January 29, 2018

Hello family...
I figured out this week that S Sandoval and I have very different views on what makes a week good. She is very focused on numbers. If our numbers don´t match up exactly right, it´s the end of the world. I, however, thought this week was awesome!
We had a zone conference in Caxias on Tuesday. Which is always a pleasure. But our new zone leader knows how to win over a zone, that is for sure. He made us all chocolate chip cookies. And they were awesome. Or maybe they weren´t that great but I haven´t had chocolate chip cookies in a long time so I thought they were fantastic. Who knows. 
While we were waiting for the onibus back to Carlos Barbosa, we started talking to this man, Felipe. We ended up teaching him the first lesson and giving him a Book of Mormon. He lives in Santa Maria, so I got his address and sent it to Elder Evans. He said he would only read the Book of Mormon if we gave him our Facebooks so we can be friends. I don´t have a Facebook so I gave him my old email. Little does he know, we won´t be able to use it for another year. And by then, he will have forgotten.
My district leader says he knows Elder Pryor. His name is Elder Araujo. So that´s kinda cool.
We didn´t go see Adolino on Monday because we had another lesson, and when we went on Tuesday, he told us he was waiting for us because he missed talking to us. Which was super sweet! He then told us he knows we are always hungry and pulled out a cake. This man is going straight to the celestial kingdom. Which he can do now because HE WAS BAPTIZED ON THURSDAY! The baptism was really really good. Not a ton of people came, but his son, Eder, did. Eder was super against us visiting his dad, but he calmed down after we kept showing up so much. He didn´t want to come, but Adolino has been praying and praying that he would and at the last minute, he decided to come! We made banana bread and one of the Irmãs made chocolate chip cookies (it was a week for my favorite cookies, I loved it). We ended up having to call President Campos and ask if we could even have the baptism because the elders couldn´t stay and the president of the ramo wasn´t able to make it. But he gave us permission (obvioulsy, what mission president is going to say we can´t have a baptism?) S Sandoval and I sang our version of I Am A Child of God at the end and that was kind of cool. It was also Adolino´s 83 birthday, so we sang happy birthday. Well, they sang and I just stood there really confused because that is something they neglected to teach us at the CTM.
One of the Elders, E Dos Santos, started to try and sing the US National Anthem which was really entertaining. I sang it and he hummed and I was  impressed that 1. I could remember the words and 2. he knew the tune.
We went to the post office because I was trying to send Elder Humphreys a letter and a letter to Grandma and Grandpa and the postal lady was convinced I couldn´t understand a word she was saying. So she would talk to S Sandoval, who would turn and look at me, and I would respond. It made it a very slow process but it was actually super funny. She wrote out the price of the stamps for me and tried to explain the money system to me and I was just like, yep, I get it. S Sandoval and I laughed really hard once we left.
