What a whirlwind of a week it has been!!
Tuesday I flew to Atlanta and met up with 11 other missionaries where we all flew to Brazil together which was a huge comfort! The flight was SO long, but landing was pretty cool....and scary! It definitely takes getting used to living in another country, which has its ups and downs. The MTC (or CTM here) has been pretty sweet so far! The cafeteria food is pretty good, except we have the same thing every.single.day. But that's okay! Rice and beans are a staple for sure. My companion is Sister Vaenuku! She flew straight from Tonga where she is from.....and Tongan people are amazing!! She is so friendly and loving and we get along really well!! We are in a district with 2 companionships of Elders who I flew over here with. The other 2 Elder companionships and one other Sister American companionship are in another district and we all stick together which is great! There are about 25 other Americans here which has been such a relief to talk to in english haha! Although all the Brazilians are ridiculously fun and super sweet! In our dormitory are Sis Vaenuku and I, the 2 other American sisters one from Utah and one from nor cal that we are really close with and then a Brazilian companionship of Sister Fernandes and Sister Diaz- THE absolute sweetest and cutest things! Also, we have a trio companionship of American sisters down the hallway and they really helped us adjust the first few days and have been great friends! Almost all the Brazilians we come in contact with are so understanding of the language barrier and try to teach us new words which is super helpful and they also want to learn English as well! Every broken conversation we have is such a treat (they mostly happen in the cafeteria or bathroom and that's where we have the most laughs with them haha)! Surprisingly, not too many bugs yet and even more surprisingly I have only been bitten twice! Legal! (cool in Portuguese!)
Missionary work is definitely hard work, but so rewarding, just like the gospel of Jesus Christ! We watched a devotion by Elder Holland from a few years back to the Provo MTC and he really emphasized the importance of missionary work and that it is not to be taken lightly. All of us as disciples of Christ are to follow the direct path of the Savior, which He did not so easy a path, from being scorned and mocked and bearing the Cross alone, we too will have trials and hardships, but we will never experience aloneness because Christ is always with us!
We are in our district classroom basically from 7 30 am to 8 30 pm every day except Sundays and Wednesdays (P days) but we have already learned a lot more Portuguese than we knew one week ago haha! We have already started teaching our 2 investigators (our two teachers Sister Gabriela and Brother Louza pretend to be our investigators) with the little Portuguese we know (it is a super small amount). They are fun and very instructive! Fun fact! Most Brazilians I am finding learn English through American YouTube videos, movies, and TV shows they watch in English or from American companions, so basically self taught! Super cool!
On Friday we watched and had a count down to turn on the Christmas lights in the MTC but it was raining so we watched from inside haha. It has rained every other day so far, except today was pretty warm! We are not allowed to take pictures except for Pdays but cannot upload them while at the MTC so I will send them all when I get out in the field in 5 weeks! Some instructors have emailed a few photos so I will send those! We do a session at the temple on wed mornings for pday so that is why we write on Tuesdays. My district is going to the Sao Paulo temple tomorrow so I am super excited!!
I am so excited for this opportunity to serve the people here in Brazil and am so grateful for all the love and support of my family and friends!!
Love to all!
Sister Giles
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