#25 - Doing Spectacular

Family! Hello you wonderful people! :)

How are you all? It is so good to hear from you! I got your card and letters!!! :) Nossa Senhora! I can't tell you how happy I was to see a letter with my name written on it in my mom's handwriting along with a letter from those Grandmanns and my good pal, Elder Chris Patty. Thank you for the letters! I love to hear how everyone is doing. :)

Bahahaha! Dad! The picture of your homecoming! BAHAHAHA! I will never get over it... :) Luker! You went to homecoming?! What?! Whoohoo! So glad your hair looked better than Dad's.... heh... Love you, Dad... :) Hope it rocked and that the skookies were delicious. I love you tons, Kiddo! :)

I am doing spectacular in Brazil the Beautiful! I am so so so grateful for Sister Saneski! She is so patient with me and I just love her. The other day I was apologizing for not  understanding her and she stopped me mid-sentence and said, "Sister Mann. Stop. I don't want to hear sorries anymore. You are JUST learning an entirely different language  You are not doing anything bad by not understanding." I think that was good for me to hear. She is so sweet. I just love her! And she HILARIOUS.  When I first met her, I thought she was going to be very serious. Wrong-o! We have a grand ol' time together. :) 

(Side note: There is some sort of concert going on about a block away and it is SO loud that the ground is shaking right now. These people love their music loud! And I have learned to sleep through anything whilst living here. Booyeah!)

Great news! Sister Saneski and I got two new sisters in our house! Sister Enrique who is from Argentina e Sister Soares Dos Santos who is from Brazil.  They are little angels, I tell ya! Sis. Enrique is currently training Sis. Soares. It's odd to not be the newbie in the house anymore. Ha ha :)  AND we have a tri-lingual house! How cool is that? :)

WARNING: PORTUGUESE UPDATE AHEAD

I feel like my Portuguese has really been coming along these last two weeks! I just made goals to try and speak EVERY time we are in a lesson or in a conversation and it has proved to be very helpful. :) It feels so so so so so so good when I actually understand and actually convey a thought. Little successes! :) I would not consider it the "walls are caving in" feeling like Micail described, but I feel like I punched a pretty good hole in the wall and am at least able to breathe a little bit and feel the sunshine coming through.

Ha ha! Actually, the other day we were on the bus going to district meeting and it was almost completely full. My companion sat up front and I ended up more towards the back. I was sitting next to this guy and really felt like I should talk to him, but was afraid to talk without the help of my companion  I noticed he was reading some sort of religious book and I bucked up and decided to ask him about it. Turns out he was Catholic priest  Ha ha! Much to my surprise... :) We had a good discussion about the Godhead and I invited him to church. He declined, but said it was very nice to talk to me. But I did it! Whoohoo! I am talking gospel with Católico Padres! :)

In other adventures, we had a wedding in our ward! They had SO much food, nossa... It was a blast! That's it; I am boycotting the traditional Utah wedding when my turn comes because the hispanic and brasileiro weddings that I have attended are just too much fun. Ha ha! :)  

We met a friend of the bride there named, M. She is my age and is just the best. She is so beautiful! We talked to her a bit and she invited us to her home to learn more. We stopped by this week and starting teaching her the restoration. It was going well and the spirit was really strong, when in stumbled her mom, drunker than any drunk person I have ever seen. Really. Really. Drunk. She was tripping all over and yelling crazy things at us. I had NO clue what to do.  Eventually M just had to take her out of there. As I watched her struggle to calm her mom down, my heart just broke for M. When things were settled down again, I bore testimony that the gospel blesses families and promised her if she was faithful, the gospel would change her life, and the lives of her family forever. It came out of nowhere! The words just flew right out of my mouth. This is truly the work of God. :)

Yesterday we were standing outside before church and I looked over to see M and her little brother and little sister coming down the road to the church building. I can't even tell you how happy that sight made me. There is no greater work than helping others come unto Christ. My heart is full to the brim with love. :)

Family, I sure love you. I am so glad I get to help other families be happy like us. Almost all I know, I learned from you! Families are the best. :) We grow together and learn together and stick together in families. The church really does bless families and bring them together. I am so grateful I have you! :)

Lovelovelovelovelovelove,

Sister Mann