OLLLLLAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, it is so good to
hear from everyone this week! I can honestly say this has been the longest, and
the hardest week of my entire life. I can barely believe I was still at the CTM
a week ago. I feel like I've been in the field forever!
Things here are really
good though! Recife is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I'm in a little city called Rio
Doce. (sweet river) It's about 40 minutes from Recife, and it's right on the
coast! (we have a really good view of the ocean from our window!) My companion
is Sister J. Silva. She's from Sao Paulo, and doesn't speak a single word of
English, so that's been interesting; but I love her so much!! We've had a lot
of fun this week! We love to sing hymns as we walk, and we've laughed a ton! We
live in a cute little apartment on the 8th floor of a building with 2 other...
Americans! It's actually really crazy that we're 3 to 1 here! But it doesn't
really matter, because we're not allowed to speak English. It's all Portuguese,
all the time! Which is hard, but I know it'll help me a ton!
Rio Doce is everything I
imagined Brazil would be like. It's a pretty poor part of Brazil, which means
the people are extremely humble. We teach tons of lessons, and contact tons of
people, because literally everyone will stop to listen to us, or let us into
their house. Sounds great, right? Well, it's kind of annoying too. Of the
number of contacts we make, maybe 1 or 2 are actually interested, and will let
us come back. It's really hard to know who's real, and who isn't. But it's
good! There's a lot of work here!
Rio Doce itself is a
really beautiful place- poor, but beautiful! There's dirt roads, shacks for
houses, the sidewalks are falling apart, dogs and horses (yes, horses!!) just
wander the streets, it's always hot, always raining, there's palm trees of
every size, and fruit trees with fruit I've never even heard of before. It's so
great!!!!
Okay, now I'm gonna get
real with ya'll. If anyone has ever said being a missionary was easy- they were
lying. Wow this has been a hard week! I think the hardest thing about it is
just the communication barrier. I want to talk to people, and I want to be part
of conversations, but it's hard when people speak fast, and the sutaki (accent)
here is super different. I have tons of questions for my trainer, but it's hard
to ask them, and even when I do, it's hard to understand her response. It's
really easy to get frustrated and discouraged. I'm just trying to remember that
I've literally only been in the field for 1 week, and it will get better. I
just need to be patient! (I was at least able to bear my testimony on the spot
in Sacrament meeting in front of everyone on Sunday! It was terrifying, but I
did it!)
Okay, really fast I have
to tell you a funny story! (sorry this email is so long!!) We met this girl,
Julia, and her mom the other day while contacting, and we taught a lesson on
the spot to them. They invited us back, but when we went back, Julia wasn't
there and the mom was about to leave. So, we decided just to write a quick note
for Julia, then go. While we were writing the note though, the "dad"
(not really sure who he is exactly...) ran in with cookies he had just ran and
bought at the store for us, then he ran into the kitchen and brought out drinks
for us. Then he ran back in and grabbed a chair (which he struggled to get
through the door) and sat right in front of us. He kept asking us questions,
but because the mom wasn't in the room at that exact moment, we couldn't really
teach him. We were just trying to hurry and finish the letter. But while we
were sitting there, he just stared at me. And everytime I looked at him, he
would wink. It was extremely uncomfortable. But worst of all, when we left, I
went to shake his hand, and he grabbed my hand and started rubbing it. ACK! You
can bet I got out of that house fast. yeah... we probably won't be going back
to that house ever again. Honestly though, it was sooo funny. We died of
laughter afterwards.
Well, life in Rio Doce
is good! I hope you're all doing well, and know how much I love you!! Have a great
week!!!
Love, Sister Shelton
Scripture of the week:
Acts 17:27 "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after
him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us."
Hi Jessica, you look so great and happy. I'm so glad! It sound like you've started right into missionary life full steam ahead. My son went to Brazil, near the border of Paraguay. We went to pick him up and I was surprised there were palm trees. I didn't know they grew there! It is a weird feeling when you go to a place and you are the minority. And Mary, who went to France said all the men proposed to her. Especially the drunk one. Ewww! Stay on the alert. :). I love you. (This is Sister Shepherd btw.). Here's a scripture for you: "Come as you are,” a loving Father says to each of us, but He adds, “Don’t plan to stay as you are.” We smile and remember that God is determined to make of us more than we thought we could be. Elder Holland. April 2017. Keep up the good work! <3
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