Monday March 3, 2014
Dear Family,
I am becoming a
terrible journal keeper and letter writer. Right now it is Carnival here in Brazil, which means a LOT
of booze, transvestites, loud music, and fireworks. But for missionaries it means being cooped up in your
house. I
I am really enjoying
my many treats from the packages you sent me. I especially love the black sandals (the ones that I told
you not to get, but you sent anyway.) My feet have very weird tan lines all
over them. I have a tan on my
lower legs for the first time in my entire life! When I get home I would be terrified of what I would look
like in the pool with all my weird tan lines. (She’ll have to work out in her
trisuit for a while) I am also
really appreciating the ziplock baggies that you sent. Our house no longer has filthy
cockroaches, but it has an ant problem!
The baggies protect everything!
Week in Review
Monday, 24 Feb
We had a great P-day
mostly because I got to play the pianos.
I love the William Joseph arrangements that you sent btw, especially the
Come thou Fount, God be With You, and With Royal Praise. I think that the Royal Praise one is
actually from a classical piece but I don’t remember the name. (She is right …it is Jupiter Bringer of
Jollity by Gustav Holst.) I played
them at S.’s baptism and Carlos and others seemed moved. It is a blessing to be able to invite
the spirit through music.
We held a FHE with a
recently returned missionary named Paulo H. He is tall, dark, and handsome, and speaks English…kill me
now. We taught his inactive sister and his nonmember father. Sister R and I taught well together and
the spirit testified. His sister
recommitted herself to activity so that was a great night for us.
Tuesday
We got to teach Senhor A. again and he
is doing really well, but he is a frail 76 year old which means that we need to
explain and re-explain things and then ask questions to make sure that he
understands us.
Wed-Thursday
We had a division
with the Sister Training Leaders, which was stressful to prepare for, but ended
p being awesome. Sister R. stayed
in Santa Magarida and I got a break from being a trainer! I go to learn with an experienced
companion, Sister Santos. I had
forgotten the blessings of having a seasoned companion. She exuded a quiet, calm, and confident
peace. She expresses all of the
doctrines of Christ with clarity and patience. I learned a LOT with her. She also walks much faster than I can keep up with. But, other than my achy muscles, my
division felt like a spa day for me…haha.
It is so much easier to breath and relax as a junior companion. We are striving to work on being
equally yoked, but it always seems like the senior/trainer is pulling the
heavier load. I need to learn how
to be more patient and give Sister R more responsibilities.
Training is a lot easier the second
time around. I feel like with
Sister S. it was just a series of screw up and lessons learned the hard way. I am super grateful for Sister S’s
sweet, patient, funny nature. I’ve
been pensive the past few days thinking about the first half of my mission and
what the future holds for me. Some moments I have complete certainty that the
Lord is pleased with where I am, but then there are other moments when I feel
like (to quote Dad) a spiritual amoeba.
I have been learning the same lessons over and over again the biggest of
which are the lessons in humility and patience. I like the person that I am becoming though I don’t like all
the imperfections that I still have.
I am excited to enter the next phase of my life. I can’t wait to be a wife and a mother,
but I also can’t wait to continue my education. The future is exciting!
 |
| "Let's leave the Elders alone Sister." |
She has an
interesting story. Her family was
super active but then after a pretty tragic circumstance, her entire family
went inactive. At 15, she was
attending the Baptist church and was not living the standards of the
church. Her brothers all had
babies out of wedlock. Then
something changed and Sister R started coming back to church. After some time, she brought her brothers
back to church and they have since been married in the temple to their
wives. Her father served a mission
in Rio back in the day, so she is hoping that her experiences will help her
father to return to activity. She has a great understanding of the doctrines
and we love to read and discuss the scriptures together.
