When I Can't Speak, I Sing

 We´ve got some heavy duty plans we´re going to put into action now. Also, minha mãe is morrendo [my mother is dying - meaning that her training companion is completing her mission and going home] this week, so that´s been kind of hard. 

My spiritual highlight was probably yesterday. I was trying to feel the Spirit before the baptism of the elders in our district, so I went into the chapel and just started playing hymns and singing the words I remembered in English like I used to do. It wasn´t private like the practice rooms at school or our house, but nevertheless, it really felt so good to do that again and invite the Spirit. Music has been an amazing tool for me on my mission. When I can´t speak, I sing. When I can´t feel the Spirit like I want, I sing (or I had a piano in this moment-that felt SO good). When I´m in the house, I sing. When I´m walking in the road and just thinking, I sing. It´s SO GOOD for me to always have this with me, and it has been such a sweet gift to be able to share as well.

Funnies this week:

In Brasil, Halls cough drops are sold in the candy section and at the checkout as candy. If you try to tell a Brazilian that they´re medicine, you get looked at like you´re a nutcase!!! SO FUNNY!!! They really do eat them as candy! "Bola" they say. I´m not convinced yet, but we´ll see. XD

 

Also, RAIN! Almost everyone that knows me knows that I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE rain. The sound, the smell, dancing in it...I don´t know...it´s just exhilarating! 

SO this week....we had rain....a lot of it!

The first night it rained was also the first time my companion called me a greenie! "Novinha" or 'Verdinha" And yes....it was warranted....I dragged her out to make contacts.....in the rain. XD So yup!!! This is me-happy as a clam and soaking wet after talking with tudo mundo in the rain. It was great!!! (And me with the umbrella that Natalie gave me. Thanks Natalie!!! My companion is SUPER GRATEFUL for you! She clung to that umbrella like a lifeline!)

 

The next day however...........it rained again.............more..............all day long.................yeah..................and I learned that my raincoat isn´t as rainproof as I once hoped......................rain isn´t as fun when all of you is soaking wet and freezing all day long. Yeah.....

So. I like rain. I like to listen to rain as I go to sleep. I like to watch the rain from the window. I like to dance in the rain. I really do like to be out in the rain WHEN I can come home and take a warm shower and wear PJs after. I even like working all day in the rain WHEN I have a raincoat that works. So yes. Rain is a beautiful thing, but so is sunshine. :]

"This isn't our work"

 

 

This work is so true. That is amazing me everyday. Work is slow here and it´s hard, but I´m learning so much, and that´s what I hang  on to. My mission president told me my first week that in Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16, it says that if we save but ONE SOUL, how great will be our joy, and that one soul can be ours. SHOULD be ours. This is what I remember when nobody wants to listen or change.  I´m changing more than I every thought I would.  One of my teachers in the CTM, Irmão Bakr (He is AMAZING!!!) taught us about "tetos espirituais" or "spiritual ceilings." Many times in life, we grow to the extent of our spiritual capacity where we are in life, and we need to trust, close our eyes, and make that next leap of faith in order to ...apagar....tirar...get rid of (?) that next teto espiritual. For me, I needed to go on a mission in order to grow and learn like I am now. For our teacher, he needed to get married like he did that weekend. We ALL have a change we can make to let the Lord shape us in ways we NEVER EVEN COULD HAVE imagined! I´m learning SO MUCH ON MY MISSION, and if it were to end today, I learned everything I needed to learn. (I expect and pray that it won´t becuase I do believe I still have a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT more to learn!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

This week. Holy crazy! Not the best week of my mission. Emotionally, I´m fine. Number wise...we´re not going to talk about that....(let´s just say that when doctor´s appointments, tendonitis, a companion with a migraine, and a MIIIIIIIIIIILLION fallen though appointments happen....on paper, it doesn´t look like you did much.....) I definitely am learning a lot about having patience with myself, others, and situations you can´t control. Mostly with myself and situations. Those seem to be the hardest for me. Just remember that when you aren´t where you want to be, and nothing's working out the way you planned, maybe God has somewhere else for you to be. I trust that even though I can´t yet see why. I trust that with all my heart. I really do. 

