WHAT UP FRIENDS AND FAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM TUDO BEM?!?!?!?! I hope yall had some rockin semanas!!!! Get ready for all the crazay crazayyyy news of Braga!!
Theres actually not too much to tell, sorry fam. But the slightly inappropriate subject line comes from the recent discovery that Bragas very own red light district just so happens to be....... RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR CAPELA!!! Thats right folks, whenever we teach lessons in the chapel late at night we have to take the long way home so we dont get mistaken for prostitutes. HASHTAG STAY CLASSY PORTUGAL.
Also yall should know that we couldnt find any place to do email so we are currently in a super sketchy gaming cafe that doesnt allow minors and we had to make gaming nicknames to get in. Oh the adventures of Braga.
But also this week was super mega foxy awesome as usual!!
- We had a division with the STLs and you know what that means.... AN EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF PORTUGUESE!!! Just kidding. But really. BUT it also means an excessive amount of miracles so it actually rocked my socks off!! We were finally able to get ahold of a lot of people with potential and we found some seriously amazing novos. Real life milagres, people.
- We got to take a surprise visit to Porto!! And we watched the world wide missionary broadcast with o nosso Presidente which was cool DEMAIS. And the broadcast was SERIOUSLY AMAZING. So so so cool. Even if youre not a missionary I recommend it. 2 hours of instruction with our local apostles and other church leaders??? IT DOESNT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS FOLKS. Its like conference all over again but just for us missionaries!! I LOVE THE CHURCH AND THE MISSION MAN.
- After kinda a rough day our elders did for me what all good elders should, took us to get rockin françazinhas. And bonus, I got another priesthood blessing and let me tell ya, THOSE ARE THE GREATEST. For realz you guys, if you ever have any needs at all, please go to your local priesthood holder and ask for a blessing. They are straight from Heavenly Father and they are exactly what you need, promise. Our elders are the best!!
- So this week in sacrament we, our beloved missionaries, were in charge of the program. Meaning ONE MORE rockin baptism, dom do Espirito Santo talk from yours truly. Naturally, I once again whipped out my talk from my first transfer and used it... Then I tried to make a joke in sacrament about how my Portuguese probably should have improved more than this and it did not go over well. Portuguese people man. They dont appreciate good humor I guess.
- Also I accidentally spent like 25 minutes talking in church and I really dont speak good enough Portuguese for that. RAGRETS FAM.
Spiritual side note since I dont have enough of those: REPENTANCE IS SO REAL. I thought I had it figured out after some experiences a couple weeks ago, but now I really really know. We always always ALWAYS have the chance to change and be better, and Heavenly Father loves us no matter what. He loves us so much!! And it is so so great to know that.
But anyway, thats all for this week!! I seriously love this mission with all my heart. And I love the Portuguese even if they dont get my humor. And I love YOU FAM. THANKS FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT YALL ARE THE BEST. MUCH LOVE FROM HERE IN BRAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
HAVE A GOOD WEEK GENTE
xoxoxoxxoxox bjs Sis P
Monday, January 25, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
"Holla at yo boy": just another week in missionary English classes
WHAT UP EVERYBODYYYYYYYYYYYYYY TUDO BEM FAMMMMMMMMM!!!! Another week down here in Braga and, milagre of all milagres, WE SAW THE SUN THIS WEEK. IT EXISTS. We are back to our typical rainy gloom again but it was nice while it lasted.
THIS WEEK WAS CRAZY AND HILARIOUS AND AWESOME. I have stories DEMAIS to tell yall get ready to rumbleeeeeeeeeeeeee
- First of all, right at the start of the week our friendly neighborhood elders went and locked themselves out of their house. And the only spare keys were in Porto sooooooooooooo they slept in the capela on Tuesday night. hahahaha the whole sequence of events was hilarious slash slightly sad, from them and ALL of the neighbors trying to break into their apartment to us bringing pillows and blankets and old sister´s pajamas to the capela at like 10:30 to them finally getting back in at like 5 pm the next day.... Seriously, it was so hilarious. And in case anyone was wondering, Elder Jensen is keeping the pink monkey pajamas because they were made for him.
