Wednesday, December 31, 2014

October November December 2014



October 29, 2014






So this week was transfers I got transferred to the other side of the river, to Alecrim, I have been called as sister training leader, and who is my companion...Sister Reeve, who just so happened to be my very first companion in the MTC, crazy right? I always joked with her how funny it would be to be comps with her in the field and she would just look at me and say "it´d be like the blind leading the lame, and it´s impossible to be comps with someone who has the same time as you" oh little does she know ha-ha, but it´ll be great I’m excited. So basically what I get to do now is call the sisters, hear their problems and go on divisions with them, and I’ll be going to mission counsel each month. ótimo! Last week sister Gonzales and I went to the aquarium and that was super great:) also Iraci, the lady who was baptized two weeks ago made us lunch this last Sunday.... I never know shrimp could taste so great! I didn’t even know I liked shrimp. All in all that´s about it.... oh I got my birthday present! You´re the best mom! Love you!
















Sister Leonard

November 3, 2014

Not much has really changed, like always with transfers, since the last time I emailed. Two sisters came to visit because one was sick and needed to go to the hospital here, so that´s stressful because missionaries aren´t that great as houseguests and because we live where the mission office is we are the go-to house to sleep and everything. Did I tell you there are 10 bunk beds in my house and each one has 3-4 mattresses... there are 50 sisters in the mission.... I’m not excited for the sisters conference in two weeks... but it´ll be great. Life is all good in the hood. Love you!

Sister Leonard

November 10, 2014

Que fubecagem

This week was a good one. Let me just start off describing an event that no one will truly appreciate. I went to McDonalds, it´s been more than 16 months. I know in the states it´s like the lowest grade meal you can get, but here in Brazil it´s kind of a huge deal. I cannot describe how great it was to smell that fast food grease and taste Heinz ketchup. Elder Cansino almost cried and Sister Reeve saved the french-fries cardboard as a souvenir... it´s not pathetic its as magical as Disney... okay not quite but it was delicious. What else happened this week... drama with other sisters... I really was raised as a boy. Sister Reeve doesn’t like drama either, but with this new calling we get to hear all about it.... this is the Lords way of teaching me more patience. Stake conference was this weekend... that was quite the event, I still don’t know who is in our ward because the chapel has been under a reformation, so we have been with another ward in a different building and this week was stake conference so this next week I should finally get to know some of the members woohoo. Maybe we´ll do divisions this week, don’t know yet. But yesterday Larissa was baptized, she´s been going to church for 3 years on and off, but never really felt like she was worthy to make the leap and get baptized. She has changed so much in the last few weeks. Wow I was so happy yesterday to see her baptism; she is a true example of sacrifice for what is right.
got to go

love you all!

Sister Leonard


November 17, 2014

This week

this week was good... well at the beginning it was super stressful, people showed up to sleep at our house on Monday... 10 sisters in one house.... as you can see from the pictures we ate ramen:)  every one was there for mission leader council.... so I don’t know if that makes sense conselho da missão.... but it was great I learned a lot how we need to be examples to help the other missionaries. so we went to the other zones zone meeting this week (all the sisters we take care of live on the other side of the Rio) but we had fun resolving there conflicts. sister Reeve and I laughed a lot this week, which always alleviates some stress, also we made chips and salsa, because we are two Americans in brazil eating Mexican food... that makes sense. But the end of the week was great. We are happy and full of energy... that´s actually a lie, we are dead physically but mentally and spiritually we are awesome, and we smile lots because this is the best work you can do.:)

hope you liked the pics


love Sister Lee



so I don’t trust ramen anymore.... this is what happens when sister Francis visits and leaves her ramen out for a day


yes food does fall from heaven


and we made chips and salsa!!! mmmmm

November  17, 2014

lots of selfies


these are the sisters we take care of:) 


elder torres at the bus stop


Sister Reeve and I



November 24, 2014

Turkey

What a great week. First of all I spent my last p-day making jerry out of newspaper, glue, a balloon, and duct tape (the duct tape saved the day once again). Sister Reeve made monkey bread (have you ever made it with out premade biscuits? we did:)) so Thanksgiving was a hit because there was food and a turkey, and this month sister Reeve and I have been writing on a poster each day what miracle we saw that day, it´s pretty amazing to see how much the Lord has blessed us this month. 


we study Preach my Gospel together

The missionaries with "Jerry"


