This is a toke. Very hard to explain but EVERYONE uses them here.....I think it is to protect their hair?

Oh families

sweet goggles huh? gotta protect those baby blues!!!

"no, really Elder where am I going?"

SO this week was full of interesting.  Ha ha The whole week we went around taking pictures with members and I said goodbye to everyone because transfers were this week.  I packed my bags and got everything ALL ready to go so that I would have plenty of time to see all my loverly friends here in Catú.  So I was putting the finishing touches on my suitcase.....aka my big butt on top to try and ge tthe not so budgy zipper closed....When the phone rang, it was Elder Natchigal with "the fax"  ( I honestly don`t know why they call it a fax, no one still uses a fax machiene I thought those things only existed in museums) He asks, Sisteres, do you want to know who is leaving or who is coming first.  we answered with who is leaving....he says, well I am going to tell you who is coming. ...SISTER MARCIANO (which means Martian by the way) the only problem with this is that she has already been Sister Turner`s companion.  HUH!?!?!?! So we started to be slightly skeptical ... okay and her companion elder?  He responds with SISTER OTTLEY!!!!  What?!?!?!?  You HAVE to be joking.  At this point I lost all control.  Portuguese ended and I was running around like a nervous nervy thing.  I love it here.  I love the people sooo much, it was hard enough thinking that I would have to leave.  But now i get to become even CLOSER to these people and learn to love them EVEN MORE?!?!?!  I don`t know if I can handle it.  So Catú was my first and fourth area and I will in total stay here 7 months.  This is SUPER rare.  Like BEYOND rare.  I am soooo excited.  I believe now more than ever that there HAS to be someone here waiting for me who ONLY I can reach.  I can`t wait to meet this person because it is going to be the best ever.  I was certain that It was Lourdes and HAmilton that I had to come back to get them married and baptised.  But no, I am staying and there must be someone else. Anyways I just realized all the runny on sentences I wrote and that it is all one paragraph so I am going to change subjects.

Fasting is amazing.  I believe in Miracles but I know that they don`t just happen.  We have to do our part which normally is just believe.  A real prayer with real faith can do ANYTHING but when it has the back up guns of a fast behind it miracles really do happen.  I want you all to put this to the test.  This week is Fast sunday.  Start your fast saturday night and do your best to go 24 hours with out eatting.  start with a prayer and a worthy purpose, like a missionary experience ;)  Everytime you feel hunger say a prayer and remember your purpose.  I promise that the hunger will pass and you will be energised and want to keep going.  The law of the fast is soo beautiful, Heavenly Father knows each and everyone of us personally and so does Jesus Christ.  They know us even better than we know ourselves, they are the only ones who can help us through this life.  TRUST IN THEM!!!

I love the mission soooo much.  There is nothing better in life.  People keep telling me that I will just go home and get married but I tell them that I am going to be a missionary forever,  Here in Catú it seems.  ha ha I love it.  All is well, it´s like Heavenly Father knows more than I do......nah, can`t be ;)

I loved to hear that Lucy is back and safe.  The trees across the street must have been pretty scary. I wouldn`t count on me liking her too much when I get home mom.  I have not been developing a love for animals here on the mission.  Espescially not Dogs.  Oh my goodness.  Dogs are SOOOO dumb.  Last night we were walking home and decided to take a short cut because it was late.  Then we came to a corner and i desided to cut through a yard to make time even shorter.  Mistake.  Two dogs immediately jumped up and started to growl at me.  I looked at Sister Turner who`s face was probably a reflection of my own terrified expression and said "I made a bad choice"  I just closed my eyes said a silent prayer and walked away.  I don`t know why they didn`t rip my claves open, but I got away unscathed.  This seems to happen to me ALL the time.  We were decending a hill on the way to lunch one day and I ended up saying good afternoon to a family who was outside playing with their dog.  Well I thought they were playing.  Apparently it was a "bad" dog and they were trying to catch it and lock it up again as it had escaped.  Great, it started barking uncontrollably and attacked me.....well with slobber. It never actually bit me but it was showing its teeth and gorwling at me. I thought it was going to attack my ankles I was really upset and Sister Turners best/only reaction was laughter.  ha ha some little boy came and dargged it away, that was fun.  Then one day we were walking on a street totally fine.  When out of nowhere some rabid dog starts running towards me growling and barking and slobbering THANK GOODNESS it was attached to a chain and when it got to the end of the chain it was still about a foot away form me.  I looked at Sister Turner and said: if he wasn`t on a chain I think I would have rabies.  A few days ago we were walking somewhere I don`t even remember where but Sister Turner looks at me and is like "sick, I just watched that dog barf"  like the retard I am I look over and see the dog with some nasty yellow foam dribblig down its chin HEAVING.  sick dude let`s cross the street.  So Animals are not so much my friend on the mission.

