Fam!

Week 6

Fam,

Well, I’m here, and let me tell ya, if you compare Sao Paolo to Natal,  minha nossa, this place is perfect! It is hotter than hates aqui, but in my honest opinion i like it like this. I am in another trio, but i don’t know for how long because i don’t speak enough portuguese to understand what they are saying. But both of them are angels. I love them both and they are so patient with my portuguese. You call your first companion when you’re a verde (greenie) out in the field your mae, or mom. So i have 2 moms here that are taking very good care of me. We laugh and laugh and it turns out that i know more portuguese than the other american missionaries that come out here the first week because i can actually have a conversation and i can ask questions and get my point across more or less.

My one companion wants to marry Zac. She thinks he is muito lindo! very handsome and wants me to tell you Zac that she is going to come to America with me and marry you and I said that was fine i would love to have her as my sister. My other comp is my favorite though. Sister Moreas. She is an angel. She has been a trainer for missionaries several time before and she is very good at it. She will have me speaking portuguese in no time! They say that it takes about a month to speak almost fluently in the field and since i have more portuguese under my belt than most missionaries(from what they say) i think it will take less if i work hard enough.

Well, let me start from the beginning and tell you some fun stuff that happened to me the first day here. I flew out and slept almost the whole flight except for i wrote the fam a letter about my district who i love and who it was very hard to say goodbye to. Those kids got me through one of the hardest months of my life although i have a feeling the next month will be harder.   And then i hopped on the plane. I arrived early in the morning and went through orientation with the president and his wife. They are very sweet and kind and i love them a lot. So sweet and so kind. I instantly loved them. They met us at the airport. Very chill too. Not like the CTM president and his wife. They were strict to the t although i really loved them as well. The president and his wife here know everyone very well. There are only about 150 missionaries in Natal and 3 of them are Sister Bakers and i will be is j baker now.  They pronouce that jota-bacon, sweet. Anyway after orientation we went to the presidents house which was on the beach. So pretty!!  I have pictures of it. Muito linda. We ate some more acai. which is very much my favorite food here and i dont think you guys will ever be able to taste it unless you come to Brazil.  So i think we should go on a family vacation here when i get back.   Oh wait I’m never leaving!!!  and after the presidents house we went to whats called a sisters home which is just a house that the sisters go to when they are transitioning from one place to another or when they need to stay there for a zone conference or something. Well that place was a very scary place. The door was a gate. and then there was a dirt floor until the beds and then there was a grimmy tile floor. Not pretty.  There were bunk beds for about 20 feet and then there was a tiny bathroom (dont flush your toilet paper) and a kitchen and a cement room. It was scary and i have a feeling it was pretty nice.  We had a little rat friend visit us last night. He was fairly nice though. So its fine. At least it wasn’t a cockroach like in the CTM. You think i hate grasshoppers? Well i hate cockroaches more. I went right to bed last night. Because it was very hard. I was sitting on my bed ready to cry because i couldn’t speak to anyone really, i was sleeping in a groady house on a groady bed and i hadn’t showered and i missed you guys and the CTM and i had gone through a lot that day like a flight in a foreign country and stuff so i almost cried but then i just shook it off, brushed my teeth with contaminated water that i will never drink and prayed that God would help me live through the night and have a better attitude tomorrow and i was out! Heavenly Father must love me or something because that was the best sleep i have ever had on my mission. And today is a new day and i am in love with serving a mission.   Now the CTM was fun, but i am so ready for Natal and actually teaching people.   Im so ready!!!!   Well here i go i guess.  I cant really hesitate or stay inside or any comfort bubble i just have to forge head first into the dark and have a heck a lot of faith, but i guess thats what life is all about and i really wouldn’t have fun if it wasn’t.  Well I do have one super fun thing to tell you about, Natal is the 2nd most baptising mission in Brazil!  So get ready!!!  I am very excited!!  Our mission goal is 300 baptisms.  The missionaries here are obsessed with it! Its awesome.  They greet everyone with Batismo instead of oi or olah, its batismo! when they answer the phone or anything and so when i went up to bear my testimony yesterday at orientation i started with batismo elders and sisters and well i am an instant favorite. gee im going to try my best here. Its going to be so worth it.   Im sure that i will have some very interesting stories next week but for now thats all i got! i love you all! pray like your life depends on it because i sure do!! i love love love you!!!

