Mission Tour this week

Querida família,

Taguatinga has been a bit of a challenging area for me, but things are going well. I have some funny stories and pictures to share :)

Yesterday as I was walking into sacrament, the second counselor asked me if I could play piano. I said no because I don´t play well at all and it would be better to sing acapela haha. He accepted my answer. Two minutes later our ward mission leader, Andreson, came up to me and said, "Sister Kerr, you have to play today." I tried to explain that I seriously can´t play but he didn´t accept my answer. Needless to say it was horrible! haha. I have never been so nervous in my whole life. My biggest question of the day was "In a ward this size how is it possible that nobody plays piano?" They have 3 pianists and none of them were there....just my luck, right? Yeah, I am pretty sure they won´t be asking me to fill in again haha. 

Last week I had the opportunity to make clothing for dolls that are going to be donated. How is it possible that every baby doll ends up without clothing? I don´t understand. But at least I got to use my non-existent sewing skills and fashion some pretty fancy clothing for Barbies and baby dolls. I think this week the Lord wanted me to view my weaknesses haha.

Friday was an awesome day because I got 8 cards! :) It only took them about a month to get to me, but that´s ok. Better late than never. Thank you to everybody for sending cards. It seriously brightens my day! Saturday we had lunch at a house in Vicente Pires that had the coolest backyard ever. It was more of a jungle than a backyard. They had trees of every kind: mango, pinha, graviola, banana, goiaba, and some others that I don´t remember the names. I also held a chicken. Elder Pedroso showed us how to put it to sleep, it was awesome. 

This week we will have Elder Asconavieta from the Seventy coming to visit and do a mission tour. I am trying to keep a positive attitude with everything, but this transfer is really hard because I was so in love with Guará I. I still don´t understand why I only stayed there one transfer. Tainá was baptized last week and Maria Eloisa will be baptized next Sunday. 

Anyway, hope everybody is doing well! I will be home in 9 months :) Start the countdown! haha. 

Love, 

Sister Kerr

Super Different

Olá família!

So our first week in Taguatinga was pretty good. Our area is HUGE!! I think I got used to being in a small, residencial area but Taguatinga is super commercial. To walk from one point of our area to the other would take an hour to an hour and a half. We definitely have to be strategic in our planning because we don´t have time to visit people who live in different blocks that are spread out. 

This zone is way different as well because we are the only set of sisters in the zone! Our last zone had 4 sets of sisters. It´s weird on Tuesdays when we have zone meetings because it´s a bunch of elders and then us haha. One of the elders in the zone is from Irvine...what a small world, huh? 

The bishop´s wife told us it has been 4 years since this ward last had sisters. Apparently the last sisters that were here didn´t leave too great of an impression so we have that to deal with. I have to admit before the mission I wasn´t too fond of sister missionaries either. Here in the mission I hope people like sisters but I am realistic and know that some people prefer elders haha. So far the ward has been really excited to have us and very welcoming. 

Our apartment is a 5 minute walk from the chapel which is nice. Here is a picture of us before our first Sunday in the ward :) 

Hope everybody is doing well!!! Love you

Love,

Sister Kerr

Transferred :(

So despite all of my prayers (or maybe because of all of them haha) I was transferred!! I cried a ton when we got the call last night. I hadn´t packed or anything because I thought for sure I would stay at least one more transfer. I had high hopes that I would stay at least one more. Today at the transfer meeting anytime somebody who had passed through Guará I asked how such and such person was doing I started crying again haha. Yeah, I was kind of a cry baby today. It´s hard to explain how much I love Guará I. It was a place that felt so familiar to me; it was like coming home to a place even though I had never been there before. We have a baptism this coming Sunday and a baptism the Sunday after that. I am sad I won´t be there to see the baptisms, but I am even more sad because I won´t be there to continue to see the people grow and make changes. I know Heavenly Father has a perfect plan. I am trying to remind myself of that. It´s crazy how quickly I came to love everybody there. It was only 6 weeks but it might as well have been 6 years.