We had splits this week. Sister Hoover and I worked together. And they came to Carlos Barbosa which was really nice because we got to do some extra work. She is from Idaho Falls and only one transfer ahead of me so that was really really helpful. She helped me a lot with different words and mostly just being more confident in myself. We made a lot of good progress on our area, I think. We made chocolate pizza for dinner and rice pudding for breakfast. They acted like they have never seen a hill in their lives. But their area is really flat and we have a really hilly area so it was kind of funny watching them see hill after hill after hill that we had to walk up.
We went to see Adolino Saturday so we could talk about him getting the Holy Ghost and he was really worried we were not going to keep coming back. He kept asking when we would come see him again, and we kept saying we´re planning on coming back Tuesday. He asked again after church yesterday. I think he is really lonely. His son lives at home but is never at home and I think he just wants somebody to talk to.
We had two people ask us on Saturday if we were part of the Jovah. We said no, they said they didn´t want to talk to us then. And then when we were clapping doors, somebody said, it´s the Jovah, don´t answer! So yeah, not sure why that was a theme this week.
One of the Irmãs in our ramo has been married for 10 months, and she told us she´s 19. I was like, ......that´s my age...... and the guy she married is quite a bit older than her. But they have a really awesome relationship. They are so funny together, and besides the age difference, I want something like they have.
Not one of our investigators came to church this week. We had 6 that promised they would be there and then none of them came. And it just was so sad. It hit me really hard that this is my life, I pray for people, fast for them, plan for them, study for them, my whole life is revolved around them. But to them, it´s just an hour or so out of their day every few days. And I want it to be more than that! I want them to feel the joy the gospel brings to people! But it´s okay. This week, hopfeully, will be better.
We were talking to three inactive teenage boys yesterday and one of them told us he doesn´t want to come to church because he can´t participate in the sacrament. And I just sat there and S Sandoval didn´t say anything. So I litterally said, let me tell you a little something about repentance. Which was cool because I didn´t know I knew how to say that in Portuguese. But then we got to talk about repentance and how much that blesses our lives. We are going back tonight to have a family home evening with them.
We ate sheeps meat yesterday. Didn´t know that´s what I was eating until afterwards, but it really wasn´t all that bad. S Sandoval has been feeling sick since though, so fingers crossed that passes before today is over.
So yeah! That was our week. I love you guys like crazy, I pray for you guys every day and hope that you are safe and happy!
Sister Heiner

