Sorry about last week’s email being
so short- we had to leave early to make room for other people emailing. :( I
was a little sad about it but now I have a lot of time, so everything is
awesome!
So I’ll start from the beginning. Brazil
has really good juice! I don’t even like juice but here it is so delicious! A
couple times at the CTM they had mango juice and oh my gosh it was so yummy. It
tasted like I was eating a mango, through a straw. There’s another juice they
have here that we don’t in the United States called caju (cashew). It’s made
from the fruit on the cashew apple tree, I’m don’t know exactly what it is but
it’s really good. There was another juice that tasted EXACTLY like a
melted Dole whip. In fact, I think that’s how they made it. They bought the
dole whip from Disneyland and it just melted by the time it got here.
The last week at the CTM was a crazy
good week. They say the last week in the missionary training center is either
really bad because you’re just worried and don’t do anything or it is really
good and you study and learn more than ever before. I think mine was somewhere
in between. My district tried really hard to do our best this last week and I
think we did.
Our lessons with our “investigators”
were amazing-- especially the one with Irmao Jacques (Jacks). He was acting
like an investigator he had on his mission named Paulo. We were teaching “Paulo.” The last lesson we wanted to help Irmao Jacques in his life too. So we read
Alma 38 (fantastic chapter) about faith in Jesus Christ and the power that it
brings. Then we read Psalms 43 (or maybe 42 I can´t quite remember. Pretty sure
it was 43) which is the scripture that the song Lead Kindly Light is based
on. It’s about the Lord being our light and leading the way. I love it. And
then, because my companions are great singers and love to sing, we all sang
Lead Kindly Light to finish the lesson. We knew that it was Irmao Jacqeus’
favorite hymn and it was so powerful. We sounded so beautiful, and we could
pronounce every Portuguese word. I am sure that angels were singing with us or
through us, either one.
“Lead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom, lead thou me
on. The night is dark and I am far from home, lead thou me on. Keep thou my
feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step enough for me.”
He was totally crying- and he is an intimidating
person. I remember I was so scared of him my first week. He thanked us for
being there and for being angels in his life. It was the perfect ending to our
CTM experience.
It was actually really sad to leave
my district this week. We have gotten to know each other so well and just want
everyone to be successful. Missionaries are so awesome and I’m so thankful to
be around them all the time. ;)
The last day in the CTM was rough!
We were in a meeting all day long and it was all in Portuguese. :o It just made
my brain hurt so much, and by the end of the day I was just so frustrated with
the language and trying to understand that I wanted to give up and cry. But
then our district did something amazing :) My companions and I asked for a
priesthood blessing from the Elders, and it was so perfect. The last night we
were in the CTM together we received a blessing straight from our Father in
Heaven through the power of the priesthood. I was given comfort and peace. I
feel so much more prepared for what’s ahead because I know that I can face
anything when the Lord is on my side.
Now I am in the field! We got up
early and left for our Mission office at 7 am. We met our mission president and
his wife, they are super nice people. They’re
American too, so that was nice. And we
met our new companions! My companion is super awesome! She’s been here over a
year and knows Portuguese really well. She’s been with a Brazilian companion
who didn't speak any English for the last 3 months, so now she even thinks in
Portuguese. She says everything to me in Portuguese! I was a little scared at
first but I’m pretty good with it now. I know that she will help me learn a
lot, and hopefully I’ll be fluent in no time. A lot of people told me that I
understand a lot and speak really well, but it doesn't feel like it. Most
of the time I understand people if they talk slow and actually pronounce every
word. They kind of just put everything
together and I don’t get much. But it isn't as bad as I thought :) Heavenly
Father is definitely helping me!
We are living in a tiny little
apartment above a member’s house, and it is so awesome. It just feels like
Brazil. I am just loving it. And this morning we woke up to a rooster! An
actual rooster! My companion says sometimes it’ll start making noises around 4
or 5 am. So I have that to look forward to.
We went out to some member´s houses
last night which went really well. It is so cool to talk with Brazilians! I don’t
understand everything but I am learning!
If you have any questions about the
church go to mormon.org or lds.org or even better--
talk to the missionaries!! I know this gospel is true and will make you so
happy!!
Com Muito Amor,
Sister Berry
