April 8, 2019 the last email

I want to start with the fact that when Tad R Callister was released, S Siqueira and I both groaned, 'nnnooooooooooooooooooooo' and the whole ward looked at us like we were crazy. But I happily showed my vote of thanks and was super happy when he ended up giving a talk. I laughed at how much of the things he said were in the Infinite Atonement. Part of me thinks that he just picked parts of the book and made a talk out of it. He is a smart guy. I think I'll just pick parts out of his talk to use for my talk in a few weeks. It'll be easier that way, haha.
This week was an adventure. But every week is an adventure here.  S Siqueira cut her hair. Which I didn't think would be a problem. But she cut it super short. I was sitting in the salon with three other older women and we were all just there watching her cut off her beautiful hair. Hurt my heart. The old ladies kept asking me if I was really going to let her do it, and I was there like it's not my hair... its hers... but then when she cut it as short as she did, I gasped and everybody looked at me and then kept looking at me as she cut off the rest. I was shocked. I seriously dd not see that one coming. But she's happy and its her hair so whatever. There isn't a ton I can do about it now, she already cut it.
Then we went to Irma Carol's and she asked if she could turn me into Ariana Grande. She has been asking to do that since the day I showed up here and seeing as I'm going home, I let her. in the end, I don't think it looked anything like her, but she was happy with it, so I was okay with it. I´ll send you guys the pictures. It took a lot of time to get all of the make up off. I think I wasted half an hour scrubbing my face. I think a layer of skin came off as well, hahaha.
On the missionary side of things, this week was an adventure. Let me tell you a little bit about a woman named Joanna and her son Erick. We have been teaching Joana for a few weeks now and she is crazy. Like I don't think that I have taught. And I have thought that I have taught some crazy people. But depending on the day, she likes us or she hates us. There are days when I seriously am worried for my life there. This week had one of those. We went to their house to go over the baptismal interview questions before the elders came on Friday. It started out super normal. We read all the questions, she gave us the weird answers that are normal for her, and then we pulled out the ficha thing that she has to sign for herself and for her son. She signed hers super easily, didn't even read what we had written. Then we asked for her to sign the one for her son, and she started getting nervous. She asked to read what it was, which we obviously let her do, and when she read at the end that the information will go to other countries i.e. the united states, she got super nervous and started to pace around the house, which started making us nervous. Then she started asking if we had been kidnapped and if there were people forcing us to do what we were doing. and we were like, uuuhhh no, we decided to be here. And she started talking about how when she comes home, often times there are things around the house that she doesn't remember doing and that she thinks that there is somebody that comes in and messes with her stuff.  I was ready to run out of the house, but for some reason, I just felt super calm, and we let her finish her rant. She picked up my bag and asked me if there was anything in there that she needed to know about. Luckily it was a day that I didn't take a whole ton of things so I just pulled out my camera and my notebook and the paper that was there and our house keys and then my drivers license that everybody thinks is a huge document from the USA but really just lets me drive, and she grabbed my license and said, 'oh you really are from the US, I thought you were faking it' and I was like, uh no. Do you hear this accent? It's real. But after that she seemed to calm down a little bit. When we left, we decided that she has more than one personality. I don't remember what that is called. When we went back with the Elders the next day, she was super calm. Like ridiculously calm for somebody who thought we were going to kidnap her son the day beforehand. But ya know, whatever. I will never get used to these type of people. In the end, she tried to flirt with Elder Gois and said that she wanted to date him, and on Sunday decided that she didn't want to be baptized but she let Erick get baptized. After he got baptized, he and Elder Gois both jumped in the baptismal font. Which I think you can't do, but they had a kick out of it so ya know. Erick is only 11, he reminds me a ton of Luke. He kept smiling so big during the whole thing, it was super cute, I wanted to take him home with me, hahaha.
Mirela, the girl who asked us if she could be baptized, asked us to go talk to her mom, which we needed to do anyways, but it was cool that she asked. We went and met her mom and her brother. It was a super short conversation because when we got there, they were both drinking and smoking. And it wasn't cigarettes. But we can't save everybody at the same time. Her mom is super nice, told us that anything to with church, we have her permission. Which was cool to hear, I love when parents can see that the gospel of Jesus Christ will help their children and not cause problems.
I loved general conference. I won't lie, I was a little disappointed by the fact that there were no shell shockers from President Nelson.  Every time he got us, S Siqueira and I were like, it's now. but it never was. I did like the nice little comment at the end about how we need to be doing what we know is right because time is running out. He finished that and we were all like, what?  But my favorite talk (besides Elder Callister of course) was from President Eyring. I love how he talked about family prayer. It made me think of all the times we all knelt together as a family praying. And then how Jacob left.. then Ben.. and now me. But it doesn't stop us from being a family. I loved how he talked about how when we pray together, it doesn't matter where we are in the world, we are together. I thought about that a lot. That was an answer to a prayer I have been making for a few weeks now. I got a lot of super cool answers this conference. I love the peace that comes from knowing that Heavenly Father loves us and is aware of us and lets us know His will for us.
But that about wraps up my last email of the miss. I love you guys and cant wait to see you in a few weeks. Let me remind everybody who wants to come to the airport: NO SIGNS. ;)
Love you all,
Sister Heiner

April 1, 2019 I'm comin home... I'm comin home.. in two weeks...

