Kilometer 2

May 19, 2014

I have nooo time to write this week because the internet is sooo slow!

But highlights of the week. 

We started working in the bairro "kilometer 2'' and it's called that because its 2 kilometers from Beurarema, so yeah, we walked a lot this week! We were there 4 days of the week, but we got all of our novos there tons of lessons, a lot of them have never seen missionaries! It's a lot of time to walk but vale a pena!! 

When Sunday came around we only had 4 people from there walk with us to church which is not as many as we were hoping but as time went on at church more and more people from other areas started showing up! Last week we had 3 people because it was mothers day and everyone was out of town or having a party, and the other weeks I've been here it's been 4 or 5 if we're lucky. We really have been working so hard. Like I love my companion because we equally work hard, and are both concerned with reaching our goals, and reaching them with legit people, lessons, etc. The hardest goals to reach are member present lessons and people in sacrament. This week we got our goal of 40 lessons with a member and exceeded our goal of 10 people in sacrament and had 13! It was sooo good! I love when hard work pays off and when the school classroom is full of people! 

My stomach still has problems sometimes, we decided its because of the water. Also I went and got the prescriptions and I started feeling really bad one day this week but took the medicine and everything stayed down.... still felt crappy but its all good, it was Saturday so I went a good day without problems. 

The lessons are getting much easier to teach. I've had lessons one and all the invites down real good, but Sister Garay and I taught the Plan and Gospel more this week and it was soooo much better than at first when we would teach it. I'm starting to be able to relate scripture stories too, it is still hard to give background on a scripture I share but this week it was noticeably better. I described the background of the story of the brother of Jared and why he needed the stones, and how the Lord sometimes asks us to do all we can to find solutions to our own problems. 

We had exchanges with an american from Cali Sister Martin and it was so great! She has so much love for the people here. In our little interview she told me she saw and is certain that I gained so much in my last mission and that the Lord wont let me miss out on any of the blessings that I would have got if I was here for more time, that the Lord is just pouring them all out in the short time I have. It was so cool and the Spirit confirmed that it was true and Im just so grateful to be here to learn what I need to learn, and more importantly help who I need to help. 

More next week! 

LOOOOVE YOU ALL!!!!! 

Seester Scheevens 

Tudo bem

Itabuna

Exploring our area.

May 12,2014

Oi!!!! 

Yesterday was the best day! It was so good to talk to some of the family! And especially Mom! She is the best! Always the good of other people in mind, the best example. I think I needed to come on a mission so I can learn to be more like her, and I am so excited for when she goes on a mission one day because she´ll go from being the best mom to the best missionary and mom! 

The phone call was a great way to end kind of a dark week. 

Rain all day everyday, someone stole my comps scriptures, we got hit by a bike, I threw up a lot and everyone made me go to the hospital. 

BUT on the bright side, umbrellas are a wonderful invention, I am alive and don't have kidney stones, the Elders got the bad spirits out of the upstairs apartment, AND I got to talk to the fam yesterday. (and Dad was right- they fed us dinner after! woohoo first dinner in Beurarema.) 

Another highlight of the week I attached a pic of. We met this lady who told us she lived down a street that my comp and I were sure ended but apparently it keeps going! You just have to get over the small mountain. So we followed it and all the houses are super spread out and its all farmlands and mountains. We talked to as many people as we could but unfortunately its a little far with not much to work with so we wont be going back much. But it was so cool, and they let us take some fruit from there trees so we walked and ate fruit on the journey back to town. 

The hospital was horrible, they ran so many tests and made me keep an IV in my arm for like 5 hours and I kept almost fainting because of the giant NEEDLE in my arm! Also it wasn't a nice bed with a blanket it was a chair that I sat in. Tudo bem, I like adventures. I just hope I don't have to return there ever again. 

I want to add this funny thing for everyone who I didn't get to talk to. 

So far in Brazil I´ve gotten that I look like the girl from Frozen, Tangled, Avril Levine, and Barbie. Every day someone says "cara de boneka" or "parece como boneka de barbie." (face of a doll/face of a Barbie) It´s so weird, I´m like uhhhh I don´t agree but hey nice compliment. Especially when Alex always calls me cara de payaso(clown). haha

Also it was a good sign that I had kind of a hard time switching all the way to English, and when I told my story in Poruguese everyone just stared and I remembered that not everyone understands. 

Well, until next week! Love you all! Happy Birthday Steve! 

Seester Scheevens  

Buerarema

Normal day, normal street, buscando novos.

May 5, 2014

My second week in Buerarema was a lot like the first. We did work. But sadly only at the moment arent seeing a whole lot of success from it yet. We find sooo many new people and only end up working with a handful. Its kinda what happens when everyone is so open. Its great but we need the ones that are going to act. 

BUT I havent talked about our golder than gold family yet. I met them on one of my first days and taught them the gospel and it was just so spiritual, and they loved AND understood all of it, and when we left my comp turned to me and said-- sister, thats only our second time meeting with that family! AH I love them. They love the Book of Mormon. Everyone´s happy. They´ve already been to church 3 times the problem with them and everyone else here is..... CASAMENTO. They married in a church but not by law. Here in this tiny city they only send a judge IF there´s 4 couples that want to get married. So thats kind of been dominating our prayers lately. 

To respond to Dads question and email- it´s actually not that new to have a church here, they used to travel to Itabuna but before that they met here too. The problem is retention, they baptized a bunch of young people so all the church has is a few young men and women, and older single women. So its a big deal to baptize homems, like we report on how many we find and baptize every week. Its a problem all throughout Brazil. Its hard to find men that arent sitting in the street drinking. But we´re working on it, we reeeaally need this family in and active with callings. Literally, Ivon, the dad is the nicest most prepared person I have every met. 

Wellll other than that everything is just a blur, the Portuguese is still a struggle because I get more confident and think I can teach something the way it comes to my head or the way I did in English but still no, I have to resort to really simple terms, but it´s definitely improving still. 

Im still the only white person in the city so thats good. 

We slept in Itabuna because we had a real intense zone meeting last night. The Sisters here are real nice and some of us even went running this morning!!!! It was the best, even in Teva´s... haha 

LOVE YOU FAM 

Seester Stevens