bom dia bom dia
this was a good week! I was basically on vacation.
my week
6 months 🖐🏻☝🏻
são paulo
president
6 I hit 6 months! so wild. sooo wild. crazy to think 6 months ago I put on the tag for the first time, or at least, Brenly did.
I can't believe I've been in Brasil as a missionary for half a year!
I've heard my entire life "just make it through the first 6 months" and now it's done. craziest 6 months ever. it's been hard. so many blessings and tender mercies I'll never be ever to say it enough. Now I am halfway in 3 months y'all.
pres: this week we also learned who our new presidents will be, who will be coming in July! they are Americans who live in Florida! he served in Brasilia and his wife is currently learning Português. they will be my presidents for my last 6 months. they seem very sweet.
são paulo
this week I had to go do visa stuff.
soo I thought I'd be going with other missionaries to São Paulo, but once I got to the island, they told me they already went and it'd be just me flying there and staying at a hotel alone.
at first, I was feeling like dang alone on a plane and a hotel, then I was like wait... alone on a plane and a hotel 😏
but literally it was a mini-vacation and.... I got Starbucks. first one in 6 months. but apparently there is a nation-wide shortage of strawberry açai so I couldn't get a pink drink. what is this. tragic to say the least.
I also went to the shops and smelled my perfume from home and wow that took me back. I miss you chance Chanel pink edition.
I also heavily debated getting a massage.
the missionary travel department told me the dinner was paid for so I could either go to the skyline view restaurant or get room service. tough decisions out here. never thought I'd be getting a pasta and brownie room service on my mission but wow the Lord sure does bless his servants. it was so nice that when my flight got canceled on the way back and they offered me the last spot on the next one, I might or might've not tried offering it to someone else so I could stay another night... didn't work
the work is good. we were out of our area for most of the week. we had a lot of our friends at church! but our baptisms are looking shaky. they accepted the invite but now were hearing "not yet, when God wants" ... guys He wants. but the work is definitely flowing and we're kept busy.
Sister Bird asked me what my homecoming talk will be about and I just said Jesus Christ. I came out here excited to help others become closer to Christ, but I didn't realize how close I'd come unto him here. it's funny how I'd explain these last 6 months as difficult and unpleasant (at the least) at times but also the biggest blessing because through it I have really come to know my Savior personally.
unfortunately, it hasn't come in moments of comfort or ease, not even with the brownie sundae.
it has come with long nights at bus stops, lonely holidays, eating Christmas dinner alone, when my feet are blistered, the constant effort to make someone who I might not have a lot in common with my best friend. hours in the sun, Portuguese conjunctions, waking up and realizing I have to do it all again until the day I go home.
one of my favorite talks is by Henry B Eyring, "Proved and Strengthened in Christ"
he talks about the significance of the word prove.
"The word prove has several meanings. To prove something is not simply to test it. It is to increase its strength."
"I felt weak. As I prayed, I felt the quiet assurance of the Lord. I felt Him say to my mind, “I am proving you, but I am also with you.”
I feel loved by my Heavenly Father knowing he cares enough about my progress. he crafted trials especially for my weaknesses that will allow me to grow more into my divine potential he knows I have.
sometimes I have no idea how I'll keep going, but then as I read in the talk
"The Lord teaches that we are to continue to grow and never tire in our efforts, that we never give up, that we keep trying."
all I need to do is to keep going keep trying. and I can do that, I can try. we can all try! he never asked us to be perfect or we're only valued at the end when we succeeded, but in the small moments when we make the conscious decision to keep going, that's when we are succeeding.
I remember in cheer and dance I always loveddd pressure. pressure is a privilege.
my favorite line
"I am proving you, but I am also with you"
what a compliment it is to be proved.
here are some pics from my vacation. (I promise not every week is like this).. except right now I'm heading to the island again for a tea party with all of the Sisters in the mission, so maybe they are...
🤍sister copeland
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