I don’t know why people say goodbye, I say hello!:)

I cant believe this is my last time i will be sending out an email! 18 months FLIES. 
This week was really great.. really hard.. and amazing… ya know, just how missions are 🙂 
osilina and luiz are great! we are organizing their wedding so they can be baptized next month. they are the best. ill never forget walking up a huge hill with a bunch of stray dogs to see them waiting by the window for us evey monday night. and when they see us they get all excited and wave! then osiliana hugs us and with her cute broken portuguese says: “OI AMOIYYY!!!” i love them with all my heart! im so excited for them 🙂 
I know I only have 20 years…. but you would sometimes think its 80! hahaha ive had alot of hip issues on my mish. but its gotten alot better! its been months since ive had problems. then one day this week we were walking past a super rich part to go up to the hills to go tracting. We love the rich people too.. but its hard tracting there… they are never home and they arent as open to hear our message… but the nout of no where i huge pain shot up my hip. the same pain i had months ago! its super weird.. but i just had to stop for a second.. then it went away… i took a step to walk and it shot up again. we were a good hour away fro mhome.. and a mountain away from where we wanted to tract. i was like.. now what! hahahah me and sister sotelo looked at eachother then looked at the mansion in front of us.. shrugged.. and rang the door bell (which is when you know its fancy.. doorbells dont exsist here.. you have to clap outside the gate… but they had adoorbell on the huge gate!) a super angry lady came out.. seh wanted nothing. hahahah so we hobbled to her neighbor. iwas in so much pain! her neighbor came out and immediately let us in. shes the cutestthing ever. shes a young mom and told us ever since her son was born 5 months ago she has been looking for a religion. she has felt like she needs to find truths and follow them! it was SO great. we taught her teh restoration.. seh loved it. and she was like. “im so anxious to pray aboutthis. and find out that its true!” we invited her to be baptized once she recieved her own testimony and she responded. “OFCOURSE!” we left… and i had zero pain in my hip! i walked the rest of the week with no ´problem. God really works in mysterious ways. we never ´planned to knock that street! it didnt even cross our mind. im excited to see how itgoes when we teachher this week 🙂 
iara is still doing great too 🙂 we are seeing so mnay miracles. ive never had so many miracles in one transfer. i love this area. i seriously cannot believe this is my last week. then monday we have a training for going home.. tuesday ill be getting on the plane! my heart is breakingin a million pieces and at the same time im so excited for the next step. and to see my family and eat cereal. its been a hard, amazing, hot, fun, exhausting, miracle filled 18 months. this week will be bitter sweet. 
acts 18:11.
and *she continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of god among them…
But little did i know how much they would be teaching me 🙂 
Love you all more than sunscreen and cold water!:)

thanks for all the love and support. ill see you all next week!! 🙂
love,

sister George

I Will Go And Do!

this week was too good. summer is definetly here. it was super hot. we are all dead! these hills plus the sun.. its a work out! but we saw so many miracles.

 1 nephi 3:7

 I will go and do the things which the lord hath commanded, for i know that the lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

sooo in our mission we have a goal. (our commandment hahah)  to find one new family every day .. it used to be one new person.. but president is realy pushing us so we can see miracles. being in the south of brazil is alot different than other missions. the south is known for  “no baptisms” he is really trying to teach us that it doesnt matter where we serve. its how we serve. so he has promised that if we find one new family everyday, invite them to be baptised on the first lesson we will begin seeing miracles in our mission. Its hard.. like super  hard.. .there are some days when you tract for hours looking for someone new to teach.and we dont go to any lessons until we have found a new investigator!

so one night at midnight i woke up to sister sotelo hysterically crying.. she had a super sharp pain in her back and couldnt move. she wanted to wait a little to see if it got better. but it didnt so we had to take a taxi to the hosptial… they did  a bunch of exames to see wha tit was.. but everything came back normal and the pain went away.but we didnt get back home until 9:30 in the morning. we were EXHAUSTED. we slept for an hour before we had to  go to lunch at amembers…  she was supe rdrugged still hahahha. but we ate.. after she looked at me and was like.. “but what about our new investigator today?” our area is huge. we dont have time to waste. we walk a ton and we organize everything to have time to do everything.. even a few hour set back really messes with our program ahhahah . but there was no way we could work today. we needed to rest. i just looked at her and was like.. “i dont know.. but i know that god knows what we can and cant do.. he  will make up for the rest.” i know this seems little… but little miracles are great too 🙂 we left the members house and went to iaras just to confirm a lesson with her later the week. we got to her house she lives 3 minutes away from where we had lunch.her mom was like.. iara is at a neighbors! the neighbor lived close by.. we went there.. turns out the neighbor is the same lady we had talked to about a month ago at a bus stop. seh had a lot of interest in hearing our message but when we tried her house she wasnt home. today she was home .. .with iara! they let us in and we taught them and her family. they accepted the baptism invite. i left the lesson full of gratitude.  heavenly father knew we didnt have the forces to knock doors in 95 degrees today… so he used what we could do! we had already talked to her .. and he inspired us to visit iara.  it was SO cool. i know God will never give us more than we can handle. he doesnt require the impossible. i know that he will always prepare the way for us even in the small simple things in our lifes.. we just need to do our part and trust him 🙂 sister     sotelo is good now! they think its muscle spasms! so thats good news…  and iara is reading the book of mormon everyday and went to church again. shes so great 🙂

     another little story.. we had lunch with a less active member for the first time. she has always had a strong testimony.. but 2 years ago left the church because of some problems iwth a member. her 29 year old son passed away in a car accident just about a year ago. shes such a happy person.. the type you would never have guessed has suffered so much. sister sotelo asked what has helped her. she said. “losing a child is the reality of another mothers worst nightmare. my ground was ripped from underneath me. but under my own capacity and my own ground was the foundation  i built on christ many years ago. he is literally the only thing that keeps us up. because there are things in this life that you literall ycannot do alone.”

