Week 8

Monday, February 29, 2016

Olaaaaaa! How crazy that it´s been a week already. Time really does fly by on the mish. I´ve been trying to read everyones emails and respond so I apologize if I dont get to them. I didnt know this many people knew I existed! Thank you so much for your love and support. Its crazy to think America is real and people there are cheering me on.
THIS WEEK was one for the records... literally.
So I live with my companion, and another duo. The two senior companions had a meeting with the President since their Sister Training Leaders in town, an hour away. So the whole day, Sister Mish and I took on Conjuntos Ceara. Shes been out for a month and I´d been out for a little more than a week. Seriously imagine two white girls walking down the streets of Brazil trying so hard to speak Portugese and understand people. Fun fact: we did 103 CONTACTS IN ONE DAY. It´s a mission record. Which is crazy when you understand the cirumstances. Also, this week at church we had NINE investigators come with us. NINE. So basically everyone we´re teaching. Which is such a miracle because getting people to go to church is the hardest part of baptism. Sister Souza at the of the day just prayed and thanked God for what had happened sunday.
Also this week we started teaching a FAMILY. A WHOLE FAMILY. Seriously the best thing in the world. We were trying to find the house of this man we contacted earlier in the week and knocked on the door of this family. They invited us in and the Mom expressed all these questions about religion and how shes been studying for ages about what religion is best for her kids. Immediately SIster Souza and I smiled. God really does prepare people where we are called to hear the Gospel. They have three daughters. Kinda reminds me of the Myers family. After a couple lessons they´ve commited to baptism as a family. First the parents have to get married so we´ll be apart of that as well. I just cant describe the feeling of bringing a family the gift of being together forever.
I dont think I explained food in my last email. RICE, BEANS, MEAT, JUICE, AND CAKE. That sums it up. We eat rice and beans (all different kids, we dont judge here in Brazil), and meat (usually carne asada or chicken). JUICE. The juice here has changed my life. My favorite is guava. But everyone drinks Coke (Diet Coke doesnt exist here, tears), and Guanana. Right now Im addicted to this coconut bread they have. Its hard to explain but its basically a pastry with coconut inside. I finally figured out how to convert kilos into pounds for our scale in our apartment and lets just say I probably shouldnt have.

SISTER MYERS IS SO HAPPY. In my study time, I´ve studied alot about the life of Chirst both in Jerusalem and the Americas (Bible and Book of Mormon). In Preach My Gospel we´re promised that when we learn more about our Savior, Jesus Christ, we are blessed with more faith and attributes like Christ. As His servant thats all I want to me. On every missionary´s name tag it says their name and the name of Christ. Theres a reason for that. I am no longer Chandler. I am simply a servant to act as Christ would. That is the mission of a missionary. I love you all and I promise I dont have parasites yet.
PS:I´ve made up this quote about Brazil: You´re either Catholic, Evangelica (idk what this is in America tbh), or if you´re wearing clothes, you´re mormon. 
PS: There are pictures of my sunburn complete with a tan line from my Brazil necklace, a lipstick smiley face on my forehead, courtesy of FHE with a less active family, Isabel (with pink extensions) who recived the gift of the Holy Ghost Sunday, and two young men who are less actives that we went and did FHE with. Sister Souza and I are really close to their family.


O Que e Brasil?

Monday, February 22, 2016

Ola! I don´t have a bunch of time to write this week. I wish I did because this week has been absolutely amazing and insane. I only have a half hour today but usually I´ll have 1.5 hours to email. Our zone is struggling so the President wants us out working. I apologize in advance for my poor spelling and grammar because I´m typing on a Portuguese keyboard. I promise I´m not illiterate yet.

Okay. So last Monday morning I flew from SLC-ATL-SAO PAULO-FORATLEZA. It was SUCH a long trip but I met a lot of cool people on the planes. I almost always had a member sit next to me, even on my Brazilian planes. President and Sister Bonini picked me up at the airport. i was the only on because the other missionaries flew in from the Brazil MTC in the morning. They´re both really nice, but neither of them speak English... at all. So that was fun. When I got to the mission home I met the district I would have been in at Brazil MTC. I learned that there were no Sisters in the district so thats why I was at Provo.

My companion: My companion is Sister Souza. She´s a native from Sao Paulo. But she went to BYU and lived in Utah for a couple years so she also knows English. TOTALLY the best of both worlds. She´s super nice and I love her already. This is her last transfer in the mission before she goes home. We run together every morning which kinda kills because the humidity is so bad. But you cant eat rice and beans every day and not expect to get fat. I love companion study with her because I´ll read the Portuguese Book of Mormon outloud and she´ll read mine in English.

