It feels so good to have a lot to tell you! I've been getting a little bit sick of all the snow cancelling our events!
So just to start off with a random note, the Vails are leaving in a week!!!! :( Elder and Sister Vail are the awesome senior couple we work with in the office. They're the ones who have saved our lives many-a-time with navigation and rides and food. . . So we decided to do something for them. Sister Couto is a genius chef. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that. It's wonderful. So she made an amazing, authentic Brazilian dinner for the Vails, and we brought it over and ate with them as part of our goodbye. Picture attached.
Our project for the week was tedious to say the least. . . but also rather fun. :D Sister Couto added all of the Chinese subtitles in for 6 videos we use as part of the Portable Visitors' Center. I figured out how an app works and created a Chinese exhibit within the app with all of said translated videos uploaded and running. It's pretty complicated. Don't ask me how we figured all of this out. I'm just grateful the Lord knows how to manage the configurations of an app, because I certainly don't.
We got transfer texts this week!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it's already been 6 weeks since I started in on the PVC???? Aaaand I have news. :) My streak is officially broken. I don't have a new companion. After 11 months on my mission, I'm getting some consistency. Sister Couto and I are staying on the PVC together. :) :) :) :)
Okay, are you ready for the events of the weekend??? Because I have so many amazing stories! Friday we took a mini road-trip to prep for the big events on Saturday and set a bunch of things up. We were so ready to hit the road again on Saturday. We headed to Revere, MA for a baptism. OPPOSITION HIT. Satan did NOT want us to be there. Okay, so we were using ALL of our displays for the weekend, including our 2 back-up TVs and cords. Most of our displays were already in Cambridge, set up and ready to go. We only took what we needed to Revere. Or so we thought. Problem was, we brought the back-up TV to Revere, and the back-up TV box didn't have a lot of what we needed.
First of all, we forgot the adapter that connects the iPad to the TV. SNAP. iPad out. Sister Couto was genius though, and we just used the HDMI cord to connect our laptop to the TV and just played the videos from the laptop behind the scenes instead of with the interactive iPad stand. (Sorry, this might be complicated, but I don't know how to say it more simply. Lots of words.) Then, just when we were starting to breathe again, we realized we didn't have our Allen wrench. That, too, was in Cambridge with the rest of our stuff. And super critical, because we need the wrench to set up the heavy-duty stand that holds the TV up perfectly for the display. Haha. Yeah. We stripped a couple of screws trying to get them out with knives, keys, you name it. A pair of scissors and a bleeding hand later, the stand was set up. Then we realized we didn't have ANY of our extension cords. Eventually we connected three of our power strips so the cord would be long enough to reach the outlet. Talk about resourceful. . .
We were all ready to go, proud of how we made things work. The baptism was beautiful, the spirit was felt, we pressed play on the laptop behind the scenes while Julieth was getting changed. . . and the screen zoomed in way too far, so you couldn't read a single phrase in the fabulous Because of Him video. AHHHH! It was so sad!!! I was going crazy! :( It was really awkward, too, because it was so obviously wrong that everyone was only watching it to be polite. Sheesh! Oh well. . . the other videos didn't have words on the screen, so they were better, if still a little intimidating for size. And we never know who those videos might have touched. There was a non-member front and center, and there had to be SOME reason why we had such intense opposition.
When the baptism was over, we headed to the most anticipated event of the week: the Chinese New Year party! That's why we had worked so hard on the app this week. :) We have a small Chinese group in Cambridge, MA, but they worked hard and invited the whole Chinese community in New England to come to their party. It. Was. Fabulous. There had to be 200+ people there, tons of food and activities, a Chinese "line-dance" performance, and so many non-members. We were ready for such an incredible event with the entire Portable Visitors' Center set up through the building. It was so effective!!!!! People were wandering all over, watching the videos and flipping through the copies of the Book of Mormon and asking questions! The Chinese Elders (there are six of them total in the mission, and all of them were there that night) were so pumped and on fire! Elder Chen and Elder Anderson started taking people through on full-blown church tours, complete with every Chinese video we had and answering tons of questions and getting contact information and inviting them to church. One group had sixteen people, mostly non-members. It was amazing to witness. It makes everything we do so worth it. I almost started crying when they were testifying about the Temple and the Spirit was so strong. . . of course, I didn't understand any of it. It was all in Chinese. But these people were captivated. It was a break-through!!!!
