Estou Aqui!

Dearest friends and family,

I´m here! In the field! Let´s do a quick recap:

The last week in the CTM was craziness on a stick--we were rushing around trying to cram as much portuguese into our brains as we could (didnt help much, as I´ve come to find out). But it was a great week, probably the best I´ve had at the CTM.

We left Tuesday April 21 and flew to Recife, where we were met at the airport by President Emerick (who is Brasilian, don´t let the name fool you). We had an amazing lunch at his apartment, had the rules explained to us by the AP´s, spent the night in the Temple housing, and the next day we went to our transfer meeting, were assigned our companions, and we were off!

My companion is Sis Jacobs (also Brasilian, don´t let the name fool you... again). She is AMAZING. If I can be like her when my mission is done, i´ll be successful. She´s from Cuiaba and thus always thinks it´s cold here. She graduated in Civil Engineering and is scared to death of frogs. I already adore her. Once the language barrier is crossed I think we´ll be even better friends. But she´s showing me how to work hard, but also how to do it in a totally non-stressful way.

I´m in a little town called Caruaru, which is a two hour drive from Recife. Google it. It has a lot of hills, but that´s great because I´m getting a good workout!

The language is coming along..... I feel like I´ve gone backwards. I don´t feel like I speak as well as I used to and I have to struggle to understand anything anyone is saying. Of course, people here have a totally different accent, so that´s part of it. But I also know that I can and WILL learn this language, I´ll OWN it. I just have to be patient. So I haven´t been frustrated or anything, but constantly striving to be better everyday. I can tell I´ve made some progress, but I know I won´t be anywhere near comfortable speaking and listening until the end of my second transfer or something, which about 3 months from now. So I just follow Sis Jacobs around and nod and smile and pretend I know what´s going on and bear my testimony and teach small little parts. But tudo bem!

I always feel like I have some kind of bug on me, but I guess I´ll get used to that. I also haven´t blowdried or straightened my hair for about a week. Combine that with wearing my hair up in a clip 24/7 and the result is a hair-don´t. Also, between sweating under the tropical sun and being drenched in sporatic rainstorms, any attempt to wear make-up has been proven utterly futile. Oh well, I´m not supposed to look that attractive, right? ;)

Living in Jordan prepped me somewhat for being here: aka dirty streets, and throwing away used TP in the trash. But it´s cleaner here than Jordan, and there aren´t any stupid goats or donkeys keeping us up all night. Instead, people like to blast their samba music or horrible rap music (and i mean horrible! Like, think of the worst rap you´ve ever heard and now put it in Portuguese) at 5:30 am or 11:30 pm. But I´m so exhausted at the end of the day that I´ve started just sleeping through it.

It´s crazy, the sun comes up at like 5 am here, and sets around 6.

It´s crazy the humble circumstances people live in here. We´re taking small, one bedroom houses built out of brick that wouild fit in our living room, easily, and 6 peple live there. And yet they´re still better off than a lot of other people, like the ones that live in the favelas in São Paulo or Rio. Que louco! It makes you realize how lucky you really are. But the funny thing is, despite the poor houses, EVERYONE has a TV and DVD player and a stereo system, and 90% of the cars guys drive around have a ridículo pimped out stereo system in the back. They like to park their cars and BLAST music.

We´re teaching some wonderful people. There are three sisters, Mercia, Mônica and Monique, that are all preparing for baptism. Mercia is SUPER excited, but the other two are faltering because they don´t feel like they know enough. They´re letting fear rob them off their faith. We´ve been praying extra hard for them. We´re also teaching this lovely little family that´s friends with one of the members, Luciana and Ronaldo. Unfortunately, even though they really like the message, Luciana is still not officially divorced from her ex-husband, and divorces take FOREVER here and are ridiculously expensive. So even though she hasnt been with him for years and has two kids with Ronaldo, they can´t be baptised until they´re married, which they can´t do until she´s divorced. We´re also teaching Janailson, a teenage guy about 16 or 17. He came to church with us yesterday and really liked it! He really likes what we´re teaching, but he still needs to pray about Joseph Smith. That´s the biggest barrier, is people not praying to know, through the Holy Ghost, that Joseph Smith was a prophet.

I love being here. Even with the bugs and heat and "stomach" problems and feeling dirty and tired, I love it. I love it because I can see the happiness people have from hearing the gospel. I´m happy because I´m serving the Lord. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. I´ve found myself thinking about home a lot this week and wondering if being here really is worth it, if I really can do it? But I know that´s just Satan trying to discourage me. I feel so at peace right now, with myself and with God, because I know I´m where I need to be.

I´m glad to hear all is well with everyone. Congrats on everyone finishing finals!!!!! On to bigger and better things, eh? Please keep me updated, I like hearing about what you all are doing =]

Abraços e beijinhos,

~Sis Wilkinson