week 60 . transfer week

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[mom note: After posting last week's letter we got pictures (a ton of pictures) from Megan of her adventures at the beach.

The rest of the pictures have been added to the post week 58 . suddenly i SEA]

This week was the infamous . . .

TRANSFER WEEK

+ I stayed in Potengi! Thank goodness. If I had only stayed one transfer for the second time in a row I would've gone crazy. And probably called President crying haha. I'm excited to work another transfer here. I love the area, the members, our investigators, the recent-converts, everything!

+ Sister J. Silva was transferred! To Urick Graff 1 (Mossoró)!!!!! Aka, my birthplace. She's going to die where I was born. So she'll die happy. I was bummed that I won't be able to spend another transfer with her, but I'm also pumped for her. 

+ My new companion is Sister Castilho!

      // ABOUT HER //

> She is from São Paulo. Surprise surprise. (my 7th companion paulista!) 

> She has been out on the mission for 11 months.

> We were in the same district when I was in Caicó!!! We didn't get to know each other super well, but I liked her a lot. She's a sweetheart. 

> When she left my district we were still in the same zone! haha and she lived with Sister Hernandez (my twin and mission bestie) and Sister Hernandez loves her and she loves Sister Hernandez so I was pumped when I heard she would be my companion. 

> She loves to dance and I'm going to ask her to teach me to dance like a Brazillian. Watch out world. 

> She's fun and crazy and we are already having a blast together. 

Since transfer week is sort of crazy I'm going to try to organize this email by the days of the week to have some sort of structure. . . 

MONDAY // A normal, chill pday, but at night when Sister J. Silva and I were getting ready for bed, she wasn't feeling too well. And then she went to the bathroom and threw up. And from that point on (about 10pm) it didn't stop. She was really sick. I was panicking a little bit. We didn't sleep a wink. She ended up getting a priesthood blessing from our neighbor (who is conveniently the bishop's counselor) and then she took some medicine that helped a lot. Around 4 am we finally got to sleep.

TUESDAY // You can imagine how great I was feeling after Monday night, and Sister J. Silva was worse off than I poor thing. She ended up sleeping a good portion of the day and woke up feeling a lot better. After the transfer call we went and said goodbye to her recent-converts and some members.

WEDNESDAY // We got to the rodoviaria [mom note: bus terminal] at about 8:30 am for Sister J. Silva to catch her bus. And Sister Castilho only got to Natal (from Sousa) at 8:30 pm. I spent most of my day there (until about 4 o'clock). I was wishing I had brought a hammock to take a nap haha. But honestly it was fun to see friends there. On transfer day the rodoviaria in Natal is like a beehive full of missionaries. Everyone must think that the Mormons are taking over the world. But I got to see a ton of people there. It was way fun to catch up. 

Megan with Sister Moraes, a previous companion

And from 4-8:30 I stayed in trio with the sisters from Alecrim . . . Sister Lencini and Sister Rios!!!! Party. They're my homegirls. Sister Rios had spent half of her mission in Zona Caicó so she was happy to be in the capital and have a change of pace. Fun to spend some time with the two of them. And their investigator bought us french fries. Woot woot. 

And since I was in Alecrim (close to the mission office) I got to pick up my package. Mom you are the absolute cutest person in the world and I (and many many missionaries here) love you. The "you are my sunshine" package was a hit. Just Sister Castilho and I would never be able to eat all of the yummy treats so it's good the other sister's are going to sleep over tonight (mission conference tomorrow) and I'll share with everyone. LOVE YOU MOMMA. 

THURSDAY // FRIDAY // SATURDAY // The first days with Sister Castilho have been great. I think we're going to work really well together. We were teaching Antonio and Otavio these last few days, preparing them for their baptism and they have honestly been so prepared by the spirit. They love the church. They spend every day there at activities, they are both going to seminary, they have honestly jumped headfirst into the gospel. And the best part is seeing how their family is supporting them in this. Their grandma is a less-active member of the church and their mom spent a long time going to church but wasn't able to be baptized. But she remembers everything! When we taught them about the Restoration she taught the lesson more than we did. An elect family. 

#minhavida // We decided to do a contact with two women and a man who were sitting on the sidewalk in front of their house. Little did we know that it would be probably one of the funniest contacts of my mission. The women were talkative, nice, friendly, etc. The man was a little bit drunk. He started to "speak English" which was mostly Portuguese with small phrases in English. And then he started talking politics with me and saying how he wanted his country to copy my country. Then he started telling Sister Castilho how beautiful she was. He was going on and on about how she was "his princess" with his wife sitting next to him! But instead of getting jealous or offended she was apparently worried about my self-confidence. "They're both pretty dear. Both of the girls are pretty." He agreed with a shrug of the shoulders and went back to praising Sister Castilho and trying to hug her. Hahaha poor girl. She half yelled that missionaries can't hug and he backed off. But don't worry I've recovered from the blow to my self-esteem.

SUNDAY // Best sunday ever. A ton of investigators at church (and they all went by themselves!), great lessons in sunday school, a beautiful and reverent sacrament meeting. Antonio and Otavio's entire family was there in the front row with us and an irmã [mom note: sister] gave a talk about "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". It was perfect. The baptismal meeting was spiritual and so special. The members gave a warm welcome to the boys and there were a few members who recognized Antonio and Otavio's mom (Aquelice) and grandma from when they used to go to church and gave them hugs and welcomed them. It's exactly what we want to see the members do when we bring people to church. It makes all the difference. 

After our perfect Sunday morning we ate a fabulous lunch at the Bishop's parent's house. (the Bishop's dad looks exactly like Gordon B. Hinckley it's weird). I ate so much I thought I would die. And there was even homemade ice cream for dessert. I was in heaven. 

Overall it was a wonderful week. So happy to be here. 

I love my life. 

xoxo

Sister M. Baker

Megan's new Zone after last week's transfer