Life in Rio

June 12-
I understand my companion pretty well, but everyone else in the ward.... its a little bit harder.  

 Brazil is great.  I love it here!  The people are wonderful and it is absolutely beautiful!  I´ll have to take some pictures to send you!  There are a lot of mountains here and they are beautiful!  I love them.  Yesterday I had to spend all day at the federal police to notify them of my address change in Brazil.  We taught the first lesson to a family last week - they were a street contact we made earlier in the week and they accepted the message really well!  It seemed like, i think we´re gonna follow up with them later today to see how if they read and everything.  But there´s a mom and dad with about six children - and they´re children are super well-behaved!  They´re amazing!  But yeah, hopefully all goes well!  We have several other people that we´re teaching too.  It seems like it is pretty easy to get people to listen, at least initially - they´re all so friendly!  I´m not sure how it is overall, but so far it seems pretty good.  We walk A LOT!  We ride buses every once in awhile too, but mostly we just walk.  and walk.  We don´t use bikes and no one has a car.  Ha. I guess I´ve never really noticed, but I guess most of the streets aren´t paved.  And as for the men bothering us when we walk down the street - I don´t think I understand enought portuguese to tell!!! haha.  One blessing to that!  Our apartment is relatively nice even in comparison to some other homes I´ve seen.  ha. it´s definitely not perfect though!  When it rained the other day, the ceiling above my bed started leaking through and when I got home there was a huge puddle on it!  pretty funny.... And our toilet doesn´t really flush either - we pour water into it to get it to work, but its not a big deal at all.  But yeah, I like it - it´s pretty big for two people. It´s going good though.  We do eat with members every day!  I love them all!!  They are so nice and friendly!  The other day, on Sister D's birthday, the member we ate with made the best meal ever and the most fantastic cake too!  And then she gave us both something - nicest thing ever! And it wasn´t even my birthday, but she gave it to me to welcome me.   The food is delicious.  I really love it.  I´m actually pretty positive though that every meal we´ve been fed has had some sort of rice and beans.  Not even kidding at all - good thing I love rice and beans!  They always serve something else with it though, and I always love whatever they serve!  Sister D is awesome!! I really admire her!! Man.  She has got to be the most patient person ever to deal with me!!  especially with my greatness at Portuguese.  She´s been a trainer three times already, but I´m her first American companion ever.  Oh and I think that I´ll be her companion for the next transfer as well - and then she´s done!! She finishes her mission in August - crazy!!!The work is going well.  I am so excited to be a missionary!!  I can already tell that I am going to learn SO MUCH here!! Hopefully I do and hopefully I learn it quickly too :)  
 
 Man.  Since being on a mission, it has shown me so much how having the gospel in my life has blessed my life.  It is amazing, really.  It makes me wonder why everyone isn´t a latter-day saint.  But that´s why I´m serving a mission, to bring others to a knowledge of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love the way the gospel shapes our lives, brings us more happiness than anything else, and brings us closer to Christ.  I love our church.

Arrived in Rio!!!

We recieved an e-mail from Mary Ann's mission letting us know that she had arrived safe in Rio de Janeiro on May 29.

June 4-
So I made it to Rio de Janeiro safe and sound! Flying into the airport here was the most beautiful thing ever!! We could see the Cristus Statue along with the Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and everything was green and gorgeous!  I love it here!  My new area here is a part of the city of Rio. My companion is Sister D- she is Brazilian and from Parana.  I´m excited to work with her! She is super awesome!  At first I was hoping for an American companion to be able to ease into everything, but I think it´ll actually be A LOT better for me this way - I think I´ll learn the language a lot quicker.... Her birthday is this week too :)  But yeah, things are going pretty good.  She helps me know when to talk and what to say.  Ha - so my first full day here in the area, we woke up and did the normal routine, studying and stuff... and so in companion study, we practiced a couple of invites, including the baptismal invite.  And so during the day at our first meeting with a wonderful woman named Rosane, she had me invite her to baptism!! I did not realize that I would be doing that at all!!! But I gave it! And guess what?! She accepted! ha. the funny part about that though is that I didn´t know she accepted until after we left cause I didn´t even understand her response!!! hahaha. Thank goodness I have a companion!!!  