love sister baker

Mama, good job at subbing, i knew you could do it! you are a natural and i think you are going to be that sub that all the kids are like "can we get mrs baker when you leave teacher" you are fabulous para beans! Congrats. I think i do need a new note book for paper work but i can get it somewhere here. If not i will tell you and you can send me one. And thats about it. I can get a journal here if i need one. Here is my address idk if it is different then the one you have: Av interventor mario camara, 2066 Dix-sept Rosado- Natal - RN 59062-600 

what is my blog website again?

i love you 10 much!!! pictures will be coming!

yeah well it takes 17 hours to download pictures so next time i will download the pictures while i am writing because we have to pay by the hour here at this internet cafe. so anyway.... i love you tonz!!!

Love,

Sister Baker

Note from Momma Baker:  I came home and saw that she had emailed me about 20 minutes before.  Instead of reading the letter I checked to see if she was still there cause I had a couple of questions.  Here’s our email conversation.

Mom: Joc Are you there still?   

   

 I love you! I love you!

  

Joci:  Yes i am!!! Hi mama!!!!

Joci:   I love you too! How was your day today?

Mom:  My day was great today! Kindermusik and then Visting teaching lunch.  :)  It sounds like you love Natal!  How fun that we are on at the same time.  

Joci:  I am at peace with everything. Yesterday i was not myself. I was so quiet and shy, but today i am myself again. Laughing and talking with my comps. Its fun. I will learn the language fast and that brings me peace. I know right! Its like im texting you! Our companionship has a phone! I talked to some elder in portuguese on it yesterday. and tonight we have an apt. so that should be fun. Its pday today. What a great way to start my time in the field with a little rest!

Joci:  That sounds fun! you are so good with kids.   I bet you have never seen cuter kids in your life than here in brazil. They are adorable.  I love Natal. I think that humidity helps the heat a bit. I like how it feels.

Mom:  I am so proud of you.  I love your attitude.  We all love getting your letters.  You always make us smile.  Are you downloading pictures on Dropbox?  Sorry if you said this in your letter but where are you serving?  You said one comp name but not the other. 

Joci:  I sure hope i make you smile. I sure am smiling! I will download them next week because i need to do it while i am writing and i am at the end of writing right now and so it takes a while to download. Sorry! i did 2 pictures and then i had to quit. I should be getting off pretty soon. my comps name is Sister Do Vale and the other is pronounced like More rice. My area is Currais Novos. I think that it is as far into land as you can get but im not sure. It took us 4  hours to get here this morning by bus. 

Mom:  Okay, so good to know!  Have you been to "your house" where you will be staying yet?  How is that?  I love you sweetie.  I've been praying so much yesterday for you to have strength and courage.  You can  do this!  You betcha Heavenly Father loves you.  If you think I'm on your side, He's on your side like no one else!  Keep your chin up and your smile on!  It's ok to cry sometimes too and get a hug from us and Heavenly Father and then get up with a smile on your face.  You're amazing!  I wish words could express my love for you.  You are wonderful!

Joci:  Thanks mama! I love you so much and i feel your love and hugs all the time! youre wonderful!!! I just stopped by the casa and dropped all my stuff off and put it where it goes and stuff. I like it a lot! its small but its clean and it is really cool.  I cant really explain, it is on the second story and it has an over look into the whole valley.   Muita bonita! It is kinda cool. I feel like the whole house is a deck. I will probably buy a hammock sooner than later a lot of people here sleep in hammocks. I love it. Thanks for the encouragement! I am ready for this. No tears are coming out of me. I am very brave. 

Mom:  Yes you are very brave!  The bravest girl I know! I'm glad you like where you live.  That gives me peace.  A hammock sounds great and fun!  Way to go about the language.   You've so got this!  You're shining I can see you from here!  What scripture do you want on the mission plaque?  Sorry to bug you  but the Bishopric wants to get your plaque up!

Joci:  I need to look in my scriptures i keep meaning to tell you but i keep forgetting the scripture. I will give it to you on monday!!! i love you!! i love you mama!! i have to go now sorry! so much love! i will write you next week on Monday! I love you!!!!

Mom:  I love you!