Pictures of a Sister's Conference

"PICS from a sisters conference! Woo hoo! ALL the sisters in the mission. We have total about 140 missionaries." --Anne

In Which I Talk a Little More About Bahia, and Realize My Bubble's Mostly Gone

FACT: Until last week, I had never seen this blog since I left home.
FACT: My "quick" blog posts aren't really that quick. Heh.
FACT: My sister, Becca, is doing a fantastic job! This is my public thank you to her for keeping this all updated and bonitinho.

Well, my friends -- it's that time again. Transfers. I absolutely don't believe it. If you think you've seen time fly, try serving a mission. 6 weeks goes by faster than you can say "Chaves Indicadores." I have loved this transfer, loved my companion Sister Marciano, and loved my district and city. I will probably stay here for at least 6 more weeks. Whew -- Christmas with a ward I love!

I have been working hard, sweating more than should be allowed, and talking with literally everyone I pass on the street (even if it's just a smile and "Boa tarde!"). I know that numbers are NOT everything...but I'm pleased to be able to say that my companion and I are reaching all our goals these last few weeks. We're teaching an average of about 8 lessons a day, and are leading the zone in the numbers we count as missionaries. This is not what matters, though. It's the people that matter, and I'm grateful to be able to say that we are truly working hard for these people.

Being in a different country, I see things that are different that seem little, but really throw me off sometimes. Here are some of them (sorry if I'm repeating myself):

Little Brazilian Culture Things

~toilet paper goes in a little trash can, not in the toilet. I think I'm finally getting used to this, but it sure took awhile.

~horses aren't a recreational activity. They are a mode of transport. Every day, I see people riding through the streets on horseback, or sitting in rickety little wooden carts pulled by rickety little donkeys. These horses and donkeys are used to cars whizzing by them (and I mean whizzing. Drivers here are absolutely crazy, and motorcycle drivers even more so).

~whereas I, as an American, eat just fine with a fork in one hand, everyone here in Brazil eats with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other. They use this knife to cut meat (of which they eat a lot) or to help guide their food onto their fork. If they're not using their knife, they still hold onto it, and it sits poised above the food ready for action.

~Brazilians eat cake and soda like I've never seen before. Cake is at LEAST a once-a-week occasion, if there isn't an occasion to eat it. Baptisms, birthdays, gatherings, all things have cake. An example of how Brazilians think about cake, one morning at about 7:

My Brazilian comp: *baking in the kitchen*
Me: "O que você está fazendo?"
Comp: "Bolo."
Me: "Por que?"
Comp: "Não temos pão."

~handwriting is taught well in schools. People here have beautiful, tidy handwriting, and everyone writes in cursive. Men and women both.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As many of you know, I grew up in a bit of a bubble. Not only was I raised in the church, but I was homeschooled. I knew that drugs, alcohol, cigarrets (don't know how to spell that in English, ha), and such things existed, but only in a distant sort of way. Now, I come in contact with these things every single day. In many ways, my childhood bubble has been popped. Almost nothing I hear or see surprises me anymore.

This all sounds a bit sad, but my point here is not to be sad. I think I'm trying to get around to saying that the world needs the Gospel. The more I see of the world, the more I realize the enormous power of family, and the truth of the statement found so often in the scriptures: If you keep the commandments of God, you will prosper in the land. A child of 13 that I know very well has already experienced homosexuality, violence and abuse in her family, has been in prison, and worse. Now she is a baptized member of the church, and I know that her life will improve unimaginably. These commandments are real and solid and change people's lives!

The Gospel is true and real. The Savior lives and loves me and all of you. I am so grateful to be here in Brasil, teaching the Gospel every day! I love Brazil and I love Bahia. My companion, Sister Marciano, is teaching me so very much about how to be a good missionary. I am so grateful for her and for all my other companions.

MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS, everyone! Enjoy the snow! I will make snowflakes, but it just won't be the same.

