FAMILY

Well for me! First I am like in shock, I looked at the calendar and realized that Abby is almost done! Tapos na sia! I cant believe it! So weird! And about Mothers day! Our internet connection here is not the greatest! So I will probably call you! It will be around this time or a little bit later! Just depends! Just be by the phone! I will probably call a cell phone! Also, send me other numbers like Jaron and Greg and Lindsey so i can chat with them for a little while! But that will be on May 12!! I wanted to wait for Abby but President was kind of stressing that it is "Mothers Day" that is our focus! So pasensya gid Abs, 6 weeks na lang haha!! 

All is well here! My patience and drive get tested a lot in this area! It drives me crazy that people have no faith!Heavenly Father promises us so much and is it that hard to just show our faith and let the miracles happen? HAHA we had some investigators at church this week...we had 5 so our baptisms will be getting started again! It was rough, I was in a little bit of a drought! 

So to follow up--------------I dont remember if I told you! Sister Lacno, she is the one who lives like way far away in the mountains, she had her baby! This tiny like 5lb little girl! So cute! She just had her at their house! She still hasnt picked a name yet, I am trying to convince her to name her "Sarah" haha they always just laugh! But we are going to their home on Wed to do a CSP! They dont have running water, or lights or really anything...so I told the RS president on sunday about it so we will all go and Haul water up and down the mountain, and wash clothes so that she can rest! Hopefully it will all work out! I am excited to go help her! It is weird, In america when women have babies, the RS like attacks, making sure they have food and what not and gifts, here it is like no big deal--you have a baby and go to work the next day haha but they need to help her!

Well we didnt have a baptism-----------but we will! May 10! So the little girl Mary Joy! She was so good and so brave this week, she talked to her mom everyday about being baptized. Her mom was the same----------stubborn and mad but she kept asking! So then, we went on splits I went to Isio, that is where her house is. But I just had this feeling to take a Baptism Record and consent form, but I wasnt sure why, we were going to wait but the feeling just kept coming to me! Well as we were walking her Mom comes up to me, all smiles ( for a second I thought she was going to yell) But she was happy and asking about me and what not, then I remembered we needed a signature! So while I had her at her best for a second I whipped it out, the second I had the paper her face changed haha she was ticked haha like blood boiling ticked! I was so nervous---I dont know why! I am not scared of anyone but this lady for some reason kind of gets me a little bit! Any ways she was mad but signed it anyways, saying she could be baptized. So I was so excited. She told me to keep being a good example to her girls and hopefully they will end up better than her. Anyways, I thought all was good. Then Sunday we are waiting for her to come to church------------waay sia nagabot!! She didnt come! My heart was crushed---but her mom took her money so she couldnt come! But-------------There is next week! The Church is still true! Everyone has to face some sort of trial before being able to be baptized. HAHA so I will keep trying, sooner or later this ladies heart will be softened! I have come to love a challenge, and this lady is definitely a challenge. 

We got invited to a Birthday party! Bebe (Crystal) she is the daughter of the Sister who works with us all the time, and they are so nice! I love those girls. She was turning 10. So Sister Montemayor and I went out and bought a small cake for her to take to the party, They were so excited. She was like "this is my first cake ever for my birthday" HAHA 

We have had a lot of our Less Actives come back to church! They are all missionary age boys!! They all are saying they want to go but not acting so we are going to help prepare one or two and hopefully the rest follow! There is about 15 here in this branch and some sisters wanting to go! It is what this branch needs, then when they come home they can get married and be leaders!! HAHA it all makes sense in my mind!:)

But things are good, Sister Montemayor is good! We still have our Language study in the day for Ilonggo and our English study at night! We are still trying harder to teach more unified, it is fine for her, she can speak Tagalog and they understand, but I understand it a little bit, like I get the concept of what is being said but I am trying to emphasize to her to speak more Hiligaynon! Apply what we learn in our language study! I know that it is hard but it will never come if she doesnt try! So that is our goal this week! 

But I know that the Church is true!! Even though in this area, so many persecutions! Not just to us but the members and investigators as well! But that is the beauty of our Agency! We have to keep picking to do what is right even if the world is against it! The choices we make bring us closer to our Heavenly Father and that is what is the most important! We just have to keep going and continuing on! Heavenly Father will bless and guide us for doing what is right and being a good example to those who give us grief!! But all is well here in Cauayan, not much happening!   Love you all! be good and be safe!!! Tell everyone HI!!! LOVE YOU!!

