becoming jungle woman and a year mark
dear family and friends.
i thought i would let you know what is currently happening as i am typing this email to let you get a feel for where i am. there is currently a HUGE cockroach climbing up the wall right next to my computer. And when I say huge I mean HUGE. like size of my palm no joke.
Which brings me to becoming jungle woman. I should say right up and front that the pictures that have been sent home are when we are looking somewhat decent and arent doing a whole lot of walking for the day. Its the days where hair has been washed the night before and we felt like putting on mascara. NOT to freak anyone out or anything, but this is not a regular occurance. the hair washing or the make up using. Hair is washed every few days and make up gets taken out only on sundays and when we are taking pictures. You have been decieved. Until now. For some reason I feel like telling you what really goes on for a sister missionary...
that is to say, the sister missionaries that are americans here in the mission. There are six of us total out of the 21 sisters in this mission and I feel like I can say for all six of us this is what goes down. Dont get me wrong, the brasillian sisters straighten their hair every day but for us, its up in a bun. And the bun is messy and sweaty by mid day. And it is HOT here. like we are melting slowly and Im not even in the north of Brasil...which just goes to show you heavenly father knew what i could and could not handle.
We have a lot of bugs. In fact if I am being honest I will just say that this 18 months of my life is 18 months of camping. There are MILLIONS of ants that live in our house and crawl all over all our things. This morning I found a nice infestation of them in my clothes. They are EVERYWHERE. And it has gotten so bad I have no problem using my fingers to kill them. Same with mosquitos. I am getting very good at clapping them dead. But I have yet to kill a roach....although I am getting close....the roach on the wall is getting a little too close to the screen...
Oh a side story about roaches-they like our house. We dont like them. on our way home the other day one ran into my chacos and I literally felt it get smashed into my arch. (you are welcome for that picture) and this is becoming a rant about bugs. So anyways....
We walk a lot and by the time we get to lunch I am literally dripping, which is always really cute you know-hug the sister hello sopping wet. And it just goes down hill from there. We eat lunch, then run to the favela or an appointment or down to the other side of the area and by the time we are walking home around 9 at night, our feet are caked in mud and other unmentionable things. I think every few days something happens where a roach runs across our desk or we decide on going for fourth day hair and we look at each other and realize what we are becoming-jungle woman. oi.
i thought i would let you know what is currently happening as i am typing this email to let you get a feel for where i am. there is currently a HUGE cockroach climbing up the wall right next to my computer. And when I say huge I mean HUGE. like size of my palm no joke.
Which brings me to becoming jungle woman. I should say right up and front that the pictures that have been sent home are when we are looking somewhat decent and arent doing a whole lot of walking for the day. Its the days where hair has been washed the night before and we felt like putting on mascara. NOT to freak anyone out or anything, but this is not a regular occurance. the hair washing or the make up using. Hair is washed every few days and make up gets taken out only on sundays and when we are taking pictures. You have been decieved. Until now. For some reason I feel like telling you what really goes on for a sister missionary...
that is to say, the sister missionaries that are americans here in the mission. There are six of us total out of the 21 sisters in this mission and I feel like I can say for all six of us this is what goes down. Dont get me wrong, the brasillian sisters straighten their hair every day but for us, its up in a bun. And the bun is messy and sweaty by mid day. And it is HOT here. like we are melting slowly and Im not even in the north of Brasil...which just goes to show you heavenly father knew what i could and could not handle.
We have a lot of bugs. In fact if I am being honest I will just say that this 18 months of my life is 18 months of camping. There are MILLIONS of ants that live in our house and crawl all over all our things. This morning I found a nice infestation of them in my clothes. They are EVERYWHERE. And it has gotten so bad I have no problem using my fingers to kill them. Same with mosquitos. I am getting very good at clapping them dead. But I have yet to kill a roach....although I am getting close....the roach on the wall is getting a little too close to the screen...
Oh a side story about roaches-they like our house. We dont like them. on our way home the other day one ran into my chacos and I literally felt it get smashed into my arch. (you are welcome for that picture) and this is becoming a rant about bugs. So anyways....
We walk a lot and by the time we get to lunch I am literally dripping, which is always really cute you know-hug the sister hello sopping wet. And it just goes down hill from there. We eat lunch, then run to the favela or an appointment or down to the other side of the area and by the time we are walking home around 9 at night, our feet are caked in mud and other unmentionable things. I think every few days something happens where a roach runs across our desk or we decide on going for fourth day hair and we look at each other and realize what we are becoming-jungle woman. oi.
 |
| the average sized roach |
 |
| mud caked feet! |
On a completely different note-tomorrow, september 18th marks the day
I decided to go on a mission. I was sitting in church and I remember reading my
patriarichal blessing and feeling just this overwhelming feeling of GO ON A
MISSION. And it was definitely a light switch moment, and i knew in that moment
in a classroom in the romney building in rexburg, idaho that i was suppose to
go on a mission. And I couldnt deny it any longer. Its quite strange to realize
its been a year and I am now living in Brasil, speaking Portuguese (kind of)
and killing ants with my fingers. So much happens in a year.
And last but not least, an inspiring story for your week-Manuel is probably like 60. I have talked about him before, his wife is Daisy and his son is Tiago. Manuel is a recent convert and THAT is an inspiring story as well-he had been a drunk his WHOLE life, since he was about 17, he cant remember a moment of NOT being drunk after that age. One day the sisters invited him to be baptized and he gave up drinking that day and was baptiized that sunday. And he has yet to drink again. Because of all the drinking and the age and all that, he has a very bad knee and two weeks ago he got surgurey and they twisted and tweaked a few things. Now the knee and ankle are in place but for the next five weeks he has these HUGE nails digging into his skin to keep the bone in place. There are tons and tons of nails all over his leg and then this huge metal bar holding the nails all in place as well. Sorry I cant be more descriptive then that, just realize it makes you queezy when you look at it. Well anyways, he has strict orders to stay in bed and not get up for anything. But guess who has been at church the past two sundays? Manuel. The man is determined to stay active. And thats not the most incredible part-manuel lives at the bottom of 26 steep stairs. I counted them the last time we went over to see him and as I was climbing back up I realized he climbs them himself to get to church on sundays. He climbs all the way up and then crosses the cobblestone road on cruches and gets a ride from some of the members in the ward. If Manuel can climb 26 stairs with nails in his leg and orders from the doctor not to go anywhere, i dont think there is any excuse for anyone to ever miss church. I asked him about it Sunday, why he came to church when he knew he wasnt suppose to. He looked me square in the eyes and was all "i have to go to church if i want to be blessed!"
Oh if we were all like Manuel.
Pictures!
 |
 |
This is Hoversio. He is my favorite crazy old man. Sundays are spent playing the recordion and singing with him. Not all sunday. Just a solid few moments. hahaa
 |
1. wear belo horizonte pants (i am not kidding that is what the women wear here. in public)
2. put on your doo-rag. (panty hose cut up...women wear them for cleaning and making food)
3. fill up a TON of water in a big pot
4. dump it all over the floor
5. move it around until it looks clean.
6. youre done!!
|
Love, sister mad
No comments:
Post a Comment