December 25, 2017

A huge blow up bear in the park.

Sunset.

Our cute little Christmas tree.

Baptism.

Christmas present from the branch.

CHOCOLATE!

December 19, 2017

Hey! This week was really good!  I've started using my extra prep time to study the Book of Mormon and find examples of strength. Which there are on literally every page! It is really uplifting and I encourage everybody to try do so when they are feeling down.
I was hit last week by how simple life is here. People have little to nothing yet they are so happy. They have little cramped houses and have to take buses everywhere because most people can't afford a car, but they have a strong faith in Christ and are so happy all of the time. They always are willing to at least talk for a few minutes even if they tell you they don't want to talk again. It's really awesome.
We were supposed to have a baptism this week but the guy didn't show up for his interview and won't answer our calls anymore. Which is a little frustrating but at the same time, I didn't really feel like he understood the importance of baptism. So hopefully we can track him down and reteach him in a way that he will be able to understand.
There are always soccer games going on here because of the world cup which makes proselyting a little hard. NOBODY is willing to talk when a game is on. But that's to be expected I guess when it is such a huge part of their culture. They get together in the big park downtown after all of the games. I don't think we're allowed down there because they are always drinking.
I think they had a branch council about my stomach growling during church last week because the Irmas fed us sooo much food. And I don't know how to say, no thank you, I'm full. So I ate a ton. But then we walk like ten miles after so I'm always hungry, haha, but we stalked up our kitchen so now I make dinner every night.
There are these huge lizards on the side of the road which I think Luke would like. I haven't gotten the courage to stop and take a picture of them yet, haha, they are really freaky.
On Sunday, the primary kids put on a primary program which was super cute. Although I understood close to nothing, but kids are always cute.
We had a choir thing in Sao Louis or some place like that and then all the missionaries met up in Porto Alegre, we hoped on a train and sang all the way there, haha, there were a lot of people giving us weird looks but when there are 35 or so of us singing, you can't really tell us to stop. It was awesome.
We take a lot of buses places. Which is nice because we get to nap while we are on them! I wanted to talk a picture of us on one today but I fell asleep. So stay tuned for that picture another week!
We had a branch Natal party. I heard it was really fun. We spent the whole time running around getting investigators to come. We had 5 there and they all came to church the next day! So cool.
We went to Porto Alegre again this weekend for a Natal party which was really fun. We spent the night Sunday with an Irma in Caxias who made this really delicious dish called Torta Fria. Definielty going to be learning how to make that when I get home. It was so so good. We went to bed really late that night.
And then had to get up at 4 to get on another bus to get to Porto Alegre. Our conference was really fun. A lot of talking with people and eating good food. There was also a talent show that some elders preformed in. There were like penetonix. I wish I would have recorded it. It was amazing. Jamie would have done her little squeal, haha. The whole mission was there so we got to see the sisters from the ctm which was really fun. We also did a secret amiga thing so we exchanged some gifts. I got a really pretty anchor necklace. And I got letters from Grandma which was by far my favorite part of the day.
We spent the night in Farroupilha with some sisters because it was way late when we finished. On the way there, I talked a ton with the elders in our zone. They are really helpful when it comes to pronouncing things in Portuguese. They will repeat themselves a million times and act things out until I understand. It is way funny and way nice of them.
We had a district meeting in Caxias this morning which was really long. And I can't say I understood a lot of it. I think when I'm tired, I understand less and less.
Also, when I'm tired or not paying attention, I speak in English and S. Sandoval is always like, "Que isso?" And it takes me a while to switch back into Portuguese. I try really hard to think in Portuguese but it's hard.
I cannot wait to see you're guys' faces next week. And I want absolutely no spoilers for When Calls the Heart (YOU HEAR ME JAMIE? NOTHING)
Eu te amo,
Sister Heiner

This hill is literally called the hill of the devil.
It is like Princess in Oregon but three times
as long and it's the last thing we walk up every night.

What I wake up to every morning.

A huge nativity.

Pictures from the Natal party last night.

CTM sisters!

Part of our zone at the dinner.