This week, it hit me that I will be home in two weeks. I mean, I knew that already, Ive been counting the days for like 2 transfers but I guess it turned from a number to real life this week somehow. AH! How did that happen?!
Not a ton happened this week. My cold got worse and I wasn't breathing super well so I spent a good chunk of time half sleeping half trying to breath. But then an irmao brought me some super strong medicine that might have knocked me out for about 14 hours and I woke up feeling a ton better. Cold defeated!
We went to visit the family that came to church on Sunday. Actually, the dad called us and asked us to go talk to them. Usually when this happens, it's because they want to tell us that they want nothing to do with the church, thanks, tchau. So we went but we went super super nervous. Because they are such a chosen family, its crazy. When we got there, we sat down super slowly like, please don't yell at us. And he just said, "I'm going to be straight forward here. How long does it usually take for people to be ready enough to be baptized?" We both just sat there quietly.  I thought I had heard wrong because it was at the beginning of the cold, the stage that you cant hear very well, so I figured I had heard him wrong. But nope. He said that they are ready to get married and stop drinking coffee (which he is absolutely addicted to, he says that he has to wake up in the middle of the night to drink coffee) and she is ready to stop smoking. Which is crazy because last time we talked to them, he wasn't wanting to get married because this is his 4th "marriage" and he has 7 kids so he wasn't super thrilled about the idea of getting legally married. But now his mind has changed and he wants to marry the woman. Hallelujah! We were super happy about that. We started some goals about smoking and coffee because the marriage will be a little bit of a long process. Also, he doesn't have a job right now, so it'll help them with their money problems if they stop smoking and drinking so much. I'm sure that is super expensive. The elders quorum president took a bunch of food to them this week too. which I didn't know about. The family thought that we had asked the ward to do that, which we hadn't. We told them that in the church, people usually don't know who is being helped as long as nobody says anything. Which works in some areas and in other areas everybody knows super fast because they love to gossip. But here, nobody knows anything. The family really liked that. It made the lesson about fasting super easy because Leonardo said that when he gets a job, he wants to be able to help people like he was helped. I thought that was cool.
Then there was the drama with Elizane. We spent all week trying to teach her. But how does one who does not speak sign language teach somebody who only speaks sign language? By pointing at things and just praying that it all works out in the end. Did it? No, haha, the day that she was going to have her baptismal interview, her niece called and said that she was still smoking and drinking. So we called the elders to cancel the interview because you can't baptize somebody who is breaking the commandments, obviously. They told us that they were going to come anyways and baptize her anyways! We were like, this will not work out okay. We told them no, to wait until the next day. We went there and were like, "what the heck? why didn't anybody in this family tell us that she smokes and drinks?" because we have been visiting her for like 3 weeks and have never seen her smoke or drink. They told us that she hasn't smoked or drunk in awhile because nobody is giving her cigarettes because she has asthma and she hasn't been drinking because they haven't gone out to eat in awhile. And we were like, okay so whats the big deal here? and they said that we could bring the elders the next day. So we called the Elders and told them they could come. Fast forward to the next day. The elders come and do an "interview" that really wasn't an interview because he doesn't speak sign language either. And I was feeling really guilty about baptizing her without her knowing what was going on. We could only understand that she wanted to be baptized. But the elder signed the ficha and that was the end. The next day she didn't come to church. We get a phone call that her sister knowing that she was going to get baptized, took her to a party and gave her a ton of beer and she was hungover. So we called the elders to cancel.  We went there to see her and her family and she and her sister were still very hung over. So we didn't even really try. We just said that we would pass by during the week and left.
We walked back downtown with one of Ilana´s friends who had come to church. While we were walking, she asked us if she could be baptized. I was shocked. it was like she knew what had just happened and wanted to make us feel better. But no. She said that she´s been talking to Ilana about it and wants to be baptized too. I was like, yes. But she is only 14 so we will need to speak with her parents. But hopefully there won't be a parent issue. I'm praying. Not that I'll be here when she gets baptized but it would be cool to get the pictures.
We also taught a 17 year old who has been married for two years already. She was part of a Satan worshiping group and talking to her brought a lot of weird feelings as she explained what she had done there. It was creepy. But then she came to church, which was cool. She made fast friends with one of the young woman there and they just spent the whole time together. We didn't even have to worry about her. Which was nice because it is rough when we have to worry about the people we teach at church. I don't know how teaching her is going to turn out, but it should be interesting to say the least.
Mom asked about the apartment. I finally got around to taking pictures. The house is kinda weird. Makes weird noises at night. We sleep with the fan on to cover it up. There is a back room that we put our suitcases in but that we try hard never to go into, it just feels super weird there. It is probably just in our heads but I'm not really interested in testing that theory out.
I have been studying the Atonement again this week. This morning I was reading about how the Atonement is infinite in depth and coverage (thank you Brother Callister) and I loved remembering that the Atonement covers much more than just our sins. I love remembering that He covers our weaknesses as well. There are so many moments that I feel like I'm failing, that I'm not doing enough, that I'm not good enough. I'm trying so hard to seek the Lord's will and do what He needs me to do, but I am so weak at times. There are so many times I have to stop, breathe, and remember what the Lord asked me to do and put what I want to do out of my mind. But the times that I fail to do this, I am so glad that I can repent and try harder the next time.
Anyways, I love you guys!
Sister Heiner

