This week was so amazing and filled with so many tender
mercies it really was SO GOOD. You know those people that when you are with
them, just fill your soul?
When you're with them, you forget about all those things that always occupied your mind and seemed so important and get a taste of what it really means to feel alive?
When you're with them, you forget about all those things that always occupied your mind and seemed so important and get a taste of what it really means to feel alive?
Woah maybe got a little deep there but hey life was really
real this week. I am sending a companion home for the second time, which has
its advantages and disadvantages but really you get to be a part of the best
part of the mission - when they sit and bear testimony of what they've learned
over the past year and a half, which really is THE COOLEST THING.
#wisdomwhoopwhoop
But there are some pretty amazing people that mean a lot to
me that I wanted to write home about so here we go (this time with pictures
#FINALLY):
1. I asked my mom to send the Mrs. Field's
oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe that we always make at home for my dad's bday
and is literally THE GREATEST - because of all the american foods, people always
get a little starry-eyed over them - because literally NO ONE knows how to make
them. So essentially I've been dealing the goods to every Brasileiro I can. And
this week we went over and had a little "aula de cozinhar" (cooking class) and I
taught one of my favorite families how to make them. The thing with this recipe though
is that it literally makes 112 cookies and so.. needless to say we got pretty
creative (#oatmealsnickerdoodles #chocochipnormal #chocochipwithnesquick)! But
it was really cool because they really don't have a lot of money and Cynthia
the mom got really excited because after passing the recipe, they are going to
start selling them to people to raise their humble income a little more to
support the 2 kids and grandparents. #thanksmomyouarealiterallifesaver
2. My mom also sent clothing in the package that I got for
my birthday (like when I say clothing I mean like 7 shirts, 3 skirts, a small
child TUDO). And if you remember the story of that poor mom that we cleaned the
kitchen for, Marlene, they all luckily found a home. She wore one of the outfits the next day to church bearing the biggest smile that's
ever touched my heart.
3. And now for the best one. There have been a lot of people
that have touched and impacted me so far in the mission but one of the most impactful has
definitely been Marco. Just as a little background, Marco (like many people
here) has AVC (I think it might be CVA in English - Cerebral Vascular Accident) a pretty crippling disease that bounds you to your bed and
you begin to lose all sense in your body, including the ability to talk, and is
a fatal disease that is really hard to watch a person go through. But there is
a couple in our ward who have not been able to go to church for the past 8
years because Marco, the husband,got AVC and Francisca stays with him day and
night to care for him. But man if you think that the inability to talk or move
has stripped this man of his love or personality - boy are we all wrong. He is
literally the most tender, humble, genuine, and bursting with humor person I
have ever met. Really one of those people that I mentioned in the beginning of
the email and has forever changed my life. We usually stop by at least once
a week to visit them and leave a message. But the thing is Marco never eats anything but this horrible oatmeal porridge that he eats every meal because his body can't handle really solid or fatty foods but we made a promise that we would bring him a coxinha (which is like this fried chicken potato dumpling that they sell on every street corner) the next time we saw them. And let me tell you, they have 10 MILLION coxinhas on EVERY CORNER, but as we are finishing up the day and headed over to visit them, we realized that we still hadn't bought one and run desperately to literally every stand:
"have a coxinha??"
"have no" (x10)
Until we finally see one last stand closing up and what do
they have sitting there in it's perfectly fried crust? The very literal last
coxinha in probably all of Natal.
But really no words to describe how much I love these people
or for how much I am learning what it really means not only to be a missionary,
but a true follower of Christ.
Love you all and sending my prayers across the miles! Thank
you for all the love and support, it really means the world <3
COM MUITO AMOR,
Sister Staheli
