Fourth of July pictures!!!

Feliz quatro de Julho! 9 July 2012

Wahoo! Happy fourth of July everyone!

This week was SO hard in the aspect of finding people to teach and having them actually listen. But it´s okay. There will always be weeks like that. But, in all other aspects this week was really great.

I just love fourth of July. Tuesday night we stopped by the supermarket and I bought stuff to make a cake (yes, ME, making a cake. true story.) I wanted to make an American flag cake. I figured strawberry could be the red stripes and I melted white chocolate to be the white stripes. Finding something BLUE was the hardest thing ever! They dont even have food coloring! So I bought some blue mentos which turned out to not be so blue. Only a blue tint. haha but the cake turned out pretty awesome. See for yourself.

For comp. study we sang the national anthem. Well, the brazilians tried to sing with me but mostly I just sang it alone. It was awesome! haha and pretty funny. And the cake was actually pretty good. Not the mentos part but the part with the strawberries. Duh. haha

Oh yeah, Tuesday was transfers!!! Our beloved district leader left! So sad! The other photo is from Monday. We all went and had one last lunch together. Way fun. The two Elders in the picture have the coolest story ever. THey are from the same town and were friends before and came to know the church around the same time. The Elder who just went home trained the other Elder. Many more details to the story but it is way cool how they both ended up on a mission. Lets just say there was a lot of crying when they were separated. Yep, boys cry too.

Sidenotes: Mom, I saw a dead cobra in the road the other day. Thought you would wanna know.

Tuesday was a full moon! Man, I love the moon. Martha. were you looking? THE SAME MOON! Dad, I got the package! The backpack is awesome and the other stuff is amazing as well. Thanks a million!
We had Churrasco again this week!!! So good! I shared the message and when I opened my scriptures the picture I have in there of rach katie martha and I at alex's wedding popped out and then EVERYONE started passing it around. It was really funny. haha Martha, they think your name is very difficult to pronounce.

Saturday we had a Zone meeting in the coolest chapel ever in Itapuan. Right by the beach. It was really cool and we set some goals as a zone that are gonna help us work even harder. It was pretty fun too.


We had a lesson the other day and one of the members was telling us how ugly our sandals are. He was like YOU arent ugly, but those shoes! I was wearing the chacos. SO FUNNY! We were like, we already know. Its something only missionaries understand. Maybe only sister missionaries. haha we had a good laugh.

Sometimes portuguese is SO frustrating but I can tell I am getting the hang of it more and more. The struggle is part of it but it is a pretty annoying part.

We have a new district leader, Elder Bodily from boise Idaho. He goes home at the end of this transfer! Lots of changes coming! Yikes!

Dad, thanks for the fast. I´m not just saying this but I really could feel the effects of it this week. Thanks. A lot.

Sunday we walked. and walked. and walked. My legs almost fell off at the end of the day.

This week I read something so interesting in the BOM. In Alma chapter 5. I think versers 14-16 but im not exactly sure. It talks about receiving His image in your countenance. I have been thinking a lot about this lately. As a missionary sometimes it seems like such a huge responsibility to be a representative of Jesus Christ but really as a member of the church I already promised to take His name upon me and every day strive to be more like Him. Just read the scriptures, it explains it a lot better than I can. haha
Mom, when is the fam reunion? You are gonna send me a t-shirt right? right?
 Love you all! Until next week! Tchau!

Sister Zeller

More Photos!!!

Photos:

#1 District meeting. Me gettin creative with where to place the camera. Dad, I thought of you while doing it.

#2 Dont worry. It wasn´t even my companion and me that wrote our names there so don´t worry. But the picture is awesome huh?

#3 Convento da Penha view. With some girls from the ward. So beautiful!

#4 Maybe we fed the monkeys. Maybe we didn`t. If you look closely you can see the monkey in the background. 