I am now in Taguatinga I with Sister Bezerra. It´s funny because she totally called it that Sister P Gonçalves and I would be companions last transfer and she came up to me today and said, "What´s up, new companion" haha. She called it again! I have discovered my mission within the mission: open new areas for sisters. Last transfer Sister Gonçalves and I opened the area for sisters and this transfer I will be doing the same thing with Sister Bezerra. We will be the only ward in the mission that will have a set of elders and a set of sisters. 

I am nostalgic already for Guará I! I learned a lot in Guará, but Guará I was a different experience for me. I know I have a purpose here in Taguatinga I, I just have to discover what it is. This transfer is an important one for me. In less than 3 weeks I will be halfway done with the mission. Three weeks after that it will be my birthday. And in between those two dates I will watch General Conference! I am trying to be optimistic and remember that the mission isn´t about me. Funny how life works out, though. The one time I truly wanted to stay in an area I was transferred. I am now with my 5th companion here in Brasil, 7th overall including the MTC and the transfer in California. 

Hope everybody is having a great week!! I know I am forgetting to write about a ton of things but maybe I will remember during the week. Love you and miss you!

Love,

Sister Kerr

Oh yeah, here´s a picture from today. My bag was starting to rip when I was rolling it so I decided to carry it instead. Be impressed! That´s like 50 lbs haha. The sun was scorching and the walk was SUPER long, but I managed haha.

5 Months in Brasil!!

Olá família!

Today I have 5 months here in Brasil. We have transfers next week and I am really hoping to stay in Guará I! What a change, right? Normally I love moving around, but I am happy here and the work definitely isn´t done. We have 4 baptismal dates marked for this next transfer so I am hoping I stay and that they actually happen! Everybody think happy thoughts about me staying here one more transfer :) 

Last Monday Sister Gonçalves and I went sight-seeing with Julieta and Delmar. They took us to Parque da Cidade, Ponte JK, Ermida Dom Bosco, and Pontão. It was a lot of fun; they are awesome. 

This morning we had a sisters training so we spent the first half of p-day in Asa Norte. Sister Tsukuda goes home this Friday!! I am super sad I won´t see her anymore :( It´s crazy to think that one day the end of the mission will arrive. It seems so far away but I know it will sneak up on me and catch me by surprise. 

The sisters showed us a video this morning that I really liked. Everybody needs to Google "Montanhas a Escalar" and watch the clip not the actual talk that Elder Henry B Eyring gave. It´s like 5 minutes or so. Don´t worry, the actual audio is in English, but it has Portuguese subtitles if you are interested in seeing the language I am learning :) haha

Hopefully next week I write an email saying I stayed in Guará I!!

Love you all,

Sister Kerr

8 Months!!

Bom dia!

Can you believe I have 8 months in the mission today? Let me break it down even more: one month from now I will be halfway done with the mission. Halfway!! Crazy! I remember when I started the mission I looked at the people with 8, 9, 10 months and thought, "Wow, they know everything. They have been in the mission for almost a year." I can definitely say that having so much time in the mission still doesn´t mean you know everything haha. I seriously can´t believe I am almost at the 9 month mark. 

Last week was pretty great. We had the zone conference in the mission home on Thursday and I am happy to announce my name was not chosen to present the training I had prepared. My companion was chosen haha. I did have the great task of playing the piano for the opening and closing hymns. I told the chorister, "You can lead the music however you want because I don´t play well enough to actually follow you" haha. Glad to say it wasn´t a complete disaster but I think I played a little fast. I played "How Great Thou Art" and "Come Follow Me." I begged Elder Rosendo to not let me play but there was literally nobody else who was willing. 

The zone conference was cool because President Gaertner spent the first hour just letting us ask questions to clear up doctrine, rules in the mission...whatever we wanted to ask. After that Sister Gonçalves gave the lesson she prepared and then we had hot dogs for lunch. After lunch President Gaertner showed up some pictures of his actual house in Curitiba. There are seriously no words to describe how nice their house is. It looks like it came straight out of a housing magazine! 

The rest of the week went well. We have been exhausted lately. One night I was even asleep before 10pm. I have been waking up at 5:40am everyday to get in some extra time working out because I feel super lazy and out of shape. I miss a lot of things from home, one of them being easy access to a gym! 