   helaman 5:12

remember remember, that it is upon the rock of our redeemer who is christ, the son of god, that ye MUST build your foundation.——

——    because of th erock which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they CANNOT fall.

we never know what the future holds.. but we can have 100% trust that if christ is our foundation in al lwe do… we will have the strength to face all that lies ahead 🙂

 some cool experiences from this week 🙂 anothe super awesome exerience…

we were on the bus yesterday.. and sister sotelo was on the edge seat laughing and talking up a storm.. the bus made a sharp turn.. and she went FLYINNG. hahahahahahhahaha she screamed and fell and slid to the other side of the bus and was under the seat on the other side on the ground legs up in the air! hahahahahhahahahahha EVERYONE o nthe bus was dying laughing. sister gage and i tried to get up to ehlp her without falling too and we couldnt because we were laughing. it was so embarrasing and so funny. oh my gosh. i dont know what this girl will do without three huge americans to hlep her out when she biffs it.

anywho. love you all lots! just a heads up… my last week to email will be next week. thanks for all you do!

-sincerly.

sunburnt and exhausted but happy sister george 🙂

NO I BURNT THE PIZZA!

i really think my heart is going to explode from happiness and halloween candy! (i live with two other americans that got packages this week.. licorice and kit kat galor!)

so a sister from another area, s. delgado came to stay with us monday night because she needed to go pick up her new comp the next day. so she left to work with us. shes from argentina and shes sooo great! and.. it was a miracle she stayed with us! we went back to go teach  luiz and osilina our couple from haiti.. the ones that speak spanish. wich was great because her and sister sotelo were able to teach them.. it was SO great. luiz was like.. i have known these things are true for a long time. ive just waited for my wife to accpet them too. we invited them to be baptized next month. and they accpeted. osilina cried. she calls us her “amorlos” wich isnt portuguese but shes trying to call us her loves hahahhaha. it was seriously the greatest thing ever. such a miracle! yay spanish speakers! they have to get married first but thats the only thing in the way. we taught luiz last night too. .he was like.. i know that days are passing by and we never know when our lives will end. im praying to find the money to get married soon. i NEED the gospel in my life. my heart broke. they are trying to put together money to pay for everything and bring their kids to brazil and now get married. but they are faithful it will all work out.

I dont know if you remember a few emails backwhen i talked about the guy we taught on his front door step and he cried? we went to teach him and his wife this week. they are soooo fancy! shes an architect and their house is sooo sweet! plus… they are elect. they have a 6 month old little girl and they are really interested in bringing the gospel into her life. so so so excited.

AND my young women!!! i ahvent taught alot of youth on my mission but these past 2 weeks we have 3 new young women we are teaching. they are incredible. ana, the grand daughter of a less active. and now leticia and we also met iara! i love them with all my heart. they are amazing.  its been so fun teaching youth!

we planned to walk to go get leticia for church.. and iara lives super far away so we arranged for a member to give them a ride. we were stoked for church. because also… luiz and osilina didnt have to work! they work every sudnay but one every month. we wake up… go get leticia.. but her mom was like.. she already left! which was weird.. because she was nervous to go by herself.. so we walked to church fast to see if she walked alone… we get there and im like.. wait.. why has the meeting already started? its only 8:45 its starts at 9! all four of us were like.. what is happeneing.. then sister sotelo was like.. oh my gosh you guys i dont believe it. TIME CHANGE!!! SO embarrasing!!! we walked in 10 minutes before sacrament ended! leticia was sitting my some mebers and ana too.. all of our investigators were there.. and for you serving missions you know how rare it is to have investigators at church! and we all showed up late! everyone looked at us and just started laughing. they knew why they moment we walked in.. yep thanks members for calling us and giving us a heads up! hahahahahha sooo embrassing! this is what happens when president puts 4 foreigners in one area. LOST. we are obviously super responsible. its because our iphone 10 doesnt change by its self.. thats a joke you guys our iphone 10 is really a rock and someone painted numbers on it. #missionprobs

But our youth loved church. and i love them! seriously the yare amazing. andre our hippie friend went again to church! he is loving it. we are seriously teaching so many amazing people. we are being so blessed this transfer.

quote of the week.

i was washing the dishes… then out of no where sister gage comes runningin the kitchen! “NO I FORGOT!!” she opened the oven and a smell of burnt pizza filled the room! “DANGGIT!!!” she hurried and took it out of the oven. then she was like sister george shut your eyes! then she just starts prayiong. “heavenly father im so sorry i burnt the pizza but i really dont want burnt pizza please dont let it be super burnt.” i was dying laughing! and she was seriously on the verge of tears.  hahahhahahahahahhahaha shes seriously such a freak. i lvoe her so much. she ended her prayer and took a huge bite.. “its not that burnt!! YESS!” then walks away.  ohhh sister gage. how i love that girl.

thats our week! SO much happiness!:)

love you all!!:)

-sister george

yo no hablo español

This week was amazing! full of exhaustion and miracles! Im SO tired. all the time. I Dont know why. mission. almost everything fell through this week! so we tried their neighbor hahaha and it worked out! we found a lot of amazing people. we are truly being helped out alot here.i love teaching. the mission next to Disney land really is the best place on earth.