If you want to give me a Christmas present, I would absolutely love your personal testimony of Christ.

I love you all.

Com amor e carinho,
Sua missionária,
Sister Petty

Survival...and baptism!

hello north america! so...i hate doing this, because i love to write correctly, but this keyboard is a blivin' pain. so i'm not gonna use shift. i hope you can all forgive me, even you english majors out there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dearest Angela Bosselman, who's been home from a wonderful mission in California for...some months now! Also, GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH congratulations to my dearest Courtney Fernelius, who got called to serve in the BRASIL JUÃO PESSOA MISSION!!! Not only my dear country, but the same REGION! I just about had a heart attack when I read her letter, then commenced dancing and yelling non-words of joy and laughing and crying for about 10 minutes in our once-quiet apartment. My poor companion didn't know how to respond, so she didn't. :-)

I LOVE MISSIONS.

i'm sure getting used to certain things about the culture here. when I go back home, it'll be hard to be surrounded by UNcolorful clothes, and people who don't hug and kiss at the beginning and end of each encounter, food that isn't glorious rice and beans and farinha de mandioca, and FRUIT FRUIT FRUIT. Bananas and mangos...literally grow on trees! LOL. in the streets, in people's yards...gente. I love it.

one thing I'm learning here is to understand that people are truly different from me. and to have patience with this. now, when my companion doesn't respond to everything i say (which is a lot, heh) or makes a decision withing letting me know, or little things like this that used to really irk me, i am getting better at remembering, "oh. that's just the way she is. she's quiet. i'm loud. I'll try to quiet down for her."

maybe I already wrote about this...but the other week I was washing dishes against the will of the irmã who gave me lunch (this is normal) when i started wiping a beautiful little goblet-y glass cup. Suddenly, it broke in my hands, slicing my finger. embarrassed, i stuck my finger in the water, trying to decide how to tell them i'd broken their cup. when i finally let them know (blood spattering the sink) they came running to my aid, and the weirdest thing was I started to feel like i would faint. it was extremely unpleasant...all this business of fainting being romantic is hogwash, my friends. anyway, i had to lie down (que VERGONHA) and recover, i'm really not sure what happened because i didn't lose that much blood. After the fact it was all very funny.

the talent show that i've been preparing since I arrived in DD finally happened...without any support of the ward, because our ward mission leader had a tragedy in the family and wasn't able to help. it was somewhat of a disaster, starting an hour late and with a bunch of last-minute, unplanned acts, but i think some people enjoyed themselves. we all laughed a lot. the best part is, it's over! woooot! lesson learned: don't try to plan ward activities alone. especially when you're trying to be a missionary, too.

this Saturday, we finally baptized Josafá! he is such a great man, has been coming to church for several weeks now, and his family (wife and two kids) will soon follow him into the waters of baptism (hopefully this saturday). we are so happy. the baptism was PERFECT, with almost 40 people, a talk given by his neighber who referred him to the missionaries, a welcome from the bishop and quorem president, and even a choir of almost 10 people! Thank you, bishop Márcio! it was such a beautiful thing to see Josafá receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and be confirmed a member of the church on Sunday...watching from the piano bench (my usual function in whatever ward I go to) i couldn't keep a smile off my face.

This work is so true and so good. I am so grateful to be a missionary. I am growing more than I ever imagined...if I hadn't come on a mission...i don't even want to think how it would be. i needed this SO much.

Two little matters of business. First, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your letters!! They lift me and inspire me more than I can express! You've been using an address that's fine, but THIS is the real, official address that will maybe get your letters to me a bit faster:

Antônio C. Magalhaes 3247
Sala 402
Pituba - Salvador, BA
400275-000
BRAZIL

Second thing. If anyone wants to give me a Christmas present, I know just the thing. There is an extremely sad lack of safety pins and zip-lock bags here in Bahia, so if anyone wants to just stick a baggie or couple of safety pins in your envelope with your Christmas letter (nudge nudge :-) that would be so cool. Oh, the things we take for granted.