OKAY!!! YESTERDAY!!! NOSSA [WOW!]!!! HOLY SCHMANOLY!!!! Okay, church here is backwards (at least it was before this next month-it´s changing). So Relief Society was normal (and I listened to the whole thing this time instead of getting tired and writing in my journal-here, group discussion isn´t a chore to get going, everyone just talks at the same time as everyone else, so trying to understand in another language can be tricky...). Sunday school was also normal until the last 20 minutes. Right toward the end, an Irmã came in and asked if my companion and I could talk to her class about the importance of family and how to defend their beliefs with others. Okay, a little pressure, I´m nervous as we walk down the hallway, but it´s okay...I can do this. We get there and start talking, and then all of a sudden the Bispo [Bishop] is at the door, and asks if he can talk to me. Talk about a spike in heart rate! I go out to the hallway, and he asks if I´ll be the first speaker in sacrament meeting in 10 minutes....yup..."Você está preparada?" "Are you prepared?" ......Yep! (****NO NO NO NO NO NONOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, but I´m not going to SAAAAAAY that!) I go back in panicked (bc the talks I wrote in the CTM were sitting in my notebook at home). We continue talking about family, and then 2 minutes later another person comes to the door, and asks if I´ll play piano for sacrament meeting in 8 minutes. Yup! Go back in again. Bear my testimony about family and how if they simply bear their testimony to others, the Spirit will teach, and that´s enough. We go back to class, I pick hymns (thank GOODNESS they let me pick), and we go to Sacrament meeting. I wrote a talk during the 2 minutes of announcements and about the 7 minutes of Sacrament time. Somehow, someway, I spoke for between 5 and 10 minutes in PORTUGUESE giving a talk, and it just WORKED! The words came, and even though I didn´t have everything I would have said in English, I gave a talk that people said helped them. 

This isn´t our work. I KNOW that!!! If we are willing to take one step, open our mouth, read that verse of scripture, pray to know if it´s true, invite the missionaries into our homes, listen, try ANYTHING, God will bless us to succeed in His way and His time. I´m learning this everyday!

 

Pics this week!

 

I broke 9 eggs this week AS SOON AS I walked in the door from buying them. Sister McPherson and I salvaged 8 of them, so I´ve been reheating scrambled eggs all week. I´ll probably eat the last of them tomorrow. XD

I have matched FIVE DIFFERENT TIMES with people in my house this last week. Totally unintentional. Super funny. (We even have the same necklace in this picture-that was the only intentional part)

This little boy is the SWEETEST!! His name is Alexandro. We visited his family this week. They´re not active, so we´re trying to help them feel supported and loved in the church. I got to play with him for about an hour while my comp visited with his mom. He loves origami, and taught me how to make this cobra!! It´s LEGIT!!! (haven´t used THAT word in a long time!) WE played hopscotch, I tried to ride a tiny bike in a skirt (and succeeded, thank you very much ;D), dribbled a basketball, and taught him how to make little springs with paper. It was the BEST!!! I TOTALLY get little boys!!! Even when I was teaching the message, it was so much easier to teach it for him and adapt it for a child that to try to teach an adult. Much less nerve wracking. He´s nine, and TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTALLY reminded me of Joseph. Super sweet, super creative, makes his own fun, and loves to teach people his things and loves life.

One of my favorite bus rides. Parque da Repreza. SUPER pretty. I tried to get a pic out the window. Mostly succeeded. 

This was my love note from Heaven last night. Heavenly Father sends little love notes for us everyday, and I´m trying harder to remember to look for them. Do that. Look and find out how He speaks with you! It´s a beautiful process, and you´ll realize just how CLOSE He is to us every minute. <3

 

All my love!!!

Sister Little

"I feel so much closer to my Savior", plus a lot of fun pictures

 This week has been much better than the last. Not really any easier, but I feel so much closer to my Savior, and that is more than I could ever ask for!

Ah, used all my time for pictures, so please this week, pray for someone around you. Someone who needs it, and then try to serve them. This is part of our purpose on the earth. Love as Christ loved. He will help you do this. 

 The dropbox isn´t really working because it makes me download it on the computer, and I´m always on public computers, so I´ll just try to send as many highlight pics as I can in emails!

I gave Sister Costa a dollar. She says she´s rich now. :) Definitely the best moment EVER!

I made salsa!!! I barely put ANY peppers in it, but it TOTALLY spiced out all of the Brazilians!!! Super funny!!!

This one sister raises  guinea pigs. We got to hold them! This one is only about 2 weeks old if I remember correctly!