We taught another couple from haiti. they were so great! The husband has been searching for a religion for a long time. a granddaughter of a less active told us she feels like something has been missing in her life. and when she reads the book of Mormon she feels that hole being filled. shes 15 and inst a member. shes amazing! she went to church Sunday and loved it. she looks and acts 20.a reference from a member went to conference last week. he is a history major and i think might be more hippie than my little sister! he loves nature! he became interested in the church because of family history. and for the first time on my missino we got to mark with a member to teach and investigator how to use family search! it was so cool. he went to church again. he was like.. i dont know why but i feel like something is pulling me to learn more about this church. he has studied alot about religion but feels really good about what we teach! MIRACLES.

one night we went to an investigators house. her husband had gone to church a few times but htey hadnt met with the missinoaries yet. they are from haiti and he speaks a little bit of portuguese. but when we got to their house only she was home.. and she speaks almost no portuguese! it was a struggle bus!! we tried teaching but it wasnt working out. then i was like.. what languages do you speak? i had to ask a few times but she finally understood. hahaha she speaks creol french and SPANISH!!! sister sotelo too! such a blessing! she taught the entire first lesson in spanish. i felt like iwas back at the mtc! hahahahahah i could understand but i had to concentrate SO HARD. oh my goodness we left and i was like.. man i forgot how annoying it is to not understand people! my brain was dead! so funny! im so glad she spoke spanish! its amazing how our talents really hlep others! now i just gotta work on my spanish skills hahhaha 😉 because i definetly do not speak spanish!

we got transfer calls! ill be staying here with sister sotelo! sister gage is stayingtoo! which im super happy. shes one of the worlds funniest people! sister crump is heading home and sister gage will get a new comp.. another american hahahh! sister child! should be good!:)

love you all!:)

-sister george

 

 

Horses and Stilts

This week was too good! i came home exhausted everyday.. which is a good sign.. we didnt have to stop a ton! sister sotelos health seems to be getting better! yay health!! pday we went to the beach because it was rainy and there was no one.. then as we were walking back sister sotelo BIFFED IT in front of a bus stop. i couldnt eve nhelp her up i was laughing so ahrd! her legs went flying up in the air and she landed on her back! hahahhahahahahhaha oh my goodness. it was too good. i wish i had a picture.

we had a lunch wayyy out in the middle of no where.. but when we got there.. i felt like i was in the states! none of the houses had huge walls in front! it looked like las vegas! and there were normal sidewalks….. but the houses were super nice…. then after we took a bus back to our area.. and we climbed another hill where kids play wihtout shoes in the dirty roads. its really crazy to me how there can be such nice houses and then such poor neighborhoods all in one area. its sad. we taught a new lady… whos house you can see EVERYTHING! the view is amazing. but its on stilts!! a little wood house hanging off the side of the mountain.. on wooden slilts! i was like.. its a good thing i didnt eat alot todya.. because i was scared the entire thing was going to break and roll down the mountain. every step creaked!

we went tracting another day in a richer part…. ah i felt like i was in my area tubarao again… people werent very.. open.  as we were walking sister sotelo was like.. do you think that lady needs help? i hadnt even noticed an older lady limping and carrying a bunch of groceries on the other side of the road. we went and offered help.(such a missionary move hahaha) she said she lived close. but i knew she was lying. the only thing close was huge mansions.. and she had no car.. she had only boughten bread and milk and she had old broken flip flops for shoes even in the rain. we told her we were headingi n the same direction. she accepted. but every corner she had to stop to rest. her knees are bent in.. she can barely keep balance. and the groceries were heavy. she was like.. you girls really dont need to help an old lady likeme! we told her we wanted to. it broke my heart. she struggled so bad even just to walk. and she lived way far away at the very top of the hill. the higher you get on these hills the poorer the houses. what broke my heart too is that we had to pass these huge beautiful houses… and people living their passed us.. car after car…. as this poor lady struggled to walk. at one point even a member passed us! we tried flagging her down.. but she didnt notice. it made me wonder how many oportunities we have each day to help someone but we dont realize it! i mean.. sister sotelo was the one that saw this lady! i was just staring ahead! and so many people passed us without realizing how much we needed help. it took over an hour to get to her house at the very top. she was so grateful. she thanked us a thousand times. but it was really nothing for us. but everything to her. and the cool thing is… she never once complained. the entire time we walked as she was in pain she was like.. you girls dont understand the forces god gives me. im so blessed ican even walk. she was such an example to me of someone postive and humble. this world is full of amazing people. she invited us to go back and teachher too… we will see how it goes! she thanked us but really im thankful for her. i bet too.. if we all just payed a little more attention in our everyday activities we would find alot of ways to give simple service to those around us.

we are seeing miracles here! i know that god is preparing people for us.. and all misisonaries all over the world.

