy, madman

transfer 3 week 4

sometimes i feel like a rebel. because sometimes i speak ingles in my head.

We´re off to a blooming good start this week! new goals, new people to meet. Sister Alberquerque and I have a lot of work to do try improve from last week, where i was having problems with my feet (the pansies arent used to walking for more or less 9 hrs a day) no bolhas er bb..blisters mais, my feet have not been super proactive for the work. I´ve had some medicine to help, i´m not sure if it actually does so today im not going to use it. it makes me super thirsty. and im already thirsty enough. lol but i hope these feet of mine are ready to work this week cuz i dont want to spend another hour with my toes above my head or doused in ice water. Yeah, im not so sure icebaths are that healthy.....I decided its the perfect form of torture. its like, hey lets walk in the Sahara Desert for 3 days and then go dip them in a bucket of water fetched from the Artic.
yes. torture.
então, I gave my first baptism invitation in portuges this week! We taught this older lady, Ana the restoration. She didnt really understand anything I said, `mais or menos´ Ive got to speak slower too so people understand me. I think in the back of my mind I think, hey if I speak quickly, they wont notice that Im speaking incorrectly! ERRR nope....makes it worse. haha
Im understanding a little more, i think, each day, but some people are very difficult to understand. especally old men with no teeth....yes i was doing a street contact and this old fella went off about something, very animated and enthusastic. He kept saying things and looking at me, and i kept thinking, is he asking me a question? i just hoped I was making the right facial expressions to suit his conversation cuz I understood nada. lol ´tis vida, não?
Oh by ways of business, i dont remember if i asked this in my last email, but mom&Dad, could ya´ll move some money from my checking to my credit because i used my credit card to pay for the box i sent before i left Louisiana. I might have, but better to check than have a huge bill when i get back from my mission.
Now that I´ve come to Brasil, I´ve been thinking alot on the reasons for why I need to go to Louisiana. I had some ideas in my mind, but I´m starting to think there are other reasons, things I can do to help my mission here? I knew things would be different, but i didnt think it would be as different as I am finding. I cant wait until I can understand and speak better, so I can be of better use.
Congrats to Bethany finally giving birth!! yay! Im excited for you and Alex to be parents, and she´ll be in the fun age when I get back!
Now we just need to get Megan and Liesel a husband so they can start popping out kids for me to play with. ;) jk
I cant believe how quickly the time goes by, this transfer is half gone, and at the end I will hit the 6 month mark. crazy. Somedays i really cant wait for this to be all over, probably because im in the greenie stage all over again. its super lame being the greenie! haha
well, mom and dad let me know when you get my letters so i know about how long they take to arrive. i sent them last tuesday. twas a happy birthday dad and happy mothers day mom!
photo 1: view from my window.
photo 2: what happens when we make chocolate frosting....
photo 3: trying the food on the rua...freshly BBQ
photo 4: starting of a weekly journal of the tanlines on my feet here in brasil.

hope ya´ll are happy and healthy! Love much,
kristin

Transferença 3 semana 3 : LOST IN TRANSLATION

yes, when you leave one mission and come to another, you suddenly pop ahead a couple of weeks.okay first things first: OBRIGADA por meu chacos mom and dad! they keep my feet really cool. its pretty darn warm down here, i honstly sweat all day, its great.. but the last two havent been too bad, actually kinda frio. Entao, quando when I walk i was thinking about things to say, but then I get here and dont know. So, need to get this off my chest: I LOVE Brasil. The people here are great, the food is delicious. I am very much lost in translation I mostly understand that I dont understand much that is gonig on around me. last night we were tracting and my trainher was trying to teach me how to pronounce this word (i dont even know how to spell it..) I feel like a child! lol its great though, I actually dont mind too much not knowing because I kow it will come pouco um pouco, little by little. My trainer said i~´ll understand in a month or so. Im finding im not even afraid to talk to to people, its only the fear of not knowing how to respond to a person cuz you dont understand. I see all these people, and im like o o o fala com eles!!! so many people here! rioght Im in Verdao, its part of the city Cuiabá. Sisters only serve in Cuiabá and Campo Grande.Other way awesome thing....Sister Randall.....my darling MTC companion, I found her! we were both waiting for our final flight to Cuiaba. our flights coming to brazil were different, she was pretty much alone. i got to meet up with a whole bunch of elders from our zone in the MTC and district. so that was really neat. Presidente Oliveira is muito legal. We calll our mission, CuiaBAtizar (batizar means baptize) we baptize weekly, and I hope our retention rate is good. I learned a lot of good things in my previous mission I hope that I can bring to the table. I love my trainer here, she is very hardworking and timely. I like that. She´s a brazileria, from the south and doesnt speakin english. I know she knows some but shes helping me learn by not speaking any ingles. Sister randall and I are in neighboring areas, and live together. Holy cow was my set up in Louisiana nice! We had so much space and air conditioning. ha. not here, I thought I had very few things in comparasion to my past comps, but here i feel like a little princess in comparasion! we dont have room for lots of stuff. i hate stuff...things are so expensive too! like sunblock, 35 - 75 $ gross... we get reimbersed though.this coming suday yall get to call me for mothers day so buy an international phone card. i have 40 mins to talk, i beleive. if i understand portuges correcttly. the number is 55 65 9989 9018 call me at one clock.

my address for the mission office, that is,

Av. Hist. Rubens de Mendonça 1731,
Sala 10consil78050-975 Cuiabá-MTBrasil okay.

thank ya´ll.love sister smith