First letter from BRAZIL

Dear Family,

I’m finally here in Brazil serving in the Bacacheri ward within the city. Everything is definitely different than Estados Unidos. J I had 3 companhieras my first week - Sister Gomez (my trainer) is 22 and she is a native Brazilian from Espirito Santo. Sister Eulogio is 27, she’s from Peru (we have tons of Latinos, quite a few Brasillieros and a few Americans in the mission. I think there are probably like 4 American sisters?) Laura or Corwin if you know the ward Residencial or the Stake El Olivar, that is where she is from in Lima. And then Sister Villavicencio is 25 and she is from Bolivia, but she got transferred to a different area today so I only had her for one week. None of them speak English so that has made life exciting. We have to play charades sometimes but thankfully for the most part we can understand each other: Definitely a tender mercy.

This mission is supposed to be one of the higher baptizing missions in the world which is super exciting, but this area has struggled a lot. They haven´t had a single baptism since it opened up earlier this year. It is a wealthier part of Curitiba (I think.. most of what I say is based on what I think my companions are saying but obviously it is all in Portuguese so who knows. ha-ha). So that’s kind of hard, but I’m excited because it just means an even greater challenge! They do things a lot different here in the way they teach and proselyte - for ex, in SC I would do tons of lessons and work with members and LAs a lot, but here they just knock, knock, knock ( and when I say knock I mean clap, because people don’t knock here.) We´re supposed to knock 80 doors/day. Last Saturday we knocked over 100 doors! We walk probably 7-10 miles/day. (At least I can lose all the weight I gained in the South!) and so my feet are calloused and I am sunburnt and I’m sick, but it seems like most good things are hard at first.

I think I lost all fear of speaking when I was in SC so I try to talk to pretty much everyone and it’s kinda funny because most people can’t understand me and immediately say “Oh Americana” and try to speak English to me which is also funny. And it seems like everyone loves Americans. I think Curitibans really don’t look different than Americans. Plenty of them have fairer skin and blonder hair than I do so they can’t tell I’m American until I talk and then it is a dead giveaway; J But I figure there is no better way to learn than to just start trying! It’s frustrating sometimes because it’s hard to express what I want to but I’m actually grateful I don’t have anyone to speak English with because it forces me to learn faster. And writing right now is difficult. I think I’m already forgetting some of my EnglishJ.

President called Sister Gomez this week and told her he needs me to learn Portuguese really fast. I don´t know why, but every 6 weeks has been something crazy since I started my mission so I’ve learned not to question anything and accept that often the Lord has more faith in us than we have in ourselves so we just have to trust him! 

My first day here was freezing cold and pouring rain and I was literally shaking when we finally got home, and my 2 min freezing cold shower was one of the most miserable moments I think of my life, but now it’s really hot which I definitely prefer and I just try to get enough water because the water here is pretty gross. I drink a lot of hot cocoa because everyone here just has coffee and soda and I don’t drink coffee for obvious reasons and I’m not a huge fan of soda but I’m learning to like it more. Oh and it’s funny that for the first time in my life people call me tall. ha-ha

Sacrament meeting was really cool for me. I loved seeing how everything is so much the same even tho this part of the world is SO different! The only thing that kind of made me chuckle is when we sang “Brightly Beams” for the Sacrament Hymn :)

I really think the 2 coolest things for me are 1: You REALLY have to rely on the Lord. It is amazing how there are times when I don’t understand a thing, but when I need to I can understand almost everything. So He is definitely guiding me and it has been humbling but wonderful to learn how to rely more on the spirit. 2: I love how similar things are. People have the exact same problems and concerns here as they do there and it is amazing how even though I can’t understand a lot of these people, I still just love them so much!

The gospel is true wherever you are! Love yall lots!

Com Amor, Sister Lewis