Transfers are coming

Hey there! Well another week gone by huh. This transfer is almost over!!!! I can´t believe it! It feels like just yesterday that it started! So I don´t think I´ll be able to email next week due to the viagem (its like 11 hours down to BH, so there just really isn’t much time. But who knows. Maybe they´ll give us some time. )
This week has been HOT. 42° this week!! I´m almost positive that this is the hottest weather Ive ever experienced in my life. So that´s been an adventure. We pretty much arrive DRENCHED in sweat at EVERY house, and immediately ask for cold water. Haha. But it´s been interesting to experience because I can´t help but notice I have a higher endurance for heat than I thought. Well, in reality I´m DEVELOPING a higher endurance because of these experiences. Yay. And I´m fairly positive that by the end of my mission I will have satisfied that desire –that I´ve had my whole life- to live someplace that doesn´t have winter. Not that I want to live in Alaska or anything, but now I can appreciate seasons a lot more. I´m still looking to live pretty much everywhere though, so who knows where I´ll end up. So anyway, yesterday in district meeting I was asked to give a training. I laughed out loud when he told me the subject i´d be training on. Organization. Yeah. It´s ok that you´re laughing too. But it went well, and I have a new commitment to become an organized person (it really is one of my goals. I think I´d better start with my desk though..)I used the spiderman web Becky sent me as an object lesson. (we have to web everything together to make everything we´re doing function as one unit..) Resourceful? I think so..I also gave a talk on Sunday about fasting. It went alright. Not FANTASTIC, nor did I say even a third of what I planned.. I get so nervous when I have to talk! So I ended my talk (it was even a surprise to me, I had all this stuff planned, and I was in the middle of it, and then without even thinking about it, I started bearing my testimony and ending the talk- and I sat down and thought “well that was unexpected..”) but apparently I didn´t talk for quite long enough because we still had HALF an hour left of sacrement meeting, and I was the last speaker.. SOoooooooooOOo, the 2nd counselor got up and gave a 30 minute talk- on the spot. I, personally, was impressed.
Today Sis. Sorenson told me an awesome quote by Pres. Kimball, that I´m hoping will change your lives and mine:”Any excuse, as valid as it may be, weakens our character.”Isn´t that so true?!?!?! SO- when we plan to do something- lets DO it. This is something that I´ve sucked pretty bad at in the past, but I´m working really hard to overcome this weakness of mine.
Also, I read some really cool quotes in preach my gospel about our responsibility to share the gospel.
‘there is neither man or woman in this church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of the truth, and to prevail upon themselves and every body around them to live those principles, that they may obtain eternal life.” – Brigham Young
“That is your mission, my brethren and sisters of the church, that is your responisibility. Freely you have received and your Heavenly Father will expect you freely to share with His other sons and daughters these glorious truths. We will attain our exaltation in the celestial kingdom only on the condition that we share with our Father´s other children the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter. “ – I forgot to write down which President said that, but it´s in chapter one of Preach my gospel…
So I thought those were pretty cool. All in all, we need to be sharing Christ´s love and teachings with everyone.
With that thought as well, I found a cool scripture that makes it REALLY clear the necessity to obey the commandments and to USE the tools the Lord has given us to mold ourselves into celestial beings! D&C 78:7
So that´s that. Over all, things are great! Hot. But good. I´m excited for the transfer, but bummed at the prospect of changing companions. But I´m sure whatever happens will be in my best interest- because that´s how the Lord works.
Oh, something interesting about this week:I made a goal to ONLY speak Portuguese. When I made the goal it seemed ALMOST impossible. I was scared, but I knew I had to do it. But then by the end of the week, it was pretty much natural! I met my goal, and I felt fantastic about it! When I reached the end of the week I thought to myself “wow, I´m not even going to go back to English, because it´s so good for me to speak just Portuguese..” But wouldn´t you know it, I just really enjoy speaking English.. SO I learned 2 very important things:
1. I´m capable of speaking just Portuguese.2. If I´m not TOTALLY dedicated and bent on accomplishing a particular goal- I WILL not accomplish it.There is a saying here that EeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEvery one says; “Se Dê” Which means “eh, if every thing works out, or if it happens to work out, then yeah, I´ll (go to your church or read this book, etc.)”But that attitude won´t get ANYONE – ANYWHERE. People we need conviction in our lives.We need to give ourselves to whatever cause we are engaged in- WHOLE heartedly. Myself included.We need to give our all to EVERY moment of EVERY day. THAT is living. That is what life is all about.So we need to see our decicions- our plans- in BLACK and WHITE. We either WILL or we will NOT do it. But if we´re going to do it- we need to do everything in our power to accomplish it. Be creative! If it doesn´t look like it´s going to work out one way- start looking at it from different angles- and FIND the way to accomplish it.As I used to always say (but rarely applied..) Do what you SAY you´re going to do.
Anyway, I´m hoping off my soapbox now. I hope someone changes their life because of it though. I know I´m going to.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmk loveyoubye. -SB
(Wow, I think I´m pretty safe to say that who ever ACTUALLY reads this whole letter- ACTUALLY loves me.. haha)

