Isaiah 41:10

I read an awesome talk this week, Parents: The Prime Teachers of the Gospel by Tad R Callister, in the most recent conference. It was really good, read it!

 Crazy thing for the week…it HAILED. It hailed for reals. It was only about 5 minutes but it was still bizarre. It’s the middle of summer here! Brazil is so strange. It was really nice this week though. It rained a lot and it was chilly outside.  It was fantastic because I actually had to sleep with a blanket.

OOHHH. They have churros here! Oh yeah! But the best part is that you pronounce churros--"Shoohoos." Oh my goodness, I think it’s hilarious! I laugh all day. 

This is my district. I  love missionaries! My DL is the one in the back with a red tie and he’s great. He always tells us to be happy "fica feliz" or “seja feliz sempre.”.He’s from Peru and his companion is from Cape Verde (the tall elder with glasses) and he´s awesome too. He actually taught me a little Creole but I don’t remember it. Cape Verde sounds super cool though.

This is my new Brazil shirt that I bought in Brás--a place where everything is super cheap. I love it.  It makes me feel so festive and Brazilian.

This is a picture of all the sister missionaries with an awesome family from the ward. They are awesome! The little girl in the front with the dress and crown gave us a little performance from Frozen. She sang and danced to the song Let It Go exactly like the movie! It was adorable.  Frozen is super popular here too! Yup, it’s everywhere. 

Here are the answers to the questions from Aunt Kelley…

1. What is your favorite scripture - right now? Why?

Isaiah 41:10. Because I am scared.  I’m scared of a lot of things here. I’ m scared of speaking Portuguese and giving the lessons and everything. I really like this verse because it is what How Firm a Foundation is based on. “Fear not, I am with thee oh be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will still give thee aid, I’ll strengthen thee help thee, and cause thee to stand, upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand.”  Yeah, I really love that. I really need that all the time.

2. What does your typical daily schedule look like? What do you do all day?
We get up at 6:30, I  kind of  sucked at that the first week here but now I am totally cool with it because it doesn’t matter what I want,  it is what God wants. Then we do some "exercises" but my comp doesn’t really do any so I kind of just run in place, do some jumping jacks, stretch, and the works. Then we get ready and eat breakfast from 7-8. Breakfast sucks here so I usually just eat some crackers. Then we study for 3 hours! Personal study is my favorite!! And I wish we had more time because there is so much I want to read. Today I actually finished reading all of PMG, looking up scriptures included and I’m reading the BoM in Portuguese and English. Portuguese is going really slow... then comp study is usually just talking about what we studied and then I don’t even know what happens because the time goes by really fast. We leave around 12 or 12:30 to go to a member’s house for lunch. I really like that they give lunches to us here because then I’m not hungry for the rest of the day. They give us so much, so that’s good. But these people love to talk so we don’t normally leave until 3. Then we go to work. Walking everywhere takes up a lot of time, but its ok because we usually do a lot of contacts (just walking up to people and asking them if they want to hear more, or sometimes just giving them a mini-lesson right there) on the way to appointments. If appointments fall through we can always find some random person who will let us in their house to teach them. It’s crazy how these Brazilians are. We don’t normally visit a lot of members, actually none besides lunches. Sometimes we’ll visit less-actives but normally its investigators. Then we always get home at 9:30. We’re supposed to be home at 9 unless we have an appointment, but we hardly ever get home before 9:30 because we are so busy. Which really sucks because then we have 1 hour to take a shower, eat dinner, plan the next day, get ready for bed, and write in our journals. the struggle is real. We are just so busy and the time is flying by for me.

3. How is the Sunday church experience? Is it the same as here?
Church is hard for me. The first Sunday was horrible. I thought it was going to be great talking to members but it really sucks because everyone is just speaking Portuguese and I’m just like –“wait… what?” I have no idea what is happening most of the time. It’s so hard to understand people who are in the front of the room or other people answering questions or reading scriptures. Impossible for me actually. But it’s the same church. The weird thing is that they have Relief society first and Sacrament last. My comp usually leaves me out and talks to everyone and I have no idea what to do. It’s getting better. I understand more, not a lot, but more. Sundays in general kind of suck actually because we don’t get any time to study. Church is from 9-12 (right during our normal study time) and then we go to lunch and to work again. Definitely not a day of rest for missionaries. But I’m learning to love it. Oh, one of the best things about church is the sacrament. A sister in the ward makes the bread special. She makes it, and it is soooo good. My comp says that it’s a secret recipe too and they only use it for the sacrament, which I think is awesome.