Bananas were on sale.

A pretty street we walk on.

This bee on the flower made me think of dad.

Saw Amanda's moon...

and a pretty sunrise.

Hit my 3 month mark.

Adolino's baptism.

S Hoover and I.

Me and a really big hill.

S Sandoval and I with our
Books of Mormon for language study!

January 22, 2018

This week was an adventure! But every week is an adventure, so what else is new. haha.
Jacob asked what we do for pday so I figured I´d give everybody a little run down. We get up and do our excerise like usual. We have half an hour of study time and half an hour of planning time. Then we make breakfast, last week we made pancakes, this week we just ate what was in the fridge. Then we clean the house, get into missionary clothes, and come to the chapel to email. Sister Sandoval emails first while I catch up on my journal, and then I email. But that will probably be changing next week. Then we go to the store, go to the post office, anything else we need to do around town, and head home and make lunch. One of the Irmas gave us frozen pizza so that´s what we will be having today. Then we just kind of hang around the house. Catch up on journals, take naps, whatever we need or want to do that we don´t do during the week. And then at 6 we head out and either have a family home evening with an investigator or teach a lesson or two.
We got to watch the world wide devo with President Nelson on Tuesday. It was really good! And the translators were a little off so I was able to hear all of it in English! WOOHOO!
I accidently started a fire in the microwave. I was heating something up in a metal pot which is generally not a problem but it was a problem this time. Sister Sandoval doesn´t know and I think I want to keep it that way, haha. Made me think of Ben blowing up the microwave. Ours at least still works.
So I have a family history question. We were teaching this woman and she asked who the first member of the church in our family was. And both S. Sandoval´s parents are converts so she had an answer right off the bat, but I have no idea. Who was the first on both sides? What´s their story? How did they find the gospel?
We were walking on the street, and S Sandoval told me to talk to a guy and I really didn´t want to. But somehow my mouth started moving and words came out before I could registar I was talking. He looked at us and was like, out of all the people you could have chosen to talk to, why´d you pick me? I don´t believe in God! And S Sandoval was like, we picked you because you need to believe in God! And she was very blunt with him the rest of the conversation. I have never heard her talk like that to anybody before. We´re going back to talk to him again tonight. So fingers crossed he read what we left with him and felt the Spirit.
We also talked to a woman who believes in recarnation. She kept telling us that she believes everything we were teaching but then she started showing us these books that use the Bible to explain how John the Baptist is actually a recarnated form of Elias and it was really weird. But she gave us cake at the end, so it was worth the interesting conversation.
We had Adilda tell us that God is only in church so that she didn´t want to talk to us anymore because He wasn´t helping her find work. And then three days later, she walked past us on the street, stopped us, told us she got a job, and asked when we could come visit again. So who knows. They´ve been teaching her on and off for a while it sounds like so pray for her heart to be opened.
We only had one lunch appointment not fall through this week. So we ate at home a lot. We ate a lot of liver because it´s in our freezer still. I´ll have to talk a picture next week because it really is gross. But when it´s all we got on short notice, whatchagonnado?
We have another investigator who doesn´t understand a lot of Portuguese, so I started speaking English to him and he was speaking Portuguese back and it was a really effective way of communicating actually. Except that I started forgetting how to speak English because my mind was trying to process Portuguese and he asked if I am actually from America. He also tried to speak English and I had no idea what he said except that he likes to go on walks with his dog. I think.
It was sufficatingly hot the other day. To the point where I was praying for rain. Me. Audrey Anne Heiner was praying for rain. And I think it must have shocked Heavenly Father because the heavens opened and it has been dumping for three days straight. Yesterday we had a huge thunderstorm that made me think of sitting in the house in Kansas watching all the lightning.
I started teaching S Sandoval English. I had a blank Book of Mormon that I gave to her and during language study, she reads from that and I read from my Portuguese. She told me she understands why I have such a hard time speaking sometimes and that she´s sorry she has been impatient with me. I was like, why didn´t I give this to you 7 weeks ago?!
We are also learning I am a child of God in English, Spanish and Portuguese so stay tuned for a video of that in the upcoming 5 weeks.
There´s this cute little boy in our branch who is less than two and every time he sees us, he goes, SIIIIIIIIISTERS!! and we go, LOREEEEEEENZO!!
I had a weird craving for Rose and Charlie´s corn with mayo and cheese this week.
We walked past a construction site and started talking about how we both watched Bob the Builder when we were kids. What a random rememberence. But we sang the song in our different languages and laughed really hard, so it was a good bonding moment.
Adolino told us he drinks less than a shot of coffee a day so that it isn´t a problem. We told him it was a problem and took the coffee home with us. We took a picture to remember. He was really surprised we took it. I think he thought we would just tell him to throw it away.
Last night one of the Irmas invited us over to make American pancakes. She makes them for all the American missionaries. They were really really good. She asked me if it made me miss my mom and I was like, most things make me miss my mom so yes.
We have four different languages of the Book of Mormon that I will send you a picture of. If you zoom in, you can see they are all on Moroni 7:33.
We had an all time high of 17 people at church yesterday. Very different from at home.
I love you guys forever!
Sister Heiner