ANYWAYS, Investigators!!!!We are teaching a couple girls who are dating members of the church, they are pretty cool, but neither of them are ready to be baptised.  Simone still goes to church every week and still loves it when we come over but her "day"  Still hasn`t arrived I wish something hge would happen in her life so that she could wake up.  I don`t know how much I have told you all about Raimunda, she is the mother of a returned missionary who was SUPER SUPER depressed and now is SUPER SUPER awesome.  She is always telling us how she wants to be baptised but she isn`t married and that dang law of chastity always gets in the way.  Darn it!!!  so we talked to her husband" and he told us he doesn`t want her to get baptised, are you KIDDING me!!?!?!  he says he doesn`t think she is good enough yet as far as health goes to make a decision like that.  QUE RAIVA!!!!

We found two young men who want to be baptised and they are way funy.  Their names are Mateus and Bruno.  I love them al ready and they think my accent is funny so we get along great, I get to talk about the gospel and they get to learn.  We found them on sunday so they won`t be baptised until the 17 of March.  (which is a VERY special day I might add) But I am really realy excited for them!!!.

So I feel like this email was REAL random, more random than normal I don`t know why.  ha ha but it happens.  I Love hearing all the stuff you guys are doing at home it seems as though the world REALLY does go on with out me.  Congratulations to all of you for surviving this last year without me.  I cannot wait until I get to se everyone again, but we are all going to have to wait until august 10.....whaaaaaa!?!?!?  at times seems like forever but then I realize that it is only 6 months away.  oh my goodness!!!!

I love love love you all stay awesome!!! Never Regret!!!  BEIJOS!!!

XOXOXOXOXOOX

SIster Ottley

Simone`s cat Cebola (Translated-Onion) playing in a box....Simone thought it was hilarious, made me miss my mom and all her cats.

My trainer is going home on the 28th!!!!

President Hart and Sister Hart visited our WARD!!!! I love them

Long story....maybe I`ll tell it one email

There is NO way this is not my child.....just look at the hair and eyes.....

AHHHH CARNAVAL!!!!!!

So as you can see from my subject line, this week was Carnaval.  Carnaval is NOT a circus, it is NOT a fun weekend for the kiddos...it is a total apostate reason for grown men and women to get drunk and annoy Sister Missionaries.  :)  But because of this awesome holiday, no internet places were open yesterday and we weren`t able to email...SORRY!!!

This week was pretty awesome full of exciting adventures, lots of travel and a whole pile of strange men.  This week is transfers already and I am a little anxious to know where I am headed.  I will be really sad to leave Catú but I am fairly certain I won`t be staying here.  All toether I have almost 6 months in this area.  That is usually the limit.

