Easter Happiness

Hello everyone,

This week has been tiring, but amazing. First, last tuesday, we had the amazing opportunity to go to the São Paulo temple with the mission! I love the temple so much. It truly is the house of the Lord; a place where we can feel peace and His love more strongly. Even more amazing, we stayed to pass through with the first convert of my companion, Sister Arzola! In Sister Arzola's first area on the mission she taught a man, who got baptized and now, one year later went to the temple with his wife to be married and sealed together for time and all eternity. It was a privilege to be there at such a special moment in their lives. Even more awesome was that they performed the ceremony in Spanish! The family is from Chile so they decided to be married in their native language. I was able to understand almost everything. Maybe not specific words, but the idea, kinda like when I first arrived here in Brazil. It was beautiful and I loved being a part of it. 

Well this week was Easter! I absolutely loved sharing messages with everyone about our Savior Jesus Christ. We watched many times the video from mormon.org, #Hallelujah- an Easter message. I love it so much! I love my Savior. I am so grateful for the opportunity to start again and again. Even though I make mistakes, God still loves me, and He will help me to become more like His Son. I have found new life in Jesus Christ. He has healed me, and will continue to do so as long as I have sorrow or pain in life. I love Him and He loves me! Make sure to check out that video.

It was a little difficult this weekend to find people at home because of the Easter Holiday. Here, Good Friday or Sexta Feira da Paixão, is bigger than Easter Sunday, so lots of people were out of town or didnt want to let us in because they had visitors. We were still able to talk to some people and visit members. Sister Arzola is great and loves to work. I was questioning a bit this week, wondering why am I here in Vila Mariana when the transfer is only 5 weeks long. What can I do here in 5 weeks that I couldnt have done in Itaim or in some other area? What am I doing here and what do I need to learn? I still dont know the answers, but I want to work my hardest. I know that Heavenly Father will answer my prayers, in His time. 

Something awesome about this week- I ate deviled eggs! I had forgotten that they even existed until a member served them at lunch on friday. It is totally uncommon here in Brazil and the member didnt even know it was an Easter thing until I mentioned it. Pretty awesome. So yeah, its all about the little things. :)

Thanks for all the love! And watch General Conference next week! Messages directly from God given through His prophets and apostles! I am soooooo excited!

Com muito amor, Sister Berry <3

City Lights Look Like Stars

Olá,

This week was crazy! So many things have changed. My new area is super different than any place I have ever been.There are a lot of high class people here, but also from the lower class too. So far I have been feeling super out of place, but I know it just takes some time to adjust. I miss my old area a lot actually, and all the people that I love. Sister Arzola has been introducing me to the members so little by little it has been getting better. Sister Arzola is super amazing and is a super hard worker, I am loving it! I just feel a little bad for her now because I dont know anything about the area most of the time she is just doing everything. I am trying to learn as fast as I can. I know that it will all turn out great. 

This area is so beautiful! There are lots of apartment buildings (that also provide shade), and lots of trees too. There is a super big park that is part of our area too that I am excited to visit. The only drawback of the city is that everything is super expensive, especially the açai. so that is a little sad for my life. We also have a great view from our apartment, 16 stories up. At night the city nights really looks like stars. The apartment is super tiny but the view makes up for it. I love it. 

I talked to a returned missionary who served in London England in english and it was super hilarious. Imagine a brazilian with an english accent! Awesome!

Well, this transfer I really want to focus on loving everything. The people, the area, the language, the mission, and being a missionary here in Sao paulo. I know I can do hard things!

I am also super excited for Easter! I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that He died for me and for all of us. I know that He lives! I know that He guides this church through living prophets today. 

Have a fantastic week!!

Love, Sister Berry

Look for Little Miracles

So this has been a great week! Sister Pinheiro and I were able to work hard and help a lot of people. But, tomorrow is transfer day, and I am getting transfered! I am finally leaving Itaim after almost 8 months here. It was super hard to say good bye to all the members and people here that I love so much. It was strange because it really felt like I was leaving home. I already felt like I was a part of the ward. That is why I am super excited to be here with Sister Arzola (from Argentina) in Vila Mariana, the center of Sao Paulo. It is going to be super different but I am excited to get to work.

 So a little more about my week: I gave another talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. The members were probably sick of seeing my face, but the bishop wanted to me say a goodbye of sorts. I decided to talk about something that I learned a lot about on the mission: sacrifice. Today God asks us to offer as a sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit. As a missionary, I have been learning how to give everything to the Lord and this work. I have learned how to give up all my wants and dreams for a year and a half and just do His work. And actually, my mission is almost ending. I cannot believe how fast time flies. It still feels like I will be a missionary forever. Lets keep it that way.

Yesterday was also amazing because of Fran and her family. I love them so much. I wish I could stay in Itaim just to stay with them to get to know them even better. I am so happy for Fran that she was able to find the church again and is helping her children to grow in the gospel. God is good.

Yup. I am going to miss so many people but I am excited for this new beginning. This next transfer is going to be absolutely amazing! I know that God loves me. I can feel His love for me every single day, even when I make mistakes. Its all about the little things. For example, Sister Pinheiro has the habit of talking about food all the time (she's tiny but she eats a lot!) and its crazy how she talks about some kind of food that she wants and that day or the next someone offers us that kind of food. Its awesome! One day she asked me what I wanted to eat, and that day I just wanted 'natural juice', juice made from the fruit itself, super delicious and refreshing. I thought of mango or guava (more common), but then we got to talking about suco de acerola and how it has been forever since we have had it and its one of my favorites. We forgot about it and went to lunch. After we had finished eating lunch with a sister in the ward we were just sitting and talking a bit, and out of nowhere she asked us if we liked suco de acerola. Like wait, what? I could not believe it and I just started laughing. Sister Pinheiro pointed out that God really loves us, and I agreed. So we drank delicious suco de acerola and were happy. :)

Make sure to look for the little miracles every day. Your Heavenly Father loves you more than you can imagine! He is always there to help you!

love ya!

Sister Berry

I Love Being a Missionary

Olá!

I cannot believe that it is March already! This year has been going by so fast! I now have 1 year and 4 months as a missionary! Crazy!

This week has been great; Sister Pinheiro and I have finally gotten into the swing of things and are working hard and great together. We have met some wonderful families these past few weeks that we have been visiting and helping a lot. First was Ana, who got baptized yesterday! She has been faced with a lot of persecution from her family but she was determined to be baptized. I am so grateful for the members here who have helped us out so much and have been visiting her. We also have been visiting a great family that I have grown to love. Fran is coming back to church after many years out of it and is bringing here whole family with her. She is not legally married to her husband yet, so we are helping them with that. They have 5 kids that are just adorable! The two oldest are old enough to get baptized so we are teaching them more about that. Fran has a really great desire to relearn and remember all that she once knew, and really wants her children on the right path. Her husbund is a little more closed to things with religion, but we are helping him little by little.

I love being a missionary! Every day I have a greater desire to work and talk to everyone about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am really learning how to be patient. Heavenly Father has shown me so many of my weaknesses. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the strength that He has given me. I know that we can do hard things. Trust in Him and everything will be alright. :)

love, Sister Berry