Olá a todos,
It has been a very long, very fast, very hard, and very good week. I am in the field now and my new companion\trainor is Sister Perri (pronounced Pe-Hee). She is from Menause which is in the middle of the Amazon region. She speaks perfect English because she attended BYU-I last year. She is currently learning Japanese as her original mission is in Japan and she is only here temporarily while she waits on a visa. I love her already and it has been great learning from her example. Our area is Bom Conselho, which is about in the middle of our mission and more south than Recife. It has lots of hills, churches, horses, stray dogs, music, and people. In English ‘Bom Conselho’ means “Good Advice”. This week I received a lot of good advice through the many different experiences I had.
During my last few days at the CTM it hit me really hard that I was about to be out in a foreign country with nobody there to help except for a companion who might not speak English (luckily she does but I didn’t know that until I got to the mission home). I felt like my Portuguese was weak and I struggled with it more than I ever had the 4 days leading up until we left for the airport. I kept myself mostly composed though because of the words of one of my CTM roommates. She reminded me that there has never been a more dramatic change like this ever in my life. This week I have had more ‘firsts’ than I can count and remembering that has helped me have a little bit more patience with myself.
Friday night I learned to enjoy trying. We had been in the mission home all day, getting taught by the mission secretaries and doing interviews, and that night we slept in a hotel. Sister Murrillo and I shared a room. Sister Murrillo is from Ecuador and does not speak English. I am from Utah and do not speak Spanish. Together, we both barely speak any Portuguese. Yet that night, we stayed up talking and laughing with each other as if we had been best friends for years. We were speaking some sort of Spengliguese (Spanish + English + Portuguese) and loving every little mistake we made. From this, I learned that I could make connections even with the language barrier.
Saturday I learned that saying something wrong is better than saying nothing at all. We were standing outside the door of an investigator. It was my first one and Sister Perri showed me what principles she wanted to teach and asked what I could share. I stared at the list and realized I couldn’t say anything. I started stressing out, and overthinking. There was no way I would be able to teach a single person here because I couldn’t even accurately explain a single principle on that list. My companion comforted me as I tried to calm down. It ended up being that the investigator wasn’t even home that day so we couldn’t teach her anyway. We walked some more until we found another investigator’s home. We came in, and all I said was “Boa noite”, and Sister Perri began the lesson. I didn’t understand a lot but I got the gist. I was caught off guard when Sister Perri turned to me and asked me to share my testimony. I was still recovering from my little panic moment earlier and said no. I regretted it immediately and wished so badly that I would’ve just said something. Since then I have learned that when I try and mess up, people smile or laugh, when I try and succeed, people tear up and feel the spirit, but when I say nothing at all, people feel nothing. I am not here to help people feel nothing, I’m here to bring happiness and hope. Since then I have participated in every interaction, whether it has been saying a prayer, bearing my testimony, reading scriptures, or trying to connect with people through simple phrases and smiles. In just one day, I think I became twice the missionary I was on Saturday.
The members here are so loving and open. The first thing Sister Perri told me when I met her at the transfer meeting was, we’ve got to hurry, we have baptisms tonight. Our area is about 5.5 hours away from the mission home and we needed transportation if we were going to make it. Luckily, a local member from Recife offered to drive us all the way out there even when he would just have to turn around and go all the way back. His willingness to help when it greatly inconvenienced himself was inspiring. When we got to our area, I met most of the members who were there preparing for the baptism. I got hugs from complete strangers and was thanked for coming to their country to teach their friends. I didn’t even know Portuguese which was very obvious from the permanent confused smile on my face, but they still were so grateful for my presence. I admired the faith of the mother and daughter who were baptized that first night. They bore their testimonies in such a way that I felt as though they were the missionaries and I was the one there to learn about the mercy of Jesus Christ from them. People here are not wealthy, most don’t have doors on their houses or anything other than foot flops on their feet, yet they are looking for Spiritual nourishment, not physical. From them, I learned to discover what my priorities are. Do I still give thanks and worship God for his mercy when I feel at my lowest? Do I care more that my possessions and standard of living are maintained rather than my testimony? Is my faith dependent on my comfort?
There is still a lot I have to learn here, from the people, the members, my companion, and my Savior. I am excited for this opportunity and even though it has not been, is not, and will not be easy, I know that God is guiding my steps to make me an effective missionary.
That’s all folks! Tchau Tchau for now!
Love,
Sister Alyssa Grace
Bom Conselho, Brasil
