SO WHO WATCHED THE GAME ON FRIDAY? It was NUTSO. We had a lot of exciting things happen this week, including the arrivel of President and Sister Broadbent (and leaving of President and Sister Tanner).

This past Monday we had a dandy time watching the game (Brazil vs. Camarões), that Brasil won with flying colors. Eldorado went absolutely NUTS. Music, fireworks, dancing and drinking in the streets, everything. 

On Tuesday I made 14 months on the mission. Holy moly. It is absolutely crazy how fast my mission has passed by. It makes me want to cry a little, BUT, I'm excited to continue being a full-time member missionary. But anyways, we had a lesson with our awesome investigator, Roque. He's about 70, and we found him taking to people in the street. He's been to church for the past two Sundays. This week we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and how important it is to keep our 'temples' clean. He drinking coffee, beer, and smokes a pack of cigarettes every day, but comitted to keeping the word of wisdom the best he could. He said that he smokes everyday before he leaves for work. So we have been running to his house every morning at 6 o'clock to sing hin a hymn and get him started off right for the day. Let me tell you, it's tiring, but worth it. He only smokes five cigarettes a day now. Sweet success. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of how to keep my body clean. I can see the blessings of this commandment every single day of my mission when I dont have to drink coffee to wake up in the morning or smoke to calm my self down during the day. 

On Thursday I went on Divisions! We had an awesome and craaaazyyy day. First event of the day, I gained an even stringer testimony of the Word of Wisdom. We found a woman passed out, cold on the sidewalk. We tried to wake her up, but she was out. So we ran in to the nearest person (in a bar, lol) and asked for help. They helped us call the ambulance (which never came, btw.) and help this lady out. We got her to wake up and it turns out she had been drinking... a lot. This lady couldn't even stand on her own two feet or pick up her glasses. So Sister Diaz (from Argentina) and I practically carried this lady home. We used her cell phone to call her son to wait up for us and walked her all the way to her house to make sure she was ok. So sad. We then went to visit a less-active, recent convert, 14 year old. Started talking to him and in comes his mother, fuming mad, who preceeded to beat him. We pulled her off of him screaming and crying. SO sad. Why don't they know that their family is eternal?

We woke up the next morning to a frantic call from my companion in Eldorado telling me we have rats in our house. RATS. And don't even try and tell me that we need to clean our house. The mission is coming over today to help us our with that problemo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I love you all.

Sister Hargrove 

 

Cupa do Mundo em Brasil!

 

trunky email

First order of business... Everyone is telling me that Beyonce and President Obama are getting together. Is there any truth to that? Also, I'm still waiting for an answer about whether Michael Jackson is alive or not... #ineedanswers

Second order of business, We sang "I stand all amazed" and I thought of Tina Most, so about a week ago I sent letter to her, but I didn't know her home address so I just sent it to the house address. Could you get that to her?

Third order of business, IV'E BEEN TRANSFERRED! ...toooooo the Diadema First Stake, Eldorado Ward. It is TINY. But great... and only favella and a HUGE amazon forest. awesome. We live pretty far from the city and sometimes I think to myself, "Is this what Shay served in in Manaus?" There are bugs and huge spiders and snakes everywhere. I found three Daddy Longlegs this morning (one on my bed when I woke up). Speaking of our house, our toilet doesn't flush, so everytime we have to go, we fill a bucket up with water and dump it down. Also the door doesn't shut... Not to mention that I've almost gotten bit by a dog at least once a day. The bishop here is great. He's 27 and just got back from him mission in Boston, MA a year (or two?) ago. My companion is Sister Barraza, from Santiago, Chile (again). She's 22 and great and also a Sister Training Leader and has one year on the mission. 

The World Cup here is just stinking nuts. The crazy things y'all are seeing on the news? #TRUTH. President Tanner has banned us to the house for the entire day when Brazil plays and I think we're going to stay in a lot more with other teams as well because... Brazil looooves football. Buuutttt... GO USA!

We started off our transfer with awesome miracles... and TWO baptisms. (Sidenote: In the history of all history, I am the third Sister to serve in this ward. Just elders before us!) We baptized Glaucia and her son "CaDoo" (Carlos Eduardo). They are so stinking awesome. Especially CaDo. Hes almost 11 and loves the gospel and learning everything about it. He loves playing soccer and videogames just like Nate and Matt. SO. I have a special request for Matt. It would be super cool if he could write CaDo a letter! (Don't worry, I can translate it) Talk about stinky boy stuff and about how you felt on your baptismial day. It would be super cool for him to hear about your experiance, Matt! Por Favor!

