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
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