Love Sis Polatis

teaching Jenna--our new baptism

Buna Frumosilor! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! LA MULTI ANI SI SANATATE! I am so excited for you on your 38th birthday this year! :) I show people the picture of our family and everyone calls you my sister "ah she is so young! she is so gorgeous!" I always agree with them and say that I pray every day that I will age as well as my mother! .... I will continue to pray! I hope that you have a great day! You are the best mother in the world! I really don't know how I got so lucky! :) 

Well the final countdown is on! I can't believe it! 16 days until I am back in Idaho! I am actually feeling really good about coming home! I mean don't get me wrong I absolutely love my mission. It is amazing... but I am excited to see you all and to keep progressing and moving forward with my life! 

This week was super fun! 

- I had an exchange with Sora Kelly! We have been with each other since day one in the MTC. This mission has really bonded us for life! We have so much fun when we are together and we were reminiscing on all the past mission experiences!  It was a lot of fun! 

- We have a new investigator! She is super cool... in her 50's... she is super classy! We are really excited to work with her and we meet with her tonight! 

- I also cut my companions hair this week! like 3 inches off. I guess I am needing to switch my career path in life.... hair stylist here I come! I was actually super super nervous but I guess you see how much she trusts me. It actually looks really good! 

- We had the big conference in Bucuresti this weekend. 5 hour train to bucuresti Saturday night... we slept over with Sora Peterson. (my old companion) it was so much fun! The next day we went to panduri and EVERYONE was there. My people from Constanta, Mihai Bravu, and Galati. I loved it so much! it was the huge district conference! So we had someone from the 70 come! and it was really good! I took pictures with everyone and was saying all my goodbyes! I actually didn't even start tearing up until one of my girls from Contanta thanked me for being such a big influence on her life! She is turning in her mission papers in June! I was so touched! I for sure would have come to Romania just for her! She is amazing! 

Well Family.... I love you all so much! thank you for being great! Keep being great! Have fun this week:) mmmwwwaaauuuhhh! 

va iubesc! 

Cu mare drag, Sora Abby Polatis 

Heyyyy Family!!!

      Elder Searle was actually telling me about that last monday how is grandma knew Angie and that they were talking about us being companions. Well I have some very sad sad news about that.... Elder Searle is already getting transferred!!:( We just found out this morning and we were really upset. The Idaho boys only got to serve together for 3 weeks darn it!! So now I am going to be senior companion over my new companion that I am getting. I´m pretty nervous because I am still not too familiar with the area and everything so I´m really hoping that I get a brazilian companion that can understand everything that people are saying ha.

    So that´s the bad news, oh and Elder Witham is leaving the house to!! Well this week was kind of slow!! We had to go to the central of Sao Paulo to spend the night with the office Elders because in the morning we had to go the the Polical federal to get legal here. It was really fun because I got to see everyone from my Brazil MTC district so we had a good time. But the Policial federal took 6 hours so we decided to stay another night at the office Elders apartment because we had another meeting in the morning called Nova Forca with the President and everyone. So we just went out and did some conversas with people out in the big city!! Ha it definitely made me like my area a lot better because people in the big city are always in a hurry and don´t really want to talk to you, but here in little Eldorado usually they will give you their address and let you stop by. The trick is to catch them at the right time though.

    The language is coming right along I think. We had a good lesson last night where the words were just starting to come to me and they could actually understand what I wanted them to understand. I really do need to be patient though because I´m still not really used to the way people talk so I have trouble understanding what people are saying. Carlos the recent convert that comes with us a lot, I can understand pretty much everything he says because I have gotten used to the way he talks. So that´s really good.

    Guess who I went on exchanges this week with.... Elder Hales!! Ha my good old companion from the Provo MTC. It was really fun. He is a funny kid. Ha I will see if I can send some pictures of me and him because he has lost like 45 pounds and looks completely different. So we took a pic together just like the one we took in the mtc. Ha its pretty funny. But yea Elder Hales was saying that I speak really well. My goal is by may 26 (which is 2 months in Brazil total) I will be able to understand everything and be able to have good conversations with people. So I need to work really hard to make sure that happens. Oh so some big news... Elder Anderson is coming to Brazil to have a conference with us!!!!!! Haha can you believe that. First I get to hear him in Iowa and now a year later I get to hear him in Brazil! So Crazzzy!!!

    Well I love you Mom and hope that you have an amazing birthday!!! Thank you for being such a great example all my life and raising me to be able to be worthy and enjoy all of these wonderful blessings. We are having a baptism this weekend and have some good dates for May so it should be a great month!!. I love you all so much. Have a great week!!

Love Elder Polatis

Elder Hale from the provo MTC

Our churchouse

my apartment

My Idaho brother is being transferred!!!  So Sad!

Elder Hales now in Brazil after losing 50 lbs.