Also, and much more importantly, I would love to hear from you all your testimonies of your Savior, and what He means to you in your life. This is what Christmas is about, and your testimonies will truly strengthen mine...which in turn will strengthen the people I'm teaching.

I love you all and am so grateful for your support and love. Stay strong, always read your scriptures and pray, and if you're considering a mission....JUST DO IT. You won't regret it.

Com amor e carinho,
Sua missionária,
Sister Anne Petty

Pictures! Woohoo!

--my new district!! And my first! I`ve never worked with Elders in the same city before. It`s very neat to be part of a team like this. The redhead is Elder Thompson--we knew each other in the MTC in Sao Paulo.

--The donkey was checking out the goods...

--A group of my Catu peeps. YAY CATU

--Catu companions--Tiburcio and Santos

Ladybug, Crazy Week, Baptisms

9 minutes, GO!

HELLO WORLD! I'm so happy with my life! I have a companion that reminds me of a ladybug, I laugh a lot at how much soda and cake Brazilians drink (we're buying FIFTY liters of soda for a ward activity. Like 100 people. Is it just me, or is that a lot?), Sister Marciano and I worked our tails completely off last week, and this week we have someone power baptisms! It'll be a week of crazy, because I'm also trying to put on this ward talent show. Everything is on top of everything else (if my dad saw the week's schedule of ward activities, he would die), but we'll try to enjoy it and laugh instead of cry.

Church on Sunday was so neat. Friday, we talked with this great family about baptism on Sunday, to see if they were feeling ready. They weren't. They needed more time to study, wanted the whole family to be baptized together, wanted to feel more prepared, all that that everyone always says. Then on Sunday, the father of the family (Josafá) came up to us before Sacrament meeting. "Remember about baptism?" he asked. We remembered. "Well, I decided I don't need to wait for my family. You two can pick a day--I want to be baptized."
Missionary's dream. We both contained ourselves and told him, yes, we could help him with that, while inside we were jumping up and down yelling with joy.

Another power experience. A wonderful women we are preparing for baptism was hesitating because she wanted more of a rock-solid confirmation that this was the right path. We knelt with her, and invited her to pray and ask God right NOW for an answer about baptism this very week. We promised her that she would get that answer if she prayed with faith. She did, and I felt the Spirit more strongly than I can describe. Afterward she said, "yes, this is the way."


I LOVE THE MISSION.

Happy birthday to my dearest bro Taylor! Josafá's baptism will be tomorrow, on your birthday. How cool is that?

My mom wanted to know how I'm doing. Here are the questions she asked:

"You mentioned that it's raining all the time. Do you use an umbrella, or a poncho, or both? Is your hair all frizzy from the humidity and wetness all the time? Do you keep an extra pair of socks in your pocket so you can change out of the wet ones? What about rubber boots? Does it rain every day? Does it cool off at night? You mentioned cobblestone streets. Are they all that way, or are there a lot of dirt (mud) roads, too? Are they slippery when wet? What holidays are celebrated big there? Have you experienced any of them yet?

Do you fix all of your own food? How is that going? Do members ever feed you? Do you still have access to peanut butter? :-)"
Mom, I love you and love your questions! I will try to answer them next time!


LOVE YOU WORLD

To Be is Never Done

Hello, Northern Hemisphere!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jennifer Molnar!! I love you!

Lots and lots and lots of rain. 15 or 16 days of rain, nonstop. My
shoes will never dry. Ever.

Lots of beer encounters this week, haha--one thing I'm learning here
in Bahia is how to talk to drunk people (it's kind of like talking to
2-year-olds).

Thanks to a wonderful letter I received last week, I've been thinking
a lot lately about the concept of "To be," as in the talk by Lynn G.
Robbins in April of 2011. We are here in the earth to BECOME more like
Jesus Christ. To do this, we need to do the things he did. To do and
to be are very linked. One thing Elder Robbins says is that "To be is
never done." I love this. This life is a process, and my mission is
really helping me push along and refine myself and become more like
Christ.

