"If you're reading this, Papai Noel was here" - Drake

"OY!"  I hope everyone had a fun Christmas and if you didn't eat cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, please eat one for me right now!

Our district received a special surprise from President Fusco this week - we got to travel to Fortaleza for Natal!  Honestly, I'm so thankful we were able to go, because all of our members were going out of town & Christmas was looking a little bleak.  My companion and another Elder in my district spent almost their whole missions in the same area in Fortaleza, so we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with families that they knew well from their previous service areas.  Our mission has a house for the "interior sisters" to stay in when we come to Fortaleza for an interview, doctors appt, conference, etc.  and its so fun!  I love the sisters that live at the "Casa de Apoio,"  and we all went caroling/visiting members on Christmas Eve.  We were singing in Portuguese to people I didn't know, but I was able to listen to people bear their testimonies of Jesus Christ, and I was able to talk about how much I love him too!  A spirit of love entered peoples' homes, and that's the message of Natal!  Jesus Christ was born for love.  It was a really special Christmas - I still wanted my family and friends, but it was still a lot of fund, AND I GOT TO SKYPE MY FAM, Que bençao!

Fun Facts of the week:

1. I never knew I was afraid of clowns until one chased me down the street  - 3 stray dogs started to run with me lolz.  The clown ended up being really nice.  he just wanted to sell us candy!  I'm still glad the dogs had my back though. 
   
2. If you ever miss me, look up Gusttavo Lima and I'm probably singing/dancing to one of his songs in the street.  He's a homie!
3. I've noticed Limoeiro is REALLY abundant in two things lately:  Churches and Acai Bowl places.  To all my Provo Gurlz - ya'll would be in Heaven!  But its still no Ivies.
4. I can finally tell the difference between gunshots and fireworks!!  It makes life a lot easier.
5. Yesterday the Elders had a baptism, but they couldn't find a pool to use so for two hours yesterday we walked around Limoeiro asking people if they had a pool.  I felt like a girl scout!!  Nobody had a pool, but we met a lot of new nice people and the Elders had their baptism in a water park!  #goals

TCHAU, TCHAU!

Seesta Moon

The highlight of our Christmas breakfast

The ying to my yang in Fortaleza, SISTA RUSHING

district meetings are nothing without the pole de selfie

Early Feliz Natal & Happy New Year!

Christmas Conference was amazing.  I got to see all of my friends from the CTM and meet everyone else in my mission.  Out of all of the North Americans, probably 50% are from Texas #represent.  President Fusco and Sister Fusco do a really good job at making us feel at home with lots of decorations and PANCAKES #therealmvp - I still miss your waffles more though, Dad!  We also watched Kung Fu Panda in Portuguese - not the same, but still!

When we got home, we had one normal day and then Neide and Vilamar's wedding the next!  They got married in Quixarda (about an hour and a half west of Limoero do Norte) and it was so fun!  They were so happy & glowing!  Quixarda is SO cool.  There are basically huge rocks that aren't really mountains, but not really hills either & one is shaped like a rooster.  We also got to see the other missionaries in that area at the wedding, so it was good to see them again even though it had only been two days since conference.

Neide and Vilamar were baptized yesterday!  They were already the sweetest, kindest people ever, but their eyes were so sparkly and full of love when they came out of the water.

I'm 1 out of 3 North Americans in Limoeiro - so I look different and get a lot of questions, but I love it because when people ask me why I came all the way from the USA to interior (state of) Ceara, Brazil, I get to point to Jesus' name on my name tag and tell them how much I love my Savior.  So in the spirit of Natal, I want to share with y'all my testimony of my best Friend and my Redeemer!

