The fam is looking REAL good! So I´m gonna just get right to it! THIS WEEK WAS A TOUGH ONE!! haha not gonna lie! So when we left the CTM it was so hard because I had to say bye to people for like EVER!! It was just really hard to say goodbye to the
people I love and the people I got really close to! The flight to Natal from
Sao Paulo was 3-4 hours. The first day was long due to the orientation and
getting to know what to expect for missionary life! President Soares and his
wife are seriously the bomb!! My companion is Sister Coelho (translated Sister
Rabbit) lol. I am the only American
sister to get a Brazilian companion this transfer!! (ayyyyeeee).
I’ve been assigned to Natal as my first area. It is honestly so legit here! It reminds me of North Carolina a little bit, but not really! I don´t know it´s hard to explain! So the first day in the field we spent all day cleaning this apartment for one of the Sisters. It was DISGUSTING and it literally took all day! Needless to say my first day in the field wasn´t normal! We got Açai after...Let me just tell you how much I LOVE AÇAI!!! It is magical and I’m going to miss that in the US!
(Mom note: The acai berry is an inch-long, reddish-purple fruit. It comes from the acai palm tree, which is native to Central and South America. Some studies show that acai fruit pulp is even richer in antioxidants than cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, or blueberries.
On the second day we had out District meeting and I was able to meet all the people with whom I will be working and we had to present ourselves in front of everyone; “e eu disse, eu sou Sister Talentino, eu sou de Ohio Estados Unidos and eu tenho 1 dia no campo!”, (I am sister Talentino and I am from the Ohio, USA and this is my first day in the mission field) and everyone started to clap and shout. Ha ha Good times!! Depois isso (After that), was when the work began!! WE WALKED EVERYWHERE!! I seriously don´t even know but I am so happy I have good shoes!!
It was rough this week because I don´t know what people are saying! I know the gospel vocabulary, but not the street vocabulary! So the beginning of the week was really rough for me and I was down on myself because it´s really hard to say something or get involved when you don´t even know what someone is saying!! Or when I am thinking in Portuguese and trying to recognize what people are saying and they have already started talking about something else! But the people here are so open with talking about religion and God and Jesus Christ! It´s awesome but also hard cause in America it is not like that at all! I know that we have trials in our life and that God gives us a way to overcome these trials and with these trials I know that I am not alone even though I sometimes feel like I am! The Atonement is a beautiful thing and the little knowledge that I have of it gives me so much comfort! Another desafio (challenge) that we had this week was that we had a week’s worth of work to do in 3 days! So it felt like we invited the whole entire world to church this Sunday but sadly not one person came. I was heart broken! I guess that happens a lot so that´s why we have to invite so many people. We are teaching this one family (oh and I am so bad with names to begin with but try remembering names that I have never heard before.) and they are so ready for the gospel and to be baptized, but we have gone back 3 times and they are never there! It can be so frustrating, but that´s why we keep on pushing through the hard trials because the good stuff is waiting on the other side! What is really amazing to me are the people who are members of the church! A lot of them are the first members of their family and are between 13-25 years old! One guy named Andreo (I think that´s how you spell it) is 15 years old and he just received the Aaronic Priesthood. HE IS SO SOLID!!! He actually reminds me of Timm (mom note: Timm is Natalie's cousin) a little bit! They have similar mannerisms...kind of weird but it is so awesome!! Oh something funny that happened was that this guy Daniel is ALWAYS drunk, and he loves the missionaries I guess! So one night sister Coelho and I were walking down the rua (road) and Daniel starts talking to us (ugh the alcohol was so strong haha) and then all of a sudden he says to me You´re American, right! I said yeah, and then he said, “I don´t like Americans”, LOLS AWK and then he took my hand and kissed it and said that he was joking....haha I love Brazil! Sorry I don´t have specifics but each day it gets better and better!! My Portuguese I think is getting better and I´m excited for this week. I’m praying everyday to not have fear because it´s easy to have fear of messing up when you don´t know the language very well...but people NEED to hear this message! They need this joy in their life! Through hardships our faith will grow!! Peace and blessings!!
