A letter and some pictures! (before the frightful surgery)

Sister Sampaio. . . my companion and I! We are on our way to a training meeting 2 hours away! We finally go into the city and got on THIS BUS! It was so chique (sheeky) that we had to take a picture! LOL! AND we actually could sit down on the bus too!

The artwork here is. . . . interesting. . . .LOL! I don't know why, but here in Sao Paulo they are obsessed with weird distorted faces! They are all over! Oh and American cuss words. . . it's a bit strange!

The houses here are literally stacked on top of each other!

A view from the Bishop's home! This is considered a nicer part of town!

"I'm feeling skinny Tony!" LOL

I call this stairway to heaven . . . or HECK (on a hot day LOL) These steps might look normal, but they almost come up to my knees. . . AND I am not even at the bottom . . . there are still more sets below! The good news is I will have BUNS OF STEEL!!! hahahahaha!

Here, for example. . . . there is a house below (less active who feeds us once a month) and you have to climb down a ladder to get to the front door!

Update on Sister Ricchio . . .

PATTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am alive!!!!!

here is the story:

so last monday i was feelin g a little bit sick.....but thats normal for americans because lets be honest, the food here can be scary at times! LOL so i went along and a few days later i felt super sick like i had the flu......i had a major fever and felt like death........so on wednesdayi tried to carry on like normal with our appointments, but after lunch i told my companion that i needed to lay down and take some medicine because the pain was super bad! so i took 2 advil and layed down,......but i couldnt sleep! SO...my companion said she wanted to call president, but i dint want to because i didnt think it was that serious because when you call president you better be bleeding out your eyes......so i said no....so she called a nurse thats a memeber in another area and the member had my comp do some tests on me and then i heard the memebr say .....she needs to go to the hospital now!!!!!!! i instantly started balling my eyes out because i was super scared and the pain wasnt gettng any better......then my comp called president....who was about 8 hours away....brazil is huge.....lol and he said to go immediately........so here begins the fun......i went to a general hospital, and sat there for about 6 hours before i was checked out.....apparently there was a problem with my mission insurance card.....because the federal police station still was holding onto my paperwork for immigrational purposes and so nothing was processed for my insurance......great!

...so then the doctor started asking me questions....but of course i cant explain medically.....i know how to speak a little.....but the pain and the whole situation was hindering me from saying a word....so my companion jumped up and said shes an american and cant speak portugues, so i will translate for her.......the doctor at that point laughed and said,,,,in potrugues....no, let her speak english and we will try to understand......PATTY i couldnt believe it....the doctors were mocking me! anyways....my comp was mad and started talking to them.....and then they said okay we need to take some blood and urine samples........after that i waited for another 3 hours......then the same doctor came back to talk to my companion....and i underswtood everything she said.....she said that my blood had infection in it and that she is hesitant to treat me because of the insurance issue and because i am american,,,,,,like, if something was to go wrong.......geez........THEN my president arrived and tried to get things straightened out.....they then put me on a bed and i layed in the corridor for almost the whole night and my president was right there with me! But they couldnt give me any meds because they said that they didnt want to mask the pain when i would go in for surgery....so they gave me fluids.....which was basically water in a back that hung above me........i was then at about 5 in the morning i was rolled into a room with about 18 people....you could literally touch the patient next to you....we were shoved into this room.....on one side a woman was vomitting......and the other, an old woman taht has problems, tried to grab my pillow from me......seriously patty i am traumatized.......hahahhahahaha im laughing but i seriously am!!!! then at about 12 noon the next day they rolled me in for surgery and of course i was balling my eyes out because i was so scared...i had never had surgery and iam in brazil for heavens sakes!!!!!!!!!!!!! so i had surgery and then layed in a room for about 2 days until they would release me....they said i had to poop.....well because they had me fasting for 2 days without food or water....pooping wasnt an option...hahahahahaha OH! i am a noob....when i saw the blood from my wound i almost fainted....hahahaha when i stood up for the first time i seriously vomitted and swallowed it....and then when i went to the bathroom and saw blood dripping from my gown i started freaking out.....i called the nurse.......EU PRECISO AJUDA!!!! AJUDA, AJUDA......that means.....i need help....help....help! hahahah patty you would haved died laughing.....but i know that the medical field is not for me!

oh! my incision is huge....and that not an exageration....hahaha apparently my appendics was super inflammed....still not sure if it burst....but my incision is about half a ruler in diameter....possibly a little bit more!!!

