Sister Alena Porter: Christmas in Uruguaiana

CHRISTMAS in URUGUAIANA

Feliz Natal (Merry Christmas) guacho style!!!!

Oi!!! I am here in Uruguaiana and LOVING it!!! Seriously! We live in a little apartment with two other sisters. It is a tiny place, but I love this place. I have truly learned how to live with very little. My companion is amazing and we are loving serving together. Her name is Sister Coelho dos Santos and is from Pará, Brasil.

My companheira. (My companion)

My companheira é O.

I love serving with her.

Sister Coelho dos Santos is from an area next to the Amazon river (way up north) and talks with the accent from Rio de Janeiro and Portugal. It is sweeet haha. It's a ton of "sh" sounds. I wrote about my week in my journal and just took a Picture. I will send them all to you. I will be calling you all in about an hour and a half!!!! Hope your all going to be there!!! Presidente Parrela let us write today!!! Wahoooo!!!

JOURNAL ~
So, I am here in Uruguaiana, Brasil. I have been learning lots already. We shared the ward with the elders - Elder Magalhanes (Brasil) and Elder Poulson (American Fork). The members are amazing. The bishop is amazing. The leader of the mission is incredible, and our area has people that actually want to listen. We have already seen so many miracles. It was raining really hard this week and we didn't have umbrellas, but God doesn't stop his work. It started pouring rain and I saw a woman smoking on the side of the road. The spirit told me to talk to her. Tons of people don't have a full set of teeth. It's sad. This lady only had one tooth and it was so hard to understand what she was saying. Another day it started pouring too and so we went under a tree in front of someone's house. A young woman let us in and her uncle was there sitting on the porch with us. I began talking to him and we came to find that he is a less active member. It was amazing talking to him realizing that God led us to him and was giving him another chance to return to church. The spirit truly testified to my heart that God led us there. He is in charge of this work. I'm so grateful he is using me as an instrument to bless his children. There are no words to describe the amazing feeling that comes to a missionary when they receive a witness that the spirit is guiding their words and actions. We are teaching a cute couple of 22 years of age that are expecting a baby. They are super interested in the Gospel and came to church on Sunday with us. They both accepted baptism and marriage and are loving the lessons. It is so fun teaching them because we can see the desire they have to be able to be an eternal family. They are willing to do anything to make it to the temple to be sealed. They are elect children of God that I know we were meant to find. We are teaching so many amazing people. I love Uruguaiana. Us sisters joke that Santiago was a test, and if you pass the test, you get to make it to Uruguaiana.

Leaving Santiago

Santiago was amazing, but it's hard. The people here are so open and willing to listen to us, it's awesome! Today was Christmas and we ate churrasco in the house of a member. It was so GOOD!? They had potato salad, beef and pork churrasco (I wanted to cry it was so good), fruit salad and rice. So amazing.

I loved having Christmas here with these amazing guachos . There is no place I'd rather be right now, and no other thing I'd rather be doing right now in my life, than being a missionary here in Brasil. I feel so blessed to be a missionary at this time. The news of the Church of Jesus Christ is one of happiness. I know He lives. I know He loves us. I'm so grateful for the love that God had in sending his perfect Son to earth to give us an example and to save us all. Through him, we can overcome anything and live again with God, our families, and our Savior in complete happiness forever.

Conferência de Natal!!! (Christmas conference).

I am so excited because in a couple weeks I will be going on divisions with the sisters in Alegrete and I will be serving with my sweet companion Sister Hansen again!!!

Minha companheira
(My companion)

The elders I served with in Santa Maria! It was so fun to see them because I've changed so much.

The rain entered our house through the window and got my companions bed wet!! She slept on the ground.

We came home soaked!!!!! It was hilarious. We used huge plastic bags to keep our stuff dry.The weather here is bipolar. It looks like it won't rain and then it rains haha and sometimes it's super hot and boots don't work with the immense heat.