We finished out the weekend strong with another couple of Portuguese baptisms in Brockton. I love seeing the PVC have such a positive impact on people. This is truly so inspired. I can't wait to see what this next transfer will bring!
Thank you for your love and support! Missing you, but LOVING the mission!!!!
I have survived long enough to greet you from the -20 degree weather with windchill here in happy New England! Yeah. It's been a winter to beat all winters. We've seemed to have a blizzard every other day! I've never seen anything like this. I thought the snow was deep the FIRST time. I'll definitely be sending more pictures!
My week was unpredictable and very scattered, due to all the storms. :) I'll give you some of the highlights!
We drove to Franklin to meet with Elder Hansen, the Senior missionary over Real Life Answers, the website. Not sure if I've mentioned that to you. Our mission also started a fabulous website! You should check it out! reallifeanswers.org. He gave us basic training on how we can help keep the site going in our free time. See those cool sliders at the top, advertising the different articles you could read? I did that part! :) It's kind of fun. Don't worry, I'm fixing the one where the words are directly over her face. :)
We took the trip out to Foxboro again to supervise more voice recordings for video translation! This time, though, it wasn't for Haitian Creole translation, it was for Portuguese translation! Sister Couto was so happy! The man we got for the job has this beautiful, rich voice. He did a wonderful job. Soon all of the Portuguese speakers who watch the PVC videos will hear it in their own language! More hearts will be touched!
Despite not having a legitimate ward, and therefore no dinner calendar, we were fed three times this week!!!! All of those times were so much fun! The Dowlings, my old friends from the Weston 2nd Ward, fed us one night. I love them! :) And it was neat to share a message again. Those planned opportunities come few and far inbetween for us now.
The one and only Kevin LaBarge took us and the Weston Sisters out to breakfast! :D Great crowd to be with. It's really neat to catch up with him, not to mention the food was delicious.
And ANOTHER night we were spoiled enough to go to that amazing Brazilian restaurant again with the Vails, the Assistants to the President, and the Weston 1st Elders. That place is to die for. And it's fun to explain why a bunch of clean-cut people of varied ages and genders all had name-tags, skirts and/or suits in the insane snow. The Brazilian waiter looked and us and said flatly that they have a policy that you can't speak of politics, religion, or soccer in the restaurant. Hahaha!!!
Okay, so we HAD some great plans for the weekend. Really. Church tours and baptisms and trainings and firesides. . . you name it! EVERYTHING CANCELLED. Due to "Neptune", the blizzard of the weekend. I told you about how we get "red-dotted" and can't use our cars. . . well, we got "purple-dotted". Sister Packard made it up, because that's the color our face would turn if we walked around in that cold. "Purple-dotted" means you can't leave the apartment. We were "purple-dotted" for a good 40 hours or so. Saturday night until this morning. Even now, we are strongly cautioned. We're all bundled up nice and cozy!!! But the snow came a-tumbling down, and honestly, I can't even imagine the cities. They have nowhere else to PUT this kind of snow.
So yesterday morning I compiled a to-do list and braced myself for a very un-Sabbath-like Sabbath. I was making my way through the list when we got a call from the Sheltons, a senior couple just down the block! We were given permission to walk down. We were joined by the Johnsons (yes, from our home ward!) and all of us had a nice little sacrament meeting together! It's amazing how you can feel the Spirit no matter what your circumstances. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I can still say I haven't missed a day of church on my mission.