A breakfast S Sandoval makes of lime jello,
coconut yogurt, and banana. So good.

A cool outside garage.

Storm Clouds.

Our words to I am a Child of God.

Adolino´s coffee.

This stairway was very small.

Under our umbrellas.

Pancakes.

All the different languages.

January 15, 2018

This week was good! On monday, I made the sugar cookies mom sent the recipe for which were delicious. But S Sandoval has never eaten straight dough before which we quickly fixed because you have to have eaten straight dough. It´s like a law or something. We took the cookies to a family home evening and the Irmão that was there told me that I could get married now because I make good cookies. Made me laugh.
Sister Sandoval made this cake this week that was super good. Had ice cream in the middle and chocolate pudding on the outside that we then froze and ate for breakfast a few of the days. It didn´t last very long as you can imagine.
I have thought a lot about this text post I saw at home that said, "Water is the cure for everything. Stressed? drink Water. Want clear skin? drink Water. Tired of you man? Drown him." I have drank so much water this week. It is so hot. I don´t know how people live without AC because I am dying in the afternoon some days.
We had a conference in Porto Alegre this week because it is the end of our first transfer. I got to see Sister Wiese which was super awesome! Also super weird. Because we aren´t companions but we were companions. Anyways, I talked to her a lot. She sounds like she is doing well. She doesn´t speak a ton of Portuguese because her comp always talks instead. Which made me grateful that I have the problem where my comp refuses to speak during lessons so that I have to speak a lot. But it's good. We all are where the Lord wants us to be.
We also had a zone conference with President Campos. Which was really good. He talked about the importance of positive thinking. I liked that a lot. During my interview with him, he kept asking me how to say words in English which I thought was funny. He reminds me so much of dad.  He also asked me if I was happy to be here. And I could honestly answer that yes! I am happy to be here! He told me to thank you guys for letting me serve a mission.
I also want to make a shout out to Uncle Paul and Aunt Erin! Thank you guys so much for the Fruit Loops! I was impatient (shocker, I know...) and opened them as soon as I saw they were fruit loops. And I don´t know if I should be ashamed or proud to say that they are gone. They lasted a whole three days. I was so excited, I showed my zone leader who is the only other American and he told me he would happily take them off my hands for me. I told him to get lost. I also took a picture of them, haha.
I talked a lot to this elder named Elder Lacerda during our conference because he is learning English so it helped my Portuguese and his English. And you will never believe how he learned the English he knows. He watched High School Musical over and over again until he figured it out. Made me laugh really hard. He told me that he wants our family to adopt him because his biggest dream is to be an American. I told him he watches too much High School Musical and that life back home isn´t a ton different from life here. I think he really thinks we sing and dance in school all the time. Which would be cool, but is not the case.
We were teaching this woman the other day and every time I would talk, she would say, you have such a pretty accent. Which gave me a lot more confidence to keep talking. And she understood what I was saying! Super awesome.
Every time we go to Adolino´s house to teach him, he gives us chocolate. And yesterday, he gave us  a whole bar to take home with us. I think he might be a little lonely and thinks that we will come back more often if he gives us chocolate. Which isn´t true, but we do love the chocolate, can´t lie about that.
This week was our first transfer and S Sandoval was like, I can´t believe it´s already been a transfer! And I was like, I can´t believe it´s only been one transfer. But at the same time, when I look back through all my stuff, we have done a lot in one transfer.
So my tentitive release date is April 10, 2019. Which feels like forever some days and then some other days I´m like, wait, I just got here, what do you mean I have a release date already?
I finished my first journal this week. Thought you guys would find that a little interesting. So all the things I don´t have time to write here, we can talk about when I get home because I really do have a lot more stories than I type down.
We talked with these three women this week that had an instant belief in what we were teaching. One of them is a 15 year old named Stephanie. She straight up told us when we sat down that she has never been baptized but that she wants to. Which was awesome. Then when she said the closing prayer, which she said with no hesitation, she prayed that her dad would stop drinking and then she started crying. My heart was instantly filled with love for this young woman. I want to help her, but all I know how to do is preach the gospel, so I pray for her that she will feel the truth of this and that it will fill her life with a spirit that she can´t find anywhere else. I also pray that her dad will stop drinking. Because I know that will help her.
I have been craving mom´s pizza. So that is the first meal I want when I get back.
I met the most gorgeous boy this week. His name is Christian, he has the biggest brown eyes and the most contagious laugh. He´s five and was born 3 months early so his legs aren´t all the way formed. So he can´t walk. But he is adorable. I think you guys would find him adorable as well.
I´m sorry the internet is being slow, I wish I was actually able to talk to you guys today, that helps me a lot during the week, but oh well. The Lord has a plan and today it isn´t that we email a ton. So I gotta trust that.
I hope you guys are doing well, I love you!
Sister Heiner

We just ran outside and took these pictures.

Our cookies!

A giant sunflower that made me think of Luke's this summer.

Our delicious cake!

My Froot Loops!

This fruit that Adolino always gives us..
I´m not sure what it is called, but it is really good.

I love these flowers.  Do you think they will last until my
wedding in 5 years?

My feet tan lines.

January 8, 2018 What A Week...

