Where is the good in good bye?

From an email dated 25 September 2013:

Tell me what can be fare in farewell?

Well as you can prolly guess from the title this week has been..... not so bom. Menos of the maso menos. Menor. Ruin. Terrivel.

Yeah. haha where to begin you might say? Well, for starters, we lost our fav instructor here, Irmao Mos. He was incredible but he got another job working construction but he did say he was gonna be coming back on Monday for a last picture with us, so when I get to Londrina, whenever my next p day is I'll email a pic of him to yall. He's seriously amazing & we miss him every day.

In addition to that, there was a HUGE fight (well... confrontation) that broke out between one of the elders who says some offensive things & my companion & a few other elders.... lets just say a desk got over turn & there was some strong language.... yeah..... well the Spirit IMMEDIATELY left the room & we were all left in silence trying to study but getting no where. Finally our ZL (zone leader) said that he couldn't feel the Spirit & apologized for something really minor (isn't it funny how the ones who don't do anything that causes a fight are always the first ones to apologize?) anyway, I assured him that it wasn't just him & that we had all been in the CTM one dang week too long, if you ask me. Then I got the impression to offer to the district to say a prayer. I got at the front of the classroom & knelt & watching most of the other elders kneel down beside me. Something else told me to ask Elder W to say the prayer & I asked him as I watched tears in his eyes he nodded in agreement and said the most heartfelt most sincere prayer I've ever heard in my entire life. SERIOUSLY. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I heard him struggle & get choked up. I can't repeat everything that was said in the prayer but it was much needed. After he was down several minutes later, everyone else got up but he was still on his knees with his head in his hands. It took EVERY ounce of self control & self discipline not to just scoop him up in my arms and tell him everything was going to be okay. Honestly, this kid isn't a crier, he's 6'5 & has the build of basketball player, so that combined with his tears really tore my heart apart. But I helped him up and thanked him profusely & things got better after that.

On a brighter note I played Come thou fount for devotional & I didn't totally suck at it! hahahaha plus I say the 2010 Jeffrey R Holland fireside he did at the MTC & I melted! I swear he's my other dad.... I love that guy! very memorable for sure.

Anyway, not much else happened, just trying to get the language & get ready for next week when we all leave for our missions! Londrina here I come!!!!!

Oh! & this week on SES (Stuff elders say)

*singing*

Elder B & Elder C: Toniiiiigghhhttttttt

Me: We are youngggggg

Elder B & C: Actually we're young....

Me: *glare*  I hate yall....

but I fist bumped them anyways cause that was pretty good!

Elder W: Did yall ever see that one barbie movie where she meets her twin?

Elder B: You mean the princess & the pauper?

Elder W: Yeah!!

Me: Are you serious????  hahahaha

anyway, love you alllll soooooooooo much! Eu amo voce! Tambem eu sei que esta igreja a verdadeira! Eu sei que o Senhor Jesus Cristo e Deus vive e amam nos.

Church is true book is blue. READ IT.

xoxo

Sister VerHoef

Intersection

Oi everyone!!!

 

Ola de Brazil! Tudo bem? Estou... otimo! haha

 

Sooo this week has been, in a word, LEGEND *wait for it* DARY! haha But seriously, let me extrapolate.

 

Então, this semana our teacher brought us about 14 B.o.M´s to hand out in a place called Rua Avenida Paulista-the busiest shopping street in Sao Paulo. Needless to say, we were both excited AND terrified all at the same time. So we get on the public bus, which was an adventure in & of itself. Apparently even bus drivers drive 50 mph in neighborhoods NOT just carsz. I´m used to metros in Europe NOT crazy Brazilian bus drivers! Can't tell you how many times I nearly face planted into the little gray entry gate and slammed my head into the window while I was holding the handlebars with both hands! Freakin loco!

 

And then, to top it all off, the bus breaks down. Haha typical.