Making dinner.

This little house is made of all wood and made
me think of dad.

There are lemon trees everywhere here.

December 11, 2017

So the last few days in the mtc flew by like crazy. Our elders wrote us a goodbye rap which was really cute and super funny. I wish I had a way to send it to you but that will have to be saved for when I get home. We had to clean our rooms and our classroom so Sister Wiese and I put jeans on so we wouldn´t get our clothes dirty. The elders were so funny about it. They were like, "what, you look like actual girls!!" And then one of the elders told us he was pretty sure it was a sin to wear jeans. Haha super funny. Also, I made it through the whole six weeks without crying!! I cannot say the same thing about the first week here though, haha.
We got to Porto Alegre later that expected because we had to make an emergency landing to switch planes because the windshield was starting to crack. So that was an adventure.
President Campos is really awesome. I like him a lot. He reminds me a lot of dad. His two daughters were there and the way he interacted with them seriously reminded me so much of being home. It was a little bitter sweet to watch. I love you guys a ton which makes it hard to be here some times but I know I need to be here.
My trainer´s name is Sister Sandoval. She is from Santa Cruz Bolivia so she spoke Spanish. She has been here 7 months and sounds super fluent. She is really helpful but by the end of the day I can tell she´s done with me and my nonablitly to speak Portuguese. But I know it´ll get easier.
I am currently serving in two towns named Carlos Barbosa and Garibaldi. They are both huge cities and we are the only missionaries so it is a lot of walking and taking bus rides. But they both have a pretty small town feel to them because they have brick roads and cute little shops. It´s great, I love it here already.
Mornings,. We don´t do a ton besides studying and never leave the house before like 2 so I sit there watching the clock tick and get kind of discouraged but as soon as we leave the house, time flies and it´s fun.
Brazil loves Christmas! There are fireworks and parades and huge nativities set up. I love it. It doesn't feel like Christmas yet though. I asked my comp about skyping you guys and she knows where we are going but doesn't know what time, so hopefully I can let you know next week. We went back to Porto Alegre on Thursday to be part of a Christmas choir which was really cool.
The first contact we had was with an older man named Domingo. I think we taught about the Restoration but it was day one and they were talking really fast so I just bore my testimony. I guess that was probably my first lesson too. I understood the next lesson though and it was definitely about the Restoration. I got to talk a little more, but I can barely say a single thing. My companion likes to take over too so I don´t get the chance to speak even if I knew how. Hopefully that will change as time goes by.
We teach a man named João Batista which literally means John Baptist which is cool. He has been taught by three sets of missionaries. We´re the fourth. He committed to a baptism date with us last week though! That was way cool. We´ll see if he keeps it though.
We eat lunch with members and never eat dinner. We also fast once a week. So any thought I had about gaining weight is gone. That won´t be happening.
Our branch is pretty small. There are about 30 people who regularly attend. They all seem really nice. I mean, from what I could understand of what they were saying which really wasn´t a lot. They would ask if I was a Brazilian really excitedly and then when I´d say no, they´d kind of get disappointed. I was like, sorry... Can´t do anything about it. But I look a lot more Brazilian than my companion does.
We get catcalled a lot. The first time it happened I laughed so hard. They do the generic whistle and then like hiss at you. Oh man, it´s so funny. My first day here, we had a car full of boys pull over and tell us we are beautiful. I was totally oblivious until Sister Sandoval was like, Sister. Walk faster. I seriously had no idea they were trying to talk to us. But that was the only time boys have tried to talk to us, generally they just whistle, hiss, or honk their horn.
I really wish I knew how to speak this language! There are really frustrating times when people will start to talk to me and I understand bits and pieces, or the whole thing, and then there are other times when I can understand nothing. UGH. But I´ll learn. I know I will. Something that comes to my mind everytime I start to get frustrated is from an Elder Holland talk. He said that he honestly believes missions cannot be easy and that we have to feel every second of it because it was NEVER easy for the Savior and the Savior had to feel every second of it.
I love you guys!!
Sister Heiner

Us with our Philippines roommates.

