(411) hey y'all

September 15

So this past week was pretty good! We had some really good lessons and people in church and whooo! it was good. annnnnd to top itall off we're going to the temple tomorrow! whooooohooo! I love the temple! I love the temple! and after the temple we are going to the Zoo! I'm super excited!

    But lets see what else happened this past week... Oh! We had a miracle happen! A lady stopped US on the street and asked US how she can study with us and when... we're going to teach her tonight!! Whooooo! Milagres!

    Also we made cookies this past week! They were great! It was Larissa's 14th Birthday so we made her American Cookies! She loved them! Annnd I loved them... they didnt taste exactly like cookies at home... they just had this little bit of ... brasil... in them but they were delicious! =D

    Also I dont know if I've ever told you guys about funk...but the favelinha next to our house had this HUGE rave dance party saturday so i figured I'd talk about it now... It's this type of music here... funk.... but yeah everybody loves to drive around in their car with their tricked up bases hanging out of their trunks and funk spewing from their speakers, setting off car alarms and other classy things like that... its fun at 230 in the morning... haah but i am so totally going to be looking it up for you guys at least once when i get home so y'all can hear it it's ridiculous!... but kind of a little awesome too... they've got some really sick beats... and my dubstep roots sometimes just make it so all i really want to do is break it down right then and there in the middle of the street... haha buuuuut i dont. Dont worry momma... I am respectable... most of the time... haahh =] 

   Buuuut yeah that was a pointless story but now y'all know a little bit more about brasil! whoooo! buuut now i kind of have to go!... I love you all so much! thank you so much for all the prayers and support!

Te Amo!

-Sister Rice

(404) Nova Companheira!

September 8

 So we had transfers this past week and I stayed here in Jardim Climax and minha companheira Sister S. Silva was transfered to Santo Andre and I got a new companion! Sister Shell! She is from Atlanta, Georgia and is a redhead! Whooooo! hahah She's really funny and awesome and we are gonna baptize todo mundo aqui em Jardim Climax!! Whooo =DD

    Buuut yeah this past week was interesting and quite honestly a little rough buuuuut whats new?? hahah We still have 3 people on date, Larissa and Lysa, and Ana Cristina and we are working really hard with them and are really excited! 

    Sorry about the no pictures still... these computers are really lame lame lame apparently... but i promise that i am taking them! 

    Also I am on chapter 11 of the BoM in portugues! I am really excited to finish it again before the end of the year! 

    Alright, time for a story! So it was last transfer, before Sister S. Silva left, but we were at a member's house eating lunch and there was a little boy there. about 5 years old, and he was showing us how he is learning how to write, and Sister S. Silva told him he should write her name and that it was here on her tag ( is that the name for it... i cant remember the word in english...) and so he gets started... and i'm watching as he slowly writes out a J... and i'm thinking "J?? why J? There's no J in Sister S. Silva... whatever tudo bem"... But slowly he writes out the E and then the S and the U and I get it... She told him that her name is on her nametag (there we go... thats the word) and the name he saw was Jesus Cristo... and it really just kind of hit me that that really is the name that we are trying to have... We have his name here over our hearts every single day... and it really is our goal to take on the name of Christ everyday. It's the name that we will be called by when He comes again... and it is our responsiblity to know Him enough that we will respond... Read Mosiah chapter 5... it's my favorite chapter in the BOM and talks alot about it...

    Buuuuut I'm out of time! I love you guys!

-sister Rice

(390) Soooooo i brought my camera today and this silly computer that i am using...

August 25

 Sooo no pictures today... Sorry! Buuuuuut How are y'all doing?? Good? I hope so. I'm doing great! The area is finally picking up! It was slow going and a little rough for a while but we finally have two solid people on date and we are so excited!! =D

     Also apparently little ol' Missouri made it into the news even down here in Brasil because of all the rioting... I would be proud if it wasnt for something so horrible... hahah 

    Let's see what else?? We had three investigators and 3 menos ativos in church yesturday! Which is a miracle! I am so happy to finally have people coming to church again! It feels like it's been forever! And hopefully in these next couple of weeks we'll be having a couple a baptisms! Whoooooo!!

    Oh and on a more random note... i cut my hair... hahahaha ok not really.  My compy comp just cut off the ends cuz they were all dead and ugly and blah blahblah... i may or may not have cried... buuuuut whatever... I have 4 more months to grow it all out again before y'all will see me... dont worry, I will have hippie hair when I come home!! 

     And speaking on my hair I am officially never washing my hair with warm water again... seriosuly, washing your hair with icy, freezing water does miracles.  I finally understand why my hair has been so dry and disgusting my whole life... hahah seriously, try it out. It is fantastic.

     Also, i only have 20 more pages left in the Book of Mormon in portugues before I finish it! It's only taken me almost 9 months buuuuut I have finally done it! I plan on finishing it tongiht! And I really want to read it at least one more time before I come home... I think I can do it! =D

     Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut I'm out of things to talk about... I hope y'all are doing awesome though! Oh and here's this weeks quote from Unleashing the Dormant Spirit. Well actually the past two weeks since I didnt send an email last week....

