9/17/18 - I'm being transfered to Europe

Ok I haven't really been transfered to Europe but it sure feels like it! Maybe Portugual? Maybe the USA? Não sei but it for sure doesn't feel like Brasil.

Aldeia da Serra is this perfect little gated utopia in the mountains. I'm surrounded my giant mansions and thick Brasillian jungle. It almost feels like I'm living in a villiage out of a disney movie, very pintrest-y and perfect. It's so different from Sorobaba and I feel way too hood to be here. Talk about culture shock all over again! There is no trash on the streets, no wild dogs on the streets, no wild dogs getting into trash on the streets. There are no houses gaurded with barbed wire, everything is very open and it feels a lot like a chique Park City. Everyday in Brasil missionaries have lunch with the members because lunch is the main meal, not dinner. One of the best parts about Aldeia da Serra: everyone feeds us SALAD! REAL SALAD! The members here are super chique and most make trips to utah about every other month so it's not just salad, but salad with RANCH! Tender mercy folks.

Before I got the notice of this transfer I prayed for 3 things: 1) A comp with a lot of enthusiasm, 2) An area with a lot of hills (Brasil has given me kilos I don't want), and 3) A ward or branch with potential. God gave me all 3!

Sister Volterelli is from another city here in São Paulo. She was a pro soccer player before the mission, she talks like a Jamacian and she's pretty much the coolest person I know.

The branch here is so cute! We have a little Alua de Inglês and the members are amazing. The branch president says they haven't had a convert baptism in about a year. I feel so blessed to be here because so many missionaries have planted wonderful seeds and the longer I'm here the more I discover that it's almost time to harvest the fruits. There are so many people who just need a little extra push for baptism. It's amazing. Miracles on miracles!

All the ônibus drivers here know us... we're pretty much famous! Usually they offer us free rides when they can. *Insert fist pump here*

When I say I'm in the middle of the jungle I mean it. We use flashlights after 6pm and it's like I go on 25 km hikes up and down hills every day. Our area is huge. I'm used to making 5-7 visits a day but now it's really good if we have time to vist 3 people in a day because everything is so far apart. In some places the hills are so steep even the ônibus doen't go there. My legs are crying but I love it!

It's super rainy here and at night all the frogs come out and it's really hard not to accidentially step on them. Sister Voltereli is teaching me which ones are dangerous and which ones I can pick up. It's actually super cool. As we make our nightly hike back to our apartment the soundscape is seriously so cool. It sounds like the background noise to the Pirates of the Caribean ride at Disneyland... that or Tarzan... I can't decide. Needless to say I feel like a real adventurer now. Every night the fog is so thick you can hardly see 10 feet in front of you.

Fun fact: This is the old area of my CTM comp Sister Bybee and her trainer is my comp! Everyone here says it's like Bybee never left because we're so similar. Haha! I'm honored. She's awesome.

Saying goodbye in Vila Angélica was bittersweet. I'm so thankful for the time I had there and the people I met. I know I was meant to find Francisca and Fabio and their family. God has been so good to me.

Key Indicators from Vila Angélica:

Times I biffed it on the uneven streets: 99 ( I started counting my second week there)

Bug bites: 46 (Mostly mosquito)

Miracles: Many

Smiles: Countless

Sorry my email is a million pages long this week.

Até mais folks!

Sister Barbie

1) Artsy fog picture Volterelli took. The fog in this picture is light compared to what we normally have. :)

2) Frogs!

3) Another artsy pic (SISTER COM CALÇA?! Yes we can wear pants here because of the bugs. Whoot!)

4) P day da Zona. These brown boys schooled us gringos in futebol but we schooled them in basketball kkkk

5) My BBQ skills are topzão