S Siqueir fell asleep waiting for the elders.

Because I was sick, she gave me an apple and orange juice.

 I didn't listen and made brownies.

Pictures around our house.

The room at the end of the hall, nobody goes to.

March 25, 2019

This week was super good. Had some bad moments too, but that´s life, so what can ya do.
I´ll start with the two bad moments and then move onto the good stuff. Thursday, S Siqueira started feeling sick, so we took it kind of easy. But then she spent the night throwing up, so I spent the night awake afraid that she was going to throw up in her sleep and die or something, so I didn't get to sleep until like 4 in the morning. The next day, we were supposed to go on splits in Bento, but I called the sisters and cancelled so S Siqueira could stay in bed and sleep a little bit. And I slept too, haha, not going to lie, I was super tired. And we had cancelled lunch to go on splits, so she didn't have to get up at a specific time. I left her sleeping all morning while I studied and then we went to the store and bought her crackers. I seriously felt like her mom because she wanted chocolate and this and that and I was sitting there like, YOU THREW UP 5 HOURS AGO AND YOU THINK I'M GOING TO BUY YOU JUNK FOOD, AH NO. And she sat there like, ahhh but whyyyyyyy? and I just death glared her. Not excited to have these type of conversations with my kids one day.
And then on Saturday, I wasn't very smart and left the house in the cold with wet hair and came back home with a bit of a cold. So raise your hand if you are going to end your mission sick? Ah yeah, that would be me..
But other than that, this week was good.
It started out on Tuesday. We had a district meeting and the elders told us that we were the first doupla to meet our goal this month so they took us to the store and bought us chocolate. Love it, haha, but unfortunately I also had to do the training in front of everybody. But after a year and five months of being a missionary, I have found the secret of giving trainings without really giving trainings. You prepare a ton of questions and then ask the missionary who loves to talk a bunch of them and the time goes by super fast because he just sits there talking. Got to the point that he starting giving the training without me even asking the rest of the questions. I just sat there smiling and the district leader sat there looking at me like, you sly dog... which made me laugh even harder.
On Tuesday night, we had a ward family home evening which I thought was going to be a disaster. Because the old Bishop didn't like doing things as a ward.  But this new bishop is trying to put things in order again. So I was worried that this family home evening would not work out. But it was awesome. There were a ton of members there and one of the couples brought a family with them. And one of our investigators brought her son with her and her son was super excited and tried to help with everything. During the games, he got so excited that he had figured out how to do it, that he ran up to the Bishop to show him. And there were less active members there. And members that I thought would never come. Bishop talked about family history which was cool, and then he did a game that had nothing to do with family history, but everybody was laughing so it was good. And then there was food which is always the best part. AND because this ward is getting into the missionary spirit, we didn't even have to stay until the end to get all of our people home, the members were already offering them rides so that they could know where they live to pick them up to go to church on Sunday. This ward is seriously getting into the groove, it is awesome. I am really happy about it.
On Saturday, the day that I left with wet hair, we had a really good day. We went and talked to to this family that came to the activity about coming to church. and when we got there, the dad, Leonardo said, Sit down. I have some questions. So we sat down. And he asked us if he wants to be baptized what things he can and can't do. We both just sat there like, "woah, that was super direct." but it was good because in 5 minutes we found out that he is addicted to coffee, like cant function without it, that Claudia smokes a ton, they both are wanting to quit. She wants to get married and he does not. But they have 3 kids so if they get married it won't change much. He said that they want to come, they want to do things so that they can be baptized. We asked them why they hadn't come to church beforehand because their neighbors are members. They said that their neighbors had invited them beforehand but that they had never really took it seriously. until he lost his job. and now they are ready. It was super cool.
We were walking to another house when our phone rang. it was a reference that we had been trying to meet with for over 2 weeks. He said that all his appointments had been cancelled and he had time to talk with us. So we went to the church on super speed to talk to him. He is from Peru, and had a million questions. I love talking to people that know things because we can explain things in greater depth and it mixes things up from the usual. It is super entertaining. We spent a solid 2 hours talking to him about everything. I think we taught him all of the lessons at the same time.
And in the midst of running around, we passed an onibus and it stopped next to us and who was in it? All of the irmas from Carlos Barbosa heading to a meeting in Caxias. I entered and hugged everybody super quickly. I can't even believe that it has already been a year since I've seen them all. But it was good to hug everybody.
And then on Sunday, who walks in the door? JOSI AND EDWARDO!!! and who did they bring? ADELINO!!!!!!!! I seriously wanted to cry. Especially when Adelino started crying and started thanking me for everything that I did for him. It was super cute. I love them so freaking much. I had forgotten how much I missed them. Ai, It gave me the strongest urge to go to back just to say hello to everybody again. I didn't think I missed it as much as I do.
We also are trying to teach a deaf woman which has turned into a huge adventure. But this week, her sister told us that she wanted to be baptized. So we are trying super hard to find somebody who speaks sign language that can help us out here because she´s got to know whats going on. And we finally found somebody yesterday, so this week will be warp speed to get her baptized. I'm excited. It'll be good.
And I think that´s what I've got to tell you guys for today. Just a quick note on what I have been studying. I have been reading the Infinite Atonement and something that stuck out to me was when Brother Callister was talking about how we can see how much Heavenly Father loves us because He saw how much pain the Savior was in, He saw how the people were treating Him, He heard the Savior asking where He had gone. And Heavenly Father didn't do anything. I have been thinking about that a lot. I love how the page I took a picture of talks about how parents will always do whatever they can to help a hurting son or daughter, yet Heavenly Father held His power back knowing that He could save His Son but He would lose the rest of us. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and a loving Savior who would die for us to return back to them.
I love you guys!!
Sister Heiner