I GOT SOME PACKAGES!!!!!  THANK YOU all soooo much.  I got one from Gretchen, thanks a LOAD that calendar is soooo adorable!!!  I love all my neices and nephews!!!!  I also got one from Meghan, aaron and the boys, THANKS guys the gifts were PERFECT!!!  and from mom and dad, I have a story about one of the gifts in that one....I wore on of the new shirts you sent me and  I it called quite a bit of attention.  ha ha we were walking down the street and the paparazzi tried attacking me....well not so much the paparazzi as it was a strange man who pulled out his cell phone and said "oh, oh just one picture, please please!!!"  I waved my finger at him and said, "oh, no" and we walked away.....so thanks mom....ha ha I also recieved a few letters but they haven`t gotten to me quite yet.  THey were in the office then they forgot to send them to me and them they forgot them at their appartment and it is just a big headache trying to get mail BUT you can all rest assured that I will get it eventually.

We had a really funny experience waiting for the bus one night though.  We were sitting on a bench waiting for the SLOWEST bus in Bahia and the bus stop is right next to a bar.  Well this gentleman kept calling over to us if we wanted some guarana or agua de coco.  We kept refusing and saying that we were okay and then he got a little antsy, sister turner leaned over and said "if he comes over here we have to get his address"  aty that VERY moment he turned and walked right on ever and made himself comfortable inbetween the two of us.  ha ha Another strange man  came over and contacted Sister Turner....yes, he contacted her.  ha ha, so I was left all alone with a semi-sober man to try and get his address....well apparently he had a few houses to choose from and it was going to be difficult to find him in just one; plus he couldn`t remember the addresses at the moment.  I got one address to one house of his and then told him how he needed to stop drinking because it would be easier to remember his addresses. 

I am really really happy here on the mission.  I think I will stay here forever,  I am pretty sure my body can`t handle it but I coulod sure try couln`t I?  ha ha I just don`t think that I will have half as much fun going to school and working as I have preaching the gospel.  This week we were teaching this girl who was like Yea, I´ll be baptised but I am not going to go out and knock door to door like you guys ha ha We about peed.  We explained that she wouldn`t have to preach the gospel, just be an example to her friends and family she seemed MUCH more relaxed with that idea.  Then we explained about how a mission is your choice and we are only here becuse we know that all the things we teach are true and that if we didn`t have such conviction we sure as heck wouldn`t be so willing to leave our families and jobs and school to come walk around in the blazing sun all day everyday for a year and a half.....just to spread a lie around.  Where`s the purpose in that?

H ah a everyday my testimony of this gospel grows sooo much.  I Know that there is only one path to get to heaven.  If we don`t choose that path we are basically fried.  I love this church, I know it is true and i am not afraid to tell that to everyone.

I love you all I miss you and I hope you are all doing well.. I hate to hear when You guys are sick but just know that I am praying for all of you and like I told Gretchen my prayers are pretty powerful.  I can do anything with a little faith and a prayer to my heavenly father.  the cool thing is...YOU CAN TOO!!!

Have an awesome week!  stay on top!!!  don`t regret!!!

XOxooxoxoxox

SIster Ottley

My one and only Valentine........BAPTISM!!!

Feliz dia de Namorados!!!!   Parece que voncês não comemoram este feriado na mesma forma do que a gente....OU talvez não no mesmo dia.......ka ka ka mas eu não tenho um amor então minha companeira vai ouvir canções de amor hoje.....ela deve ser animada.  Eu amo todos vocês!!!!  BEIJOS!!!

Okay people, Missions are like basically the coolest things ever.  I love being a missionary.  Everyone loves you.  Everyone recognises you.  I feel like a celebrity.  Yesterday after district meeting I was sitting on the bus next to a guy and his 3 year-old daughter.  The bis randomely stopped beucase of an accident and I may or may not have murmered a little bit at the thought of sitting in a hott stuffy bus for a long time.  The man, Bruno< just laughed a little bit and said it wouldn`t take long.  He asked if I was from the church of latter day saints and I explained that I was a missionary, blaa blaa....american......Catú....

..Oh really?  you have already had the missionaries in your house?  DISCUSSIONS!?!?!?!?!  So it has been a few years.....ha ha he explained that he wanted to go to church expescially now that he has a young child and he wants her to grow up doing the right htings.  Too bad he lives in a nother city.  I passed the referral to the Elders in Alagoinhas.  I hope they go to his house.  The last referrall I passed to them gave them a baptism......SO let`s just be honest, my referrals are pretty awesome.