Well, while I was subjected to the confines of our small apartment I got a lot of little things done. Caught up in my journal and organized and whatnot. And this morning, we took some fantastic pictures about 10 feet away from our back door, in the deep, deep snow!!!! Unfortunately I couldn't get all the way down because the snow compacted beneath my boots, but you get the idea. If I was all the way down I'd be up to my armpits!
Enjoy the photos!!!! (I'll send a couple more in another email.) Love you all!!!!
It is 14 degrees outside with a steady onslaught of white, fluffy stuff from the sky. We are once again red-dotted. No car trips for awhile. We're so grateful that we were able to get a ride to the office to email!
I decided that snow is legitimately depressing. I mean, I'm great, life is great, missionary work is great, but shoveling and scraping and pushing snow and trying not to die while driving in it and getting blasted by icy particles every time you walk outdoors and having plans cancel on you because of incoming storms that add another couple of feet to your already knee-deep snow. . . not so great. Hehe. That's been a big chunk of my week.
We had to shop for food and survival stuff for most of Tuesday, due to the storm that hit Monday. At least we FINALLY got a push broom to clear the snow from the top of our Spaceship. I'll have to attach a picture of us clearing that beast.
Lets see, we did a lot of office work! :) I'm actually really excited. I worked really really hard on a email to all of the Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders in the mission. Crazy to think that I'm emailing each of them directly. I was introducing the Portable Visitors' Center more, telling them why it's such an incredible tool for them, and how they can best utilize us! English class just got real. :) I loved doing it. The email is sent to about half of the Bishops so far. . . I'm working my way through the list, personalizing it a little as I go, depending on how much they've worked with us in the past.
We went to Marlborough this weekend for a baptism. Guess who serves there? Sister Lima!!!!! It was awesome to see her and talk to her! I miss that Sister. :) I've been so blessed with my companions. The baptism was beautiful. It was this young man named Sean, covered in tattoos, glowing with happiness at the change that he'd experienced in his life and the covenant he was about to make. I love witnessing baptisms. :)
We switched out the English displays for our brand-new Portuguese ones (that takes a lot of effort. You have to manually pull out the fabric from each base and carefully slide in the new one. . .) for our event in Brockton on Sunday! That was my favorite part of this week! We were able to go to the highest concentration of Portuguese speakers, to the Brockton Portuguese Branch that became a ward yesterday! The Lord is truly hastening his work! Everyone was delighted, everyone loved the displays, there were a lot of visitors for the big event, and they even had a baptism right after the service! All of the Portuguese reminded me of my time in Central Falls. :) The missionaries are so excited to have us continue to come to Brockton for events and baptisms. That's exactly what we want! We see the difference the PVC makes at events!
We had a church tour scheduled for Boston that night, but it was a tender mercy that the President cancelled. Another snow storm was rolling in, and I was truly dreading braving the city and snow with the Spaceship. We headed home instead and hunkered down. The snow started coming, and it looks like it won't let up until Tuesday.
So that's my life! Lots of snow, great events. :) It's such a different role than what I had before. I love it, though. Making the adjustment. Trying to spread the gospel at a different angle. I'm so beyond blessed to be here.
I love you all! Thanks for everything, including the sweet notes I got in the Valentine's Day package! :D Enjoy Valentine's Day!!!
Hello from the white abyss of the Massachusetts Boston Mission!
Hahaha, I'm sure plenty of you have heard about the storms that have pummeled New England over this last week. What I'm not sure you understand is the magnitude of it. I really hope the pictures I send will do it justice.
We were red-dotted for a full 24-hours when "Juno" hit on Tuesday. (Red-dotted means that we're not allowed on the roads with a car. And a severe caution for even leaving the house.) Sister Couto and I spent the day at home, cleaning the house, doing our nails, and staring out of the windows. We're talking crazy snow. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it! It was fun to watch, but we got restless. There was so much we could have done at the office with Internet, but we were just stuck in the house! Anyway, after a full night, day, and another night of a blizzard, we walked out into a completely new world.
