Hope everyone had a great week!
We found some AMAZING investigators this week!
I wrote about Cicero last week, the man we made a contact with that had already read the Book of Mormon, D&C and Jesus the Christ. He is so amazing, and absolutely loves the gospel. We taught him and his family this week, and he is just loving it. He even told us that he know it's all true, and he had so much knowledge of the gospel, that instead of us teaching the Plan of Salvation, he taught it to his grandchildren that were with us in the lesson. He is awesome, and is praying for a date to be baptized :)
We found an adorable little investigator, Maria Eduarda, who's 10 years old. Everyone in her family is already a member, but her mom is less active, and so for that reason she hasn't been baptized yet. But she's super adorable and wants to be baptized, and her mom is wanting to return to church, so Maria Eduarda is going to be baptized in 2 weeks. He older sister is waiting for her mission call, and should receive it in a few weeks, so the plan is to have Mariana open her mission call the same day as Maria Eduarda's baptism. It's going to be super cool :)
We have another investigator, Marilsa who is so great! She's been taught FOR EVER and she LOVES the gospel. She loves the Book of Mormon, and talks with everyone about how it helped her emotionally and spiritually get through some trials in her life. She knows the gospel is true, and she wants to be baptized (is even starting to look for a dress), but she has some complicated family issues, and so is going to wait for a little bit. But, she went to church on Sunday, and her countenance just glows. You can tell the difference the gospel has already made in her life.
Yesterday was Father's Day here in Brazil, so naturally our lunch after church was the classic Brazilian "Churrasco", or BBQ, which really just means lots of meat, so it was good eatin'! Also, Happy Father's Day, Dad! I thought about you yesterday even though it wasn't Father's day in the States or in the UK...But happy Father's Day anyways! I love you all the way to my back!
Workin' hard! Learnin' alot! Life is great!
Hope y'all have a great week!
Beijos!
Sister Pennington
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Oi, gente! (August 4)
Hola, família!
Hope y'all had a great week! My week here was good :)
This area really is great! I love serving here and hope I get the chance to serve here a little bit longer!
I had a few experiences this week that reinforced one of the most importante lessons I've learned on my mission. This lesson is eloquently summarized in D&C 18:
"Remember, the Worth of souls is great in the sight of God"
This week, we made a contact with an older man in the street. He was smiling from ear to ear. We talked with him about the church a little bit, and he told us that he already knew the church. He had already visited several times, had read the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Jesus the Christ. He even asked us if we could get some extra copies of Jesus the Christ to give to his friends. We got his address and will go visit him this week.
We found a family this week, relatives of an investigator, who need the gospel so much. We found this Family in the midst of a time of trials, and were able to share the glad message of the gospel with them. They were so grateful for this message.
I'm amazed every single day, at the miracles I am able to see. This really is the Lord's work, and he is preparing people to hear about the gospel, and He puts them in our path (or us in their path) so that they might have the opportunity to hear about the gospel. It is such a blessing, and I am so grateful to be a part of this great work!
God is great!
Love you all so much, and hope you can recognize the miracles God puts in your path this week!
Love,
Sister Pennington
P.S. sorry if there are any weird spelling mistakes, the computer here is auto-correcting to Portuguese...)
Hope y'all had a great week! My week here was good :)
This area really is great! I love serving here and hope I get the chance to serve here a little bit longer!
I had a few experiences this week that reinforced one of the most importante lessons I've learned on my mission. This lesson is eloquently summarized in D&C 18:
"Remember, the Worth of souls is great in the sight of God"
This week, we made a contact with an older man in the street. He was smiling from ear to ear. We talked with him about the church a little bit, and he told us that he already knew the church. He had already visited several times, had read the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Jesus the Christ. He even asked us if we could get some extra copies of Jesus the Christ to give to his friends. We got his address and will go visit him this week.
We found a family this week, relatives of an investigator, who need the gospel so much. We found this Family in the midst of a time of trials, and were able to share the glad message of the gospel with them. They were so grateful for this message.
