A Dunking to Remember

2 Months In!

First of all, mom, I want to share a scripture with you. *Matthew 15:4. Tbh, don't remember exactly what it says, it's a note I wrote down at the beginning of the week to send to you on P-day. It's for you to use with Andy and Bubba though.... haha. 
* For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

To answer your question, here are some things specific (maybe??) to our mission:

No coca-cola or any cola. 

No *chimarrão.

Always have a book of Mormon in hand when you leave for the day.

No soccer.

We have a mission song, specifically for Missão Porto Alegre Sul.

(*A traditional, South American, caffeine-rich infused drink)

So this week was kind of amazing. 

We had our Christmas thing on Thursday. Spent all day in Pelotas. What a dream. We heard a message from President Cruz and then they reviewed rules for the summer. I plan on buying sandals soon. We had a super bomb lunch and watched videos that some of the families of missionaries in the southern half of the zone sent. I was weeping the whole time. They were so sweet. We then performed skits as zones. I played *Mundo Feliz. It wasn't terrible.... Some of them were way hilarious. It was a really wonderful day. And we got to spend it indoors so we didn't die of heat. Haha. It was so great to hang out with the other missionaries, especially my fellow **verdinhos. Haha. We're pals. 

(* Brave New World- not exactly sure what it is! **Greenies. Apparently, it goes greenies, newbs, then regulars. :v)

After that was my first Divisao! (Split!) We literally had to take a boat to get to her area. It was so awesome. Our LTS are so great. She basically converted someone on the boat ride. It was awesome. There's a lot of sand in Sao Jose Norte. There was a family there, part member, that requested that I pray in english. Of course I tried.... and FAILED. I CAN'T PRAY IN ENGLISH. What the heck........ Also, please pray for this family. It's part member because the dad doesn't want it and also doesn't want to marry the mom, even though she wants to be baptized. It's really sad. Her name is Fabiani. I learned how to make *Brigadero. Unfortunately, it's super easy. Basically, this confirms that I will come home fat. 

(*from Wikipedia: (Portuguese for Brigadier); is a common Brazilian delicacy, created in 1940.The brigadeiro is made from condensed milk, cocoa powder, butter and chocolate sprinkles to cover the outside layer.)

We had a wedding and a baptism this week! The wedding was way cute. I think it's the first wedding I've ever seen. That was cool. The cake was good. I basically filmed the whole thing so.....

The Baptism. Wow. I will never forget it. It was supposed to be Saturday and literally everything went wrong. So we cancelled it and planned if for Sunday morning before church. We went to the church at 7 to make sure everything was ready. The water was GREEN. (again). It was horrible. I was afraid SdS was going to cry again. It was rather horrible. Also, we though the person who would baptize wasn't going to show up so we asked someone who we are preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He had never performed a baptism before. Everything happened right in time. Joice decided to be baptized in the green water anyway. The Bishop and members showed up late but they showed. So we started. It was pretty normal up until the ordinance. Man. He was SO nervous. (Name omitted for reasons that will be known shortly.) He didn't know how to hold his hands or her hands and it was all very awkward. He said the prayer, paused a microsecond, then THREW HER INTO THE WATER. The hand that is supposed to help her plug her nose MISSED. There was a collective gasp. She came up coughing. When we discovered she was fine, we were all relieved. Oh my gosh. It was SO FUNNY. It's horrible, and I shouldn't laugh, but Sister de Souza and I laughed TO TEARS, MULTIPLE TIMES that day. Oh man. Every time one of us laughs really hard, the other companion knows exactly why the other is laughing and we start crying/laughing. I will never ever forget it. Also, I will make sure the baptizer is more prepared next time. Wow.

Other news: I fooled two Brasilians this week. One thought I was from Santa Caterina (because I have weird intonation for Portuguese) and the other was surprised to hear I'm from the States. Other people guess that I've been in the field for a year and are shocked to hear that I've only been in the field for a little over a month. So that's cool. Gift of tongues is REAL.

Anyway, this week was super great and this next week is Christmas! Can't believe it's already here. It doesn't feel like Christmas because I'm lacking a few fundamental things: you and snow. BUT I get to share messages of Christ and spend Christmas with a lot of really wonderful people so it's not too bad. ;) 

Advice from a sister Missionary:
I Know that God lives, loves us, and knows each of us individually. Also, think about your potential. Think about what you're doing right now. There is a 99% chance that you can DOUBLE your performance. Sister De Souza and I had the really cool opportunity to more than double the number of people we talked to every day, simply by trying to push ourselves more. Be worthy to have the spirit. By living worthily to have the spirit, your lives will improve and after that, you will be blessed more because you have the spirit! Man, this gospel is so true. 

Miss you all so much!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

Boa Semana!

xoxo,

-Sister Hartman

Smiling in the rain

Ahhh, the food here!

Duct Tape is a blessing e Deus responde nossas oracoes!

THANK YOU for sending me letters! 