 

Anyway, we finally get to Rua Avenida & Irmão M gave us about an hr to place 4-5 B.o.Ms per companionship. Me & Sis G said about 3 prayers on the bus & another when we got off. Let me just say, we were terrified. so many crazies walking around & we really didn't know where to start. So we walked in a ways to the mall area & placed our 1st B.o.M with a man named Eric from Ghana. Oh & BTW, it was all in Ingles ;)

 

So that was nice! Then we wandered around for a bit, still not sure what to do & seeing Greenpeace groups & other sales groups around which was frustrating. What would differentiate us from people selling services or products? We're not selling anything, we're giving something, ya know?

 

Anyway, we met up with a few other elders & Irmão M told us to stay put while he finds the other companionships. So me & sis G & Elder C & Elder B are standing on the corner & I notice a younger homem smoking & drinking a coke with a bike full of water jugs. And I just got this feeling to talk to him--as I looked at him, I didn't see cigarettes or a hard face--I saw him as a Young Men's president with a family sealed in the temple.

 

So with all the courage I could muster, I walked up to him just as he was about to ride away. & in my broken Portuguese I told him that "este Livro ajuda-me quando eu tenho muitas problemas e afliçoes." & he took it with a smile & an "obrigado"

 

I felt lighter as I watched him ride off into the thronging crowd of Brasileros. I have no idea if he will even read it or if it & my written testamunho on the inside page will end up in a trash can somewhere, but hope spirngs eternal I guess. Maybe someday I'll see that young man's face in General Conference or he'll end up being a bishop somewhere in Brazil.

 

But here's the thing--that wasn't the miracle that day. The marvillhoso coisa happened on the bus on the way back. At first I sat towards the front, but after a few stops, some ladies got on & I gave up my seat & stood towards the back, kind of by Irmão M. Suddenly, I hear him call my name & he convinced me to take his seat by the middle aged blonde Brasilera. Irmão M ended up sitting right in front of her.

 

It took a while, but I finally complimented her on her jewlery & we ended up having an increivel conversation. She told me so many things about how she has a "grande fe" and loves God & needs him in every day of her life. She's catholic & very devout. Every now and then she'd tap Irmão M on the shoulder on occasion to help translate for her & then we get on the topic of families & I share with her that my dad passed away 12 yrs ago & she tells me that her's passed away a yr ago. THEN she said the incredible part--that she felt her father & my fahter were at an "interseção" or crossroads & how she felt we met for a reason :) She then asks Irmão M to take a picture of the both of us on her phone & gives me her address & telephone number to visit her.

 

Well, you could imagine how proud Irmão M was haha. And how SHOCKED I was. But I of course took it gratefully & gave her a hug before we went out seperate ways. 2 days ago I gave it to the right people to send the missionaries over to her & I'm currently trying to write a letter to her to send her in the mail. I wish with all my CORAÇÃO I can see her--teach her. Be there for every lesson but maybe all Heavenly Father wanted me to do was open the door. Maybe someone else needed to take the first few entryway steps.

 

Anyway, milagres DO happen. God can work miracles both great and small! I knew at that moment I needed to be in Brazil for a reason.

 

Então, on an other note, I think my teachers, Irmão M & Irmão A like to tease me, or at least think I'm an easy target. Monday they both talked to us about focusing more on the lingua & to the elders especially, being more reverent & mature. And then in Portuguese, Irmão M says "Now I know it's very hard--very difficult for you elders since you're not 24 years old..."

 

and then he goes quiet & looks at me as I scowl back at him. "Desculpa Sister! Es uma brincadeira!" yeah yeah. Joke my right eye! haha I was like "Not funny Irmão... I thought we were friends!" It was pretty funny. Maybe I shouldn't tell anyone my age anymore... let them come up with their own conclusions. Might be safer!

 

This week on SES! or Stuff Elders Say:

Me: UGH! I need to ask Irmão M about the future! it's so confusing! (referring to future tense in portuguese)

Elder C: You mean your future together?

Me: *narrowed eyes* ....

 

Such dorks. It aint like that son. Anywho all is well here. We're all getting a bit loopy here at the CTM--laughing for 20 mins at RANDOM stuff, but we're surviving haha. Hope all is well! Tell the kids mail is A LOT slower here but they do have letters on the way :)

 

Miss yall so much! Eu falta voces!

