Tchau Castelo!

Sister W trying to fit in Em's suitcase.  She doesn't want
Em to leave without her...

Welllll.....I was transferred. It makes sense....I have been here for 3 transfers already and I only have 2 left now so I needed to go somewhere else.  But it was still really hard to hear. I am really heart broken to leave Sister P before I finish her training. And Sister W and Sister S. Sister W goes home in 1 more transfer so we are particularly weepy together now. It’s hard to leave when you make best friends. :( I am excited to know where I am going but I also feel really sick. haha. I have no idea where or with who and I was already really tired and stressed before the transfer call so....now I’m a big mess. But that’s okay. It’s all part of the mission fun and I will survive as always. Just let me be really dramatic for a few more hours. 

E was confirmed! She cried so hard. It was so beautiful. She has comfortably moved into her new ward already and is very happy. So naturally we are too. T cried this week saying how I "saved her". I guess it’s still hard for me, a normal girl with my own mistakes and problems and only 20 (almost 21) to feel like I am "saving" someone. It’s an alarming responsibility that hasn’t really sunk into me yet....I do what the Lord asks. And I love it. End of story. I don’t really sit thinking about how I "save people". I don’t know. One day I hope to FEEL what she means by that statement. 

We sang in sacrament meeting (Sister W, Sister L and I) and then later all of the missionaries sang with the primary kids the baptism primary song at a baptism with Elder N accompanying on the Ukelele. It was cute. :) 

Well....that is really it for this week. I’ll let you all know where I am next week. I love you all. Wish me luck. Have a great week! Sorry it’s short!

Sister Heyer

D&C 68:6 Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.

Deep Waters

Brace yourselves. 

Brazilian hot dog...Emily loves them...

This week was E´s baptism!!!! As usual everything was awesome and ready for her baptism and we were completely excited and floating on air......and then as usual everything got insane. E called on Thursday canceling everything because her boss wouldn’t let her leave, she was trying to move into her new house, horrible family problems, and she was scared. We cried about it for about 5 minutes and then went to work.....we went home from the zone meeting and prayed for guidance. We then prepared a really important message about baptism and perseverance. Then at 9:00 that same night I made Sister P call her (she is perfectly capable and needed to learn.....) and talk with her, share the message, and help her resolve her conflicts impeding her from this important decision she was so excited about just a few days before. It was so stressful. I had to banish myself to a different room and turn on Mormon Tabernacle Choir to stop myself from mouthing things to say to E to Sister P. Sister P talked to her for about 20 minutes (longest minutes of my life) and when she hung up it was left at E agreeing to "do everything she could with all her force to be at the church Friday night for her baptism interview". So we went forward like it was all happening. 

Friday night she CAME to the church (on time no less) and was interviewed and was HAPPY! :) Then she told us she would "TRY to be there for her baptism Sat. night". I almost died again. Sat afternoon Bishop called to inform me that (on one of the coldest days we have had here yet) the water heater broke and the water would be ice cold. I called Elder N (who baptized her) and we both agreed that E did not need to know that the water would be cold. ;P BUT a member brought a hair dyer. Sat. night... she was there. She had forgotten a towel but I had felt really strongly to bring one....so I did. Thank goodness. She was every excited. We shared a lovely message. Then we took pictures and everyone made their way to the font....only to suddenly find themselves standing in 1-2 inches of water....the font had over flowed. Bishop, bless his heart, forgot to turn of the water. So we paused the baptism for 1/2 an hour to drain the font, so she wouldn’t already be baptized on the stairs (-_-) and we took more pictures to distract her and make it still fun for her as the sweet members pushed all the water into the floor drains in the bathrooms. It was funny though....E said “I'm going to drown in this water. But that’s okay…I'll be saved. I was just baptized so I’ll go straight for the Celestial Kingdom!" (hehehe) Then after all was in order...Elder N got in first. I couldn’t see him because I was behind E to help her down the stairs but I did hear his giant gasp and exclamation as he got in the freezing water and held out a trembling blue hand to E and said "Come in! It’s not that bad!" (-_-) hahaha. E looked like she wanted to kill me a little but....she got in. They trembled and shook through the prayer and left the font blue....but she was so happy. :) It was beautiful. I sang "Where love is" from the primary book with Sister S as a stand in for Elder Sears at the piano....and Sister P gave a beautiful talk. It was lovely. And it all worked out. But I am convinced that I will never have an "easy" baptism. I am cursed to have everything fall through and I have to pick it all up again. Even Elder N said so. He laughed at me. He had reason....this is the 3rd CRAZY baptism that I have had in this ward. 

-_- Oh well. It works out. And I’ve learned….I'm a fighter. And Sister P is the best and doesn’t need me anymore. 

Touching experience with Sister P this week. She has been having a tough time saying the first vision because it was a bit rehearsed and she would get really nervous. Today I made her practice in front of the mirror for 10 minutes. Then she had to come in and say it for the other three of us. It was good the first time. But I knew she could do better. I asked her is she knew Joseph Smith was a prophet. She said yes. I asked her how she knew? She told me she prayed. I told her that is exactly what Joseph Smith did too. I told her to remember HER conversion story....and then put herself in Joseph´s shoes....seeing God and Jesus Christ....receiving a sacred answer to a sacred prayer. She thought for a few moments.....then she said it again. She cried through the whole thing. I did too. We all did. It was beautiful. It was powerful. The spirit was tangible. And the best part was....she messed up on some of the words. She even said a few Spanish words. And it made Absolutely. no. difference. It was perfect. 