First, this week was "Holy Week" WOW! That is all I can say! They take this stuff pretty seriously! On Friday....on my people at the Catholic Church! They were there like all night and there was this big statue of Christ and people had made like a statue thing of the Death, something like that! Anyways they all walk around and bless the statue, then they fast, but their fasting is that they cant eat rice hahaha! Then they fast for 3 days and they do it again on Sunday but do a statue of Jesus resurrected! We kind of got the shun the past couple of days but we just had to let people know that we do believe in Jesus Christ, that he lived and died for us and rose again on the 3rd day!..........But holy week is over and now people are back to normal! So all is well! 

So this week was a good week! Sister Montemayor and I just went out and Killed it! We are still on the find and we are wanting to get some baptisms, we think that we have one on May 3! Her name is Mary Joy! She is 13. She has been listening to the missionaries for a little while now. She comes to church and she is reading the Book of Mormon! I love it! The only problem is her mom! He mom is a horrible example and tells her all these lies! She will let us teach her in their house but when we go she gets really nasty to her girls! It breaks my heart because what mom wouldnt want something good for her girls! Anyways, we went yesterday to ask the moms permission and she was kind of nasty to us but in the end told us she could do whatever she wants! So for this girl we just pray all the time that she will over come this! And that her mom will get a soft heart! She wants to be baptized and be better but it is just her mom! So we will continue to teach her and hopefully her mom will realize that we arent bad and that the message of the gospel will improve the lives of everyone!

As for us, Well I am learning a LOT of tagalog! HAHA it isnt bad but we are still trying to find our funk in teaching! My language has improved so much because know it enough now to teach her! So she speaks to me in English and I speak to her in ilong-ish! So it is a good mix for her! Everynight after planning we have english class! She wants to speak better english So I told her I would help her! She asks "Why do you say it like that" Sometimes I really dont know why, it is hard for me to speak english sometimes so I tell her "I dont know, it is just the way it is" HAHA So needless to say, I am a way good teacher! HAHAHA just kidding! But all is well here! We are fine! 

This Easter Season! I for sure know that Jesus Christ is my Savior! He came to earth and lived and died for me so that I can return to live with him again! I also know that the Atonement is real!!! Everytime that we are sad or happy or whatever Jesus Christ knows because he experienced it! He wants us to become like him so we need to strive every single day for it! I know that the Church is True! I am so grateful for this time to be a missionary! It really is the best! I love you all! Be good and be safe! I pray for you all the time! Have a great week!  

Love Sis. Polatis

Hey Everyone! 

That is so cute that you guys are counting down my days! It actually brought a little tear to my eye when you said that Dad is saying the number everyday until I arrive home! I am glad that you guys are excited because I am really excited to see you all! Don't worry about entertaining me when I get home! You know how I am! I just need a hair appointment and dentist appointment and some shopping and I will be all set:) 

This week has been pretty good! We had a really fun easter! 

- branch dinner... Consisting of everything you could ever eat in a Romanian home. Drob (ground up chicken liver and chicken put into a meat loaf formation) Chicken..... potatoes... kozonac bread... cinnamon rolls.... brownies... more bread.... eggs...... cake.... placinta.... ha lets just say the table was full. They do this thing where they say Isus a inviat.... then you smash your boiled egg with someone else boiled egg and then the other person says Adeverat a inviat... then they smash their egg with the other persons. It is hilarious... you win if your egg doesn't smash! I lost to a 6 years old kid! ha   

- Also at this branch dinner... crazy story... this couple that was crazy... keeps randomly showing up to our church for free stuff so one of the members invited them to the dinner. Well they showed up and the guy smelled super super bad and they just walked in saying "yay free food." Well our members were ticked and would not have them destroying the hard work they put into the feast. So we made them this huge packet full of food and bread and treats and asked them politely to leave. Well they were so mad! and told our missionary, Elder Rose who is the brach President "I want to speak with the pastor." He then looks at them and says.. I am the pastor. They were so mad! so they finally leave after like 10 min. Then I had to run to the store.. on the way back I just said have a happy easter. Good day... Well then the lady starts freaking out and yelling and saying she is going to kick my butt! ha Then the members were really mad because she threatened me.. ha I just laughed! 

- We went to easter midnight mass! So cool! We went to one of the oldest churches in Galatis that is along the danube river! I made it home with my candle lit again this year so my sins are forgiven again! wahoo!!! It was a lot of fun! So many people out! 

- Sunday was fun.. we were kind of dead.... ha but we had sacrament meeting. Later that day all of us met and had crepes at the church and we had permission to watch a disney movie! it was a lot of fun! We watched wreck it ralph. I had never seen it so it was cute! 