I'm amazed every single day, at the miracles I am able to see. This really is the Lord's work, and he is preparing people to hear about the gospel, and He puts them in our path (or us in their path) so that they might have the opportunity to hear about the gospel. It is such a blessing, and I am so grateful to be a part of this great work!
God is great!
Love you all so much, and hope you can recognize the miracles God puts in your path this week!
Love,
Sister Pennington
P.S. sorry if there are any weird spelling mistakes, the computer here is auto-correcting to Portuguese...)
Valinhos (Sião) (July 29)
Hola, família!
Valinhos is straight up awesome sauce. I love everything about this city, my area and this Ward. The members here are INCREDIBLE! They made me feel at home from the first second, and even more, they are so excited about missionary work, and they have great ideas and plans and carry them out. It's awesome! They aren't scared to share the gospel with their friends! It's awesome! I've actually met some members here that I KNOW I've seen before. I'm definitely very blessed to be here in Valinhos :)
Anyways, Valinhos is part of the Campinas Zone, and about 20 minutes from the Temple in Campinas, so that's pretty sweet :) We were able to go today to the temple, and it was just awesome. There are 2 wards in this city - Bela Vista (where I'm serving) and Nova Suíça. There are 2 elders and 2 sisters in each Ward.
Sister Galarza is my new companion. She was in my zone in my first area, and so I'd already met her. She's awesome. She's from northern Argentina. She joined the church 2 years ago with her sister who is serving a mission as well in Fortaleza, Brazil. She has such a strong testimony of the gospel, and a profound understanding of the doctrines of the church. It doesn't even seem like she's a convert of only 2 years. It's going to be great working with her!
We met a bunch of very interesting children of God this week...
We taught the first lesson to an older lady. We walked into her house and it smelled TERRIBLY of litter box. At first I only saw 2 cats, but the closer I looked, the more cats I found hiding in the shelves, in piles of clothes etc. They all had the crazy cat eyes that look like they're going to murder you and then eat you. There were 6 cats all together, and then the further we went into her house, we found 7 dogs and 2 bunnies....yep. That's real life :)
Probably the craziest experience of my mission so far...
We had a few minutes between appointments, so we decided to knock some doors (Always an interesting experience). Anyways, so we found this lady who let us in, and we talked with her for a while. She's a very dedicated and active member of her church. She asked a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and other things, and as we talked with her, we came to find that she wasn't very interested and just wanted to debate, so we asked her if we could say a prayer with her, and we did. We were getting ready to leave, and she asked us if she could say a prayer with us, "in her own way". Of course we agreed. I already knew what was coming because she told us at the beginning of our visit the name of her church, and I had heard stories from other missionaries about their prayers, but we just went with it anyways. So this lady led us into her basement, shut all of the Windows and curtains and grabbed her veil (because in her church women can't pray without a veil). And she started to pray, and later invited us to kneel down for her to continue her prayer. Her prayer lasted half an hour, during which, she started shouting and crying and "speaking in tongues". It was bizarre to say the least. But of course we claim the privilege to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all people the same privilege .... but it was flippin' weird ...We didn't really know what to say at the end, so I just bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon and left her with a copy...what else can ya do :)
Anyways, It really was an awesome week and I'm so excited to share the gospel here in Valinhos. It's going to be a great transfer!
Love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Pennington
Valinhos is straight up awesome sauce. I love everything about this city, my area and this Ward. The members here are INCREDIBLE! They made me feel at home from the first second, and even more, they are so excited about missionary work, and they have great ideas and plans and carry them out. It's awesome! They aren't scared to share the gospel with their friends! It's awesome! I've actually met some members here that I KNOW I've seen before. I'm definitely very blessed to be here in Valinhos :)
Anyways, Valinhos is part of the Campinas Zone, and about 20 minutes from the Temple in Campinas, so that's pretty sweet :) We were able to go today to the temple, and it was just awesome. There are 2 wards in this city - Bela Vista (where I'm serving) and Nova Suíça. There are 2 elders and 2 sisters in each Ward.
 |
| Sister Pennington and Sister Galarza at the temple |
 |
| All of the sisters in Valinhos |
We taught the first lesson to an older lady. We walked into her house and it smelled TERRIBLY of litter box. At first I only saw 2 cats, but the closer I looked, the more cats I found hiding in the shelves, in piles of clothes etc. They all had the crazy cat eyes that look like they're going to murder you and then eat you. There were 6 cats all together, and then the further we went into her house, we found 7 dogs and 2 bunnies....yep. That's real life :)
Probably the craziest experience of my mission so far...
