Didnt you tell him they were the Lords chips?

Dear people that i love:


if my week had to be summed up into one word it would be: INTENSE

It has been a very trying week this week, filled with discouragement, laughter, and a lot of Portuguese.

As far as I have seen and I walk around this area a lot, I am the only white person. I am learning so much about this culture and i like it. I kind of feel like all social norms i have learned in the past 21 years of life are out the window. The personal space thing is non existent almost, I havent been kissed on the cheek so many times in my life. One night I tried making a contact and Sis Murbaki didnt notice and kept walking so i went to shake this brasilleiros hand and he pulled me in and lay a big one on my cheek. We were teaching a lesson in one of the houses and the lady~s neighbor came over, saw me, and within seconds my head was burrowed in the chest of a 50 year old brasilliera who i had never spoken to in my life. Ive also learned that if you are at a persons house and they ask you if you would like juice or something to drink, really it means that they are going to make you dinner and you should probably get seconds, with every meal you should probably get seconds.

I get really discouraged about the language, but one thing that is really nice is brasilians love love love to talk. So i can get by pretty good with smiling nodding saying sim and poís é. They just keep talking to me and i just keep smiling.

Sunday night we were walking home at abouty 8:40 at night, 20 minutes before we needed to be home and i was walking about 5 steps behind sister Murbaki (the sidewalks are kinda weird and unpredictable so i usually walk behind her) All of a sudden i was really paranoid and then i heard some footsteps behind me. i stepped to the side a little and i saw a skinny dark brasillian man, barefoot run past me. He went up to sister murbaki and pulled her bag over her head. It happened so fast! Then he ran across the street and i kid you not, jumped up and pulled himself over a wall and was gone. It was insane!Sis. Murbaki was very upset and I was scared, really scared id never experienced this before, but part of me wanted to start laughing hysterically. The guy totally reminded me of the guy off nacho libre, nachos fighting companion the one who only believes in science, when he stole the chips and jumped over the wall. I really wanted to say: Didnt you tell him it was the Lords bolsa? but i didnt because i didnt know how to say it in portuguese and sis. Murbaki has never seen that movie. Needless to say hilarious and scary and awesome. There wasnt really anything of worth in it only our cell phone and her perscription sunglasses and 3 reais. In it though was her planner that had all of our contacts addresses, all of our work for the past week pretty much gone, but we have faith that we will be able to find those people we contacted and all will be good.

Needless to say, this past week is proving this experience to be one of the most intimidating experiences. However, when I am discouraged, HF always reminds me of why I am here and I am reminded that this work is happiness or as Sis. Murbaki says Missão é a festa! Sometimes that comes in the form of a scripture or a quote i~ve heard. Most often it comes in the form of a little brazillian smile. Whenever im stressed if i smile at a child here, 98% guaranteed I will get the most heartwarming smile a girl could as for in return. I love these people.

One quote that one of the sisters in the CTM gave me helps me a lot and i believe it can apply to life in general and any problem you face:

INVICITUS by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance.
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
and yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
I realize i always have a choice, i have a choice to be upset after Sis Murbaki has repeated herself and i still dont understand what she is saying, or I can relax and try harder. I have a choice to be angry when some punk literally disrupts a full week of work, or i can laugh because he looks like the guy from nacho libre. In all things I know that Heavenly father is mindful of me. He knows me and He understands EVERYTHING that Im struggling with. In Alma 26:36 Ammon explains this point that in all things God is mindful of us, Wanderers in a strange land. If that is not me I dont know what is. I know why i am here and i know this is where i should be. Heavenly Father is helping me EVERY DAY to become the woman i would like to be and right now im being molded and sometimes its frustrating, but one day i will speak portuguese and understand what all this is for.
Thank you so much everyone who sent me emails this week! they always help. Thank you all for your support, know that you are in my prayers and that i love you all very much.
Proud to wear the tag.
Sister Jessica Ruth Peterson

thoughts da Galega‏

Apparently i am a GALEGA. The past 24 hours has been intense to say the least. Yesterday I left the CTM at 430 in the morning to go to the place ive been dreaming of for six months, MACEIÓ! I have realized one thing, once you become accustomed or comfortable with what you are doing, Heavenly Father, lovingly, gives you the opportunity to be ripped from that comfort zone and thrown into another zone that just lacks that. Needless to say the bubble of the CTM is much different from Maceió, but I love it I wouldnt change it for anything.
My mission president, Presidente Beynon and his wife are really great people. Yesterday i went to the mission home met them ate REAL ICECREAM and then I met my new companheira, Sis Murbaki. She is so amazing and so kind. She is the kind of companion i would like to become. She is always looking for opportunities to serve me and help me in anyway, its been a full day with this cute little brazillian and i ALREADY love her!

She is from São Paulo, I havent heard a word of English from her which is intimidating but i~m excited for the opportunity to be completely submerged in this culture. She has been out 8 months and im glad she is my comp.
Last night sis murbaki and me rode in a car with sis. moyle and her new companheira. When we dropped them off i got back in the car and listened to sister Murbaki talking to the lady driving us. At that moment i had a, youre not in kansas anymore moment and almost cried. But i didnt it was great.
We went and visited some other sister missionaries near our area of BEBEDOURA and they had colored a picture of a white missionary wearing a pink dress and having long blonde hair with a big BEM VINDA SISTINHA! we ate dinner and i learned a lot of things, that is when i learned that white girls with green or blue eyes are called Galega. I really like the sisters here they are hilarious. there are only 12-14 sisters here and i have met 7 of them. awesome.
my apartment is pretty it is upstairs so i get to see my area very well from our porch balcony thingy. I love this place there is no place i would rather be.
My last week at the CTM flew by and it seems like it was a long time ago not 48 hours ago that i was there. i studied alma 26 a lot last week. Ammon is my hero. Such an awesome example and part of how i feel when i get to teach others about the gospel. There is this power that comes and when i feel inadequate it takes over. It is amazing. i was able to talk to the man sitting next to me on the airplane to maceio. His accent was so hard to understand but i got my point across and he wanted to meet with the missionaries so it was good all around.
oh and i also speak portuguese somewhat, who would have thought that could happen!
love you familia!