Josi!

Andelino!

Andelino, me, Edwardo, Josi, Gabriel, and Lazero

The moon was huge this week!
It shined right into our window every night.
It has gotten cold so I am sleeping with
2 blankets every night too.

There was a sale on snickers. There were 5 but
I got excited and ate one before taking the picture...

The inside of the church.

March 18, 2019

This week was good! We were able to work hard, even though it was raining. and raining. and raaaaaiiiiiining. We had some pretty funny experiences, let me tell you.
The first and the worst was when we were trying to talk to a bunch of contacts that were in the area book. We were going to all of the addresses and when we got to one, we asked for a woman, and the man just looked at us like, "uh seriously?" and then told us that she had passed away about a year ago. And it was super awkward. How do you make a contact with the son of a woman that died that you are asking for? Very awkwardly, that's how, hahah.
We also met a couple that were taught by sisters beforehand. I was on splits with Sister Clemets and we were walking down a street, And S Clemets starts talking to this man on the side of the street about the lettuces that are in his garden. I have never done that kind of contact, but it was super funny. He got super excited that somebody wanted to talk to him about his lettuce (something I feel like dad would do, hahah) and they let us come in. It was then that they told us that they had already talked to the sisters. We started talking to them just about their lives and about living in the US and all of that stuff that people always ask when they hear that there are Americans in their house. But after a while, we started talking about the restoration of the gospel and the spirit was super super strong. And they both just sat their super quietly listening to what we were saying. At the end, we asked them if they wanted to be baptized, and the man, Carlos, instantly said yes. Which was really cool. He didn't even think about it. But they need to get married so unfortunately it will be a little while before they will get baptized. But the enthusiasm was awesome. They gave us cake, which is always appreciated, and a ride home because it was late and dark. While we were driving back to the house, he told us that he wouldn't sleep at night knowing that he had let us walk home in the dark.It was sweet. And all because S Clemets made a comment about his lettuce. Who would have thought?
We were walking to the baptism interview on Friday and who did we pass? Dalia from Sao Luis. The Venezulana that S Rodrigues and I were teaching my first transfer there. I ran back to talk to her and she gave me a huge hug and said that she had left Sao Luis and gone to like 5 different cities to find work and now she is in Farroupilha taking care of an older woman´s house. She took pictures with me to send her family, it was super cute. We told her where the church is but she said that she won't be able to come because of her boss, which I don't know if it is true, but I cant call her a liar. I walked away thinking about how perfect Heavenly Father´s plan is. How he puts the people in our path that He needs us to talk to. And maybe she can't come to church right now, but one day she will remember and will go and then it will all work out how He wants it to.
We had a baptism on Saturday, the ward is getting used to baptisms now, so they are starting to come, which is cool. They had all of the young women there to support Ilana, which was really cool. It made me really happy to see her talking to everybody as if she had known them her whole life. And at the end, she went home with one of them for a sleep over. It was super cute. Bishop has a deal with the missionaries that if they baptize somebody in the youth program, he will buy them a pizza. So we got pizza.
But I was fasting so I didn't eat the pizza the first night. S Siqueira was trying to convince me to eat the pizza with her, but I was not about to break my fast for pizza. And she was running around with the pizza in her hands telling me to eat and I kept screaming "get away from me Satan!!" and the next day, what was the first talk in church about? The importance of fasting. I laughed really hard at the face she made.
I have been studying about the Atonement the last few days. I was always studying about that at the start of my mission but I stopped after a while. And now I'm starting again because its almost Easter season and lets be real, we should always be studying about the Atonement. It is the only thing that makes it possible for us to return and live with our Heavenly Father and our families forever. I have been thinking a lot about how I am so grateful for the knowledge that our families are forever and that we can be forgiven of all the things that we have done. I think back to who I was my junior and senior year of high school and then think of who I have become this last year and am so grateful that we can change and progress in an eternal way. I could not be more grateful to my Savior and Redeemer who came to earth for the sole purpose of saving us all. That is what I have been studying.
Well, I don't have much else to say, but I hope your week has been good, I am getting happy to come home because it is getting cold here and it should be warming up there, I am super excited that I get to miss a full winter.
I love you guys!
Sister Heiner

