I went walking with two of the senior sisters earlier this week and we came upon a motorcycle accident that had just happened. The motorcycle was overturned and on its side, with a cracked rearview mirror. The man was lying on the road in front of it - for a long time, he didn't move and no one was helping him. I thought he was dead. But then he moved his hand and we could see him breathing. It took the ambulance a while to get there. We were told by a bystander that this was because there are three hospitals nearby, and they have sufficient ambulances, but not enough EMTs - down here, everyone is still recovering from all the changes brought by Covid. So, right now, this ambulance is covering three hospitals! Hopefully, they will be able to recover soon and be back up to full strength. ( I never heard how the motorcyclist is doing. I hope he is okay.)

A lady standing near us said it was the second motorcycle accident she had seen in two days. She was driving a car yesterday and a motorcycle was weaving in and out of traffic and hit a slick spot in front of her and tipped over. She stopped her car right away to stop the other cars behind her so he didn't get hit by a car. The motorcyclists are really crazy here!

Later on in our walk, we saw a tiny monkey in one of the trees in the park. It was only about 6 inches long. It reminds me of the photo Matt sent, when he was on his mission in Salvador, of him brushing his teeth with a little monkey hanging from the toothbrush. I took a picture of the monkey in the tree, but the monkey was so high up that you couldn't see it in the photo. I will keep trying!

A few of us senior missionaries had dinner together and had a Guaraná taste test, to see which we liked best. Guaraná is a popular flavor of soft drink in Brazil. I brought some samples. We liked the Guaraná Antarctica the best. (I didn't even realize that I had brought two of the same kind!)

On Monday, we had Family Home Evening and the mission president of the Sao Paulo West Mission talked with us. He told us that he has some missionaries who are all new in the church, are the only members of their families, and who are really alone on their missions. Their families love them, but don't really understand or support what they are doing. Some of them come from rough backgrounds. He asked us to "adopt" them and write them letters and do family things like sending cookies to them. We would bring the letters and cookies to the mission home and he would see that they get out to them. I think the senior missionaries like that idea. We admire them for going out on a mission when they have only been members a year or two. That takes courage!

A couple of evenings ago, we were leaving the office at dusk (maybe 5:30 or 6). It wasn't dark yet, but the sun was going down. I heard a lot of bird noises. In the States, they would be starlings, those big flocks of small birds that fly in big swoops in the sky. Here, they were-- parrots!! Actually, they are a branch of the parrot family called Simple Parakeets or Brotogeris Parakeets. But they are not like our parakeets - they are about twice the size of ours. They are called simple because they don't have any big red or orange patches on them- they are just green. It was too dark to see their colors much, but what a wonderful sight, to see trees full of parrots!

 

 

 

 

 

This week, I met with my first missionary and talked with two sets of Mission Leaders (which is what Mission Presidents and their wives are called now). I hope to create some training material for them to help missionaries with resilience. 

I have been noticing something lately - the depression that I have been battling since I was a teenager, is gone! I wake up feeling good, I go through the day feeling good and, in the evening, I am tired, but happy! This may be due to walking in the sun every day, having something meaningful to do, and the wonderfully kind senior missionaries, but I think it also has to do with the blessings of being on a mission. The depression, which became especially bad in Utah as my mission got closer, just disappeared when I landed in Brazil and it hasn't come back. It feels so good to feel good!

This week has been a week of learning new things - how to get to the Area Office, how to cross the street and not get run over by a motorcycle (Don't cross at the crosswalks on little streets, because motorcycles come roaring around corners - cross in the middle of the street, where you can look way up the street and way down the street to make sure no one is coming. On big roads, ALWAYS cross at the crosswalks and walk very fast because the time for crossing is very short!)

I learned that things people told me about uneven sidewalks are true-

 

 

 

 

 

but some sidewalks are just like in Portugal - very pretty!

 

The birds here have different songs than I am used to - I hear them singing in the early hours of the morning and they are beautiful, but strange. Definitely not robins!

The food here is really good - very fresh and you can find lots of food that doesn't have the preservatives that our food does. I am seeing fruits that are new to me.

I had my first açai ice cream. And I have seen bananas of all sizes, from very long ones (nearly a foot long) to little tiny ones, the size of my thumb!