I love you all! more than i love waterbottles and comfy shoes!

-Sister George

He Lives, So Come What May

Hello family and friends! i know I sent an email yesterday, and unfortunetly i now have to give an update.
After I left from emailing we went to lunch normal. and after lunch my symptoms started back up. The tingling has gotten worse in both legs and arms. especially in my right arm and hand. I also have these weird red marks all over my skin. (could be a virus? no idea im not the doctor!)

 

The mission Doctor who is in Sao paulo called me to talk about all the symptoms i have been having. Hes american, it was nice telling in english. He has no offical response yet, and is investigating everything…. he has delt with alot of missionaries. im in good hands!
President has decided to take me out of my area on an emergency transfer and i will be going to florianopolis tomorrow. sister rocha will be going with me to stay with me for a few days. I already have an appointment with a nuerologist there. (i remembered the fancy term!!!) But, The mission doctor and president have both talked to me so i can prepare myself a little mentally. that If they cant find answers in florianopolis its most likely that i will be going home for further treatment. But if they find a treatment i will be staying in florianopolis for the next 2 transfers to finish my mission there to be close to president. 
 My world seems to be crashing down around me. This has by far been the best area of my mission. Its breaking my heart knowing that i will be leaving so fast like this. I just want to work. And the thought of coming home early from my mission is breaking me into pieces. and i never thought that this would be my story. BUT. I know. with all my heart that our heavenly father has a perfect plan for everyone of us. And i know that i have to have faith in that plan. I am hopeful that I will go there, they will tell me great news give me some medicine and i can finish out my last 2 transfers. But, I have to have faith in the will of the Lord. That sometiems what we want isnt what we need. and as my dad always said, hope for the best but plan for the worst! Our savior really is giving me strength.
As i was packing up all my things today. (worst thing ever.) I was taking down all my quotes and pictures from my wall above my desk. I stopped and read a quote my mom sent me from my first transfer. “In the middle of difficulty lies oportunity.” I love this. Because this is definetly one of the hardest weeks ive had. But, I know here lies oportunity.
2 corinthians 4:17-18
For our light affliction, which is but a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal: But the things which are not seen are eternal.
As i sat in one of my MRIs i was thinking, Im here in this situation… i have no idea whats going on or what the doctor is seeing right now. But he has a far better view and knowledge than me. I was stuck in the machine! 
I had to wait hours for him to come talk to me, to tell me what he saw. from his point of view with his knowledge.
I couldnt help but thinking of our loving knowledgable father in Heaven. 

His view is so much better than ours. He can see everything, 

and we may not get the “results” of our trials right when we want them. but they will always come. He has a plan. We just have to trust in it. I know we have trials to strengthen us. for “an eternal weight of glory.” even if we cant see these things right now. these trials that i can physically see right now will leave me with something i cant see, growth and strength. these trials are temporal, lessons learned are eternal.

I can feel our saviors love. He suffered these same things for me. I know he is with me every step of the way. 

philippians 4:13
I can do all things through christ which strengtheneth me.
Who knows, could be that tomorrow everything will be back to normal and i will be coming home in november as originially planned.
But… if thats not Gods plan I know he will help me through it.
Thank you all so much for your prayers. I love you all so much!!!
Ill be keeping you updated! just know im in good spirits