 Pday com Tarcisio!!

March 11, 2019

This week was good. Kind of stressful but good.

Let's start with the fact that S Siqueira needed to go to the hospital because there was something wrong and then she had to take a bunch of medicine and its made her super tired and kinda cranky all week. But it's good, she´s better now. I think, hahah.

We had a family home evening with Tarsisco and he made churrasco for us. It was fun until he dropped something in the fire and almost burnt his hand off trying to get it out, hahaha, but we just laughed and he dumped cold water on it, and it worked out fine in the end. He let us pretend to drive his car, and we took pictures.

We were walking down the street this week and there was a cop sitting on the side of the road, and my whole mission I have been wanting to take a picture with the cops here, and because S Siqueira is crazy, she walked up to him and said, (in Portuguese of course) "hello Mr Police Man, my friend here is American and she wants to take a picture with you, can she?" and he said yes super quickly and got out of his car and took a bunch of pictures with me. I sent you the best one I think. It was funny because S Siqueira told me that usually when she talks to the police it is because she did something dumb, haha.

We were walking and made a contact with a woman named Joanna and she told us that she wanted us to come see her that same day. So we went there and her and her brother in law were there and we taught the first lesson. She told us that she is getting divorced and was wanting to find a church to go to because she wants some new friends. So we asked her to come to the ward Relief Society activity the next day, and she came! She participated more than the other sisters, it was super cool. She said that she would come to church too but when we went there to pick her up, there was some problem so she wasn't able to come, which was sad. But she really did like the activity that they had, so hopefully this week she will want to come again. 

It is starting to be winter here so it has started to rain a lot which is unfortunate. We have had to pull out the rain boots and the umbrellas. Not gonna lie, there are a few days that I don't use boots or an umbrella, just get soaking wet anyways. Sometimes it's just not worth the fight with the wind. 

We have been teaching Ilana all week. All of the irmas love her and Ana Julia. I think there haven't been any new young women in a long time because they are all super excited. We don't even have to ask the members to give them rides, they already have their number and they call them telling them when they will be there to pick them up. It is way awesome. I wish that would happen with all of our investigators. It would sure make things a lot easier, because they already have a connection with the ward and we don't have to force it.

We also had a baptism on Saturday. It was Venel's birthday and his baptism on the same day, I think that is super special (not just because that's how mine was too ;) ) He got there before we did and the elders called and said that they were going to baptize him without us. We got there and did not see anybody and thought that they had really done it, haha, it made me super worried and then they all walked out of one of the rooms laughing. Rude.

I haven't been sleeping very well this week. I'm not sure what is going on, I think I'm just stressed, I don't know. But the medicine that S Siqueira has been taking makes her super tired so she is sleeping A TON. So my study time this week has been kind of cool. I wake up, and she keeps sleeping and I study in complete silence. I have had some of the best studies in my mission while my companion has been sleeping. It has been super cool. I'm reading in Alma, and it is taking forever to get through. I thought in English it was long, but in Portuguese it is like 100 times longer. But its good. I'll get through it by the end of my mission, I hope. 

