So Close!

Boa tarde!

Alright, so I might as well get the big news out of the way first: I'M GOING TO BRAZIL IN SIX DAYS. No big deal. My visa came through yesterday! I'll be flying for about 23 hours, and I'm so excited for it! It looks like I will be going first to Atlanta, then Sao Paulo, and then back up to Belem. Woo-hoo! My whole district got their visas this week as well! Sister Dustin, unfortunately, is going on a different flight than me, first to Detroit. However, Elder Ploeger will be on the same flight as me as far as Sao Paulo, so I shouldn't be completely lost and on my own the whole time! This was honestly such a faith-builder to me that I am going where the Lord needs me. A few weeks ago, I prayed saying that I would leave this whole visa matter in the Lord's hands. He knows where I need to be, who I need to talk to, and what I need to learn. I know that I was supposed to meet certain people here in Provo, learn from them, and build strong relationships. I also know that the Lord's hand was in getting me to Brazil at the last moment as well. :)

As for this week--it's been an adventure! We had thirty-six new missionaries join our zone on Wednesday, which made hosting a nearly all-day affair. I hosted more elders than sisters, which was quite the experience. I'm not sure how all of the elder's moms felt about a sister walking their son around the MTC for their first day on their mission... but it had to be done! The other thing is that I've been adjusting to is being a Sister Training Leader. I had this goal to get out of here without a leadership responsibility... but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I like this assignment, though, I've gotten to spend a lot of time with the new sisters, who are all utterly fantastic! I love them all so much! We need more sisters in our zone. Out of the thirty-six newbies, only four of them are sisters... Elders are great, but come on. :P

Today Sister Dustin and I have found ourselves utterly alone in our usually crowded residence. Sister Graham is off for Washington on a reassignment, Sister Nash for Brazil, and Sisters Waddell and Streadbeck for Portugal. Sisters Oldroyd and Smith are also off for the Brazil MTC as well! It's really hard to say to goodbye to friends. However, I am so excited for each and every one of them! They are going to do so wonderfully! Sister Dustin and I also like having a clean room finally... 

I am loving teaching! Our investigators are fantastic! We are really making progress with Adriano. He opened up to us so much this week. Our teachers here are wonderful too; we're learning so much about the language, but I think it's time for us to do some more intense English-fasts... I'm never going to get completely comfortable unless I let go of English completely.

This week, I've been thinking a lot about how much God loves every one of us. He is so merciful to us. Being a missionary is so wonderful because we have the beautiful opportunity of sharing this love with other people. We were talking to Adriano yesterday about repentance, and he said, "How can I do all of these great things? Nephi was a prophet; you are missionaries, servants of God. I'm just Adriano." You are never just you. You are a perfectly made, perfectly loved child of God with infinite potential to be so much more than how you see yourself. And Heavenly Father sees it all.

Amo voces muito! Ate mais!

Sister Dickerson