We had a few minutes between appointments, so we decided to knock some doors (Always an interesting experience). Anyways, so we found this lady who let us in, and we talked with her for a while. She's a very dedicated and active member of her church. She asked a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and other things, and as we talked with her, we came to find that she wasn't very interested and just wanted to debate, so we asked her if we could say a prayer with her, and we did. We were getting ready to leave, and she asked us if she could say a prayer with us, "in her own way". Of course we agreed. I already knew what was coming because she told us at the beginning of our visit the name of her church, and I had heard stories from other missionaries about their prayers, but we just went with it anyways. So this lady led us into her basement, shut all of the Windows and curtains and grabbed her veil (because in her church women can't pray without a veil). And she started to pray, and later invited us to kneel down for her to continue her prayer. Her prayer lasted half an hour, during which, she started shouting and crying and "speaking in tongues". It was bizarre to say the least. But of course we claim the privilege to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all people the same privilege .... but it was flippin' weird ...We didn't really know what to say at the end, so I just bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon and left her with a copy...what else can ya do :)
Anyways, It really was an awesome week and I'm so excited to share the gospel here in Valinhos. It's going to be a great transfer!
Love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Pennington
Monday, July 28, 2014
sketchy Brazilian electrical work ... (July 21)
Hello, everyone!
So Brazilian electrical work is just straight up sketchy...let me explain why.
They don't have water heaters, and so they heat up the water in the shower head with wires from the wall. Sketchy right? I always thought it was kind of weird that they had showers like that, but it didn't ever cause any problem, so I just kind of went with it. What happened? Last Monday night when I was taking a shower, the wires started sparking and everything caught on fire. So we were left without a shower for 4 days. How did we take showers, you might ask? Sister Pennington woke up at 5 to heat up 3 pots of water to put in a bucket and take showers old school. Yep. It happened :) Luckily, we got one of the young men from the ward to fix the shower for us, so hopefully we won't die in the near future...
Anyways, it was a super busy week! We taught A LOT of lessons this week, but we're having trouble finding people who are truly interested in progressing in the gospel. But we'll find them, for sure :)
We have a less active member who had surgery this week to remove some gall stones, so we went to the hospital almost every day this week. Visiting hours are only at 2, but because we're "clergy" we got to go whenever we wanted. We were VIPs, so that was pretty cool :)
Sorry this e-mail is so scattered, but my brain is not really working super great right now. I'm getting transferred on Tuesday, and it's kind of crazy pants! Sister Acevedo is getting transferred as well. I've been here for such a long time, and I've gotten to know the members pretty well and the area pretty well too, and now I'm going to leave! It's going to be a good adventure where I'll go, for sure, but it's always a little bit nerve-raking literally not knowing were I'm going to be tomorrow. Also, I have no idea how I'm going to fit all of my things in 3 suitcases...
But, if I've learned anything in my mission, it's that the Lord ALWAYS knows best, and that we're sent to each area with each companion for a specific reason. We always have something to learn, something to improve and something to give. I left my heart and soul here in Itatiba. I did everything I know how to help this area, and especially the ward leadership. I hope that I made a difference here, because this ward has certainly made a difference in me. I'm excited to go where the Lord sends me tomorrow. It'll be an adventure!
Lots of love,
Sister Pennington
So Brazilian electrical work is just straight up sketchy...let me explain why.
