WHO HAS TWO THUMBS AND IS A REAL LIFE MISSIONARY!?

Me. The answer is me.

Wow. What a week. I hope I can adequetely fill all of you in on what happened in my little time to email, but here it goes.

So, start back at last week. Monday was our last day at the CTM (so sad. Tears and all) It was really hard to say goodbye to my district, and my cute companheiras who I absolutely adore. We really did become familia over the 6 weeks we were together. Really special experience the Sunday before we left though. We decided to do blessings for the field before we left, and the elders were so great. Elder Andrus gave me my blessing, and it was so incredible. He said exactly what I needed to hear. I can testify that Heavenly Father knows us, and that the power of the priesthood is real.

Tuesday - I got up at 3:30 am (yeah baby) and headed off for Teresina with another elder from my distrito, Elder Davis. I have four words for you - Teresina is SO HOT. Oh my goodness. It´s like a wave that hits you, the air is so thick. But hey, I´m not dead yet, so it must not be that hot...right?

Oh yes! I got my trainer! Her name is Sister Lucas! She is Brazilian, from Sao Paulo. She is so incredibly patient with me and my struggling Portuguese, and is so funny! She looks out for me a lot, which I am incredibly grateful for, because let´s be honest, I have no idea what I´m doing. Haha.

Thursday we had a looong bus ride to my first area - PARNAIBA! It is so incredibly beautiful here, and there are colored buildings lining the street (which I adore), and best part - this area is on the coast, so there´s lots of wind. So it´s not that hot! Woo hoo! Tender mercies from above!!

But overall, I am loving it here so far. The language is still muito difícil, mas eu sei que in time, it will come. Eu confio em Pai Celestial!

We walk lots every day, and meet with lots of people. Next week I will try to fill you in more on our pesquisadores.

Running out of time #missionprobs. Mas, eu amo Parnaiba e tudos pessoas aqui. Also, don´t forget to pray and read your scriptures! Serio. I have found so much peace in the Book of Mormon this past week, because this past week was really hard. But, the gospel is true!! And we can find happiness in the gospel no matter where we are or what we´re going through!

I love you all! Thank you for your many prayers! I feel the love and help even from half way across the world.

Sister Hill

1. O Templo <3

2.  Companheiras at the temple

3.  First day in Brazil...on two hours of sleep

She's Arrived in Teresina!

All Arived well.

We are happy.

Pres. e Sister Melo

Last week...and then I'm TERESINA BOUND!!!

This past week was muito bom! I can already tell my Portuguese has gotten so much better as I have been learning more. Obrigada por all of your prayers! I know they have helped me so much!!

So it´s officially our last week here in the CTM. Our district leaves for the field next Tuesday - AAHH. It´s crazy how the days seem sooo long, and we work so hard, yet at the end of the week it´s like we blinked and it was over. I´m really going to miss my district, and especially minha companeiras - we´ve gotten so close after just 5 weeks, and I´ve learned many different things from them that I couldn´t have learned any other way. I am 105% positive that Heavenly Father knows exactly where we´re supposed to be, and who we need to meet.

Just a couple highlights from this past week:

First off. The weather here is so crazy. Because it´s hot all the time, and pretty humid (yes, my hair is one giant frizzy poof. I´m in my prime). But then, 5 minutes later, it is literal down-pour, soaked to the bone wet! The other night, me and minha companeiras were in our room, and it was raining outside. And as we were having companionship oração, it thundered SO LOUD. I kid you not, I thought we were being bombed. It was funny afterwards, but still.

Biggest thing we did that we loved --> PROSELETISMO. They bussed all of us out to the biggest street in Sao Paulo, and after getting directions, we said a prayer and took off. It was a little difficult at first, and the hardest thing is just getting them to stop. Everybody´s got somewhere important to be. But after fwarming up a bit, we were able to reach out more. My favorite was we were standing at this corner, not having much luck, so Sister Kehr suggested that we cross the street. It sounded like a good plan, but that´s when I saw this lady walking towards us, and I just felt that we needed to talk to her. After I stopped her and got her attention, Sister Atkinson explained how o Livro de Mormon can bless her vida, and she had a lot of questions about it. But the best part was this hope in her eyes. Grateful for the Spirit as a missionary, because he knows what these people need to hear, and how they need to hear it.

I´m also so grateful for the temple. We went this morning (up at 5:30, bright and early) and it was my last time going for the next 17 months. Very bittersweet. But I love the peace that comes when we go to the temple. Like Heavenly Father is giving us a big ´welcome home´ hug. If you have questions, or just need to feel time stand still for a moment, go to the temple! There is a such a peace there, and it is a refuge from the crazy world we live in.

