Elder Joseph Sant: Week 44

Olá gente! Tudo Bem com vocês?!

What a week! I am finally here in Brazil and it is crazy! So much going on! To start off, I sadly left Kansas. It was sad, and I still miss people from there but I am happy to be here.

I left from the Wichita Airport in the early afternoon on Thursday and went to Dallas. In the Dallas airport I almost missed my flight, but I made it in time to get on the plane! And on the plane I made some friends with some Brazilians and I got to practice my Portuguese! It was great and they were super nice! One of them, Walter, wanted me to sit in his seat for landing because he has seen São Paulo a million times but I never have! He was so nice and helped with a lot! And in Sau Paulo someone that worked for the airport helped me get through customs and to security for my flight and I waited in the São Paulo Airport all morning and into the afternoon and I then caught my plane to Fortaleza! That was great and long too. And then from Fortaleza I had about a 10 minute layover and then went to Belém! It was great to be there, I was the only missionary in all of the airports the whole time!

I had a welcoming party and I got to meet my companion, who has been in the field for a week! I am his first companion, which means I am supposed to help him get used to life as a missionary and help him become a better missionary. So I am training a new missionary, and it is great! And neither one of us have served in the area that we are working in which makes it a little harder! I don't know why my president has me, someone who barely speaks Portuguese, train a Brazilian, but I do know that the gift of tongues is real! In two days I have gotten to where I understand probably 50-60% of the portuguese I hear! Sure I am still missing a lot, but it has only been two days! I am so grateful that the Lord is blessing my efforts and helping me to understand what is going on. I can also get across to others what I am thinking, which is huge and I am so grateful for the many miracles I have already seen here!

So my son, my companion, is Elder Ossovski, and he is from Curitiba. He is awesome, and he speaks a little English, and he has helped me learn a lot of Portuguese in the last few days. He is also very patient with my constant questions about the language or for him to explain things in a simpler way! He is amazing and I am so grateful to be with him.

Yesterday I got to spend the day with my mission president and His wife, and it was amazing! There house is one of the few with AC and it is so nice to be in there. It was my second time being in AC while in Belém! And Belém is right near the equator, so it gets super hot as you can imagine. The first day I was sweating 24/7, but luckily I got used to it fast and I only sweat when I am in the sun now, which is still often. Anyways, the training was great, and there was another American Elder there that is fluent in Portuguese and he helped me to understand things yesterday.

In a little summary, I love it here. Brazil is wonderful! The culture is a little different but I love. I thought I would get pretty homesick, and I was a little surprised at first, but besides the language I feel like I have adjusted really well! That may change but I love it here and their culture!

Also, the work is going so fast here! The members here feed us every day and they are wonderful! And almost everyone you talk to wants to hear our message and why I came here to share it! It reminds me of a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 3:3(for my friends that don't know, it is modern revelation to some of our modern prophets that God has called, if you have more questions feel free to ask me). It says "remember that it is not the work God that is frustrated but the work of men." I may have shared this already, but the work of God can truly never be frustrated. Not by a pandemic or by a gringo in Brazil. God will magnify the efforts of his servants and will help them to accomplish His work. I also have seen the scripture in Ether 12:27 come to life this week as God has started to turn one of my greatest weaknesses into one of my strengths. I would not call Portuguese my strength, but it will be as I let Gpd prevail in my life. And it will be the same for all of you as you let God prevail in your life.

Alrighty, I am out of time, so it is time for pictures!