The Astonishing Adventures of Sister Hannah Hiatt

A few things that happened this week: My companion officially has been on the mission one month! I gave a talk (and did not in fact vomit on the pulpit because of the nerves! I survived and a few sweet souls even said that they liked it)! We went to help out a companionship in our Zone (and got super lost but that's fine)! It was Christmas and our whole teaching group went to the beach and/or Grandma's house and so there was, like, no one here and was kinda lonely but we got to call home so that was fine! The girl we've been teaching (who also has been travelling for Christmas so we haven't been able to follow up with her for a while) called our Ward Mission Leader and marked her own baptism, so that'll happen Saturday And yeah. It's been a good week. The Internet café we use is going to close early for New Years so that's all for today kids, but remember, God made you special, and He loves you very much. Sister Hiatt Also I bought clothes in Bras...

So this week I got to meet my new companion (the one who *just* arrived on the mission) and nossa senhora, she's pretty cool. Her name is Sister Gonçalves and she's from Recife, Pernambouco (que fica no Nordeste do Brasil). She's super excited and very focused on the mission. This week we had a ton of little miracles. One day we were going to visit a lady but she wasn't at home, but we heard a lot of noise coming from the neighbor's house. We looked at each other and said, "there's a family living here!" So we knocked on the door and got to know a mom and her two twin sons. We started to teach about the restoration but every time we got to a spiritual climax something would happen. One of the twins would put on a video on YouTube and we'd have to ask him to turn down the volume. And when we were talking about the first vision, the pressure pot (panela de pressão que tudo mundo usa para fazer feijão) almost exploded. Satan was trying real hard but e...

This week we had a Christmas Conference with the whole mission together, and it was a really sweet experience. The first half was a lot of presentations of missionaries (mostly musical) and was pretty neat. A zone of just Elders were the first to sing and it was a very nice start (because it meant that it was all uphill from there). A lot of people (mostly Sisters) sang, sometimes in various languages. An Elder did a pretty neat magic show where his volunteer chose a card, showed it to all of us, and then he was asked to rip it up... mentally. But by the time he said the "mentally" part the card was already in pieces. The Elder got a little upset (because yo, his card was messed up). So he finished ripping it up and threw it into the trash, except one piece which the volunteer held on to. The Elder got a little frustrated and so he decided to eat an orange to calm down. But when he opened it up, there was the card. Torn up, taped together, (a little sticky with orange juice) ...

This week was pretty A-okay. We had interviews with our mission president (which is always an adventure) and learned some things, and then on Sunday we had a miracle. Throughout the week we had invited a ton of people to come to church with us but in the end only two families had confirmed that they'd go. So we made plans to meet up with them and go to church together. One of the families lives in the other side of our area from the church, which is about an hour away walking. So on Sunday we left early and walked and walked, but when we got to the home of the first family they said that the mom had been called in to work at the last minute and that they couldn't go. So that was kinda sad. And when we finally got to the other house (the one that was super ridiculously far away) we were super excited. But then we got there and it turned out that they were dead asleep. So we were kinda bummed out and started the long lonely trip to church. We were planning on getting a ride with ...

(Note from the editor: Sorry I didn't post this sooner... I was on vacation and forgot.) So this week's adventure started when the fire alarm went off at 10:00 at night. But first I gotta explain something. Here in Brasil there are a few small differences with regards to electrical safety. In the States, we go a little overboard when it comes to safety. Everything is wheelchair accessible, we use modern technology to avoid danger, and electricity is always kept far from water. In Brasil they're a little more relaxed about safety... especially about that last one. We have an outlet that's half hidden behind the kitchen faucet and like ten plugs in one extension cord, but the coolest thing is our shower head. There's just one knob for the water and we adjust the temperature through a turn-y thing on the shower head. But to heat up the water, there's three wires from the wall to the shower head that work their magic inside the thing so that it's hot. So o...

So we're teaching this guy and he's pretty cool. His name is Anderson and he is an atheist. Now, there aren't a ton of atheists here in Brasil, and most of the ones we've met have been either slightly rude or politely disinterested in the gospel, but this guy is different. He lets us talk with him and teach and stuff, and every time we challenge him to do something, he does it (que significa que ele é menos mole do que a maioria de nossos pesquisadores, embora não acreditar em Deus). So he's been praying pretty much every day (even though he hasn't yet really felt the Spirit) and he went to church last week, and he watched the restoration video (you know, the one that's like an hour and a half long). So one day we were talking about stuff, and I was explaining that all these things are important because they prepare us to make covenants with God, like baptism. I then challenged him to prepare to be baptized. He had accepted all our other challenges until tha...