I've been out for 3 months, wow!

Familia!

 

Tessa and Robbie are having a boy! That´s awesome! I´m happy for them. What are they naming him? How is everybody else doing? I´m starting to get use to my area. I have to take the onibus to Guanabara and then walk about 5 miles to people´s houses. It´s a good work out haha. I do this most of the time.

 

The ward that i´m serving in is awesome! 2 members of the bishopric speak English, and they help me with translating. I´m still having a hard time understanding my companion. Wednesday was not a good day for me. It seemed like who ever I talked to, the language seemed like gibberish. I broke down crying, because I was so frustrated and felt useless. I never thought that a mission would be this hard. Sometimes I feel like I want to go home, because it would be a lot easier. But I know that I need to be here and that someone is waiting for me to teach them the gospel. I´m not going to give up. I´m going to try my best to be patient and strong.

 

As of right now, I have 5 investigators! One of them i´m going to commit to baptism this week!! His name is Joanilson! He´s in his mid 20´s. We met him while going to the bus stop to Eloy Chaves. He has come to church every week and loves learning more about the gospel. I´m pretty sure he´s golden. I hope that he says yes when I commit him to baptism! I´ll let you know how it goes!

 

I took a bunch of pictures this week! I hope you enjoy them! That´s so cool that Leya is going to Romania! Ahh she´ll be a great missionary! Tomorrow i´m going to buy a Brazilian soccer jersey after district meeting. Sister Colombre got her jersey in the mall for 20 dollars! I like hers a lot! I said in my last email that it was Fall in Brazil, I was wrong. It´s actually Winter. It´s getting closer to Spring. The Sisters told me that Spring starts in September. It´s been really cold here. Like in the 30´s with wind chill.

Well, I hope you enjoy my pictures! I hope you have a great week! I love and miss you!!

 

-Sister Whitnah

Bethany's serving in Jundiai Brazil

Here are 2 photos of the first area that Bethany is serving in.  The population is about 350,000.  Palm trees are plentiful and many skyscrapers as well. 

 

 

 

Oi Familia!

 

I made it to Brazil! :) so far I love it here! It´s winter in Brazil right now. It´s sunny pretty much everyday, except for yesterday. We had a big thunder storm. It was awesome! I´ve never seen it rain that hard!

 

I met my mission president and he´s really nice. Sister Perrotti is SO bubbly and fun! I´m serving in an area called Jundiai. It´s pretty cool. I live with 2 other sisters. Sister Martins and Colombre. They are from Brazil. Sister Martins knows a little bit of English. My comp is Sister Cabral and she´s from Recife, Brazil. She doesn´t  know  English. It´s been really hard to communicate with her. It´s also been hard trying to talk to people. I try my best to listen and to understand what they are saying. A lot of the missionaries here say, the more you talk Portuguese, the faster you become fluent.

 

The food here is SO good! I eat beans and rice at least once a meal. The beans are so different than the ones in America. I like the ones in Brazil better. As transportation goes, I ride the onibus. The first time I rode it, I was so nervous. It feels like I was on a roller coaster. The drivers here are crazy! We were probably going about 70mph on a tiny road!

 

I haven´t seen Sister Ware yet. She got in on Wednesday. I read her email and it sounds like she´s doing pretty good. I hope I get to see her soon! Yes, my p-day is on Mondays. Just like in Idaho. A couple of days ago I was missing Idaho and being in the US. There are so many things that are different here.  Our apartment is pretty run down. 

 

I´ve been taking a lot of pictures since I got here. There´s a lot of palm trees! :) Tell Rob and Tessa i´m excited for them. Well, I want you to know that i´m doing good. I miss home and being able to speak English. I´m sure the more I practice Portuguese, it´ll get easier. I love you and I hope you have a great week!

 

-Sister Whitnah

Brazil: Sister Whitnah is on her way!

The time has come and Brazil here she comes!  Bethany has had her visa for nearly 2 weeks but was delayed in going as the Mission President didn't want her traveling by herself. 

She had the opportunity to serve in the Idaho Pocatello Mission for 1 transfer( 6 weeks).  She was lucky in that she only had to serve 1 transfer in Idaho.  This morning when she called she said that some missionaries are still waiting for their visas and have been in Idaho longer than she had been.  The mission president of the Pocatello mission is a man from our area.  President Brinkerhoff.  He and his wife have been serving in Idaho for a year.  That was a tender mercy as he remembered the Whitnah name.  Even though we were never close friends, he remembered the name and the fact that she was from Oregon, like they were made it nice. 