So now i am here in my presidents home trying to recover quickly! patty this house is legit....i have pictures....hahahaha if i show you youwould die....its like a palace resort! and i laugh when i look at pictures from my area because its such a big contrast!!! anyways....patty, i just love my prsident and his wife....seriously they have been so good to me and help me with everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i want to give them a gift or something to thank them for helping me.....

other than that i am doing fine....its litterally torture to sit here and do nothing....no music, nothing.....i study, sleep, sleep and sleep....and eat crackers occasionally! hahahahahaha i really dont have an appetite because i feel bloated....and littlerally like im carrying twins.....no joke patty thats the feeling.....my stomach is very heavy, bloated and sore.....i am dead serious that when i have kids its going to be a problem because i never want to go to another hopsital again......ill just have my kids in the bathtub....hahahah call me a drama queen but patty i am traumatized :(

emergency appendectomy!!!

sister ricchio had an emergency appendectomy a few days ago after having been suffering from severe pain, fever, and nausea and vomiting. she is now resting peacefully at the mission president's home in brazil.

New mission president and BLOOD

So street contacts are interesting at times.....hahahha sometimes we contact people .....men.....and they say....well can i have your phone numebr? or oh well i will come to church this sunday if you will be there....HAHAHAHH things get interesting with these people here!

I HAVE A NEW MISSION PRESIDENT! i HAVENT MET HIM YET but aparently he is cool....he is brazilian and an ex military man....should be interesting....LOL .This week is a great big meeting with the WHOLE mission! I get to see elder smithy! yes! hahahahahahah and oh btw...i have to wake up at 4am to travel to the police station to clear things up with my residency here! then after i will go to the big meeting with all the missionaries

So there is a stake center close to us that is being reformed! and its going to be really nice when its finished! well there is 24 hour security because....lets be honest...the church is wealthy down here! LOL anyways there is one secutriy gaurd who is always there.....weell one night he said ´´Oi´´ and started talking to us.....inthe beginning.....hahahahh he then was asking all about me and where im from....then he mentioned that he wanted to be taught the lessons because he had heard them before.....but he is out of our area....and elders cover the area which he lives....so once we told him that the elders would be happy to teach him he said.....NO! hahahahhahaha can you beleive that????? he is super sketchy, and every time we pass by that area he tries to talk to me but i say we dont have time, were going to a lesson...lol

OH! some positive news is that i am doing a lot better with the language.....and i understand almost EVERYTHING! its good to finally be clued in to what people are saying! LOL

OH! so the other day we went to our investigators house to teach her and she said, `´ i have made something for you to eat´´ of course i was stoked because i was hungry.....and so we went to the table and it was beans, rice and meat....or so i thought.....so as i grabed my fork she said, `´´tipo coracao´´ which in portugues means ´´its like heart´´ ugh i automatically panicked because i knew that i was in for a treat.....so i cut into IT and it appeared to be meat....i took a bite and almost gagged....as i chewed and overwhelming taste of iron......BLOOD (bluud) LOL filled my mouth......patty it was liver! i was so grossed out but she was right there and so i swalled it basically whole.....and then i qiuckly thought.....well....i can choke it down with the rice and beans but they were soaked in the bloody iron flavor and i wanted to die.!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahhahhahah so i did my best and i remember that my backpack was next to me and i quickly searched for a napkin, but i could only find a mini tissue......so i took this biggest piece and shoved it into my mouth.....then when she turned her back i quickly spit it into the napkin! hahahahahahahhait was terrible....but i ended up eating some of it.....oh and the rice and beans too! after we left i felt so gross and wanted to vomit up my food....but i didnt!!!! LOL