Jesus Christ understands me perfectly, he even understands my Portuguese perfectly - which I know is no easy task!  I know that even though he was buried in a tomb, that he lives.  Just like I miss my family, I know he misses us.  He wants us to do everything we can to return back to Him & He wants/is willing to help us!  We are special to Him!  We are engraven on the palms of His hands.  Giving us salvation was in no way easy for Him, but He was willing to save us because He loves us.  I know he left his loving Father from the most glorious place to come to earth to suffer every kind of physical and spiritual pain - all of our pains.  I know your name crossed His mind in Gethsemene & that he knows just how hard your trials are because He's already been there.  I'm trying to grow closer to Him everyday because that is where I am happiest.  I know that when you trust your everything in Him, that he will take the best care of you.  He has the power to give us renewed hope, to mold us perfectly, and to love us unconditionally.  I pray everyday to be a little worthier to wear His name, the name that brought the most marvelous of good tidings of great joy to the Earth.  I love Him with all of my heart, and I'm so happy he was born.   Merry Christmas!

I love you all very much.  Watch a lot of Charlie Brown & eat some pie for me.

Love,

Seester Moon

"nothing is small where love is big"

Watermelon is amazing here, but we hate carrying it to our house.

A cool gym/park by our house.

This is our group at local congregation Christmas Party

The first time my comp has seen rain here and she goes home to Columbia next transfer

vai dar certo

Hola!

This week was so great for a few different reasons! First, someone guessed I was Italian and not American yesterday. Maybe my accent is improving-- but I think that´s wishful thinking, and I´m just getting tanner. Also, I heard "Run The World" in a convenience store WITH air conditioning, and I was in heaven. Tears were almost shed when she gave a shout-out to Houston, Texas. Most importantly though, Andreza was able to get baptized! I absolutely ADORE this cute, little menina. She is twelve years old, and has such a strong testimony. When her mom finally allowed her to get baptized, she was crying tears of joy! It was so sweet. I´m so happy Andreza was able to find us so that we could help her find someone to love her and help her perfectly-- and so much more than we can. Her Savior! It was his love that softened her Mom´s heart, and his love that gave Andreza the desire to know him better!

Since the church is just starting in Limoeiro, and we just have a teeny-tiny group, there aren´t any baptismal fonts close by, and the ponds don´t have any water in them right now, so we use swimming pools! 

I honestly don´t know who´s pool we were using, but an Irma in our group called ahead and asked if we could use their pool for a baptism. We show up, and there is a literal festa/party/rager going on in this pool. I wish someone were there to take a picture of the missionaries´faces, because all of our jaws were dropped. BUT, vai dar certo, the show must go on! The party people were super nice, and turned off their music for the baptism, and then we said "tchau tchau" really fast and left!

Today I arrived in Fortaleza for the mission Christmas conference, and I´m so excited! Also, Neide and Vilamar get married this week. After 3 kids and 20ish years of being together, they are sealing the deal so they can get baptized! I´m so happy for them! Neide is my mom away from mom, and they both are just the best. Today marks two months in Brazil! It´s starting to go by fast.

Hugs, kisses, and warm wishes!

678- triple 9-8212

Seesta Moon

HOOOLA!

I already feel at home here.  I couldn't have a better companion/roommates/district/group!  The language is clicking and I have "halleluja" moments everyday when words that I've only heard once or twice are brought to my remembrance.  That's how I know how much Heavenly Father must love his children, because I can't do that on my own!

I would like to say that I'm getting used to the bugs too, but I'm not!  There was some sort of preganant bug in our house this week and my roommates were taking pictures of it - I immediately killed it because - ew & they didn't get pictures - lolz oops, but there will not be any insect filhos in minha casa!

Also, I have my first experience without running water and showering with a bucket!  I'm a real brazilian missionary now.  I've never thought about all of the things we need water for until now - mad respect to whoever has done this before!  I'm dying haha.

On the bright side/more important side, lots of people want to get baptized!   We also have a wedding!  I'm so excited for planning the festa.  I knew that choosing event planning for ISM  (high school program) would pay off some day! s/o Kristin  s/o Mrs. Secord  [note on the wedding:  There are many couples that have families and are together, but not actually married because of the cost.  I loveeee this couple!  The are both 38 and they are really really sweet.  They give us fruit and are really nice about my Portuguese and they are getting married next week and then baptized the week after!

This quote from Deiter F. Uchtdorf from conference basically sums up what our main message to our investigators has been, and its so true!

