Yeah so P Day will usually be Monday, but we are emailing today
because of transfers and everything. My new companion is Sister
Ferreira. She is from São Paulo and we just speak Portuguese together.
It is really overwhelming and I just try not to think about the fact
that I took two planes and two buses to get to our area in the middle of
nowhere and I am only surrounded by Portuguese. It is kind of unreal. I
am in Caicó. Our house is nice, my comp. said it is one of the nicest
in the mission. Pretty simple, but we do not need much. I understand my
comp. really well. I am the second American she has trained so she is
really patient and knows how to explain things clearly. I am grateful for how nice she is.
So flying from SP to Rio to JP was quite the day. We
got picked up at the airport by the President his wife and APs and my
comp. was there too. João Pessoa is super different than São Paulo. It
is much more like what I expected in Brazil. We had interviews with the
president and meetings the first day at the chapel in João Pessoa. Then
we went to the Mission Home and had dinner and a testimony meeting. It
was a good first day. That night the sisters (me & my comp.) got to
sleep at the mission home in way comfy beds and have a hot shower, which
is a commodity I definitely do not have here in Caicó. It is fine
though because it is so hot that a cold shower is bearable. We woke up
early Wednesday
morning and headed to the bus station. We rode a bus up to Natal for 3
hours and then rode another to our city for 5 hours. It was a long day.
We got here at about 7 pm and had a lesson scheduled for 7:30. I
unpacked a little and we headed out. Two people were not home, but
finally we went to visit an investigator who was. On the way to each
house my comp. just explained about the progress of the investigator. I
really just sit all the time and think how grateful I am to be able to
understand her when she speaks. It is truly a miracle from God. The
lesson was cool. I was nervous, but my comp. is way helpful and did most
of the talking. I bore testimony a couple times and asked a couple
questions. I understood most of what was going on. It was good to get
the first lesson over with and I am excited to meet everyone else
because then I will feel more comfortable here I think.
Our second time proselyting before I left São Paulo was much better than the first and I talked to a man on the bus ride yesterday
about the Book of Mormon and he was really interested. The people of
Brazil really love Jesus Christ and want to learn more about him. It is a
good place to be a missionary. I am grateful so many people want to
learn about the gospel and want to follow the example of Jesus Christ
and be good people and open their hearts to the love of God. It will be
good. Really hard, but good. When I speak port. I have to focus really
hard to understand and have a conversation so I am really exhausted, but
I know I am being strengthened by the people around me and my Heavenly
Father.
Um, really cool thing. Pres. Hall knew grandpa. He
was mission president when Pres. Hall was in Recife. He said everyone
knows of Pres. Drechsel. Could you tell me the dates and callings of when
grandpa served here? I tried to remember, but I am not sure if I have
it all exactly right.
Here is a picture of me, my old comp.
(Sis. Masterson) and my two Brazilian roommates for the last 3 weeks Sis.
Yopan and Sis. Costa. Sis. Costa is from Rio Grande de Norte where I am
serving now, but a different city.
This is me & Elder Spencer!! Wahoo! He is really great, I am sad I will not be seeing him around the CTM anymore.
This is the Rio airport. I did not get to go see the sites of Rio in
person so I just took a picture with the mural of sites.
And finally the sunrise over the ocean from the
mission home window in João Pessoa. Maybe someday I will serve by the
coast, but right now this is a good place for me to be.
I love you all and am really excited to be a real life missionary now!!
Sister Udy
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