WEEK 8: August 6, 2018

Sister Hammond and Sister Lins at the beach 

OI!!!!! Eu esperanço que vocés estão muito bom hoje!!!

Life is moving forward here!! Turns out my area is really hard! We are right smack dab in the middle of the city and everyone either lives in apartment buildings or in alleyways. There are a few houses that we try to "knock" on. We don’t really knock because they have huge gates around them so you have to stand outside them and clap. But we do a lot of street contacting. People usually are very kind and want to hear our message for a minute, but then when we call back, they say they are not interested. It is a little discouraging but it is okay.

OKAY GUYS MILAGRE!!! MIRACLE!!!

So last week I was feeling a little bit homesick. So one night I prayed really hard to feel like I had some comfort from home. (because literally everything is different here). It is really difficult sometimes when everything is different. So I prayed and the next day, we had zone conference! Before zone conference we all got all the letters that we had received and my dear and beloved mother sent me a chocolate chip cookie recipe! I was so happy. I had a comfort from home! Cookies! BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!!! So at zone conference we had a huge announcement... BUM BUM BUM, CHIMARRÃO GOT APPROVED FOR MY MISSION! Or, as it is called in my family, Maté!!!!!! WE CAN DRINK MATÉ! But wait. THERE’S MORE! COCA COLA JUST GOT APPROVED FOR MY MISSION AS WELL!!! So you can bet that the next day my companion and I went out and bought a ton of Maté and were drinking it like little happy missionaries. And I made cookies and felt so much better. That was a freaking awesome little taste of home. I was so happy.

Sister Hammond at a central park-type place in Porto Alegre

TODAY WE WENT TO THE BEACH WITH ALL THE SISTERS IN MY ZONE! Guys I am the only American Sister in my zone. Because my zone is the city of Porto Alegre and it is really dangerous and American Sisters are the most likely to get assaulted/robbed so that is a fun time. But I love interacting with the Brazilian sisters. They are so sweet and so patient with my broken Portuguese. We had a picnic and took lots of pictures! We even ran into a couple of women from Arizona and I got to actually speak in English for a hot second!

All the sisters serving in Porto Alegre (Becca and her companion are the only ones procelyting.)

We don’t have a lot of people to teach because it is hard to find people, but we work really hard and walk a lot.

This week I want to challenge you guys to read Moroni 7! Focus on charity! Service and love is really the best way to overcome any challenges. Pray for opportunities to find people to love and to serve and you will find them I PROMISE!!! I have been trying to develop a lot of charity for the people here, because the culture is so different it is easy to get frustrated with people. But as I have been praying for charity I have felt a difference!

Moroni 7:45-48

EU AMO VOCÉS MUITO MUITO!!!!

Sister Hammond