This week, I also got the dreaded "trunky email". Asking about all my personal info about going home so they can buy my plane ticket. :´(

I think that's all for this week. I looooove my mission. I know that this church is true and that miracles are REAL.

com amor,

sister hargrove

Pre-World Cup

The World Cup is cominnnggggg! The first game is on the 12th of this month and unfortunately, the missionaries have not been liberated to watch the games... We will be switching our study hours to the hours of the games. :( But we'll see if that doesn't change. São Paulo has already gone into party mode preparing for the games. The streets are painted, banners are up, and the drunks are out. Lots of barbeques and soccer talk here. Also, the metros have been on strike for the past week and a half, which has put a damper on my Sister Leader duties. No divisions this week because we are out of options (except our feet) for how to get to the other areas. Everyone is struggling with this metro strike. It's becoming more and more difficult to get investigators to church, get to our meetings, and lots of other things...

 

 

On Tuesday I went to the dentist. It was painful, but don't worry, it was free. I've also been banned officially from eating popcorn. It's a hard-knock-life. Today we are suppsoed to be getting transfers, BUT we still have not gotten the call yet... I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here in the Bosque ward until the end of my mission (there's an END?!), so I'm pretty excited.

Sorry the email is so short, things were a little slow this week due to the cup festivities.

com amor,

sister hargrove

Mais 20 Semanas!

Another week ooofffffffff... everything falling through #welcometothemission Litereally everything. Appointments with investigators, lunches with members, divsions with sisters, meetings with leaders. everything.  We are stugglebusin' it for sure. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday our plan A, B, and C to everything fell through, so we wandered around, got to know our area a little more, found a quaint little favella, and made street contacts after street contacts after street contacts until a member found us far from home and gave us ride to the chapel. This area needs some serious work. The missionaries before me taught a lot of eternal investigators, which kind of sucked for us because we're realizing that these people like because of the following reasons... we have blue eyes, we're foreign, we have an accent, I know how to make cookies, and sometimes I show them cute little mormon message videos.... and the gospel? nope. So we are rebuilding our teaching pool right now and forcing the members to help us out by guilt triping them into giving us references (what?) and teaching them how to open their mouths and share their happiness! 

This past Tuesday, we had a party in our house. So all of the new american missionaries have to make a trip to the federal police department soon after they get into the field to pick up their visa. And since our house/area is in the central part of our mission, they all get to sleep at our house. Soooooo, TEN sisters sleeping in our house on Tuesday. TEN. It was a hot mess of pizza, blow up mattresses, and mission gossip. Woof. It was a looonngggg night. BUT I got to be reunited with my Chilean companion from a couple transfers ago, Sister Cañas, woohoo! Another supla of sisters stayed in our area and did some street contacts for us and found two people that would let us teach them in their house. We went to contact one yesterday. ot to his house and were greeted by a cute little group of gang members smoking pot. yes. We talking to the guys mom and she told us to come back on Monday. While we were walking away from the house, me and my big mouth decided it would be a good idea to invite the pot-smoking-gang-members to church on Sunday and that if they would let Him, Jesus Christ could change their lives. Woops. They politely thanked me for the invite and then told me that the area I was in was dangerous and that they are part of such-and-such gang and that people are killed right where I was standing. Then one of the dudes said, "organiiiiiiiized crimmmmme." And that was enough for me, I said #thanksBYE and took off as fast as my sister missionary shoes could take me. 

We have a really, really, really awesome investigator, C. She's in er 30's and was a referance from the stake presidents wife. She has two kids and is pregnant, but a widow. She is AWESOME. And super sweet. She has lived a really hard life and she is really growing and progressing in the gospel. The coolest thing is that the relief society and the primary are taking really good care of her and her family. Her kids LOVE church. And C is preparing for baptism. :)

 

This week we also had our last conference with President and Sister Tanner. Everyone cried, felt the Spirit and sang 'God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again', the official goodbye hymn. I am so grateful for them as my mission mom and dad. They have changed my life and I am more than excited to welcom President and Sister Broadbent into the mission and send President Tanner off to his new calling.

13 Months!

Transfers are this coming week. Hoping to continue in the Bosque ward! :) Still waiting for letters...

Sister Nicole Hargrove

Missão Brasil São Paulo Sul

Rua Dr. Luis da Rocha Miranda, N°159
8° Andar
São Paulo, SP
Brazil/Brasil
CEP 04344-900

Com Amor,

Sister Hargrove