Monday, December 28, 2015

CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS

YOU GUYZ

CHRISTMAS HAPPENED

AND IT WAS AMAZING

FAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Ok BUT REALLY THOUGH Christmas rocked so hard this year. Its like even better on the mission because even though we arent with the fam we are right in the Christmas spirit being Christmas-y and doing Christmas things and talking about Christ all day and it rocks. PLUS SO MUCH FOOD AND YOU KNOW A SISTER LOVES HER SOME FOOD

Speaking of which, a thousand and one apologies to my family who had to sit on Skype for an hour just to listen to me talk about McDonalds. The whole time. Literally though.

So this week:

   - We dropped a solid 90 euros on McDonalds NOT EVEN A JOKE. AP McGhie said for his Christmas present he was taking all of us (his district and us, since Sis Johnson and I have adopted ourselves into their district) to McDonalds with no limit. YOU DONT HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE. WE HAVE NEVER EVER GONE HARDER. So worth it.
    - We had the most ridiculous, crazy, hilarious, wonderful sleepovers with our dear sisters in Porto 2 that just made Christmas 400 times better. Maybe getting bed bugs WASNT such a bad thing. Speaking of whichhhhhhhhh.... wait for it fam.... THEY JUST FOUND OUT THE HAVE BED BUGS. Oh how the tables have turned. So they moved into our house for the week. NOT EVEN KIDDING. REAL LIFE. I AM ACTUALLY LAUGHING SO HARD ABOUT IT. Cant wait until we pick up bed bugs from them and then move back into their house. The endless circle continues.
   - CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS. We crashed the district of Porto 2´s crepe party in the morning (told you we adopted ourselves into the district), then went to a Porto 2 member´s house and ate SO MUCH FOOD I COULD BARELY EVEN BREATHE but it was all wonderful and delicious, then went to the Ashby´s house for a solid American Christmas dinner, then Skyped our families in the office. THE MOST PERFECT DAY. Seriously so much fun. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!!!
   - We also spent Christmas Eve Christmas caroling our little hearts out and handing out presents (they were copies of the Livro do Mormon but the gente on the street didnt need to know that) and it was unbelievably fun. There is nothing like little old ladies stopping and listening, getting presents from us and saying "god bless you, merry christmas, you are angels". I love what I do yall!!

Alright thats all I got for yall fam. I am happy and healthy and enjoying everyday here on the mission!! Thanks for all the love and support and especially all the Christmas cards!!! OH WAIT I actually STILL havent gotten any of those. Come now fam. Think of the Christmas spirit. 

SERIOUSLY THOUGH I LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND TONS AND TONS. AND I LOVE MY MISSION AND THE GOSPEL AND THE SAVIOR AND JUST EVERYTHING.

FIQUEM BEM TODOS!! xoxoxoxoxxoxoxxo bjssssss Sis P

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Homeless, homeless, like the Christ child was

BUT REALLY THOUGH

Remember last week when I was like "funny story everybody my comp possibly has bed bugs haha bed bug scare part 2"

WELL SHE ACTUALLY HAS BED BUGS. LIKE REALLY REALLY BADLY. And that has turned this whole week into possibly the craziest week OF MY LIFE. We have been sleeping in the other sister house in Porto 2 and just going back and forth, trying to balance cleaning and bleaching down literally everything we own with actually doing missionary work and I honestly am not sure how successful we are being at it which is why this week was crazier than crazy. But obviously still good because Christmas and ENDLESS SLEEPOVERS and other amazing things!!

   - If I had looked at my life a year ago when I was getting ready to serve this mission and said "you will probably spend half of your mission ironing mattresses" the past me would have thought that was crazy. But its not crazy. Its just true. I think if I counted the number of hours I have spent ironing mattresses it would be more than Peter ever fished or Nephi hunted or ANYONE did ANYTHING. If anyone ever asks me to describe my mission in one word I will actually just say iron.

     - But we did other things this week too I promise you guys. Like getting ready for CHRISTMASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. IT IS COMING SO SOON and we are asking anyone and everyone to share a message of Christmas. And everyone is saying no but its fine because we know our message is amazing and we can still spread a little Christmas joy, even if it is caroling to people that dont actually want to hear us carol. WE STILL HAVE ALL THE CHRISTMAS JOY

    - I did mention endless sleepovers and LET ME TELL YOU FAM it has been the most fun in the world juntaring us crazy sisters in Foz and the goofballs in Porto 2 for lots of food friends and fun. Seriously some of the most fun I have had on the mish so far

    - WAIT YOU GUYS. WAIT. One of my BIGGEST NIGHTMARES IN THE WORLD WAS REALIZED THIS WEEK. Ok background first. I think like 2 weeks ago I talked about how AP McGhie was planning some crazy, over-the-top devocional party that Prez was going to and all that jazz? Well that was on Sunday, and McGhie had promised a "madrigal choir of Porto" without realizing that every Portuguese person ever is just the worst at singing, so he couldnt actually ask them. Meaning all that were left to ask were, you guessed it, the missionaries in Porto!!! So we got roped into doing a concert series that we started practicing for like 2 days before the actual event. And one of the songs we sang was O Come O Come Emmanuel, which I love so I was just singing it a little bit before we actually practiced and McGhie was like "OH MY GOSH WHO SANG THAT" and I tried to hide but with no success, and the next thing I know I am standing in front of everyone singing BY MYSELF, A SOLO, ACAPELLA AND IN LATIN. LATIN YOU GUYS. I think I almost peed my pants in front of 200 or more people. IT WAS TERRIFYING.

