Tuesday, September 29, 2009

TUDO BAM is the word‏

Dear everybody that i love.

Did I ever mention that I love Brazil, Brazillians, and Brazillian Portuguese. The language is amazing and beautiful and intimidating. It is INSANE how fast it is coming. I still get frustrated because I still have a hard time understanding what Brazillians are saying to me and how to respond intelligibly, BUT I get to practice with natives daily and I~m very blessed to be here. I love BRAZIL!
I found my new favorite candy. Paçocas Rolhas. They are like reeses peanutbutter cups minus the chocolate. Delicious. Fattening. Heaven. Also VW buses seem to be the thing here, no wonder its so cool!
I have two instructors: Irmao Ribeiro and Irma De Santana. Ribeiro knows very little English but is really funny. Irma De Santana is a whole bunch of sass ground into a stocky Brazillian lady. She is hilarious and she has to be. The Elders in my district are awesome but often have trouble focusing. They always ask Brazillians to quote nacho Libre. I have to say that Brazillians say: get that corn outta my face! better than nacho does himself. Brazillians seem to do everything better.
Im in class for a minimum of 7 hours m-f and then me and my companion study for at least 2 more hours on language alone. Its a lot. Slowly i think my English is leaving me so sorry if things don~t make sense all the time. I study exclusively the gospel during personal and companion study and then for a little bit during classes. This week I~ve been thinking about families a lot. We~ve had so many Brazillian speakers come to talk to us about gospel topics and often they talk about their conversion stories. Many of the Brazillian missionaries are first generation members. Their testimonies are incredible. The gospel has changed their lives in extreme ways. The people here are so receptive i think, partly because they have their priorities straight. Family is such a huge part of there culture.
Today sister moyle and I didnt get to go to the Temple for our Pday so we went exploring in the area surrounding the CTM. We were looking for this pastel shop that everyone was telling us about. We got lost and had to ask directions. Needless to say, We don~t speak portuguese, but these people love us and are kind and smile at us as we stumble over our broken portuguese. Pastels are delicious huge and fattening as well. They are like huge empanadas.
my companheiro, sister Moyle, is probably one of the best companions anyone could ever ask for she is the perfect example of quiet dignity. She is kind, patient and hilarious. At the CTM we fast from after lunch saturday till lunch Sunday. Saturday night we were talking when out of nowhere sister moyle says: shh! do you hear that? its quiet...we should starve them more often! i laughed so hard i almost peed my pants. The Elders are so loud at night usually so it was nice.
This is an amazing experience. I cannot even begin to communicate to you all what this is like. It doesnt seem real half the time. I feel very priviledged to be serving in the most wondreful country, with the most wonderful people, teaching the thing that makes me the most happy. I love this gospel I love its influence in my life, i wouldn~t be the person i am without it.

Proud to wear the tag,

Sister Peterson

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Jessi's 1st Letter from Brazil

Oi Familia e Amigos!

I feel like I waited forever and now I am in the second largest city in the world sitting in a Cookie Shop writing my very first email home as a missionary. It is crazy that A week ago I was saying my goodbyes. This has been one of the longest/shortest weeks of my life. Being a missionary is amazing, but incredibly challenging and Im not even in the field yet!

My companion is Sister Moyle she is from Holladay Utah and is going to Maceio with me November 17th. Heavenly Father blessed me with an awesome companion. She is just enough like me that we relate well and just different enough so that we compliment each other well.

In my district there are 7 other elders, one more is in Provo waiting on his visa. They are typical 19 year old boys, imature but hilarious. They treat us sisters very well and provide entertainment so i cant complain. Apparently they do things like mattress jousting at night time. The sisters just sleep.

There are about 400 to 500 missionaries here. about 200 of them are Brazillians and less than 50 of the 500 are sisters. The MTC here is actually called the CTM (say tay emee) And it is amazing. I am surrounded by the brazillian culture. We try to sit with the Brazillians at at least one meal a day to work on our Portuguese. So far I can have very short conversations with them and then they end up laughing at me.

Yesterday, my class went to talk to the Brazillian class. We just asked them simple questions like how are you? where you from? what mission? how many people in your family? But i learned a lot. The Brazillians are so kind and patient. If they get annoyed or frustrated they don~t let us know it. They are always talking to us and telling us english words. One of the Brazillian Elders talked to meabout my family when I told him how many sobrinhos (neices andnephews) i had he was in shock. VINTE-SEIS? he said then told all of his companions around him. One of the Brazillians showed me a picture of his nephew. It was an awesome experience I cannot wait till i am fluent or till i can at least carry on a conversation. A lingua esta´beleza!

I study hard each day. I was getting very frustrated and stressed by the fourth day. Sometimes this preparation is very overwhelming and i was asking God why is it so Hard. Well that night we had a devotional and a talk by Elder Holland was shown. He said, The reason why this work is so hard is because Salvation was never a cheap experience. I felt chastised and comforted at the same time.

When I get stressed or frustrated I am forgetting the reason why I am here. I am here to help people come to the realization that We have a loving Heavenly Father and He has a plan for us. It seems like whenever I have a doubt or frustration, it is always addressed the same day. I see God blessing me almost hourly. He has the confidence in me, I just have to trust him and have hope that He will help me learn what i need learn and do what i need to do. It is so much easier that way.

 I love this work. I am so stoked to go to Maceio in two months. Everything in Brazil is beautiful, the vegetation, the language, the people, even the graffitied buildings and broken up sidewalks are gorgeous. I love it here. I know this is where I should be. Everything about this past week has shown me that Heavenly Father knows me so well.

Eu sei que a igreja de Jesus Cristo e verdadeiro. O livro de Mormon e a palavra de Deus. O Deus nosso amoroso Pai Celestial. E VERDADE!

Proud to wear the tag, Sister Peterson ps. I am only allowed to write emails to families so if my friends would like to write me my address is:

Sister Jessica Ruth Peterson
Box#48 District# 38-D
Brazil Maceio Missao
Rua Padre Antonio D´Angelo 121
Casa Verde
CEP 02156-040 Sao Paulo, SP
Brazil

Thursday, September 3, 2009

What life is all about


As of 09/01/2009, my best friend Jessica Dawn Smith agreed to marry some Portuguese speaking hooligan. I just gotta say CONGRATULATIONS to that wonderful girl. Jessie you are totally my hero, Anthony is one lucky dude to have such a beautiful amazing strong and worthwhile fiance. Thank you Jessie for your awesome example to me. You are one of those people who never stopped loving me even when you had the opportunity and perhaps even an excuse to stop. I hope that I can become as selfless humble and driven as you lady. I'm bummed i'm not going to be around for the wedding but I'm so glad that you are doing it the right way girl. Good luck on all your upcoming adventures with your hubby, I'm so proud of you!


Also, one of the most influential people in my life over the past year got her mission call. Sister Nicole Dowdle will be serving in Taipei Taiwan for a period of 18 months. You are going to be a rockin missionary girl. You have one of the most firm foundations in anyone i've met. You always stand for what is right, you are one of those people that Heavenly Father placed specifically in my life for my betterment. I love you mija, you are my best friend, sister, and role model.


The adventures facing these two wonderful people make me so happy, I really admire these two people there actions exemplify a quote by Ezra Taft Benson:

"We must put God in the forefront of everything else in our lives. He must come first...When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives."

I see you both doing this daily, and I see the effects of it. I'm so proud of you both!