 

xoxo

Sister VerHoef

Missionary Fail

Hellleerrrrr!! haha oi familia! It's your favorite sister missionary ;)

I get another Pday! It's been pretty good. Went to the templo today in Sao Paulo & they took a pic of our district in front of the temple! It was great. And something even more amazing happened....

I got to do sealings for the first time in the temple.

Yeah! I was shocked! We got there superrrrr early, like 2 hours early & me & my comp Sis Gamez were just kinda wandering around trying to find the Sealing room in the temple & one of the workers offered us if we wanted to stand in as children in a sealing session!

I was shocked. so of course we said YES! And it was amazing. Honestly. I had no idea what they were saying, but it was an experiençia increivel. (prolly didn't spell that right but whatevs) And the Sao Paulo temple is GORGEOUS too. It's got amazing stain glass and everything is lined with gold. I loved it!

So yah, started off the Pday right I'd say ;) anywho

So I'd like to do a segment in my weekly emails... a bit of comic relief for the reader, if you'll allow me. I'd like to call it "SES" or "Stuff Elders Say"

:) You could say that being the only companionship of sisters, there's a LOT of interessado coisas that the digo... yeahhh haha

Elder B: So yall know... in Star Wars.... how Anakin is kind of like a rebellious Jesus?

*crickets*

Elder W: Dude, Anakin's the bad guy! He's darth vader!

Elder B: I know that's why I said he's a rebellious Jesus

*dead silence*

Me: Are we seriously comparing Star Wars to the gospel right now? Like this is happening?

later that same day....

Elder P: So Sister VerHoef, since you're like 6 years older than us, you're kind of like our mom!

*murderous look*

Elder P: I--I mean babysitter! A really cool babysitter!

Definitely started calling him dear ever since just to mess with him... hey that's what you get when you bring my age into it!

Ohh... the stuff elders say.... there are no words!

Anywho, not much has happened this week. Still miss the bananas out of my old district, but this district is pretty good. They're a handful though. And I've officially been dubbed the District "Gandalf". Apparently I am a fountain of knowledge and age old wisdom.... I should've just told em I was 20... I would've SO gotten away with it! haha

Anyway, other than that it's pretty much been the same old same old. My time is running short, but I did wanna leave something with you all, that's at least somewhat spiritual :)

So we had a member of the Seventy come speak with us yesterday for a devotional & he said something that really struck me. He told the story about 2 men being interviewed before going into heaven & the interviewer asked the first man what he knew about the Savior & he kept saying facts & the story about Christ. The second man comes in & the moment he sees the interviewer he kneels at his feet & says "Master."

During this time on my mission, this member of the Seventy said that I'll come to be acquianted with Savior more than ever before. & I'm so grateful for that. Even if I never touch a single life with the gospel, as long as I get to know Jesus Christ on a personal level, my mission will not be a failure.

I love you all! Sending letters TODAY! xoxo

Sister VerHoef

From another email that day:

So I bet yall were wondering what the title was about in my group email titled "Missionary Fail"? haha totally forgot to explain THAT!

K, so I have a teacher (Irmao M) who's kind of a baller. In fact, the elders in our district have nicknamed him Bonito Menino Ginga, which in Portuguese means "Pretty Boy Swag" *rolls eyes*

Anyway, needless to say, they all have brocrushes on him! haha everyone's in love with him, kind of like with Irmao R in Provo! But in Brazil.

So, yesterday, we were practicing what to teach "Alberto" who's our other teacher Irmao A. Irmao M plays an investigator named "Marcos"

You with me so far? so Alberto=Bro A, Marcos=Bro M.

Entedem? :) Anyway, so Irmao M was going around the class to each companionship & basically role playing Alberto. He gets to us, and before I continue I also have to clarify, Irmao M is otimo! I mean he's definitely awesome & funny & MUITO patient with us.... buuuut he's pretty intimidating. I mean seriously, his eyes scan your entire SOUL. So he gets to me & Sis Gamez & we're doing the you know, pleasantries like hi how are you that kind of thing, he turns to me & I say "Oi Marcos! como vai??"

...... "Eu sou Alberto..."

I went BEAT RED. Definitely called him by the WRONG. NAME.

But it's irmao m!!! he's MARCOS not alberto!!! even though he was pretending to be alberto... ugh it was so embarrassing!!! everyone started cracking up! even irmao m said in his thick brazilian accent "Missionary fail."