I never realized that dad's name is actually Larry... I guess you learn something new every day. (It's not, in case you're wondering. He was just sustained in church under the name of Larry. Hehe.)


It is definitely a blessing to have gotten my visa so quickly. Sister Bateh got her visa a few days after me, and the Lord's hand was DEFINITELY evident in when she got hers. But more on that later. Things have been pretty busy lately. Also, I lost my fourth companion, *Irma Webster (my dictionary. I feel lost without her. SOS). 
* For those who don't know, "Irma" is portuguese for sister, "Irmao"= brother.

A day feels like a week and every hour is a day and so in that one hour I go through So. Many. Emotions. I'm not allowed to judge anyone for being emotional because I cry when I am happy, when I am sad, and when I'm feeling the Spirit. (AKA, pretty much all the time. I have stopped wearing makeup;I've been here for a week and a half.) Don't worry, my journal is plenty full of my testimony. I took President Horton's words to heart and I write about all the important parts of my day in my journal, mostly just how the Lord has helped and/or taught me that day. So many miracles. I'm still working on recognizing all of them. I wish I could use humor. Unfortunately, I think it is against mission policy to be funny or something because no one is funny here, not even me. Don't get me wrong, we laugh plenty, but a missionary friend wasn't far off when he told me that missionaries laugh at really weird, dumb stuff. 

Hahaha, but it's a blast. It's like a really emotional semester of college. Except I can't watch House instead of do homework. Even though some moments are super not fun, there's always something that makes up for it, whether it be kind words or a blueberry cake doughnut. There have been a few hard days this week but they have all answered prayers in some way or another. Maybe I should be more careful when I pray..... Haha, just kidding. Kinda.

So I have been doing well with the language, as I said last Pday. A friend emailed me and told me that I could only understood Portuguese because of the gift of tongues. At first, I was way peeved by that. I thought that it was all because of me and my hard work. And then on Friday, God decided to set the record straight. I received my visa that day and I was SO excited. We got to class right after and I couldn't. understand. anything. It was so hard and I felt so low. I also felt so ashamed that I had prayed every day for the gift of tongues, that God has given it to me, and that I took it for granted. Needless to say that I've learned my lesson and I express gratitude every day for it now. After that, I see the Lord's hand in my life waaaayyyy more. There is so much to be grateful for. 

Another answer to prayer was in regards to feeling love for minhas companheiras. I was praying so hard to understand where they were coming from and to truly love them. Things seemed to be going really well though so I didn't think we needed it. Then I learned about what they're going through. I testify that God knows how each of us feels and what all of us are going through. Seriously, it's such a blessing to know that God loves us and can help us through any trial if we ask.

I shaved my legs after shaving on Thursday and they wouldn't stop bleeding and I didn't want to hunt down my band-aids so I duct taped paper towels to my heels. #theducttapewasworthit

We walked into our evening class and turns out our **first investigator was going to be our second teacher! His name is actually Irmao (Daniel) Zarkou and he's a great guy. (And my other teacher is Irma (Courtney) Gunnerson, in case I forgot to mention it). WE WERE SO SHOCKED!! SB says she knew it the whole time. All I could say was that I'm glad that we didn't ruin the church for an investigator (yeah, some of our lessons weren't so hot). Since he's become our teacher, we've done a lot of great things. Like today we practiced visiting less actives. We weren't totally sure what was going on when he kept closing the door in our faces. And then we got it and had a decent lesson with him. It was interesting. It was good experience. He really likes to run and be outside. Yesterday, we were memorizing the baptismal invitation and he told us we could go outside and practice it with each other. It was so great because the majority of our 16 hour days are spent indoors. And today, he suggested we run to the mail room and back. Haha he's different from the other teachers in the best way. We tease him about dating this girl he likes all the time but he's only taken her out twice. Lol

**She wondered for a moment, that first week, if he was a 'real' investigator. Turns out he's just a good actor.

OH! Something that Sister Atkin said this week "I just realized that my literal hardest trial right now is to postpone certain blessings in order to get the blessings of the mission and look forward to the postponed blessings after the mission. I am not allowed to complain any more." 
(The mission is hard, but so so so so so worth it.)

The Lord lives and loves us. Romans 8:38-39. Also, I recommend studying Helaman 5. It's gold. There's so much to learn in the scriptures and sometimes I feel stressed out because there's so much I want to learn and not enough time in the day. The way to be happy is to have faith in the Lord! I love this gospel. I love being a missionary. I love and miss you all! Thanks for being such a supportive, unified family! Some people don't have the support I do so I'm just so grateful. Next time you hear from me, it will be on the phone, right before I go to Brasil!!!!!! I will be calling cell phones. Sorry I don't know more details. I love you all!

-Sister Hartman

Sisters storm the temple. Or attend. Either way they're awesome!

Their versions of Eve in the garden?

Grateful for letters. Please write me!

Comin' at ya, Brazil!!