ANYWAYS, a family showed up at church last week because a member went to go pick them up usually they cannot go because of the distance and there aren`t always buses and when there is there isn`t always enough money to pay for everyone to go.  But they came and we went trecking to their house.  Ran into Diogo, one of the twins from a while ago, appently him avoiding our phone calls was just a way of saying I really DO want you to come visit me.....ANYWAYS, marked another appointment with him and he will hopefully be baptised in a couple weeks.  BACK TO THE FAMILY....we went to thier house.  Grandma and Mom are members less- active because of the whole distance problem.  Then there are 4 young girls....all over the age of 8 and not one if them is baptised.  THey ALL have taken the lessons before but none of them had been to church before...they had ALL prayed before and they ALL know that the church is true.......

I´m sorry would you repeat yourself...I could only hear the splash of a bunch of water.....did you say that you KNOW THE CHURCH IS TRUE?!?!?!??!  All 4 of you?  okay well let`s talk about going to church and getting baptised.  ha ha they all loved church and want to be baptised.  I love them.  I love them so much.  We are most likely going to baptise 3 or MAYBE 4 this weekend!!!!!!!  Why is being a missionary like the coolest job ever!?!?!?!  I have no desire to end this.

Speaking of the end.  I know everyone is all woried about my future, and to be honest I am as well.  But I just don`t know what to do.  I want to go and get my bachelors but I am also interested in getting my cosmetology liscence.  I didn`t get the worlds best grades at BYU-I and I don`t know if I can even go back.  So I just want to say thankyou to all of you for your love and support and worrying about me.  I really do appreciate everyone looking into everything for me.  I seriously don`t know how to respond to the questions though....sorry....I don`t know what I would major in.  I don`t have any money to go to school right after the mission. I don`t know if I want to go to hair school first.  AHHHH  why does life have to be so hard?

ANYWAYS, back to the mission because that is one thing I do know and understand.  I am here in Catú and LOVEING it.  The first time I was here it was kind of a flop.  BUT now that I have come back I am WAY WAY happy.  I am working harder and happier than I have in my whole mission.  I am having sooo much success and I am loving it.  I don`t know why anyone would turn down the opportunity to serve a mission.  Seriously if you are thinking about it, just do it.  This is the coolest bestest most awesomest thing I have ever done. 

We have a HUGE teaching pool.  We don`t even have enough time to visit everyone.  in the past 3 weeks we have recieves 28 referrals from members and have been teaching about half of our lessons or more with members present.  If you can`t go on a mission do your memebr part and find a day in the month where you can go out with the missionaries or give them the address of someone you know that could benefit from the gospel(a.k.a. everyone) I don`t say this as a desperate missionary, I just know that the celestial kingdom wouldn`t be any fun if our loved ones weren`t there with us.

I don`t know how long it has been since I bore my testimony on this thing but I just want you all to know that I love the gospel.  I don`t just say  these things because I am a missionary.  I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on the face of the planet; I am happy to say that I am LDS, or in Portuguese SUD.  I know who I am, I am a daughter of my loving Heavenly Father.  I know that he has a plan for me.  I know that he has a plan for each and everyone of us and he will do the smallest yet simplest things to make that plan go through. For example cause the hitch on a dump truck to break on the highway so Sister Ottley would complain about the heat to the complete stranger in the bus to break the ice and remind him of the spirit he felt years ago when 2 strangers told him about some american boy, Joe smitch.....I know all of these things are tru becuase they are all linked to the Book of Mormon.  If the bofM is true the church is true.  A false Profet couldn`t have had a true book of scripture.  The book of Mormon is like the coolest thing ever written.  I love it.  I am going to marry King Benjamin one day, or maybe Moroni, I really just haven`t decided.  But seriously, if you aren`t reading the book of mormon everyday at least just a little, start doing it.  It will change your life, I promise you.  I have seen it in sooooo many poeple here on the mission and in my own life.  I love all of these things adn I know they are true.  It is just so beautifull.  I know they are true because I prayed and asked my Heavenly Father if they were true and He answered me.  He continues to strengthen my testimony every day and he will do the same for ANY person who wants to know.

