Holy moly it´s hot!!

It is really hot here in Portugal and we walk all day, so if I don´t lose weight on this mission, I have no clue how to lose weight! 

I am also convinced that all the people here in Portugal are either sick or late for something because every time we try to talk to someone on the street, they say they have an appointment or that they are in a hurry. Viva Portugal!!

Today we went to the city called Sintra! It is absolutely gorgeous and I would invite all of you to go there sometime in your life! It´s amazing! We went to a palace there and holy smokes it was beautiful! All the tourists go to Sintra!!! When you think of pictures of Portugal or Italy, that is exactly what Sintra looks like! It´s gorgeous!

 

Tuesday: We talked to a lady on the streets named, Patricia and invited her to come to church with us and she said yes! How crazy!! We also met this woman whose son is a member of our church and she has a really strong desire to join this church, but her situation is very complicated. I absolutely adore that family and want to help them, but our hands are a bit tied with this situation and it is just so sad to witness. Her name is Auta, and she is such a strong and faithful woman. We also met Mario, who is a really awesome guy! We have him marked to be baptized on the 30th of this month!! We were rejected lots of times, but we made cookies and put ice cream in the middle to feel better.

Wednesday: We were out 4 hours in the morning trying to find people that weren´t coming to church anymore and talking to people on the streets, but no one answered their doors or wanted to talk to us. We went home, ate, and went back out to be rejected some more, but met a super funny old woman named Amelia!!! It has been really hard here, we knock on doors and people don´t answer and we talk to people on the street and they say no, a lot. We ask people who clearly look like they need help to see if we can help them and they say no, Jehova´s Witness is a big thing here and a lot of people take their messages. It´s hard, but we are talking to people who are SUPER COOL and really want to learn more and are just amazing to be around, so I try and focus on that so I don´t get sad.

Thursday: We have several people that don´t want to talk to us anymore, but we are keeping our heads up!!!

Friday: We met an amazing Brazilian family!!!! They are so awesome!

Some facts about Portugal:

The geography: We walk everywhere here. Everything is uphill. It´s really exhausting, but it’s all part of the experience!!!!! YAY!!!

The weather: Deliciously fresh in the morning and at night, but during the day is so HOTTTTTTTTTTT!! I am in a puddle of sweat all day long, and I drink soooo much water.

The food: The food here is sooo delicious!!!!! The bread is to die for! We don’t eat out because it cost us money and we don’t want to spend when we can eat at home.  We just got the dinner schedule where people from the church sign up to feed us, so I will tell you more about the food next week. I ATE OCTOPUSS in a member’s house!!!! She also added the whole shrimp, with eyes and everything!!!!

When I speak Portuguese, I have a Colombian accent and people here think I am from Spain!

Love you all!!!!!!

 

My companion Sister Truman

 

 

Our apartment

 

Pastel de Nata. A local sensation, but I am not a big fan....

Maybe with time

Remembering my family + soccer. We collected Panini stickers during

the World Cup 2014. They have them here, so I got one 

 

 

We went to that lady´s house who is a less active member,

 and she cooked us octopus!!

 

On our way to Sintra

 

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

 

 

Here I Am, Portugal!!

We have received wonderful news from the mission president and his wife... Andrea made it safely to Lisbon.

Dear Restrepo Family,

Your daughter arrived well and we are pleased to have her here with us. We just had lunch with her in the mission home, and we are confident that she will be a great missionary. 

Sincerely,

President and Sister Tavares

 

 

Following Andrea to Amsterdam

 

To Lisbon

 

 

 

Short and Sweet

We have kind of a p day today. We are doing laundry, emailing, and having classes all day today so it'll be crazy busy. We leave on Monday morning and it is insane! We have in field orientation yesterday and it was 9 hours, but I learned so so so much and it actually went by pretty quickly! It´s insane that I am going to be in Portugal in just a matter of days. AHHHHHH!!!!!

It still hasn't hit me that I will be in Portugal teaching actual people next week! I thought I would be ready, but I also don't think I would ever be ready no matter how much preparation I have. Class today was really great! We did little games about conjugations and I am really struggling with those, but I know that I'll pick it up when I'm immersed in the language! We also talked about Portugal the whole time and I am so excited to experience the culture and meet the people! 

We also had the amazing opportunity to have Elder Bednar give our devotional on Tuesday and 10 apostles were present! It was incredible to be there with such amazing men. I love the people I have met here and I am very sad to see that we will all be going our separate ways, but I know that we are all doing the Lord's work! 

I love you all so much. Thank you for your continual love and support. It means the world to me! 

Sister Restrepo