. . . I can't explain this right. You'll just have to look at the pictures below.
Let's see. . . Weekdays are slower. We're working on getting the PVC booked in the middle of the week. But Elder and Sister Vail (from the office) took us to an amazing, authentic Brazilian restaurant. Sister Couto died and went to heaven.
Friday we drove down to Providence for a church tour! I really dislike driving a spaceship through the city, down narrow alleyways and one-way streets with cars parked on both sides, with piles of snow heaped up on every corner so you have to make even WIDER turns. . . trying to find a place to unload the Spaceship was nightmare. The church tour was fun, though! Providence gets a lot of foot-traffic. We spent the night with the Providence Sisters. It was good to see Sister Hyoung again!
Guess where I got to go on Saturday???? CENTRAL FALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My home away from home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so amazing! Jamique was getting baptized, so we brought two of our displays for the baptism. I was nearly in tears the entire time. I loved loved LOVED seeing everyone again. The Lourencos, the Frandsens, the Tanners, Alba. . . Even Elder Garrido came back for the baptism. In fact, he baptized Jamique. :) It was such a beautiful reunion. My heart was so full. He's the last one in his family to make this amazing choice. (He's related to CC and Lovely, if you remember them.)
Also, after the baptism, I was able to see Faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my closest friends from Central Falls. She's the greatest. We met up and caught up and took pictures! I am soooo spoiled to be a PVC sister. I get to see everyone again! :)
I couldn't spend a ton of time there, though, because we had another baptism to attend in Worcester! (Pronounced Wuh-ster. Unless you have a Boston accent. Then it's Wuh-stuh. Don't ask me. . . ) And after all of that, we went home again. Only to have another crazy day on Sunday.
Sunday was fun. I got to see Weston 1st ward again, then we headed back to Worcester for another baptism, set up the displays, and left them there to travel to Foxboro for a recording session! That's right! We have such diversity here in New England, and President wants these videos and displays accessible to everyone! So what do we do when church videos aren't in other languages? We translate them ourselves, of course! :) I like President's attitude. Right now Sister Couto and I are inserting Chinese subtitles into all of the videos. The PVC Sisters in the past have done audio-recordings in Spanish to put the translations into the videos we have.Yesterday we went to the Megquires', where they have a professional recording studio inside their house. The Haitian Creole Elders met us there, along with a Haitian member with a beautiful, rich voice! He was able to record the translation to a couple of our videos. It was so much fun! I loved this experience! We'll be finishing Haitian with him soon, and then we're bringing over a Portuguese speaker with a great voice for MORE translations!
We made it back just in time before storm #2 hit. It's still hitting. We're red-dotted again. This time, though, we braved the storm to walk over to the office. This is ridiculous, how much snow we have. We won't be able to see stop-signs soon, if it continues at this rate.
Anyway, that's my life! Great to hear from everyone!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for being so involved with what's happening over here. I love you all!
Oh, and another shout-out. Stephen is going on his mission on Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think this weekend was the biggest adventure I've had on my entire mission. I could write a book about what happened. My journal is filling up so fast here. . .
I'm going to start at the beginning of my road trip. Road trip. Hard to believe that I actually had one out here in the mission, but there's no other way to describe it! Friday morning Sister Couto and I packed all our bags, jammed the Spaceship full of TVs and displays and cords and tools and poles and stands (that's a workout, let me tell you), then took off!
We actually had a quick stop and met up with Kevin and Katie LaBarge and the Weston Sisters for breakfast on the way out! That was so much fun!!!!!! It was so good to see them again and catch up on life! Not to mention the restaurant was delicious. . . :D Haha, andthen we were out of there. We took the 2 hour drive to New Haven, Connecticut. Wahoo! Sister Couto has this thing where she falls asleep the second we hit the freeway, no matter how hard she tries to stay awake. So usually on the road I'm on my own, singing to myself and whatnot. :) I don't know if we just didn't think things through, but we got to the chapel in New Haven, right next to Yale University, at 1:20. Their open house/church tour was scheduled for 2-6. We had 4 big displays, 3 small displays, and a Book of Mormon round table to set up artistically in a building we'd never set foot in before. Ha. That was soooooo silly of us. Even with the 10+ missionaries who showed up to help, there was no way. And then, of course, everything seemed to go wrong! Poles wouldn't stand up, Apple TVs weren't connecting, the ceiling was too low here, there weren't any outlets there. . . by the time we got everything up and running, it was nearly 3. After that, though, it was so successful!!!