- So here comes the subject line of this email: ENGLISH CLASSES HERE IN BRAGA. Lets just say we have a recent convert named Antonio, who is a sweetheart and always willing to help us, but is also usually pretty drunk. We have been trying to help him figure out this drinking problem but with little success so far... Meaning on Friday he showed up COMPLETELY PLASTERED for our english class. We gave it our best effort for like 15 minutes, then realized he was going to remember any of it anyway so we spent the rest of the time teaching him the highly important english phrase "holla at yo boy". Best hour I have ever spent on my mission.
- Prez asked us all the set some crazy metas for finding novos, so we set some high goals and then we went to WORK. This led to some pretty hilarious situations, like the guys who called us and asked if we wanted to come over. Normally we say no to those kind of things, but we needed novos soooooooooo.... Hahahaha we stayed safe I promise, and we also got 2 novos out of it. Flirt to convert anyone?? JOKES JOKES
- We DID end up teaching two guys from Pakistan who happen to be running from the Taliban. It was more than a little exciting. We also decided to take one of our members, Sol, with us, who has some pretty extreme schizophrenia. You already know how it all went down. Hahahah I told you this week was crazy and hilarious and awesome.
- The office elders are just as hilarious as ever as we discovered this week. Elder Buchanan was bored while his comp was sick and since they have their fancy little smartphones they have this app where you reject a phone call and then deflect it to another phone number. So Buch went and toked HALF OF THE MISSION and then when they all tried to call him back it would deflect to our number up in Braga. We spent the entire night answering calls from Coimbra, Santarem, Porto, etc and BOTH THE APS. Classic.
- We found a predio with 112 DOORS AND WE WENT CRAZY AND SPLIT UP AND KNOCKED EVERY LAST DOOR AND IT WAS INSANE AND WE FELT LIKE SUPER MISSIONARIES.
Alright alright, I feel like all of these things seem a lot more hilarious and exciting when they happen during my week, but there ya have it. A week in the life of the sisters in Braga. Also know that I love you all lots and lots and I miss all of you and I HOPE YOU ALSO HAVE AMAZING WEEKS!!!
YALL ROCK HAVE GOOD WEEKS
Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees xoxoxoxo bjs Sis P
THIS WEEK WAS CRAZY AND HILARIOUS AND AWESOME. I have stories DEMAIS to tell yall get ready to rumbleeeeeeeeeeeeee
- First of all, right at the start of the week our friendly neighborhood elders went and locked themselves out of their house. And the only spare keys were in Porto sooooooooooooo they slept in the capela on Tuesday night. hahahaha the whole sequence of events was hilarious slash slightly sad, from them and ALL of the neighbors trying to break into their apartment to us bringing pillows and blankets and old sister´s pajamas to the capela at like 10:30 to them finally getting back in at like 5 pm the next day.... Seriously, it was so hilarious. And in case anyone was wondering, Elder Jensen is keeping the pink monkey pajamas because they were made for him.
- So here comes the subject line of this email: ENGLISH CLASSES HERE IN BRAGA. Lets just say we have a recent convert named Antonio, who is a sweetheart and always willing to help us, but is also usually pretty drunk. We have been trying to help him figure out this drinking problem but with little success so far... Meaning on Friday he showed up COMPLETELY PLASTERED for our english class. We gave it our best effort for like 15 minutes, then realized he was going to remember any of it anyway so we spent the rest of the time teaching him the highly important english phrase "holla at yo boy". Best hour I have ever spent on my mission.
- Prez asked us all the set some crazy metas for finding novos, so we set some high goals and then we went to WORK. This led to some pretty hilarious situations, like the guys who called us and asked if we wanted to come over. Normally we say no to those kind of things, but we needed novos soooooooooo.... Hahahaha we stayed safe I promise, and we also got 2 novos out of it. Flirt to convert anyone?? JOKES JOKES
- We DID end up teaching two guys from Pakistan who happen to be running from the Taliban. It was more than a little exciting. We also decided to take one of our members, Sol, with us, who has some pretty extreme schizophrenia. You already know how it all went down. Hahahah I told you this week was crazy and hilarious and awesome.
- The office elders are just as hilarious as ever as we discovered this week. Elder Buchanan was bored while his comp was sick and since they have their fancy little smartphones they have this app where you reject a phone call and then deflect it to another phone number. So Buch went and toked HALF OF THE MISSION and then when they all tried to call him back it would deflect to our number up in Braga. We spent the entire night answering calls from Coimbra, Santarem, Porto, etc and BOTH THE APS. Classic.