    - BUT the concert actually turned out way way cool, all the music sounded good and at the end we had everyone join in while we sang the last verse of "Noite Feliz" and it was super powerful and spiritual and amazing. And we ended up having 62 investigators there!! Seriously a Christmas miracle and it was awesome to be a part of it

Thats pretty much all I got. We will be going crazy this week caroling our little hearts out, wearing sweaters, ironing mattresses, making cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, ironing mattresses, spreading Christmas cheer, ironing mattresses, and ironing mattresses. CHRISTMAS IS THE BEST YALL. Thanks for all of your love and support and for everything and HAVE A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS YALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo bjs Sis P
P.S. Nobody actually sent me any of their Christmas cards meaning nobody gets a Christmas card back yet WHICH IS A SHAME because they are actually amazing and the most ghetto cards ever. Your loss, fam, your loss. Correct this mistake as soon as possible by sending your dear cards to the lovely country of Portugal

Monday, December 14, 2015

NUNS KNOW HOW TO PARTY

What up fam!! I HOPE YOU ARE ALL GETTIN STOKED FOR CHRISTMAS AND SHARING THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT AND THE JOY OF THE SEASON AND SHOWING PEOPLE THE NASCEU O SALVADOR VIDEO AND ALL THAT DONT FORGET ITS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR AND ITS BEGINNING TO FEEL A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS AND ALL THAT TA BOM?!?!?!

Ok but really I AM JUST SO CRAZY EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS and clearly I cannot even contain all that excitement. It is especially great on the mission because we get to do Christmas stuff and just think about Christmas and spread Christmas and testify about Christmas 100% of the time and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Feeling pretty hashtag blessed this holiday season fam.

BUT THIS WEEK WAS COMPLETELY CRAZY. Seriously though, a million and a half totally weird things happened in this semana and I only hope I can convey a tiny bit of the weirdness for all:    - First off, THE WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY. Which was the most awkward/weirdest/greatest thing there has ever been. It was supposed to start at 4 but because of some emergency meetings and things it actually started at 7:30........ LITERALLY 3 and a half hours late. So we had to do some rapid video-finding and game-coming-up-with and joke-telling and it turned out to be ONE GIANT STRESS BALL but whaddya know, Portuguese people go crazy for Pictionary and Laffy Taffy jokes and there is nothing, NOTHING better than watching a couple of 4 billion year-old Portuguese women laughing their heads off. So it turned out great in the end and there was a ton of food so thats all that really matters but seriously, the weirdest party ever
   - We went to visit an African family we are teaching on Sunday and JUST SO HAPPENED TO WALK IN ON A GIANT, GIANT AFRICAN BIRTHDAY PARTY. Hahahah there was literally like 40 people there, including a gay couple and AN ACTUAL REAL-LIFE NUN. THE FIRST TIME I HAVE SEEN A NUN ON THIS MISSION. We got invited in long enough to sing Parabéns, eat cake, avoid at least 15 people offering champagne, do toasts, and then realize we are the most awkward people ever to invite to parties. All in a days work
    - Instead of doing praticas at our district meeting we decided to play ultimate spoons for like 45 minutes and we have no regrets
    - Sister Johnson is seriously out of luck fam. She got way sick this week and now possibly has bed bugs. Hahahahaha no but really. Bed bug scare part 2. #pray4Johnson2015
   - We were meeting with one of our menos ativas this week and showing her the social media stuff for #nasceuoSalvador on the church website, she somehow managed to find videos of Vocal Point from there and I think we may have just opened a giant can of worms (not even sure if this is the correct expression but ya know what I mean) so A MILLION APOLOGIES to the boys of VP who are possibly slash probably getting stalked by a 30 year-old Portuguese woman

 I SWEAR THIS WEEK WAS TOTALLY WEIRD BUT I AM COMING UP BLANK ON OTHER THINGS TO SAY. People have also been throwing a lot of shade lately about how my emails are getting more and more lame YEAH I KNOW I KNOW theres just always too many things going on and then I forget them all by Pday and its just the mission life.

But know that I am happy and kickin it out here!! And that I love you all lots and lots!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YALL ARE THE BEST

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo bjs Sis P

P.S. card 4 card project 2015. Send me yo Christmas cards and you get one back!! Ours is WAY cute and WAY WAY WAY low budget (solid advertisement, I know) so dont miss this golden opportunity!!! 


