Hello, dear world! How is America? How is everyone??
I am officially no longer a trainee. *does a little missionary-appropriate dance* I completed my first transfer of the mission, and now have TWO new companions! This is not normal, usually we work in pairs. My comps, Sisters Tiburcio and Santos, are maravilhosas, so I think this transfer will be fantastic. [my hands are hurting from lugging luggage across Catu, though. What is it with women and lots of STUFF?] My first transfer was definitely something. I laughed, I cried, I hurt, I worked, I bore testimony, I made friends, I ate a lot, I learned a lot, and I gained an even greater desire to continue firmly in the faith, teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world!
Last week I had an interview with our new mission president, Pres. Hart. During the interview, we found out that we both love history, and we got talking about George Washington! HA! I love GW, and I love discussions about anything historical. Anyway, I love that I have this connection with Pres. Hart. Twas fun.
CULTURE SNIP [because I have a teeny bit of time]:
Brazilians do everything really big, and really thoroughly. Specifically, and most noticably, cook and clean. This week Sis. Bezerra and I were eating lunch with a member (this happens every day), and I very much enjoyed watching a young adult son come in to eat really quick before leaving. He grabbed a plate and piled bastante rice, beans, chicken, beef, noodles, and salsa (with lots of very hot pepper). He topped it all off with a mountain of farinha (the flour of something called "mandioca"--if anyone wants to research a bit about this food, I'd appreciate it. I LOVE IT and put it on everything now!), like Bahians love to put on everything. Then he mixed it all up together and wolfed it down in about 5 minutes. It was SO CLASSICALLY Bahian, I wanted dearly to take a picture.
Buses are another thing. Has anyone seen "Fantasia 2000"? Remember that cartoon set in NYC, very stylized and set to Rhapsody in Blue? There's a part where a guy gets on a subway, and everyone is PACKED in, only space for one arm to stabilize the people standing, and they all get off in the same shape as they were packed. I don't know if that made any sense at all, sorry, but as vezes I feel just like that. Buses seem to be more of a private thing here, and buses are always slowing and stopping and yelling to people "Sojuca! Sojuuuuuca!" or whatever sity they're headed to, looking for more people to hop on. Some of these vehicles are very nice, and feel like an airplane inside. Others are downright sketchy, little closed dirty vans.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Now to my favorite moment of the week.
I have no clue what I wrote last week, sorry if I repeat myself. Last week we found, purely through a prompting from the Spirit, a young woman (menina) named Luciana who seemed to have great potencial. We taught her about the Restauration, left her with 3 Nephi 11 to read, and committed her to read, pray, and be baptized when she recieved an answer. This week we returned, prepared to follow up with those challenges. She completely floored us. Not only had she READ the entire chapter (rare), she had marked it all up, and without any prompting commenced reading to us key scriptures, summarizing what was going on, and applying the doctrine of Christ to her life. This 15-yr-old jewel taught us what we had come to teach her! I nearly got up and jumped on that little living room couch with joy. THIS is missionary work, my friends. Following the Spirit to the souls that God has prepared for us. I don't know what will happen with Luciana, but I do know that the Spirit led us to her. I learned a great lesson from this, and hope to continue learning. The Gospel is real!
I want to thank you all for the letters you've written. I am SO grateful to have received a beautiful stack of letters last week at a zone meeting--I treasured them, reading them one at a time over the period of several days. You are all wonderful! They took a bit to arrive, but they arrived safe. Thank you all so so so so so much.
Maybe I shared this last week, maybe not. I've been studying faith, and last week I encountered some scriptures that are perfect to describe what faith is. You know what, I think I already shared these. Faith, I believe, is first humility, then trust in the Lord, then action. We first recognize, "Lord, I don't know all things. I am very weak." Then we say, "Lord, I know I am weak, but I know that you can do all things, and will prepare the way for me." Then we ACT, following the Lord's guidance, and continually trusting that the Lord will provide a way.
I know this is real. I know the Lord truly does guide our footsteps when we trust in Him.
I love you all, and am so grateful for your support. Continue in faith. Read your scriptures every day, and never forget to pray. Even ONE scripture each day is better than none! I promise you will feel God's love and influence if you do this.
Com amor,
Sis. Petty
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