 

 

 

 

There are some neat things here that I haven't seen before - like really cool countertops with edges, so you never have water running onto the floor. And you can dry your dishes without having to worry about where the water will run.

 

At the Area Office Building, I have my own private office, which is wonderful. That is because I need privacy for counseling. But the other senior missionaries are nearby and I love talking to them. They are really nice and fun to be with. We had a Sister's Luncheon on Thursday, where we all brought our own lunch and just talked with each other.

The Brazilians in the office are so friendly! One, Claudio, worked for Dell Computers and lived in Austin, Texas for 18 months. He misses speaking English and loves practicing by speaking with me. Gislene works here as an administrative assistant and also wants to practice English. She is really nice - so we may have a lunch once a month that is for practicing English. What fun! (Of course, we may have a lunch where we only speak Portuguese - that's just regular lunch!)

Next week, I hope to start seeing clients. It has been a good week!

My flight to Brazil started early in the morning. I needed to be at the airport at 5:20. It's a good thing my friend Nancy was taking me, because I overslept and she had to wake me up! I was so relaxed from the MTC training being over and everything packed that I relaxed a little bit too much!

Nancy stayed with me all the way to my going through security, helping me lug those heavy bags and get them checked in. I was so grateful for her help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a five-hour layover in Atlanta, and Liza came to take me out of the airport for some fresh air and sunshine! She made me some amazing green juice and a healthy lunch and we ate it at the CNN Center. It was a refreshing break- then back to the airport for the next leg of the flight.

 

 

After a nine-hour flight, I arrived in São Paulo at 6 a.m. Sister Ericksen and Sister Doutre picked me up. Then, we had an hour van ride and I was at my new home. I even was able to sleep for about an hour on the plane!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got our little shopping carts and took off for the local Carrefour, which was in a mall next to the temple grounds. I needed groceries right away because the next day was Sunday. I bought all kinds of things that I needed- then remembered that I had no car and needed to walk everything home!!

 

 

 

 

 

I learned something new about Brazil- stairs aren't always where you think they will be! I came down the escalator with my little cart full of groceries and things and didn't see that there were two steps there. I fell and the stuff went flying! I wasn't hurt- it was only two steps - but everyone around was so nice and wanted to help me. Can you see I was embarrassed? They put me in a wheelchair, a fireman came to transport me, and they took me to the medical office at the mall, where an EMT looked me over. THIS WAS MY FIRST DAY IN BRAZIL!!! (So embarrassing!)

But it all ended well. The EMT was named Roberta, Sister Chipman spoke fluent Portuguese and everything ended happily. We even gave her a Pass Along Card for the Temple Visitor's Center. What a first day!

 

This week has been medical training. It has been really informative for those of us who are considered medical ( physicians, nurses, and mental health advisors). The hotel we were in was very nice and the food was good- but it was 8 hours a day of nonstop technical information. It has been exhausting for all of us senior missionaries! We are up at 6:30 every day, and it was like being given information through a firehose every day. I thought I was the only one who was overwhelmed, but I found out that everyone is! 😁 That made me feel better! 

We have missionaries in our group going to the US, South America, Australia, and Fiji. Those of us who are off to South America leave today, while those going to the states left yesterday afternoon. We are like leaves blowing to the four winds!🍂🍁

A highlight of this week was being with friends and family. I got to go to church in my old ward and see friends there. Joseph and Rosa had me for dinner on Sunday and helped me run errands (I don’t have my car now).  

 

 

 

 

My Brazilian friends, Silvio and Norma and their children, came to see me and brought gelato!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I went to get sushi with Nancy and Ann. I have such dear family and friends!

So, today I am off to Brazil!

Well, my time at the MTC in Provo is over. I loved the sisters in my district and our two teachers, Sister Randall and Sister Hughes. I didn’t like the food! It was a menu for young men – lots of carbs! I am happy to be back to fruits and veggies again!

 

On Thursday, I had lunch with Simon and gave him the car. We went out for street tacos. I put what I thought was marinated red onions and veggies on mine and discovered that they were habanero peppers (100 times hotter than jalapeno peppers!) My mouth was on fire! Luckily, they took pity on a poor novice at understanding street tacos and let me try with some new tacos! 

