Computer WOES!

I wrote a super long letter with pictures and the computer logged me out. Now my time is up and I can´t say much other than I love you! and You will be hearing from me again in 7 days! muah!

Transferred to Rio Verde

"I spent 5 hours on a bus with my companion from the area Parque Amazonias to Rio Verde! Yay! We´re finally here and I am so excited to get to work!"

"Because we are the first sisters here in over a year, we have to start from scratch when it comes to housing. We moved into the house they rented for us and there were beds and 2 chairs...that´s it. No refrigerator, no oven/stove, no tables, no washing machine, no iron, nothing but the things we packed in our bags with us. So, this week we will slowly but surely be getting our furniture and then we can really settle down. Because there are only 5 areas where sisters can serve right now, it´s not uncommon to spend 4-6 months in the same area. I´m excited because I´ve been living out of a suitcase for the past 3 weeks and now I can finally unpack...once we have a dresser."

"Rio Verde, what little I´ve seen in the past 24 hours is a bustling city, but I´ve heard that our area also covers farmland. There are macaws that just kind of fly around and live in the palm trees that line the medians of the road. Welcome to Brazil! "

"Silvia (an investigator) didn´t know if Joseph Smith was a prophet or not and she didn´t understand why she had to be baptized again when she was already baptized in another church. Sis. Judd had already addressed these concerns when she was teaching her before I came to the field. So we all knelt down and Silvia prayed aloud to know, then and there. Heavenly Father heard her prayer and the spirit was so strong that as soon as she finished the prayer, she said she wanted to be baptized that Sunday. So she was!"

PICTURE TAKEN IN BRAZIL

"People here not only assume I am Brazilian, but they can all pinpoint that I am Japanese. I have no idea how they know this...I don´t think I have very Japanese features. But after we introduce ourselves and they realize that I am American, a lot of people ask if I am Japanese (and then do the asian eyes). "

"I have a new favorite fruit...maracuja (passion fruit). So good! WE made mousse yesterday with it and juice and yummy!"

Erika and her companion, Sister Judd, found 2 investigators. They, Mauricio and Joaquime, have both committed to be baptized!




In the Provo MTC with her travel plans to Brazil.









Erika is on a dirt road in Brazil with her companion, Sister Judd.

GOIANIA BRAZIL!!

Erika's flight to Brazil was quite unusual. She flew from Salt Lake City to Dallas/Fort Worth. After several hours of layover (which included bumping into Amanda Merrill's mom and talking on the phone to Jennae and I) , she got onto another smaller plane with 2 Elders (male missionaries). It was one of those flights where it first lands in Brasilia and then continues onto Goiania. When the plane landed in Goiania, Erika got off the plane and waited for the other missionary to get off, too. He never did. She then realized that the missionary probably didn't understand the Portuguese instruction when the plane landed in Brazilia, to remain on the plane to connect to Goiania. Erika wrote, "I grabbed his suitcases at the baggage claim and went to find help. I saw the mission president (President Tobias) and his two assistants and totally left the lugguage and ran up to them. The first words I said to my mission president: Temos uma problema....we have a problem. He doesn´t speak English, so one of the assistants that is American had to translate that Elder Webber was wandering around Brasilia´s airport. What a trip!"

"My companion is Sis. Judd, she is American and will be finishing her mission in 3 months. I´m going to be her last companion...but exciting news...we are opening a new area! We will be serving in Rio Verde which hasn´t had sister missionaries in over 2 years! Exciting! It´s the highest baptizing area in the mission so we are excited to get there!"

"Before we can move to Rio Verde, the mission office has to find a house to rent and get it furnished for us. Until then, we´ve been in Parque Amizonias and Universitario areas. There are so many people here and they are so diverse I just expect them to speak english...but they don´t. Because I look Brasilian, people have commented on that, they just start jabbering off to me and I have no idea what they are saying. I can understand about every 10th word, but can normally get the gist of what they mean...normally."

"Funny story, I was on splits (where you pair off with someone else other than your usual partner) with a sister missionary that doesn´t speak English and we were doing street contacts. I can understand the sister, she speaks Portuguese slow enough for me to understand, but the lady we were contacting...no idea what she was saying. But apparently she had been asking me questions and when I didn´t respond she asked Sis. Ramero "Ela não oviu?" She thought I was deaf :) I have to laugh at that one."

Erika's mailing address: Pending. . . .TBA

VISA IS HERE!!

Erika's Visa has arrived. She will be flying out of Salt Lake City, Utah tomorrow, February 2nd. She will fly to Dallas and will have a 4 hour layover (no, we will not be able to meet up with her). . . then she flies to Sao Paulo Brazil. . . . then onto another airplane to Goiania. . . . I will post her mailing address as soon as I hear from her.

Portuguese Replaces English

Erika ran into two relatives while in the Missionary Training Center. Her great-aunt entered the MTC last Monday to serve a mission for Jesus Christ in the country of Japan. She saw her cousin, Leah, while standing in line in the cafeteria. (Her cousin works with BYU's food service and was substituting for someone at the MTC when Erika saw her.) Leah was so surprised in seeing Erika that she accidently burbed out, "Jennae" (Erika's sister's name.)

Erika says of the Portuguese language, "So this Portuguese is starting to take hold of my brain and English is becoming difficult. The other day I was talking to my district leader and this is what came out, 'I think we need to work on focolizing'. This is what I meant, 'I think we need to work on focusing'. The Portuguese word for 'to focus' is 'focolizar'. . . .so focolizing."

"This past week while I was sitting with my district and waiting for the Sunday night fireside to get started, an elder sitting directly in front of us turned around and asked me 'What is your first name Sis. Riggs?' I told him my name and he said 'I knew it! You were my EFY counselor!' I looked at him a little harder and he totally was one of my youth during the summer I was an EFY counselor in Provo! I asked him if he kept in contact with anyone else from our EFY session and he responded 'Ya...this guy' and he patted the back of the elder sitting in front of him. That elder turned around and I totally taught him, too!"
"Seeing these elders reminded me of why I am serving a mission and what really made me want to serve that summer of EFY. The spirit I felt while teaching those youth, especially about our Savior's love for us is something I will never forget. I was able to teach those youth with the spirit in the hopes that someone's life would be changed for the better. That feeling is what I want to have always as a missionary now."

Patience

From Erika: "I've been praying and fasting. . .But, there were no visas. . .at all. I'm having to learn that everything is on the Lord's time and I have to remember that although I may not understand why there are visa problems, the Lord has a reason and I need to practice patience if I ever want to learn what that reason is."