Lessons, Pizza and Portuguese - Week 2 February 2, 2015

There is a girl named Eld... that should be coming back this week and she was my first lesson i taught. she actually knows english and i was helping her with it and she wants a book of mormon to read in english with the portuguese one we gave her. she is super prepared and think she will be baptised in two weeks after attending church. We picked up an old investigator that is so ready, he just seems non committal and a little scared, and we are helping him understand all his questions. but he had a dream and his parents came and spoke with him and we are going to teach plan of salvation and families tonight to him. We have an other one whose daughter is understanding the importance of baptism by the proper authority.  we got little mateus who i thought was 8 who is actually 12 hahaha to come to church and he has made friends and i think will continue to come. 

The ward is very nice! they just talk talk talk and i just smile and nod hahha but this sunday was much better! i loved testimony meeting! everyone was getting up and waiting in line and i have never been in a sacrament meeting where there was not a pause in between people because there was alway two or more sitting waiting to go up. it was awesome! and i understood them because they were all testifying of Christ :)  

The Food is actually good. i love eating rice and beans.. hahah and the meat isn~t bad either. and listen to this, i actually have eaten fish... twice.. hahah it tastes like chicken. and for the first time i ate the meat with the fish head attached... hhahaha it was awkward having the cooked fish eye looking at me while i tried not eating a bone. which i did.  once. haha it wasn~t fun. but tudo bem! we made pizza today! i made my strange ``american`` half with Sister M. and Sis. S. and the other sister made a nasty looking half with mayonnaise hahaha they love it here! they put it on everything!!  it is funny. they also think hot dogs are a deluxe and all americans know Brad Pitt. they like to stare at you and look at you weird when you say things in portuguese. they also look at you weird trying to figure out where you are from and then freak out when i say Satos Unidos. haha it is funny. then they are like where and i say montana and they are like is that by california? and i laugh and say no haha

It seems that i only speak the most in lessons when i am prompted to say something. because most of the time i have no idea what is going on, and then some how i say something and the person says oh, i understand. but then other times i have to say it twice in my broken portuguese for them to understand haha. but Sister S. is very patient and has to repeat herself over and over for me to get the pronunciation right. well here is a picture of us making our pizza. I love you!

Love,

Sister Post

ps. funny story... so i don~t know if i told you this, but Eld...~s grandma is a touchy person and loves to touch my whiteness. well she came to church looking for us today and i had yet another awkward experience with her hahaha super awkward also it doesn~t help that i can't understand what she says at all... hahaha much much fun. 

Humidity and more Humidity - Week 1 January 26, 2015

Oi!!

The past week has been nuts!! so i will start with an amazing story of how the Lord knows exactly how to calm our fears and then i will talk about crazy brazil.

so as you know i was way scared to come down here alone. the Lord placed me with a sister who was also flying to Atlanta and then we were to seperate. i was greatful from the company in the salt lake air port. before boarding we met a couple who are over the farm missions and were going to brazilia brazil to check up on everything. we also ran into then getting off the plane in atlanta and they showed us where our gates were. i found mine and decided we had plenty of time so i would go eat. while waiting in line i hear, what a wonderful surprise! i look and it is the cute couple! and then they buy my food! i was like it is fine and then they responded with it is not negociable haha so we eat panda together and chatted. then i return to my gate after finding out that there were no phones in the area to call out on. i sat and listend to everyone speaking portugues. went and checked in. sat back down and then heard, hello sister where are you serving. i turned to see a blonde man in a suite and i said manaus. he didnt have a tag so i knew he wasnt a missionary. he had served in porta legre and was going back to visit. he had been planing this for over a year. who knew that the Lord would be so kind. when i got on the plan i spent an hour or so talking to the brazilian sitting beside me and then i went back and spent the rest of the time talking to the kind man for almost the whole flight before trying to sleep. i didn~t get any sleep. very uncomfortable and yeah hahaha then when we landed he helped me through customs and then to check in and get my back checked and my ticket and then to my gate. it is crazy in the sao paulo airport. i said bye to him and found out that they were taking the last few buses to where the plane was waiting. if i did not have him i would have missed it. the whole airport is all walking and it is huge! and then i finaly go to manaus and it was hot and humid. and it is still hot and humid haha i am wet constantly either from my own sweat in the sun or from the rain. speaking of rain, it rains here constantly and i cant wear my blue shoes becasue i walk in puddles hahaha so i think i am going to send a box home with suff in it. and one shoe at a time. 