I am really glad that we do have this time to reflect upon our Savior during Easter. I am so grateful that I came on my mission. I have learned so much and I am excited to just keep progressing. My mission is not the peak of my life. It was just a good jump start to the rest of my life! I love you all so much! I can't wait to see you and give you all big hugs and kisses on your cheeks... just like the Romanians do... be prepared for that! (lip stick all over your faces!) haha Have a great week! I love you all! 

va iubesc! 

cu mare drag, Sora Abby Polatis!

Katniss--on her way to Roberts in a few weeks!

I think that Primrose has to stay!!!

Hi Family!!!! Tudddooooo bem!!!

  That pug already died!!:( Man that kind of made me sad and I didnt even know that dog. Darn it. Ha it sounds like everybody is doing good though. Maddy you should´ve just ran for some loser position in student council like your older brother, then it would´ve been guaranteed:) Wow I bet the next couple months are going to be full of really fun things!! Abby is getting home and Sam will be graduating. That is going to be some really exciting stuff.

   Well I have some exciting news for Granny..... I played the piano in Sacrament meeting yesterday:) Hahaha I haven´t practiced for like a year. They came and asked us if any of us could play the piano and no one could and I said mais ou menos (more or less) so we just sung the first him without the piano, but then I was looking through the rest of the hyms that we were going to be singing and I saw that the upcoming hyms were songs that i could play so I just jumped up there to play the sacrament hymn. Ha I don´t know what I was thinking but I actually did a pretty good job. There is a member who is getting married in like 3 weeks and she asked me if I would play the piano while she sung at her reception... haha I dont think so. But she is going to bring me a piece of the music to practice and see if I can do it. So I´m sure Grandma will be really happy about that.

    We had 5 investigators and church yesterday, but the ones that are supposed to be getting baptized this next Sunday did not come so we will have to push their date back. We have a member who is getting ready to serve a mission who is sharing the gospel really well and giving us quite a bit of refferals. We recieved a referral from another set of missionaries who told us that they found this Brazilian who lived in New jersey for most of her life, so we went over there and got to teach in English ha:) So much easier. Her husband doesnt know much though so we were still teaching in Portuguese also. The mom is pretty open and is for sure going to start reading the BOM but the husband is a little more against religion so we´ll see. Ha it is really hard to keep all of our investigators in order and I still am really confused about the area and where everyone lives but we found like 13 new investigators last week. That would never happen in the states haha. They aren´t the most solid but we´ll teach them. The language is coming along. I am starting to get pretty comfortable in lessons and I haven´t heard (no entende) that much this week so I think I`m getting better. Its still really difficult to understand people, unless I know what topic we are talking about, but I know that will come with time. Ha we have this recent convert named Carlos that wants to come and live at our house for who knows how long haha. I asked him what his plans were going to be if he came to the states and I don´t think that he really has any. Probably just wants to come and learn English better and enjoy the life in the states.

    The weather here has been pretty great. It´s probably been around 70s but it is so up and down here that I still am always drenched with sweat. Oh so I had to go and buy more stuff for my throat and the closest thing that they have is this inhaler thing that you put a pill into it and then it crushes it and then you just suck in the stuff. Really Ghetto!!!! Who knows if it will actually work, but that is what sister Tanner was told would be the closest to what I had. It should be good. My throat feels great and I still havent had any problems so I´m not worried about it. The food is really good here though and the Irmas really stuff you full ha. Other than that I think this week I have to go to this Police thing to go through all of my papers and stuff. We were all supposed to do it in the MTC but something happened so now we are going to do it this Wednesday. Our next transfer is already this next Tuesday!! Crazy stuff. Easter was great. We have a lot of chocolate to choose from thats for sure. It really seemed like just another work day though:) I´m loving it here and am really glad that I have this opportunity to bring the Gospel to these people that really need it. It is really fun getting to speak with a lot of people each day. The gospel is true!!! Keep up the great work everyone!! Love you All tons!!!

Love Elder Polatis

Hola tudo mundo!!!!

      Wow.... it´s different down here haha. My area that I am serving in is called Diadema, and I am serving in this ward called villa paulina. Ha and yea my new comp is Elder Searle!!!! Haha we were really excited at transfer meeting when President said that. I also live in this house with a couple of other Elders and one of them is Elder Witham!!!! Ha I served in the same ward as him in Iowa and he was my Provo MTC roomate haha. Crazy stuff!!! He is a zone leader now and has almost been here for 6 months so he has the language down pretty well. That is so good to hear that Greg and Kristin are having another baby! Para Bens!!!!!! I´m glad that the field is all planted as well and that Sam and Maddy are taking care of business!!  

