Learning to Enjoy My Path

It seems like a mission is all about learning! Sometimes, I talk to the missionaries about how we are on this earth to learn - and the best place to learn is just outside our comfort zone. It seems like a mission is like this:

We arrive in the mission and are overwhelmed! We were hit with a firehose of information in the MTC and now we are in the mission, with few skills in speaking Portuguese and a companion who speaks no English! We are homesick and feel totally inadequate. But the Lord helps us to improve- He doesn't take us into our comfort zone, though. Instead, He lets us be just a little uncomfortable. We are in the growth zone, which is where we spend most of our mission. We occasionally get knocked into being overwhelmed, but as the mission progresses, we grow stronger and stronger and spend more time in the comfort zone. By that time, our mission is over and we face a whole new set of challenges!

Although we all have similar patterns in our lives, we each have our own path to walk. I am learning to appreciate my path and not compare it to others'. So, right now, I am in my growth zone. Here are some of my journal entries, just to show you what my life is like right now:

September 3

Yesterday was quite a day! I flew out to meet a sister, and escort her to her home in Brazil. She was having problems and needed to be transferred to a service mission. She was delightful. We got to the airport and the "office elders" checked her in and got us adjoining seats. As we walked to our gate, we passed a chocolate shop, so I bought us some chocolate.  I told her that I am a grandma and I like acting like a grandma! She was happy to get some chocolate. She even got to go in the priority lines with me, since we traveled together (and I am old enough to be a priority boarder!)

Our plane trip was uneventful until we got close to landing. We got hit with high winds and rain and the airplane was jolted around a lot. Then things calmed down. I thanked Heavenly Father for helping us through the turbulence. I seemed to hear a voice say, "It's not over yet. It's going to get worse." I thought, "Oh, no. Are we going to be all right?" And the voice said, "Yes." So, I didn't worry.

Then, things started to get really rough. The plane was really getting tossed around. It was scary. Then the pilot came on and said that we were being diverted to Rio de Janeiro because the local airports were closed due to the high winds and rain. We flew to Rio and landed. Then we waited for an hour for the plane to refuel and for the airline to find another flight crew to come on board. Then, we took off again. We wound up arriving three hours later than we were expected. The missionary's family and the service mission coordinators had all waited three hours for us. But she got a big, loving welcome!

I finally got back to my apartment sometime around 10:50 pm. I hadn't had dinner, so I just made some toast and went to bed.

The next morning, I felt like a truck had hit me. On that very long day, in addition to the issue with the plane and my concerns about the missionary, I had a priesthood leader contacting me, writing me long messages in Portuguese about a missionary there who was having trouble. He had been messaging me since Thursday night. It would have been so much simpler if he had just let me talk to the missionary, instead of sending me these long messages that weren't making a lot of sense to me. I had the challenge of constant Portuguese all day, at a higher level and faster than I was used to. I had someone from my stake in São Paulo, who wanted me to relay messages to all the senior missionaries, and I had another women who wanted me to send her all the power points for the English Connect classes. I couldn't do it all. I did some and will do the rest tomorrow.

September 5

Today was a good day. I was able to put all my presentations up on the Family Services website. I corrected any mistakes in Portuguese that I could find and got them all uploaded. I felt happy about that. I also felt good about speaking better Portuguese than I have before. I am able to think in sentences some now.

September 11

It has been a draining weekend. I went to an ABBA concert on Friday night with the senior missionaries. I enjoyed being with them, but I realized that they are all about 10 years younger than I am. They had these songs while they were in college, and I hadn't even heard a lot of them. We also came by metro, which was fine, but we walked for about 6 blocks through a bad part of Sao Paulo, which was scary. It was dark and there weren't many street lights. There were drunks lying on the sidewalk and a man (who was obviously on something) came up to talk with us. an Elder senior missionary kept talking with him, while the others in our group were getting further and further ahead. I was getting really uneasy - but then the guy left, and we all got back together. Whew!

On Saturday night, we all went out for dinner and the food made me pretty sick. Then on Sunday, I went to church at the Centro de Treinamento Missionário (MTC), although I still wasn't feeling great. I helped teach a Sunday School lesson in the afternoon which went pretty well.

I had a hard time sleeping tonight. I woke up about 3 a.m. and now it is 6 am and I still can't get back to sleep. I keep worrying about how I am going to work with the new Brazilian psychologists at Family Services to create a common presentation that we both can use. The needs of the Brazilian missionaries, whom they help, are different from the American ones. Also, the Brazilian psychologists use mainly a discussion format, which is highly discouraged by the missionary department. We are told, as missionaries, to have an instruction format. Their guidelines as professionals in Brazil discourage the use of scriptures or religious discussion in their presentations, and in mine, there is a lot of scripture and spiritually based instruction. I don't see any way forward. But I prayed about it and Heavenly Father helped me to see that things will work out. 

September 12

All of us who are mental health professionals in Brazil received an email from Elder John Jackson, who is the AMA here in Brazil. He got a message from the Missionary Medical Committee in Salt Lake. They are very pleased that we are taking such good care of the missionaries and we have very few who need to be returned home to a service mission. He said, "Thank you so much for all the support and help you provide for our missionaries who are struggling with significant mental health challenges.  You are all awesome!”

That made my day!

September 13

Today, I was part of a group of five sisters who went to Campinas to the temple. It's only about 1 1/2 hours from Sao Paulo, but once you get out of the city, the countryside is beautiful. We left around 8:30 and got there in time for an 11 am session at the temple. The reason we went there was to meet with Thiago, our tutor. Three of the five of us are students of his and we need to pay him. He can be paid through Pix, but American can't use Pix, because it requires a Brazilian bank account (and we can't get them). We had a great time in the temple and then found a wonderful Italian restaurant. We treated Thiago and his wife Luiza to lunch there for his birthday (which is actually September 23). It was so fun traveling with them and just talking. It was a really nice day.

September 15

We have a new baby in the family! He was born today. I am not giving specifics because many parents are wary about information about their children being online, but I will tell you that it is a boy and he is cute as can be. I am a great grandma now! But no one better call me Granny!

September 18

I have had a treat for the last few days! a friend who was a senior missionary here with her husband was back in Brazil for just a few days and stayed with me. It was so fun to see Sister Colleen Chipman again and to have her as a houseguest. We had fun laughing together, having family prayer together, and just having fun. On Saturday, we went with my friend Jo Ribes to a local park and around for some sightseeing in São Paulo. I loved it!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!