Summer's coming

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY there!Well this week went well! We FINALLY got to watch general conference!! oh it was delicious! and we were even able to watch the saturday sessions for the most part! It was weird that it was in portuguese, but the spirit speaks every language, so it was still fantastic.The work is going on- but we´re having a hard time finding people that are willing to CHANGE their lives, or willing to really do anything we ask of them.. so we´re working really hard to meet new people. This week was REALLY hot. Really really hot. reeeeeeeeeeeeeaaly really hot.But I´m still alive- SO! proof I can survive more than I thought I could. LAst week on pday we drove around for 3 hours trying to find the "right" side of the barragem so we could have a picnic. But it turned out really well. Í´ll send pictures one of these days. Except my card has a virus or something and wont let me take any of the pictures OFF- so I´m going to either have to buy a new card or ... uh.. buy a new card.Anyway, point is, I haven´t been taking pictures with my camera, because I have no way of getting them off. so I don´t have a lot of pictures of the barragem. It was a very pretty place though, it reminded me of the hot pots. In a few TOO many ways actually (Any one who´s been to the hot pots should catch my drift..)This pday we´re here in Montes Claros and we watched a MOVIE as a zone. AND IM WEARING PANTS. All in all its a weird feeling. The movie was good, we had to take notes and apply it to missionary work. It was the movie "miracles". It was good. Makes me want to be good at something.Anyway, I received Becky´s package a couple days ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you love!!! Oh I was needing some love SooooooooooOOOOOoooOOOooo bad- I can´t even tell you! It was just in time! And everything in it brought me joy beyond description (I´m wearing the violet run shirt and have been smelling it all day because it still smells like you.. oooooooooh saudades..) so yeah. Thanks love! and I love the halloween stuff!! oh I love halloween.. the american missionaries were all really excited about the candy corns. The brasilians didn´t know what they were when they saw the bracelet, lol. lovely. just lovely.
Anyway, now that summer is starting, we lost an hour and gained a few degrees, so the next few months should be interesting. I´m excited though.Oh chelsey, thanks SOOOOoooooOO much for the email- that´s going to help a TON. thank you thank you.OH Alex! You get cooler every day! Send me some love kid!I´m excited for your talk, if you need more stories, let me know, I´ve got a few more under my belt now.Okey dokey, I guess thats all for now. Thanks for all the love and support, all of you that are loving and supporting me :)Happy wednesday.-sb

Short but Sweet

HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IM SO HAPPY!!! I´m so so os so happy right now! BUT I don´t have the time to write about the fantastically wonderful week that I´ve just had! I have to go buy bananas and avacados so we can go fishing.BUT suffice it to say!!!!:- LEILA WAS BAPTIZED!!!! I can´t even begin to express my joy! This girl has brought me all of the ups and downs that makes the mission worth it- and completely beyond description. I LOVE her. Love love love her. And seeing her progress is one of the sweetest pieces of heaven I´ve ever experienced.
Beyond that just normal missionary goodness!! My portuguese sucks, but its coming along. The Elders worked with us yesterday, and I learned a TON!! And I´m just happy. Im feeling very very full of gratitude for my family and friends right now- I just feel love. I can´t explain it. I don´t think it´s possible to really explain how good it feels to receive a good letter. Full of emotional food. But yesterday I got a letter from halei ludlow (Thanks pal!!! it was like christmas morning seeing that letter there! You rock!) and todays emails were delicious.So thanks!