They don't have water heaters, and so they heat up the water in the shower head with wires from the wall. Sketchy right? I always thought it was kind of weird that they had showers like that, but it didn't ever cause any problem, so I just kind of went with it. What happened? Last Monday night when I was taking a shower, the wires started sparking and everything caught on fire. So we were left without a shower for 4 days. How did we take showers, you might ask? Sister Pennington woke up at 5 to heat up 3 pots of water to put in a bucket and take showers old school. Yep. It happened :) Luckily, we got one of the young men from the ward to fix the shower for us, so hopefully we won't die in the near future...
Anyways, it was a super busy week! We taught A LOT of lessons this week, but we're having trouble finding people who are truly interested in progressing in the gospel. But we'll find them, for sure :)
We have a less active member who had surgery this week to remove some gall stones, so we went to the hospital almost every day this week. Visiting hours are only at 2, but because we're "clergy" we got to go whenever we wanted. We were VIPs, so that was pretty cool :)
Sorry this e-mail is so scattered, but my brain is not really working super great right now. I'm getting transferred on Tuesday, and it's kind of crazy pants! Sister Acevedo is getting transferred as well. I've been here for such a long time, and I've gotten to know the members pretty well and the area pretty well too, and now I'm going to leave! It's going to be a good adventure where I'll go, for sure, but it's always a little bit nerve-raking literally not knowing were I'm going to be tomorrow. Also, I have no idea how I'm going to fit all of my things in 3 suitcases...
But, if I've learned anything in my mission, it's that the Lord ALWAYS knows best, and that we're sent to each area with each companion for a specific reason. We always have something to learn, something to improve and something to give. I left my heart and soul here in Itatiba. I did everything I know how to help this area, and especially the ward leadership. I hope that I made a difference here, because this ward has certainly made a difference in me. I'm excited to go where the Lord sends me tomorrow. It'll be an adventure!
Lots of love,
Sister Pennington
hello! (July 14)
Hello, everyone!
Hope y'all had a good week! My week was pretty great! The world cup is finally over!!!!! Wahooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Argentina didn't win so all of Brazil is calm! We can go back to normal missionary life now!
Vera was confirmed yesterday, so that was great :) We've been following up with her, and teaching the lessons after baptism, and she has so much faith it's just incredible. She has a lot of questions, and loves to study the gospel. She's a super star!
We found 2 really cool families this week! The first family, is Adriana and Francisco, who are just stinkin' adorable! Adriana is 4 months pregnant and just the cutest thing in the whole world. We started teaching her Thrusday, and invited her to a baby shower that a member was having at the church Saturday, and she came. She talked with everyone! She's super sweet and outgoing. Everyone thought she as a member already! Adriana is really excited to learn more and get to know the church.
The other family is super awesome, Jair, Lidiane and their 4 kids. We met Lidianie in front of her house because we were lost (again) and asked for directions, and then asked if we could share a message with her, and she said yes. She went to a protestant church in the past, but stopped because of some things that were going on in the church that she didn't like. She said that she made a deal with God that she would go to the church of the next person that invited her. This was over a year ago, and we were the first to invite her to church. She said that she was already feeling good about our message, and she's going to bring her whole family to church.
Life is good. Livin' the dream :)
Have a great week! Love ya!
Sister Pennington
Hope y'all had a good week! My week was pretty great! The world cup is finally over!!!!! Wahooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Argentina didn't win so all of Brazil is calm! We can go back to normal missionary life now!
Vera was confirmed yesterday, so that was great :) We've been following up with her, and teaching the lessons after baptism, and she has so much faith it's just incredible. She has a lot of questions, and loves to study the gospel. She's a super star!
We found 2 really cool families this week! The first family, is Adriana and Francisco, who are just stinkin' adorable! Adriana is 4 months pregnant and just the cutest thing in the whole world. We started teaching her Thrusday, and invited her to a baby shower that a member was having at the church Saturday, and she came. She talked with everyone! She's super sweet and outgoing. Everyone thought she as a member already! Adriana is really excited to learn more and get to know the church.