- We found a predio with 112 DOORS AND WE WENT CRAZY AND SPLIT UP AND KNOCKED EVERY LAST DOOR AND IT WAS INSANE AND WE FELT LIKE SUPER MISSIONARIES.
Alright alright, I feel like all of these things seem a lot more hilarious and exciting when they happen during my week, but there ya have it. A week in the life of the sisters in Braga. Also know that I love you all lots and lots and I miss all of you and I HOPE YOU ALSO HAVE AMAZING WEEKS!!!
YALL ROCK HAVE GOOD WEEKS
Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees xoxoxoxo bjs Sis P
Monday, January 11, 2016
BRAGA BRAGA BRAGA
WHAT UP FRIENDS AND FAM!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS GOING ON WHATS GOOD!!! I LOVE ALL OF YOU LOTS AND LOTS AND THIS WEEK WAS CRAZAYYY!!!!
First off, the most important thing that I have to share this week is this: THEY HAVE GRANDE BIG MACS AT MCDONALDS. FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY, FOLKS. They are nearly double the size of regular big macs and I think I have already had 3 or 4 just this week. IT IS THE GREATEST!!
Second and also decently important, I GOT TRANSFERRED AND IM IN BRAGA!!! It completely breaks my heart that I had to leave Foz so soon, it was beautiful and that teeny teeny ward was so full of love, but Braga already has me. Apparently it is considered the most beautiful city in Portugal and DA PARA VER fam because it seriously rocks. Plus the ward is HUGE and loving and everyone wants to help with missionary work and it is kinda a dream come true. I already love it here!!
So this weekkkkkkkk:
- WE GOT HIT BY A CAR. FIRST DAY IN BRAGA. It was the single most exciting thing to ever happen to me, probably. We were just trying to casually cross a street and some guy apparently didnt see us and hit the back of my knee. It honestly didnt even really hurt I was just FREAKING OUT SO EXCITED. I FINALLY GOT HIT BY A CAR!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING MY WHOLE MISSION FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!! And now I have some sick bruises all on the back of my leg that I get to show off. TROPHY WOUNDS. I GOT HIT BY A CAR EVERYBODY.
- So Braga might be beautiful but the weather absolutely. is. not. It has rained this entire week, and Im not talking rain like some singing-in-the-rain drizzling, its like full-on hurricaine force rain and wind and sometimes hail. And we are always faithfully out trucking in it and trying to talk to people who say basically the same things, namely "who are you weird Americans and why on earth are you trying to talk to me in the middle of a freezing hurricane". Not exactly those words but pretty close.
- But all the same we have found some seriously amazing people!! We have knocked more doors this week than I think I have my entire mission and I cant wait to start raking in the teaching pool here soon!
- There is this one less active old lady that we go and visit named Manuela, and she is literally hilarious. She goes on and on about growing up in Angola and the monkey that killed a boy and how she always walked around with a gun and all that good stuff. I love love love Portuguese people!!
Alright thats all I got for now. I will work harder on hilarioius stories I promise. But know that I am alive and well, probably wet and freezing, and loving life!! THE MISSION IS THE BEST
I LOVE YOU ALL FIQUEM BEM TODOS
xoxoxoxoxox bjs Sis P
Yeah yeah, me sending pictures again WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT
We went to Sameiro and Bom Jesus, these 2 huge beautiful cathedrals in Braga with our recent convert Antonio. THIS CITY IS SO BEAUTIFUL
1. Sameiro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Bom Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(The following are more pictures from her companions blog...)
First off, the most important thing that I have to share this week is this: THEY HAVE GRANDE BIG MACS AT MCDONALDS. FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY, FOLKS. They are nearly double the size of regular big macs and I think I have already had 3 or 4 just this week. IT IS THE GREATEST!!
Second and also decently important, I GOT TRANSFERRED AND IM IN BRAGA!!! It completely breaks my heart that I had to leave Foz so soon, it was beautiful and that teeny teeny ward was so full of love, but Braga already has me. Apparently it is considered the most beautiful city in Portugal and DA PARA VER fam because it seriously rocks. Plus the ward is HUGE and loving and everyone wants to help with missionary work and it is kinda a dream come true. I already love it here!!
