Brazil Bound: February 16, 2015- Happy Valentines Day!

Hi Family!!!

It has been a wonderful Valentine´s week. Wanna know why? Because love is in the air!! We had a wedding and a baptism!!

Hanahoor (the professional surfist) and Iris (the returning less active) were married saturday morning and it was such a cool/interesting experience. Early in the morning we helped Iris get ready... hair, make up, etc. We got her all guessied up and took a taxi to the Cartório where Hanahoor and the rest of the family was waiting. I am not sture if we even have an equivalent of a Cartório... but when we got there the first thing that came to my mind was Vegas. LOTS of brides and grooms. LOTS of families. You´re in and out with a wedding certifiquite in had in 15 minutes. But to a missionary, this strange place is an interesting sort of heaven. Because here everyone, for one reason or another, is following a commandment and getting married. And in this crazy world we live in, this is a miracle.

Hanahoor and Iris were oh so happy. Glowing actually. We took so many pictures and right after the wedding, we ran to a nearby grocery store and printed out a few. We made a memory book with photos and things for everyone to sign. After lunch we had the baptism. And it was oh so wonderful. Iris sang the rainbow/baptism song for her amor. And this ward is incredible. We were worried that no one would be there because it is carnaval and everyone is traveling, but when we announced that there would be a baptism, people moved heaven and earth to be there. We worked with the ward to throw together a little surprise. Darling decorations and lots of food was a great way to end a wonderful day.
When Iris saw her little party she began to cry. She thanked us and told us that she would never, ever forget us. That we changed her life. And she invited us to take part in her sealing exactly one year from now in the Honolulu temple. So cool!

In other news, we found another wonderful family this week!! We found her on the streets and asked if we could visit her and she said ´´please``! Not a response we get every day! She is a young mom with two little, rambunctious boys. We couldn´t stay long because one boy was screaming, but we showed a video about families and she loved it. Oh and she is married!! Legally. Yayy!! Her name is Cristiane. Pray that all goes well!
Fun Facts about Ferreira:
1. We had to scrub the baptismal font before the baptism... In this area, baptisms are so rare that there were cob webs and spiders in the font... yikes
2. We are currently using Lan House (a place with lots of computers and internet use) in the middle of one of the biggest favelas in São Paulo, Paraisopolis, because there is no need for a Lan House in our area. Everyone has computers!! But don´t worry, we make this journey with our district leader for safety reasons...
3. On my way home everynight, we pass an outback, a burger joint, a sushi place and an american pizzaria. Outback is the chiqueiest of chique.
4. I used my first dryer machine in about 14 months. My clothes forgot what it feels like to be washed, dryed and put away in less that 1 hour.
5. As we were walking to church an American family offered us a ride to church. And it felt just like being home! A car with a back seat is NOT commun here.
6. Our ward has lots of american families who use head phones to hear the meetings translated into English
7. I had my first fajitas in oh too long.
8. The very best sound is the clicking of the gate meaning that the guy working at the security booth recieved permission to let us into a building. Seriously, we live for that precious click.

If you were wondering, this area is not the Brazilian norm... But we are having fun and I know we will continue to see miracles!

Have a great week!
Sister Lauren

my ???- how is it being a sister leader? How is your companion?

My companion is good. She is 28. We are getting a long fine. She is smart and works hard. Being a sister leader is kind of a pain... lots of problems to resolve. There are some crazy sisters on the mission

this week this crazy new girl arrived and she simply said that she couldn´t stand her companion, who is actually a really nice girl. She called president asking to be transfered. We were in a meeting with president when the assistents explained the problem so he assigned us to deal with her. They came into the office and we tried to have a meeting but the girl simply said that she did not like her companion and would not stay with her. Finally president ended up transfering her because she was yelling at the companion always.

Stuff like this...