I´m starting to realize just how much of a blessing that temples are.  We don´t have one here in Rio and the majority of the members here I don´t think have had the chance to go through. We´re definitely praying to have one here though!!  There is actually a temple dedication this coming Sunday for the Manaus temple that we get to watch.  Haha - I wonder if I´ll be able to understand any of it! -Yesterday, we had a broadcasted conference from the conference center in Salt Lake for about a hundred stakes here. and yeah.... It was really hard to understand and follow all of it!!! Super hard. But that´s okay. I´ll eventually learn! 
There is definitely a language barrier! I´m surprised that I can actually understand my companion as well as I do! But the people here talk SO fast and with the Carioca accent too (they use a lot of sh instead of s´) so I feel kind of dumb sometimes when I have no idea what they are saying to me :).

Proselyting in Sao Paulo

Well...... Only one more week here at the CTM!! Can you believe it?!  I don't know if I feel ready to go out into the field yet, but ready or not!  This time next week I'll be in RIO!!! :)  Time has gone by SO fast here! 

 

Oh, so we went proselyting yesterday around the CTM. Scary!  Well.. It actually wasn't that bad - we talked to several people and gave away three copies of The Book of Mormon.  It made me realize, though, how much Portuguese I still don't understand, so I'll have to get working on that, but besides that it was good.  My favorite contact was with a seventeen year old boy.  He was super nice and helped us with our portuguese - and he seemed the most sincere about the message too!  So that was good.  We kind of just talked a little bit about our purpose here in life and then about the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  Next Monday we'll be going again, but it'll be out in the city of São Paulo, so that will be sweet!

 

So I really love the São Paulo Temple - It is gorgeous!! We went there for the last time today - I am definitely going to miss it!  Behind the front desk is the most beautiful stained glass painting ever of when Christ visited the Americas. I love it so much!  

 

Favorite scripture of the week:  "Therefore continue your journey and let your hearts rejoice; for behold and lo, I am with you even unto the end."  :) I just like that scripture a lot because I know that the Lord has been here with me so far and that without Him, I wouldn't succeed, but then again - with Him, I cannot fail!  Thank goodness!

 

I love you all!!

 

Glad to be a missionary

Brazil Missionary Training Center

Well.... everything here has been going great :) The language is coming along more or less, but I definitely have a LOT more to learn!  It's all good though.

So can I just say that I am SO glad I decided to come on a mission?!  I have learned SO MUCH already and I feel like my testimony has been strengthened a lot already!  I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  And I've been noticing just how big of a blessing it has been in my life to be a member of it.  Seriously, my life would be completely unrecognizeable without it.  Anyways, I decided to come on a mission (well, for several reasons, but one of the main ones is) for the people I will have the opportunity to share the restored gospel with - o evangelho restaurado.  I know this church is true - through prayer and as it says in John 7:17 by doing the Lord's will, I have come to know of the truth of His doctrine.  And I know that our Heavenly Father wants these people to receive His gospel - why? ...because they are His Children.  And He loves them.  A lot.  I'm pretty sure that everything Heavenly Father has done is for his children - as it says in the scriptures - "For behold, this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Or if you like portuguese better, " Pois es que esta é minha obra e minha glória, levar a efeito a immortalidade e vida eterna do homem."  And this purpose of His is evidenced in everything that has happened in the world.  The reason why he has called prophets in the past - Moses, Noah, Abraham, etc.  The reason why He came to earth and suffered for our sins and died for us - this was all so that we can repent and be cleansed from our sins and so that we can return to live with Him again.  This is also the reason why the church needed to be restored.  He loves us and so after the original twelve apostles were killed and His priesthood authority was lost, He brought back the church in its true form onto the earth again, as soon as He safely could.  How cool is that?  I know that Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ live and they love each of us.  Immensely.  I love this church and I am so grateful to be able to share this message with others! It has already blessed me so much in my life.