Sister Wiese and I in jeans.

Cake celebrating making it through the CTM! 

All of us at the airport.

Sister Sandoval and I.

My first day in the field.

Our apartment.

December 1, 2017

HEY! Elder Whatcott ate 15 pieces of cake for breakfast! 
This week was really good! We got to go proselyting on Saturday which is actually my favorite thing we do here. We got a contact and he was really nice and helped us with our Portuguese. Who knows if anything will happen, but I´m glad we got the chance to talk to him.
Two of the elders in our week are from New Zealand so they taught all of our elders how to do the Haka and then they preformed it for us, which was seriously sooo cool. And kind of scary because they are all nice kids but their faces during it look like they could commit a serious crime.
We got a list of 32 new rules of the MTC. We went through them and marked which ones we´ve broken. There are a lot. My favorite new rule is that elders can´t give sisters candy. But sisters can give elders candy...
I don´t have a lot of things to tell you this week, but I wrote a list in my journal of things I´ve learned or observed while I was here, so I think I´ll share that with you guys!
- Portuguese, obviously. I don´t know a ton, but I know enough to put together simple sentences and bare my testimony. So that is really good for how long we´ve been here.
- You don´t have to speak perfect Portuguese to have the spirit in your lessons. As long as you share your testimony, He will be present.
- The Lord works in ways I will never understand. He puts people in our paths for a reason at times that might seem random, but He sees everything in an eternal perspective. He helps change feelings and mindsets that aren´t what He wants from us or needs from us at that moment.
- Missionaries love to sing! Absolutely everywhere. In the hallways, during class, playing volleyball, out the windows at night, I can´t even take a shower without a sing-a-long starting.
- There are a billion and one ways to smile. If I don´t understand what people are saying, I just smile and they know that I still care.
- I´ve taken my family for granted. I´ve taken it for granted that when I was sad, I could sit on dad´s lap, that mom always asked for a hug goodnight, that Amanda would come talk to me at night, that Jamie and I would jam while brushing our teeth, that Luke always wanted somebody to play with. Because a lot of people here don´t have that. So thank you for always being there.
- The Savior really does know each of us completely and perfectly. Every time I think of Him bleeding for me, BECAUSE of me, it blows me away. I want to be better for Him.
- Just because things are hard in practically every way doesn´t mean I don´t love every second of it.
- I´ve turned into a scapbooking mom. I keep everything so then at night I can put it in my journal. I can´t wait to show you guys the cool things I´ve found.
- Patience is key. There are days I have to remind myself that I would not look good in prison stripes. Our elders are sweethearts but they are also like 6 more little brothers. So they have their moments.
- The best way to teach is simply. There is no reason to try and teach Kolob in the first lesson. Simplicity brings the Spirit and is easier to understand. (Not to mention say in Portuguese)
- When we teach with love, with the sole purpose of showing our investigators the love of Christ, we can understand them better, their Portuguese and what they need and what the Lord needs us to say to them.
- Boys spill things a lot. I am the only one in my district who has not had to use my tide stick yet.
- Perseption changes really quickly. It only took a few days for it not to be weird to be with a companion all of the time or to only wear church clothes (although I miss my jeans) or that 15 girls brush their teeth at the same time. Or that we spend all day teaching our teachers who are pretending to know nothing about the gospel. Or the fact that the things I thought I wanted or thought were so important before the mission, aren´t so important or really what I want anymore. And it´s only been 6 weeks, so I can´t imagine how much that will have changed by the time I get home.
- The gift of tongues is REAL. There is no faking having sentences pop into your head in Portuguese that you have never said before in your life.
- Proselyting is terrifying but also the most fun thing we have done here. Knowing they are real people makes it so much more satisfying when they want to talk to you.
- Your relationship with your companion makes all of the difference. Because you´re with them constantly. If you show them love, then things generally are okay in the end.
I love you guys! The next time we talk, I´ll be in the field!
Sister Heiner

The little redhead is Irma Diniz.

Sister Wiese and I tried to be thugs, haha. Didn´t work.