Guess who is not a greenie anymore? In theory anyway 2 July 2012

Well, last week was officially my last week of `training.` The 12 week missionary program is officially over for me! Wahoo! Even though for me it was 24 weeks. 12 in english and 12 in portuguese. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed a lot of help. haha and I officially finished my second transfer here in Brasil. I can´t even believe it! Its amazing how unprepared I still feel. I am officially a normal missionary but I still feel pretty green. haha

Oh yeah, Transfers are TOMORROW! But good news, I am not even getting transfered. Sister Dias and I are staying in Gloria and I will be her last companion! She goes home at the end of this transfer! We are setting a ton of goals and its gonna be great. I think we have to go to the transfer meeting anyway tomorrow to get some materials so I will get any letters that I have (I better have some people. You remember general conference, don't you???) And dad, that is when I will get the package. Muito Obrigada!!!

This week was great! Starting at the beginning, last monday, for Sister Dias´s birthday we went to the Convento da Penha with some of the girls in the ward. It was SO beautiful and SO much fun. The weather was perfect!!! Not too hot and not a drop of rain. I bought Sister Dias a thing of Nutella. It is super expensive here and she was very happy with my gift. haha Thank goodness. She is so funny, the whole day she kept saying `What a special day it is today`!!! I think we were all a little relieved when tuesday rolled around. haha jk jk It was funny. 

 

We took a ton more pictures. Dad, I am going to put ALL of my pictures on a CD and mail it home. Oh yeah, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! EARLY! I am so excited for the fourth of July. It is definitely one of my favorite holidays. I have so much pride for our country! We are so lucky to have been born in the good ole US of A! I am going to make the Brazilians sing the national anthem on Wednesday and maybe even recite the pledge of allegiance. I might even attempt to make a US flag cake. Not sure about the last part. Mom, if I was awesome like you I would make a cherry pie. Some day. 

Our beloved district leader Elder Santos is going home this transfer. Other than that our district is staying the same. I am gonna miss him! Such a good leader and such a good missionary! We had a little festa after the district meeting on Thursday to say goodbye. We took pictures. That is where the photo of the chairs stacked on top of each other comes in. We had to have somewhere to place the cameras to take the pictures! Duh! What else was I supposed to do? 

So the mission is starting a new program to reactivate members, I think I already talked about this last week. We did the Second step yesterday. A bunch of members gathered at the church and everyone took the records of ten members and then we all set out to visit them and see if they are interested in coming back. 

 

Sister Dias and I went on splits!!! AHH! I went with one of the girls in the ward, Jasmine. She is awesome and only 18 and already prepared to be a missionary one day. haha I was SO SCARED! haha I was seriously so scared but I knew it would be good for me so I agreed to it. As we were looking for the first house I just kept thinking, Its okay its okay, He will provide a way. Calm down. haha oh man. But it was great! It was actually a lot of fun and not even hard like I thought it would be. Part of that might be because we couldn't find a bunch of the addresses and some of them moved. But hey, I did my part! And we made contacts along the way! I will count that experience as a success! 

Sad experience of the week. We were walking around and I looked on the side of the street and saw a mangled restoration pamphlet. Then I looked closer and it had my name and sister Dias on it! How sad! I picked it up and took it home. 

So sad. Moving on. I have been studying a lot lately about repentance and humility. Repentance is an action but at the same time I think it also an attitude. An attitude of humility. Being willing to recognize your mistakes and make a change. That is something I have been working on lately. There is no way we can grow without being humble and humility is essential for dealing with other people. Just a few thoughts.

I am so grateful for this Gospel. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, at 6:30 to be precise, my first thought is ``What the heck am I doing here? I need to sleep`` Then as I say my prayers and actually wake up I realize what a great opportunity I have at this time in my life. I knew a mission would be hard before I left but I didn´t understand everything that it would entail. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father helped me to make the decision to serve a mission. 

 

Someone told me the other day that serving a mission doesn't really have anything to do with the rest of your life and that it won't really make you a better wife or mother. I was taken aback. Of course it does. Everything we do in this life prepares us for what comes next. I am learning things now that I know will help me later in life. I can pretty much guarantee that I wont be waking up at 6 30 every single day but my relationship with my Savior has truly changed and that will affect the kind of person I am for the rest of my life and will effect everything I do. 

 

This Gospel really is a plan of happiness and is so special.

Go light some fireworks for me on the fourth of July!

 

Until next week!

Tchau!