One thing I LOVE about being here with Sister Reeve is we laugh a lot. We are serious when we need to be but we are really just trying to live it up, every moment we have here on the mission. During ward counsel we were all dying of hunger when all the sudden the ward clerk walked in with juice! We ended up making a leadership pizza night to end our meeting #bestmeetingever.
I saw Hildemar 2 times this week, which always makes me happy he is strong in the church and happy:)
Transfers is next week I’ll be on Wednesday.
I’m grateful I am here:) love you all:)
Sister Leonard

oh yeah, we made monkey bread

December 10, 2014

Caicó

So I got transferred again. Transfers week is kind of ridiculous when you live in the mission home. Monday night we have to go to the bus station to get the Sisters who have been called to train. Tuesday our house is full of lots of people who don’t respect space or anything. Then at 930 Tuesday night you get a nice little call saying who has been transferred, you then have to stay up till 1 in the morning organizing all of your stuff and packing again, only to wake up at 630, go back to the bus stop and get on a bus for 4 hours which turns into 6 when the tire gets a flat... and there isnt a/c... but all in all its been a good transfer. I’m in Caicó which is the only city that I was lacking to be able to say I have served in all the cities that are part of the mission. 
But backing up: last week Marcelo was baptized he is really funny, he just has a really innocent way about him. Like we were reviewing the baptismal interview questions and we asked if he had any doubts or questions. He asks "if you own a bar, but don´t drink, would you have to sell your bar to be baptized"... "Marcelo, do you own a bar?" "No"... "do you plan on owning a bar" "no" alright then you don’t need to worry about it. He is really great and just wants to do the best he can:)
After his baptism we had a ward potluck, break the fast. It was really great to unify the ward a bit more. 
Then transfers happened and now I’m in Caicó. I’m with Sister Baker, she´s from Charlotte North Carolina. We will be going home the same day ha-ha, she is awesome. We live with Sister Algayer and Sister Rios! minha filha amada! This transfer is going to be even funnier than the last two, I am so excited. I was a bit sad to leave Alecrim so fast, and I did have a blast with Sister Reeve again, I’m sad to leave every area actually, that´s what happens when you love the people. But I’m excited to be here. I know it´s the Lord who sends us where we are needed.

love you all. stay classy
Love Sister Leonard


December 15, 2014

So it´s been a whole 3 days right? Since we last talked. Sister Baker is really cool, we get along great. It´s always a pleasure learning your way around a new town. it´s nice that here is pretty much on the grid system, but its hard to know which street is which because it all looks the same, so that´s not cool. Right every email that I ever sent saying it was hot here was a lie, Caicó translates to be "the gates of hell are open" it is so hot! Also Caicó doesn’t really mean that. like the other areas were hot but when you stepped into the shade, there was a little breeze that made it bearable, here when there is a bit of wind its like a hair dryer on super hot that just hits you in the face and makes you want to cry.  This week will be fun because we have our Christmas conference, which will be way better than last year because this year I have friends.

awkward family Christmas fotos

Also this morning our house flooded, I’m pretty sure it´s still flooding, I kind of just left the problem, I couldn’t fix it with duct tape. Our pipes don’t drain, only one does, and it´s clogged and my redneck fix it skills were inadequate to fix it, so we called someone and they´ll pass by this afternoon. I’ll send a pic. love you all. Until next week:)
Sister Leonard

Dec 22, 2014

If I tell you everything that happened this week I wont have anything to say on Thursday. But basically this week was our Christmas conference, and it was really great. It was super fun to see everyone. The whole mission (literally) got sick, because there was some bad chicken in our lunch, but we all survived. Actually everyone I live with is sick... except me, but it´s unrelated to the chicken. This week was better than the past two; we are going to start to do a bunch of divisions these next four weeks. Should be fun. it´s all good in the hood.
 love you all, until I see you in three days:)
Sister Leonard

Dec 29, 2014

This week was a good one. It was good to see the fam bam for christmas. for my birthday I worked, I actually gave a talk yesterday, almost no one was at church because it is the end of the year, and here in Brazil they don’t just have Christmas break but this is also their summer break right now. so basically everyone is out of town until the end of carnival, in Feb. but it´s all good. last night we went to Rogerio and Suénia´s house to east cake:) and everyone sang parabéns to me:) I got two snickers and a nice floral perfume from the sisters who live with me (i think its to mask the sweaty smell, it works) all in all it was a good birthday.

love you all. happy new year. make goals that are actually possible to meet, set plans to reach your goals, love you all.

Sister Leonard