So this weekkkkkkkk:
- WE GOT HIT BY A CAR. FIRST DAY IN BRAGA. It was the single most exciting thing to ever happen to me, probably. We were just trying to casually cross a street and some guy apparently didnt see us and hit the back of my knee. It honestly didnt even really hurt I was just FREAKING OUT SO EXCITED. I FINALLY GOT HIT BY A CAR!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING MY WHOLE MISSION FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!! And now I have some sick bruises all on the back of my leg that I get to show off. TROPHY WOUNDS. I GOT HIT BY A CAR EVERYBODY.
- So Braga might be beautiful but the weather absolutely. is. not. It has rained this entire week, and Im not talking rain like some singing-in-the-rain drizzling, its like full-on hurricaine force rain and wind and sometimes hail. And we are always faithfully out trucking in it and trying to talk to people who say basically the same things, namely "who are you weird Americans and why on earth are you trying to talk to me in the middle of a freezing hurricane". Not exactly those words but pretty close.
- But all the same we have found some seriously amazing people!! We have knocked more doors this week than I think I have my entire mission and I cant wait to start raking in the teaching pool here soon!
- There is this one less active old lady that we go and visit named Manuela, and she is literally hilarious. She goes on and on about growing up in Angola and the monkey that killed a boy and how she always walked around with a gun and all that good stuff. I love love love Portuguese people!!
Alright thats all I got for now. I will work harder on hilarioius stories I promise. But know that I am alive and well, probably wet and freezing, and loving life!! THE MISSION IS THE BEST
I LOVE YOU ALL FIQUEM BEM TODOS
xoxoxoxoxox bjs Sis P
Yeah yeah, me sending pictures again WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT
We went to Sameiro and Bom Jesus, these 2 huge beautiful cathedrals in Braga with our recent convert Antonio. THIS CITY IS SO BEAUTIFUL
1. Sameiro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Bom Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(The following are more pictures from her companions blog...)
Monday, January 4, 2016
Its 2016 and 2016 bananas later....
WHAT UP FRIENDS AND FAM HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!! I HOPE 2016 IS FILLED WITH KICKS AND GIGGLES AND SUNSHINE AND GOOD TIMES FOR ALL!!!!!!
2016 came in with a BANG here in the Portugal Porto mission and I am so so stoked to dedicated another (at least most) year to the Lord!!
As for the weird stuff that happened this week:
- We had the Porto 2 sisters over for New Years and it was completely amazing and hilarious. Sister Johnson came in pretty clutch with a hidden Cafe Rio recipe, we watched the downtown fireworks from our window and popped a bottle of sparkling cider right at midnight. Oh yes, we sister missionaries sure know how to party.
- So 2016 is apparently the year of the monkey, so we organized a bi-district, enormous banana party. YES FAM, BANANA PARTY. Again, missionaries really know how to party. We went SO HARD and afterwords I kind of never wanted to see another banana again but it was so, so worth it
- Right after said banana party we went to our super cool from Morocco investigators house, where she had prepared this CRAZY amazing Moroccan dish and I dont even know what was in it but I was going so hard. And also dying because oh yeah, it was literally right after the banana party. FOOD FOR DAYS. Sometimes I wonder how I gained 30 pounds on the mission and other times its really not too hard to guess.
- Apparently in Morocco they like to drink fermented milk so we got treated with that while at our little dinner party. You heard right fam. FERMENTED MILK. I literally felt like I was breaking the word of wisdom while drinking it, it was just so so so bad. And to make all that worse, Sister Johnson is actually lactose intolerant sooooooooooooo yep, she ended up being sick for like 3 days. Literally almost the whole weekend. PRAY FOR JOHNSON 2016 FAM
- It was so so so so so so so so so cute, we called the Ashbys, the couple who work in the office and who we went to for Christmas after Sister Johnson got ridiculously ill and they drove all the way down to Foz after church to make her some chicken noodle soup. And bonus, they brought a couple office elders to give her a blessing! I actually had been having kinda a rough weekend so afterwords I was like "hey you two, as long as yall are here and the chair is here and Im here.........." and it was SO SO SO GREAT. Priesthood blessings and so amazing, I was reminded a ton about the love Heavenly Father has for us and that all is in his plans. Im so grateful for the Priesthood! Dont forget children, when there is hard times there is also always worthy priesthood holders that you can ask blessings.