Ohhh it was terrible!!! haha anyway, so that was the funny thing that happened this week. Lets just hope I don't do that in real life! but that was my missionary fail this week.... calling my "investigator" by his wrong name.

*le sigh*

hashtag awkwardge.

anyway, hopefully that made yalls week haha! (oh & A be sure to add this into the blog post haha)

love you all!!! miss you all so much!

MWUAH!

xo

CTM!!!

I definitely didn't think I'd get a Pday till like next week but they were kind enough to let us have one the day after we got here.

Yeah.... so... haha it was a crazy long flight, and I did end up taking the 3 Nyquil on the plane, but I guess it didn't QUITE wear off because I was still exhausted post-flight.

Umm... yeah, haha the drive to Sao Paolo was totes cray cray. I mean, seriously, it's worse than Europe. I'm not even kidding! I'm not sure what I was expecting, & I hate to say it but I wasn't impressed at all when we made the drive to the CTM. The only way I can describe it is if you take Atlanta, Little Five Points & East Point & stick it in a foreign country, you have Sao Paolo. Graffiti EVERYWHERE. Like more so than I was expecting.

But oh well. My new comp is Sister G, & she's ADORABLE. From Maryland. I already love her! & we had a chance to go to the Sao Paolo temple today. Which, you me & A need to go when yall come down! It's gorgeous on the inside. I love it!

as far as the CTM goes.... ehhh.... haha I'm trying to have an upbeat positive attitude about it, but I ache for my district. *Le sigh* I'm not homesick. I'm Provo-sick.

I couldn't help remembering Irmao Rodrigues in Provo who told the story of his companion in Portugal who spoke terrible Portugues, yet he taught with such power, such conviction, such spirit, that the members still understood him in spite of the language barrier. Bro. R went on to say, it really doesn't matter if you speak terrible Portuguese, the members & investigators are gonna feel your spirit & they're gonna be converted by the Holy Ghost. NOT because you speak flawless Portuguese.

And the rules & expectations are vastly different here. In addition to adjusting time zones, language, & power outlets, they're on military time too AND kilos!

GAHHHHH!!!! NAO SEI!!!!!!

Haha. I haven't had a breakdown yet, & I'm half kidding. It's just the mere fact of the matter is that I just barely got adjusted to Provo & their rules & now it's adjusting to the CTM & their rules... we can't even take pictures at the temple!

Anyway, things are good here. The teachers are incredibly nice & muito sympatico. & I do love Sis. G. So it's all good in the hood yo. OH! & there's kind of an equivalent "dear elder" thing here in brazil. It's called "mission ties" or "missionary ties" this guy from a cookie shop "Mr Cheney's cookies" scans letters & emails em to yall! And I think you can do like an email thing too. It's not free, but I think it's cheaper than anything else you could try! Next Pday, I'll ask him about it :)

The city's interesting... doubt P would like it much, but I bet once you get outside of it, it's mais melhor :) The lingua is coming along. Actually, haha funny story, our professor let me & Sis G go back to our rooms last night at like 6, & after we unpacked, Sis G took a shower at 7ish? I was STONE COLD ASLEEP by the time she came out & slept the WHOLE. NIGHT. THROUGH. And even then I was still nodding off during the session at the templo haha. whoops!

(Btw, they won't let you attach pics here either -_- which is driving me crazy!!!) But I love you all so much! 

Here's the addy to the CTM, I don't have my actual mailbox number, but I'll try to do my best to remember it

Sister VerHoef

BRA-LON

Rua Padre Antonion d'Angelo 121

Casa Verde

CEP 02516-040 Sao Paulo-SP

Brazil

Next Pday I'll send yall the actual one next week. sorry! they're kind of disorganized here haha... 

church is true, book is blue!

Chiao!!

(Editor's note: The website she's referring to is MissionTies.com.)

Your missionary's arrival at the MTC

Dear Parents,

We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.

They now have companions and are settled into their rooms. They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study. The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting. These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.

The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs. He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple. This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: " There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".

Please accept our love,

President Ralph Degn and Sister Mary Ann Degn