-sister George

I Cant Feel My Toes

Hello everyone! Ill explain while im emailing today and not monday. Its a long story.
Alright so last week was amazing! first of all daniela is the perfect investigator. i feel like we are being punked, and shes really a member and shes just messing with us. her mom had also met with the missionaries 7 years ago before she passed away. im loving teaching daniela!
alright so now ill explain
soooo last saturday i had a really bad sore throat but i didnt think anything of it. we all get sick sometimes. but i woke up with a really high fever. long story short i ended up going to the doctor, he gave me a ton of antibiotics and after a week i was good to go! 100% better!
then sunday. hahahahha sundya was great! daniela and a few other people we have been teaching went to church. yay! after church we started working normal it was sunny but not hot. then i started feeling tingling in my legs. I thought just maybe it was from the heat… but it was a little weird. i didnt say anything then just kept going. then after about 10 minutes of walking my right foot when completley numb. i told my comp i couldnt really walk because it was weird. we called the other sisters to go on exchanges so they could still go to our investigators. but after 15 minutes it started going up to my right arm. the sisters freaked out.. i just wanted to sit down. but they called presidents wife, sister silva. she told them to immediately take me to the hospital. gahhh. i always lose this war! we get to the hostpital.. and by this time i actually started getting really scared. i was starting ot lose the feeling in the right side of my face. i couldnt even lift up my arm to sign a paper. we saw two of the zone leaders from the other zone, they were there too for another reason. which i was like.. yes there are preistood holders here if i aneed a blessing. They took me back but they wouldnt let anyone go back with me. which just made me more nervous because of the portuguese. and i wanted a blessing. i can understand everything and speak.. but i mean..i cant barely understand my own mother in english when she is speaking medical! the first doctor was amazing. really kind and expalined everything to me. she called the brain doctor… i dont know the fancy term for that! and they put me in an emergency MRI. one doctor dropped everything from home just to come do it. i dont even think she was on call….. she was in her house clothes! the nurse was super sassy… we werent friends. hahhaha she was super impatient with me. but all the doctors were great! i later found out why she was so sassy. they let sister rocha come back to be with me finally. sister rocha was like… “just so you know president and sister silva are on the way here!” i was like.. wait what! they were driving 2 hours just to come! and i was like..this isnt even a big deal! i feel fine! i just cant feel my face hahah. i was super embarrased! everyone was freaking out! and the nurses up front got burned by sister rocha because sister rocha was fighting to let her go back to be with me. so thats why the nurse was sassy with me. but really they were walking all over us because we are just a bunch of young people with out “responsible adults”. and president felt like he needed to go there now. so they did. which ended up being a blessing. my mri and blood tests came back fine… so they ruled out a stroke. but it still wasnt expaining anything. the third doctor was really great. he understood my situation.. being away from family in another country. he was super patient with me and explained everything. tender mercy- a bishop from another stake was visitng his dad in the ER and was able to come give me a blessing. i felt so much better after. thye werent letting the elders come back. so god sent someone else. sister silva and president showed up. sister silva is the sassiest thing i have ever seen! she was soooo angry with the nurses for the way they were treating us. hahahahhahaha she stayed back with me for hours as we waited for more results. she kept me busy by telling me so many stories. SO many stories… you have no idea. hahahah i now know everything about her entire family even up until their dog. hahahahah shes super great. the doctor came back and told me that i will need to be staying so they can do more tests because it was dangerous for me to go home. nooooooo. and this is why it was a blessing that president and sister silva came out of no where! they were already there to organize everything with my health plan. and it was just good to have resposible audlts there. im so grateful president followed the spirit and took the time to drop everything and drive 2 hours just to come see me. 
they set up everything with my room. president asked sister wright to stay the night with me so if i needed to express my feelings or if i got tired i could speak english and if anything happened she could communicate exactly with my family and translate everything. the nurses were soo ogreat. they snuck us food because we were starving.it had been over 12 hours since we had eaten lunch! hahahah. another tender mercy. i showered and went to bed. another TM (tender mercy. i had lots this week.) The bed was sooo comfy!!!!! i wanted to take it home with me! hahahahahah i slept so good. then i woke up to GOOD MORNING! and a bright light in my face.. and then.. SAM?! hahahahhahah i was like what the heck! but it wasnt sam.. just his identical nurse brazilian twin coming to stab me with yet another needle to take more blood at 4:30 in the morning! (after this week i never want to see another needle in my life) i fell back asleep. i woke upat 9 with the worst head ache i have ever had in my entire life. then a nurse came in telling me i couldnt eat because of some exames i had to do. i knew it was because i was dehydrated, hungry, and all the blood i had lost. and now i couldnt eat. it as the longest 4 hours of my life. then they came in and were like.. they changed the exame now you can eat! you have got to be kidding me. hahahah but another TM fo the week. The food was soooo delicious! and im not being sarcastic! you never would have guessed it to be hosptial food! AND they had an apple! for those of you who know me.. i eat like 3 appels every day. i was so excited. sister wright was like.. wow its like they know you personally hahaha. i had to do sooo many exames. i sat in another mri for an hour. and slept through most of it. when the nurse brought me back to my room i was feeling pretty down. i was nervous that i wasnt gettign better. and i wanted nothing more than just talk to my mom. i ddint want to sit in the hostpital room anymore! i got to the room.. and sister v messias and sister rocha arrived to come spend some time with me.. it was pday afterall! sister rocha was like.. george stop being sad! she knows me too well. hahahha i was like.. im good i just want to shower. (and cry by myself.) hahahah she was acting super weird and wouldnt give me my shampoo. i was like sister rocha stop being weird i want to shower! she was like.. no ill give it to you once your in the bathroom. which makes no sense at all. but i gave up and went into the bathroom. i opened the door and there is SISTER F!!!!!! I hugged her and just cried! such a great surprise! sister rocha felt like she needed to find sister f. and thats exactly what she did! sister f doesnt even work in the area of the hosptial! but when sister rocha got off the bus she felt like sister f was in central. which is insane.. we arent aloud to leave our areas with out permission from president! she prayed to know where to go. they looked at the internet cafe to see if they were eamiling family.. they werent. she felt like she needed to keep looking. they passed an icecream shop and found all 4 sisters from the other zone they were out of their area for pday and recieved permisison from president! what are the chances!!! she told sister ferreira everything and they came to suprise me. sister rocha knew i needed to talk to her. and its every crazier because i had a dream the night before i got to talk to sister f! i even told sister wright! so when they came in sister wright was like.. you guys she dreamed about this last night shes gonna freak out!!! andi did. it was SUCH a blessing. i lvoe that girl. and i felt like i could just tell her everything. thye hung out with us all day before i had to go to other exames. heavenly father blessed me so much this week.
i had to go to a nerve doctor.. again sorry for my lack of knowledgable terms!

