"Insert Clever Foreign Blog Title Here"

Hello world! This is Sister Anne Petty reporting from São Paulo, Brazil,
with a super weird keyboard and no time to type. And no way to break between
paragraphs, ick. Desculpa. I]ll divide sections with all caps headers.
Perhaps my parents will put in paragraph breaks for me?? First of all -- the
PLANE TRIP was such an adventure! I truly feel that the Lord blessed me with
amazingly sweet people around me to practice talking about the Gospel to.
The first leg, I talked for four hours straight with a sweet sweet woman
named Frannie, and we got to talk about such wonderful spiritual subjects!
Frannie, if you're reading this, I want you to know that I still think about
you and wish we had had longer to talk. That was such fun! The second leg,
flying from Detroit to Sao Paulo, was very long and strange. I had the
opportunity to talk with several native Brazilians, and they were all SO SO
sweet and understanding. I could speak very little of their language, and
they could speak very little of mine, but it was a beautiful thing--we
communicated just fine, somehow. They all told me my Portuguese was great,
and didn~t believe I]ve only been in the MTC for a few weeks, but I'm pretty
sure they were just being nice, as I hear Brazileiros are. :-) ARRIVING AT
THE CTM (missionary training center in Brazil) was surreal. It's so
different here, and so wonderful. Although I still really miss Provo--there
was nothing like the variety of cultures there--it is super neat to be
surrounded by native Brazilians. They are all just as nice as my airplane
friends. They're understanding about the language and friendly and sweet.
This week, there are only 180 missionaries at the CTM. Compare that to over
1600 in Provo! Muito diferente. Here, everyone seems to know everyone. The
food is amazing. So much more real than the Provo MTC food! Beans and rice
every day, lots of fresh produce each meal, and all kinds of exotic fruity
desserts. TUESDAY NIGHT, my companion (Sis. Smith) and I had the opportunity
to sing in devotional. We sang "Creio em Cristo" (I Believe in Christ) for
the entire CTM, at our first devo here. It was a very neat opportunity, and
the Spirit was strong. I love to sing! TODAY was our first P-Day here, and
we got to go to the temple! The bus ride was very interesting for me. First
of all, I was genuinely afraid for my life the entire time. Drivers down
here don't really seem to care about lanes on the highways...especially
motorcyclists! I thought Jared Kibbe was wild on a motorcycle, but
no...these motorcyclists will zip right between two trucks that are a couple
feet apart. Oh my word scared me to death. Secondly, it was extremely
poignant for me to actually see the favelas of Sao Paulo. Poverty like I've
never imagined. I was glad that no one saw the tears that were on my cheeks
as we drove past them. LASTLY; no one gets letters here like we did in
Provo. When my district leader came up to me and asked, "Who]s your favorite
person, Sis. Petty?" I said "YOU Elder Dawson!" and he handed me a letter
from home, I almost cried. Letters are like sheets of gold. Everyone was
jealous of it, and I saved it until late that night to read. So...please
write, if you get a chance. I would love love love to hear from any and all
of you. Your words of encouragement keep me going! Sorry this post was so
scattered. Brazil is green and wonderful and I love it. Missions are
fantastic. The Church of Jesus Christ is true, I know it through the power
of the Holy Spirit. I]m so grateful to be alive and to be here. Keep up the
good work everyone, it~s worth it!
love, Sister Petty