So, Happy Valentines Day to all of you!!!!  I hope you all eat some of those nasty chalk herat thingys for me and them some yummy chocolates.  I miss you all, and love you tons and tons!!!!  I hope you are all doing super awesome.  Don`t let illness get you down, it sounds like a lot of colds are going around.  I continue to pray for all of you and I know that Heavenly Father will bless each and everyone of you in your search for peace and righteousness.  LOVE HUGS ANS KISSES!!!!!

XOXOXOXOX,

Sister Ottley

Little lizards like to hang out in pencil boxes.

Groundhogs day Tradition!!! ICECREAM!!!

THey finally called a Ward mission leader here and thank goodness too because his wife made us pizza!!!!

Sometimes members give you avacados and you end up having an avacado fight.....

Twenty Dollars worth of Cheese.

Nossa, como o tempo passa rápido.  Eu realmente não tenho palavras para dizer o que eu me sinto em respeito da missão.  Eu prestei testemunho esta semana e disse que eu nunca quero embora.  É verdade, já sou baiana já.  Ka ka ka

This week was amazing we recieved sooo many referrals that we are going crazy trying to contact them all.  We were looking at the ward list and I about peed.  There are about 600 members here in the tiny city of Catú butt he attendance is around 75-80 people every week.  I feel as though we need to reactivate the whole city but at the same time we need to baptise all the people as well.  It is stressfull but fulfilling all at the same time.  The church really really is true.  

This morning I got up and hung my laundry up outside to dry and then I laid in the hammock to nap.  I dreamed for the first time 100% in Portuguese, usually I mix english and Portuguese while I am sleeping.  Anyways I dreamed that I was in Salvador making a contact with a couple ladies at a market.  Then we looked out the window and saw a man with a book of mormon yelling a bunch of stuff and decided we`d better go find out what he was up to.  When we went outside he was standing on a stage yelling about how the Book of Mormon was a lie and began to tear out the pictures.  I yelled that he needed to stop because he didn`t understand the purpose of the book.  He told me that it was of the devil and all that normal stuff.  He came over to me and my companion and I took the book from him.  I told him he couldn`t say those things because he had never read the book.  He tried to convince me that he HAD read it and I told him there was no way he could have read it becuase if he realy had he would know that it is true.  I told him that I had read the whole thing form cover to cover and I knew that the book is true that every word is the word of God.  He didn`t like that and laughed and walked away.  Then I woke up.  I don`t know why I have these dreams I think I am losing my mind.  Ha ha but I like feeling as though I really CAN stand up to someone like that.  I honestly DO know that the book of Mormon is true and those who say it is a lie haven`t even read it so they have no right to say those things.  ANYWAYS it was an interesting expérience.

So we got a referral of a couple who are friends of the quorum president and his wife the relief society president.  Sammy and paula and their daughter Samyra, she is only 5 months old.  Anyways we went and taught them the first lesson....a.k.a. the restauration of the church and the book of mormon.  They had already recieved this lesson but it has been about a year so we decided it was probably a good idea to remind them.  So at the end of the lesson Sister Turner makes the Baptism challenge and Sammy says "oh, I was already baptised in your church...."  bah ha ha ha I about peed.  It turns out he got baptised for an ex-girlfriend in Salvador and got confirmed then the next week moved to CAtú.  ha ha ha ha ha this was in like 2008 and he hasn`t been to church since.  oh my goodness.  So, we are on the hunt to get his information moved to our ward and reactivate him..  Better yet to activate him because he was anever even active in the first place to go inactive.  And we are going to plan their wedding so that Paula can be baptised as well.  I probably won`t be here for the baptism but I would LOVE to be close to that I can come see it.  transfers are the 28th of Feb and I have been here for 3 aleady so I am pretty sure I will be leaving.  Please pray that I will stay close.