Hello everyone..
This week was something special. But not in a bad way, haha. For New Years Day, everyone in Brazil eats chili, pork, and potatoes. So one of the Irmas invited us over for lunch. It was really good.
Also, heard President Monson passed away. That was really sad news, but I am really happy for the knowledge that we will always have a prophet on the earth today. Did you guys see the drawing with him, his wife, and the Savior? That really touched my heart.
On Tuesday, we had a conference in Caxias. Which we have every other week, so it´s not new. But our bus that usually leaves at 12:30 didn´t leave until 4:30. So we went to lunch with our zone, which we usually skip because it´s a little more expensive. And then we went around the town making contacts for the elders that actually work there! We got 9 contacts, and taught one full lesson. AND she committed to a baptismal date. So that was kind of cool.
João has a son that is 8, Vitor, and he and I have hit it off this week. He´ll come up and give me a hug, which he knows is against the rules, but he tries it every time I see him. He reminds me a lot of Luke, actually. He´s super funny.
I tried to make mom´s rolls this week. But we don´t have measuring cups. I thought I could eyeball it. It was like when I tried to make whipped cream for my keylime pie and it turned into butter. Still good, just not what I was aiming for. We ate all of them in one day, haha, and Sister Sandoval told me to double it next time. I used some of Grandma´s Christmas money for measuring cups today.
We went finding because we didn´t have a whole ton of time after one of our lessons, and we ended up finding a less active member. She didn´t tell us she was a member though until we invited her to be baptized. She hasn´t gone to church in 8 years because she didn´t know there was a church here. And then she didn´t come yesterday so who knows. We´ll have to go talk to her.
We spent a lot of time with Adolino this week.  But it was good. We learned a lot about him. 1: We've been saying his name wrong this whole time. There´s no r. 2: he´s been taught by different missionaries for the last 4 years. 3: he has a daughter who died when she was 15 in an accident and he has a picture of the last time he saw her. 4: he owns a bairro here, which is like a suburb. and 5: HE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!! On his birthday! Which is in like 2 weeks! WOOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!
We had an adventure with a cat. Sister Sandoval always opens the windows first thing in the morning and a cat got in. She chased it around with a broom and then when it finally went out of the window, she throw water at it. So she would fit in with our family pretty well, I think.
We had a bunch of women tell us this week that they can´t listen to our messages anymore because their husbands don´t like it. Which I thought was kind of strange, but I wouldn´t want to do anything against my husband either, I guess.
One of the Irmas that feeds us has these painted wooden flowers that made me think of Jenny. And then I realized that I don´t think I ever told you guys about the lime rickeys! In the CTM, Sister Borchert and I used the grape soda machine and the lime soda to make the perfect lime rickey. Took us the whole first week at every meal, and then both of our districts got really into it as well. Reminded me of Jenny every day!
I decided that when I´m a mom and my baby is asleep, I´m going to put threatening notes on the door bell. Because we ring the doorbell like 4 times before we give up at a house and I know we´ve woken babies up from their naps. (Sorry brazilian moms...)
I had a guy ask me if I´m serving a mission because Trump became our President. Made me laugh really hard. Sister Sandoval was really confused.
When we were walking around, I had a random flash back of Granny Camp when Jake, Ben, Mom, and Dad were on trek. That was really fun.
Sister Sandoval asked me when the first time I realized the Book of Mormon was true. And I just kind of sat there and thought for a minute because I don´t really have one moment. I think I have always known that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that we can always find strength and hope in it´s words. Not because of the words, but because of the Spirit that we can have when we really truly read and study.
I´ve been singing Wicked all week and woke up with Newsies stuck in my head, so whoever is listening to that  (probably Luke) or whistling (probably Amanda) KNOCK IT OFF. Thanks :)
We have to walk uo 79 strairs every day to get out the back way in our apartment. I´ll send a picture. You can see Sister Sandoval at the top to show that they keep going.
We eat so much food here. I cannot believe I was ever worried about that. I want to know if people eat this much every day or just when they feed us. It is a ton! And there is always dessert! ALWAYS! And you have to take at least two servings or the Irmas think you don´t like it and they get upset. Do I look fatter to you guys in my pictures? Because, man, I feel like I am going to have to be rolled off the airplane next year.
I´ve started doing Sister Sandoval´s hair every morning. I would have started doing it earlier except for the fact that I didn´t know how to ask her if she wanted me to. But I figured it out! It makes me think of Jamie. Except that her hair stays in all day. Love you, Jamie, hate your hair.
I found the post office today as well! So you have letters in the mail! Except they are a little outdated because it´s been a week or so since I wrote them but whatever!
Somebody tell Lauren that I expect a wedding invitation.
I love you guys!!
Sister Heiner

Let's play "Find Sister Heiner" in this Porto Alegre North Mission Christmas Picture.

Lawn Frogs!

Cool flowers that look like puff balls from a Dr. Seuss book.

Porch shells that made me think of the coast.

The Cat.

On the onibus.

Random picture because we liked these stairs.

And our 79 stairs.

Pancakes!

Found the post office!

January 1, 2018 Happy New Year!!!

