If it ain't grass, it's mud!

Tudo bem com voces?! This past week went by so fast and was really different because of the transfers that happened. We have only 2 people in our apartment now and it is strange, but good. I love being companions with Sister Leal, but we both miss the other sisters. The first thing we did with our apartment was rearrange everything and make more space. Our apartment is much more enjoyable now than it was before! The missionary work is going well….still no baptisms. We´ve prepared over 6 or 7 people for baptism (taught all the lessons, had the district leader interview them,etc) but something always happens at the last minute and people back out. It is very frustrating at times, but I~m learning to deal with it. Feelings of frustration only come from the adversary and so I am determined to stay happy and continue to work hard! This last week Sister Leal and I worked so hard….as a result we met a lot of wonderful people that are ready to hear the gospel. I think we will have a lot of baptisms this transfer….I hope we do at least! I~m continuing to make friends with the people of Sousa. We know a lot of people already and make new acquaintances every day. I love absolutely love it here! I miss my friends and family for sure, but I will be so sad when I leave this place in 15 months. I honestly feel such a love for the people here, probably because they are such a loving and friendly people. The weather has cooled down a bit these past couple days. I think we are heading into the rainy season which I am looking forward to. I think I might have said this a million times already, but I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I get to study the scriptures for 2-3 hours everyday and get to serve people for the rest of the day. BEST LIFE EVER. I am so thankful for the opportunity because it has changed my life and will continue to do so I am sure. So I have a million different stories to tell you guys when I return, but I thought I would share one funny story that happened to me this week. We (Sister Leal, 2 members from the branch, and I) were teaching a man whose wife is a member of the church and they live on the outskirts of town near the gypsies. After we finished with the lesson we were walking back and saw a bunch of kids playing soccer. Sister Leal said to me ´make a contact and invite them all to church´. I said `com certeza eu vou` (with certainty or heck yes I will). Just as I said this one of them kicked the ball over in my direction. Eager to get them to like me I decided to run after the ball and kick it back. Oh goodness…what seemed like a good idea was definitely a bad idea! I was running full blast after this ball which was rolling through an area covered with ´´grass`´…well it certainly wasn’t grass. Before I knew it I heard a big PLOP as my feet sunk deep into some mud. Unfortunately because of the momentum I had built up from my running my legs didn~t stop until I reached the middle of the mud pit that honestly looked like grass from a distance. Well as you can imagine I ended up being covered with mud..BUT I did kick the ball back to the kids. As I tried to get back to dry land Sister Leal and the two members were doubled over with laughter. I have to admit it was the funniest thing ever….but the story continues. After I was back with the others we had to decide what to do because I was absolutely covered in mud (luckily my skirt was black). We decided to return to the house we had been teaching at. As soon as we arrived they all started laughing and ushered me into the ´backyard´´ to wash off. The backyard was actually a chicken and turkey pen. Anyway… before I knew it I had four people grabbing my legs and arms and washing me down. Oh goodness I wish I had a picture of all of this…four people scrubbing me furiously, me standing there looking helpless…all while surrounded by tons of disturbed chickens and turkeys wondering what we were all doing. After the washdown…the woman who lived there brought out her perfume. I forgot to mention that the mud wasn’t just mud…it seems like it was also the place that animal excrement ended up at times. Anyway…I smelled before they washed me down, but not after….but that didn~t matter to this woman. She started spraying me down with this perfume (whoever made this perfume should be shot ) and I kid you not she sprayed me at least 30 times with this stuff...and it was STRONG! I tried to run after the first couple squirts but ran into a clothes line and then some chickens. Oh goodness..it was just hilarious. Everyone had to walk far away from me because I smelled so much. Anyway…this is just one of the stories of this past week and it isn’t even the best one! My journal is packed full of stories and I~m sure I will have many more to tell you before I return home! Serving a mission is definitely an adventure!....Gotta to go! Love you all so much!!!!!Tchau, Sister Wood