Well
I´ve made it one week into the field and so far so awesome! I am
serving in a cute, little town called Jordanopolis just outside of São
Paulo, and serving with five other companionships in a zone called Rude
Rumas. For those of you who don´t know, each mission is divided into
zones--with about 5 or more companionships. Then each zone is divided
into districts with 2 or 3 or 4 sets of missionaries. Then each district
is divided into areas with 1 set of missionaries. If this made not
sense whatsoever, talk to my parents! My new companion is Sister
Oliveira! She is from Rio de Janeiro, and is superly awesome! She is
very helpful and patient with me and my Portuguese. I am learning a lot
from her and slowly but surely, little by little learning more
Portuguese and how to be a fantastic missionary.
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| Scooby Doo is alive and well in Brazil!! |
So
life as a missionary is exhausting and hard but totally awesome with
the fantastically, spiritual moments outweighing the less-pleasant
moments. Cada dia, we go out on the streets and talk to people sobre who
we represent and why we´re here. Then we ask if we can come to their
home another dia and share a message. The people here are so friendly
and willing to listen to us even if they don´t accept our invitation.
Most of them say they are too busy, while others seem genuinely
interested. Then there are those who look at me all confused-like after
I´m done talking, and that´s when I know they didn't understand a word I
said because of my accent. At this point Sister Oliveira steps in and
saves the day!
Now I am going to back tract
and start from the day before I left the CTM (Sept. 7). In Brazil,
September 7th is their independence day so the cafeteria was all
decorated with streamers and flags, and we had a HUGE lunch with ICE
CREAM!!!! I haven´t had ice cream in over a month, which is really sad,
so when Sister Hubert and I saw it , you could say we were a bit
excited! And sim, just in case you were wondering, it was super
delicious!
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| Sis Hilchie and her district/teachers in the CTM |
After a fantastic last day in the
CTM, it was finally time to leave for the field. We met President and
Sister Broadbank--who are so kind and loving and basically my parents in
Brazil! (don´t worry mom and dad, you guys are still O MELHOR)! After
meeting the President, we went to a chapel where the rest of the
missionaries were waiting for us. As soon as we walked in, a massive
army of missionaries stood up and started clapping and hip hip
hooraying! They filled me with a renewed sense of energy, and I was
honored to be able to serve in São Paulo right along side them.
After
things settled down, and meeting Sister Oliveira, a member drove us to
our apartment in her little Fiat. Now before I tell this story, you must
understand that:
1. Brazilians are probably some of the craziest drivers I have ever seen.
2. In this little Fiat, we had 2 huge suitcases in the trunk, 2 in the back seat, and 1 in the front seat
3. I was sitting in the back seat squished by two huge suitcases and a smaller carry-on suitcase laying on top.
So
we were driving to our apartment when the driver makes some crazy turn,
and the next thing I know that small suitcase is headed straight for my
head. Luckily I looked up just in time and stopped it with my super strength. *phew* it was a close one... but the best part is that I had
to hold it from falling on my face for a good 30 minutes until we
arrived at our apartment.
Em outro news, I was
studying em Moroni 10 when I re-realized that Christ loves us. He loves
each of us individually. We are children of God. Literally. Because He
loves us, He wants to help us in any way He can but we must go to Him
first through prayer with fé and a sincere heart. Through the Holy
Ghost, He will help us. He loves us. He won´t leave us alone in this
world because He cares for us.Through Cristo, anything is possible. I
know that to be true.
I was also reading in
Mosiah chapter 2 (which I recommend all to read) and King Benjamin was
talking to his people about service. We owe everything to God. He gave
us our life and this earth we live on and everything we enjoy daily. The
least we can do is serve others because by serving others, we are
serving God and showing our gratitude for everything He has given us.
I love you all so much and remember to SMILE!!! :D
Have a wonderful week!
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| In front of the Sao Paulo Temple |
Love,
Sister Hilchie :)
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