I’m starting to
recognize that most Brazilians have has a major tragedy in their lives, such
as: a baby dying in infancy, a parent dying at a young age, not enough food to
eat, etc. It is interesting how
they still suffer and feel pain, but move on and talk abut he situation as if
it is an every day occurrence. I
feel quite out-of-place in these conversations because, besides the whole
Bailey situation, I have lived a really happy family life. You can’t just fit in by saying, “oh
yeah, I know how you feel, when I was 16 my fancy pony died.”
Thursday (Happy Birthday MOM!)
We visited Senhor A.
and it became very clear that the teaching process with him would be a little
slower because of his age and ability to understand. We decided, after praying about it, to change his baptismal
date to the 15th of March….super chill, right? Well, our district leader was not happy with us. When I responded, I purposefully
stifled my hot-headedness knowing that he had responded the same way to Sister
B. the previous week. I calmly
explained that we were considering the needs of our investigator, and that we
had prayed about it and both felt like it was the right thing to do. Well, the DL was not listening. SOOO, then I pulled my angry protective
momma bear and ended up kind of yelling at him. NOT my best moment, but I did get my point across and he
stopped questioning my judgment. I
just hate it when leaders try to bully you out of following what you know is
the right course. I am not going
to become obsessed with numbers and baptisms. It is just not right.
(Side note: I did end up apologizing on Friday morning for my temper.)
 |
| Happy Birthday Sister Brown! |
Saturday
We cleaned the
chapel to do some service for the ward.. There was only one other person there
so we had to work our tails off! The rest of the day was pretty chill.
Sunday
We had a great
Sunday for reactivation. S.’s mom
came again, Paulo’s sister came and so did a brother who hasn’t been to church
in over 6 years. So that was
pretty neat. Mar. got a calling
and so did May. Both are recent
converts who are growing in the gospel.
May. Was called to be the Young men’s secretary. Now he will not have time to go out
with us to teach, but it is really great that he is moving on to the next step
of learning and serving. He is
also getting ready to go and do baptisms in the temple. It has been really great to be in one
place long enough to see the growth in the gospel beyond baptism. Some of the
other converts who are doing well include. E. is a super solid young man. He is attending seminary and all of his
youth meetings. J. held her first
FHE last week and she is starting temple prep classes. S. is still radiant from
her baptism and is attending all of her meetings with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, G. is not doing
well. Please keep him in your
prayers. It is a blessing to be a part of these people’s lives and makes me
really really happy.
On another note:
Missions are hard, really really hard.
There are many things that you just don’t learn before serving. I think
there should be a section on my blog outlined, “Things they don’t teach you in
the MTC, or What to do when…”
·
A woman tells you she’s
a prophet and she is here to re-build Noah’s ark
·
You knock on a door and
a 5 year old yells back, “ My Mom can’t come to the door, she has diarrhea.”
·
Two women stomp on the
ground and insist that your church is a brainwashing cult.
·
Your leaders are telling
you different things than the Lord is.
·
You have 3 different
investigators in the same house, all on different levels, and you have to teach
them at the same time.
·
People are more
interested in the fact that you are an American than that you are a missionary.
·
You are hating on the
country where you are serving and someone asks you what is better – Brazil or
America?
·
A drunken man proposes
to you and wants to take you to Africa to meet his family.
·
Your companion just so
happens to have menstrual cramps and headaches every time weekly planning comes
around.
·
You’re contacting a
referral and you can see into the house…where there are several completely
naked people.
I sure do love you guys. I think of you and pray for each of you
often. I hope that you are feeling
the Lord’s influence guiding your life and decisions. Spokane looks beautiful and perfect to me. It is so weird to think of times and
seasons passing by which a lot of the time days are very much the same down
here. I am almost to my halfway
point. Before you know it, it will
be May and my birthday and our MOTHER’S DAY SKYPE!!! I am happy and working hard, but still very much looking
forward to being back with you.
Con Amor,
Sister Colvin
 |
| A weird fruit here in Brazil that you peel open and eat the inside. |
 |
| Catch a husband cake -- made by a sister in the ward. I had a "few" pieces! |
No comments:
Post a Comment