    "First and foremost you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness.  Dont permit anything to detract you from this awareness."

   "You cannot communicate with God unless you have first sacrificed your self-oriented natural man and have brought yourself into the lower levels of meekness, to become acceptable for the Light of Christ."

    I love you all! Thank you so much for all of the prayers and support and love!! Have a great week!

Te Amo!

-Sister Rice

(356) I don't like the fact that you all are back in school and work now...

August 11

No one talks to me anymore... =[  Buuuuuut that's ok i suppose... But yeah this week nothing really happened... Sister S. Silva was sick last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday so we did like nothing... which sucked.  I never expected that, before the mishh.  That when you're stuck inside, for whatever reason, that it would not feel like a day off yay vacation party, but just really suck... hahah 

     Buuuuuut yeah. really nothing happened.  Other than I suppose I had a wonderful interview with President and Sister Broadbent Saturday and that I love them to death. oh and i'm super happy that you guys finally got my letter! =] hahah it looks like one of the stickers fell off the front though... which is sad... but whatevers... hahah i dont even remember what i wrote...

     And that picture is so funny!! Bahahahah I did a face mask in the MTC and sent that picture to Alicia... hahahah oh that is perfect! I am so happy that she put it up there! hahah =]

     But like I said theres not much to be said about this past week. I forgot my camera too so I cant even send pics.... sorry this is so lameeee. BUUUT I do have the next part of the talk "Unleashing the Dormant Spirit"! =]

             "In your life there have to be challenges.  They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger or they can destroy you.  But you make the decision of which road you will take."

     Love you all! Have an awesome week! =D

-Sister Rice

(349) I dont have a cool title for this email... sorry.

August 4

    Not a whooooooole lot happened this past week.  I'm getting to know the area and members and investigators here a lot better so that's good!

     Oh! And we had Zone Conference this past Thursday! And guess who was there!!!!! SISTER RAY! WHOOOOOO! We finally found each other! =D It was amazing to finally see her again after almost a whole year! Sister Hauter was there as well and it was just a big wonderful spiritual party! =D hahah

     I also finally got my package! Peanut Butter! and Twizzlers! hahah Everyone here thinks that I am crazy to have asked for Twizzlers and none of the Brasilians liked them buuuuut I dont even care.  They are perfect and my favorite. Ohand speaking of American food I had pancakes the other day too! With Maple Syrup!!!!!! I´ve had pancakes here before but it's always been without syrup cuz they dont have maple here... which has been kind of depressing. buuuuut last night we were at the house of a menos ativo and her son served a mission and in his last area he found maple extract in the fridge that some american missionary had left.... and so he made us pancakes with maple syrup! It was awesome! hahah

     But yeah I really don't have that much to say, not much happened this past week.  I had a little bit of a cold and it's starting to get hot again here (which sucks cuz hello, can you say pathetic winter?? Seriously... shortest and hottest winter of my life... which is funny cuz all anyone talks about is how freezing it was all last winter... ofcourse it's still hot when I'm here...) 

    But yeah... Oh! We might be having a baptism here soon too! I hope so! It's the nephew of the ward secretary. He came to church yesterday and it was great! =D 

   Buuuuuuut remember how I said I was gonna put up quotes from that one talk, Unleashing the Dormant Spirit, every week and then only did it once...?? Well, we're starting back up again because really this talk is amazing and the tips/advice that he gives in it are wonderful. They´re ways that we can be under the influence of the Spirit more in our lives and seriously are wonderful. So here we go, week number two: ( I especially tried to remember this one this past week...)

                      "When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, stear your thoughts away from yourself, and direct them in gratitude and love towards God."

     I love you all! Have a good week ok! Oh and the fotos are of me and Sister S. Silva, minha companheira, and of me and Sister Ray!!! =D

Te Amo!

-Sister Rice

(342) Back to São Paulo.....!

July 28

Soooooo obviously we had transfers last week and I am now officially back in the actual city of São Paulo in the Parque Bristol Stake, Jardim Climax Ward... I'm not gonna lie, I'm having mixed feelings so far about it.  It's super interesting cuz it's like all straight up Favela (I have no idea how to spell this word dont judge me) aka the slums... i guess... i actually don´t know the translation for it... And ok it's not completely ALL favella buuut it's hard to go anywhere without at least being able to see one and compared to my last two areas here in Brasil that didnt have any favellas at all... that's pretty favella-y... hahah I feel like I was trying to see how many favellas I could fit into that sentence...   But yeah so far the area has been good. super chill. just a little bit louder on Saturday nights... =] Annnd it's super small so that's nice. Shouldn't be too hard to learn my way around...

      But yeah we don't have a lot of investigators so we've been working a lot on getting novos and it's been going really good.  Oh! And my companheira! haahahh I almost forgot! Her name is Sister S.Silva and she's from Brasil (there goes my streak of every companion being from a different country... =[ buuuuuuut tudo bem =] ) She's from the Nordeoste (once again I have absolutely no idea how to spell that... no judging please...) The northeast I think it is... which basically means the cool part with all the cool strange food that you hear about from Brasil... So that's cool.  She's pretty cool. I like getting to only speak portugues again... it's super helpful...

