Sao Domingos: Peeing Dog and oh yeah, you don't speak Portuguese

I have a feeling the mission is going to feel like this a lot but this week has been so short and so long at the same time. I was looking back at my journal to see what even happened this week and I could not believe some of the things happened just this week! Here are some highlights:

We went over to a members house for a family home evening. When my companion sat down on the couch, their dog hopped up next to her and a few moments later starts peeing! All good though and everything got cleaned up and the dog put away. But then, as we were leaving at the end, the dog was back out and on the couch and I was petting her. And then, I picked her up to put her on the ground and she starts peeing again! I am definitely a little traumatized now when we go over to other people's houses with dogs!

Last week, we were at Bishop's house on Sunday when it was really cold and Bishop's wife insisted that I borrow a jacket for the walk back. I returned it this past Sunday with a small thank you note and chocolate. Later, she sends us a voice message in English telling us how much she loves us and is thankful for us. It was such a tender mercy because I often feel sad that I can't talk with the members of our ward more, but she said she could see my effort and respond in English to make me feel more comfortable and loved. We really have the best ward and I am so grateful for them!

Learning Portuguese is coming little by little. My understanding is so much higher than my speaking and it throws me off. People say something to me and I go to respond and I am almost surprised that I can't. I'm reminded, oh yeah, you don't speak Portuguese, but in my heart I definitely do and want to respond. Also sometimes people speak English to me and it takes me a second to realize it is not English. And with Portuguese people will start talking and it takes me a second to realize I understand what they are saying and they are speaking Portuguese! The gift of tongues is real!