1. Preview of our rockin (I did say it was low-budget) Christmas card. The row of chairs adds a nice touch if you ask me



YOU ALL WANT THIS CARD NOW DONT YOU SUCH A TEMPTATION I KNOW

2. And we are back to a couple of old pictures I stole from Sis Anderson, here is our area back when I was in Porto 1!!!

SOME HALLOWEEN PICTURES FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOURE WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Monday, December 7, 2015

IM DREAMING OF A WETTTTTTTTTTT CHRISTMASSSSSSSSSSSS

Thats right folks, CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!!

AND IT IS RAINING LIKE CRAZY!!!

For real fam, winter freaking CHEGOU. But the rain and gloom and coldness cant stop me from all my CHRISTMAS SPIRIT BECAUSE I AM GOING CRAZY. CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS. I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT CHRISTMAS. Unfortunately the people here arent too into Christmas but I cant stop wont stop and I will force everyone here to love it as much as me, mark my words fam.

We also dont know where we are actually going for Christmas because only like 10 of our members are active and they are all going out of town...................... Whoops. Possibly asking Presidente if I can go back to Gaia for Christmas.... !!! Prayers needed

But ANYWAY this week:
   - THE GROUNDBREAKING FOR THE TEMPLE HAPPENED AND IT ROCKED MY SOCKS OFF AS WELL AS THE SOCKS OF ALL THE GOOD PEOPLE HERE IN THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY OF PORTUGAL!!! Seriously though, it was actually the greatest. THE. GREATEST. The ceremony was super spiritual and powerful and this all means SO MUCH to the members here. Right after we watched it there was an older lady from a different ward that just kept say "agora é só um poucadinho": now its just a little while. They have been waiting so long, so very very long for this, and it is seriously amazing that the time is now for it all to happen!!
   - So surprise of all surprises, my new district is ACTUALLY hilarious and amazing. There is a Brazilian elder in the district who I thought wouldnt be funny because you know, Portuguese and all that, but DONT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER because he turns out to be the goofiest person on the planet. Like we were at a baptism the other day and a greenie was baptizing, so he had to do it like 5 times and all of us were being really awkward and uncomfortable, and I look over and Elder Gomes is just nodding his head, happy as a clam and he goes "awwww yeah, ISSO é um batismo". Also he called to ask us to play the piano at a zone meeting and he was saying the hymn but I couldnt figure out what it was, because you know, Portuguese and all, so I was like "oh elder podes cantar um pouco para que possa saber melhor o hino?" and he goes "ta bem. Mas NAO FALA POR NINGUEM". So so so funny. I am actually STILL laughing about it.
   - Speaking of piano, I may have accidentally mentioned to someone that I sort of play a little piano and guess who is now the ward pianist?!?!?! HahahahahahahaAHAHAHAHAHA yeah. I was roughing it big time yesterday in sacrament meeting when they whipped out some random Portuguese hymn that doesnt exist in english and has 3 flats. I guess I really shouldve practiced more as a child... YOU WIN MOM, YOU WIN
   - We took on the responsibility of decorating the chapel and WE WENT CRAZY with Christmas spirit and all that. I will see if Sis Johnson has pics I can send bc it actually rocks. Although in the process Sis Johnson DEFINITELY fell down the stairs hahahahah just another day on the mission
   - No surprises here, but AP McGhie has outdone himself YET AGAIN in planning the biggest, craziest Christmas party ever. Like, he had his parents ship in 15 thousand candy canes that hes giving away as part of presents for people that come. 15 THOUSAND. We spend all day every day inviting people with glossy convites to this party of his so we will see what goes down here in 2 weeks fam
  - The greatest thing of my mission happened yesterday. MY LOVE OF ONE DIRECTION HAS SUCCESSFULLY HELPED WITH THE WORK HERE. Maybe there are those of you who doubted but what do you know, One Direction really is the best. We were doing some less active visits and Renata, this 12 year that I love to death, had saved a little 1D thing for me and I was obviously freaking out about it because I am still 10 years old, and bispo was like "WAIT YOU LIKE ONE DIRECTION MY DAUGHTER LOVES ONE DIRECTION" and I was like "HECK YES I LOVE ONE DIRECTION U KNOW IT BRAH". Also background: bispos whole family is less active. Soooooooooooooooo we went over to bispos house and I had an absolute 1D PARTY with his 14 year old daughter and she and I were going crazy and being excited and it was the best. Bispo later called us and told us that he feels like we are going to be the sisters that help bring his family back to the gospel. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best phone call ever. One direction really does help fam!!!!!!!

Alright I was trying to send a longer email this week and I CLEARLY succeeded. I seriously love love love being a missionary. The members in Portugal are AMAZING and I adore them. It is such a privilege to serve here and be a part of this all. Thanks for all your love and support, dont forget to spread the Christmas spirit and your testimonies!!

LOVE YOU ALL!! FIQUEM BEM!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo bjsssssssssss Sis P

PICZ THAT SIS JOHNSON TOOK






ISNT OUR CAPELA A CASTLE