he was so great! a total hippie granola! hahaha we talked a ton about europe and traveling. he was so cool. and he loved learning about utah! ( i did so many contacts with doctors this week. hahahahah) he had to stab needles in my muscles and i had to flex.THINK OF THE MOST PAINFUL THING EVER!!!!! ahhH!!!! and he shocked me a ton. i never ever ever ever ever want to relive those 45 minutes but he said everything looked good! which was good news just annoying that we still had no answers. him and my other cool doctor called me the teen that cant feel anything. hahahhaha they are super funny. im so grateful for them. another thing im so grateful for.. i painted my toes super cute 4 days ago. which was a miracle because he also had to take off my socks and stab my foot with needles. YAY NAIL POLISH! im so glad.. because my feet are normally destoryed…. taht would have been super embarrasing.

sister f got to come see me again and go on exchanges so sister wright could leave to eat and talk with my family…. she was like.. are you aloud to eat junk food? she brougth me all of my favorite brazlian treats and 3 apples! hahahahah im so grateful for her in my life.
After many exames and tests they cleared me SAFE! i have a brain…. its actually pretty big ifi do say so myself…. they came to the conclusion that it was from the throat virus i had and it attacked my nerve system. but now my arm is almost completly back to normal. my face is still a little funny but its sooo much better than sunday. i still get a little tingles in my arm and legs but other than that nothing! So im good!:) Im so grateful that im okay, and for all the people that helped me. im grateful for comfy hostpial beds, nail polish, good food, missionaries, preisthood blessings, prayers, technology, good hospitals(joinville is known for their good hospitals, its a blessing im here and not in another area!) tithing that pays for my mission plan, and for our heavenly father. I was so scared but everythingis good now! 
and to top of the week….. DANIELA IS GETTING BAPTISED ON THE 17TH next month!!!!!!!!!

the sisters called me monday night to tell me. eeeeekkk! im so so happy!
BUT im a survivor!;)
Love you all so much. thank you for all your prayers. i really felt them this week.
I cant feel my toes!!!……..

i dont have any toes!!!

i need a hug.

-Donkey from shrek

Tchau sister ferreira 8(

This Week was a blur!

We got transfer calls thursday!!! sister fs first transfer call.. .and she has 7 months on the mission! 5 transfers together FLEW by. the other sisters came bursting throught the front door and sister rocha starts yelling… PRESIDENT CALLED SISTER POMPONIO IS GOING TO BALNIEARIO (which is the prettiest city ever.) she was like.. HES CALLING YOU GUYS NOW!! and sure enough the phone started ringing. sister f grabbed the phone and started running aorund like a crazy person and just started cyring hahahhahahahahah we were like ANSWER THE PHONE WOMAN! so hilarious.

shes going to stay in joinville but a different zone! so she will be doing a white wash… and wait for it.. TRAINING!! ahh! she will be getting a new missionary! im so so excitedfor her. but i am so so so sad we wont be comps anymore. i LOVED serving with her. i never imagined staying with one comp for 5 transfers would be fun… but it was a blast. i lvoe her. shes such an amazing missionary and person. i am going to miss her. but i cant be selfish and hog sister f! shes going to bless so many more lifes! im so grateful for my mission and all the friendships i have made.. i have truly been blessed with only the best companions and room mates. OH how i love the mission.

I honestly cant remember this week! its been emotional!

BUT funny story

Half of our areas water shut down…. hundreds of houses with no water! for almost 2 days. but they have emergency water.. but then that ran out too…. businesses even had to shut down for a few days… my goodness. you dont realize how water is a blessing until you dont have it!!! dishes piled up..you cant cook. or shower… or even brush your teeth! so i took some soap to the church… the churhc was the half of thecity that still had water.. and i took a half bath in a sink. hahahahhahaha and then sister f and i filled up huge buckets of water. and.. just for you to understand how weak sister ferreira is.. she thinks im hulk. hahahhahahahah so just imagine we had 5 minutes to make it home by curfew and huge buckets of heavy water walking down dirt filled streets in skirts. SO EMBARRASING. but so hilarious. she splashed water all over her sefl on accident. and it was soooo cold! just imagine this scene.. we were dying laughing. only on the mission these things happen. we had to stop every 30 seconds. but we made it home.. and on time. holla! and then after our treacherous journey we opened the door and the sisters looked at us.. and were like.. oh yeah we forget to tell you.. .the water came back on.

i took a bath in a sink for nothing.

also.. another sister f moment.. .she biffed it down the stairs on sunday at church. ive never seen anyone get up so fast. once i saw she was okay we just burst out laughing. shes super smooth…you have no idea. hahahahha OH i am going to miss her!

also… today we woke up at 4 am to get my new comp… it was freezing! her bus showed up but she didnt! we called or ZL…. he was like.. oops! she comes in tomorrow not today. our luck this week… my goodness. hahahahahah

anywho! im excited to tell you all about my first week with a new comp! should be interesting! ive had the same comp for 7 months!

lots of love!

-sister George

1 we taught neide how to make cookies! brazilians LOVE chocolate chip cookies

What a Licey sunday

his week was insanely fast.. as always.. but this one FLEW by! transfer calls are this week… who knows if anything will happen… lets see if sister ferreira and I stay together 6 transfers! all i know is i dont want to be transfered! i love this area!!

