July 21st

So Brazil was super embarrassed for losing, haha it's all anyone talked about. During the game with Germany it was completely silent. Kind of eerie actually. Afterwards there were fireworks and horns, but I figured they lost because no one was yelling or dancing in the street haha. The whole next week the people here would not stop talking about how embarrassed they were.

This week went super well. I found out that my area is actually bigger than I thought so we have been working in an area named Vila Nova & we have being seeing a ton of success. Vila Nova hasn't had any missionaries working in it for over a year now because on our map it was in the Elders area and on their map it was in ours so no one has set foot in it. It is definitely a very humble area, and definitely not on the safer side after dark so we really only have about 6 hours to work in it during the day  because we leave before it gets dark, but it has been really good. On the first day we worked there we knocked 8 doors and taught 6 lessons. It was awesome. This week we have met some great people & on Sunday we had three people in church which is better than these past few weeks. We had a girl named Luana, she is 16 and lives with her grandma. She is really interested in learning about the Plan of Salvation so we plan on teaching her that this week. We also had a young man named Lucas in church, he is 20 years old & he works with the army here. We taught him at the end of the week about the sabbath day & invited him to church & he was ready to go when we picked him up. I'm super excited to teach him this week. We also had a man named João, who has a daughter named Karen. He is without a job right now & I think he is trying to find happiness. I'm looking forward to teaching him as well. We also  taught a lady named Eliane and her daught Aline. They couldn't go to church this Sunday though because she was working. When we first entered her house Eliane, the mom, was super closed off. She wasn't really talking that much with us and didn't seem too interested. As the lesson went on we figured out that she had just moved to Ponta Grossa, away from her alcoholic husband. She has been living here for four months and has nothing. We taught her about the restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon. We explained to her that we know it is hard for her to be a single mother working all the time and trying to raise her child alone. She lives in a pretty sketchy area and she expressed that she doesn't want her daughter to grow up this way. We promised that as she reads the Book of Mormon and goes to church that her life circumstances will get better and that she'll be able to raise her daughter the way she wants to. She started crying and said that she really wants this and that she will for sure go to church this next Sunday. When we finished the lesson, she was way more open and seemed to have a different feel about her. It felt good to be able to give her hope for a better life through the gospel. We set up a day to go back this week, I really look forward to seeing her. 

July 7th

So I have definitely been struggling this past week. It's just hit me that I'm going to be going home soon. Heavenly Father loves me though so we got a call on Thursday saying that we were going to have a conference & interviews with President on Friday. The conference on Friday was super good, & uplifting. I always love hearing my president talk because he is so intelligent & really knows the scriptures. I finally had my interview with him. He asked if there was anything he could do, or anything I was struggling with. I just told him how I was feeling. I told him I'm struggling with the idea of going home. He asked me why I was so stressed about going home & I mentioned that I miss my family, but that I feel like there never was anything before this mission & that there won't be anything after. I told him that I have progressed and changed so much in my mission but that I worry that I won't be able to progress as much afterwards. He calmly talked to me & told me that this is normal. That almost every missionary goes through this & that it isn't a sin to struggle. He said that my love for the mission shows that I served a good mission, & then he said something I wasn't expecting. He told me that this means I have done everything I've needed to do on my mission. He told me that when missionaries start feeling the way I do it's because they are ready to go home. He then pulled a Nanny Mcphee quote on me and said that when we arrive in our missions we need them, but think about home & don't really want or appreciate them. When we want & appreciate them is when we don't need them anymore and it's time to go. He told me that I just need to focus on one day at a time & just do my best. He thanked me for my service & said that I have been a blessing to this mission & that he is sure my family is proud & then sent me on my way. The interview I had with him really helped me feel better. I'm so grateful for my mission and my president. 

From left to right: Sister Soares, Sister Renae, & Sister Aráujo

We got matching shirts!

Part of our area

Most of the roads in our area are like this or are dirt...

My favorite member in the world! Irmã Zilda. She is 90 years old & was the first member in her family. She raised 8 kids in the church & bares her testimony about it every fast Sunday. She is so cute.