Teaching and Helping

Hello everyone,

Things are going much more smoothly here. I still have many of the same challenges, but I am learning how to deal with them in better ways. Here is a description of the last eleven days:

On March 15, I started the day with an emergency. I was able to help a missionary and I was happy about that. I was also very impressed at the loving way that the president helped him.

Right after that, I got an Uber and went to a chapel for a zone conference in the southern part of São Paulo. It took me nearly an hour to get there. I grabbed lunch at what was left of the buffet and taught a class on Limited Thinking (cognitive distortions) three times. I talked for 2 1/2 hours straight, then caught an Uber home. While I was in the Uber, I was in a Brazil Health Council meeting on zoom for 45 minutes. I got home around five and I was tired!

I watched a K-Drama (Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung) for a couple hours and then did a mild exercise video. I like watching K-dramas (Korean shows). They are fun, especially with the dialogue in Portuguese and the subtitles in English. I am actually starting to understand what they are saying in Portuguese!

March 16

Today was an amazing day. I woke up feeling trashed - I was so exhausted from yesterday - but I had two really good sessions with missionaries. In one of them, the missionary caught the vision for the first time of who he really is. A light came into his eyes that I had not seen before, and he just lit up! It was wonderful. Then I went back to the zone conference - it was an hour Uber ride there and 1 1/2 hours coming back. But I taught three more classes, and the missionaries asked such thoughtful and sincere questions. It was such a pleasure to teach them! They really wanted to know how to balance tasks, how to feel good about themselves, and other questions. I loved teaching them. I came home so tired and hot from the Uber ride that I had no energy to eat. Fortunately, I had felt prompted to make a protein smoothie this morning and I just drank that. I watched some more of the K Drama and I am going to bed. (I am also working with one of the mission presidents' wives to come up with a stretching workout for missionaries to help them to relax at night so they can sleep better). A really good day!

March 21

I had trouble sleeping last night. I woke up around 3 and was having trouble relaxing, so I took a walk - in my mind- I walked through the woods and meadows near Northampton that I had walked with Jack and Sarah last year, and I felt the tension just melt away as I looked at the fields and the woods full of bluebells. I was able to go back to sleep.

March 23

Today was a crying day - but they were good tears. I had the last session with a wonderful elder who is finishing his mission. I have worked with him off and on since last September. He had some real burdens to carry because of his family. He was such a humble, sincere young man that it was a pleasure to work with him. He was so intelligent that he asked wonderful questions that I could tell he had thought a lot about. He will finish his mission next week and I couldn't be prouder of him. Our session consisted of him asking questions and me helping him to find answers. It ended up with both us being tearful. But they were happy tears.

This afternoon, I got a message from Elder and Sister Jeffers, who are home from their mission and back in Las Vegas. I sent them a WhatsApp message and told them how much I missed her knocking on my door and giving me a hug! So, she sent me a little video – I loved it! It made me cry. But they were more good tears.

I also talked to Brittney today about my taxes - but mainly about the family and how everyone is doing. I really miss news from home. I love hearing about family! (I have also appreciated emails from Simon and Rachel, Zoom meetings with Joseph and Rosa, calls from Liza and Matt, and texts from Susan, too!) I appreciate hearing from you so much!

Saturday, I went to Embu des Artes ( a local artist colony about 30 minutes from where I am in São Paulo). I got an Uber, but the driver got confused and took me to a really sketchy part of town and told me that we had arrived. I tried to explain to him that this wasn't correct and finally got him to understand. I could tell that it was a lot further than he really wanted to go. When we got there, I asked him to wait and in 10 minutes, I would be back and would need a ride back home. I was only there to pick up a painting. He needed to be paid in cash for the ride back, because it wasn't going to be through Uber. So, after I got the painting, he brought me to Pão da Açúcar (A grocery store one block from my apartment) and I got some cash (It is safe to get cash there). I came out and paid him R$100 for a R$55 trip. He was so happy! It only cost me nine dollars, but I know it made a big difference to him. I love that with so little money, I can really make someone's day!

In the evening, Elder and Sister Blaser and I took a walk up to the "Monkey Park" where we got to see the little monkeys come down to eat. It was a great day, but I was SOO tired by bedtime!

Today, I sang in the Relief Society choir for Sacrament Meeting. Relief Society was nice, but I was probably more interested in just reading the talk that the lesson was based on than listening. My brain was tired of trying to understand Portuguese, so I just zoned out. After I had a wonderful salad for lunch, I took a three-hour nap and then had three zoom meetings in a row. At 4, I talked with Barbara and Mark Martin and Penny and Eldon Anderson, my friends from when I lived in Pennsylvania. Then at 5, we had a Brazilian Mental Health meeting, where I presented on some of the power point presentations we have been putting together for mental health therapists to use. Then, I talked with Lauren and Kaleb for nearly an hour. It was so good to hear from friends and family today!

Lastly, I had strawberry shortcake with the medical team, while we discussed the needs of an elder who is very sick with Dengue Fever. We are hoping that he won't die. All the senior missionaries are praying for him and we each have put his name on the prayer rolls- so he is being prayed for in temples all over the world. If you would add your prayers for “the elder in Brazil who is so sick from Dengue Fever” I would appreciate it!