Im now teaching taylor swift.. so thats pretty cool! hahahaha shes 19 her name is hellen but she looks like she could be taylor swifts sister.

one day when we were leaving to go do contacts we passed monicas house.. we havent been able to teach her. she was sitting outside and told us she doesnt want to continue meeting with us. UGH!:( she said her life is just super busy. she wants to meet with us one day.. but i guess todays not taht day. and then we went and visited gisele the same day.. its been about a month shes never home. she also told us she wont be meeting with us anymore because sehs too scared to change religions. MY HEART BROKE. gisele knows the book of mormon is true and loves temples. we first met with her in april and ahve had so many amazing experiences with her. its the worst feeling ever knowing they know its true and wont change. we walked away with heavy shoulders.. literally and figuratively… because they both gave us back their copies of the book of mormon.. which arent light. and im not gonna lie we cried a little too! Im hopeful one day their paths will cross with future missionaries…

We got to go to festa julina! president let us go because there were a ton of investigators! there were more vistitors than members!

I dont really know why they celebrate this… i dont know the history behind it. but its a party brasilians have in july and everyone dresses up like farmers and they have a ton of food and carnival games! They had sweet corn….. pop corn… sweet rice.. pinhão which is this nut thing that is sooo good! they boil them with salt! and cotton candy! jsut that the cotton candy was with regular non flavored sugar…. but I beat the entire ward at musical chairs.. not trying to brag or anything..buuuut it was pretty sweet. and so much fun!

Sunday was a disaster!!!! i wont use names… but a lady we used to teach came. which was super great. we were really excited! then during relief society she just got up and left and was like.. ill come back soon! i thougth she was just going to the bathroom… but she never came back! and after sunday school her two little girsl were like.. wheres my mom?!?! she straight up bailed and left her kids there in primary! and the worst part.. her kids are awful! so we sat them with members during sacarment to watch them. and we tried calling her and calling.  they were so loud the whole time. those poor members. she didnt answer. she came back 15 minutes before the meeting ended reeking with alcohol. then she grabbed one of her daughters.. sprawled her out on the floor and started picking out lice from her head! In the middle of sacarament!!!!!  like two wild monkeys!!! sister ferreira was like.. do you wnat to pick her up? she did.. but continued picking out lice!!! and my goodness… everytime she parted that little girsl hair… swarms of bugs!! and she was flicking them all over the place! and when the other one started crying she just started yelling saying she wanted to learn about god! it was a DISASTER. all the members kept lookikng back.. alot got up to help. but then there was a group of teenages crying they were laughing so hard…. oooo just wait. they are laughing now but here in a few years they will be out in the mission field.. and karma is a real thing. hahahahhaha. we were counting the minutes for the meeting to end. finally sister f grabbed one of the little girls and put her on her lap! and locked her there with her hands. the other sisters were like.. thats breaking a rule! and sister f just shot them a look like… all rules are out the window right now hahahahahha ti was hilarious! after she left a member came up to us asking if we were okay and sister f just burst out crying! hahahahahhahahahahah in the momnet it was so bad but now its hilarious. i never thought i would witness such an insane meeting. then at night when we were saying our prayers together sister f was like… we are grateful for sacarment meeting we had today… then she paused and i just burst out laughing in the middle of the prayer! ahhahahahahha i will never forget that lady picking the lice out of her daughters hair. and flicking it all over the place…. “dont worry hers doesnt spread!” yeah right. hahahahha

i guess we will find out soon right?

yeah but that was my hectic week! Much love!

i thought i should send some pictures of our area.. things that are normal to me now that are super weird for you all! bananas on the side of the road.

and these are the invites to festa julina! we were SO excited president let us go!!!

S’more Of What?

This week was so great! The weather was perfect! sunny and not blazzing hot. i like that!
Tuesday was Sister F´s Birthday. I woke up and made a classic american breakfast.. hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, pancakes. the sisters loved it! brazilians think we eat this kind of breakfast everyday! they had never eaten bacon plain and hashbrowns. The smell Reminded me of saturday mornings at Omi´s house! (obviously my cooking is no where as good as hers.. but for being in brazil.. it was pretty good.)

We are probably going to have to move josues baptism date. which is sad but good. just for him to have some time to prepare and stop smoking. We had a lesson with him.. and he started talking about how he wants us all to fast together to help him to stop smoking. it was so cool.. especially because this time it was his idea! we lost track of time i looked down at my watch and i was like.. no way.. it was 5 to 9. we prayed and then booked it home. hahahahahha bishop was laughing at us. we looked ridiclous… yet again… 2 girls in skirts booking it home just to make it by curfew. but we made it! my tights were to my ankles by the time we got home. hahahahhahahahahahhahaha cold weather probs

to top of our day and sister fs birthday i made them smores! my mom sent me marshmellows and grahm crackers.. two things they dont have here! They LOVED them! we made a mess! they keep asking me to make more…. too bad we dont ahve a fire. i actually have a story about that.. but its one of those after the mission stories. hahahahah but mircrowaves work good too 🙂

