I'm Staying in Jundiai!

Familia,

 

I have a lot to say in this email. First off, i´m staying in Jundiai and my companion is the one being transferred. I´m going to Campinas tomorrow to pick up my new trainer! I´m way excited! :) I really like my ward and all of  the members. I´m really blessed with the people that I work with. This transfer was probably one of the hardest ones I’ve had. I´m glad that it´s finally over ha ha. I´m excited to start off with a new transfer and a new companion!

 

So my investigator Brandao is getting baptized this coming Sunday! Along with his wife Silvia and his son Joao Pedro! Brandao and Silvia got married on Saturday and I was there to see the wedding. Silvia looked so beautiful! :) We had a baptism yesterday and his name is Otavio. He´s 14 and has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time. 

 

I can´t really think of anything that I want in my package. How about you surprise me! :) I bought those brown boots in Brazil. There´s a cute store in Guanabara that´s called The Pink Store. They sell shoes, jewelry, purses. It´s a really cool store. I have gotten to know the owner of the store. Her name is Gabi. 

 

That´s crazy that Emily has been in the mtc for almost a full week! The first week is the hardest because you are tired and exhausted all the time. But it only gets better! Thanks for sending me the pictures! I haven´t received a letter from you yet. But i´m looking forward to getting one!

 

I´m glad that everyone is doing well. I hope you have a great week! Please pray for me that this coming transfer will be better than the other one. I´ve been so stressed and frustrated lately that it´s been hard to be positive. Anyways, I love you and can´t wait to hear from you soon!

There is one thing that I’ve learned about this transfer. It is that I can relate to having a comp as a spouse. There´s a lot of marriage counsel while you are on a mission. I´m so glad that I have the opportunity to learn about how to communicate with others and meet with different people to know what I want in my future husband. Serving a mission is the best! :)

 

 

Com Amor, Sister Whitnah

Emails from August 12th and August 19th, 2013

Familia!

 

Yesterday was Fathers Day in Brasil! My ward put on a huge Fathers Day lunch. There was so much food that I wished that I took a picture of it. Today was fun but tiring. I hung out with my district and we made tacos! They were really good! Oh, I found a Brasil jersey for 20 dollars! :)

 

So this week we had interviews with President Perrotti. He said that I will probably get transferred because of the situation with my companion. He speaks a little bit of English, which is really good! He´s a really nice guy and I can tell he loves being around all of the missionaries. He´s super cool!

 

I talked to Sister Ware on the phone this week and it made my day! She told me that Sister Loefke has her visa but is waiting for Salt Lake to approve her health info before she comes to Brazil. I´m hoping that she’ll be here this coming transfer! I miss her a lot.

 

Everything is going well for me. I’ve been super tired lately. I have some pictures from our p-day! I´m excited to send them! As far as the work goes...it´s been kinda tough this week. I invited our investigator Juciara to be baptized and she´s having some commitment issues. It´s also hard trying to find new investigators. But I know Heavenly Father will guide me to someone that we need to teach.

 

Well i´m excited to hear about your trip!

 

 

 

Familia!

 

This week was pretty good. I have a funny story to tell you. Sister Colombre and I went on exchanges on Friday. We were at an investigator´s house and the investigator offered me some cookies. They had coconut in them. In Portuguese there´s a difference between coco and coço. The first one means coconut and the other means poop. When you say it, it sounds the same. So I accidentally said the cookies tasted like poop. Everyone burst out laughing! I wanted to say they tasted like coconut but that didn´t happen. I was so embarrassed. ha ha.   

 

It´s crazy to think that Emily and Matthew are in the MTC now. I still miss the MTC a little bit. I had a lot of great memories there. This week I watched the Emma Smith movie. It´s about her life story with Joseph Smith. It´s really good! Can you find out if there´s a CD from the movie? The music is so pretty. There´s a quote by Emma Smith that I really like. It´s referring to her trials. ``Strength isn´t something that you just have, it´s something that you have to find.`` I think that is true. You find your strength through your trials and Heavenly Father helps you find that strength. I have noticed that this transfer has been a huge faith builder and strength finder. I know that it can only get better.

 

I find out this Sunday if I’m  getting transferred. President likes to make it a surprise for all of the missionaries. If I do get transferred, I go to the mission office and I meet my new companion and find out where i´m going. I´m excited to find out where I’ll be going. 

 

Remember how Robbie gave me that long letter that was addressed to that missionary. I finally got a chance to read all of it. All I can say is wow. That was a powerful letter. I read it to Sister Martins and she wants a copy of it. She loves how I’m helping her learn English. So far I don´t like my bangs.( I wish I hadn’t had them cut) I don´t have the time and patience to make them look nice everyday. I’ve  decided to let them grow out. 

 

One exciting thing is happening this week! On Sunday we are having a baptism! :) We have been teaching this guy named Brandao and his family. Brandao is really crazy...literally. He told us that he wants to be baptized in the pond across his house. We told him that he would have to be baptized in the baptismal font. Other than that, he´s pretty awesome.

 

I do have some pictures for this week. I feel like i´m doing better with the language! I can understand a little bit more. Hey I hope you get home safely. I love and miss you. Have a great week! :)

 

Love, Sister Whitnah

 

It's August already, half way through my transfer!

Oi Familia!

 

This week was so much better! I went on exchanges with Sister Martins on Thursday. We found this awesome lady named Josi. We taught her the first lesson (The Restoration). She told us how she felt so much peace when we were in her home. I know the Spirit was so strong during that lesson. We invited her to be baptized and she said...YES! I´m so excited for her! That was the highlight of my week! :)  Oh I did see the pics of Rob and Tessa. They look cute!

 

I need to tell you why I was having a bad week  last week . My companion isn´t following mission rules. She hasn´t been telling me what we are doing for the day and never lets me know who calls us and listen to conversations with the district leader. She´s breaking a lot of rules. I told President about it in my letter last week and this week. He´s taking care of it.

I feel like that´s why i´m not having success. I´m trying to be obedient and listen to the Spirit. My comp is very lazy and just hard to work with. I just thought that I would let you know. She has a huge crush on our district leader because he´s an American. There´s just so much crap that´s going on that it makes me so mad.

 

I didn´t get a chance to buy a soccer jersey. There´s not a lot of Brazil shirts here, so I might wait until the World Cup. Oh, I met an Elder Anthony on Tuesday. He said that you and his mom have been talking on the missionary mom website. He seems so cool! :)

 

So about this week. 2 investigators dropped us, one of them was Joanlison and the other was Luico. It´s really sad. But we still have 4 investigators! I bought a blank cd so that I could put some music that I got from Sister Halbison! I can´t wait to listen to it! :) I´ve been waiting all week to do it! I can´t believe it´s already August. Time flies by so fast!

 

Oh the girl that added me on Face book, she´s the bishop´s daughter! She is so sweet and nice! I might have a couple more people add me on Face book. You have my permission to accept them! :) Transfers are in 2 and a half weeks! I hope that I stay in Jundiai. It´s a great area!

 

I hope you have a great trip in NYC! I love you and talk to you soon!

 

Love, Sister Whitnah

 

 

Included are some pictures from this past week.  Service with the Sisters in the area and a chance to sit on a members bike.  Robbie would LOVE this!  :)  Sister Whitnah