Gallega bonita

This week was one of the hardest weeks of my mission so far, but in a good way. Sister Nascimento and I worked nonstop this past week and at the end of every day we were just almost too exhausted to take a shower. Our hard work paid off though. We baptized a man yesterday and will baptize another this next Sunday. Things are going well here though. The weather has been a little bit cooler....80 degrees ish...because of all the rain we've been having. The rainy season has arrived more or less and a lot of the streets have turned into lakes. Its great though. My chacos dry fast and I never have to do my hair anymore. Usually I just put it up into a ponytail or in a bun because anything else will just be destroyed in about 5 seconds. I'm sticking out a lot here unfortunately. Not a single day has gone by on the mission without someone in the rua saying ¡gallega bonita! (oh beautiful blond). Yesterday we were walking in the street and some young men started yelling some things at me and I turned around because I wasnt sure what they were saying. As soon as I gave them that little bit of attention ja era! (it was done)...they said o gallega linda, ?fica vermelho! (oh beautiful blond, don't get red (embarrassed)). They continued to shout: gallega donna de minha coracao, te amo....?(oh blond lady of my heart, I love you!) goodness gracious all I could do was laugh and ignore them. So until now I've never had a problem with dogs, but two times this past week my companion and I have almost been attacked. The first incident was when we were searching for the house of an investigator...we found it without any problems, but there was a dog parked right in front of the gate. As soon as we approached he seriously leaped at us...barking, and snarling and trying to bite us. It took us quite by surprise and me being the person I am decided to sacrifice Livro de Mormon instead of my leg. I placed the Book of Mormon between me in the dog so he wouldn't bite (horrible I know....almost basphemy!) , but luckily I stepped back just in time and his bite landed in the air. e decided to just continue on our way and not talk to our investigator, because the dog seriously refused let us pass. The second incident happened this morning. We were arriving at a house of an investigator and this dog in the front started running towards us barking and snarling. I thought we could pass by him, but as soon as we took a step forward he tried to bite us. Goodness this dog was ferocious. My companions legs were trembling as we backed away and we went on our way again. I think the dogs here honestly have something against us. ..don't worry though. I'm being careful. I really don't have too much to say this week....lots of miracles happened though. We found a lot of inactive people randomly and are working to reactivate them and we are teaching their families. The greatest thing about this week was seeing our investigator change. He gave up smoking and coffee in one week! He went from smoking a carton a day to nothing in less than a week. He is still is dealing with the withdrawls but is definitely seeing the blessings. It is awesome to see how fast people can change if they really want to. When I return home in a year you will just have to stock the house full of kleenex because I know I will cry a lot my first weeks back home after the mission. Goodness life is just marvelous down here really. Thanks for all the emails, pictures, and support. You guys can send pictures again because I have unlimited storage now....so start sending some recent photos!!!! I love you all!
love, sister wood