So my companion is Sister Sunaga, she is Japanese and is from Sao Paulo. she speaks english and helps me with my portugues. she is very patience and sweet! she transfered to this area this time and President Castro did not know i was coming until the night before i arived haha so they emergency transfered the girl who had been here previously. so we are both new to the area. yay haha i am finally understanding the area and how to cross streets and interact with the people here. i still only understand a little and my speaking is worse than my understanding, so it is great fun. just know that all is well. i am trying hard, and that is is crazy in brazil. that sums it up haha music is blasted from cars and houses so you pretty much are always hearing music. cars have the right of way and people look at us weird because they see an amarican and a japanese person walking around with a map looking for houses haha the people here also dont say hi to each other on the street so they look at us weird when we say good morning, afternoon or night hahaha we have investigators and the lord works in meraculous ways! thank goodness he works through the language of the spirit and not portugues haha. anyways i love you! have a great day! 

Love,

Sister Post

First companion, Sister S. (from Sao Paulo, Brazil) 

My District at the Manaus Temple

Sis. S. and I

Sunburn

Sister Post's 1st Apt.

Drying Laundry in the Kitchen

Safely Arrived in Manaus- January 22, 2015

Mr. and Mrs. Post,

We are pleased to inform you that your daughter, Sister Jenna LeAnn Post, arrived safetly in the Brazil Manaus Mission on the 20th of January. She was received by the Mission President, President Castro, and his wife, after which a welcome lunch was provided in the Mission home. She was assigned to labor in the Cachoerinha Ward, a ward in the Manaus Stake, with her trainer Sister Sunaga. 

We, the the Mission Office Staff, along with the Mission President are grateful for your daughter's willingness to serve the Lord in the Manaus Mission, and we are grateful for the love and support that you offer her. We know that she will change the lives of many of God's children while she serves diligently in her calling.

We apologize for the delay of the arrival of this message.

Atenciosamente,

Elder Lima

Sister Post with her mission President, Pres. Castro and Sister Castro

Last Week in the MTC- January 12, 2015

Oi!

It is finaly my last week here at the MTC! it feels like it has been a long time coming.... haha but it has been wonderful! This week has been a power-house of spiritual expiriences!!! Most have to do with my shoulder. I want to share the last section of accuring events. So physical therapy has been pretty rough the last 4 times, and each session has been progressively getting harder. I have gained a little ground in my outer rotaion, but not much. On Sunday my branch president President Jackson came up to me and asked how my shoulder was (He is a surgon who has worked with Dr. Poulsen [who did my surgery]). He tested the outer rotation and said that he wanted me to get a manipulation on it. He talked about getting it all set up and I was confused and asked what it was. It is where I would be put under anethesia and they would crank on my shoulder and break up all the scar tissue so that i could have total rotation back. In a little bit of shock I asked, what do i need to do, and he said nothing i will take care of it. I teared up at the thought of having my motion back. so i thanked him a lot and got him Dr. Poulson's number and that's all i heard. While thinking about it later i started to think of what were the odds that Sister Overson was placed in this zone so that i would then be placed with her in it. To have Pres. Jackson who is a dr and then (off topic) have amazing teachers that i have had! yesterday i went to Physical therapy and since then have had a dead arm. from shoulder to figures feel weird haha like right now as i type my arm feels like someone punched me and my arm is dead. haha afterwards we went to the clinic to get my immunizations checked out and the guy at the desk said i had an app. with Dr. Brown and then the new Sister Training leaders came in and said that they have been looking for me and that my name has been going off in the intercom so that i would get to the clinic which i had no idea about. so i go in and he tells me that i have a dr appointment with Dr. Poulsen today. everything had been taken care of. today i go in and see Dr. Poulsen and he checks my arm out and i have only gained a little progress, and agreed that i do the manipulation. So tomorrow i will be going in to get that done. after it is done then i just need to constantly stretch it to keep the range of motion and keep it from stiffening up again. Honestly i feel that there is never coincidences. the people we meet are there for a reason. I had no idea why i was put in this zone instead of my past one. I was sad at first and see diferent reasons along the way, and sunday i figured out another reason as to why. I am so greatful that Heavenly Father is constantly aware of our needs, even when we do not know them ourselves. sorry for the long story haha but it has been quite the few days. I hope all is well! Next time I write is should be  in Brazil! unless the Lord has other plans for me. I love you all!