The best things about the MTC were the wonderful spirit that is there and the practice we had at teaching one-on-one. Our teachers taught us how to create personal lessons based upon the needs of those we are teaching. We get to know them and any particular problems they might be having (sometimes, we can just ask them). Then we create a lesson to help them with their need:

1. What is the need?
2. What can we invite them to do that will help them with their need?
3. What is the doctrine/gospel principle that the invitation is related to?
4. What resources can we use to reinforce that principle (videos, stories, etc.)

Then, we teach in the opposite order:

4. Tell stories, show videos, etc.
3. Describe the gospel principle involved
2. Invite them to do something that will help them with the problem they are having
1. Talk to them about how this will help them and the blessings that will come to them if they do this gospel-related action.

Our teachers let us practice on them and were really open and genuine about the things that they themselves struggle with. This helped us not only to learn, but to appreciate their example of being genuine and humble.

Saturday morning, I left the MTC. I had to be out of my room at 7, with my shuttle coming at 9:40. I was told that I wouldn’t be able to check into the hotel until 3 pm and I was SOOO tired. But when I got to the hotel at 11, the room was ready and I laid down for a 3-hour nap. Heaven!! Then I went to an early dinner with Joseph and Rosa. A really good day!

 

 

Before I can go to Brazil to serve, I need training at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. It is a beautiful complex of buildings that has about 2000 missionaries there right now.

 

 

Some only stay for short training, about a week, while others may stay for 6 weeks to learn a new language. It is one of the largest language training centers in the world.

 

 

Of course, I had to have my photo taken at the famous map – and I have my new name tag in Portuguese!

 

 

 

I met my new companion, Sister Brown, who in her pre-missionary life was an emergency room nurse. She is going as a medical advisor to San Bernardino, California. She is very nice, as are all the sisters in my district. Because we are all sisters, we are jokingly called a “sistrict”.

 

 

 

This is my sistrict – we really like being with each other and spend a lot of time together.

We have devotionals and learn about how to listen to people. One lesson took us WAY outside our comfort zone! We had to take a gospel principle and boil down everything we knew about it to one sentence that someone who knew nothing about church would understand. Then, we needed to stop three people walking by and explain it to them. Now, the people walking by at the MTC were all missionaries, so they understood what we were doing, but it was scary! I was given the topic of the final judgment and the three degrees of glory – try explaining that in one sentence to someone with no background understanding! I said that the more we try to be like God and Jesus Christ, the closer we will feel to them in this life and the closer we will be to them after we die.  I stopped three elders and told them this – then I got REALLY brave and found some Spanish-speaking missionaries and told them in Portuguese (They pretty well understood me – no missionaries going to Brazil here. They are all being trained in São Paulo). It was scary but fun and the Spanish-speaking missionaries and I laughed at our attempts to understand each other!

So much has happened in the last few days. The house was emptied on Friday and I went to stay with Matt and Brittney for a few days.

 

 

On Saturday, I rested a lot and then we went out to Saltair to see the sunset!

 

 

 

Then, on Sunday, I was set apart and gave my farewell talk in sacrament meeting. It was so wonderful to see family and friends there.

 

 

 

 

 

I talked about having faith in Jesus Christ. I studied for about a month to learn more about Jesus Christ and how we can have faith in him. I loved giving that talk!

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we had a family dinner and then sat around and talked. I asked each one there to answer two questions:

1. When was a time that you felt like a success (whether or not anyone else thought you were a success)?

2. If you had unlimited resources and knew you would succeed, what would you do?

It was so wonderful to hear the heartfelt answers from each family member. I loved being with them.

We celebrated Sasha’s birthday! Yes, that is an ice cream sandwich for a birthday cake!

 

 

 

 

 

The Brazilian pastries were a hit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we went in the mountains to find the perfect place for my granddaughter’s ring ceremony. I think we found it!

All in all, a practically perfect day! I am ready for the Missionary Training Center.

Hi everyone! 
The time is drawing close. My house is slowly emptying out and boxes are piling up in the garage. I am scurrying around, getting shots, and filling out forms for so many things. I have had to change my Power of Attorney, my driver's license, and many other papers that I hadn't updated for years. That's what happens when you put things off!
I am also talking to utility companies, getting addresses changed, and dealing with my credit card expiring while I will be gone.
Add learning Portuguese and a computer reporting system that is new to me and it's a lot to deal with! I wonder if things will slow down once I am actually in the mission field!