Next Monday we will have training for the sisters so my email will probably come a little late. Two more weeks are left in this transfer. This transfer is really flying by! 

Hope everybody is enjoying summer!! It´s almost over! Love you all very much.

Sister Kerr

Here´s a picture of the zone in front of the mission home after the training.

Delmar (recent convert) and Juliet (his wife).

Sightseeing.

Sooo tired but happy :)

Last week I was dying because last Monday we spent the entire p-day walking around Plano Piloto and doing all the touristy stuff. It was a lot of fun with our district and the sisters from Guará II ended up being there, too! We ran into them in the library. I am happy because I finally got to visit Os Candangos (picture below) which was something I didn´t visit when I visited Plano before.

This week will be very tiring as well because I spent practically all day playing soccer. Woo hoo! :) We had a zone activity this morning and it was a ton of fun!! By far it was the best activity we have had. We had churrasco, soda, and cake and played soccer for like 3 hours straight. I am happy :)

Our zone today :)

I had an exchange with Sister Tsukuda last week but instead of going to Lago Norte we stayed in Guará I. It was good; I always like going on exchanges with her. Last Tuesday, Sister Gonçalves and I had a super unique experience. I woke up thinking about Naide, the bishop´s wife, and felt like we needed to visit her. I worked out, got ready for the day, and did personal study but I couldn´t stop thinking about her. When companionship study started I said to Sister Gonçalves, "I think we need to visit Naide this morning before we go to lunch." She responded, "I woke up thinking about her, too!" We baked some cookies super quickly as an excuse to stop by and then headed there after language study.

When Naide answered the door she seemed really surprised and relieved to see us. We told her we baked some cookies and then asked if  she needed help with anything. We offered to wash the dishes, sweep, mop, and help straighten up the house. Normally people don´t accept our help but she let us help her. While we were cleaning the kitchen she said she woke up this morning with a lot of pain in her back because she has an illness that affects her nerves. She said she laid in bed and said, "Heavenly Father, I don´t know how I am going to manage to do everything today. I need help." A few hours later we showed up :) She was very grateful for our help. I love moments like that in the mission. Sister Gonçalves and I have days where we walk home at night and just keep saying, "This is the mission. This is what it´s all about." Tuesday was definitely one of those days :) 

Oh yeah, Saturday night the ward had a karaoke activity. I heard some Justin Beiber, The Beatles, and a few other American songs. It was a nice taste of home. Yesterday morning I was watching the movie 17 Miracles while getting ready for church. The movie was in English with Portuguese subtitles. I wanted to ask Sister Gonçalves a question so I went to her and said, "Do you think this dress is short?" She looked at me super puzzled and I thought to myself, "Why isn´t she responding?" Then I realized I had asked her in English haha. It was weird because I had been thinking in Portuguese, but because of the movie it came out in English.

Life is good. We have zone conference this Thursday in the mission home. Each of us has to prepare a 30 minute lesson and one of our names will be chosen to actually teach. I normally have bad luck so I have a feeling it will be me haha. Next Monday I will have 8 months in the mission!!

Love you all very much!!

Sister Kerr

Our district - Me, Sister Gonçalves, Sister Carlomagno, Sister Damaceno, Elder Fonseca, Elder Sowards

My mission - Brasília Guará!

Os Candangos

Guará I :)

Boa tarde!

So I am currently writing this email from the Brasilía National Library :) We came here to visit Plano Piloto as a district and decided to stop in quickly and send emails from here.

I love Guará I!! I loved Guará II, but honestly it took me a little while to figure out why I was there. Guará I is the complete opposite. I am so happy and I know why I am here. Sister Gonçalves and I have already seen so many miracles. I think Guará I needed to be opened to sisters again :)

Elder Sowards is a super fun district leader. He has little challenges and games that he has us play throughout the week to keep things interesting. I am really grateful for him. Next week we will have a zone activity so my email will probably come later in the day.

Life is great! I wanted to send some pictures this week but the library doesn´t have USB ports so I will have to wait until next week.

Hope everybody is doing well!! Miss you, love you!

Sister Kerr

PS This week I watched the movie 17 Miracles again. If you haven´t seen it, watch it! I love that movie.