Next thing - at this point I´m starting to look so Brazilian. I am already getting so dark - and we´re rarely outside at all! When people would talk to us while we were proselyting, they would always look directly at me, as if I will understand them better because I´m Brazilian and not American... haha. Or today at the temple, when the ladies were asking what language. They turned to Sister Kehr and said, "Ingles?". And then for me, "Portuguese?" hahaha. I´m going to have the best tan lines when I get home.

One last amazing thing from last week. This past week, one of our instructors Irmã Andrade, has been pretty sick. She had 11 huge kidney stones, and was in so much pain. After she was teaching us one day, Elder Andrus suggested we go find someone to see if she wanted a blessing. We found another instructor, and he gave her a blessing in one of the classrooms. It was amazing to be there. The Spirit was so strong, and the love that was felt in that room was incredible. There´s something special about the prayers/testimonies of 8 missionaries all coming together. I´m so grateful for the priesthood.

But I really am loving Brazil. Next week I will be a real life missionary! Woo hoo! The language isn´t exactly great at this point, but I know that Heavenly Father will make up the rest. I just need to love and reach out to people.

Next stop --> TERESINA.

I love you all! Keep praying and working hard!

Sister Hill

Another week at the CTM has flown by. Crazy how in a few days I hit my 1 MONTH MARK. AAHH.

Starting from last P-Day real quick. Right after we finished emailing last week, we got to go explore the stores around the MTC which is SO COOL. Thank you CTM you´re the real mvp. 

First stop was Mr. Cheney´s cookies, and oh my starry eyed surprise they are amazing. We actually got one free because we were new (woot woot) and today we´re going to get cookie shakes. You could say I´m pretty stoked.

But it was so fun walking around in Sao Paulo. I am already in love with Brazil and it´s only been a month! Also, I´m a sucker for cool colored buildings, so seeing bright pink/yellow/neon blue buildings was making my day.

Oh yes a few highlights from the week:

- This past sunday, we performed a musical number! We did I´m Trying to be Like Jesus, with Sis. Atkinson on the piano, Sis. Kehr on the flute, and me singing with some other sisters. It sounded great - especially with only a day of practice and not knowing Portuguese super well.. haha. But it was great to bear a testimony through song, because I realized that I feel the spirit so strong through music.

- Another really important thing. FLORAL FRIDAY!!! Woo hoo. Be there or be square because it´s real and our entire district does it. Yup.

- Also, fast sunday was AWESOME. Fun fact - in Brazil, almoço is the biggest meal of the day. So we ate a huge lunch on Saturday, and then fasted dinner, breakfast, and ate lunch Domingo (sunday). It weirded out my body out just a tad haha, but it was a really good fasting experience.

Out of time for today, but eu amo o evangelho SO MUCH!! It´s so true! And I can tell you this. Heavenly Father knows where he needs you to be. Trust him! 

Love,

Sister Hill

Hello all!

Happy new year!

We´ve arrived in BRAZIL! It feels unreal to be here - every time we pass a window, I´m surprised because I´m still expecting snow! Hahaha. Going from a white Christmas and snow to muggy heat and sweating a lot? Um. 3/10, would probably not recommend.

It was so hard saying goodbye to some of our district in Provo. Out of the 13 pessoas em Provo, 8 of us got our visas. It´s crazy how attached you can get to people in just 2 weeks. That was definitely one of the hardest things about saying goodbye to Provo. Also saying goodbye to our incredible teachers who we love so much!! Irmão Machado, Irmã Beck, Irmão Mason - they were all so patient with us, and I am forever grateful. The other thing was THE MOUNTAINS. Appreciate them when you see them people. Give em a wave for me if you feel so inclined. 

The first day or so here was brutal. Our whole district was dying because they didn´t give us a day to catch up on sleep or anything, so we were just doing our best to stay awake, look alive, and act like we understood any Portuguese at all. Transitioning here has been tough. Showering with bugs isn´t exactly ideal, and being welcomed outside with a wave of blazing heat? not my fav. And yet I can say that I´ve never been happier!

The Brazilians are incredible and I love them already! They are so friendly and hug you every time they see you! They go, "Seester Heel! Voce falar Portuguese!?" and after I say no, I don´t speak very well, they go, "Okay. Eu ensinar você Portuguese, e you teach me Ingles, okay!?" hahaha so funny (: It rains here a lot, and absolutely pours at least once per day.

We just got back from the sao paulo temple this morning, and it was an incredible experience. If you haven´t been lately, please go! Heavenly Father would love to catch up with you (:

I´m out of time to email, so hopefully I can add more next week, but I love you all! Thank you thank you thank you for the prayers and support! WE CAN FEEL THEM! And I know that that´s what is carrying me through learning Portuguese right now.

Love, Sister Hill

P.S. Biggest con of the ctm - you can´t send pictures :( :( So in about a month or so, I´ll send some out woot woot