Oh, my family, my family! I love you so! I miss you so! :)
Brazil is WONDERFUL!!! :) I love Brazil and especially the people of Brazil. I feel so incredibly blessed! Companion? Awesome. The food? Awesome. My ward? AWESOME. Portuese? Umm.... ha.... :) Portuguese is hands-down, the HARDEST THING OF MY VIDAAAA!!! Oh. My. Lanta. This is hard. This has been the hardest week ever. I made a switch from two VERY different missions, and it goes far beyond switching from feeding pigeons bagels to feeding monkeys bananas. :)
I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is I can speak WAY more Spanish than I thought I could! Bad news is....ha... whenever I try to speak Portuguese, Spanish comes out. Ha ha! There has been some really awkward church-inviting going on down here... :) The amount of Portuguese I can speak is embarrassingly non-existent. The words feel funny on my lips (and in my nose, because you speak Portuguese through your nose a lot. Heaven help me.) It's so incredibly frustrating to not understand what is going on. I have no idea where we are going or what we are doing. Todo dia. Todos es dias. (All day. Every day.) I just smile and nod a lot. :) I can actually understand a surprising amount, but I can't say diddly-squat. It's so hard to accept that I sound like a tiny, insignificant baby and will for some time. It is so humbling, I can't even tell you. Also, it is very humbling to be going through training. Again. I think Heavenly Father knows I need a lot of help! :)
Thankfully, I have been sent an angel of a companion. I LOVE SISTER BENEDICT SO MUCH!!! Oh, I love her. She is from Idaho, but I swear the girl is Brazilian. It's in her blood! She only speaks to me in Portuguese and ignores me when I speak English. Sometimes it makes me really want to tackle her to the ground and give her a doozie of a nuggie, but then I remember I will learn Portuguese so much faster and that she is only doing it because she loves me and wants me to do well and then I just want to hug her so hard. She is so patient and kind, and she just takes care of me. I love her so, and appreciate her so much. She probably has no idea because I've just been blankly staring at her and crying and rambling in Spanishguese. Pray for her... ;)
Fun facts:
- Sister Benedict and I live with two other Brazilian Sisters whom I ADORE. I love them. They decorated the casa and gave me cake on my first day! I love them. Sister Martins and Sister Soneski. I have NO CLUE what they are saying to me, but I love them anywhoo and they are so nice. They always want me to sing to them. Fofu! :)
- My Brazilian Sisters are incredible cooks! So far I have eaten a lot of beans, rice, meat, pancakes?, pasta, and juice. So good. Also, they put corn in EVERYTHING. Everything....
- My ward is incredible. I play piano in our ward and everyone is so sweet to me. I got kissed like a million times yesterday and apparently pinching people on the bum is okay here. That was shocker. :)
- The people are SO different than New Yorkers. Good gravy, they are different! :) Everyone moves slowly, taking their time. And they are so open to us! They come up to US and talk to US about the gospel. Another shocker.
- I have been viciously consumed by bugs. Pretty sure I will have the scars to prove it when I come home... if there is anything left of me.... :)
- We had an awesome lesson with a lady named Roberta. We met her for the first time and she immediately invited us into her home. (I am NOT in NYC anymore...) Sister Benedict gave a beautiful lesson, Roberta was so receptive, and I think (and hope) I said something about the Book of Mormon being true and prayer being really good. Huzzah. :) Anywhoo, she has a baptismal date for sometime in September! GAH! Eu estou animada!!! :)
- Our shower has one option: on. :) Everyday I just remember how Micail said she'd pray before jumping into the freezing cold water. That helps. Thanks, Tel. Eu Amo Agua Fria!!!! :)
- The other day I was crying in the bathroom, and Sister Benedict brought me dinner, because she's nice. When she handed it to me, she said something about cachorro quente, which means hot dog, but all I understood was cachorro. My heart sank. I looked at it with horror, as I thought I was about to eat dog. I then took a second glance inside the bun and realized my misunderstanding. We laughed so hard. Soooo glad I didn't have to eat dog in my moment of despair... :)
- PRAYER IS REAL. I have access at all times to someone who knows all, sees all, understands me perfectly, and loves me perfectly. And that gives me great comfort. I know prayer is real.
Well, I must be off! To... I don't know where next. :) But, I will do my best! I will try my hardest, and keep on going. Thank you for your prayers. I feel them.
I love you. I love you. I love you. Thank you for everything!
All my love and some corn,
Sister Mann
P.S. This is my address. The rules: send flat rate boxes, never get the insurance, and no electronics.
Sister Amelia Mann
Av Antonio Carlos Magalhães nº3247
Ed. Empresarial Delta, Sala 402
Pituba, Salvador - Bahia - Brasil
CEP: 41830-355
Bonus email from her mission presidents:
Dear Mann Family,
We are so excited to have your beautiful daughter, Sister Mann serving with us here in the Salvador Mission. She arrived on Wednesday, August 7 and we can report that she had a big smile on her face when we picked her up at the airport. We're so glad that she finally received her visa to be able to come to Brazil! We will do our best to take care of her physical and spiritaul needs while she is in our mission. We thought that you would enjoy seeing a few pictures of her on the day she arrived. Thank you for sending such a wonderfully prepared sister missionary to us!
With much gratitude,
President and Sister Hart
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