"God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you.  All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in the Lord."

Happy late birthday Mak, Brad, and Chong!  Eu amo voces!  HEBD Miss Bailey High!  Wish you were here to get #fitbitgainz

Tchau Tchau now y'all   *to the tune of cha cha slide*

Seesta Moon





If there is anyone I'm always asking to speak slower, "Mais devegar por favor,"  it's these two.  I love them!  They teach me cool things like "Miss Mary Mack"  in Portuguese.  Kauana and Elayne were my first friends here!





My contribution to our district meeting was "Selfie Joga Forca"  - It was important enough to make the board!  Yay




My companheira gave me the best mani/pedi ever!




If I see a bug, I kill it with whatever is in my hand - this time it was my hymn book!




This is the not so homeless cat I see everyday.  We're a lot closer than we look, but I still don't want rabies!!





This is where we have church.  47 people came on Sunday, but  our goal is 80!  8 of our investigators came.

minha nossa (MY GOODNESS)

Mom! Dad! I´m alive! Hola everyone!

My pday was skipped because I´m in Fortaleza!!! Well I was for five days doing training, and now I´m in the cutest town about four hours inland called Limoeiro do Norte. I thought there could not be a hotter place in the world than Fortaleza, but 7 degrees from the equator does not mess around, and Limoeiro do Norte has ZERO BREEZE!!! But I´m ok!! lol. There are also rats the size of cats. They literally call them cats, and it´s been really difficult for me to adjust to the living conditions, but the people here are amazing. They have pure hearts, and are so humble and Christ-like. I´m so lucky to serve them.

The roads here are sand and cobble stone, so dirt road anthem is literally my anthem, and everyone has chickens!! It´s awesome. There are also horses, cows, and dogs just strolling accross the roads all the time. I love it. 

My companion´s name is Sister Sanchez and she is from Columbia. She does not speak any English, but we get by with the little Portuguese and very little Spanish I know. She is an amazing trainer, and I know I´ll be able to learn a lot from her. 

Limoeiro do Norte is a new area with not even a branch, but a group of about 15 people. We are teaching WONDERFUL people, so I´m excited to see this place grow! 

Oh ALSO, I tore my meniscus at the CTM... volley´d too hard I guess. It´s been rough because our area is so big, and we´re walking 20ish miles a day. My comp has a fit bit #yas. As difficult as this has been... like really difficult lol my testimony of putting trust in Heavenly Father has grown so much. I love Alma 26:12, "yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my own strength I am weak"... never has this been so #relatable! hahaha. But I love how it says "I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." 

President Fusco is MELHOR, even though he only gives us 40 minutes to email!!! #cryingemoji I really love him, and I´m so lucky to be in his mission! 

We didn´t have anything special for thanksgiving, but the night before all of the new missionaries had an amazing dinner at President Fusco´s home, so I´m counting that as my thanksgiving! This year thanksgiving was really put in perspective, and I´m very thankful for all of you! 

LOVE YOU ALL,

Seester Moon

don't be tardy for the party

Boa tarde friendz and fam! I can´t believe this is my last pday at the CTM! I´m beyond excited to get to Fortaleza, but I´ll miss the friends I made here so much-- and I´ll also miss the breakfast paninis!

I think I figured out why Brazil is so green and beautiful-- it rains all the time! Last night a literal tsunami hit São Paulo (not really, but enough to make the electricity go out a couple times) and we accidentally left our window open #blessed. Our room was soaked, but on the bright side, my suitcase takes less time to blow dry than my hair.

The other day I was talking to someone who left on Tuesday for their mission, and we were talking
about how even though we´ve been here for 5/6 weeks, it´s felt like years!! (in a good way lol). We were talking about the most important things we´ve learned so far, so I want to share a couple with y´all.

"Just because God is smiling on someone else, doesn´t mean he´s frowning on you". Learning Portuguese and so much about the gospel in such a short amount of time is challenging, and when I wasn't fluent within the first two weeks #theimpossibledream, I was really upset. I felt like other people were picking it up out of thin air, and it was discouraging, but now I feel that it was because I needed to learn to trust that Heavenly Father would help me. I don´t think he´s ever frowning on us-- just waiting for us to ask for help.