        Well things are great here!!:) The people are really loving and actually smile sometimes when you talk to them. We have been teaching quite a few lessons also so its been really great. There is also this recent convert named Carlos who never really has anything to do, who comes out with us quite a bit. He is trying to learn English and i am trying to learn Portguese so we help each other out quite a bit. Yesterday at church I had to get up to the pulpit and introduce myself and bear my testimony. It actually went pretty well and I got quite a few compliments from all the members that I speak really well for only arriving here 5 days ago, but then they thought that I was good at speaking so then they started rambling off portuguese and I got lost haha:) We were teaching this guy that didnt have any of his front teeth and boy that was challenge!!!! I need this portguese to be as clear as possible for me to understand and this guy didnt have teeth ha. I need to hurry and learn fast though because this transfer gets over in like 2 weeks and President was asking me how good I am with directions and everything so I might be training already. Ha it would be crazy if that happened. Plus I finally have a compánion  that I really like. Elder Searle is sweet. He has been here for like 5 months almost and still isnt the best at speaking but he can understand pretty much everything. I think I am almost as good as speaking but I just need to hear portuguese more so my brain can get used to it.

    I dont think that Greg has served here in this area. I really need to talk to him and find out where he served. I am right in the Pavelas!! There is no huge city where I am at. I like it. There is some good jungle also so its cool. I definitely am going to get back into shape also. We walk all day everyday! Ha the APs are definitely not treated like the APS in the states. They have like this crappy apartment, while the APS in the states have like a nice truck and like a 3 story apartment ha. It is pretty fun taking the Metro and busing around. You get to meet so many people!!!

      The food has been really really good!!!! I still get really hungry at night though since we just have a big lunch and no dinner but I have some good little snacks and stuff. The weather has been pretty hot so I´ve been drenched most days. Today is like 50 so its actually pretty cool out there. But everyone is getting ready for the world cup and is really excited about that. ha I guess my team is the Sao paulinos haha. The members make you have a team. The language is coming and I have faith in the gift of tongues so it´ll come quick!! Thanks for everything. I hope that everyone got a lot out of conference! Ha it was really good for the second time in the MTC. Lots of great inspired messages. Love you all a ton!! Love Elder Polatis

My 1st comp in Brazil--Elder Searle

New Mission President in Brazil--Elder and Sister Tanner

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Brazil MTC!!  cool!

HAHA yes that is right! I am training again!!! Last Tuesday we thought we were safe, so we came home from district meeting and starting cooking and planning out our next transfer together..........then the phone rang!! I was so sad to hear that Sister Kumar would transfer, then Elder Wilstead goes, and.....Congrats Sister Polatis, you are going to be a mother! Haha I hope my reaction is different when I have my own real kids, I think I about burst into tears! I wasnt really expecting that. But it actually hasn't been to bad! My companion is Sister Montemayor. She is 27 and from Pampanga. She is a nurse! HAHA All my companions are nurses. She is cool though. She speaks really great english so the training part isnt that bad. But she teaches in Tagalog, because she doesnt understand or speak ilonggo yet. So we both have to be so sensitive to the spirit to keep our teachings in unity but really it isnt bad! I have a feeling that my next couple weeks will just fly by!

So General Conference was great! I wanted to make it my most memorable because it was my last in the mission, But the District center is so far we just decided to download it and watch it in our church, well we ended up watching it in the clerks office. HAHA definitely memorable! I loved all the talks. I had a lot of questions in mind and most were answered. I liked the talk of Jeffrey R Holland! How we will have to stick up for what we believe. But also do it in the right way! Many times here we get a lot of comments and heckling, but if we continue just being Christ-like all will be fine! Heavenly Father will help us and if we keep it cool, people will see that we are all disciples of Jesus Christ! I was so impacted and am so excited to apply them in my missionary work as well as my life! 

This week we didn't really have that much proselyting time with coming from Bacolod and getting Sister Montemayor all settled in but we were able to get some lessons taught! We went to the Rivera family! One of the boys that is listening is 22! He really listens and wants to know what is right! He brought his friend in the listen as well! So I just felt something different in the lesson, I wasn't quite sure what was going on, So i asked if they had any questions and the friend starts asking questions about the Plan of Salvation! I think that he is baptist! Kind of debating with us, but as we moved on and talked about the spirit world he got really quiet and I couldn't really read him! Then he asked some questions but got silent again! So we finished up the lesson and he wanted to pray! He started to pray and he started to cry while he is praying, he just thanked Heavenly father that he has a plan for us after this life. He never told us what happened, just shook our hands and told us something inside him told him that what we said is true! I was so excited to teach him again, So we texted him to meet again, but he moved back to bacolod!!! But he responded again and in all caps "Dont worry Sis Polatis, I WILL FIND THE MISSIONARIES" It was a bittersweet moment I wanted to teach him but I know that he is in the Lords hands now and I cant wait for him to visit to see what happens! 

