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| Rio on a rainy day. |
Week 7 in Santa Margarida
Dearest Family,
I apologize in advance for my crappy spelling and sentence
structure. Since my interview with
President Lima, I’ve been making a real effort to not speak English – something
that’s a lot easier because of transfers. Sister B has a new companion, so both
her and I are more focused on out relationships with our companions rather than
confiding in each other in English.
Things have been so much better between Sister Z and I. We has a great week and are starting to
feel more like friends that merely co-workers. Portuguese is coming along. I still make a lot of mistakes, but I usually get my point
across. Sister Z and I have been
memorizing power scriptures together. She likes to learn things in English as
well, so far she has learned the songs: “A Childs Prayer”, “I like to Look for
Rainbows,” “Whenever I touch a Velvet Rose (not the actual name)”, and parts of
“How Great Thou Art.” We like to
sing as we’re walking – it helps relieve stress and bring the spirit. Hearing her sing in English is really
cute. I’ve also successfully
explained the proper usage of “fail!” and “#” (#imteachingmycompanionterriblethings
#simplepleasures). They probably
aren’t as spiritually uplifting as hymns or scriptures, but its great comic
relief to hear her exclaim, “FAIL, Elder, fail!” haha
Useful TIPS for Future missionaries to places like Brazil (i.e.
Hot, humid, lots of walking.)
Things that I haven’t used yet:
- Bracelets/necklaces
- The water filter that you get in the MTC
- Water hydration part of my backpack – too heavy for me to carry around all day
- Socklets – even the smart wool ones make my feet sweat a lot, so I don’t want to take the chance of my grandma feet returning. I wear my sandals 70% of the time. (I promise to put them to good use post mission!)
- Tennis shoes and jean (useless outside of the MTC, at least in Brazil)
- Mini versions of everything: PMG, hymnal, scriptures…(BUY THEM AT THE MTC future sisters!)
- Personal accounts of people experiencing culture shock.
- Conversion charts (temperature, weight, measures)
- More cultural information (should have read those books Garrison got at the library.)
- A copy of my setting apart. (take notes, type it up and bring it with you.)
Ways that I would have prepared better spiritually and
emotionally pre-mission:
- Really study the Book of Mormon
- Teach more with the missionaries
- Know all the scripture masteries by heart
- Go to the temple as often as possible
- Spend as much time as possible with the family
- Learn how to eat smart
- Read about culture shock!!
Honestly, I feel like I was well prepared – yes, I feel
inadequate in this calling, and yes, I feel the need to repent daily. But those fundamental unshakeable
principles of faith are ingrained in my soul. The best prep for a mission is just to live the gospel and
do all the right things that you have been taught.
MOM
I
love reading about how you and your network of missionary moms are piecing
things together, like a super efficient spy network. I love reading that you
and Dad are able to attend the temple often. I miss the temple.
Sister Z and I joke that post-mission we will: 1. Spend tons of time
with our family. 2. Go to the temple. 3. Serve with the missionaries every week
4. Find a MAN, haha. And if number 4 doesn’t work out, 5. Have a good snuggle
with my dogs!
Those
few times when you are on the computer at the same time as me, sure are
precious to me. Though at the
time, I often sit in a stupor of thought as to what to express. I could detail my pain, our
investigators, my joys, or frustrations, but every week the thing that is the forefront
of my mind – the MOST important thing for me to transmit to my family thousands
of miles away – is “I love you.”
Those three words barely express the gratitude I have to my family - for
the obedience, sacrifice, and time, which you so readily offer. But, I hope that the family knows that
I love you all and pray for you. I am pretty sure my future husband (or dogs)
and I will live close to you and Dad!
I don’t like feeling so distant!
DAD
I
found great humor in your description of the “things” in the Rachmaninoff
piece, haha! Music is admired in
many different ways! I miss
classical music. We were teaching
and the TV in the other room was on. I must confess that I tuned out of the
lesson for a few minutes as I focused on the sweet and marvelous grandeur of a
Rachmaninoff piano concerto. That
night I had a dream about listening and watching the Spokane Symphony playing
at the Fox. It was AWESOME! (I
think that I might be a bit homesick this week, probably just the time of
year.) Below is a link to a 45 minute Rachmaninoff piano concerto.
Weekly update:
Monday:
It
was a chill P-day with just Sister Z and I. We grandma danced and made a cake and had a grand time. We taught two families – including P
and J. Our ward mission leader and
his wife joined us while we taught P and J. President Larson was DEFINITELY inspired when he blessed me
with patience and obedience to my priesthood leaders…cause it is a challenge
for me! My WML constantly corrects
my language and is just kind of dogmatic about things. My goal this week is to pray to love
and serve him…but it will be tough because he intimidates me.