"Pagar o Preço/Remember who´s time you´re on"- These are written on our board in our class room, and they´re kind of cheesy. I love what they´ve come to mean though! Picture the vine of the little girl crying/saying that she needs a nap, and that´s my brain at least once a day. But when I look at the board, I remember that Jesus Christ payed the price for me and all of the people I´ll teach, and everyone in the world, and ALSO the next 17 months are not my time for naps. Whenever I remember this, I feel like I have more energy to learn & #werk.

6 more days until I´m a real Brasiliera in Fortaleza!! Paz e Bênçõas, Sister Moon

Não Zona de Cabo #theyknowbetta

Olá friends and family! 

We got to go proselyting this week in the middle of São Paulo! It was definitely the best part of the week/CTM. I was so shocked afterwards that we were having conversations in portuguese! People in Brazil are SO. NICE. I was expecting people to be busy or in a rush, but everyone was so friendly and kind. The best part was walking away and seeing them read the Book of Mormon. I still have so much Portuguese to learn, but I´m excited to get to Fortaleza!! #2weeks. 

Here are the top 10 funny/bizzare things of the week:

1. Everytime I open my dictionary, my eyes go straight to the word "village". I miss that place!! S/o Lance S/o Village esquadra!! 

2. My Portuguese instructor is applying for Grad School, and she said "my meth is good, but I need help with my English" and as a class we repeated "math" and "meth" like five times for her, and she was like "it´s the exact same!" lolz I love Irma Araujo. 

3. One day a giant butterfly landed on my shirt and every time I would shew it away it would come back. I felt like Giselle or Snow White!! 

4. Speaking of bugs, my comp and I had just given a lesson on Sincere Prayers, so we were closing with a prayer on our knees, and a HUGE COCKROACH dive bombed my head!! I started swatting my hair profusely and it was just so typical because I studied humility last week. #literallynochillinbrazil 

5. We finally learned how to say command verbs, and during practicar I performed Meredith Grey´s famous monologue "love me, choose me, pick me" in Portuguese. (S/o shonda rhimes s/o mccall, lexi, brooke) 

6. Whenever my district says anything in English to each other my instructor points at the ceiling and fake cries to show us Heavenly Father cries when we speak English. It´s a savage technique, but it works! 

7. On Pday I experienced my first São Paulo MONSOON! My comp and I looked like we jumped in a pool. It was phire. 

8. This Elder in Sister Osborne and Sister Knoll´s District always makes a "34" with his fingers when sisters/elders are talking because in the #whitehandbook it´s the page about "relationships with others" and I think it is hilarious!! I love throwing people the 34! 

9. I started a humble brag book for my district-- if I had more time I´d give examples, but District 41-A does not have confidence issues!!! 

10. I´m so sad that another set of Brazilian roomies left. Sister Lima and Sister Brito are some of my favorite people ever! Sister Lima´s first name is Estela (star in Portuguese) and my last name is Moon, so were obviously meant to be besties! She is the Brazilian Sofia Vergara, and taught me to say so many sassy things in Portuguese! 

Eu Amo Vocês!! Paz e Bênçãos, and DOISES (throws a peace sign), Seester Moon

Como se diz... "I lost hair over this subject line"

Paz e bênçoãs fam!!! (peace n blessings)

A few of you have been worried about what I´m doing without sodalicious, but tudo bem because
I still have guanara and bueno bars!!!!

