So I have a new boyfriend. I´m really sorry to all of you out there who thought they were waiting for me. I don´t know his name because he thinks he is our investigator Madelena...who is a woman....Yea I´m not really sure. But he is fairly certain that since we came to the house and asked for Madelena that that´s his name and he was also very excitd to see "his girlfriend" aka me......yea like I said lots of drinking durring Easter down here.
OKay awesome story of the week!!!!! My companion and I were having a CRAP day. We were tracting and trying to teach some people because NONE of our appointments were at home.....typical....and so we were walking and walking and getting nowhere. like for reals, nowhere. No one would let us in and it was just a very aweful day. We were about to give up on the street we were on and move on towards a different area when my companion stopped and decided to "clap" one more door. She clapped and I leaned against a big ol pole outside the door....we waited for a second and right as she was about to clap again these 3 women walked up. I moved out of thier way and they happened to go into the house we were clapping.
Without hesitation or waiting for us to introduce ourselves they invited us in. Ha ha Brasil. We found out thier names are Claudia, Celeste, and Liliene. Between them there are like 4 or 5 kids....all of which love me. and I love them. We taught them and they LOVED the lesson. They are in SUCH a need for the Gosple. They have no money, Claudia´s (the mother) boyfriend/husband/coinhabitant likes to drink and so they don´t really have money for food. The power has been turned off at their house and they don´t have water.
Claudia and the children have huge sores from scratching mosquito bites and I´m no doctor but from the looks of them I´m pretty sure they´re infected. They are sooooo ready for the gosple in their lives but they are slightly ashamed of thier current situation. We went to their house early sunday morning to pick them up for church. They weren´t ready. They didn´t want to come because they were hungry because they didn´t have anything to eat for breakfast and their clothes were dirty because they had no water to wash them.
Please pray for this family. They need help more than most people I know. They are sooo loving still though. They have nothing they still offer to make us food and they always want to share with us. I can´t believe how amazingly humble the people are down here. It´s ridiculous.
Anyways it´s not all sad and gloomy, we have a few other investigators who are close to Baptism. I´m really sad because today marks the 3rd month since I´ve left home and I haven´t had a baptism yet. I just have to tell myself that it´s in the lords time. It´s really really hard though when you work and work so hard and think you have perfect investigators but they don´t keep commitments.
My companion somehow figured out that | know how to play the piano and as soon as we walked into the chaple she told the bishop and his councilors. OH, yes, I´m in a ward, not a branch. it´s pretty tiny though. but Guess who played a half broken mini Organ in church? THIS GIRL!!! Yea, so an Organ is not the same as a Piano and I have never really like the sound it produces. ha ha but hey, what can you do when its all they have right? well I played the best to my abilities and had about 15 small brazillian children surrounding me the whole time. And then the Relief Society 1st councilor slash choir director slash primary teacher (there aren´t too many members down here) asked me if i´d play for the special musical numbers (yes plural) in church the next sunday for ward conferrence. Why not? ha ha wow choir is an interesting concept here in Brazil. They all LOVE to sing but none of them really know what´s going on. My favorite thing is to watch people lead the music, they do it with so much care and all I can do is think "If sister Cobia could see this" ha ha it´s BeAUTIFUL.
Maria and Mario, the one´s with the dog, have to be dropped. They are so ready for the Gosple and they really need it but they won´t commit and my companion said that we can´t keep visiting them because it is a waste of time (I think it sounds nicer in Portugues) but she is right. THey aren´t golden, it´s not their time. They will come around some day.
The bug situation is getting better slightly, I found out that my apartment hasn´t been cleaned in a while because Elders lived there and my companion has only been here a little while longer than me (In Catu) and every P-Day she hasn´t been able to clean because of meetings and what not. I just thought it was gross everywhere in Brasil and just tried to tip-toe around the scary stuff. BUT this morning I got up and CLEANED!!!!! our apartment is actually pretty nice under all the dirt and grossness of elder remnants. I´m pretty sure that as I (yes me, the sloppy one) continue to sweep and make sure there aren´t crumbs all over the place the bug count will go down.
Umm...So, for some reason the insects here are imune to repellent and the members don´t understand this. ha ha they look at the bug bites on my legs (no, I don´t wear nylons....are you kiddin gme it´s like 8 million degrees here) and they say "voce quer repelente?" do you want repellant? no. I already smell like a walking chemical factory, your stinking Brazilian bugs from h. e double hockey sticks don´t care how much spray I use, I just taste too good. ha ha but I don´t know how to say this in portuguese so I say yes, I used some....but they don´t understand and procede to rub all sorts of crap on my skin. Goodness, I know they are just trying to help and they love me......but as a missionary, I don´t always have time to shave thoroughly....embarassing much? anywhays
Other than the unbearable heat and itchy bugbites I am loving every moment down here. The church is true. I know this and someday everyone else will too. Whether it´s here on earth or not is up to us as members. Seriously though, it is soooo not fair for us to walk around knowing the truth and having the joy and peace it brings and not sharing it with others. I have been guilty of this my whole life and I really hope that I don´t continue in my old patterns (yes mom I still know what a pattern is....did you know it has more than one meaning!?!?!?!) Anyways don´t go around shouting at people from the street corner about the modern prophet but be a good example. Walk in Christ´s footsteps and when people ask, "what is it about you that is so different" explain that you have the fullness of the true gosple of Jesus Christ. You have the Gift of the Holy Ghost because you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Siants.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE I miss you all I love you lots and I can´t wait to hear all about your shenanigans this week. Tell Tom I love him and am thinking and praying about him (let me know when he gets outta the hospital). Give everyone a big hug for me!!!!
Tchau Beijo!!!
SISTER OTTLEY
