Stories From Salvador: A Chronicle of Sister McKenzie's Life in Brazil: Hello from St. Antonio!!

Hello from St. Antonio!! I stayed here J Sister Felartigus left me for Petrolina L, she is a sister leader out there now! Maybe I will join her next transfer. That’s the area that is really far from the rest of the mission (ten hours on the bus!). It’s in another state actually. I’ve heard it’s so so hot there, but luckily we past the hottest months. It’s becoming fall now, although honestly it seems to only be getting hotter! Even with sun screen everyday I’ve gotten brown. I’m so grateful that I brought sunscreen because it’s really expensive here and I would seriously be a lobster without it.

I can tell this is going to be such an amazing transfer. My new companion is awesome!! I love her so much already. She’s from the interior of Sao Paulo, like Sister Oliveira. She is hilarious, we’ve laughed so much this past week. I am learning so much from her example. I am so grateful that I’ve had all native companions; it’s really helped with the language. Most people think I’m from Argentina or Rio Grande do Sul which makes me so happy! But a lot of Brazilians don’t like Argentina (especially with World Cup approaching) so we’re working on my Southern Brazil accentJ

We have a new American with us! Sister Grundvig is training her. She served in the States for one transfer and now she’s with us! She’s such a cute girl and she’s adapting really well to the culture. Three Americans and one Brazilian, the opposite of when I came! By my companion knows some English and wants to learn so it’s perfect! She loves American music, chocolate and people J Yay. That reminds me I got Grandma’s and Grandpa’s and the Smith’s from our ward Christmas packages. The Brazilians love American chocolate, we ate a pound of it in about 10 minutes, it was great! The chocolate is really different here. I prefer American but honestly there’s so much fruit here I never need to buy sweets.

We are teaching so many amazing people! I wish you guys could meet them all. We meet mostly with teenagers and families, which I love so much. It is truly amazing to see how they have been prepared to hear the gospel, they are an elect people. I know I will probably leave here this next transfer. It’s going to be so hard to leave the ward and all of our investigators. I love them all so much. I feel so at home here. The culture is so inclusive and, even though I’m far from you guys, I don’t feel homesick. They’ve adopted me J

I will be at my 6 month mark pretty soon here! I cannot believe how fast the times has gone, it feels like I was just saying goodbye to you guys and now I’m almost 1/3 of the way to coming back. I am so grateful for the decision I made to serve. I can think of no better thing I could be doing with my time. I’ve learned and grown and seen so many miracles and I can’t imagine what it would have been like had I stayed. It truly is the best 18 months. I know the things I’m learning here are lessons for eternity. Continue to share this amazing gospel! I love you all so much!