This week we watched a broadcast of the MTC devotional from Provo, and it was perrrrrfection! Neil L. Anderson spoke, HE GAVE A S/O TO FORTALEZA (his grandson is there and is having a lot of success..eeeep!!) and I want to share a little bit of it with yáll! He talked about four words: sacrifice, opposition, adversary, and deliverance. I wish I could just scan my notes because everything he said helped me so much, but the main point is that we´re going to face the first three words always.. on a mission or not on a mission! The good news is that we will always be delivered by Heavenly Father. My favorite story he told was about when he was a mission president in France. He said that he was very concerned about missionaries coming to him all the time saying, "why is learning this language so hard when I´m trying my best to learn it for something so good?" and "why am I feeling so much opposition?". Elder Anderson prayed about it, and he received this thought, "you don´t have to worry about their suffering-- you didn´t call them, I did. If they want to be relieved then have them come to me." I love this story because it´s so #relatable. My friends at the CTM can be there for me, and my professors can help me, but the only peace I really want/need comes from Jesus Christ. He has called each of us to do something right now, and even if it seems hard I promise that he will always always always help us. ALSO, both of our "investigators" are getting baptized! Even though it´s just practice, both moments were really cool. It felt like my companheira and I, Heavenly Father, and Luana/Wescley were all on the same page. I can´t wait to feel the same way, but outside the CTM and better!

Everything is tudo bem, and I´m really happy. It´s almost summertime here so it´s getting really buggy. Bugs are always in the showers (ew), but they crawl in to the cracks when I get in so at least they´re polite! #nochillinbrazil

Tchao Por Agora!! (chao for now), Seeeester Moon

This picture was found on the facebook page of missionties aka Mr. Cheney's cookies, an American Cookie store across the street from the mission training center (CTM).


p.s. a few other comments that Mallory made in some back and forth emails today....

"It's hard for me to speak awesome Portugese at meals, but when talking about gospel topics, it just comes to mind a little easier....It's all still super hard, but on Fast Sunday, we fasted for 24 hours and I fasted for help learning Portuguese and its coming a little easier this week."

"Something I've learned being here...Is that God won't take away your problems.  The point of having trials is to learn from them and mostly to lean to lean on The Lord."

"lolz today I bought a fanny pack from the buddha store and its pretty sweet. {Mom then responded with} "I think fanny packs are awesome!  It's the benefit a purse without having to carry it.  I wish they would totally come back in style.  I would wear one every day!!!"

Straight outta São Paulo

What´s gucci and Tudo Bem?!? This week was so fun and way less stressful than last. So first of all, São Paulo drivers are crazy! There are literally no rules, and in one lane of traffic there could be a motorcycle, longboarder, and giant SUV all side by side. Motorcycles weave in and out and there are THOUSANDS of them everywhere. #squadgoals #fastandfurious8. Anyway, on Thursday, all of the new missionaries went to the police station to do something for our visas. We needed our IDs and our passports were locked up at the CayTayeMay (CTM but portuguese ya know), and I left my TX drivers license at home so I really needed my passport for this procedure. They told me a man named Diego would be bringing our passports, and long story short, Diego got in a MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT IN THE RAIN!!! Poor Diego!! He´s okay!! But we didn´t hear from him for an hour, our drivers ditched, and everyone else had to go upstairs, so my companheira and I j chilled for a long time... we couldn´t communicate with anyone effectively in charge because we had not learned the correct words in Portuguese yet, and there were tons of people in handcuffs just walking in and out with police officers of course. It was a good time!! Diego finally made it, and I did not get
deported!!

Ok so I have a problem, all of the wild dogs here are so cute!! I want to pet them all, but apparently they´ll bite you! Such a dilemma. I don´t know how it got to this point, but one time during exersize I went "ruff!" and all of these dogs barked back!! It was so cool! I have a gift!!

Also, Gabolice in Portuguese means swag, but it´s not a thing in Brazil at all. Most of the Brazilians have never heard it and I have to show them in the dictionary, but they still don´t really get it until I tell them about the Justin Bieber song that says "3,2, Swag" and "swaggggie" and they´re like OOOHHHH gabolice!!! S/o Justin Bieber for helping me make new friends.

Last Wednesday we had to take our "dork dots" off our name tags (colored dots on our tag that indicate we are newbies or first weekers), so naturally Presidente Swenson would walk up to my row and ask me to say a prayer in front of the CTM in Portuguese! I was shaking, but I´m glad I could get over that fear because I´ll be doing it all day everyday!

