Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

Hey everybody!

So, I was gonna title my email last week Country Roads, Take Me Home because truly it was a week full of walking on dirt roads to visit and teach people who live in the middle of nowhere, way far away from the main neighborhoods. Picture evidence:

Also, I love this pic of Sister Santiago. This is what we did all day every day: walk alongside this facha/highway to different paradas/bus stops to bring the gospel to todo mundo. Good times

me and the sisters I live with- at zone conference

Two weeks ago we had the coolest opportunity to watch the live broadcast of the Prophet visiting Brazil! On that Friday, we watched a special conference for full-time missionaries that happened in Brasilia. On Sunday (Sept. 1), we watched the main broadcast that happened in São Paolo AND we brought Tibiriça and Leiliane to watch it. Tens of thousands of people were there in person and we watched it from the stake center here. They loved it! They felt the spirit and Tibiriça even cried. I did too. He said he felt a really powerful "energy" that he cried. Leiliane commented on how charismatic the prophet is. He joked around and he asked the children to sing for him. At the end, he spoke in Portuguese which was super cool. It was a powerful experience and I loved it so much.

So I was living my best life in Itacolumí and then on that Sunday, we got a call at 7:30 at night that I was being transferred to Passo Fundo! We were shocked. It was in the middle of a transfer so we truly weren't expecting it. We were able to visit Tibiriça and Leiliane to say bye. I was really sad because I love them so much and wanted to be there for their baptism, but I know that they are in good hands.

When I got home that night, I packed my bags in an hour and a half, and the next morning I was off. We took a bus from Itacolumí to the train station in Porto Alegre, then I took another bus to Passo Fundo. I left at 10am and got to Passo Fundo at 6pm. We got a ride from the train station there to my area. Yes, it was a total of 7 hours on a bus for me. But, I slept for a bit and it wasn't bad. The bus de viagem to Passo Fundo was way comfy, with reclining seats and everything.

My new area is right in the middle of the city. It's got tons of prédios (skyscrapers) and it's literally the opposite of Itacolumí (hence the title of this email). It's way fun and there's always something new to see. My companion is telling me about all these fun things I need to try here so we have a bucket list of food places that we're gonna try to cram into the last 3 weeks of this transfer.

My new area:

me and Sister Lopes, from the Bahia (in the Northeast of Brazil)

We ordered takeout sushi one night. It was cheap and delicious

I'm doing well and living my best life! Til next week!

Sister Dobbs