Most Loco Week of My Mission!

Querida familia e amigos! I have probabably had the most crazy week of my mission! I do not even know where to start! Let us begin with I GOT MY VISA! I AM SERVING IN PATOS DE MINHAS, BRAZIL! A city that is TEN HOURS CAN I REPEAT TEN HOURS away from Goiania, where the mission home is! I was happily sitting in Victoria, Texas in an interview with President Ashton, my former mission President, when he said about two weeks ago on a Tuesday that I HAD RECEIVED MY VISA! Totally crazy! I cannot even believe that I got my visa! Anyways, I packed up real fast, finished out the week in Victoria, and saw some seriously AMAZING MIRACLES with our investigators, less actives, and new converts! John, our recent convert received the priesthood, and we had a ton of less actives and investigators at church that day! I got to bear testimony and I had prayed so hard that everyone would be able to feel the spirit during all the testimonies that day! It was seriously amazing to hear EVERYONE bear testimony of the power of the Atonement and how the gosel had changed their lives! Then Monday morning, I said goobye to Sis. Bianchini :( that was very sad because I love her so much! We drove to Houston, I flew from Houston to Atlanta, met up with a bunch of other missionaries who had received their visas including ELDER ARCHIBALD, from my MTC District! Totally Loco! We talked a lot and then flew on a plane for nine hours to Sao Paolo, Brazil! While waiting in the airport in Sao Paolo, another friend showed up! Elder Gardner, another elder in my MTC District, going to the SAME MISSION! We parted ways with Elder Archibald, and flew from Sao Paolo to Goiania, it was raining when we landed, but Goiania is totally beautiful! Brazil is super, super green! With lots of rolling hills and trees and plants! Our Mission President and the APs picked us up! We rode with President Kuceki to the mission office where we had a huge meeting with him, the APs, the secretaries of the mission, and 19 other missionaries! There were four sisters in our group, but A LOT OF ELDERS! I understood maybe 30 percent of what was said during this meeting! Luckily, we had a translator! That night we ate at President Kucekis home with his wife and children, he has seven kids! The youngest being only one, just like my family! The food was totally delicious and it was super fun to speak Portu-Engli-Spanish (Some of the missionaries are from Peru and Argentina!) Sis. Hathaway and I, another American missionary, stayed in a hotel. The next day we went to transfer meeting! We made it just in time for transfer week! I was put with SISTER BALL! She is 23, from South Jordan Utah, and has been serving in Goiania for 16 months, she leaves after this transfer! I absolutely already love her so much! She speaks perfect Portuguese, corrects me all the time, has already taught me so much, and is pretty much just amazing! I am so grateful for her and that she is the one training me because Brazil missionary work is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! On Thursday, we took a ten hour bus ride to Patos de Minhas! We taught three lessons, knocked doors, she made me speak in Portuguese to people I did not know, and I got to bear my testimony a few times! We then got a call that we would be going back to Goiania for a SPECIAL MISSION CONFERENCE WITH PRESIDENT COSTA, the Area President for Brazil. He was coming on Monday! So, we packed up and took another ten hour bus ride on Saturday back to Goiania! We stayed with some other sisters in Novo Mundo, went to church, went on splits with sisters I did not even know and then went to Mission Conference on Monday! It was super exciting, yet again my understanding was minimal! I did the best I could and felt the Spirit so strongly! I was able to really learn some new things that I could apply to my work as a missionary. This is not my time, this is the Lords time. He has called me here. He needs me here. I will learn Portuguese, I will learn how to work here, I will learn to love the people, culture, and language, but I need to be patient. This is a trial and a test and I will learn slowly with patience if I am obedient and work hard every day. On Tuesday, we then took another bus back to Patos de Minhas and finally today is P-day! My week has been absolutely crazy and exhausting, but I am excited to finally get to work in this area! Sister Ball has been here for one transfer and she is going home after this one, we are pretty sure that I will stay in this area and receive a new trainer, but ONLY I WILL KNOW THE AREA AND OUR INVESTIGATORS! It is hard to not feel overwhelmed, but I know the Lord will guide me! Yes, it is super hot! Lots of people, I only understand about 20 percent of what people say. I probably get laughed at a lot! I study, eat, breath, read, and think in Portuguese all the time now! Sister Ball corrects me a lots, but the words are slowly starting to come back. After one week in Brazil I can finally hold a small conversation and bear my testimony and teach parts of lessons! I have so much to learn though! We eat a LOT OF MANGOS, fruit, pao or bread, rice, beans, and meat! The city is super busy, we ride buses all the time or walk all the time, WE talk with everyone on the street, we go to random baijos or neighborrhoods and knock on doors! Everyone lives behind walls with doors in the wall, very strange! There are bugs in our house all the time, we kee the windows and doors open at night because it is so hot, and I think there is a lizard living in my window? I absolutely love it though :) This will be the biggest challenge of my life! I am so excited to start and work so hard these next 15 months in Brazil!!! Lots of love, Sister Brotherson ©