Ode to Fiona Faith

Hi. Well. I´m left speechless at this moment. I´m not blaming anyone. There is no blame to place. Yet, still I´m feeling that piece of my heart sting. That (rather large) piece of my heart that I gave to my beloved Fiona Faith. Yes. My Alfa Romeo. *sigh* I recognize that material things aren´t really something to mourn. .... but... well.. I guess we´re all tried in our own ways. So that´s that I suppose. Oh well. Car shopping after the mission is all part of the process isn´t it? ... *nãovouchorar nãovouchorar nãovouchorar nãovouchorar nãovouchorar nãovouchorar nãovouchorar nãovouchorar*
OK so. What was I saying? Oh yes. So this week was good. It was a rollar coaster! But As of right now things are good. We´re teaching some really rad people, and it´s been fun to really get to know them. We´ve been teaching Leila since I GOT here, and it´s been a roller coaster with her, but THANKFULLY she´s finally ready to be baptized! SO this weekend will be her baptism. She´s such a rad girl. She´s 23 and has 2 kids. It´s hard to really describe the character of a person, but she´s a very spunky fun girl. Suffice to saw we love her guts. I´m really excited for her.One thing that I really need help on is:Smoking. We have a few investigators right now that are trying to quit smoking, so I need tips! I need to know what works, and why, and I´d love to have some sweet success stories to share. SO. Gimme whatchoov got. But seriously, I´d really love some help, because all I really know about quitting smoking is it´s incomprehensibly hard to understand how hard it is… so. Yes.
This weekend was a bit hard though, knowing the whole world was listening to the sweet word of the Lord- and I wasn´t able :( But I WILL. But still. I struggled with it a bit. It was a good saturday/sunday though.
I don´t know if I`ll have time to write next week because next week is our PDAY de DISTRITO! We´re going to go fishing. I´m really excited! Although I´m not a huge fan of fishing. I really only have been once though, and it was YEARS ago (Hey, remember that day Michael and Robbie? We were at Matt Thomas´ cabin in new mexico! Woot!) and well. Who knows. Maybe it´ll be different now? In any case I`m sure it´ll be fun just to chill and hang out with everyone.
One thing I have to say is: My mother is the freaking coolest!! We were talking to Leila and she was talking about being a single mom and having to work. She said something to the extent of “When I just had one it was do-able, but it´s so much harder with two! I don´t know how I´m going to do it!” and I thought to myself- watching this woman struggle financially and emotionally- “Woah. My mom did it with SEVEN kids.” I am still in awe. She´s a warrior. I have such a greater respect for her now seeing the strength it takes- from an adult´s point of view. Yay mom! I love you! Thank you for being such an amazing example to me! Thank you for being so wonderful and continuing to be so! Keep up the good work! Te agradeço e amo para sempre!Também tem um rapaz cujo pais estão um pouco.. não sei como explicar, mas esse rapaz está vivendo na rua esses dias, e sou grata pelos meus pais. Estou reconhecendo tantas bênçãos eu tinha que eu nem reconhecia até agora. Muito obrigada!!! Muito muito obrigada.Anyway, I´m happy and grateful for the countless blessings the Lord is continually giving me. And I´d like to thank you all for being a part of those blessings.okey dokey. Até mais.vos amo- para sempre- sblandon