 

 We (Sister McPherson-The other American Sister- and I) made (as much as we could find) Cafe Rio for our district P-day. They LOVED it!! It was SUPER good!

The pão de queijo [cheese bread] my companion BURNED in the microwave. That was a great moment! (Especially when I got it right, and she couldn´t believe that the American could cook pão de queijo! XD Whoop!!!) 

OH! I don´t think I´ve mentioned that I teach English once a week! At the church, we teach a free English class every terça-feira [Tuesday]. It´s really neat because we invite people from the street when we contact, so the people who come aren´t members, but it´s in the church and  we´re missionaries, so naturally, we use the gospel when we can. This was from when I taught them how to pray in English. It was one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen. These are things we were grateful for. Sister McPherson teaches the advanced class (typically only a person or two, and they read talks and have conversations-sounds cool!), and I teach the basic class and speak mostly in Portuguese. It´s really neat to be able to say, "yeah, I´ve only been here for 2 months, so I´m learning right along with you, and I´m here to say that even though it´s hard, you CAN learn another language with practice and all" Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE teaching!?!?

Testing the "smile and shoot" function on my camera...

 Teaching our district "wood-chuck"....you should have seeeeen their faces when I raced through this one! Yup...I felt cool... (no pride, no pride.....;D)

The sisters in our house with Sister Hill. WE LOVE HER SO MUCH I CAN´T EVEN SAY!!!!!!!!! 

So, funny story.... We had a quick split last night while Sister McPherson and I taught a recent convert and English. Sister Costa and Sister Paiva went and taught another investigator. Well, Sister MC and I left the church after class to actually get home on time (culturally, nothing happens at the time it is said it should happen here, so getting home right on time was a big deal for us!!). When we were about 2 minutes from home, we get a call from our other sisters saying the they need the keys for the church. W were like, just lock it from the inside and lock the gate, you don´t need the keys. Hahaha....well...turns out, everyone else had left the church, and locked the gate, and locked our sisters INSIDE!!!!!! Soooooo..... we were late to get home again, but at least we have a picture our captive sisters locked in at the church. It was pretty great!

 A member´s bird. cute....until.....

The four of us and members after a lunch. It´s SUPER weird to be tall. NEVER before in my ENTIRE LIFE!!

 This is what happens when you get super bored waiting for the ônibus for an HOUR on your p-day...yup....it was hilarious just because we were out and stuck. Yup. (Did you know that there´s not just a word for 'stuck" in Portuguese?! Probably one of the saddest things ever, mas tudo bem [but it's alright]!)

Dance lessons by Sister McPherson. (yes, sister Costa has a toothbrush in her mouth...)

 Missionary exercise. Also, notice the makeshift free weight. Yup, that´s the perk of living in a house that previously housed Elders!

My snazzy X-ray. Yup, they actually GIVE them to you here when you leave the doctor! That´s cool!! (And good news, I DON`T have a bone spur nor therefore need surgery! I do have achilles tendonitis, but I can handle that!)

Also, If you ever feel like a dork...don´t. Just don´t. Simply be grateful that you don´t have to make a million first impressions everyday wearing a skirt and tennis shoes...yes, tennis shoes....and a skirt....together....like, at the same time......in the same outfit.....yeah.....

All my love!

Sister Little

Week 8 - Love, Hard Work, and Agency

What a couple of weeks.  Holy smokerdoodles... So, I´m in the field. Yup. And people have agency...that´s the really hard part of this whole Plan thing... Like I said, this work is harder than anything else I´ve done in my life up to this point, but I´m also growing like I´ve never grown before in my life. I´m trying so hard to do this mission thing right, and I pray that the Lord will take everything I´m giving and make something out of it, because I´m not much of anything, but I guess that´s the miracle.  That´s what He does. 

I love these people and everything SO MUCH already, so it´s really hard not to be able to share everything I have inside. And people have agency. That´s hard. People don´t often want to hear what we have.

This work is right, this work is true, and we can do it. I know that. 1 Népi 3:7  "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

We have a light, and if all we can do is look at someone, smile, and pray that they feel our testimony, I  believe that that is enough. I believe that. 

I love you all so much!  And thank you for going out with the missionaries. You have no idea what a blessing it is to have someone who will go, and that you can trust.

At the temple With Madalens, Danielle, and Debora. Please pray for them. 

When we got stuck without lunch...all was well in the end!