Bethany had many chances to teach and serve and work with other missionaries while she was there.  She was fortunate to serve in the Ward that good friends, Tracy and Bart Bangerter live in.  That was SO nice.  Kind of a "home" away from home for her that transfer out.  Bethany was 20 on the 1st and the Bangerters invited Bethany and her 2 companions over for cupcakes. It was so nice of them.

The 4th of July, the missionaries really couldn't teach much, they were actually told not to as families would be celebrating and they didn't want the missionaries intruding on family celebrations.  Bethany was able to get together with some of her Sister missionaries and see a parade in Pocatello as well as watch fireworks that night.  Here are a couple photos of some of the Sister Missionaries she served with while in Idaho

These are the first 2 Sister missionaries she served with.  They were together for only a week and half.  Sisters Morales and Sister McLain with Sister Whitnah.  Bethany was later transferred to the Highland Stake.  In this Stake she and her companion covered 6 Wards!  A lot of area to cover for 2 Sister missionaries.  She was assigned to serve with Sister Halbison.  Today, as we talked on the phone, Bethany shared how much she loved Sister Halbison and how much she would miss her and how much she enjoyed serving with her.

Sister Halbison is the youngest of 11 children.  She is a year older than Bethany and is from Gilbert, Arizona.  They got a long SO well!  Bethany plans to write her while she is in Brazil. 

This morning Bethany tried to phone us using her calling card that she had bought.  Apparently the card was not activated by the store when she bought it.  A woman noticed and came over to try and assist her, when she realized that the card would not work, she pulled her cell phone out for Bethany to use.  She allowed her to talk to us as long as she needed.  More than an hour.  This was truly a tender mercy where an Angel was sent to aide a Sister Missionary :)  I don't know if this woman will ever realize how much it meant to us, but it meant a great deal to be able to hear our daughter's voice.  I will always be thankful. 

And now, Brazil, here come a quiet storm, she might be quiet, she might seem small, but she will do great things and she will learn great things.  I am so happy she has chose to serve.  There have been quotes and thoughts I have found over the last several months, I want to share a few of those now.

it doesn't matter WHERE you serve but rather WHO you serve.  Jesus Christ.
Missionaries work hand in hand with the Savior.  Their name tag has two names on it.  There name and Jesus Christ.  So whether you serve in Boise Idaho, Berlin Germany, Cape Town South Africa or Brazil, all that is important is that you give your all to Him that you serve.

if you have desires to serve, you are called to the work and with that calling you will become bold.  Or as Robbie learned, Boldness is "sweet love"  to serve with sweet love towards those you teach and those you serve with.  Heavenly Father will prepare people to teach as you desire to serve Him as a missionary.

Now Bethany, go to Brazil, give them ALL of you and remember this quote, it reminds me of some of the things President Wight said the night you were set apart as a missionary.

I remember he quoted a scripture where it stated "wearing yourself out" in service to the Lord.  This made me think of you and all missionaries. 

Go to Brazil Campinas and blow them away, be Amazing and through the Spirit help someone change their life forever! 

You'll do GREAT! 

My last week in Pokey( Pocatello)....Brazil, here I come!

Oi Familia!!

 

This is my LAST week in Pokey! It has gone by so fast! I have a lot going on this week. I'm going to the Idaho Falls temple on Tuesday for a departing temple trip, I'm going to my last zone conference in Pokey and we are having a musical fireside on Sunday! There are 4 zones singing songs about Christ and the Restoration! It's going to be awesome! I'm in a trio and we are singing "Write Thy Name Upon My Heart". It's a pretty song! 

My birthday was pretty awesome! I went to zone activity and my district surprised me with a party! Elder Porter baked me a chocolate cake! :) The best part of that party was I got cake smashed in my face haha! It was pretty great. I wish that I took a picture of myself. It was all over my face. For dinner that night, we had homemade cheese/potato soup and rolls. IT WAS SO GOOD! The mom made the same butter from Texas Roadhouse. It ranks as the best meal I've had so far in the mission.