I am SO stoked for Greg and Kristin! Congrats to you and your family!! I am so so so excited! I will pray for a girl! (Hope thats ok) Mom, about school! Bahala na lang! Medyo subo na ako! Basta thats life!!! EITC na lang! You can apply there and I will just say my prayers. I heard something like carrying our burdens cheerfully and to be honest, I am cheerful!! Everything happens for a reason! I know that what I am doing right now is right! I know that when we dedicate our lives to the Lord we will be blessed. I am grateful to be training right now! I thought I would have smooth sailing my last little bit but I was wrong! President told me he put me in Cauayan to train and to build the area! It will be kind of hard but do-able!! I love you all and am so thankful for the letters! Miss you all but I will see you soon!!! Have a great week! Be good and Be safe!!!!----Tell Heidi thanks for the letter, and to tell Marley---No I didnt have time to go sledding, maybe next week:) HAHA Halong kamo da!!!

Love Sis Polatis

Buna Ziua! 

Congratulations Greg and Kristin!!! I am so so excited! Wahoo! I am so glad that I will be home for that! Good job on Tennis Sam! Rock it! When is your graduation? I will probably be home for it! Can you guys believe it .... 30 days! Yes I am kind of freaking out! ha it just seems unreal and it seems like I have always been a missionary and that I will always be a missionary so sometimes reality hits and I do freak out! ha But I am excited at the same time! Crazy that Maddy is a senior! Wow... time has gone super fast! That is so cute about Tate... ya he will basically speak fluent Portuguese in like 2 months. You all sounds like you are doing great! Also a shout out to the Breinholt family! I received your letter last week and it was super super cute! I have not received a letter for months so it was fun to get one! :) 

Well this week... Sometimes i am not sure whether to laugh or cry about my mission. I usually just burst up laughing because there is really nothing else I can do! ha But so this week - remember how last week we had 11 lessons and all these new investigators. Well this week... they all kind of dropped us or are not interested. We actually still had 2 lessons this week with one women that looked really promising. We talked about the plan of salvation. She read through the pliant and read the chapter in the Book of Mormon. She looked like she was making progress. Well then the second lesson she basically told us she doesn't believe anything we have taught her and has no desire to really know if it is true - she just wants to learn for "informational" purposes. I was a crushed - We had studied so hard for her and I really wanted the lesson we had planned to hit her hard... but nothing... she would not even pray at the end. So we are kind of back down to zero again. If there is one thing I have learned on my mission is to be positive. So I am not going to let it get me down.. these last 30 days are going to rock regardless of if I am teaching all day or contacting all day long! 

So kind of funny story... We were trying to change all of our light bulbs anyways... long story short one of them like blew up and then all of our power was out in our entire house... we were leaving to iasi in like one hour.. we had just bought all our groceries for the week and we had a load of laundry in the washer... I wanted to die... We had to hurry and call our landlord and then take our food to the church fridge... needless to say I was kind of stressed but we made our train!!! it was just funny because we we got back from Iasi our house still didn't have electricity and it was freezing and midnight so we were walking around with flashlights and just jumped into bed until they came and fixed it the next day! ha it was really cool though because the electrician was super nice and was AMAZED  that i spoke Romanian. our land lady was there too and she asked us "are all of you missionaries this nice?" and the electrician guy then said "look at them it is their religion." It was super cool! We were able to talk a little bit more about what we believe! so it was cool!  

We did get to go to Iasi this week for zone training! It is always so much fun! We gave a presentation on how to better use the Book of Mormon in our missionary lives. I talked about how we need to study it more so that we have more power behind our testimonies. Well I then make everyone sing the primary song scripture power including making them lift up there scriptures when we said scripture! it was really cute and I made a video of it! so it was a lot of fun! We ate a greek place after that was so so good! So I am for sure a fan of Iasi! 

It was Sora Parkers birthday this week so I woke up and made her pancakes and then we opened her package from her family.. loaded with those reeses Egg things.. I wanted to die! those are the best ever! It was pouring rain outside so we watched some more general conference! We just had a lot of fun! 

General Conference was amazing! I can't wait to study all of those talks more once they are all printed out...I am going to put them on my ipod today so that I can listen to them as I am getting ready and eating meals! They were so so good! I loved Elder Bednars talk and Elder Uchtdorfs! So amazing! President Monsons from the Priesthood session! Man... powerful! there was many that I really loved but those are just a few that really hit me hard! 

I love you all so much! Thank you for all of your love and support! I have the best family in the world! Keep being great! This church is true! 

va iubesc! 

Sora Abby Polatis 

Hola Familia!!!!

