Sunset and Coconut Pictures

First time drinking a coconut! This ones for you Mom! lol....just dont think of Hawaii. Apparently its supposed to be really good for you?

Also I´m completely obsessed with the sunsets here....

Boa Tarde! July 21, 2010‏

Today we had an activity for our zone, pretty fun except that we played an intense version of volley ball where you purposefully try and hit the other person. I´m still a little afraid of volleyballs flying at me, although Sister Przybyla helped me out a ton in the CTM so I didnt look like too much of a dork today. But it was fun! We had hot dogs, the elders brought their guitars and sang, and most of all I got to wear normal clothes!!!! Right now we are on divisions with the other Sisters in our Zone. My companion went to the other area and I stayed here with a new sister who just arrived on Monday!! She is serving a corto praso which means she is only a temporary missionary, possibly staying only until the end of the transfer. But that means I am senior companion for a day and a half which is pretty dang cool! I am excited to see how the next hours we have together go! Shes really sweet and speaks portuguese (duh) so I´m not the least bit concerned.

In other news....our baptism with Luiz fell through, again. Yeah the night before. It was super discouraging. We did all that we could to ensure that he was ready. Even our district Leader Elder Caldwell sad he felt something different about him this time and that all was well! But Luiz said "he just lost the desire to be baptized". I know we certainly cant blame ourselves but its just difficult when you spend time and energy and grow to love the people you teach--and in the end the choice is theirs. I would like to see one of our investigators progress and be baptised--not for me but for them! Seriously. The blessings of choosing a righteous life are so tremendous. But in the Lords time, right? We can take comfort in the fact that the Lord has a plan and a purpose for each of us and is aware of our needs. So we have spent the last few days finding new people! Hitting doors and talking to people in the street!!! There are wonderful people in this area! We just have to find them!!! I know the Lord will bless us for our efforts. I´m still as happy as ever and still excited to work everyday, though its getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings. ...I think its the dogs we live with..keeping me up all night! I love being a representative of Jesus Christ and feel it an honor to get to preach His gospel every day! He suffered and died for us and gave us the freedom to choose Him. I have so much to be thankful for, especially for my mission right now. Its easy to complain sometimes but I am trying really hard each day to just be positive, live in the moment, and let my light shine! I love the song "Faith in Every Footstep" because it truly describes missionary work!! I have it going through my head all day long usually as we´re walking, although its in Portuguese ;) Anyway thats about all I wanted to say! Lovin life and things are super! Eu espero que voces estejam bem! Eu amo voces e sinto seus faltas! Ate o proximo quarta-feira!

-Sister Peck P.S. We just found out that our P-day will be moved to Mondays starting August 9th! crazy huh?? just so you know!!

Em on the Fourth

July 14, 2010

Not too much to report here. Unfortunately Alfonso´s baptisms fell through. We showed up at his house on Sunday and he was all ready to go...to another church!!! I don't understand. This week we had a member go with us to teach him who had also been a member of the Quadrangular church and knew Alfonso way back when. Now he is serving in the stake presidency. The lesson was soooo great and the spirit was so strong! But, as we know, we all have our agency. We are teaching a lot of other people and have made other baptismal dates so I´m hoping they will go through too!!! The worst feeling is when an investigator stops progressing. But like I said there is not a lot we can do. Only teach, pray, and be obedient. It is the investigators responsibility to prepare and accept the important and crucial step of baptism. Inclusive in one of our baptismal dates is Luiz, again. Remember him? The other day we were walking by his house and I suggested we stop by. I don't know why I just felt prompted I guess. What was going to be a short introduction to my new companion, turned into basically "We are here to baptize those who are ready to receive this gospel. You have had a witness 3 times now (three sets of missionaries and three dates) what are you waiting for? We know you know its true. Will you be baptized this Sunday?" Wow my companion is bold!!! When I turned to look at Luiz he was in tears!!! I have never seen him cry before. The spirit was definitely penetrating all of our hearts and he accepted the date, again. I am so so so so hopeful. Again all we can do is pray and have faith and help him the best we can. He is ready, he just needs a little faith! I love getting to share this gospel every day. The plan is so simple and perfect! Sometimes I wonder why everyone doesn't just accept it, but as I said, patience is something I lack and something I am definitely learning!