The other family is super awesome, Jair, Lidiane and their 4 kids. We met Lidianie in front of her house because we were lost (again) and asked for directions, and then asked if we could share a message with her, and she said yes. She went to a protestant church in the past, but stopped because of some things that were going on in the church that she didn't like. She said that she made a deal with God that she would go to the church of the next person that invited her. This was over a year ago, and we were the first to invite her to church. She said that she was already feeling good about our message, and she's going to bring her whole family to church.
Life is good. Livin' the dream :)
Have a great week! Love ya!
Sister Pennington
milagre da semana (July 7)
Hello, everyone!
So this week was full of crazy things. First of all, Brazil played Colombia in the world cup on the 4th of July and won, so for the next 2 hours, there were horns, fireworks and things of that nature. So it was pretty much the same thing as the 4th of July in the states :)
We promised an investigator last week that if she went to church with us, we would go to church with her, and she went. So we visited the 7th day Adventist church (on Saturday morning, naturally) and it was interesting. She took us back to her house and made us lunch, so it was pretty cool. She works in a bakery, and she had cake to give us, so that was pretty cool too :)
But the biggest most exciting MILAGRE of the week....
We've been teaching Senhora Vera for sooooo long! I found her with sister Gonzalez in April, taught her with Sister A. Silva and am still teaching her with sister Vega. She's had several baptismal dates that didn't work out because her daughter got a perforation in her intestine and then a ruptured cyst, and had to have a serious surgery, and she was in the ICU for a week, but finally got out and went home. This was about a month ago. And since then, Vera's been looking after her daughter, helping her because her daughter really can't do anything on her own right now. So we've been at kind of a stand still with her. We already taught her everything, and she already had a testimony and a desire to be baptized, but wasn't able. We had no idea what to do, and in a last effort attempt to help her, we arranged to visit her with the bishop. We agonized for a week over what to teach her with the bishop (who hadn't ever gone out teaching with us before, but agreed to go for the first time) and for the very first time on my mission I had absolutely no idea what to teach. Wednesday arrived, (the day of our appointment) and we still had no idea what to do. We met up with the bishop right before the meeting, and explained the situation to him. And he said, "well, we'll just go in and talk to her, and let the spirit do the rest". It was one of the best lessons I've been a part of on my mission. Sister Vega and I hardly said anything, and Bishop pretty much taught the first 3 lessons in under and hour, invited Vera to be baptized, and then gave a priesthood blessing to Vera's daughter. And then Bishop baptized Vera on Saturday. It was so cool to see the Bishop's excitement for missionary work, and for Vera! The baptism was so special, so sweet. Vera was crying the whole time because she was so elated. After the baptism, she grabbed my hand crying, and stopped just long enough to tell me, "Thank you, Sister, for talking to me that day when I was going to re-pot my plant. Thank you for giving me this opportunity". I've learned so much from Irma Vera and teaching her, I can't even begin to list all of the lessons I've learned from her. But, I think the most important lessons I've learned are 1. talk to everyone and 2. patience and faith. I met Vera at the end of April one morning when she was walking in the street carrying a pot of flowers. We stopped to talk to her, got her address, and started teaching her. And then after 3 months of praying, thinking working, and doing everything we could she was finally baptized. She is such a special woman, and is going to be a faithful and dedicated member of the church. It's been such a blessing working with her.
Yesterday during fast and testimony meeting, Bishop bore his testimony about the experience he had helping us help Vera, and he bore his testimony about the importance of missionary work, and invited the members to help. We've been working for the past 3 transfers to gain the confidence of the Bishop, and with a lot of hard work and the help of the spirit, I think we're finally getting there.
I know that God lives, and that He really is a God of miracles. He is aware of each one of us, and He is anxiously engaged in our lives, and works along side of us to build His kingdom here on the earth. I love this gospel, and am so blessed to be a part of it!
Love you all and hope you have a great week!