We had a lot of foot traffic in the area (Yale University. . . of course) so despite the cold, we flung open the front doors and nearly all of the missionaries hit the streets, talking to people and inviting them in for a tour! It was amazing! Some members came, some came with friends, but mostly we got those students from the streets. Even many who didn't come inside for a full tour we had great discussions with. And we had eleven people come in and see it all the way through. Eleven. I know we can become more busy than that with more preparation, but think about it. What would a missionary give to have eleven full lessons with non-members in one day? Inside the chapel, nonetheless? That could easily be the best day in a missionary's two years. :)
We stayed later than we had originally intended because we felt bad for being so late. :P Most of the missionaries had to leave, so we took everything down and piled it all in the Spaceship with only two other sisters. Then we had to hit the road again. We were driving to Cape Cod. That's a 3 hour drive. Sheesh. The best part was that we left at 9, then half an hour into the drive we got a phone call from the frantic sisters, saying that we forgot our laptop, Sister Couto's precious camera, and her bag. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we drove back half-way to meet them and pick it up. Tender mercy we didn't make it all the way to Cape Cod before realizing our mistake. Still. I was so tired, and we made it to the Cape Cod Sister's apartment at 12:30 AM.
They were so kind. I felt so bad for waking them up, but we were out like a light. Good thing, too, because the next morning we had to wake up at 5:30. :P Up again, off to the next part of our weekend adventure! That's when we took the Spaceship onto a ferry. Hahaha! Crazy, right??? It was less scary than I thought. I drove that monster van onto a BOAT, and we just chilled until it reached Martha's Vineyard, a tiny island about 45 minutes away. :) We didn't have a chapel tour there, but we set up our Family History display right along with our Temple display for the island's big genealogy gathering, hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! It was so neat! I was really impressed with how many people from the island showed up, wanting help with their Family History. They had experts and beginners there, lots of displays and pictures and old journals, and lots of computers being used. Our displays fit in ever so nicely, as an easy way to say, "Hey, this is why Mormons love Family History so much!"
We took the ferry back to Cape Cod and spent the night there again! So nice of them. :) The next day we went to their church, packed up, and took off once more! This time for Middletown, Rhode Island. Yeah, three different states in one weekend. Craaaazy. President Packard was doing a fireside on the Restoration there. "What the world knows because of Joseph Smith." He really managed to nail it. I love President! Anyway, we got there really early and set up the displays for anyone who wanted a tour before or after the fireside! Not many people did the tour, but lots of people just looked around and played with the videos. The Book of Mormon round table (with all 92 languages) was a hit, especially for the youth. :) By the time we packed everything up again and hit the road, it was 10:00, and we had another hour and a half drive home.
We made it!!!!!!!!!! As I said, CRAAAAZY weekend. So adventure-full! I really love being a PVC missionary. <3 I can't wait for more adventures! This weekend we get to travel back to Central Falls! I can see Jamique get baptized!!!!
Also, Heavenly Father is really looking out for us. We beat a storm that hit Massachusetts, then made it back before the real blizzard that's hitting us tonight. We're supposed to prepare for no power and to be red-dotted (no driving) for a couple of days. 3 feet of snow, here we go!!!!!!
Love all of you soo much! Good luck to all of my friends who are starting big new chapters in their lives (Stephen, Kori, Cassidy, Tallie. . . and others!)
Thanks for everything. I couldn't do this without you!!!!
