Mai! Eu sou em Brasil! Ok There has been so much happening this week, I don`t even know where to begin! The flight over was super long and it kind of sucked but you know what? I didn`t even care because I was so excited to get to Brazil! Sister Remy and Elder Hendrickson and I made it over here and the airport in Sao Paulo was awful to figure out, but we made it through with the help of a Brazilian guy from the church and the Lord!
When we arrived on Tuesday, President Lanius picked us up with the APs and then we had dinner at the mission house. It is just a small apartment, because that`s what everything is here. But it was really nice and President and Sister Lanius made us feel super welcome! There are 6 of us new missionaries from America this week.
After dinner, we got some of our stuff and stayed the night with some other sisters. It was raining super hard and was possibly the most confusing thing I have ever done...but oh well! We made it again! The next day, we got our companions. I am with Sister Seidmann and I LOVE HER. She speaks a little English, but she is adorable and so nice to me! She`s Brazilian and from Campinas. She has only been on her mission for 3 months, but the people love her and trust her very much. I trust her too. Not that I have much of a choice ;)
We live with 2 other sisters, Sister Olivera and Sister Alancar. They are great and NEVER boring and although I don`t understand a lot of what they are saying, they are so kind and patient with me! Our apartment is pretty small and different than anything I`ve ever experienced. I think we need to get some American bathrooms up in here pronto. But our place is so much better than any of the other houses I`ve been in so far.
On to the important part! The work. Wow. You know the pictures of 3rd world countries you see on National Geographic and the History Channel? That`s Recife. I have never seen so much poverty in my life. The ]people don`t have much of anything, but they are so happy and they are incredibly receptive. We teach probably ten lessons a day. Well, sister Seidmann teaches and I just sit there and look American. Which is a very good thing, btw. People here go nuts over white skin and blue eyes apparently! Also the fact that I have a big butt, which has always been an hinderance, is pretty well accepted here too! hahaha mayyyybe I should just live in Brazil forever...ok that was a big tangent. Sorry!
We have a teaching pool of 32. THIRTY TWO PEOPLE! I love it! We work all day long and it is hot and it is hard and probably not hygenic in the least. But it is so cool. People here love the gospel and are incredibly receptive. Best part...I had my first baptism this week! Her name is Valesca Maria Silva and she is 16 years old. She is so sweet!!! It was crazy to prepare for everything because we don`t exactly have a ward mission leader, but oh man, it was such a great feeling. I will send pictures! We have two more baptisms scheduled for next week, Cirley and Maria Eduarda. Please pray that they will go through! This is so different than Pittsburgh! It is easier to get people to teach, but very difficu lt to get them to keep commitments.
This has definitely been the hardest week of my life. I don`t really know what people are saying, although I`m miles ahead of where I thought I would be as far as language goes. I wish that I could help teach more, but I can`t really understand when people tell me there problems yet! I know that I just need to have more patience though. It is very frustrating to live in a place where everything you want to say takes a great deal of thought, but I know that the Lord is helping me.
God is SO aware of his missionaries. Every time we need food, someone offers us lunch. We ran out of water today and everything is closed because of Sao Joao, (a holiday that I really hate because Brazilians like to celebrate it by sitting around and drinking and blowing things up), and I prayed that we would find a way to get water and the mercado right next to our house happened to be the only place open in the whole area. That was definitely a miracle.
Some random things to finish up with...I had to give a talk yesterday. Yeah that sucked. But after, a ton of people came up to me and told me that I had been blessed with the gift of tongues! Way cool! We go running on the beach in the morning for exercise. I currently have about 40 mosquito bites on my legs because I forgot my repellent the first day. Brazilians reallyyyy like pop and carbs, so i feel slightly disgusting because that`s all they eat! Haha this is a country of diabetics, but they probably don`t know about it.
Mom: I can`t even begin to tell you how many times I gasped during the email you sentt me! Engagements and weddings and what the heck! Oh, and you can go ahead and accept those friend requests! I love you so much and it was so good to hear you in the airport! I want to take pictures of my area and show you what it`s like, but Sister Seidmann says it is too dangerous for me to have my camera out in public. Sorry! I hope you are doing ok and I love you!
Coop and Dad: I`ll respond to your emails seperately!
I love the work and I love that it is hard. Brazil will either kill me or make me into a freaking strong woman! Have a great week and I love you so much!
Tchao!
Sister Dana
Sister Dana
 |
| Tuesday, June 18th shortly after arriving in Recife. With 6 missionaries from America and the mission APs and President Lanius |
