2/25/19 - Tchau Aldeia, olá Santana

Dona Neide saw my tan lines and told me I'm turning into Michael Jackson and changing race. She's a nut and I love her so much! The stantard rule is everyone needs to go to at least 2 sacrament meetings, but she's so elect she only went to one and Presidente Ribeiro made and exception so she could be baptized on Saturday. She's so special. As we walked her to the font she took our hands and said, "You two are my angels." I love this lady.

As we were inviting our other investigators to the baptism I was sttuggling with my Português pronunciation. Two words: 1) Senhora (lady/woman), 2) cenora (carrot). Basically I told them we were baptizing a carrot. Major face palm. Sister Bernardo helped get the point across we were really baptizing a senhora and not a cenora.

Also, I had to do a bunch of stuff this week to stay legal in Brazil. Never knew how hard and complicated it is for foreigners. It was a hassel, but tudo bem.

I saw a group of spider webs that covered an area as big as a car.

We ordered a pizza this week to celebrate Bernardo's 6 months. Suave. Só que não. Brazillian pizza is good, but they also have the strangest combinations. We ordered a bacon pizza, beleza. When we took a bite we found THERE WERE EGGS UNDER THE CHEESE! Like gente, seriou. WHO PUTS EGGS ON PIZZA?! Que isso Brazil?! Pizza here in Aldeia is epensive and fancy. Fancy people pizza is not my pizza. Enough said.

So, I'm leaving Aldeia after close to 6 months here. Before I arrived everyone told me, "Good luck in Aldeia, it's hard to baptize there because everyone is rich, they're aren't people on the streets and everything is far apart." What I've found is that even if these people are wealthy, they're selfless and they serve with the pure love of Christ. The work isn't hard in Aldeia, it's just different. I've seen so many miracles here and met the best people. I think one of the biggest things I've learned here is that lots of faith combined with action makes all the difference. It sounds so simple, but it's true.Sincere prayer + obedience + fasting + hard work = a happy missionary.

I'm heading to Santana. It's right in the heart of São Paulo city and I'm excited. I'll be training a new sister. I'll get to pick up my filhinha tomorrow. Training means I'll be opening the area. it will be intersting to see how things go since neither of us will have any idea where things are or what the work/ward is like there. Santana is my mission president's ward. It will be a new adventure!

We got to see Angelica, Leticia and Luana participate in New Beginnings. It was so special watching them bear testimonies and say prayers as apart of the program. Aparecido gave a great talk in sacerment meeting and Estevo blessed the sacrament. It's good to know I'm leaving my friends in good shape and in good hands.

Saying goodbye to my recent converts here was so hard. Luana was the hardest. She insisted I be the one to put her young woman torch necklace on her. I made her a case for her book of mormon and gave her one of my skirts. She gave me a neckalce she always wears that's special to her. It was so sweet. We had dinner last night with Aparecido. Basically goodbyes are not my favorite thing.

Also, I'm not prepared to leave Bernardo. She's seriously the best and I love her so much. I know she'll continue to do amazing things in Aldeia!

Fiquem firmes friends,

Sister Barlow

Quote of the week: Me: "Why are the flags half mast?"

S. Bernardo: "I don't know, maybe they're tired."

1) "I like to look for rainbows when ever there is rain"

2) The gate to Aldeia da Serra

3) My favorite dog in all Brazil named cotton

4) Melhores amigas

5) New Beginnings with our cute recent converts

6) BATISMO