So we have a family of members who LOVES to give us food.  This is cool when we are short on cash but also annoying when it is food you don`t like of just a CRAP ton of one thing.  For instance they gave us a whole páckage of Cheese....the price tag was still on it.  $R20.72  That is a lot of cheese and I don`t really even like cheese that much....so Sister Turner will be eatting it all by herself.  ha ha they also gave us some avacados which then turned into an avadaco fight in our apartment........I love being a bored missionary.

Nothing too exciting or funny happened this week.  so sorry this email is short but I hope you all are doing well.. Thank you to all who have sent emails and been there for me this last year.  I love and appreciate all the support I have from you all.  THank you soooo much!!!!  Please don`t ever forget me.  Ha ha ha OH!!!  and I will be coming home on the 9th of August not the 8th.  So plan accordingly....espescially you GRETCHEN!!! 

I have not recieved any packages STILL BUT as soon as I do I will let you all know.  I haven`t been to the office or had a conference since mid December so that is why it is taking so long.  BUT!!!  I have Zone Conference on the 15th so I bet I will be recieving them then.  Thank you again for all the love and support!!!  I love you all soooo much!!!

Stray awesome and never regret.  Life was meant to be fun.  My trainer in North Carolina said "If you´re not smiling you´re not doing it right."  I completely agree.  I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXO,

Sister Ottley

P.S. Mom and Dad, my companion lost her debit card.  Her parents don`t really have a way to get money to her and her shoes are almost breaking (ha ha she is about a centimeter from the cobbelstone sidewalks) and her backpack is tearing.....like her book of mormon is hanign out the bottom.  Anyways, she needs cash, could you put some money into my account then in auugust she can just pay ya`ll back?  THANKS!!!!!

P.PS..what did mom find out about school?

Baptism of Lourdes!!!

My president is amazing, he converts tourist guides.

Apparently you are supposed to burn stuff after a year.

Wait a year is 365 days? Well I don`think it has been that long yet....must have been a mistake.

 Okay, I officially have the greatest mission president EVER!!!  We invited him to hang out with us for P-Day today and so then we ended up in Salvador and we went to all the tourist sites. It was the greatest ever.  I loved it!!!!  We asked him all sorts of deep doctrine questions and I feel fully edified.

So sometimes you just have investigators show up at church.  We were walking home one day and we got stopped by a drunk guy at the park.  Normal.  We did the contact got his address (yea, sure....if we´re in the area we`ll stop by)  and invited him to church.  As we were walking away he called out and when can I see you guys again?  ha ha ha ha we told him we`d be at church on sunday at 9 am.  If he wanted to see us he could go there.  Ha ha.  Yea right......well Sunday rolls around and I am giving the lesson in Gospel PRicipals when in walks a member with José Carlos....WHAAA??????!!!!!!!!  ha ha he showed up...we got eally excited and took him into the chapel and then he escaped.  ha ha he literally ran away when some other members invited him to sit with them.  ha ha BUT he came to church which is usually the hardest part for people.  Haven`t seen him since but sitll pretty cool.

Apparently Drunk People like mormons because they stop us ALL the time to talk to us.  We usually try to escape and ignore them but I´ll tell you what they are a persistent breed of people.  Ha ha I don`t know why I am still surprised everytime I walk by a bar and someone else calls us over.  You´d think I would be used to it by now but it is kinda nice to be loved :)

This week was amazing.  We DID end up baptising the husband of Lourdes.  He was super excited.  I love that family!!!  ha ha it was great.  It wasn`t easy BUT he finally got into the water.  Like the retard I am I forgot my camera.  BUT other people took pictures so I will have to get them from other people.  ANYWAYS, this baptism was different.  I don`t know why.  It was just...right...ha ha doesn`t make a lot of sense I know but it just was.  I think it was because I had been teaching him since April and it was just time.  Normally at the baptisms I don`t feel satisfied because I am still jsut wanting more.  I know that there are soooo many more poeple out there waiting for the truth and I have to find them.  BUT I took a deep breath this week and just thought of how Happy our Savior and Heavenly Father are at this moment knowing that one less little sheep is out wandering in the wilderness.  Ha ha I know that I sound like a crazy fanatic but that is seriously how it feels.  It is true that there are millions more billions even that need the Gospel;  the work will not end in my lifetime but it is nice to know that I am doing what little bit I can.  

