Então... So... I think Dad was inspired... lol. Yeah, I was transferred. As I thought. But it was strange because I thought of all the places I could be transferred (aka had Sisters or are opening for Sisters) which is another area here in Campo Grande, in Cuiabá, or a new area right now for Sisters, Dourados. So, I thought of at least one good thing about being transferred to each one of those places (and something good about staying too) so that whatever happened, I´d be excited.
And then transfers came...
And it wasn´t any of the places I´d heard of...
And I was like ´What?? Where am I going?´ (except I said it in Portuguese, lol)
So guess what, I´m opening a new area for Sisters! And I´m training!
Wow!!!!!! And I´m super excited!!!!!!
And a bit nervous too... but all the Elders say that it´s an awesome area and that I´ll love it so much!
So, a little more information for you all. First, as you know I´m in the South right now. Matto Grosso do Sul. And I´m going to take the bus for about 12 hours up to Cuiabá (in Matto Grosso) where I´ll pick up my new greenie (Sister Silva) and we´ll get on another bus and head up north for about another 6 hours to arrive in.... Lucas do Rio Verde.
So, as for what I hear about Lucas do Rio Verde (translated it´s something like Lucas from the Green River) I hear that it´s linda! Very beautiful! It´s a city that has a big river running right through it. And as for the church there, they have a branch right now. How cool! I´ll get to work in a branch. One thing that is really cool here is that the majority of people here the first in their family to join the church. I´ve learned so much about what it must´ve been like for the early pioneers in the first days of the church. And I feel like I´m going to learn even more. I´m excited to be able to work in the city. And guess what? It´s just going to be me and my companion for now until more Sisters arrive, so we have the whole city to ourselves. Or at least that´s what I hear. So... it´ll be an adventure. And a lot of work. And a lot of fun. And really rewarding. And I pretty much described the mission right there. But that´s about it about it in regards to the area. I´ll let you know more when I get there. I´ll be leaving tonight and pulling in at about 10 pm tomorrow night to my new area. Wish me luck!
And as for this week, as the photos will show, we had a baptism! It was so neat to see how Eliene changed. When we met her she was really depressed and discouraged. And she´d already lived with members in São Paulo, she just wasn´t ready to attend yet. And then she got a divorce and moved here and was wandering around the city one day, super sad about her life, and she found herself in front of our church building. Talk about modern miracles. I was just so happy I had the blessing to take part in her conversion and see how the gospel really does bring peace and happiness in someone´s life. Wow. It really happens because it´s really the fullness of truth.
We also had a P-day with all the sisters here in the South (Matto Grosso do Sul). So that´s a photo of all the sisters in the mission except for three in the north (and a curto-prazo; short-term). Yep. But two more arrived this transfer. There were supposed to be 9 arriving, but I hear there have been a lot of problems with the visas. It´s all politics. I heard that President Obama promised free-travel for Brazilians, but didn´t follow through and now the Brazilians are shutting everyone out until he backs up his promise. That´s just what I heard. That´s what the common Brazilian is saying, so idk if it´s true or if it´s just propaganda. You´ll probably know better than I do.
Oh, and I´ve been walking a lot, so I bought the shoes for the rain, but I think I´ll have to buy some more just as the soles in mine are starting to get pretty thin.
///
Bem-vindo á Lucas!!!! Haha! Well, yep, I´m here in Lucas do Rio Verde. And as all the Elders say, it really is like I´m in the middle of nowhere. The middle of a well-sized small city (if that makes sense), but in the middle of nowhere. But it´s really cool here...
First off, this city is really new. It´s only like 20 years old, which for a city, is really new. So all the buildings and roads and stuff are really planned out well and the main areas have that new-and-glistening look, lol. The river runs right through the city, so there´s a lot of water, lakes, and a whole lot of green. It really is pretty here. I really have to take some photos. The city has one interesting thing though, about half of the people here work in the Sedia. It´s a factory that makes microwaveable foods. So there´s a whole neighborhood here with tons of people in cookie-cutter houses with at least one, (but usually more) person who works in the factory. It´s quite interesting. So people are recruited from all over to work here for minimum wage. For some people it doesn´t cut it and they move back home after a couple of months, but others use this to really give them that boost to improve their lives. Then they start a different job that pays more and they move out of the Tesseli (the Sedia bairro). So it´s been really interesting here learning about all of this and seeing what it must have been like in the Industry age of the US when whole cities worked for the main factory. It´s really interesting.
And as for the ward... I mean the branch... It´s just like the pioneers... lol. The church here is really new. They organized a branch here 4 years ago. That´s really not that much time. And we meet here in a re-modeled house. And the number of members here has really varied (as people move in because of the Sedia, and move out because of the Sedia - all within a couple of months). But this week we clocked in at 65 members! And next week our Relief Society President said to expect 80. So we really have to grow just a little bit more and stay constant in order for the church to buy land and build a chapel here. The members are really excited for the future of this little branch. It´s hard here though as there are a LOT of Catholics in the area. Catholics who actually practice their religion. Which is basically the majority of the richer people here. So it´s one of the challenges here - to find people who are willing to accept the restored gospel. But everything will turn out great. I feel like we´re going to have some great success here.
Well, I think that´s mostly it about the city. My companion is from São Paulo, just like my last one, but more in the suburbs. She´s really excited for the work here.
Sister Grimes
0 comments:
Post a Comment