Also, I know that the Lord takes care of His missionaries.  How else in the world would anyone be able to learn a foreign language (or at least enough to get by) in six weeks??!  I was in Provo taking the language for longer than that!!! It is awesome the times when a concept here just clicks, but it was SO confusing when I was trying to learn it earlier.  Or when I come out saying words that I didn't even know I knew.  I know that Heavenly Father is blessing me to be able to learn the language.  I still have a long way to go though!! But I do believe what it says in Moroni 7:33 - great scripture! Love it :)

The CTM is kind of funny - we have missionaries from the United States, several Spanish speaking countries as well as Portuguese speaking countries (Brazil, Mozambique, Portugal). It's great though because Portuguese is the unifying factor.  We can all somewhat communicate with each other through it.  Or just play charades, you know.. one or the other. :)
 Eu amo vocês!
I love you!

For those who are wondering what the scripture Moroni: 7:33 says:


Moroni 7: 33 And Christ hath said: ^aIf ye will have ^bfaith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is ^cexpedient in me.

Also, if you would like a link to the entire book of mormon online here it is:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng 

For those interested in learning more about the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints, here is a good website:  www.mormon.org

Sao Paulo Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

If you would like to try a taste of Brazil. Here is a recipe for Brazilian Lemonade:

Brazilian Lemonade
4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
Mix cold water and sugar and chill until ready to use.
Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you’re using the WHOLE lime.
 Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.
Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.
Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn’t test it and it came out a little bitter. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although, people will want more; plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.

An Average Day at the CTM

                                         Me and Sister C in front of the Sao Paulo Temple

An average day - we wake up at six thirty, get dressed for the day and eat breakfast.  Then we have personal study, companion study, and then the language lab.  Then we have gym where we run for a little bit and then go play volleyball for the rest of the time.  The Brazilians are intense!! And yes, soccer moves are completely legal in any game of volleyball - it is awesome! :)  After that we shower and get ready for the day - again - and then we go to lunch and have class with Irma S - she is our teacher and Irma translates to sister - we're called Sister's though, (In English not Portuguese because Irma is the same as nun here.... awesome? haha) We do gramatica with her and then we practice teaching with her - she is our fake investigator Angelica.  Then we have dinner at four fifteen - SO EARLY!! It's awful! haha.  We never get hungry!!  Then afterwards we have class with Irmao C (Brother C).  He is the best! We go over stuff with him as well and teach him too.  We taught a lot last week, I feel like - and yes, it is only in Portuguese.  Scary!  My companion is a really good teacher and speaks awesome Portuguese, so I have learned a lot from her already.  She did three weeks in Provo, in English, before she came here.  After class, we plan for the next day and go to lanche - just a snack thing we have.  Then we're in our rooms by ten and from there we study/ write in our journals, etc.  Just wind down for the day.  I really like it here though.  I really just want to make the most out of the time that I do have here to be able to do the best I can once I actually get into the field. Only four more weeks!!!! Ahh!

There are a couple things that are different here than in the states - one is the driving.... They are crazy! Especially motorcyclists.  We were driving in a huge bus, with one in the next lane over and a motorcylcist just comes zooming on in between! 

Well.... I love it here! I love being a missionary! I am SO glad that I can finally be here!  I am grateful that I can wear Jesus Christ's name over my heart as I love him so much.  His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man - which definitely speaks of the great love that he has for each of us.  I am excited to be able to serve Him for the next year and a half.  I love the Plan of Salvation. 

I would love to hear from you all!  

                                      My district from the CTM in front of the Sao Paulo Temple

I am here in Brazil!!!

 I made it!!! I am here in Brazil!! So hard to believe! :)  Guess what though!!!!!!?!!! Elder Cook came to the CTM yesterday!!! I was able to shake the hand of an apostle of God! How cool is that?!
It's been wonderful so far! We went to the temple this morning!!!! It is GORGEOUS!  I think its my favorite that I've ever been to.   I leave for Rio in five more weeks!  It seems so strange that I've already/ only been here for a week so far!My companion is Sister C - I LOVE her.  She is standing next to me in that picture that they sent earlier.  She is from Boston and her dad is actually Brazilian and her mom is Mexican and so she understands what everyone says in any of the three languages, because in her house they would speak to her in their languages and she would respond in English.  Way cool though!  She is super nice and we get along great! My district is GREAT! I love them all! Everyone is so hilarious and we all get along great! I love it! The food is actually really good - they serve a lot of meat at every meal and they always have rice and beans - which are delicious!!  We also went to this Brazilian barbeque place  today and it was super good! If you have ever been to Tucanos, it was exactly like that - they had this salad bar type thing and then brought around the meat - like Braza Dancante.  It was delicious!
The living arrangements are pretty much like any dorm. There is space for four girls in each room with two bunk beds, but it is only me and Sis C in ours right now. We really want to get some Brazilian sisters when they come this week though!~ Mary Ann