       Let's see what else?? Oh! Did I tell you guys?? President changed the times of Pday on us... Pday officially starts at 9 now and goes until 5.  And then at 5 is when we have distict/zone meetings until 630 and then it's back to work... It's a little weird but it's good cuz now we aren't loosing another morning of studying for meetings and such...

     OHMYGOODNESS! I haven't told you guys yet! hahahah I totally forgot that this was onyl last week! It feels like ages since I've been in Rudge... buuuuuut so pretty much the dvds here in brasil are like the cheapest thing ever... and not even like the bootlegs but the actual DVDs... annnnd I may or may not have bought 3 last Pday for 20 bucks.  20 dollars!! And guess which ones they were?!?! Stinking Le Mis, The Amazing Spiderman, and The Dark Knight Rises... All for under 20 bucks... The Dark Knight Rises was only 5!!!... They stinkin had THE HOBBIT for 7 dollars!! I kind of had a heart attack... Ovbiously I am not watching them on the mishh, they're still all sealed up and packed away... But I'm just so excited about them for after the mishh! hahah Sister Robinson was dying laughing at me while I was just geeking out all over the place... =]

      hahah so uh yeah... that was cool... and obviously as y'all can tell i ovbiously havent changed too much... hahah but i've gotta go now! I love you all! Sorry I promise next week I will get the quotes up here but I'm out of time!!

Te Amo!!

-Sister Rice

(335) Transfers.

July 21

Sooooooo I'm being transfered... again! I'm not gonna lie I am a little bummed cuz I really love Rudge Ramos buuuuuuut it is going to be great! I know that! I'm sad to be leaving the people here but I know that I'm off to meet more people equally as wonderful as here in Rudge... and I am going to love them just as much. =]

    But this past week was really great! Saturday the ward had a Festa de Junina at the capela and it was awesome! Basically, it's just a big country party and everybody dresses up like hillbillies and eat bbq and corn and cake cake CAKE! It was great! And really funny actually. I never thought that I would go to a country themed party here in Brasil... hahah but it was a lot of fun! 

    Annnnnnnd our investigator came to the party! And brought his cousin and aunt with him! We found him the day before, Friday, and taught him about the Restuaration (I have no idea how to spell that in English anymore...) and gave him a baptism date (which he accepted!! whooooo!) and invited him to the party and he actually came! It's so awesome when people actually come to things! Annnnnd then he actually came to church too! And loved it! He is so golden and so going to get baptized! Sister Robinson has promised to keep me updated...

    Buuuuuuuuut not much else happened this past week... or at least that I can remember... annnnd I may or may not have forgotten to bring the next part of the Unleashing the Dormant Spirit talk for this week... soooo next week will just have to have two in it.. =] 

    But I love you guys! Thanks so much for all the support and love and prayers! Oh and just look at the names on the pic of the bad bootleg of the twilight movie... it's hilarious. =] Até semana que vem!

TE AMO!

-Sister Heesee

(328) HAPPY ONE YEAR TO ME! HAPPPPPPPY ONNNNNE YEEARRR SEEEES

July 14

Um yeah. One year. ONE YEAR! On Thursday! How does that even happen?? It literally feels like just a couple weeks that we were baking up a storm for my mission farewell and icing out those brasilian flag cookies of death and packing up my bags and putting me on a plane... I feel like I was just puking out my guts in my Mission President's House in New Mexico on my first day in the field last week... hahaha and how on earth have I been here in Brasil for almost 8 months now??  Seriously the time moves so fast and so much has happened...

    Buuuuuuut as for this past week the big news of the week would be the slaughter of Brasil by Germany last Tuesday... one to seven.  It was horrible. hahahaha seriously after the 4th goal everyone was wishing that they would just stop the game and just let them win without putting Brasil through more humiliation... but yeah, we actually ended up having to go home after the first half... thank goodness! hahah 

     Oh and we totally had permission to watch the Final yesterday! But we decided to spend it studying... aren't we righteous?? hahah jk. rowling.

    Um let's see what else... The Bakerys here in Brasil are super fancy.  Um I got the Hobbit postcard that Abby sent me and I loved it!  I'm really happy that y'all finally watched His Grace is Sufficient. See??? I know what I am talking about.

    Oh and speaking of amazing talks that change lives another one that I love is Unleashing the Dormant Spirit.  I can't remember who it is by but it was given at BYU in the 90s I think and it is up there with His Grace is Sufficient.  He talks about how the greatest accomplishment we can have in this life is to be under the complete influence of the Spirit at all times.  And then he gives a couple of tips/advice thingys that him and his family use in their lives to have the spirit more and be better people.  And I am telling you just mastering one of these things would make me 10000x better than I am now.  But I thought that I would start sharing them with you. One every week.  I am currently trying to memorize them all and honestly they are amazing and I am super excited to share them with y'all! So here we go! Week One:

         "Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks.  The covenant to which you are true enables you to become enlightened by Him, and nothing is impossible for you."

Have a great week y'all! I love you all and can't wait to talk to you next week!

Te Amo.

-Sister Rice