     Well it is finally P-day and I get to email you and tell you how crazy Brasil is;) I can't believe how massive this city is. When I was flying in all I could see was city. Crazy stuff. Haha and Jaron was right about how people change lanes here when they are driving, you just stick your front end into the next lane and pray that the other guy slows down. Ha I learned that on our way to the MTC. My companion is Elder Merrit. He waited in Washington for like 9 months. His portuguese is a little on the bad side but I've been working with him. We have some Brazilian roomates that know a little bit of English but not much. Its really fun learning how to speak to them better. I also met a kid here who just got here a couple of days ago who was in the Provo MTC with me haha. So atleast there are a couple other missionaries that had to wait as long as I did.

      The MTC has been really fun though. It's really relaxing to not have to plan or anything and to get to play ball every day:) Good stuff!! Definitely a place to learn Portuguese because that is all I hear everyday. In Provo the learning process was way slower. It is crazy that I already leave on Tuesday. Time flew by here. Some cool things that we have done though is going out on the streets and proseletying. Each companionship gets 6 BOMS and we just go and talk to people for an hour!! Very very cool. The gift of tongues if definitely real. It was really cool to be able to explain to people what the Book of Mormon was and how it can help them in Portuguese. I couldn't understand everything that they said back to me of course haha but they are very nice people and it was very cool to see people accept a Book of Mormon that easily. Definitely way to different than from being in the states ha. If I would've been able to do that in the states that would have made my whole transfer:) The food is also good here as well, and we have hot showers and everything that we need. I was kind of expecting to be roughing it but not here in the MTC.

       We went to the Sao Paulo temple this morning for our P-day and it was beautiful!! Ha it was a little weird having to wear the headphones during the session but it was good. The session was in Spanish so I didnt want to risk it ha. Oh and they didnt let us take our cameras so I didnt get to take any pictures darn it!! Oh and we only get like 45 minutes to email so I'm going to have to cut it a little short:( But things are going great and I'm ready to hit the pavement again. I'll make sure and finish my medicine. I have been keeping up on it and I think that it is starting to get a better!! I still have these weird burps every now and again that I dont know where they are coming from but who knows. And no we didnt get to watch the Womans broadcast, hopefully Mandy my investigator back in Iowa did though:) I think for conference I will split it up and watch some in Portguese and In English:) 

      Love you all and am grateful for everything that you do. I dont know when i will be able to write again but we'll see. Have a great week and enjoy conference!!!!

Love, Elder Polatis

Oh my snow!! What even is that? HAHA I wish that was here right now because it is so so hot!!! I cant believe it! I am finally starting to get a little bit of a tan! 

Well this week!  A lot of little blessings! Things are finally starting to get better and there is hope!! So the first of our week was a little bit discouraging! Not that many people were home and usually I dont take that, If i was a private person before the mission I definitely am not private now, I just walk around to other houses until we find them, hahaha But it didnt really work! But we still were able to teach.

Thursday we were out well there is this one area, Isio, that is one of the main areas that we focus but we didnt want to go there, we wanted to go somewhere else, but as we passed it I just had this feeling that we needed to go there, and I changed my mind like 80 times but then just decided we would go and just pass by some people to let them know we would come back another day. So of course people are doing this hollering at us saying how we are just black and white (our skin color), well this lady is sitting there and she like gets super mad at them telling them to respect us because we are servants of God and so we said thanks and asked her name and all that, well she says that she was sitting there for over an hour waiting for us, and she didnt want to leave because she was nervous that she would miss us.She said that she was praying so hard for us to come. She said after 3 weeks of seeing us walk around she finally got the courage to talk to us, so she took us to her home, so we are teaching her and seriously it was like we knew her forever. She was so open and so excited. She said her friend who we OYM'd but wasnt interested gave it to her, well she read it and just felt super good! She is great! So excited to learn more and accepted baptism for May 10! We committed her for the 3rd, but she said wants 10 because that is her birthday! I love it! I loved how ready and prepared she was! I am grateful that the spirit guided her and that we were humble enough to follow the prompting, Maybe we would have missed her! Scary ina!!! So long story short, FOLLOW the promptings of the Holy Ghost!!! Even if you dont know why, just do it and it will work out for our good!

We had Branch Family Home Evening on Friday! Man, I was so nervous for it! We invited so many people and gave out flyers and everything. Well it was supposed to start at 5, well by 5;30 we had maybe 6 people. So we were so discouraged. But then at 6, like 25 INVESTIGATORS who live across the street from the church came in!!! It was such blessing! That is our area so Sister Kumar and I were like little kids on Christmas! All smiles BABY!!! Wahooooooooo!!! So we followed up with them yesterday and taught them! They were excited. They said that it has been over a year since missionaries have visited there! Which is weird because it is so close to the church! We are so excited for this next week! We are going to be busy and we love it!!!