What else?? It rained for the first time in like 2 months here in Sorocaba. Apparently its really hot and dry, as if I didn't notice. This is the third time I have seen it rain since I've been in Brasil. I definitely prefer rain to the HEAT! Although it is a total bummer having water in your shoes all day long. Congrats to Joel and his mission call!!!!! That's so great! And Happy Anniversary to Chase and Emily. Wow a year already? Seriously cant believe it. I really don't have much else to say. Oh! I wanted to mention that this week we're doing EPJ or Especialmente Para Jovens (almost my initials, huh?) a knock off of the Especially for Youth program. Its so fun!! Every night there is a different activity. It makes me miss being an EFY counselor so much!!! Anyway that's about all I got! Hope all is well! Beijos e abraços!

Oh, one more thing...remember when I made a bad decision and dyed my hair black? Thank goodness I vowed to never do anything extreme again and it is back to normal...oh wait! To make a long story short, I met this guy a few weeks ago who stopped me because he loved my beautiful white backpack! He speaks English and is really nice. He does hair and makeup for a living. He works in a store we pass by all the time and keeps telling me to come by to have my hair and makeup done for free! Every P-day has been super busy but I keep promising him I will. Well, the member we live with has a granddaughter who is a hair dresser, she's 15, and she said she could trim my bangs! Why go to a salon? So against my better judgment I let her cut my bangs last night. I showed her a picture of how they normally are just to be on the safe side and she seemed confident enough. Next thing I knew she took regular scissors and chopped a huge chunk of my hair off straight across. SHORT SHORT SHORT!!!!!!! My comp screamed and burst out laughing. And Lauren, the 15 yr old "hair dresser" immediately started apologizing. So oh well. I wish I could say I'd learned my lesson the first 5 times, but I guess I am just trying to be trusting in people!!! Anyway its really really really bad because its a lot of hair. And I cant just pull my hair back every day because I SEE her everyday!! She will be offended for sure. I hope my hair grows fast. In the mean time I am going to go to see Rafael in the store and see if he can help me some how.

Other than that nothing too exciting to report here. I also discovered a nifty little tactic to meet people. As we're walking down the street I help my Brazilian comps learn English loud enough for other people to hear. It always sparks attention and is a great ice breaker! We are able to invite them to the English class I teach and then hopefully teach a lesson after! We met a wonderful family this past week, a grandmother, mom and two daughters. One of the daughters, Gabrielli speaks English practically fluently just from watching American movies and listening to music! She and her sister Fernanda came to the Aula de Ingles and church on Sunday too! We set a baptism date for them for the 24th and are working with Liliani, the mom as well! They are pretty involved with their church but we are hopeful! Its truly inspired to send Americans to Brazil! The people love everything about our country! We actually have a few members in our ward who joined the church through coming to the English class! Pretty cool huh?

Anyway that's about all I have to report! Hope everything is well at home!! I wore Red White and Blue for the 4th of July but I don't think anyone noticed!! ;) Sempre, -Sister Peck

Well another week has come and gone. Things are going well. As I mentioned I was a little nervous to be receiving a new companion in an area that I barely know myself, but so far so good! Its amazing what the Spirit can do. For example I know there's no way I could find all the members and investigators houses alone! When we´re walking I constantly feel prompted to walk in one direction and we some how end up in the right place! Id like my comp to be impressed with my fantastic directional skills, but really I know where the credit is due! Its my job to listen to the subtle promptings of the spirit and be guided! It seems like such a small thing but honestly I am grateful because we cant really afford to waste time wandering around trying to find houses ya know?? many souls to find and teach!! Things are good with my comp. Boy what an adjustment going from one comp to another. She pretty much does thigns completely opposite of Sister Ribeiro. But I don't dislike her methods. I just figure I can learn many good things from both of them! Again its my job to be Jr comp and listen to the directions I´m given. I know its a big change for her too. Apparently the interior (country) is WAY different than the capitol (city). and I hear it all the time. She feels like she has switched missions, I guess. But yeah shes cool and we are learning from each other. Its funny because Sister Ribeiro has had all Brasilian comps and spoke awesome English. Sister de Souza has had all american comps and speaks NO english at all! Its kind of sad because we are all supposed to be helping each other. I guess her other comps just really wanted to focus on the Portuguese so they didnt teach her. But not to worry, I´ve already taught her to say "We are a big deal" and "Whatever" haha.