I’ve been assigned to Natal as my first area. It is honestly so legit here! It reminds me of North Carolina a little bit, but not really! I don´t know it´s hard to explain! So the first day in the field we spent all day cleaning this apartment for one of the Sisters. It was DISGUSTING and it literally took all day! Needless to say my first day in the field wasn´t normal! We got Açai after...Let me just tell you how much I LOVE AÇAI!!! It is magical and I’m going to miss that in the US!
(Mom note: The acai berry is an inch-long, reddish-purple fruit. It comes from the acai palm tree, which is native to Central and South America. Some studies show that acai fruit pulp is even richer in antioxidants than cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, or blueberries.
On the second day we had out District meeting and I was able to meet all the people with whom I will be working and we had to present ourselves in front of everyone; “e eu disse, eu sou Sister Talentino, eu sou de Ohio Estados Unidos and eu tenho 1 dia no campo!”, (I am sister Talentino and I am from the Ohio, USA and this is my first day in the mission field) and everyone started to clap and shout. Ha ha Good times!! Depois isso (After that), was when the work began!! WE WALKED EVERYWHERE!! I seriously don´t even know but I am so happy I have good shoes!!
(I didn't have water so I had to wash my feet in a bucket)
It was rough this week because I don´t know what people are saying! I know the gospel vocabulary, but not the street vocabulary! So the beginning of the week was really rough for me and I was down on myself because it´s really hard to say something or get involved when you don´t even know what someone is saying!! Or when I am thinking in Portuguese and trying to recognize what people are saying and they have already started talking about something else! But the people here are so open with talking about religion and God and Jesus Christ! It´s awesome but also hard cause in America it is not like that at all! I know that we have trials in our life and that God gives us a way to overcome these trials and with these trials I know that I am not alone even though I sometimes feel like I am! The Atonement is a beautiful thing and the little knowledge that I have of it gives me so much comfort! Another desafio (challenge) that we had this week was that we had a week’s worth of work to do in 3 days! So it felt like we invited the whole entire world to church this Sunday but sadly not one person came. I was heart broken! I guess that happens a lot so that´s why we have to invite so many people. We are teaching this one family (oh and I am so bad with names to begin with but try remembering names that I have never heard before.) and they are so ready for the gospel and to be baptized, but we have gone back 3 times and they are never there! It can be so frustrating, but that´s why we keep on pushing through the hard trials because the good stuff is waiting on the other side! What is really amazing to me are the people who are members of the church! A lot of them are the first members of their family and are between 13-25 years old! One guy named Andreo (I think that´s how you spell it) is 15 years old and he just received the Aaronic Priesthood. HE IS SO SOLID!!! He actually reminds me of Timm (mom note: Timm is Natalie's cousin) a little bit! They have similar mannerisms...kind of weird but it is so awesome!! Oh something funny that happened was that this guy Daniel is ALWAYS drunk, and he loves the missionaries I guess! So one night sister Coelho and I were walking down the rua (road) and Daniel starts talking to us (ugh the alcohol was so strong haha) and then all of a sudden he says to me You´re American, right! I said yeah, and then he said, “I don´t like Americans”, LOLS AWK and then he took my hand and kissed it and said that he was joking....haha I love Brazil! Sorry I don´t have specifics but each day it gets better and better!! My Portuguese I think is getting better and I´m excited for this week. I’m praying everyday to not have fear because it´s easy to have fear of messing up when you don´t know the language very well...but people NEED to hear this message! They need this joy in their life! Through hardships our faith will grow!! Peace and blessings!!
Love,
Sister Talentino
Moroni 8:3
What an adventure! Way to go. Your companion Rabbit will be your best friend and help you master the language Boom
ReplyDeleteNão se preocupe, Natalie. Tem Açaí nos Estados Unidos! Quando você voltar de missão vem me visitar em Miami e te levamos para comer (e tomar) Açaí!
ReplyDeleteCynthia