Week 1- Guará 1

Querida família,

Bom dia! So week 1 in Guará I was pretty good. It´s kind of nice because I already have an idea of where everything is having had to come here to take out money from the bank every two weeks and having spent a day here with the elders. The city is pretty small so it´s easy to walk everyday. Even if our appointments don´t work out as effectively as we would like, it doesn´t take too much effort to go there and then head in another direction afterwards. The worst part about the city is that it´s more expensive than Guará II! I don´t know how that´s possible because they are practically the same city, but things are definitely more expensive. 

Church yesterday was good. The ward is really great and willing to help out which will be nice. I ran into all of the members from Guará II during church which made me happy :) They were all kidding around that I abandoned them haha. The funniest part was when primary got out. All the kids came running up to me yelling "Sister Kerr! Sister Kerr!" and gave me hugs. Seriously, I don´t think I ever heard one kid say my name when I was actually part of the ward haha. All of a sudden they remember my name and I became their best friend! 

Sister P. Gonçalves and I have already seen some miracles. A recent convert named Delmar has been trying for a couple of months to get his wife to talk with the missionaries but she hasn´t been interested. We managed to meet her on Saturday and spent 2 hours talking with them just getting to know them and whatnot. She is super awesome! Elder Sowards, who was the elder here and is now our district leader, was really happy when we told him. We also have a family home evening marked with another investigator, Raimunda, who wasn´t too fond of the elders haha. 

I feel like a new person in Guará I. I had a hard time breaking out of my shell in Guará II because it was my first area. I have a clean slate here and am starting out on a good foot :) 

Oh yeah, I think the absolute worst thing about Guará I is the fact that my apartment is next to a gym. Every morning and night I have to look out my window and see people working out. I am so jealous!! And they play a lot of American music so it has kind of been distracting my studies because I start singing along without realizing haha.

Anyway, sorry for writing a novel! Hope everyone is doing well!!

Love, 

Sister Kerr

New Area!

Oi family! Tudo bem?

So I finally have a new area: Guará I. Yes, that name is almost the same as my old area. Even though Guará I has had elders for a good amount of time it opened up to sisters again haha. I wanted to go super far like Formosa or Tocantins but I literally live 10 minutes by bus from my old house. I will still have church in the same chapel every Sunday! My new companion is Sister P. Gonçalves; she was in Aguas Claras. I had high hopes that I would go to Lago Norte and be companions with Sister Munger but I am looking forward to be companions with Sister P. Gonçalves (there is a Sister Gonçalves already which is why she has her initial P as part of her name). She is from Rio Grande do Sul.

I am very, very thankful for the transfer that I had with Sister Muniz. We both learned so much together and my testimony was strengthened everyday. Even though I have 7 months in the mission, I think I am finally starting to actually become a missionary. I didn´t love the mission until last transfer. It was definitely a pivotal transfer for me. 

I was bummed to leave Guará II because we finally have 3 baptismal dates marked. We went the whole transfer without any and now we have 3 and I was transferred! haha. I guess that´s how life works. Something funny from last week happened with our investigator, Ely. On Monday night we ate dinner in his house after the lesson. After dinner I started to wash the dishes like I always do. He was shocked that an American was washing dishes in his house haha. On Saturday we went there but it was his nephew´s birthday so there were a ton of people. He kept telling everybody, "This is the American who washed dishes in my house! I had the privilege of having an American wash dishes here" haha. 

I have a ton of other things to tell but I don´t want to write a novel. I think I am officially serving in the Mission Brasil Brasília Guara. But we will see what the transfer brings :)

Love you all and hope you´re doing well!!

Sister Kerr

My new companion 

7 Months!

Hi family!

Sorry my email is a little late this week. We had a zone activity this morning and didn´t get back to Guará II until 3 pm. Anyway, this week I am going to have 7 months in the mission. Can you believe it?! Yesterday was Sister Muniz´s 4 month mark. 

This past week was really great. I went on exchange with Sister Moraes in Lago Norte which means I got to see Sister Munger because she is serving there, too, and I got to work out in the fitness center! Woo hoo!! I woke up at 5:45am to be in the gym at 6am when it opened. It felt so good to work out! The time with Sister Moraes was helpful and I learned a lot with her. At night, Sister Munger, Sister Carlomagno and I made s´mores :) 

Yesterday, I gave my first talk in a sacrament meeting here in Brasil. It was about missionary work (go figure) and it was supposed to be 7-10 minutes. When I got the assignment last week I thought, "How am I going to manage to talk for even 7 minutes in Portuguese?" But I ended up having a ton more to say than I thought I would. I talked for 10 minutes and everything went well. The first minute I was nervous but after that I felt comfortable.

Everyone in Guará II jokes that I am a member in the ward now because I have been there so long haha. We have transfers next week so we´ll see what happens. This also means my email will probably be a little later in the day. I think I will be transferred but who knows. Last transfer I really wanted to be transferred but this transfer I would be ok staying here one more. At the end of the day I know it doesn´t matter what I want haha. I´ll go wherever I am needed. I am going to take advantage of this last week with Sister Muniz!! She has been my favorite companion in Brasil thus far. She has helped me a ton! This transfer has, by far, been my favorite here. 

I´ve included some pics. Hope everyone is doing well!! I love you all very much!! Make sure you are always nice to foreigners because it´s kind of frustrating when people don´t even make an effort to understand what I am saying. Brasilians always tell me that Americans don´t make an effort to understand them when they go to the US. Try to have patience with people who are learning English! Help them :) 

Love you all!!

Sister Kerr

Pictures:

Our district

Sister Muniz, Me, Sister Moraes and Sister Tsukuda

The six Americans in our zone

Festa Junina

Oi família!

This weekend I went to my first festa junina (technically festa julina because it took place in the month of July). It was a lot of fun!! It was a joint activity with Guará I and Guará II. We had a really good turn out. 

Sister Muniz and I also planned a ward activity last Wednesday night to help integrate the investigators and less actives. It was meant to be a super informal thing so that people will get the idea to start congregating on their own once a week. We ended up getting four referrals from the activity which was good. And the ward planned another one this Wednesday night 

Hope everybody enjoyed their July 4th! Sorry my emails have been so short. Love you!!

Sister Kerr

PS Last Monday when we got back to our house there was a fire across the street in the brush! Apparently a drunk person lit the dry brush on fire. There was a ton of smoke!

July!

Dearest family,

Happy July!! I was super behind with emails this week and don´t have a ton of time to write. Just know that life is good. Last night Brasil won the Confederations Cup against Spain. During the game the whole city shut down and there were big screens set up for people to watch. Coca-Cola had some promotions going on with jumpers, games, competitions, etc. I can´t imagine how crazy it will get with the World Cup next year!

This transfer is halfway over, but it has definitely been my favorite transfer here in Guará II. I have been emailing with my district from the MTC and they are all doing well :) 

Here are some pics to sum up the week. 

Love,

Sister Kerr