Goodbye Brazil MTC -- Hello Goiania!
So much has happened I don´t know where to begin!
So for the last sacrament meeting in the MTC they called on me to give a talk. I had prepared one and of course it was in Portuguese, I was sooooo nervous. I practiced and practiced over and over pronouncing the words right. And right before I went up, I asked Heavenly Father for help and for me to just have peace and let him do the rest. It was the most amazing experience I have ever had. I got up there and wasn´t even nervous and spoke without any trouble and started getting emotional. I knew that I could not have done that without Heavenly Fathers help. He is seriously amazing!!! Aww I love him so much! After my talk I sat down and bailed and said a prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father for helping me. That was a really special experience. I talked about the atonement and how we can become clean of our sins. I shared an experience when I was truly sorry for something I did and promised I would never do it again and after I truly felt in my heart that he forgave me.
So, I woke up at 4 am and said goodbye to Sister Oldroyed and headed off to the airport with 4 other Elders that were also going to my mission. We got on our flight and I sat by 2 Brazilian Elders and they talked to me the whole time (well tried to) haha but they were so nice. Then, we get off the plane and BAM!!!! That hot dry air hit me hard and I knew that Goiania really was hotter than Sao Paulo. Goiania is seriously sooooo stink pretty! There are farmlands and then big cities. There is red dirt and lizards everywhere...I love it! They´re even in our house! Anyway, we get our bags and meet the President and the assistant’s to the President too! They were so nice and welcomed us and packed our bags in a van. Then we went to a hotel and I got put in a room with 2 other Brazilian sisters that were so sweet and helping me with the language. Oh, by the way, I was the only American sister, but the other sisters would still try to talk to me and hug me and include me. Then we walk to the Mission Presidents house which is sooo beautiful let me tell you! And we all sit on their couches and he goes off speaking to us in Portuguese about who knows what and they he turns to me and says Sister Smith what about you? (Still in Portuguese) I was like, what? Then he says something and I’m like yeah and then he looks confused and people are laughing and I feel dumb because I don’t know what he said. Then I turn to the American Elders and they are like say yes! I was like I did? It was so embarrassing, but whatever? After that we ate the most amazing food! Ahhhh! And I thought the MTC food was good hahaha! Then after we ate they set up a big circle in the living room and asked if a Brazilian Elder would volunteer to bare their testimony, an American Elder too and a Brazilian Sister and then an American Sister...oh wait I’m the only American Sister! Haha so I bore my testimony..that was interesting. (No, it went good my Portuguese wasn’t good but I cried...of course because the spirit was so strong. So then later that night we had like a big meeting and found out all the rules of the mission and our areas and companions!
I feel so extremely blessed. My companion is one of the Sister Training Leaders!! And of course she is my trainer too...she has 2 callings! Her name is Sister Amaral. All the Elders kept telling me she is so amazing and is a hard worker and I’m spoiled to have her. Then they told me the area and its called Rio Verde popular and I asked if popular was part of the name or if it really is popular and they said it is. Apparently it is the best area to serve in. I was like THANK YOU!! I kept praying thanking Heavenly Father!
So the next day, I met my companion. Okay, let me just tell you I was confused when I saw her because she looks American. SHE IS GORGEOUS!! My friend Elder Banz was like, okay Sister Smith you are so lucky!! Sister Amaral doesn’t know very much English, which is good but hard too.
So we get to our house and it is kind of old and broken.
Okay I’m running out of time but some highlights (important/funny stuff)
- I have never made so many mistakes in all my life. Not only with the language but with stuff in general.
- I closed a door without a handle on it and we were stuck in our bedroom in the morning for 2 hours.
- I almost broke the front door too.
- After we left the house in the morning I forgot 3 things and we had to walk all the way back.
- We are hoping to have 5 baptisms by the end of this week.
- The people here are like soooo incredible, I can’t even explain it.
- I feel like I’m in a movie walking on the streets in so much poverty, Oh mom and dad, if you could only see me now! It’s so cool!!
- The water here is soooo clean, no worries with the water. Everyone uses cleaned water in these big jugs.
- A lady told me I had the eyes of Jesus Cristo
- I randomly was called on to bare my testimony in sacrament meeting, everyone in the ward gave me hugs and kisses after and said I speak like a Brazilian...that was nice of them, but noooo hahaha!
- My companion is the biggest blessing EVER!!! She is soooooo extremely patient and loving with me. She always knows what to do. Has my back all the time. Is the most obedient hardworking person I have met on my mission. She walks faster than lighting. She is so beautiful and not cocky or rude to me. Sometimes though it can get frustrating because she trys to tell me stuff and I don’t understand what she wants me to do! But that’s just part of the experience. - I can see why a mission is hard now. It is really hard, but those moments when I share my testimony to someone on the street and they feel the spirit make it all worth it.
-We walk until our feet our numb and then we keep walking!
I love you all!!!
I love my mission!!
-Sister Smith
Jessica with her Mission President David Kuceki and his wife Sister Adelaide M. Kuceki
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