Tuesday:
We
had a great lunch at the bishop’s house, Bishop Curty. He continues to be a ray of light and
comfort in this ward. He always
says something that just reaches into my soul and lifts my heart.
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| Giardia...a friendly looking parasite. |
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| Malnourished horses wander freely in the streets. Our Spokane horse phobic neighbors would freak out. |
We
had a good lesson with a part-member, part-inactive family. The mom is active, her two 18 and 20
ear old sons are inactive, and the dad is not a member. After watching the 18 year old “sleep”
for a few minutes after we arrived, Sister Z was persistent and we “woke” him
up. She was on a roll and we
helped the boys realize that though their testimonies about the Book of Mormon
and Joseph Smith are not strong, they do have testimonies about God’s love for them,
which one of them bore to his father.
Wednesday
It
was still really HOT! We had a district
meeting. I am missing Elder
V. Our new district leader is
Elder M, and he has good desires, but is very numbers oriented and not very
personable. Our zone is definitely
more populated with Brazileros this transfer.
We
taught G again. He is trying so
hard to live the commandments and learn about the church. He is still
struggling with the word of wisdom, but he keeps on trying. We spent the
evening teaching with M – he has so much faith and desire to serve and love
these people. He always helps
Sister Z and I by taking some of the language pressure off.
Thursday
Long.
Really long. We walked over 16
miles. We found a few golden
investigators who were office referrals.
M (who has wiener dogs!!!) and E. Unfortunately we also had some prime
investigators drop us – it is so sad when people won’t read and pray to find
truth – especially when they say that they know all they need to know about our
church. We bore testimony to them
and said a heartfelt prayer with them …and that’s all we could do.
Friday:
Great
planning and companion inventory! Finally Sister Z realized the importance of
sharing strengths and weaknesses! We had another great, LONG day. Days drag, but weeks fly by. We walked a lot.
Saturday:
SO
HOT! We had a cool experience with
T and R. They have a new baby and are really in love. T is a member and R is not a member. R is a loving spouse and father. He hasn’t been very open to
missionaries in the past…but for some reason he really likes Sister Z and I,
and we were able to teach the Restoration and Book of Mormon, as well as talk
about testimonies. He shared his
testimony of God and God’s timing and promised to read and pray about the Book
of Mormon, so we’ll see!
We
taught G again…he is reading and studying and praying, but he is still
struggling. We arrived at our new house about 10 minutes early and though we
were exhausted and foot sore and feeling anti-social and such. We decided to look for contacts for 10
more minutes. The Lord blessed us
with an ELECT family! The wife has been looking for a religion for quite some
time. We taught the Restoration and it was awesome. Time will tell!
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| -oh you know, just eating my feelings in the rain of Brazil....
My brother gave me this umbrella and with a very high tech waterproof backpack, which is keeping everything dry! Raincoats are useless because it is too hot here in the rainy season to wear a coat.
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Sunday:
So exhausted. I
fell asleep at my desk as Sister Z got ready and fought sleep all day. It was legit FREEZING on Sunday – cold,
raining, and windy! We had an investigator come to church, newly start a bible
bash with/Carlos during Gospel Essentials, and then sleep through sacrament
meeting, so that was cool. I’m
pretty sure Gospel Essentials counts as my hour of cardio every week…. In
happier news, G passed his interview with the Bishop and received the gift of
the Holy Ghost. He was beaming and
gave me a thumbs up after the confirmation. So great! We has a rough lesson with a man who definitely like hearing
his own voice and has some very warped views of things, but other than that,
the day/week ended well.
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| Members are generous and feed us well! |
Well I am wiped out.
Missionary work is made up of a lot of hard moments, homesickness,
discouragement, frustration, pains of every form, and LOTS of sweat; but the
shining moments of people changing their lives to draw closer to the Savior and
the constant companionship of the Spirit make it worth the effort!
Con Amor,
Sister Colvin
PS. Shoe tips for the future Sister Missionary. If you are going on a walking mission
far away from home, take LOTS of shoes.
They wear out much faster than the Elder’s shoes, and they are not easy
to find good ones in a foreign country.
We walk about 15 miles a day on average and my shoes are showing
it. I am comparing my shoes –
Jambu’s, to Sister B Tao’s. Sister
B has been out a little longer than I have, but you can see that her heels are
not holding up. My Mom convinced
me to take more shoes that were listed on the recommended clothing list and I
am very glad that we did.These are the two pairs of shoes that I am currently wearing. I have worn these daily since July 10th! That's almost 1/3rd of my mission.
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Jambu Brand shoes have made it nearly 1/3 rd of the way through my mission. I HIGHLY recommend them for this kind of work. My housemates shoes have not held up as well...see below  |
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