We traveled 2 hours to Sipalay for our District conference! President and Sister Lopez were there along with Elder Nobleza of the quorum of the 70! They all did a really great job! A lot about reading our scriptures everyday and how we need to be built on a firm foundation! 

But all and all it was great! I am so excited that Tate finally got to go to Brazil! He will love it!! Happy Birthday Grandpa Polatis! I hope that you had a great day!!! I love you and I cant wait to see you!! Maybe we can take a trip to St. George when I get back, But only if we can Listen to Susan Boyle....Deal!! 

Be safe an enjoy the snow, Sister Kumar and I are wishing we were there! We fill our bucket at night to shower and the water is so warm, so we have no refuge of cold anymore! HAHA summer is officially here! I love you all! This is the TRUE church! How lucky are we! Continue on and I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the pictures!!!!!

Love Sis Polatis!!! 

Hey Everyone! I can't believe that it snowed that much! Wow! I am so so so excited for Tate! It is weird by the time he gets out of the MTC I only have a month left on the mission! I know you guys are all freaking out... ha no worries so am I! Congratulations for Chelsie and Sam!! That is so cute! I can't wait to meet all these new babies when I get home! I am super excited to see Divergent... one of my companions told me to read that book so add it to our movie list when I get home! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA POLATIS! I love you! 

First off this week was crazy.. I think I say that every week! But we found out about transfers and I am staying here with Sora Parker! Wahoo!!! We are super super excited! I love Galati!! 

Some highlights for the week! 

- This morning I went running along the Danube River and the watched the sun rise! It was one of the prettiest sights I have seen in a long time! I am obsessed with it! We actually have a new INVESTIGATOR- that comes running with us sometimes so it is a lot of fun! 

- Sunday: Yesterday was a really great day at church. We had another investigator show up to church and she stayed all three hours!! hallah! Well so we were watching the Hastening of the Salvation Broadcast and I know that I have seen it before but I really didn't really understand Romanian before when I watched it. It was just so cool because I was sitting there with an investigator at my side and understanding a broadcast about missionary work in a different language. It was an amazing moment for me. I was seriously overwhelmed with pure happiness and just felt so blessed. It hit me so strong... The church is so so true. Even if we are a little less functioning over here in Romania! The church is amazing!!!! 

- An update on the Galati area! We actually have 3 real investigators and we are going to be meeting with 2 new people this week! I have never had this many lessons scheduled in my entire mission. So it is a lot of fun! One investigator like I say comes running with us at 6:40 am. we are also meeting with her today! Another investigator I teach the piano to and she really wants to be a good person! 

- Our third investigator is cool! She is only 14 but we had an amazing lesson with her this week. We talked about prayer and about the Book of Mormon. She then brought up that she wants to quit smoking (sad huh.. she has already been smoking for 2 years.) But we testified our hearts out that the Book of Mormon and prayer would give her strength to overcome. She committed to read and pray! After the closing prayer she asked "can I ask you guys a question.... Why do I feel this way? I felt so scared and nervous before but now I just feel good!" I could not stop smiling.. I said "that is the Holy Ghost testifying to you that everything we are teaching you is true!!!" So we will continue working with her! 

- We did a lot of member visits this week! We love to constantly encourage and strengthen our members. They are amazing! It seems against all odds they made it and our holding on tight! Their conversion stories are amazing and they keep me motivated:) 

- We did some contacting this week.. ha normal thing but it was funny because we started talking to some lady and we were doing a scavenger hunt so I had to talk to her because she had my same color of purse.. Well at first I think she thought we were with the orthodox church and was really happy! ha when she realized that we weren't she went stone cold and said well it doesn't translate well to english but something like "you girls are not going to do much here in this country because we are all orthodox." She is wrong! We are going to prove her wrong this last transfer! :) 

Everything is going good here! We have this random district thing where we hashtag everything. So that is the only thing I can think of to describe galati. #galatilife! I am going to work hard and enjoy this last transfer so so much! We have some big event every week! I am so excited for General Conference this weekend!!! Just like the super bowl for us missionaries out here! The church is true! God loves all of us and wants us to be truly happy! We have so much potential! I love you all so so much! Love everyday back at home! Soon I will be a part of those days!!! Crazy! But you are all amazing! thanks for all you do for me!! 

va iubesc foarte mult! Nu pot sa cred ca doar am o luna.... vai de mine! ce sa fac! vreau sa fiu ca si cum as fi Sarah- de aceea am scris mai mult in limba romana sa stiti! :) pa pa nu mai bine, sanatate... pa pa pa! :) 

Sora Abby Polatis