Area: I´m in Ceara. It´s also what the state is called but its like Maricopa. Maricopa is a county and a city. It´s really safe here. I live with my companion and another set of sisters. One is from Brasil and the other is from Maryland and seriously the whitest girl I´ve ever seen. I love them so much too. The american and I joke around and talk in english but then the other sisters do the same. If mom saw where I was serving in, she´d die. It looks similar to Mexico but when you´re in the homes, you really seee the poverty. One night I just cried because this family has 10 people living with them and their house is the size of our living room. It´s so humbling to say the least. Kids here always ask me about my house and if i had a car in America and I have to find ways around tellling them the truth.
The church bldg here is beautiful. It´s the size of a small temple.. seriously. I´m sure you could google earth my area although dont let mom do it without dad next to her. Mom, I promise I´m safe lol.

Sister Myers: I´m so happy. I thought I´d be in a huge culture shock but so far its not too bad. I have moments like I said above but other than that I think going to Mexico really helped me understand that people just have differenet circumstances than we do. The members all call me SIster America. Without FAIL every person we meet asks me if I´m from China. It´s seriously the funniest. The language is difficult to understand but I can speak it well. Sister Souza said I´m the best American to train with the language thus far, but I definitely dont feel that way. I think the people think I´m stupid and I hate feeling like that.

I dont have more time but next week I´ll be able to respond to your emails. Thank you for your love!!

Com muito amor,
Sister Myers



So Brasil is a real thing..

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Oi! I´m officially in Brasil and typing on a Brazilian keyboard. All three flights were super long and not very much time to call home unfortunately. But President and Sister Bonini picked me up right at Fortaleza airport and here I am! From the 10 minute car ride I can tell you that I´´m not in culture shock yet. From what I saw, it seems really similar to Mexico except SO GREEN. Flying into Fortaleza was like when you fly over Scottsdale and see all the golf courses except its TREES NOT GOLF COURSES. I´m really doing great,  much better than I thought. But thats probably because I´ve been here for a solid hour. CAN YOU BELEIVE IM IN SOUTH AMERICA?? I´m not sure when my P-Day is yet or anything for that matter so I´ll keep you updated. I love you all so much. Let the adventure begin!!


The Week of M's: Mono, Month Mark, and Mashed Potatoes

Monday, February 8, 2016

I am a positive human being. And with that being said, this week was really difficult. So lets talk about the M's this week: Mono, Month mark, and Mashed Potatoes.

Mono: LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I HAVE NOT KISSED AN ELDER OR HUGGED AN ELDER OR HELD HANDS WITH AN ELDER OR EVEN MADE EYE CONTACT WITH AN ELDER. Apparently mono is called the "kissing disease" and I just needed to make that clear.  So I went to the doctor on Tuesday this week for my swollen eyelids (guys they were like completely folded over my eyes). The doctor couldn't figure out why I had them, especially since they were my only symptom. So he took blood and ran it for various medical shenanigans and asked me to return Thursday. Little did the doctor or I know that Wednesday morning I would wake up with 1. a fever 2. swollen tonsils (like my entire neck was swollen) 3. a killer throat pain 4.body aches . Yes, I know what you're thinking. It WAS a fun week. So I went to the doctor on Thursday for my follow up and he said my blood was great (hey thanks doc ;) ) besides my WBC and RBC'S were abnormally high. When this happens, it means your body is fighting off an infection. So I enlightened him on what I was experiencing. He looked at my throat and CRINGED. I KID YOU NOT HE CRINGED. And he looked at me and said so it's either strep or mono. He did the strep test thingy that they stick a big Q-Tip down your throat and it makes you gag. Returned back 10 minutes later and is like SOOOOOOOO you dont have strep. Which means you have mono. As he reviewed my blood results again, of course he found mono. He told me mono took forever to heal and that I'd probably have to stay another week at the MTC. And theres no cure for mono besides sleep. So i was basically really angry. Because I got put on bed rest and my body felt like death. I really wish I had pictures for you this week, but I literally sat in bed, chugged water, and downed Ibuprofen. My sincerest apologies. OKAY GUYS HERES THE GOOD NEWS! So I've been PRAYING like 3am on my knees crying and praying that this would stop. Like 20 times a day. I was so sick they let me email my parents to let them know so I asked for them to fast for me this Sunday. SO TODAY! I had another doctors appointment and the doctor looked at my eyelids, looked at my throat, felt my neck and just sat there in silence. Then he said, Sister Myers, when is the last time you had your fever? I responded probably yesterday morning. Then the doctor said," Sister Myers, you shouldn't be this healthy. The white stuff(he used a medical term but i dont remember) is gone from your throat, you've broken your fever for 24 hours, your tonsils are completely back to normal, and your eyelids are fine." I kid you not, I could've cried. I am a modern day miracle and it feels so good. GOD DOES ANSWER PRAYERS. HE DOES LISTEN TO US WHEN WE ARE IN NEED. THE CHURCH IS TRUE PEOPLE. Anyways, I still feel not so hot, but definitely better. I have another appointment on Thursday which will determine if I can go to Brazil or not.