Conference is this week

Oi. Boa tarde. Tudo bem? Que bom. QUE ÒTIMO!Things are going well here too. This week we had ZONE CONFERENCE! Which- as always, was fantastic. Only this one was REALLY really awesome. It was about the atonement of Jesus Christ. The whole zone fasted during the conference so that we would be as spiritually in tune as possible. It was really really cool. The trip was a bit odd though because usually when we go to Montes Claros (it´s a city about 2 ½ .to 3 hours away from here, where the zone leaders work, and where we go for conferences and things of that nature) we would go the night before, sleep over at the sister´s house, then leave the next night. But the sister´s zone there was closed this last transfer, so now there aren´t any sisters in montes claros. Just elders. SO, the zone leader´s slept at the other elders in the area´s house, and we slept at the zone leaders house. But the COOL part was, Elder Almeida has AWESOME music! And so I got to listen to it all, and he´s going to make me a copy. He has this reggae band that is Christian, so they sing all good things, but its straight up reggae! Haha! Oh, I´m definitely getting that one. Elder Almeida is super rad, he likes the cure! Woot! Anyway, it got me thinking, does gwen still have that cd of the girl that sounds like Tori? Remember all that music she showed us a few years back (as in like 5 years back.. weird..)? I wish I had copied all those cd´s. Anyway, I like music. But don´t get me wrong, I have plenty of music to listen to! I just always love music. … anyway.. moving on… ***so here is something that only a select few will appreciate: There is a kid in our branch named Wesley, and the other day it dawned on me: HE is the brasilian version of the LEPRECHAUN from Finian´s rainbow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (no wendee, I don´t have a crush on him.) SO, one of these day´s I´m going to make a video of him so that someday I can show you guys. It´s priceless. He´s a rad kid too. Oh hey, in case anyone DIDN´T know, RICE would be a really good thing to have in food storages. Lots of it. But in water proof containers. Vai lá. OH hey, I just realized I forgot to mention that a while back, like 2 weeks ago or so, I GAVE A TALK IN CHURCH! It was pretty much terrifying, and I´m not sure than anyone understood me.. But it was a good experience. It was about the connection between charity and missionary work. But I really wanted to emphasize that that includes VISITING TEACHING and HOME TEACHING as well! But I ended up talking about that so long that I didn´t ever reach missionary work.. whoops..It was pretty funny, the Branch president kicked my foot to let me know I needed to stop talking.. lol.I´m really REALLY trying to speak Portuguese these days because I realized:If I don´t speak Portuguese here, in brasil- with people who know this language- HOW will I ever have the self control to learn to speak all the other languages that I want to speak???? Among all the other millions of reasons I need to be improving my Portuguese. Don´t get me wrong, I never STOPPED trying to learn, but I just got lazy and speak English with everyone (Sis. Sorenson, Elder Saucedo – we NEVER speak Portuguese!) But this past week I´ve been trying really hard to speak Portuguese with them. They´ve been good to help me with it too. SO. Hopefully I´m progressing. Theoretically I am. This morning I Was reading the bible (I don´t remember where now, somewhere in Isaiah) and I was filled with jooooooooooy as I read the words “den of thieves” **A moment of silence in honor of my love for regina spektor**
Ok, but seriously, this morning as I was reading the scriptures it hit me, as it does almost every day, the MASTER PIECE that is the scriptures. Really, they are a priceless guide in our lives. I´m recognizing on a daily basis how LOST I would be without them, and how lost some people ARE because they don´t know how to find the answer´s they´re looking for. I don´t know how to justly express this thought. The Lord truly does teach line upon line- but if we don´t continually read the scriptures and search them diligently, there is NO way for us to make it to the next line! Learning is a two way thing. He promises to help us understand, but it´s not possible without doing our part.Another thing I learned this week is from a verse I read in D &C, which now I don´t remember in the slightest where it is ( :s that´s helpful huh?) But the Lord was telling someone that in order to protect them from being tempted beyond what they could bear, they need to sell their farm. Imagine having to sell your home, with NO other prospect home in sight- I´m sure it wasn´t easy to see this as a blessing or an act of love on the Lord´s part- but it was! Our eternal salvation is WAY more important than where we are living. It got me thinking about the trials of poverty. Sometimes we pray and pray for prosperity, but I personally haven´t thanked the Lord from protecting me from the dangers of greed and pride that sometimes come with prosperity. Truly the Lord knows us and knows what experiences we need to have to grow and learn.My teacher in the Provo MTC once said “The Lord knows what experiences we need to have so that we can become like Him, and provides opportunities accordingly.”All in all, the Lord is trust worthy. So trust Him. Trust that He´s taking care of us, and so long as we fulfill all OUR responsibilities- we´ll reach our full potential in this life SO THAT we can be eternally free in the next.
I am in love with peanuts. I eat a small bag of them everyday.
Oh hey, mom will you text danny (or if he reads the blog, which would be cool in general, then he can just read this) and tell him I said happy birthday yesterday.Unless I remembered entirely wrong and his birthday wasn´t yesterday at all.. then you can just skip the happy birthday and tell him hi.. and thanks for the awesome letters/package..
WHICH REMINDS ME:This is VERY important.
VERY.
Is everyone paying attention???
*********ImPoRtaNtE!!!*******************
I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed need need needEveryone´s birthdays. Principally the DUTCHERS. I never remembered their birthdays when I WORKED there, there is NO way for me to remember their birthdays here!!! So I need a list! But also just so I don´t get mixed up or so caught up I forget, I´d really love to have everyone elses bday´s too. So here´s a list of who I need:

MomRussPapiJennRandyChelseyMichaelMarinBlakeChristinaIvanWendeeAlexRobbieMatthewKailaJaxonThe entire Dutcher familyThe entire Rush family(including Wendy & Dave and their kids.)The entire Liebing family(Including Rachel & Chris, and obviously Marie & Brian)Mark JohnsonAshley WaltonDanny WilkinsCheo Chavarria (cause goodness know´s I´ve never been good at remember your birthday.. sorry pal.. not because I don´t care though! o.O)Jake MaciasMargaret HuntingtonHalei LudlowBecca I-can´t-spell-your-last-name-sorry-hoetger(?)
In reality I´d love tons more, but I´ll leave it at this for now.Now this list DOESN´T mean that I´ve forgotten your birthday, just that I don´t WANT to. (besides cheo, I really have no idea why I can´t ever remember your birthday.. it was june right? Like the 6th? …. You´re super. )
Anyway, so yeah. That´s that. This is normally where I´d attach pictures, but this computer hates me in almost every aspect, so it´s refusing to read my card. Woot! Next week.Hey mom! Thanks for the FHE idea´s! It´s always a treat to get mail in general, but it was nice that it was useful, had a picture, AND a letter! WOO! This week´s best letter award definitely goes to you mom!! Anyway, there are about 10-15 ladies that come to RS depending on the week. If it´s a really good week, 20. They DON´T have a copy machine, but they have a printer. But anyway, the RS is run by the presidency, and they´re pretty good, but the missionaries teach the Sunday school class, and we organize a ward activity about once a week. I love this branch though, there are a lot of really cool people here. In general Janaúba is the hip-happenin´place! Haha. No but seriously. It´s cool here.Anyway, just a reminder that you can send letters to either the mission address or my “saudades” address, but the mission address letters I won´t get for about 4 weeks. But Christmas stuff has to be sent by oct. 15, and marked “chistmas” .Its likely though that after this transfer I´ll stay here for ANOTHER transfer, so yeah. Write me saudade style.
OH, so here´s something I want everyone to enjoy Thoroughly:
..:*¨+GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!+¨*:..Being that we´re at the end of the world, we have to wait for Montes Claros to record it, and then at some point bring it up here. SO- we have to wait a while before we get to watch it I personally am totally bummed. Conference is my FAVORITE event of the year. Bah. Also, they don´t sell reeses pieces here, so I´m not sure how to play conference bingo this year… well that and I don´t have the conference bingo papers.. but still, the reeses pieces were always the important part anyway.But seriously, I´m really sad that we have to wait, and STRESSED OUT OF MY MIND because we aren´t ALLOWED (call me crazy, but I have a hard time with this one) to watch the Saturday session without an investigator. AaaaaaAAah! But that´s motive to work really hard to get at least SOMEONE to the Saturday session. But still. STressfull. Especially since I don´t know WHEN we´ll have it up here. Probably 2 weeks from now. Give or take.Anyway, so soak it in everyone. REeaaLLy soak it in. Do NOT take it for granted this year. It´s SO easy to do, but FIGHT it!!! Go on a hike up the canyon and listen to the Saturday session with the whole family together, k?? Or do something that will help you to recognize how precious it is- and to help you remember it! Make it the event it is! Anyway. I love you all. I´m grateful to be here and to be a missionary. I love brasil!!!!Someone please take pictures of fall for me. pleeeeeeeeeeEEeaaaseEee. (that includes you PA people, don´t be selfish with that beauty over there. Ooo. Go visit boston…)KLOVEYOUBYE!