(Her Companion, Sister Barbosa, Is Next To Her - They Call Her A Brazilian Barbie)
This
has been the motto of my mission experience thus far.
Greetings from
Eat-Eye-By-Yana!
This week I learned I
love the people here. Well i guess i already knew that but i really learned it.
i feel like the grinch a lot of the time because i can just feel my heart
growing in capacity every time we have a lesson with someone or talk to someone
on the street who says they needed someone to talk to that day.
i made it through my
first transfer! We didn’t get word until 11;30 at night last night but all 4 of
us are staying here for now so we were screaming and shouting for joy. our
neighbors probably appreciate us a little less now. but everyone says that the
sisters that serve in this area stay here a lonnng time. at least 4 months,
some sisters are here 8 and the longest ive heard is 10. holy cow. so im gettin
comfortable.
But i feel like i should
be a little more clear on my area that im in. Im in a little city, its not like
im in the jungle usually. There’s nicer parts and more humble parts, depending
on where you’re at. our house is in the nicer parts, i mean its all brazil so
its all different to start with, but our house i think is considered nicer. There’s
one part of our area called Rio das Pedras which is where i helped build a
bathroom and where i cant drink the water at all. Thats where the real magic is,
people. the people there are sooo ready for the gospel, so in tune with the
spirit and the lord is preparing people there. but its far from the chapel so
presidente doesnt technically like us working there that much... ugh. but there’s
this one guy there named irmao louis, who is the oldest most kind and smallest
and wrinkliest old man who just melts my heart every time we visit him. he was
baptized a year ago and likes to hold your hand as you walk up the road to his
house. When he says the closing prayer for us he always says ´´thank you for
sending these sisters here to visit me even though they always have to go so
soon´´ and if that didnt break your heart then i dont think you had one to
begin with. sorry that was abrupt. but its true! the people that we just adore
are the ones who dont need us as much. the people that need us, are the more
stubborn ones. i feel a lot like my alter ego Nanny McPhee in these moments
because ´´when you need me but do not want me i must stay but when you want me
but no longer need me i must go´´ (*cue all the sad overused Nanny McPhee
jokes*)
I’m realizing that
adjusting to mission life here doesn’t just mean adjusting to always being
tired and sweaty, but a harder part is adjusting to the culture. its one thing
to appreciate and admire the culture from afar, but its another to be thrown
right into it. and brazilians are very very different. for one thing they’re
very loud, whenever we go somewhere its super loud and you have little to no
personal space. which i can deal with except when you’re on the bus and don’t really
want to snuggle with a stranger who smells like old barn. but that’ll come with
time i guess.
one night i was having
a hard time and just feeling very isolated from everyone and everything. so i
was just praying and praying and talking with heavenly father that he would
remind me why I’m here, remind me that im loved and that i can do this. then we
got to Rio das Pedras and it was honestly the greatest answer to my prayers
because one after another all these little kids were just sprinting towards us
to hug us and talk to us. kids that i didn’t even know would hug me. and when
they left and we went to the next street, more would come. i know heavenly
father knew that’s what i needed right then, that those kids would just touch
my heart and remind me that this is my home, this is what i was called to do,
to love and serve these people.
i also had a funny experience
this week when a man we had invited to church asked me to talk to him in
english. he said to invite him to church in english and tell him why it was
important to go so i said sure what the heck. and i tried to start talking in
english and the words honestly wouldn’t come out. in my head i had everything i
wanted to say but my mouth couldn’t speak them, it kept getting jumbled up with
portuguese words. it was the weirdest thing. other random fun fact, the funny
thing about teaching the first vision here is that we have to explain what a
forest is, because there’s no such thing as forests here nor has anyone ever
seen one.
but that’s about it
from me, I’m so ready to start my second transfer here and get the lords work
movin faster!
i love you guys so
much!
sister walker
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