This week was good!
As soon as we were done skyping our families and stopped crying, Irma Jaquiline, Presidente Fernando´s wife had treats for us because she said she knew we were going to need sugar. Super sweet of her. President Fernando then sat down with us and told us that missionaries here are heros because everybody is a convert and that he is so grateful we decided to leave our families so that we could save more people. And then he asked us to start teaching his mom! Which is an interesting experience because she is bed ridden with a broken hip currently. But she´s really sweet and always tells us how beautiful we are.
This week, I´ve had two questions repeatedly asked of me. What is your first name and how old are you. Everybody thinks Audrey is a weird first name because there is nothing like it in Brazil. I happen to think everybody here has weird first names, but ya know, who am I to judge. And when they hear I´m 19, everybody, and I mean I have gotten this response literally every time I tell somebody my age, says, WHAT? You´re so young! How are you so far away from home? How does your mom feel? I´m sure you are super homesick! And I just sit there and smile.
After we skyped you guys, we had a family home evening with João and Ardolino. It was really fun. We didn´t exactly tell Ardolino we were coming to his house for family home evening, we just kid of showed up. But he´s this sweet old man, so he let us in. He reminds me a lot of grandpa Heiner. He has this huge garden which he is really proud of and will talk for hours about it. And he is super stubborn. He doesn´t want to get batized because his son doesn´t want him to get baptized, but he will be batized! He turns 80 something this month so he is running out of time, man. It´ll happen, we´re fasting and praying for his heart to be opened. He comes to church every week and loves it. It´s just his son´s opinions that worry him...
So I´ve been craving bananas like crazy this last week, so it´s a good thing they are really cheap here or I´d be spending all my money on them. They have this cars here that drive around selling fruit. They play really loud music so you always know when they are getting close. There are also fruit trees everywhere, so we just pick random people´s fruit to eat while we walk around. We have a million limes in our fridge, we´re stalking up so we can make juice. At least I think that´s what Sister Sandoval said she wanted to make... Not a hundred percent sure...
When we are walking around and people reject us, Sister Sandoval has started saying, (after we walk away so they can´t hear us), Why don´t you want your Salvation?! And it makes me laugh so hard every time. Because seriously, why don´t people want their salvation? I´ve decided it´s because the devil is too good at his job. Nobody realizes how important this is until we teach them but we can´t always get past the, Oi, mi e minha amiga somos missionaries de igreja de Jesus Cristo dos santos dos ultimos dias... Frustrating, but normal.
I got my first sunburn this week. And mom, you will be very proud of me, I wore sunscreen the next day. I would have kept wearing sunscreen but it´s been dumping rain so there was no need.
We had a crazy old man invite us into his house and then like ten minutes later yell at us to get out of his house. So that was fun.
When you die here, you get burried in a little house, which I thought was interesting. I took a picture of the cemetary, so I´ll send that to you to show you.
Also, there are a billion frogs right now. So there are dead frogs in the streets. And I´ll send you this picture of a frog that freaked S Sandoval out. She screamed and I thought it was something serious, but nope. Just a frog.
We took a fun little trip to the hospital this week. They are really scary here. Like you know in movies when somebody is in an insane asylum? They´re like that. One of our investigators´sons broke his arm, so we went to talk to our investigator. I really hope I never have to go there for me..
We talked to a second crazy old man. He told us he doesn´t need Jesus, he needs a wife. We left that lesson really fast.
There are a lot of old bug cars here. And they are all different. Like one has Christmas lights framing it and another the top half is black and the bottom half is bright pink. Kind of interesting.
We found Mathurine. The investigator that fell off the face of the earth. He was just walking in the street. And he told us his phone died so he lost our number but he wants to keep meeting with us. I don´t think I believe his story.
We saw this shooting star last night that was really cool. Because it was still light outside. And we thought it was an airplane, so we were sitting there watching it, but no, it was a shooting star! I think it means this is going to be a really good year.
One of the young men in our branch got the priesthood yesterday. And because there were only 29 of us at church yesterday, we all crammed into Presidente´s office to watch him get it. It was really cool. That´s one of my favorite things about this branch. Everyboyd is so supportive of one another.
This morning, I was reading my scriptures praying about what I could do better this year as I spend all my energy serving the Lord and I read Mosiah 4:10. Which is a really good scripture, but I loved the end. It says, Believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. I think that is going to be my theme for this year. I want to have more trust in Him and more confidence that what I am doing here is what I need to be doing. And that I can learn this language! I don´t think I have ever wanted anything as much as I want to speak Portuguese so that I can teach people.
I love you guys like crazy!
Sister Heiner

Cemetery.

Sunset.

The frog that scared S Sandoval.

A cool view of part of Carlos Barbosa.

The lights they have on main street.

I use my umbrella for rain.

S Sandoval uses hers for sun... 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

Our little church building..