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