I cant tell you how much I enjoyed that peanut butter mom!!! I am almost out of it! You dont realize how much I miss/crave something until you cant have it! Cola products for example. Its a rule in our mission that we cant drink Coke or Pepsi products. I have never really been a huge fan of either but its like now that we cant drink them i crave it! Things like peanut butter, fast food, and american chocolate! I even decided the first thing I will eat when I get home! A huge chicken caesar salad!! But you know what I miss more than salad, naps, music, and texting??? The temple. Honestly! And I am actually fortunate enough to have a temple in my mission! Unfortunately, however, since I am serving in the interior (country) we are not able to go to the temple until we are serving in the capitol, or Sao Paulo. I miss it so much!! I try to encourage our members to go as much as possible to receive the blessings there! We are so so so privileged to live so close and have access to so many temples around the world! We can receive so much peace when we go and the service we do there is vital! Its basically the same as what I am doing here in Brazil! missionary work! I love the temple and feel a kind of void because I haven't gone in almost two months! Anyway just wanted to share that little insight to continue to go if at all possible! I hope you guys are still serving every Saturday, oh what a blessing!!!! :) and also if you want to send more peanut butter, by all means feel free to do so!!!!

Things are going super well with Alfonso! He is so elect! Unfortunately we had to postpone his baptism a little because he has to have surgery this week. From what I understood, it sounds like the same surgery Dr. Lessemier reccommended for me! The oblation surgery! Not a huge deal but big enough that he cant be, ya know, submerged in water the next day. I love that I have the same problems as older people....breaking hips, heart conditions....anyway he has a great testimony and we are trying our best to share the gospel with his family. He has had a rough time with his ex wife in the past but he is still positive and such an example! We had some brethren from the ward come and give him a blessing last night prior to his surgery so that was great. I feel very honored to be a part of his progress. He is very special to me! It doesnt matter to me that we only have one baptism date marked right now (yeah it matters to the ZLs) because to me Alfonso is a person not a number! We are doing our part and the Lord will do the rest. We are working hard to find the elect in this area. Making contacts and talking with everyone! Its a lot of work but I love it!!! Thank you for your prayers and support!!!

Sempre,
Sister Emily Peck

New Comp

Well my new companion is Sister De Souza. She is very cute and I think we will get along great. Since we have only been together about 3 hours and she only speaks Portuguese, I don't know too much about her. But! I am hopeful that my Portuguese will improve! I really want to try my hardest and study so I can be fluent ASAP. I do know that she is from Parana, has a boyfriend serving in Sao Paulo Sul, and likes the dogs we live with. lol....She was VERY surprised to see how small and.....humble....our place is. Apparently its the smallest and...humblest....in the mission. I´m used to it now of course and know exactly why the Lord put me here. So yeah anyway so far so good. I guess shes a very hard worker. She was in her last area for 6 months and had like a trillion baptisms so thats great for this area!! Anyway so wish us luck and pray that we will have success. She has 6 months left on her mission and is pretty sure she will be here for the rest of it. Which probably means I will be here for the same amount of time. That's a loooong time but its fine by me. I like it here!

So about the work. Remember the story about Sister Ribeiro just "knowing" which houses to go to? yeah well that happened quite a few more times and each time it always amazed me. The other day she did the same thing. She felt like we should hit a certain door....how do you say it in English...knock on the door? We don't knock here, we clap. so I forget how to say it....anyway we found a man, Alfonso, who is just, ugh! I adore him!! He accepted the first lesson, baptismal date, came to church, loved it, loved the second lesson, and we´re going to teach him again tonight! He is especially excited about genealogy and temple work. Oh he is just wonderful. And he is so patient and kind to me. He always tells me to try to speak Portuguese without using my comp for help. "I can understand you, try to do it alone." Last night he said something that meant so much to me though!!! It was right during a moment when I was struggling to explain the Plan of Salvation because the vocab is so stinkin hard!! He said when he was sitting next to me in church he noticed that my Portuguese is flawless when I am singing the hymns. He said he could really tell that is how I worship my Father in Heaven. I just really needed to hear that. After that I spoke with so much more confidence and truly let the Spirit teach. I am SO excited for him. And his 11 year old daughter, Leticia also. Anyway I will keep you updated on him!!

What else? I am just really grateful to be here and know this is where I am supposed to be! I hope you guys are well and everything is good at home. Thats so sad about the flooding up in the north. We have heard about it here too....Continue to pray for the people there and all the missionaries in the world! Ate quarta!!

Sempre, Sister Peck

Brazil Won

Well another week has come and gone. I have to say the weeks are starting to go by really fast. The field is great! I guess you heard that the package arrived in the mission office. I haven´t gone to get it yet, I will today, but thank you for sending it. I look forward to the chocolate that shuold be inside I hope??? :) Also if you want to send a mission ties letter I will for sure get it next week because we have to come back to Sao Paulo for transfers. I am kind of sad to be losing my comp. Eu vou matar minha mae! or "I´m going to kill my mom" as they say on the mission. She has been a great trainer and I have learned a lot from her. I am excited to get a new comp and to learn new things from her as well, but there is always that twinge of apprehension like what if she does things completely differently or I cant understand her Portuguese at all! Either way I know it will be inspired and it will be great. If I stay in Laranjeiras though, its a little intimidating to think that I will be the only one who knows people and the area!