4. Can you see the Lord's hand in the work? How?

I totally can, just by the way he supports his missionaries.  I would not be able to do any of this without the strength of the Lord. We are still looking for the people that have been prepared for the gospel, but it’s going good. 

5. Are you growing up on the inside? How do you know?

I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like it. I think I’m the same I just spend more time doing things that are more important in life. I’m reading scriptures, studying them, reading conference talks and searching for answers to questions that only my Heavenly Father can answer. I still have a lot of weaknesses, and I’m working on making them into strengths. so maybe i am growing up inside, not sure though. 

God Has a Sense of Humor

Hey Everyone!

We are talking to a lot of people! We do a lot of contacts every day but it’s harder to find people that actually want to learn more and want to get baptized. The people are so great here though. We are teaching an amazing sister named Valkyria. Her husband is a returned missionary but fell away from the church. He smokes, drinks, and they aren't married legally :( It is so sad to see someone who was so strong fall so hard. But Valkyria is amazing and wants to know more and be baptized! We have a lot of work to do before that can happen, but she is just awesome and I love her already!

I don’t even know what to write! It’s hot and humid here now but people are super nice and always give us water and juice. Portuguese is coming... haha. Actually, yesterday we started talking to these two ladies sitting outside their house and they couldn't understand my companion very well, but they could understand me! What?! My comp has a strong American accent but she’s been here a year and understands everything and everyone always understands her, but not this time. So I had to do all the talking, which almost never happens. God has a great sense of humor. I know it I just so I would have to speak more Portuguese. But I actually did okay. I can speak Portuguese! I know Heavenly Father has strengthened me so much while I have been here. I wouldn't be able to do anything without the help of the Lord.

Pray. Read the scriptures. You have a Father in Heaven you loves you and wants to help you succeed. Just ask Him.

Com Amor, Sister Berry

I've Been Out Two Months!

What another crazy busy week! Basically every week is crazy busy and I’m still getting used to it. I can’t believe I’ve been a missionary for 2 months already! The time is just flying by, and I’m trying to soak it up while I can. We talk to so many people and the people are just awesome here. I love Brazilians! Alright I finally figured out where I am. I am in Sao Paulo, the city of Gaurulhos, in the neighborhood of Novo Cidade. So if you want to google map that you probably could.

Interesting thing about Brazil: the grapes are disgusting here. Just nasty. I don’t even know how to explain it but I can’t even chew or swallow them. But every other fruit is SUPER delicious so I don’t know what the deal is with grapes. They also have Maracujá flavored Fanta!! Passion fruit Fanta! It’s pretty good too.

I got a bunch of Christmas letters this week!! Thank you so much! I sent you some snail mail!! I love letters so don’t be afraid to send me mail!

It is actually not as hot as I thought it would be, which is such a blessing. There is a lot of wind and it rains almost every afternoon. It does feel super-hot after lunch when we are walking around the neighborhoods but people are really nice and give us lots of water so really we are good. It doesn’t feel as hot outside as it does in Arizona, at least not yet. I’m really hoping it doesn’t get hotter than this because I can handle this! My hair is up every day though; I’ve been trying to do different braids every day. My comp does french braids too and people always comment on our “tranças.”  It’s awesome.

I was thinking this morning as we were walking around that I really love Brazil. It has been such a challenge to be here and learn a new language and walk around all day long in the heat but really I love it. I love the food, I love the rain, I love the people, I love how green it is, and I just love how everything is so different. This has been so amazing and I thank my Heavenly Father every day that I get to have this experience. 

I am so grateful that I get to share this wonderful gospel to the people of Brazil! I am learning so much. I always say to myself: In the strength of the Lord I can do hard things. You can do anything when you do it with the Lord. Stay strong. Pray always!

Love, Sister Berry

Christmas and New Years (Two Letters)

(This letter was sent 12/29)

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!

Christmas was good here! Christmas Eve our whole missionary zone went caroling with the bishop in Pimentas. About 20 missionaries were walking around the neighborhoods of Brazil, wearing red and green and all wearing Santa hats. It was great. We sang a couple hymns in Portuguese (of course) for each house we went to. Then after that we came back to the bishop’s house and had a FEAST. They had delicious mangos and these french-toast-like things that were delicious and it was great. Then, we went up on the roof of the house and watched all the fireworks at midnight. Pretty sure that that was the only night of the year we can stay up that late, so it was special. The fireworks here are crazy. Everyone has these annoying ones that just make a really loud bang sound, and they have been going off all week. It’s crazy.

A pretty cool thing happens here in Brazil. Kids are always flying little kites here. I always see people out in the street with wheels of string flying kites. I love it! People eat with a knife and fork here with everything-even just rice and beans. I’m getting used to it but it’s a little annoying.