Month mark: I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN A MISSIONARY FOR A MONTH! How crazy is that!! Mom, YOURE SURVIVING!!  I cant express how life changing, difficult, blessed, and happiness I've felt. And I can't wait for another 17 months of it. A week from today I'll be on a plane for Brazil, starting the crazy part of my adventure.

Mashed Potatoes: This is really such a sad story. I was sooo sick Sunday and havent been eating anything because it hurt my throat. And the one food in  the cafeteria I love is mashed potatoes. And they only serve them on Sundays right? So I was in bed all day long Sunday, and I got up for this mashed potatoes. I went to the service counter and asked for a huge plate of mashed potatoes cause i've been sick. I've never been so happy in my life. Its the small things.

I'm really happy to be where I am. I've felt your prayers for me, especially this week and I am so grateful for all of you. Heavenly Father still performs miracles and I can testify of that. I know God hears, and answers our prayers when we give our hearts to Him. Next week I'll be emailing from Fortaleza, Brazil. I can't wait to finally be where I've been called. I love being a missionary and I love this Gospel. It's the only way to have pure happiness. I love you all so much.
Com muito amor,
Sister Myers

Week Four!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Oi oi! Tudo bem tudo bem! (we have an elder in our district that says everything twice so now I do it and its such an annoying habit so I apologize) Life is so good here in the Provo Missionary Training Center. Its very cold. We've been hit with snow this entire week and my legs and feet are forever numb. But it'll be good to have a change when I leave for Brazil. Only two weeks left! My official departure date for Brazil is Febuary 16 which is absolutely insane. Sometimes you just think that you're gonna be in the MTC forever. Turns out, thats not how it goes. They are in fact sending me to a third world country, speaking a language I don't know.  But its all good!
I was horrible at keeping journal entries this week because when you get back to your room for the night, there is no way I can spend 20 minutes writing before I fall asleep. Just doesnt happen. So bear with me if this is short or doesnt make sense... or both. (Fun fact about exhaustion: I currently have swollen eyelids from exhaustion and I cant figure out how to keep them down so I can actually open my eyes. If you have advice, please PLEASE Dear Elder me. Thanks lol)

One experience that was just the COOLEST this week was Tuesday. Everyday my companions and I teach two different investigators two different lessons. So we usually prepare the day before. So we had prepared both of our lessons and we were about to walk into our first lesson with Marcos after our prayer and my companion was like STOP. And i freaked out. I thought like she was dying. To my dismay, she told my other companion and I that the lesson we had prepared for, was not the lesson he needed. A feeling from the Holy Ghost sat upon each of us as we agreed. We took a whole half a second to agree that we needed to teach the Word of Wisdom. Our lesson went so well. We kept it really simple and invited him to keep this commandment from God and stop drinking alcohol and coffee. We were so excited to hear his agree to come closer to Christ. I have such a strong testimony of the Word of Wisdom and the blessings we can recieve when we treat our bodies like Temples of God. So that lesson was awesome. All three of us were so intune to the Spirit and what Marcos really needed that day.

So another funny story. Later that day, we were waiting to teach our next investigator and the same companion says "Guys, I'm really sorry to say this again. But Giovanni needs another lesson from us today". So we prayed again, and waited for an answer of what he needed to hear. And we didnt get an answer. So we just went in with the lesson we planned. We began by following up with our invitation from the day before; reading the introduction of the Book of Mormon. AND HOLY COW HE HAD SO MANY QUESTIONS! Which for a missionary is gold, because it means he has a desire to understand and know more. By the end of explaining the answers to his questions we were out of time and each bore our testimonies. It was probably the most powerful lesssons we've had.

I'm so grateful to hear and receive answers to prayers from my Heavenly Father. I have a testimony of this church. I know with out a doubt in my heart, that Christ lives. He is OUR Savior, and he is my best friend. God knows us individually on a micro particle level. He knows this is a hard road for me. He knows Portuguese is not easy. He knows being away from family and friends is hard. But Salvation and returning back to God one day, isnt an easy road. I am so grateful for the out pouring of love I've felt here from home. Obrigada muita. Eu amo voces.
Com MUITO MUTIO amor,
Sister Myers

 We've had tons of snow this week! I'm tired of it!
 Week 4 means lots of power naps.
 My district and I on our temple walk.


 
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