Sister Peterson

Another Update

 
I am once again sitting in a cookie shop (mr. Cheney cookies) smelling the baking of delicious cookies and feeling pretty incredulous. In exactly one week i~ll be on a jet plane to the one place ive only been dreaming of for the past 6 months. Excited, nervous, happy, sad, and ready. I will miss some of the amazing people that ive met here at the CTM but 9 weeks is enough. Perhaps my Portuguese is far from fluencia, but I had some experiences this week that give me faith that what i cant do Christ and the Spirit will make up for.


Friday night my whole district six 19 year old boys and me and sister Moyle hopped into a small van that dumped us off in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. I only remember seeing this many people in movies. Its like New York but brazillian. We had two Book of Mormons and two shiny name tags bearing the name of the man who made this all possible and the names of our families. We had three hours to proselyte and let me tell you, some of the best three hours of my life.

The very first man we talked to was Josias. He was incredibly nice and recognized right away that we were new at the whole Portuguese thing. He talked slower for us and we understood a majority of what he said. We talked about the gospel with him, and it turned out he is very well versed in the bible, he knew all about the apostles in the new testament and a lot of our beliefs were similiar. We testified of the Book of Mormon and although he didnt have much time he was interested. He promised to read the book if we gave it to him. We left him smiling. Awesome experience.

The next guy we talked to talked really really fast in a strange accent. I caught like two things, sister moyle understood a little more. I knew that he thought the sao paulo temple was beautiful and he was sad. He kept talking and we didnt know what to say, but a thought popped into my mind, well a scripture Helaman 5:12 i had thought of that scripture earlier but only remembered that it was aobut building a foundation on Christ. I had him read it and he liked it. He said he believed every word of that scripture and took the BOM.

We talked to about 8 people in those three hours, but the last lady we talked to was the best out of all of them. I dont know her name and i probably will never see her again but out meeting was amazing. We stopped her and talked to her about God and she believed in the Bible and Jesus Christ. She had a family of two daughters. We asked her if she believed that she could be with her family forever. She said only as individuals, and then we told her about Eternal families. She listened intently and said, i didn~t know about this. So we told her about dispensations and the restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. That through the power from God he translated book to lead us and guide us today. She looked at us interested but said, i didnt know this. I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it changed my life. She asked me how. I told her that because of the teachings of the prophets in the Book of Mormon and Christs teachings I am a better person. I told her that because of this Gospel I knew that I could be with my family forever and that eventhough she had never heard this message, it was the most important message she would hear. I told her that i came from the United States to Brazil because of the importance of this message. Sister Moyle bore her testimony to her, and I felt the most amazing feelings of the spirit. Everything we said was pure truth and this lady could sense it. She was interested in our message, but we didnt have a Book to give her. We gave her a number and she promised to call it. She told us that meeting us was a blessing.

That experience was amazing. I dont know how i said all of those things, but i know i said them. If she my words were unintelligible or if by some weakness of my own would have confused her, the spirit made up for it. It was amazing. I wish i could remember this ladies name, but she is in my prayers and I am so excited to share this amazing message with more of Gods children!

There were a lot of funny things that happened this week and while proselyting also. On Sunday our district leader Elder thomson from Randolph UT was giving our sunday school lesson about Christ. Our Branch President and one of teh CTM presidents was in the class with our district when E. Thomson started talking about the story when Jesus was twelve and stayed in the temple when his parents went away. This is what E. Thomson said: After awhile they realized that Jesus wasnt with them and Mary and Joseph were like, CRAP where is Jesus! This is just the way this kid talks, he is from A small town in Utah, but our Branch President just said: Really, is that what she said? Pretty funny.

We have one teacher who is also a zone leader named Irmão Da Luz. He is hilarious. His dream is to have a kawasaki ninja motorcycle and often does this impression of driving the motorcycle complete with noises and fist shaking at the other drivers. He has a few quotable phrases that he says often like: MY GOSH! (in a thick brazillian accent almost like nacho libre) YOU GUYS ARE SO SMART! or when we are in the middle of practicing lessons in portuguese he will say something like: HOLD ON WAIT HOLD ON. TODAY WAS YOU PDAY, WHY DONT YOU BRING ME ANY CANDY DANGIT! or HOW COME YOU GUYS NEVER BRING ME BEEF JERKY? he is kind of sincere when he says it so it is really funny. Although he is hilarious, he gives some of the most powerful lessons about the gospel, i learn so much from him and i will miss this funny brazillian man muito.

Ive thought about a few things ill miss in the CTM

Toilets that i can flush toilet paper down.
Having my sheets washed for me each week.
dryers
having all my food cooked for me.
Irmão DA LUZ and Ribeiro
two of the Elders from my distric that are not going to Maceio (e. Wiggins and E. Woodhouse)
My roommates Sister Degen and Sister Leitherer
Sister Moyle as my comp (but she is going to Maceió with me so maybe i~ll have her again)
All the sisters at the MTC
Sunday afternoon naps (ps david i totally can take naps on sundays you my friend were wrong)

Im so excited to start missing all these things.

i love you all and im so grateful for the emails and letters you have been sending!


Proud to wear the tag,



Sister Peterson