Love,

Sister Post

Sisters in the Zone

A study of "My Child" by David Bowman I drew

Merry Christmas from the Provo MTC-December 23, 2014

Here is the first letter from Sister Post from when she returned to the MTC after her shoulder surgery. 

Hey!
Well it has been a week and a day since i got back and honestly it has felt so good to be back! My portuguese is coming back and i know that Heavenly Father is helping me a whole lot! so it is Christmas time, and honestly my whole day is about learning to teach people about Christ. It has been so great! My whole effort is able to be focused on the ultimate and greatest gift that was ever given! here are somethings to think about during this christmas time. the signifigance of Christ actually being born is so much greater than my understanding. Jesus Christ the creator of worlds, the very being who created the plants and earth that we walk on. He said yes to the plan that Heavenly Father had presented. He took the responsibility that insured not only that we may return to our Heavenly Father again, but that we could CHOOSE for ourselve with agency what is was we want to do. He knew the weight of such a thing, but He was not detoured, not scared. WHY? Because He LOVES US! more than the pain he would experience. Now think of why the heavens opened up and the hosts of heaven sang his praise the night he was born, because their beloved savior had just given up everything to gain a physical body and begin his journey. He had the veil placed before his eyes, just like all of us and for that night Mary, the mother of the Son of God, held Him in her arms. For that moment He was hers to love and hold. I can not imagine the joy and sadness that accompanied that, because she knew her blessed babe would one day have to endure even the pain and tears she had experienced in her life. Christ grew stong in the word of God and as he did he came to know who he was and what he was to do by the age of 8. Can you imagine? knowing that kind of thing at such a young age? I am so greatful for what the Savior did for all of us, for me. I am eternally greatful and will never repay him, but that is not what he asks of us. He didn't say "I will do this but you better pay me back." No. all he said was, Come follow me, I will take the burden off your back if you help take some from mine. He asks of us to share his yoke. that doesn't mean we are to pay for our own sins or hurts, but that we are to take upon us His name, and act as he would, and bringing others to the knowledge that He is real. He has paid the price. He is the difference when our own efforts are not enough. I have experienced this in learning Portuguese this time around. I am trying to put more trust in him and know that when i try my hardest, it is not the words that touches hearts, it is the Spirit. And when i do my best He is not only the one who will make up the difference, but He IS the difference. there is no point A and B that we must get to to make it back to God, but there is where we are and where Heavenly Father knows who we can become. and we can reach that! If we put our faith in Christ, the only Begotten Son of God. The one who did the impossible, the miraculous, and the Eternal Sacrifice. By that sacrifice all Man may feel Love, Peace, Joy, Comfort. He was the first gift, and He is still our gift. Try to keep Him in your thoughts this Christmas season, and i will be trying as well! He is AMAZING! I love you all!!
Love,
Sister Post

MTC District

Sister Post and her companion Sister Overson(from Arizona)

Zone Leaders and Sister Training Missionaries