Olá Meus Amigos e Minha Família,
I never thought it would happen, but I was definitely jealous of English speaking missionaries in the US this week. Some things would definitely be easier if I could understand what people were saying and was able to respond fluently and if I have been experienced in the culture and the country my whole life. That being said, my português has improved so much! There's times when I can really understand 99% of what's being said. Most of the time, it's in between 40% and 80%. And with some people, it's about 10% or just a big old 0. My confidence with português is also increasing which is 100% a good thing because anyone who knows me knows I like to talk and I haven't been able to do a ton of that lately. Hahaha!
So here are some interesting things about São Paulo, Brasil:
-There's gates at every house, every building, everything. It's kind of like how stores in the mall pull down the gates when they close. You either ring a doorbell, clap, talk into a fancy whatever-it's-called, or just yell their name.
-Rain is definitely unpredictable and inconsistent. It was super cloudy the first 3 days here but never rained, then the 4th day it was super hot without a cloud in the sky. I replaced my umbrella with some sunscreen, and you can probably guess where this is going. It rained and stopped raining and rained again the whole day. Not doing that again! Haha!
-Lasagna here has ham instead of ground beef. Weeeird.
-Apparently you put the rice on top of the beans? I don't know. I got laughed at yesterday for doing it wrong, but I've definitely seen other Brasileiros put the feijão on top of the arroz. We'll just have to see.
-Speaking of rice and beans, it's literally at every meal, as well as chicken. Pasta and salad-- and chicken and rice and beans. Lasagna-- and rice and beans. Good thing I love them! They make rice so yummy here! Food's definitely not disappointing me!
I love being here, but the first couple of days were definitely a little hard. I had too much time to think to myself because I could understand 1/2 of the conversations, so I made a little whirlpool of self-pity in my head. I want to testify that God does answer our prayers-- when we need them and how we need them. Hope and faith are so important! We have such a small view and understanding. We get stuck in a dark time and can't see the other way out, but God is waiting there with the answer we need. We're like children crying about having to eat the piece of broccoli before we can get a piece of cake. These things are hard for us, but God knows more. He's not going to put us through things that aren't going to be for our benefit. We need to be challenged in order to grow and learn and become better. It's so important to have that hope that the learning and answers and growing up and the GOOD will come. It always come if we choose to continue and persevere through the trials. This hope and faith can make all the difference in our attitude and our happiness. I know that I'm going to learn português and I will love my mission and God will answer all my prayers and help me. Because of this hope, I love being here. I definitely didn't have this at the beginning of the week, but God blessed me with the answer and HOPE I needed.
Thanks guys. I love you all. I love hearing your responses!
Love,
Sister Hansen
