Ok listen up kiddos - you know what happens when you get up
and bear your testimony in Portugues?
YOU GET ASKED TO GIVE A TALK. ALSO IN PORTUGUES.
So we are sitting at this member's home and Jonathan (OF COURSE
his name was Jonathan) goes Sister! Your Portgues is really good! And then he
kind of just mumbles and rapid fires something else and I just look at Jessie
his sister (who is soon to marry a guy from Idaho) go ahhh Obrigada (thanks). But then later on I am sitting there and he
just mentions something about the following sunday with a raised inflection in
his voice so I KNOW something is up and I stop and go wait what? Yep amigos -
foi um discurso (To give a speech or talk). Ok
giving a talk in Sacrament was literally the most surreal experience in the
world. My first couple of weeks in the CTM I stressed so much about every word
that I was saying for our lessons, writing everything down word-for-word (BAD
IDEA btw) but for Sacrament, I wanted to just be able to be myself and not be
intimidated by the language. So I am up there with only a couple scattered
bullet points and solid scriptures, definitely butchering the grammar and
pronunciations. But instead of focusing on that, I just focused on the
people in the congregation and with every pause or questioning word I kid you
not - I would see like 30 encouraging smiles and nodding heads, everyone
whispering 'jeso’ (I didn't find a definition other than it means affirmation)!!' when I was
trying to describe the casts that my mom had to wear after her skiing accident,
everyone was just SO KIND. :')
After, I had this family come up that was from Utah but the
wife was from Brasil, traveling around to Malaysia, Australia, Japan and they
were trying to speak Portugues to me but in the end they just go okay let's
just speak Ingles right. BUT IT WAS THE STRANGEST THING - it was like my tongue
forgot how to speak english. Like I am still thinking and writing my journal in
ingles and the occasional words here and there when I don't know - but never
actual sentences. I also realized that Brasileiros have a different way of
expressing themselves that is COMPLETELY different than americanos and while I
was speaking, I was unable to balance the two and often reverted back to the
Portugues palavras (words) that have been my
staple expressions the past few weeks. It's been barely 2 months (WHAT?), I
already can't imagine after a year and a half.
I am seriously losing the
ability to speak any language fluently at all.
Oh my goodness though - this week we taught an ACTUAL FAMILY.
We contacted this 14 year old kid in the street one night and had the
opportunity to teach Eliberto, and his three younger siblings who were 12, 9,
and 7 while their mother was in the kitchen in the other room making coco
brigadeiro (Brazilian fudge balls). Woah. Having
those little children gathered around your feet on the floor, living in just
the most humble and simple of shacks that had little loving, homemade touches
to make it a home - teaching about baptism and Cristo... There's never been um
outro (another) experience I can compare it to in
the world. All the people here already have such a faith and love of Jesus
Christ - like EVERYONE, it's amazing. I have been really touched by the people
in a way I can't describe - the members, people recently baptized that I never
even had the opportunity to teach but have been blessed to know, the people in
the streets, everyone.
This place is just so beautiful in so many ways.
(She sent some pictures, but no context or information on the people)
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| These are her 2 Brazilian companions |
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| I think this is the worlds largest cashew tree |
