VIVA PORTUGAL!!

EU AMO A PORTUGAL MUITO!!!!!!

Holy moly everyone, Portugal is gorgeous!!!!!! This week has also been absolutely insane.

Monday (aka the longest day of my entire life): We left at 9:50 to catch a train and go to the airport. My luggages weigh at least 1000 pounds so it was absolute torture carrying them from one train to the next to the airport, but I made it. Elder Noad was a saint and helped me with my bags. In the airport I go Jamba juice and Smashburger which was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The flight was 9 hours. It was horrible. The sun never set, yet we left July 3 and arrived to the Netherlands on July 4. I was also feeling like thrrowing up after the plane ride, super fun. I changed into slippers, but my hair in a bun, and ate my burger on the flight and I was feeling like a queen, untill I got off and felt really sick. After being in the airport, which is basically a mall, I felt better. We had to catch another plane to head into Lisbon and if any of you have seen The Proposal, imagine flying in a plane similar to the one that Margaret and Andrew have to take to fly into Sitka from Juneau. It wasn´t nearly that bad, but it was pretty bad. I also had a kid next to me that was crying, my stomach started hurting, I had a headache, and the plane was really really hot. Somehow, I managed to sleep the entire 3 hour flight thank goodness. We met our mission president and his wife and they greeted us with Pastel de Nata which is a huge deal here and everyone told me I had to eat, but I really wasn´t a fan of it. Maybe with time. We went to the mission home which is absolutley gorgeous and ate lasagna which was delicious! We found out who our companion was going to be and where our first area is. I found out that I would be a part of a whitewash, which means that my companion and I would both be new to the area. I was actually super excited about that!

Wednesday: I met my trainer and she is adorable! She is from Las Vegas and has been out for a year! Her name is Sister Truman and she is such a sweetheart! We found our apartment and it´s wonderful! We went through the area book which shows all the people that have been taught by the missionaries recently and made an appointment with a woman. We got into the city and were lost, so we called her and found out we were 30 minutes away, so we rescheduled and went to look for the church building instead. It took us about 45 minutes, but we finally found it. Walking through the streets, you smell pee, but then you occasionally get the glorious whiff of bread!!!

Thursday: My blow drier died. I plugged it into the adapter and 2 seconds later it was dead. I actually laughed really really hard and tossed it in the trash. Natural hair all day everyday. We went to a zone conference and I was able to understand about 50% of what was said, good fun. I had my first crazy language story!! We were riding the comboio (train) with the elders and i see a sign that says "crianças de colo" and I look at the image that goes with it and the child is a different color, so I turn to my companion and ask if that means colored child and she just laughs and says no!! That means a toddler!!! Colo is lap. 

Friday: We helped a woman with her grocery bags and scheduled to meet her and talk to her another day! The ice cream here is absolutely delicious!!

Saturday: We had our first lesson!! Whoop whoop! It was great! We also went to a place that sells amazing bread! It is super close to our house which is horrible because I will gain 10,000 pounds.  We also made chocolate chip cookies to take to a baptism and we had to cut up the chocolate ourselves because we don´t have chocolate chips here.

Sunday: The people that go to church are amazing! I love them all so so much!! I had to bear my testimony in front of everyone and that was super nerve-wracking but awesome!! Oh! The area I´m in is Cacem (Ka seng)

I love you all so so much!

Sister Restrepo