This morning we went on a fun little hike. We went to a waterfall and then to the top of a mountain. It was super pretty but the car ride there was super curvy and made S Siqueira feel sick in the end. But it was still fun. The car broke down three times and we had to push it because it is super old. He made the motor putting the parts together. It looks like that part in High School Musical 3 when Troy is putting duck tape and a new cap on his radiator. But it is the whole engine. hahahah I'm not sure that I am going to let him drive us to places far away again. 

S Siqueira has learned how to make necklaces out of rocks, so we have been rock hunting the last few days. And then she got tired of rock hunting and just went and bought some rocks, I felt like we had worked so hard for nothing, haha, but its good, maybe one day we will find some pretty rocks on the side of the road that she will want to use. If you look at the churrasco selfie, I think you would be able to see the one that she made for me. It is kind of big, but it is black that slowly goes up to pink and she says that it matches my personality. I don't know what she wanted to say by that, but it made me laugh. 

I'm trying really hard to think of more things to tell you guys because my comp is still talking with her family and I am just sitting here like, "e agora..." but ya know. I don't know that I have anything else too exciting to tell you. 

Ah, fun fact about Brasilian food, nobody knows how to make real lasagna. Like everybody makes lasagna for us, everybody. But it is never the same, I think there are about 10 billion different lasagna recipes here and not one of them is like how mom makes it at home. I miss that. Yesterday we ate one that was the closest I have come to mom's lasagna, but it just wasn't quite the same. 

Açroght,  Just be glad that I write more than the boys did at this point in their missions ;)

I love you guys!

Sister Heiner 

Churrasco with Tarsisco.

Pretending to drive.

Some cute kids.

Meeting the cops.

A waterfall.

The top of a cool mountain.

March 4, 2019

Alright family, this week went by super fast. It was like Heavenly Father didn't want me to miss Torres so He didn't even give me time to think about it.

We started the week off by going to Caxias for the grape festival that they have there every year. The elders had called us and said that there was nothing to do there so we shouldn't waste our time, but when we got there, there was a ton of stuff! Elders... They gave us free grapes and there were a ton of booths that reminded me of Saturday Market. And there was this simulator of a car crash that they put us in and then spun us around a ton. It was super fun. The elders didn't like it a lot, but S Siqueira and I wanted to go again and again and again. There was also a bunch of concerts that we didn't stay and listen to, but it was cool. We got back to Farroupilha and went and bought xis because we had only eaten grapes all day. Also, I had no idea that their are a billion different kinds of grapes.

On Tuesday, we talked to a sweet girl and her little sister. Ilana and Ana Julia. Ilana is 13 and Ana Julia is 8. Ilana said that she had seen us walking downtown on Saturday and had wanted to ask us to come talk to her but her dad was in a rush to get somewhere so she wasn't able to. Super crazy how Heavenly Father puts the right people in our paths more than once. We taught her about the restoration and she just sat there like, "how didn't I know that?" and started explaining for us a bunch of stuff about the other churches that she has already been too and how she didn't like them. We went back another day to talk to her mom, and her mom was super excited as well, saying that Ilana had already told her all that we had told her and she was super happy that we were there to visit her daughter. And then when we went to pick them up for church yesterday, they were already ready waiting at the top of their hill. Which I was grateful for because 1: I did not want to climb that hill and 2: because I always get nervous picking people up for church because I want them to come. But the important part is that they were ready, and that they really liked church and said that they want to come back next week. And Ilana wants to be baptized. I love being a missionary.

But then there are sad parts too, hahah, we had a baptism date this week that fell through. We had been visiting Venel for a few weeks (well, she has, I got here last week) and he was ready to be baptized on Saturday. The elders came and talked with him and helped him feel good about things and everything was set up. We went there Saturday morning to read the Book of Mormon with him and his friend, and then told him that we would be back in two hours to pick him up to go to Caxias because the ward here doesn't have a baptismal font. And when we got back there, he wasn't there. And we waited because we were a little early. And then we waited because he was a little late. And we kept waiting and waiting and waiting. And finally a member called us to tell us that Venel had sent him a message saying that he had to go to Bento to deposit money for his family in Haiti. I think in every area there is at least one foreigner that I teach, hahah, but he said that he wouldn't be coming back until late at night. We felt like he was running away, but we didn't understand why because he was super ready. And then on Sunday, he walked into church and started explaining to us that his daughter in Haiti is super sick and needed some money for medicine and I felt bad for judging him too quickly. One of the members got super excited to see him and pulled off his tie to give him, haha, it was funny to watch and I was happy to see that the members already treat him like part of the family. And he´ll be baptized next Saturday so it'll work out fine.

