1st Week with Sister Alves - Lot's of Snacks

Another week for Miriam and more pictures of food. Joseph and I think it's funny because Miriam has always appreciated good cooking and loves to be a connoisseur. It's not surprising to us though... Some parents have stories of their kids talking or walking in their sleep but when Miriam was little she would eat in her sleep. She wouldn't get up and go to the cupboards or anything she'd just be acting out eating motions and smacking her lips in her sleep. It was pretty hilarious to watch. She probably doesn't want me sharing that with anyone... 😄

Miriam's Letter👇 

"I didn't go through practically any culture shock arriving here.

I just kind of started...living here. Lots of people ask me if I think Brazil is super different than the States, and I've always said, "It's not super different." I mean, obviously there's differences - their sanitation standard is different (garbage trucks just zigzag down the road while 3 or 4 guys ride on the back, sprinting from trash basket to trash basket to gather the trash then chuck in the back; you cannot flush toilet paper), housing construction standards are different (no insulation or water pressure), the culture is different.

But I didn't think it was that different.

Until I was standing in the kitchen staring at my cereal sitting in the refrigerator and the milk sitting in the cupboard at room temperature. Then I thought, "Okay, maybe it's a little different."

Events of the week:

During our last zone conference, President Card spoke adamantly about the difference between respect and friendship with the members of ward and the missionaries, and he made it abundantly clear that respect is more important. This past week, I got to experience the truth of that for myself.

After an activity in the church, Sister Alves and I were ready to go home. It was almost 9pm and one of the members said he could give us a ride. Now this member was really good friends with Sister Brown and Batista the last two transfers, and they were always doing things together. Lots of friendship here. So when Sister Alves and I asked him to take us home so we could be him by 9, he didn't take us seriously. He argued in a joking manner that we could stay until 9:30 because we were with members. It didn't matter what we said. He simply told us that we just need to relax. Zero respect for the missionaries.

So, friends and family, the moral of the story: if the missionaries ask you to take them home, take them home when they ask, please. If you're giving lunch/dinner in your house, please have it ready when they arrive and don't keep them more than 1 hour. If you don't, you'll only be cool among the fubecas.

Okay, end of rant. Onward to the rest of the week.

Ate a feijoada coxinha this past week. Apparently this isn't a common thing because when Sister Alves saw it, she simply had to stop and try it. I thought it was fantastic...but then again, I think all the food I'm eating is fantastic.

This transfer brought us a new district, Elder Letherwood. He's so American it's painful. But it's hilarious, too. He brought Coconut Snickers for everyone, played the ukulele while we sang hymns to start our district meeting.

We also received roses from a member, just out of nowhere. Sister Alves was dying of joy. 

Churros are already sugary enough in the States, but Brazilians somehow managed to make them more sugary by pumping them full of doce de leite, chocolate and other things of the sort, then they dip them in candies and chocolates to top it off.

Fortunately, they had a guava option, so I did that and dipped it in coconut shavings.

I think it's funny that all the Americans here would kill for American candy, but they have so many options here, and I can help but think, "Friends, enjoy Brazil while you're here, why don't you?"

Miracle of this week:

Sister Alves and I planned our day Friday with 0 lessons planned because we had no one who could or wanted to hear. By the time the day ended, we had taught 5.

Sometimes we have a plan for the day or for our lives, but we have to remember that God has a better plan, and if we open ourselves up to His will, we'll always be on the better path."