Oh, we had a Christmas conference for the mission that was fun. We did a little present exchange and I got a cool frame that i put the picture of Christ that Aunt Beth took, and  it looks great in our apartment.

Everyone has little Charlie Brown Christmas trees. I love them. But mostly there aren’t a  lot of decorations here. It doesn’t feel like Christmas here. Christmas Eve was the only day that seemed super busy with people buying gifts and running around.

We met an amazing family this week. The Mothers name is Ceu (which means sky or heaven in Portuguese so that’s interesting) but she is great. The second meeting we had with her she told us that she had been thinking about what we said before and how she thinks that we are angels in her life. She just said so many things that just confirm to me again that this gospel is true. This last time we visited her, they were asking us a lot of questions about missionaries and how things work. One question she asked was great: she asked why did you want to serve a mission? I mean, this is really hard, we told her about all the rules we have and we have to learn a new language and she wanted to know why. I am here because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is true. I am here to invite others to come unto Christ and feel His love. It is hard to be in a different country and to learn a new language but I know that I am here for a reason. I am exactly where the Lord wants me to be.


(This letter was sent January 5th)

Oh my goodness. It’s a crazy week. So much stuff happened. First- it’s hot! It was 104 degrees on Christmas Eve. It has started to get a lot hotter now but still not too bad. It’s a lot better when it rains or when it’s cloudy. I am totally getting a nice tan. It’s gonna be really bad when I get home, I already have one from my shoes. It’s great ;) 

There was a FARMERS MARKET on New Year’s Eve! Oh my gosh. It made me sooooo happy! It was huge.  All along this giant road and there were lines and lines of fruit stands and clothes and food venders. It was amazing. It made me think of Beth and Kelley and California so much! I kept thinking you guys were right behind me as I tasted some peaches or picked out mangos. Oh man it was great.

Oh wait-- I forgot to talk about caldo de cana! It literally means sugar cane juice and it is so good! We put some lime in it and it is delicious. Also we eat pastels here--its a type of food, kinda like a fried tortilla with cheese or meat in the middle. We also tried this really weird fruit this week, that was spiky pink and was white in the middle. They called it a lixia, not sure what it is in English (maybe lychee). It is so crazy all the different types of food that they have here. They have açai here which is really good. I've tried it as ice cream so far, and they put sweetened condensed milk and granola on it and it was delish! I'm loving Brasil!!

For lunch we had flan for dessert. Legit flan just like mom makes it. That was kind of a hard day for me.  Literally everything was reminding me of home! We stayed up late to watch the fireworks, because we couldn’t sleep even if we tried. Everyone here just buys their own fireworks or bombs and explosions were going off all night! But it was really cool :) A couple times the fireworks were RIGHT in front of us. And mom I totally did the oooooooh and aaaaahhh thing just for you ;) And our New Year’s Eve dinner was delicious. We had homemade popcorn (my favorite!) and fresh mango. AND then we put sweetened condensed milk on some of the popcorn and it was heaven! It was great :)

The sky is always beautiful here. The clouds are just amazing and it’s green. I know that the clouds are one reason that I was sent to Brasil. I love clouds so much and I know Heavenly Father knows that too. Brasil is beautiful!! Heavenly Father loves me. :)

We’re going to be starting an English class! I am super excited.

Not sure if I said this already, but the first week I was here everyone said that I looked like one of their relatives. Literally 3 people in one day said that I looked like someone they knew.  It was interesting. 

I pretty much cry in every lesson now, all the time. We were teaching Ceu and Silani  about the Restoration  of the gospel and I was reciting the first vision (in Portuguese but here it is in English)…

 I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other-This is my Beloved Son: Hear Him!

That part just gets me every time. Joseph Smith was a true prophet and he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is true and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints is the only true and living church on the earth today. I love this gospel and I am so grateful that I get to share it with others. I love Ceu and Silani too. They are sooo nice! But Ceu has a heavy cigarette and coffee addiction and Silani can’t come to church because of work. Please pray for them that Ceu will be able to stop smoking and that they will come to church. They need the blessings and happiness that comes from this gospel. 

I am doing so much better with the language now and saying a lot more in lessons and talking to people in general. Heavenly Father has blessed me so much and I am soooo grateful! Love you all! Read the scriptures, pray always, and be strong!

Sister Berry

Lead Kindly Light

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 

Last P Day in the CTM!

Tudo Bem!

Oh wow.  I don't even know where to start! This week has been full of ups and downs but overall it’s been fantastic!