One of the members gave us a ride to a recent converts house and there is a huge hill on the way, like that hill in Oregon that we always liked to go down to make our stomachs drop, and he decided to go down it super fast. And it was fun the first two times he went. But the third time, he went a little too fast and it wasn't so fun anymore, haha, everybody was screaming, including Irmao Marcos. We will not be doing that again, hahaha.

Also, last night, we got home and S Siqueira was super hungry, so we called an irmao and he told us to come over because he was making french fries. So we put on jackets because night time here is still cold and we ran the two blocks to his house where he was frying french fries. I sent a picture of him, I think. Then S Siqueira decided to cut his beard. It was super entertaining.

Now to answer moms questions... my companions is crazy. Like I'm not even kidding. But it is so fun being crazy with her, that is as long as we are safe, I just kind of roll with it. Like going to get french fries last night. That's not something I would usually do, but she was so happy about it, and it was really funny. She is the only member in her family, she´s 23, she has 2 brothers. Doesn't know her dad. She speaks very little English, so we are back to just speaking Portuguese, which is probably better than speaking English. Farroupilha is a ward that is the size of a branch, there isn't a church here, its just a rented building. I think there were more people in sacrament meeting in Carlos Barbosa than there are here so I'm not really sure how the ward/branch thing works out. I am liking my area. I can't say that I have missed the hills, but I'm getting used to it again. It is getting colder here. I had to pull out a jacket a few days ago. During the afternoon its still pretty warm, but night time is cold. Our apartment is super big, and like a maze, so we don't go to the back very often. Its kinda creepy back there. So we just stay in our room and the kitchen and leave the back to the spirits.

I think that's the top stuff that happened this week. I feel like I've been typing this forever but it isn't very long, haha, hopefully you all enjoyed it.

I love you guys like crazy,

Sister Heiner

February 25, 2019

This week was a painful week but it was good too. I just had to go with the flow and accept that Heavenly Father knows better than I do. I've had to learn to just breath, cry when I'm alone, and then smile and work hard.  The start of the week was good. and the end of the week was good too. And now that I'm thinking about it, the middle was pretty good too, there were just a few hours that weren't so good. I really should be more grateful for the blessings Heavenly Father has given me. is this even making sense, hahaha? I feel like I'm just rambling about how I don't know how to feel about this week...

ANYWAYS. on Monday, we went to the beach in Santa Caterina with Helder and Jennifer. It reminded me a little bit more of the beaches in Oregon because the sand was harder and not as fluffy. Also, I think it helped that it was overcast, so the sky was gray like in Oregon as well. We played in the water, just up to our knees because we can't break the no swimming rules, and made a sand castle and played on the sand dunes. Really it felt like I was 12 again and we were at the lighthouse on the coast. We even went to the lighthouses there! I think we went to three of them. Unfortunately, there weren't any covered bridges to make it a true Heiner get away, but we got half of it right.

We had a funny experience with the milkshake man this week. There is a place that we go and get milkshakes every few days called Bah Milkshakes. But for some reason, we hadn't gone in like a week. Which is probably our record of not getting milkshakes. And when we got there, the owner got super excited and said, "as meninas!!" (the girls). and then he already had our order because we get the same thing every time we go there: mint chocolate. When the guy in the back heard the order, he came running out and said "you guys came back!!" and we laughed. The owner man asked us if we didn't want to try a different kind of milkshake, which we said no, and he got sad and gave us another milkshake for free. What is the moral of this story? Be friends with the milkshake man and he gives you free milkshakes. We invited them to come to church and had a fun conversation about that while we were drinking our milkshakes. I don't know if they will go, because I'm not there anymore, but hopefully one day they will remember the meninas who always got milkshakes and will want to see why we were in a different country.

We went on splits with the girls from Sao Luis, Canoas which was fun. We took them to the beach and they were both super excited. We walked from the end of Torres to Santa Caterina on the beach. which took a really long time. I had never done that before and didn't think it would take so long. But it did. Then we took them on the pencil bridge which is that super sketchy bridge that you have to cross to get to Santa Caterina and they were both super nervous about it and it was funny. S Macena and I taught a crazy woman named Lourdes. She gave us juice which was cool, but then she started talking about the miracles her church does and how her husband got his sight back because of the miracles that happened and we were both sitting there like, wat.... but hey, at least she believes in God, that is a good start. 

We went to Porto Alegre on Friday to get my visa renewed. I don't remember if I told you guys that my visa had expired, but I haven't had a visa in a few months. But now I do!! Which is nice. The only sad part is that while I was there, I got a lovely little phone call saying that I was being transferred to Farroupilha. I can't tell you how much I cried. But I think S Ruiz cried even harder than I did. I had to hold her because she was shaking so hard and I thought that she was going to fall over. It was just a crying party.

I didn't go back to Torres to get my stuff, S Ruiz sent it to me the next day, which means that a few things got left behind. Including my camera cord so it might be awhile before I get pictures sent to you guys again. Hopefully not too long, but a little bit.

