May 23, 2011

Óla from Brasil!
Wow! The past 4 day have been so wonderful! I love it here, the weather has been SOOO perfect! I couldn´t ask for anything better. I don´t actually have a companion yet because trasfers aren´t until...actually I don´t know...the language barrier makes this a little difficult I am with 2 sisters right now and we all thought I would be gone today but who knows no one has told us anything yet so I´m just waiting. These sisters are really nice but I feel like they are jus babysitting me and it´s just awkward sometimes. I really want a companion, I was sure that when I got to the field I would have one but I still don´t. Oh well...I will soon enough!

I think my family will find this interesting but I really love the beans and rice, it is not like we had when I threw it up...that was gross...this stuff is good! :)

One of the girls I am with has been here for 6 weeks and was serving is the U.S. before waiting for her visa and the other is from Brasil and speaks so fast. Everything she says I have to ask her to repeat slower. It´s embarrassing but I do eventually get it and I can converse with everyone but I think I sound like a caveman! The sister from the U.S. says that I understand way better than she did which makes me feel better and everyday I understand a little more so that is good. And I have taught a few times and for the most part they understand me. Yesterday I had one girl who we were teaching and I was asking her a few questions and sharing something and after she asked me how long I had been here and I told her and she was like oh wow, you speak so well and I was like well I just hope that you understood what I was saying and she was like yeah I understood everything. But then later I had a different girl who seriously just looked at me and I was like I don´t understand about everything I said...so pretty much opposite experiences. Whatever it´ll come!

Ok so the first time I stopped someone in the street to tell them about why I am here and who I am and what I´m doing after I told her that we were missionaries she was like I don´t have time and walked away before I had time to say anything else...epic fail! Oh well! It was funny I wish you could have seen my face it was VERY discouraged. I´m over it now though.

My mission president and his wife are amazing! When I arrived, they had this banner in the airport and the other Elder I was with said that they were jumping up and down but I didn´t see it. Anyway they are just the greatest! I love them. They don´t speak English and Sister Tavares speaks VERY fast but when she slows it down we can communicate very well!

We had a baptism yesterday...well I would more say that they had a baptism because I had only talked to him like 1 time and he already had a baptismal date when I arrived. But still I was there. He is so cute, he is like 10 and his family is less active in the church and he told his mom that he wanted to be baptized and she didn´t want him to and he told her: mom this is my decision and I want to be. And so he was. And he reads the Book of Mormon on his own. It is just awesome!

I don´t have a whole lot else to say but I am so excited to be in Brasil and so excited to be doing this work. And I know that it is so true and it is changing people´s lives here. The message we bring can change anyone´s life and I´m just so excited to share it! I know that the only reason I can even speak this langauage like a caveman is because of the Holy Ghost and it is literally the hand of the Lord in my life, helping me bring His message to others.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Brooks