My district great! Everyone is so hilarious, and I´m glad I´m surrounded by people that make me laugh 25/8. The only bad news of the week is that we´re splitting! I´ll miss my seeeesters soooo much! The only people that have to go are a sister companionship, and one Elder from a trio! Our district is so tight, and we´re all really sad to be breaking up. I really do have so much fun here, and all of language training, exhaustion, and overall life adjustments have been made so much easier with God´s help. I´ve noticed in the moments when I do get upset, I´ve felt an outpouring of love from Heavenly Father. This is where I´m supposed to be! I love you all! Have the best week! xoxo


...other comments Mallory made in separate emails....

...We just got back from the Sao Paulo temple. The inside is amazing! Stained glass everywhere... it didn´t look like real life. For some reason when I walked in to the celestial room it reminded me of walking in and seeing you and dad and ....

...I say obrigada to everything!! I've almost forgot  the English word 'thank you.'  It´s also getting harder to say prayers in English. I play volleyball every day too!! My arm is sore from serving.  Someone told me I have to start under-handing my serve because they were coming in too fast.   In my head I was like `" I'm sorry I thought this was volleyball???"

benções on benções (blessings on blessings)

TUDO BEM, fam?!?!!

I'm so sorry because I dont have any time this week so this is going to be really jumpy, and also this keyboard is so
confusing, and I can´t hit enter, but at least I have !!!!!!!! marks!!!!!!!

Ok so I´m finally a seeeeester!!!! On my first day I learned the day 1 classic banger "cabeca, ombros, joelhos, and dedos" or
"heads, shoulders, knees, and toes...", and the first day was an absolute blur so that´s all I really remember!! And learning a ton of
portuguese, and all of that fun stuff!! I feel like I´ve been here for years. In the words of Jason Derulo,"been around the world don´t
speak the language".

By the second DAY, we started teaching lessons in portuguese. We teach a lesson everyday in portuguese, and everyday my
brain hurts!! However, I´ve learned more in portuguese than I ever thought I could in a week, and that´s only because I know God is helping me. I can understand about 90 percent of what American speakers say, but the Brazilians talk soooo fast!

One of my favorite things is playing volleyball everyday! Whenever anyone messes up we yell "QUE ISSOOO"... the CTM´s version of "what are thooose?!"

Saturday was really hard for me because the exhaustion/stress of learning a new culture/language caught up to me. I´ve had the worst
cold all week. I was reading in Mark 4 verses 38-40 when Jesus calms the seas, and he says to his disciples "why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" That´s something I try to ask myself everytime I get discouraged with the language. He will always help us! Some of my favorite phrases in portuguese are "esquadra metas" (squad goals), "serio?" (really?) you can say it to just about anytime when you don´t know what´s going on.....and just yelling seeeester in general is fun. The Brazilians say it the cutest way. I have awesome Brazilian roommates who are the kindest/most Christlike girls! They teach me all the slang lingo so I can hopefully someday be in the know with the locals?!

According to the CTM Presidente Swenson, the CTM is holding the most missionaries right now since he´s been here.
There are about 400 of us! On sunday night we sang "Called to Serve" and it was so energetic and powerful. All of of the Elders were trying to wipe their tears quickly, but A SCHEMER KNOWS A SCHEMER. I see everything!! lolz. Seriously though, it was so beautiful! It let me know I was in the right place.

S/o miss Julianna Brassfield!! Happy early birthday GF! ALSO, if any of you know any brazilian soccer team facts PLZ send them to me!! I need new bonding material besides,"Neymar esta caliente?" jk but really. Today we went to the Campinas
Temple, and it was the most beautiful Temple I´ve ever been to. It overlooks all of campinas, and I´m in awe of this beautiful country
i´m in!! This week has been the hardest ever, but God changes my heart everyday, and it gets easier. I love yáll, and thank you so much for your sweet emails! I´m going to try super hard to write you all back this week!!! SO MUCH LOVE FOR ALL OF YOU! Also, mom my cheetah pj´s were a hit you were so right!

ok XOXO, Sister Moon.

June 13, 2015

I report to the Brazil CTM on October 14, 2015! I can hardly wait.