This last week, in an attempt to get people to go to church on Sunday,
we focused a lot on the link between the Atonement of Jesus Christ an
the partaking of the Sacrament. "Do you think there's anything more
important than remembering the suffering of Christ for you?" I asked
several investigators. They said no. Then I said that going to church
was the best way for them to show this faith and love for the Savior.

Thanks to this week of thinking about the importance of the sacrament,
when I finally went to church on Sunday and partook of the sacrament
myself, it was very poignant and very special for me. I thought of the
torn flesh and spilled blood of Christ for me, and with bowed head
thought of His love for me and for all His children.

I invite everyone to take the sacrament seriously, because it is a
beautiful opportunity to remember Christ. It is the way He has asked
us to remember Him.

Another quick thought -- I am learning here more and more the
importance of fathers. We are teaching a wonderful family who's father
is completely involved, reading the scriptures diligently each day
(he's in JACOB), and motivating the rest of the family to do the same.
There are so many problems in the world due to lack of strong fathers
in the home. I have gained even more appreciation for my father, and
more motivation to marry a strong father who will set an example to my
sons--so they in turn will be strong fathers.

I love you all and I love the mission. I have 53 or so (I counted) bug
bites below my knees, and my feet are still wet, and I just want to
walk on a un-cobblestony street, and sometimes I have to talk to drunk
people, but I love this mission with all my heart and soul. I am truly
becoming what God wants me to become.

I have never regretted this choice, and never will. Thank you to all
who have supported me.

Much love,
Sister Petty

A New World

Oi oi! Bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite!! Falo isso provávelmente 100
vezes cada dia, talvez mais. Aqui in Bahia, pessoas não vão olhar para
você [strangely] se fala com tudo mundo. Eu amo isso, e vou sentir
falta quando eu voltar para casa.

I'm here, I'm happy, I'm talking to everyone!

TRANSFERRED. What a thing. There's really no way to understand what a
big deal a mission transfer is until you experience one.

Folks, change is a good thing. Here in my new area, Dias D'Ávila
(which I won't type again, it's a pain..."DD" from here on) I am
already growing and stretching. Desde the moment that I arrived, I
found that without my old companions to lean on, I'm taking what I
learned from them (which was a monte) and becoming that much better of
a missionary. I'm opening my mouth, talking to people on the bus, on
the street, in their houses...Brazilians of every type. Old, young,
men, women, sad, happy, sober, drunk, accepting, non-accepting. I'm
still awful with Brazilian names, and still get lost very easily
(thank you thank you Sis. Marciano for knowing DD), and I still trip
on the cobblestones at least twice a day, but I'm truly progressing.
Now, my biggest problem is that I need to let my new companion talk
sometimes, too. *grin*

CHANGES:

DD is flat. Catú had practically vertical hills.
DD has young women in the ward. A MONTE of them. Catu had only young
men. Weird...I'll have to adjust.
DD comp is quiet and organized and firm. Catu comps were wild,
unorganized, flexible. I will learn a lot here.

A bunch more changes, but I'm out of time. Snip of letter to pres:

I'm loving the city, loving the change, and loving my companion.
Because we both have the same amount of time in the mission, we're
both stretching and learning a lot. I'm finding myself leading much
more in the teaching, being more aware of the Spirit, and with more
energy to animate the ward. I had an idea my first day that has
blossomed into a reality -- we're gonna have a big two-ward talent
show here Dias D'Ávila on November 19th, and everyone's invited! The
ward mission leader is very excited about it, and we'll be encouraging
everyone to invite lots of friends to participate. It will be very
neat.

The Church is true, my friends, and the book is blue. Keep sending
letters, they keep me going. I'm sweating more than I ever have in my
LIFE, and walking too, and those letters make everything possible.

I love the Lord and I love the mission. Keep reading your scriptures every day.

Com amor,
Sister Petty