Funny story for the week--my companions and I were teaching a lesson about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and Repentance. At the end of the lesson my companion wanted to invite the investigator to repent of his sins. She ended up looking up the wrong word and instead of saying “will you repent of your sins?,” she actually said "Will you repeat your sins?” He was like, “what?!” When we figured it out we all laughed so hard! It was the complete opposite of what she wanted to say!

One quote that I really liked this week was from my little quote book that Sister Dawn Trythall gave me (you’re awesome).

"God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe." Jeffrey R.  Holland

Believe that you can do all things through Christ, and you will. :)

Well, I've gotta go but I love you all!

Love, Sister Berry

Special Note: I love you Mariyah Housari!! I got your letter this week and I love it! I'm sending you a letter today so look out for it!

At Home or Abroad

Ola all!!

It was Thanksgiving this past week!! I almost forgot about it ;) Well, a LOT happened this week. Thanksgiving was awesome! They gave us an American Thanksgiving dinner for lunch (the biggest meal of the day here) and it was delicious. We also got some ice cream! It was so good! (Remember the desserts here are suuuuuper gross--one day we had a “dessert” that looked like pickle relish and tasted like gloop). We were all kinda surprised at how good it was. 

And we got to hear from David A. Bednar!! That was awesome! It was a live broadcast from Provo, which isn't as cool as actually being there. It’s totally fine that he was in Provo just the week after we left... I'm not bitter about it. J But really it was a fantastic devotional. He did a question and answer session and it was really cool to hear from an Apostle of the Lord on any subject you could think of.

A couple things he said that I loved was to "relish this time away from home." He said that we are helping our families more by being away than we ever could by being there. And he said that a mission was "boot camp" for life. This is just the preparation for how I want to live the rest of my life. I want to rely on the Lord, read my scriptures, and just be a good person the rest of my life. I just loved that. 

I also totally sang "Alice's Restaurant" to myself all day on thanksgiving. If you don’t know, my family listens to that song every year on Thanksgiving and it’s awesome. Look it up next Thanksgiving.

The next day we went out in the “real world” to hand out Books of Mormon (or is it Book of Mormons? lol;) and it was a crazy experience. The driving alone is super sketchy. We took a bus to a big plaza and stayed there for an hour. Seriously, the streets are crazy here. Motorcycles are just zipping by and people actually walk thru the streets and the freeways selling things because the traffic is so bad. It is really interesting. We talked to some really nice people but it was really hard to understand them. It was a cool experience though and I can't wait until I can actually speak Portuguese.

That night we had a mini Christmas party which was fun. All the missionaries met up in the courtyard at 9pm and we had a Christmas lighting ceremony. We sang some Christmas songs and counted down from ten (try doing that in Portuguese on the spot). We took a lot of pictures with people and I wish you could see them. Two weeks and I’ll send a bunch of pictures.

We still talk to the Elders from our old district from the Provo MTC and they're doing great. And we have gotten to know our new district way better so we like them a lot more now. They are super hilarious but kinda crazy. Boys. Oh, we were all sharing our pictures of our families and all the Elders were jealous of Dad's mustache! I have one picture of when I was 8 and they said "whoa, that’s a sick mustache, does he still have that?" One Elder said "Sweet facial hair."  I love it :) So, Parabéns,dad! (Congratulations).

Oh, besides barely missing Elder Bednar at Provo we missed Dallin H. Oaks too. He came to Provo the week after we left as well, and we just watched a recording of it here in Brazil. I guess I’m in the Brazil CTM, so that is its own reward.

Things are going really well here I'm learning Portuguese. I can kind of understand Brazilians and I get to study the gospel all day long.  I love the Book of Mormon so much! This week the hymn, How Firm a foundation, was stuck in my head. I love that song. Another song that was stuck in my head was Glorious sung by David Archeleta from Meet the Mormons. Great song. Watch the movie! Anyway, I love the verse "in every condition--in sickness in health, in poverty's vale or abounding in wealth, at home or abroad, on the land or the sea, as thy days may demand so they succor shall be" (I love at home or ABROAD). Then verse 3, "Fear not, I am with thee, oh be not dismayed.  For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand." That verse is based on Isaiah 41:10 and I love it.

I testify that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help you carry your burdens. If you pray and ask for help, He will help you. He loves you. I have totally felt the Lord's hand in my life and especially here on my mission I have been strengthened. You can do hard things in the strength of the Lord.

Tchau Tchau!!

Sister Berry

Alright, nice talking with you. Oh wait, no one ever emails me besides my family and the AMAZING Mikayla Fleming. It would be amazing to hear from all of you!! You can email me at mackenzie.berry@myldsmail.net