Miratejo: Week 15

With my companion Sis. Hickey!

A PB & J miracle!

Hey everyone!

So I'm officially halfway done with this transfer. How is that possible? So fast. This week we went to Bem Fica to do our residencies. We got to see so many people from the MTC it was way fun! For some reason they didn't have my name in the system as being in my third transfer so I didn't get to do mine. We have to go back in a couple weeks but as long as it gets done that's all that matters! Oh I met a kid named Elder Platamone and he's from Simi Valley! He was in the Simi 4th Ward but now he's in the Simi 5th. His parents aren't members but I thought maybe you would know who they are. Who knows? Small world though! There is also a kid here from Thousand Oaks (Elder Gooch) and Moorpark. (Elder Beckstrand)

So we had dinner with the family that is half American on Wednesday. It was so yummy! Their son served in Florida and his Mission President's wife taught him how to make the Strawberry Spinach salad that you always make mom! It was the best meal I've had since I got to Portugal. Feels like home haha! Anyway the dad is Brother Adriano. He asked if I knew Shauna Hixon! I guess he is the Brother of Brother Adriano who is in our Mission Presidency that Shauna served with when she was here. Way funny! The parents met when they were both serving their missions here. The mom is from Wisconsin. I might have already told you all of this. But yeah they both served in Braga how cool is that!

Oh my gosh. So on Saturday all 8 of us missionaries here had to sing in a wedding. Guess what song the Elders picked? Ye Elders of Israel. AT A WEDDING! We all tried to talk them out of it but they weren't budging. We practiced 90 times but none of us can sing so literally it sounded HORRIBLE! Haha I looked at the bride and groom while we were up there and they were laughing! The rest of the people just looked horrified. Yeah... I wanted to bury myself in a hole. Elders should never be in charge of wedding songs! Haha

So good news and bad news. The good news is that João in my last area got BAPTIZED! I'm so excited about it. He honestly was one of my favorite investigators so far. He is AWESOME! I asked Sister Gibbs to send me a picture so hopefully she remembers. Bad news is... Castro had everything ready to be baptized and then on Sunday he didn't show up to church. We called ninety billion times and the night before he told us he was coming but nothing! They announced it in church and everything and then an hour before we had to cancel it. He still hasn't answered but... looks like he's scared or something! We had him pray to know that it was the right date and he prayed and we literally sat in silence for 5 minutes until he was done. He said he definitely knew the date was right so I don't know what went wrong. Hopefully next week!

A couple of days ago all of our appointments and back up plans fell through so we decided to knock doors. The very first door we knocked was an inactive man. He answered the door and seemed annoyed with us at first. We talked with him for a bit and found out his situation. He's been a member for 23 years and inactive for 1. He walked into his house and grabbed a photo book. It was filled with pictures and letters from missionaries that he knew over the years. He is awesome! By the end of our visit he decided to come back to church. I'm so excited! We were totally lead to his door. Crazy how we never know what we're doing but there's always someone waiting for us!

Oh this is just funny. There are these 3 French ladies that we see in the street like all the time. They don't speak any Portuguese or English... And we don't speak French. But we just stop for a second in the street and talk. It makes NO sense! All of us just laugh and try to figure out what the heck the other ones are saying. They are so funny and so happy! I love seeing them. 

Also... we have my future self as a neighbor. Two nights ago we were walking home and saw like 30 cats running around. There was an old lady who was feeding them and giving them water. I was cracking up! We stopped and talked to her and she told us they're all homeless cats she just takes care of them! Yup I found my future me. Love her.

Last thing. I am living in the Promised Land. JK Rowling... yes THE JK Rowling is married to a Portuguese man. She got her inspiration for the Harry Potter books and Hogwarts at a University here in Queenbra. She named Slytherin after a man here, basically I live in the best country in the world. I want to serve in Queenbra more than I can even explain. I just sounded like the biggest nerd in the world but like I don't even care. 

I think it's time to tell you my embarrassing story of last transfer. I was too embarrassed at first and then I forgot... but I'm over it now. So it was the day that we spent the entire day planning for Debrah's baptism, so we were having the interview with the Elders at her house. They showed up an hour late so we were running late to our next appointment. We all ran down the stairs together and the Elders let us go first since we were in a hurry. So there I was running as fast as I could not knowing what's up when I hear Sister Gibbs say, "Sister... OH NO!!!" I stopped with a panicked feeling and felt behind me. Literally still don't know how this happened because all I had been doing was sitting in a house, but my skirt was all the way up in the back. Like everything showing. The Elders saw my bum. We had a meeting that night with them... and I didn't make eye contact. It's okay though I think I just scarred the greenie for life! I have never laughed/wanted to cry so hard in my life. But good stories right?

Anyway other than that... PRAY FOR CASTRO! We have our interviews with President Fluckiger this week so hopefully I don't do anything stupid. Have a good week everyone! Love you all.

Sister Carroll