I did get my 2 packages! I loved it! :) I'm sending you a package today of letters. I can't take them with me to Brazil, because I'm afraid that my bags will go over the 70 pounds. Plus it's a lot of space that I could use for other things. Oh, I got my flight info! I'll email it to you. It will probably be a good idea to put some money in my debit card for the airport. I don't know how I'm going to call you on next Monday. I'm spending the night at the mission home on Sunday and President will go over with us about our travel info. A week from today I'll be traveling to BRAZIL YAY! :)

 

I totally forgot to grab my camera before I got to the Family History Center. That's where I go to email. I have a couple pictures of me and other missionaries from 4th of July. I had the best view for fireworks! Our apartment is right across from the fair grounds and we just had to walk across the street and watch them. It was pretty cool. There were 15 missionaries with us. We got to stay up til 11. So, the scariest thing happened that same night. My companions and I went to bed right when the fireworks were over with. We forgot to text our DL that we made it home alright. Like an hour later, we hear this banging noise on our window. We thought someone was trying to break into our house. We looked outside and it was our DL, his companion, and the Sister Training Leaders smiling and waving at us. They tried calling us for an hour straight and thought that something happened to us. But we were sleeping all this time haha. It was funny but scary. It took me forever to go back to sleep.

Today, I'm going to Down East! :) Sister Halbison has been talking about going there all week.  This past week was kinda a dead week with it being 4th of July. It was hard trying to find people to teach. I think this week will be a little bit better but not by much either. It's weird to think that in 2 weeks I'll hit 3 months! I'm excited that I get to spend the rest of my mission in Brazil! It should be pretty awesome! Oh random thought. So this lady was bearing her testimony about her mission in sacrament meeting. She served in Italy and her husband served somewhere state side. She said that serving foreign is better than serving state side. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to serve both state side and now foreign. As of right now I think serving a foreign mission will be better than serving in Pokie. 

Last week was hard Our investigator Anthony, is not getting baptized anymore. He wants to make sure that he's making the right decision. His parents are anti and they don't like the idea of him wanting to get baptized.   He reads from the BOM everyday and got an answer that it's true, he prays and goes to church every week.  I wish he would get baptized.  But I guess he is not ready yet, please pray for him. 

It was sad to learn that our 20 year old boy we were teaching(Will), committed suicide.  He was a member of a less active family.  His Mom is super active and strong.  Will had goals to serve a mission.  He had OCD, depression and other mental issues.  It’s SO sad.  We attended his funeral on Saturday. 

I am trying to work hard with all those bad things that happened.  Heavenly Father has tried my patience and my faith. I am sure I will have many more experiences in Brazil where I will be tested and tried.   I love  being able to share the Gospel.  I know even for the short time I have been out how great it is and I love every minute of it! I have learned to be patient with myself and with others. 

I’ve learned more about the scriptures than I could have ever learned in Seminary or Institute.  I also have learned to rely on the Holy Spirit.  I can see now why I needed to go on a mission.  I need to be closer to my Savior and have a strong testimony of Him.  He has done SO much for me!  Many in my mission are homesick and want to go home or can’t wait to go home.  Not me! It’s been the best decision I ever made.    I don’t want to think about home, I want to take the next 15 plus months and give to the people of Brazil.  I can’t wait! 

I'm so grateful to serve a mission. I'm glad that I made the choice to go. It has blessed my life and the people I'm teaching. I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you on the phone next week!

 

 Eu amo voce! :)  I LOVE YOU

 

-Sister Whitnah

 

Happy 20th Birthday Sister Whitnah!

Familia!

 

It's my birthday today! I can't believe I'm 20! The best part about it is it's p-day! Woo! I'm going to Jamba juice to celebrate! :) So the best part of my week was getting my visa! :) I'm excited to leave in 2 weeks. It's hard not to think about it. I couldn't sleep the other night, because I was so excited.

 

I get to email you again on 4th of July! So make sure you are online again. I'm going to be emailing at a member's home. Sunday was pretty good. Sister Halbison talked about the atonement and I talked about faith. For the first time ever, I wasn't nervous. It was awesome. I found out that there's 3 RMs that served in Campinas, Brazil in the Bangerter's ward. I didn't get a chance to talk to them. I'll probably talk to them next week. I also met Noelle's brother. He lives in the Bangerter's ward too. I loved the birthday party that the Bangerters put on for me. It was great! :) Oh, the reason why my make up was messed up was because it was raining really hard. There was a thunder storm.

 

I have some pictures for you. I took a picture of what I'm wearing today. I look super cute! :) This week we have a baptism! His name is Anthony and he's 17. He texted us the other day and said he wanted to read the whole BOM before he gets baptized. We are trying to convince him that he can read it after he gets baptized. He is pretty much golden. He knows everything is true. Easton isn't getting baptized until July 20th.

 

Well, I'm limited on time so I will email you more things on Thursday! I love you and I hope you have a great week! Thanks for the Gerber daisies! They were beautiful! :) Talk to you soon!

 

-Sister Whitnah

 

P.S I found your dream house in Pokie! :)