Sister Pennington
So this week was full of crazy things. First of all, Brazil played Colombia in the world cup on the 4th of July and won, so for the next 2 hours, there were horns, fireworks and things of that nature. So it was pretty much the same thing as the 4th of July in the states :)
We promised an investigator last week that if she went to church with us, we would go to church with her, and she went. So we visited the 7th day Adventist church (on Saturday morning, naturally) and it was interesting. She took us back to her house and made us lunch, so it was pretty cool. She works in a bakery, and she had cake to give us, so that was pretty cool too :)
But the biggest most exciting MILAGRE of the week....
We've been teaching Senhora Vera for sooooo long! I found her with sister Gonzalez in April, taught her with Sister A. Silva and am still teaching her with sister Vega. She's had several baptismal dates that didn't work out because her daughter got a perforation in her intestine and then a ruptured cyst, and had to have a serious surgery, and she was in the ICU for a week, but finally got out and went home. This was about a month ago. And since then, Vera's been looking after her daughter, helping her because her daughter really can't do anything on her own right now. So we've been at kind of a stand still with her. We already taught her everything, and she already had a testimony and a desire to be baptized, but wasn't able. We had no idea what to do, and in a last effort attempt to help her, we arranged to visit her with the bishop. We agonized for a week over what to teach her with the bishop (who hadn't ever gone out teaching with us before, but agreed to go for the first time) and for the very first time on my mission I had absolutely no idea what to teach. Wednesday arrived, (the day of our appointment) and we still had no idea what to do. We met up with the bishop right before the meeting, and explained the situation to him. And he said, "well, we'll just go in and talk to her, and let the spirit do the rest". It was one of the best lessons I've been a part of on my mission. Sister Vega and I hardly said anything, and Bishop pretty much taught the first 3 lessons in under and hour, invited Vera to be baptized, and then gave a priesthood blessing to Vera's daughter. And then Bishop baptized Vera on Saturday. It was so cool to see the Bishop's excitement for missionary work, and for Vera! The baptism was so special, so sweet. Vera was crying the whole time because she was so elated. After the baptism, she grabbed my hand crying, and stopped just long enough to tell me, "Thank you, Sister, for talking to me that day when I was going to re-pot my plant. Thank you for giving me this opportunity". I've learned so much from Irma Vera and teaching her, I can't even begin to list all of the lessons I've learned from her. But, I think the most important lessons I've learned are 1. talk to everyone and 2. patience and faith. I met Vera at the end of April one morning when she was walking in the street carrying a pot of flowers. We stopped to talk to her, got her address, and started teaching her. And then after 3 months of praying, thinking working, and doing everything we could she was finally baptized. She is such a special woman, and is going to be a faithful and dedicated member of the church. It's been such a blessing working with her.
 |
| Sister Vega, Bishop, Irma Vera, Sister Pennington |
I know that God lives, and that He really is a God of miracles. He is aware of each one of us, and He is anxiously engaged in our lives, and works along side of us to build His kingdom here on the earth. I love this gospel, and am so blessed to be a part of it!
Love you all and hope you have a great week!
Sister Pennington
always, always an adventure (June 30)
Hello!
This week was a little bit crazy! We had 2 Brazil games this week, and an exchange, so the week was really different than usual.
So I got a call on Monday that all of the trainers and their trainees would be having a meeting on Thursday at 10 in Campinas. There's a bus from Itatiba to Campinas at 8:30. Beleza, no problem. Then the Sister Training leader called me because she needed to do an exchange with sister Acevedo. She decided that it would work best if we switched at the meeting on Thursday in Campinas, and I went to Braganca with her companion, and she come back to Itatiba with my companion, and then meet up with sister Acevedo and her companion and do an exchange. A little bit more complicated, but again, no problem. It's the end of the month, so we're really poor, but we had just enough to pay for all of the buses. So, Thursday morning, we go to the bus station to find out that the bus schedule changed and they no longer have a bus at 8:30, but at 9 and it goes through another city, so it takes a lot longer. We didn't get to Campinas until 10:30, and by that time, I was already distraught because we were so late, and then we got on the bus, but missed the bus stop, and I recognized that I was in Barao Geraldo, my first area! So we got off the bus and I called the assistant to the president, and was crazy pants stressed because we had no money and were late and I had no idea where we were...but the assistant is a good human who easily recognized that I was pretty close to tears, so he paid for a taxi to come and pick us up. We got the to meeting just as President Perroti was driving away #mostembarrasingmomentofmylife. But, in the end it kind of worked out...I went to Braganca with Sister Mitillo, and Sister Matos went to Itatiba with Sister Vega...it was kind of crazy pants, but it worked...