OK QUICK SPIRITUAL AND SERIOUS MOMENT ALSO SORRY THAT I AM NEVER ACTUALLY SPIRITUAL OR SERIOUS IN THESE LETTERS WHOOPS. But seriously, I just wanted to share how much I love the Savior. I feel like I have learned a lot this week about the Atonement, mainly the fact that even with all the wrongs we do, all the mistakes we make, everything that we could be doing wrong, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ still love us. They love us SO MUCH. More than we could ever imagine and I am so grateful for that! I am so blessed to have this gospel and to have the opportunity to share it with others for this little time that I do. I love the mission, I love the work, and I love the Lord!
Transfers are this week! We find out tonight slash tomorrow. Pray for us all fam! I actually think I may be leaving Foz, which will be sad because I really love this area and the teeny teeny ward haha. But either way it is all in the Lords plans!
Thanks for all that you do fam!! I love you all lots and lots and lots. Thanks for all the love and support. YALL ARE THE BEST!
Loveeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssss
xoxoxoxoxoxo bjs Sis P
Next follows 2 pictures sent to the family with the title "Última Semana"
2016 came in with a BANG here in the Portugal Porto mission and I am so so stoked to dedicated another (at least most) year to the Lord!!
As for the weird stuff that happened this week:
- We had the Porto 2 sisters over for New Years and it was completely amazing and hilarious. Sister Johnson came in pretty clutch with a hidden Cafe Rio recipe, we watched the downtown fireworks from our window and popped a bottle of sparkling cider right at midnight. Oh yes, we sister missionaries sure know how to party.
- So 2016 is apparently the year of the monkey, so we organized a bi-district, enormous banana party. YES FAM, BANANA PARTY. Again, missionaries really know how to party. We went SO HARD and afterwords I kind of never wanted to see another banana again but it was so, so worth it
- Right after said banana party we went to our super cool from Morocco investigators house, where she had prepared this CRAZY amazing Moroccan dish and I dont even know what was in it but I was going so hard. And also dying because oh yeah, it was literally right after the banana party. FOOD FOR DAYS. Sometimes I wonder how I gained 30 pounds on the mission and other times its really not too hard to guess.
- Apparently in Morocco they like to drink fermented milk so we got treated with that while at our little dinner party. You heard right fam. FERMENTED MILK. I literally felt like I was breaking the word of wisdom while drinking it, it was just so so so bad. And to make all that worse, Sister Johnson is actually lactose intolerant sooooooooooooo yep, she ended up being sick for like 3 days. Literally almost the whole weekend. PRAY FOR JOHNSON 2016 FAM
- It was so so so so so so so so so cute, we called the Ashbys, the couple who work in the office and who we went to for Christmas after Sister Johnson got ridiculously ill and they drove all the way down to Foz after church to make her some chicken noodle soup. And bonus, they brought a couple office elders to give her a blessing! I actually had been having kinda a rough weekend so afterwords I was like "hey you two, as long as yall are here and the chair is here and Im here.........." and it was SO SO SO GREAT. Priesthood blessings and so amazing, I was reminded a ton about the love Heavenly Father has for us and that all is in his plans. Im so grateful for the Priesthood! Dont forget children, when there is hard times there is also always worthy priesthood holders that you can ask blessings.
OK QUICK SPIRITUAL AND SERIOUS MOMENT ALSO SORRY THAT I AM NEVER ACTUALLY SPIRITUAL OR SERIOUS IN THESE LETTERS WHOOPS. But seriously, I just wanted to share how much I love the Savior. I feel like I have learned a lot this week about the Atonement, mainly the fact that even with all the wrongs we do, all the mistakes we make, everything that we could be doing wrong, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ still love us. They love us SO MUCH. More than we could ever imagine and I am so grateful for that! I am so blessed to have this gospel and to have the opportunity to share it with others for this little time that I do. I love the mission, I love the work, and I love the Lord!
Transfers are this week! We find out tonight slash tomorrow. Pray for us all fam! I actually think I may be leaving Foz, which will be sad because I really love this area and the teeny teeny ward haha. But either way it is all in the Lords plans!
Thanks for all that you do fam!! I love you all lots and lots and lots. Thanks for all the love and support. YALL ARE THE BEST!
Loveeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssss
xoxoxoxoxoxo bjs Sis P
Next follows 2 pictures sent to the family with the title "Última Semana"
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