This week we did divisions with another dupla (that's what we call companionships here) of sisters. It was pretty cool. I went to another area, Progresso, with an American, Sister Knudsen, who only has four more months than me. I think she was pretty nervous to be the "senior comp" for two days since neither of our Portugese is ya know perfect. But I thought it was a great experience for both of us to learn. And I just compared it to when Sister Przybyla and I were thrown in downtown Sao Paulo and expected to communicate with people! haha. Sister Knudsen was part of the legendary "Mega District" of visa waiters in the Provo MTC--THREE MONTHS!! oh man. Anyway she is all about letter of the law and strict obedience. Needless to say she was a little shocked when she got here. Funny how the CTM prepares you for the field in more ways than one ;) She is way cute though, we had a lot of fun together. Their area is a lot different than ours. People have a lot of money and no time to talk two American missionaries that's for sure. For example we made a street contact with a lady who gave us her address and Sister K was shocked, she told me that never happens. We must be pretty lucky, or Sister Ribeiro must speak good Portuguese cuz we haven't been turned down yet in our area! Just different. It was a good learning experience. We had lunch in a mansion too. I am not even kidding. The house was soooooooooo nice and I was stunned! The food was spectacular and one of the ladies spoke English (I love it when that happens) and she lived in New Zealand for a while and she knows Lanae Fisk! Cool huh! I forgot her name. Dang. But she is going to contact Lanae on facebook and let her know. But what are the odds? the world is so small in the church!

Brazil played in the World Cup for the first time on this day too. We tried to do something productive but the world absolutely shuts down and the city was a ghost town. So we went back to her apartment and cleaned. I wanted to take a nap, but I knew that wouldn't fly. haha. We could tell Brazil won when the city literally ERUPTED in one enormous cheer. It was insane!!!!!!! I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway. haha. My favorite part was at the end of the day when we went to an appointment with a man named Renato. We were to teach him the second lesson and I thought for as little time as we have been in Brazil we did pretty well!! I was impressed. At the end of the lesson he told us that he really liked the teachings and doctrines of our church but he had one problem. He wanted to know why the missionaries don't teach with the Spirit for he felt nothing during our lesson. He said if felt as though we were nervous and didn't really know how to teach well....WOW slap in the face! We explained we did the best we could with our broken Portuguese! I think it hurt Sister K´s feelings but I just laughed about it! I guess its a good learning experience! I always hope that even though I´m not yet fluent, I can still convey the Spirit somehow. Because I truly do have a testimony of this gospel! Or else why would I be here? Its not like I am on vacation in Brazil for a year and a half. This is seriously work!!! Getting up at 6:30 every morning is a little difficult, yeah, but its worth it! We have a precious message to share with the world! So many people have so much knowledge and so many truths but we have the complete truth! Everything! We are not here to prove you wrong or correct you but simply to share more. Let us ADD to your knowledge, not take away from it. Sister Ribeiro is always so good at answering questions and doubts. She knows her Bible SOOOO well! Thats something I really want to know too. I know it will come with time and experience but during divisions lets jsut say I was very grateful for my companion! :)

What else? I teach English class every week. Its sooo fun I absoluetly LOVE it! I don't have many students but I hope more and more people will come. I am trying to think of new ways and ideas to teach to make it exciting. So many people have a desire to learn English and I feel so less than qualified to instruct anyone but its really good for my Portuguese and of course it is helping someone else too. The best way I learn of course is by song! So I teach the class everything by songs I remember from pre-school. Days of the Week, Months, etc. Its awesome! My comp knows so many random "slang" phrases I kind of feel bad, but its funny! She hears me say something and then wants to know how to say it too. So she writes it down and then says it over and over again. When the American Elders hear her they just look at me and shake their heads. Its pretty funny.

Anyway nothing else really too new to report. Things are good and I am happy. I am happy because I dont have to worry about the weather! Reading Laura and Jennas emails its so interesting! Way hot and way cold. Its perfect right now. I promised myself not to complain because I know for sure I will die in the summer here. So whatever the weather does right now is FINE by me!! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers, and chocolate! (I will be very disappointed if there isn't chocolate) hahaha. I love you guys!!! Until next week!!!

-Sister Peck