Saturday was the first game of the finals for Brazil, and they went into overtime...We were waiting for the game to finish to go back to work, but at 3 when the game should have ended, nobody was in the streets. Literally not one person was in the street. We waited a bit more, and an hour later people start screaming, yelling, honking horns in the streets, setting off fireworks and a bunch of other craziness. Haha it was a good time :)
Things are crazy here, but we've had some really good things as well. Ariani was a referral from a member who went to church a few weeks ago, and we were able to teach her this week, and she is so prepared! She's searching for the truth, and she is loving the things we're teaching. She understands really well what we teach, and has so much real intent. The problem, is that her husband is very firm in his beliefs, and she is worried about what will happen with her relationship when she's baptized. But, she's great!
We had a cool experience of being in the right place at the right time. We were walking in front of the church going to a teaching appointment, and a woman parked in front of the church and asked if it was open. We talked to her a little bit, and found out that she's doing family history work, and she heard that the church has a lot of resources to help her with family history, so she just showed up at the church. We set up another appointment with her at the church and the member in charge of family history, and we were able help her and her family with the genealogy they wanted to do, and we were also able to teach the first lesson. They're pretty great!
This week, like every week, was crazy and full of unexpected adventures. I just love being a missionary!
Love you all, and have a great week!
Sister Pennington
.
This week was a little bit crazy! We had 2 Brazil games this week, and an exchange, so the week was really different than usual.
So I got a call on Monday that all of the trainers and their trainees would be having a meeting on Thursday at 10 in Campinas. There's a bus from Itatiba to Campinas at 8:30. Beleza, no problem. Then the Sister Training leader called me because she needed to do an exchange with sister Acevedo. She decided that it would work best if we switched at the meeting on Thursday in Campinas, and I went to Braganca with her companion, and she come back to Itatiba with my companion, and then meet up with sister Acevedo and her companion and do an exchange. A little bit more complicated, but again, no problem. It's the end of the month, so we're really poor, but we had just enough to pay for all of the buses. So, Thursday morning, we go to the bus station to find out that the bus schedule changed and they no longer have a bus at 8:30, but at 9 and it goes through another city, so it takes a lot longer. We didn't get to Campinas until 10:30, and by that time, I was already distraught because we were so late, and then we got on the bus, but missed the bus stop, and I recognized that I was in Barao Geraldo, my first area! So we got off the bus and I called the assistant to the president, and was crazy pants stressed because we had no money and were late and I had no idea where we were...but the assistant is a good human who easily recognized that I was pretty close to tears, so he paid for a taxi to come and pick us up. We got the to meeting just as President Perroti was driving away #mostembarrasingmomentofmylife. But, in the end it kind of worked out...I went to Braganca with Sister Mitillo, and Sister Matos went to Itatiba with Sister Vega...it was kind of crazy pants, but it worked...
 |
| Sister Pennington with Sister Vega and two members of the local ward. |
Things are crazy here, but we've had some really good things as well. Ariani was a referral from a member who went to church a few weeks ago, and we were able to teach her this week, and she is so prepared! She's searching for the truth, and she is loving the things we're teaching. She understands really well what we teach, and has so much real intent. The problem, is that her husband is very firm in his beliefs, and she is worried about what will happen with her relationship when she's baptized. But, she's great!
 |
| Sister Pennington with Ira Bia and her family |
This week, like every week, was crazy and full of unexpected adventures. I just love being a missionary!
Love you all, and have a great week!
Sister Pennington
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)