It was the last week of Sister Soares and literally EVERY
DAY was packed with running around the city visiting people that she taught and
members in the wards she had served. We had janta CADA NOITE (dinner every night) (which usually we never stop to
eat or have normally) with people making cinnamon rolls, specialty peixe (fish), churrasco (steaks),
açai, homemade pizza (including cartola - a dessert pizza with cheese and
bananas with cinnamon - suprising gostoso!! (delicious))
and literally qualquer outra (any other) excuse
to sit, eat, share our testimonies and just enjoy one another's company before
sending her back home. And even with all this, we STILL weren't even able to
see all the people that wanted to see her. It was filled with so much love and
pure felizidade (happiness) that really gave me
perspective to the influence that she has on people and why I am serving a
mission in the first place - for the people. There are not really words to
adequately describe just how touching and beautiful it all was (but just maybe
enough tears :') ).
Saying goodbye to her was really difficult, not going to
lie, a little bit like saying goodbye to my actual mom - someone who really
knew me and saw me from the very first day in the field, who guided me sternly
but lovingly, and who truly inspired me in so many ways. I wish you could all
meet her, she really is the most striking of people that just leaves you
feeling a little lighter (abeit with a bit of sheer blunt honesty)
THEN we also had our zone conference with Presidente and all
of the missionaries came to our capela (chapel) for
some training and SERIOUSLY needed guidance. He talked about the importance of
obedience of course, but he also emphasized the
need for real personal study and how having the spirit really allows us to
exclude even the possibility of fear in our hearts - foi poderosa amigos
realmente (it was really powerful my friends).
And after the training they call on random missionaries to roll-play and do a
practice contact/lesson in front of everyone and the day before everyone in the
apartment was stressing out about this part right. So they finish, beleza (beautiful), and who do they call?
"SISTER SOARES (who was the most experienced on the
mission and is a literal ICON), why don't you come up?
With your companion....s... " (as all of us stand up,
because of course there was still 3 of us)
So yep, had to do a practica (practice)
in front of the entire mission for my first zone conference - which
turned out to be the ONLY practica they ended up doing. #whoopwhoop #yitche
But ever since Sister Soares left, I have literally become
the mother of the apartment, even though I am definitely still one of the
'youngest' in the mission it's SO FUNNY. I'm not kidding - I wash dishes almost
completely independently (because once I waited 5 DAYS without doing them to
see what would happen and what happened? We ran out of every plate, cup, and
fork in casa). And I make almost every meal because I am pretty sure no one
else knows how to cook hardly anything right. So we are at Jose's last night
making macarrão (pasta) and pipoca (popcorn) but
the problem was that he didn't have any oil for the pan, so he starts rummaging
around and goes PERFECT and plops these coconut oil capsules into the pan that
you swallow like a pill. And I'm just sitting there like wait, this really
isn't going to work guys the outside of the pill is not oil - it's some type of
plastic-y type substance. But they just keep on plowing until it really starts
burning and smoking and everyone's like AIII O QUE (Is everything ok)?!?! and realize that
wait, this really was not a good idea . IT WAS SO FUNNY.
This Sunday was a bit of a dousey for the Sisters of Cidade
Verde not going to lie. So Friday, we passed by their house to teach and remind
Aparacida of her baptism this Sunday but she had taken the whole family to go
visit her dad in the interior and her neighbors said she wouldn't be back until
late Sunday night. So we were really disappointed that we weren't able to see
her but tudo bem (everything is good) right. We
pass by Saturday and see her daughter sitting on the side of the street and we
get super excited because this meant they had returned early after all, but
after asking after her mom, Alysia gestures towards a casa and says that she
was inside drinking. Wow that was hard. But we went around the other side and
talked to the youngins, who all had buzzed their hair #PRECIOUS, and said hey
amigos we are going to pass by tomorrow for church okay? Let your mom know we
passed by and will be back around 2. So the next day we approach the house
and peak in the open door and all I see is Maria Aparacida passed out on the
ground, completely tousled and groggy and clearly in the aftermath of a night
of drinking. I don't think I have ever seen a more discouraging sight in my entire
life. Someone that you really invested your heart and soul into, all the fruits
of your work and testimony and love just disintegrating into midair. But as we
sat and talked to her, trying to convince her to go to church and remind her
how much she loved it, I wanted to be angry. But in the moment all I could see
was myself, saw the reality of the imperfection of the natural man, but I
really just saw someone who knew she had messed up but who really just wanted
to believe that Christ still loved her even despite her imperfection. This work
isn't meant to just be a simple easy do it and you’re done, teach all the
lessons, get them to church, baptism - no. People are so much more real than
that, and the realization that we are all just doing the best we can was
something that was really powerful for me.
Stop Anne, breathe. What do they need? To be reminded of the
things they need to be doing, what they already know or to hear that they are
loved anyways and always by our Savior.
It was quite the semana (week) folks,
but it really was one that has forever altered my perspective of the mission,
of people, and of myself. Wow I am so grateful for our Savior, He really has
given us everything even when we have nothing in return.
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| Cinnamon rolls (minus the icing - they don't like it!) |
Try to show a little extra love this week, you never know
how much they need it <3
COM MUITO AMOR (with a lot of love)
Sister Staheli
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| Sister Barlow (MTC companion) and Sister Forsythe (PRIMEIRA missionary from Scottland to serve in BRASIL) |
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| Last goodbye with the lenda Sister Soares :') |