K, so I am wracking my mind tryingto think of what else I did this week that was noteworthy but I am drawing a blank.  I am lame, sorry.  BUt I love you all sooooo much!!!  Hope all is well for you!!!

XOXOXOXOXO

Sister Ottley

Cows in Catú...yup this is the city`s "central park"

Geovanna, sometimes it is just too hott to wear clothes....too bad I can`t do the same

LOOK WHAT I STOLE!!!!!

Translation: Come see Woman Juggernaught.
*challenging any strong man in this city
*Directly from the T.V. show the little rat on the SBT station
* From the best gyms in São Paulo
*champion of free fighting, capoeira, karate, judo, etc.
* measuring almost 2 meters tall and weighing 264 pounds!!!

CRIS!!! He likes to sit with me during sacrament meeting and help me play the piano.

Wait, so Aardvarks are like Lamanites....

 Hey Friends and family!!!  I just want to tell you all how much I appreciate hearing all your updates every week, I don`t know why but I had a really weird dream last night that I came to do email and had no emails.....It worried me.  ha ha I am a weirdo.  Anyways so This week was way awesome.  So my first baptism here on the mission was Jonathas, a few weeks ago his parents got married so they could get baptised.  Well only his mom, Lourdes, got baptised on Saturday but I am pretty sure we will baptise his dad, Hamilton, this Saturday.  They are so amazing and I love them sooo much.

Lately I have been thinking alot about going home and what I am going to have to do with my life.  Yea well, I have no idea.  So, I am just going to do my part, focusing here on the mission and I know the lord will provide a way.  I just want to have some future.  Ha ha I just do`t know what yet.  So you can all just relax, I will go back to school, if ya`ll want to send in my applications for me, be my guest.  ha ha :) but I will keep the commandments and Heavenly Father commanded us to get an education while President HInckley was profet so I will be going back to school.  But I found out the date that I will be coming home....and Gretchen you are going to have to hold on for just a few days.  I will be getting on a plane for the USA on the 8th of August, 2012.  It is really not long enough to do everything I want to do here in Bahia but apparently it is long enough to do what the lord wants me to do.

So I love having a companion who has the same cultural habits as I do and who speaks the same language as I do.  I love all of my Brazilian companions but being with Sister Turner has BLOWN my mind, more than once.  She is so amazing and we have like the worlds funniest deep doctrine discussions.  all the time.  But the other day we had one that about made me pee my pants.  This one was not as deep but it was funny.  We had been talking to a member who wanted us to try armadillo....apparently it is a delicacy....great.  ha ha and when we got home, Sister Turner was like "what are we going to do when they try to force us to eat an aardvark"  ha ha I just started laughing and said, "you mean an armadillo?"  yea that!! ha ha and then we realized we didn`t know what an aardvark is... I said, I think it is just an armadillo without armour.  Then sister Turner replies with the most profound connection ever...."so aardvarks are like Lamanites!!!"  ha ha uh, sure Sister Turner Aardvarks are Lamanites and Armadillos are Nephites.  I just love that being a missionary has made me the worlds BIGGEST nerd and we can turn any topic into a gospel topic in the blink of an eye.  This comes in handy when investigators want to tell you random pointless never ending stories.