I got to Farroupilha and President Jones came to explain to us what was going on. There is a lot going on, haha, one of the biggest things is that a missionary ran away. I don't know how that works out, but it did. We are thinking that he ran away while his companion was taking a shower. Because after a few days, you know how long your companion will be in the shower, so it would be easy to time it. Not that I had ever thought about that before I heard that he had run away.

My new comp is named S Squeira. she is from Manaus, she is super funny. Its only been a day but I think we are going to get along just fine.  This afternoon we are going to a grape festival.

Also, first day in the area, we had a baptism, I like that. It was a good first impression, haha.

Anyways I think that is the important stuff. I love you guys!!

Sister Heiner

February 18, 2019

ARE YOU GUYS AS EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEW RULE CHANGE AS I AM?! I GET TO CALL YOU GUYS EVERY WEEK IF I WANT TO!!! But I probably won't call every week just because it wont help me focus, haha, but next week I'm going to call. You guys have got to meet Helder and Jennifer. These are the best people I have been able to meet. 

SO! This week. Let's start with the fact that we finally  moved houses, haha. Which was good. Because this church is super creepy at night. And our new house is a house and is in the back of some apartments so it is super safe which is nice. I have slept so well these last few nights that I didn't even know that I was sleeping poorly. The house is pretty small, but it is perfect for the two of us. And the best part... they bought us a washing machine. I seriously almost cried, hahah. I called Elder Menezes just to say thank you. He laughed and called us dramatic. But I never appreciated a washing machine until we were washing our clothes by hand for a month. Heavenly Father really does love us to let somebody invent something as amazing as a washing machine. 

This week we also had a Mexican family home evening with our branch and it was AWESOME! We decorated the church as much as we could, how S Ruiz says they decorate there, and we didn't tell anybody. So when they all walked in and saw the banners and the piñata, everybody just stood there star struck. It was awesome. It made me feel so good about the time we spent even though it really wasn't even a little bit Mexican, haha, and nobody here has ever hear of a piñata so it was super entertaining seeing the little kids hitting it and then getting super excited to see candy explode out of it. We also made tacos but it didn't work out too well. Not that anybody knew because they have never eaten real Mexican food before. It was a really fun night. We turned on music and everybody danced and ate and laughed. There were over 40 people there and 10 of them were investigators. TEN!!!!! The branch president said that it was the best family home evening that they have had in a very long time which made me super happy. 

We went to the beach one day this week super early and studied there. It was perfect because we went to a beach a little farther away and nobody was there until it was about 10:30 when we needed to leave anyways. This area is super pretty. 

We also had a fun little story yesterday. I think that last week I wrote about Jackson and his family. He is a preacher and has a ton of kids. They all love that I speak funny and they like when we sing for some reason. So to get them to come to church, we told them that we were going to sing during sacrament meeting. Which turned into a truth because we went and asked the branch presidency if we could sing. They luckily sad yes and we sang a song that I have never heard in my life, but it is Helderson and Jennifer's favorite hymn and they sang with us so we just went with it. It turned out super pretty. Alright back to church yesterday. Pedro went and picked them up because they actually live in Santa Caterina which is like an hour walking. While they were on their way, Jackson asked Pedro to stop the car so that he could pick up the tithing of a member in his church. Then when they got to church, the kids were super cute, hugging us and staying by our sides and everything. Ana (the wife) stayed quietly by Jacksons side, but Jackson was super rude. He is the son of a less active member and already told us that he does not like the church. But we mostly just invited him because we wanted his kids to come. During sacrament meeting, he kept yelling "gloria a Deus" and things like that even though he has been to church before and knows that we don't do that. Then he tried to raise his hand to talk during a talk and the man talking told him that he couldn't, so he got mad and got up and left. Luckily it was the last speaker. I went out to talk to him and he said that it wasn't right that he couldn't talk when he wanted to and I told him that he was being disrespectful and that I was extremely sad that he would do something like that in the house of the Lord. I asked how he would feel if somebody walked in and treated his church like he treated the Church of Jesus Christ today and he just got super quiet and then started to argue that the Bible says that we should be yelling Glory and Hallelujah during church.  Then I got mad and told him that if the Savior walked in during his church meeting He would get up and leave because He doesn't feel comfortable when He cant feel the Spirit. It was a tense little hushed argument and he said that he was going to leave. His kids all liked it though which was really the point of this whole long story.

Alright, fam, I think that is about all that I have for this week. I am excited to see your faces next week. I love you all a ton. This last Saturday marked my 2 more months. How weird is that...

I love you!!

Sister Heiner 

Alright so the pictures aren't wanting to send, but here are a bunch forwarded from Jennifer.