One day we walked home to get more water.. which we never do. we passed the same house we pass everyday that is on the property of our apartment building. as we passed i was like.. “hey do you think the elders already knocked here?” sister f- “im sure they have!” me-“yeah.. lets knock agian?” sister f- “yeah why not!” so we did. normally houses by our apartment and the road of the church have been over knocked… to the point people see us out of their window and hide! hahahah but we knocked this house (taht we can literally see out of our bedroom window) and a guy came out. he was like… “ahhh i was sleeping”. great way to start off right? hahaha. he was nice.. but wasnt interested. then he was like.. “ya know but i think my wife might be interested.. she likes this kind of stuff. she works across the street at the car shop her names monica.” so obviously we went! we walked into the noisy car shop… asked for monica.. found her.. and she didnt seem to thrilled. but she was like.. hold on i cant hear anything! we walked out side with her. she just looked down at the invite and was like.. mormons?! her attitude changed. she was like.. “ya know.. i was taught 20 years ago by two elders…. and ive lived in this house now for months.. and everyday i have watched elders pass by and recently you guys.. .and ive always wanted to talk to them but i was too embarrased. so i just prayed they would find me. then you guys came.. and girls are alot easier to talk too… and one day when you guys passed by i almost built up the courage to talk to you but didnt. i just hoped you would tlak to me!” If you could just imagine our faces at this point. I have always heard stories like this! it felt like a dream!!! it was so great talking to her. she invited us back the next day. we taught her. invited her to be baptised. and she accepted. I am SO grateful that our heavenly father is leading us to where we need to go. It was such a miracle. i am so excited to keep working with her!

I dont know if you remember how i said we knocked doors sunday night in the rain last week? well one of the ladies that we talked to invited us back.. and we went. her name is josie and she is a ball of sunshine! the first night we talked to her she didnt leave her house but was like.. come to the window! she looked at me and said.. whoa i know you! but we had never met. she asked us to come back. she is so great! fire red hair and green eyes and im guessing about 5.3 shes 71 and looks 48! she took us to show us her back yard. it was AMAZING. it is this cute little garden full of life! she was like.. watch this… she put some water in the bird feeder and imediatley a hummindbird flew over. she was like.. this one knows me! and he sure did! he sat right on her thumb and drank the sugar water our of her hand! i have never seen anything like it. like they were best friends! there were about 30 other humming birds.. ive never seen so many in one place. and tons of other kinds of birds… bright yellows and neon blue and green. it looked like a scence out of a movie! we taught her the restoration and the plan of salvation this week. and shes reading the book of mormon. we are being blessed with such amazing people to teach! she is loving it. shes one of the happiest people i have ever met. the type of person you want to spend more time with. she loved the plan of salvation. it was so spiritual. she was like.. so many questions ive had for 71 years are now being answered. then she asked if its because we knew eachother before this life and thats why i looked familiar to her. ah. shes the greatest. this week was amazing. and to top it off she made a blonde joke.. and it was towards sister ferreira hahahahhahaha shes sassy too!

Another miracle! so a member in our ward has a daughter who has been less active for years. we ran into her husband about a month ago at a bakery. he told us they have been inactive for years.. but invited us to go visit them. but they are super busy. all the time! but we finally got to visist them this week. their story is incredible. her first interaction with the church was two elders knocked on her door.. she invited them back.. when they went back.. she hid and didnt answer the door. (story of my life. haha) 7 years later she was visitng her mom.. he mom told her she has been visitng a new church.. she tagged along. got to church.. saw two elders and made the connection. goodness its the same church taht i hid from 7 years ago! she immeditely felt impressed god was giving her a second chance. she and her husband were soon baptised. they stayed strong in the church but not so strong financially. they passed through alot of hard times but always paid tithing. then one day an opportunity to buy a chicken company came up. but meant they would have to work sundays… they prayed. and took the job. because of hours they had to go to a different ward that met at 1 pm to still work. and continued paying tithing…they were abundantley blessed! exhausted but doing their part. i wont tell everything. but they had some issues with some leaders.. and stopped going to church and stopped paying tithing. she told us. everything stopped. work got awful.. she said it was like all the blessing were taken away in a snap! they still worked and stayed inactive for 4 years. but they still made their kids go to church… they had never lost their testimonies. then a few months ago their little 6 year old daughter came home upset from church. “mom, when are you going to go back to churhc? everyone keeps asking who my mom is.” she knew she needed to go back and that she wasnt doing her part. they prayed for a miracle and a way to sell the company. a few weeks later a huge and unexpectable over came up for a new company that didnt work sundays. they accepted and sold the chicken company. and sunday… they went to church!!!! ahh. it was the coolest thing ever. their three kids had the biggest smiles on their faces. those kids are the best missionaries i know!

This week was so amazing. we saw so many miracles! im so grateful for all the people i am meeting and the experiences im seeing. I know that everything happens for a reason and that God loves us and has an individual plan for everyone of us!

thanks for all being so great!:) love you bunches!
-sister George
1. What would life be without giraffe cardigans? when i went to buy this the lady working there was talking to me about my accent and where im from. as we talked i saw this and i was like.. “i love giraffes!” she was like.. “Yeah they have alot there where you are from right?!” hahahahahahhahahahha peoples ideas of the states crack me up. but i never thought iwould hear this one! giraffes roaming the streets hahahahahahaha.

2. the night we had to book it home sister f lost her name tag.. we found it the next day in the mud!S