So I have said it before but I will say it agina, I love being an american in Brazil.  I am the coolest novelty here it is awesome.  Our Zone leaders asked Sister Turner and I to give a training on thursday about how to meet goals and  so we did some activities and had people share ideas of how they made contacts.  And we came up with some pretty good ones, one was make it a competition and so Sister Turner and I decided we would see who could get the most contacts with people with facioal hair one day and then the next day we did people who don`t have teeth.  Well on the no teeth day, We were doing a contact on someones doorstep one morning when our Zone leaders called and Sister Turner stepped away to take the call.  I finished the contact and turned around to go find someone else.  and POOF right in my face was a scruffy looking old guy.

I smiled and thought to myself "i bet he`s missin a few teeth and Sister Turner can`t do anything about it because she is on the phone"  He smiled back and dang, what a looker, not a pearly white in sight.  I went right on up to him and started to invite him to church....he took this....well,  ummm...he took it in the WRONG way and started asking questions like "oh where do YOU live little girl....it`s at a church is it.....well I live right here, let`s go in right now." and started to pull me towards his house.  "oh no, not gonna happen."  I was looking around desperatly and then he tried to hug me ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I thrust my hand into his and shook it violently and FINALLY my companion appeared at my side still on the phone with our zone leader.  We explained that we couldn`t come to his house right now but that we would be sure to stop by if we were in the neighborhood and then we BOOKED it out of there.  ha ha he was hot on our tails...well as hot as a little old smoker guy can be..when we realized that the street ended.  It wasnt exactly a dead end...ha ha as much as a complete cliff hanger....literally.  ha ha Sister Turner was still on the phone with Elder Nachtigal trying to explain the situation to him and I was laughing so hard I was about to pee when we had to turn around and walk past him AGAIN.  ha ha  we started walking relaly really fast and got to a good place to hide a little bit with some families around where I could compose myself and sister Turner could fininsh relating our numbers to our Zone leader.

We headed back and ow and behold after turning around the corner who do you think was sitting on the sidewalk smokin a cigaret?  good ol smokey the creeper.  ha ha we walked past hastily and went into the next house we knocked.  ha ha we taught a lesson and invited her to church (I´m pretty sure she is an elect BTW) and headed on our way.....Guess who was sitting on the other side of the street when we left her house....ha ha ha ha we decided to head to our lunch appointment and got the HECK out of there.  ha ha I have never really been afraid of my safety I really was just more afraid of him having a heart attack if he continued to persue us.  he really didn`t look that good.  ha ha but it was pretty funny.  I will not lie.

So I can`t eally think of anything else funny or noteworthy that happened this week.  Except I finished the Book of Mormon again :)  woot woot!!! I started it again today and I want to challenge EVERYONE to do the same.  If you aren`t already reading the Book of Mormon GET ON IT!!!  ha ha it really isn`t that long and if you read it like you would any other novel the story is sooooo amazing!!!  I love it!!!!  I mean come on, if my little nephew Tyler can read it all by himself YOU CAN TOO!!!  If all goes according to plan I shall fininsh it by april and be able to read it again before I come home in August.  The plan is to read it in Spanish and put President Hinckley`s promise to the test.  If you read the Book of Mormon in a different language, you will learn that language.!!!  I plan on studying Spanish when I get home.  So Adam you`d better be brushing up so you can help me!

I love love love love you all!!!  I miss you, but I don`t want to come see you anytime soon, just saying.  Please stay awesome and never regret!!!  XOXOXOXOX

Love,

Sister Ottley

OH PS.  I haven`t gotten any packages recently but that doesn´t mean they aren`t in the office.  I haven`t really seen anyone lately that could get the packages to me.  I will hopefully be going to Salvador this next week.  But I don`t know for sure yet.  I will keep you informed.  I don`t know why it has taken so long to get to me this time.  There is no strike going on but that doesn`t mean that everything is all fine and dandy.  Who knows anymore.

Mom,  I did get the check form Rick.  I sent a thankyou card already and sent the check to you. Tell him I said thank you sooo much.  But he should be getting a letter soon, maybe you could explain to him that the post office is not exactly the fastest here.