Monday, November 4, 2013

By cold, I mean high of 60, low of 50

HELLOOOOOO family and friends.

So Im in viseu!!!! Its close to Porto which is in the north of Portugal and let me just tell you how ticked I am that I got transferred to the north for the winter... not happy at all. it was just a 3 and half hour bus ride from lisboa and its already like a million degrees colder. like seriously. 

So on that note, family, I'm gonna have to buy some warmer skirts and clothes here this week, so keep an eye on my account just to make sure. you don't have to send me anything, ill just buy it, but im going to have to buy clothes or else i will die of cold,... So i'm just letting you know.

Mom, i love you!

So lets talk about how perfect viseu is. its out in the country side and theres lots of hills so depending on where we are we get some gorgeous views. the chapel here is up on a hill and its absolutely breath taking. the city is super clean and has lots of parks and beautiful old buildings and lots of history and gosh i just love it. Multiple times a day im just like, WOW THIS IS GORGEOUS MY LIFE IS PERFECT WHY ITS SO PRETTY HERE I LOVE IT. Its seriously awesome. 

Since Viseu is kind of out in the middle of no where, no one actually lives in the city. They all live in their aldeia, or village thats like 30 min to an hour outside the city and they go there everyweekend so its hard to meet with people or get them to church. its a little bit ridiculous, but the whole country-side with a city center type life just makes this place even more perfect. also viseu was the only zone in the entire mission that didnt baptize last transfer... so thats a little rough but it also takes a whole lot of pressure off my shoulders haha. 

The church is very strong here. its a tiny town but it has two very strong, perfectly functioning wards. How cool is that? Its awesome. The first sunday was awesome. 

Sister Duran is way cool.  Shes only got 4 months left on the mish, which is sick for me because she is actually like, a sister missionary in my mind. Like, not just one of the million sisters who came out because they could when the age changed, but actually made the sacrifice to be there and not all of thier friends are serving missions too and when they came in there were like, 30 sisters total in the mission and what not. Its legit and I love learning from her and hearing stories and such. Its cool to hear the histories, like who trained who and who opened what area and who was where and stuff like that. its harder to keep track of that stuff because there's way more sisters now, so that's why i respect these older sisters lots. 

I'm currently living in the skankiest apartment EVER!!! this thing is so ghetto haha. all of viseu is like perfect and beautiful... except for our apartment, i swear haha. its funny because I remember my first transfer a sister came and stayed with us for a night when she was renewing her visa and was talking about how nice our apartment was and how awful hers was, and i was like, shoot i hope I never have to go there... and now im living there. haha ghetto apartment, north for the winter, all that good stuff. Its got its perks though. Living in a house with two other sisters is SO fun. The other two sisters are assigned to the other ward but they are wonderful. Sister warburton is also an older sister and she is from ENGLAND so she has an awesome accent and i just love her so much. Shes finishing of the training of sister Fuller who is 19 and was actually trained by my trainer sister Echeverria. I love them all and we get along great and we have a great time  and we laugh alot. Its more like having roommates than anything else. we eat together and sometimes do studies together and just spend a really long time talking together. its awesome. I really love serving with sister Duran. 

Halloween came and passed and I almost forgot. They dont really have halloween here. but the weather was perfect that day and I couldnt get over how freaking beautiful and perfect viseu is and I bought a little cupcake with a witch´s hat on it. im giving myself until christmas to just let myself get fat. its happening. 

funny story of the week. So we were street contacting and met this 40 year old guy named antonio who was pretty cool, talked to him and stuff, did a prayer with him, and then we got his number and said goodbye. well, that night he called us and wanted to talk to us and sounded upset, so we met him in the rossio, like the city center, and then walked to the chapel with the other sisters and him. he was completely drunk, he couldnt walk straight. Then we came in and talked to us and hes really going through some rough times. The lesson was good... hopefully he remembers it. So then after we had english classes and he stayed for that, and the topic was cooking. So we were learning vocab and stuff for cooking, and Antonio speaks english alright, and so sister Warburton was like, whats something you find in the kitchen? silence from the class, and then Antonio goes, The wife. it was pretty funny. then the lesson continues and in the middle of sister Warburton teaching Antonio just says ´Hot`. And we were like, huh...? and he tries to describe what a hot is and then we finally come to the conclusion that its the vent thats above the stove. It was freaking hilarious. So now around the house we all just blurt out ´hot´ every once in awhile. He also thought that the word for apron in english is sex. good job buddy. soooo drunk. But it was pretty funny. Im glad that in his drunken and depressed state, he turned to the missionaries. We will have the elders teach him though haha. 

we also got stuck in an elevador for a bit this week and had to call a fireman. it happens, nbd.

Ill probs be in this area till christmas, and all i want for christmas is letters from all my friends with their testimonies written in them!!!!!!!! Ill buy my own christmas presents, you can just put the money on the card :) I will make a list of people i want letters from though. oh but Mom if you could find my favorite christmas sweater, the red one with the collar, and send it out like this week so I could get it at the office here soon, that would make me ridiculously happy. Just send that to the office. packages are a little tricky here, if they are too expensive or too heavy, you have to pay a tax to get them, so just let me buy the things i need and keep sending me letters. Viseu address:

Ave Antonio José de Almeida
Lot 4-352
Apt 302, 3º Direito
3510-44 Viseu
Portugal

Im sending a couple SD cards home today or tomorrow... and i know i said that last time but i really mean it this time. I actually know where the mail is haha. 

Thats really all for this week. Im a little chilly but still happy and doing well! scripture for you all to look up: isaiah 41:10.

Paz, Amor, casamento do templo, 
sister kelly briggs

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