Also this week with Sister P I was going crazy doing the 12 week training (AGAIN) and I could tell she was super bored of the routine. I told her she looked like Pocahontas....which inspired me to make her and I Indian headbands with feathers made of paper (decorated and everything) and get my red lipstick and printed clothing I have and we dressed up like Nephites and Lamanites (not politically correct but I mean....she is dark and I am white and it worked out perfectly) then we ran in to the other sisters room and reenacted one of the many Nephite Lamanite wars. It was great. She made our name tags. I was "Sister Mamãe Cavalho Durado" which means "Sister Mamma Golden Horse" and she was "Sister Filinha passarinha cara preto" which means basically "Sister little daughter tiny black faced bird". hahahaha. It’s less racist in Portuguese I promise. For my dramatic entrance she read the scripture "And those who were not Lamanites....they were Nephites." It was the best. It felt so good to be creative and fun. It’s been a while. :) Not so sure President would consider that gooooood training but.....it was memorable and she laughed.

Well that is about it for this week. <3 I love you all! 

Sister Heyer

Bandits at our BBQ

Ward Activity

Alright.....it'll be a bullet point email style again because of the time....but it should still be good! haha.

-I am officially the advanced English class teacher. Don't know if I mentioned that. But it is super fun. 

-T went to church! :D AND she BORE HER TESTIMONY!!!!! :D All by herself. She asked if she could. So all 3 of us got up and bore our testimonies. It was the best day of my life. <3

-E WILL BE BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!!!!!! :DDDD Pray for her. We are so happy for her and excited. It was a huge miracle. After 1 year and 6 months (a mission....) of going to church she has decided to stay for sure. She ASKED me on Sunday if she could be baptized this week. I....of course....said yes. ;) hahaha. Again...sunday was the best day ever. 

Brazilian Food

-July 4th had fireworks!!!! Because of the Brasil cup game that night.  But we sang the star spangled banner and pretended that the fireworks were really for the USA. ;P 

-I will be singing at the zone conference this week. 

-I prayed that I could loose a little weight...and promptly got a weird stomach bug. -_- NOT what I had in mind. hahaha. Never doing that again.

-20 weeks left. 0_o

Sister W's first time cutting hair.  Em's the guinea pig....

-Sister W and Sister S discovered this week that their investigators are actually bandits.....that was a let down. They have been milking all the members for information about the financial situation of family Martins and are definitely faking their interest in the gospel to make friends and then White Collar sue everyone and be millionaires. It’s unfortunate and was totally revealed through the spirit to the sisters because we never would have guessed. They came to a Family Home Evening at a members house and they insisted on taking the sisters home. It was a strange insisting. They clearly wanted to see their living conditions....because the wife when she saw our humble little hut...I mean house...she goes “THAT'S where you live?" with scorn and disgust. Anyways as Sister W was opening the door to our house she suddenly had the very strange thought...."they are bandits". She hadn’t even been thinking about that (and as she puts it the word "bandit" is NOT in her typical vocabulary....maybe robber or thieves but....bandits?) ....but instantly felt the thought confirmed and told Sister S.  Sister S almost shouted that she had felt that too!!!! But for the whole week and just hadn’t said anything because she studied terrorism at BYU and wants to work for the CIA and is a GENIUS but thought that we would all think that these facts finally drove her to paranoia. hahaha. Poor girl. But now the feeling is overwhelming for all of us and it is very. very. obvious that they are truly....bandits. How often does THAT happen? It’s sad. But one day we, especially the sisters, will laugh about it. 

Well..... I know I am incredibly lame this week. INCREDIBLY.But I do love you all and next week I won’t spend as much time re-reading awesome emails and I’ll write more. <3 

Love you all and have a great week! :D

Sister Heyer

I think I already included this once but I will again because I am sure there are a few of you who didn’t read it. ;Phehe. It’s excellent!!!!

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=378

Chi Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le Le Chile Chile Chile!

So this was the chant that everyone was chanting all week to tease Chili.....and then the game was insane and they almost lost....karma. ;P 

This week was crazy. Nothing really happened though so I’m not sure how it got so crazy. I think the games and the screaming and all the fireworks just make everything seem so much more intense even when nothing is happening. 

Since my brain is a bit fried this week I will just do a little bullet list summarizing the most eventful moments of this week.

-We were finally able to visit T with her Visiting Teachers and it went amazingly well! Her husband C actually may come to church Sunday even with a broken foot! :D We shall see. 

-Sister P is becoming quite the awesome missionary! We are working well together. She is teaching me how to Salsa. 

-I learned how to make some new Brasil foods. You all should be excited considering you can eat it soon. ;P

-I got my haircut. For free. And I love it. It’s not that different. Just shorter. 2 inches under my collar bone. With layers. Pics will have to come next week cause I forgot my camera.

-I got asked to sing in Gospel Principles a sacrament song a capella 2 minutes before class started. -_- It worked out. I was a bit nervous but a lot of people cried and Elder Nelson told me I could be on Mary Poppins or Singing in the Rain (Idk if I was happy by that comment or just impressed that he has seen those movies! 0_o hahaha) 

-I ate a part of a chicken that I didn’t think was edible. Not a pleasant experience. 

-I have 21 weeks left on my mission now..... 0_o. 

-B, our amazing friend who is trying to find her way back to the church....came to the ward activity! 

-Taught the English class Tuesday and it was super fun. For once. I teach English pretty well I think....I just don’t like to teach it. hahaha. 

-Yo estoy aprendiendo Español. 

Well that is about it. I love you all. Sorry it is lame. Have a great week! <3 Happy 4th of July!!! :D I have my red a white polka dot skirt with my navy skirt all planned out! ;)

Sister Heyer

Excellent talk for you all!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2012/10/where-is-the-pavilion?lang=eng&clang=eng