Above, are some excerpts from Mary Ann's first e-mail home. She asked me to keep up her mission blog for her while she is on her mission. I'll try to be clear about whether comments are from me (her mom) or from her on the blog. Below is the photo that the CTM sent to us on her first day in Brazil. Seeing it made me know that she had made it safe. I said goodbye to her last Tuesday at the airport, it was harder than I had imagined. We've sent off 3 children to be missionaries before but this was the first one who was leaving the country.   I was sad when she left and it sunk in that she is gone. I am so happy she can be a missionary. I'm excited for her to have lots of wonderful experiences.  It was great to get this first e-mail and learn about what she is experiencing. Feel free to leave comments on the blog. I will forward uplifting comments to her in Brazil. Please invite your friends to join. Anyone is welcome to read it. She hadn't had a chance to invite most of her friends before she left. We will make sure that the blog stays positive and try to make it worth reading ~Mary Ann's mom

two week mark.

Well... it's official - exactly two weeks until I leave.  How crazy is that?  It's always been four months/ two months away, etc.  And when I finally saw it getting somewhat close, it moved further away again.  But now it's almost here.  And its for real this time.  I called the Missionary Department the other day and they said they had a visa for me (they're gonna ship it sometime this week!! :), which means....... I'M GOING TO BRAZIL!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been waiting for this moment for about the last six months now and, can you believe it?  It's almost here.  I think, though, having SO much time to prepare has allowed me to procrastinate a little TOO much.  Now I'm attempting to catch up on all that in the midst of preparing for a reception.  Talk about fun.  Guess what else though?  I'm getting nervous.  Ahhhh!  Really nervous. Right now I am mostly scared for my farewell talk - well, more like terrified.  I am NOT a big fan of giving talks and I always get nervous.  And I'll be speaking next to my amazing sister, Sarah who will be recently returned from her mission and giving her homecoming talk that same day - and she is a spiritual giant (seriously - you'll be able to see the difference!).  But getting on that plane and flying to a foreign country is also a little bit daunting.  and maybe more than a little bit.  A lot of it has to do with the language barrier.  I'm just have to pick up Portuguese FAST!! :)  It's just funny though because the last six months or so, I've been nothing but excited.  I still am, of course, but there's just a couple other emotions mixed in there.  Can I just say though that I am so entirely grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  And I am so grateful for the testimony that I have gained over the years - I am SO excited to be able to share this gospel of Jesus Christ, that I love so much, to those waiting to hear in Brazil!  I can't wait!!! :)  Also, I can't wait to wear the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, over my heart and to be a representative for Him!!

Saying goodbyes is another one of those things that I'll never get used to.  I've decided that I really hate them; they're awful!  and I've had to say some of the hardest goodbyes as I left Utah to come home, but I still have more to say!!  Well.  It really isn't even goodbye, it is just see you later because I'll be sure to see them again - it'll just be in a little over a year and a half.  but still... it makes me sad :(

But lets dwell on the positive, because I have had SO MANY good times the past several months.  Like going to Color-Me-Mine and eating the one of a kind blue bell ice cream with two of my favorite people!  Like going to Denny's at three in the morning while wearing footie pajamas.  Like being able to become scuba certified.  Like trying on ugly clothes at DI with Shanette :).   Like chillin' with the coolest people at Brick Oven.  Like always locking my new roommates out of the apartment.... sorry!  Like being able to go to my sister's sealing!  Like having the opportunity to get ahead for my mission and learn Portuguese.  Like watching my beastly sister own at her basketball games.  Like being able to hang out with my wonderful family who I love so much.  Well... like a lot of things! :)  Even though I would have been happy to leave six months ago if I had the chance, I am really grateful for the opportunity to stay in the states and to learn the things I've learned, do the things I've done and spend time with the people I love!

I love you all and I'm going to miss you - like a lot a lot.  But don't get too excited, because I've still got two more weeks :)  I'm not gone yet!