Churros!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous week! This week I decided that everything is going to be okay and that I actually can survive here because I found a CHURRO SHOP! I really didn't think it was possible, but Costco has some serious competition! They put this stuff called done de leite inside the churros here and oh my, I think I'm going to write a letter to Costco right now and inform them what they are missing out on! The people in the churro shop know me by name now and they love to practice their English by saying, "Hello my friend" and "goodbye my friend" every time I walk by hahaha! So this week I've had a head cold all week and lost my voice and wow I think Brazilian sicknesses are worse but no worries I feel much better today! When I was sick my companion made us do a juice detox which consisted of carrots, lettuce, ginger, apples and many other interesting fruits and vegetables that should never be mixed together but I survived it so now I think I can do anything.....except Portuguese! I still don't know if I can do that but I think I'm getting better slowly but surely! I found a golden retriever and I cried because I was so happy and my companion was laughing at me and took these pictures . Me and my companion did face masks and we stretch every night because she can't touch her toes and she has a goal to touch her toes but with a trainer like me she will be there in no time! This is my gross foot, we walk a lot but my ankle is all the way better so no complaints! This week we had entrevistas (interviews) with our mission president! We got to see other missionaries and there were 3 American Elders and President and Sister Silcox so I got to speak English! IT FELT SO GOOD! I'm a little late to the party but I finally got to watch all of conference when I was sick and WOW it was so good! Missionary work is so important and the Atonement is amazing! This week we also had divisions with our STL's and I got to be with an Americana! Sister Hurttle, there are not a lot of white people here, well there are actually one in my area so I stand out pretty bad but me and Sister Hurttle together, haha we got a lot of funny looks! It was a lot of fun to teach with her and hear about her first weeks and months in the field! We went to her area for the split and it was in the mountains! Oh it was sooo beautiful! It was a lot more 3rd world like dirt roads and people lived in tiny houses but wow it was beautiful!! I forgot my camera but maybe someday I'll go to an area like that! I have eaten a lot of very strange things but I've learned it tastes better if I just don't ask, haha I've only eaten a couple of questionable meats, the rest is soooo good! Brazilians really know what they're doing when it comes to cooking. I love rice and beans now which is good because we eat it every single day without fail! This week we went to a birthday party for a member in the ward and they had BBQ! Oh my, it was soooo good and they played a lot of English music, they were very impressed that I could rap the whole G-Easy song, "me, myself and I" word for word. (Knew it would come in handy one day) We also taught Pena and her family again and she came to church AGAIN! We just need to get the rest of her family to come with her. We have a new investigator named Taissa that came to church too! We have a lot of really good investigators but we are taking it slow with them because we want them to have strong testimonies and become strong members because a big problem here in Brazil is inactive members. In our ward we have about twice as many inactive members as we do members so we are really focussing on making strong disciples of Christ not just baptizing them as fast as we can! They are all prime investigators though, we still have a lot of work to do with them but they all have a ton of potential! At our apartment we don't have a dryer, we hang all of our clothes to dry so we have to put a bunch of fabric softener in when we wash them so they don't dry stiff! This week I was trying to do some laundry and our little washing station is right next to our stove....so I set the giant bottle of fabric softener on the stove along with a washcloth and when I went to grab the wash cloth it hooked the iron part of the stove and knocked the giant tub of fabric softener on the floor and it exploded, like it actually exploded! It was all over our kitchen, wash room, fridge and me! Our apartment still smells like lavender and we our fresh out of fabric softener but I now have the softest feet in the world so it's not all that bad! We didn't get to do a ton of work this week because we were gone for over half of it on splits and having interviews but it was still a great week and we have a lot of work to do this week. When I listened to general conference I really loved President Nelson's talk when he said, "The construction of these temples may not change your life, but the time in the temple surely will," and then he challenged us to identify things we can set aside so we can spend more time in the temple because missionary work is happening on both sides of the veil and you can further the work not only here but on the other side of the veil which is amazing! Temples are amazing and like President Nelson said, the time you spend in them can change your life so I challenge you all to make sure you can make time to regularly go to the temple! It will change not only your life but many of the lives of people who are waiting for you! I hope you all have a great week and find some time to go to the temple! Te amp todos voces e ate a proxima Semana. xoxoxo
Love, Sister Peine