Week #13 - Home

Monday, March 30, 2020

Last day with Sister Cunha

Well this week was definitely different... I HAD TO LEAVE BRAZILLLL!! But I made it home safely, and now am in quarantine for 14 days like all other missionaries coming home to help keep everyone safe. Only 10 more days left hahaha! I was definitely a mess the first couple days home (with being jet lagged and sleep deprived) but also because I miss Brazil so much. My travel home was an adventure...

Random picture my mom found on FB
to know I had made it to Sao Paulo.

I had to be at the mission office at midnight on Tuesday and we left for the Brasilia airport around 2 AM. Then we flew to Sao Paulo, waited there the whole day, then flew all night arriving in LA, and then I waited there the whole day... FINALLY after 50+ hours of trying to come back to Utah, I MADE IT! Funniest part is that my mom didn't get any information about me coming home. Luckily, I had found an Apple store in the Sao Paulo airport and had quickly messaged her telling her my tentative flight plans. I didn't know this until 2 days ago, but my mom and dad had pulled up into the SLC airport 30 seconds before I had come out of the airport... So I am glad that I didn't have to wait for them and be lost hahaha! But it has been so weird to be home, especially since I only said goodbye to my family three months ago (actually three months ago today woot woot). 

My parents found me--even without an itinerary or
phone call letting them know I was coming home!

Cheerios and safe water! Two things I MISSED!

One of the hardest parts for me was saying goodbye to my companion Sister Cunha. She is literally one of my best friends and I know she will always be in my life. Her family already told me after my mission I can go and live with them in Sao Paulo hahaha! 

Sister Cunha shared this on FB - so sweet!

I have had the best support from my family and friends this last week with all these new adjustments. My mom is helping me with the language, my dad is doing companion study with me, and Emily watches Disney movies with me hahaha! And my friends have been so nice with keeping in touch with me. 

Social distancing and quarantining! 

This week was one of the hardest for me, but I'm trying to stay HAPPY :)  ALSO yesterday, one of my moms best friend's in the ward had the idea to have everyone in our ward to do a drive-by for all the missionaries that had to come home early because of coronavirus, and wowza I felt so loved during that. THANK YOU to everyone for all you've done!!! 

My neighbors did a parade to welcome home
all of us quarantined missionaries!

I am so thankful to be a missionary, and to still be a missionary right now while at home. I know that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that through prayer and scripture reading we can feel the love our Savior has for us. HE DOES LOVE EVERYONE! This is my fifth week of quarantine, so I have been able to get in a lot of scripture reading, and everyday I learn something new.  I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!! It is so true! I am excited to have the chance to share it here in the States, but hope I can go to Brazil and continue the work there as well :)

Love you all!

Sister Guilott <3

My companion!

Week #12 - Intermission

Monday, March 23, 2020

OIIII AMIGOS!!!! 

Let me just start out saying how much I love my Savior and how He truly does know everything and is our best friend. I found out last night that I am to return home and be in self isolation  quarantine for 2 weeks then will be temporarily reassigned somewhere in the US... This definitely hasn't been what I thought my mission would be like in the beginning, but I have definitely learned so much. I have learned how to trust my Savior more than anyone. 

Thankfully, this past was definitely fun so I leave with some fabulous memories. It started out boring because me and Sister Cunha were in quarantine, the only missionaries in Brasilia still. In fact, I think we were quarantined first out of the whole country! Then Thursday our STLs told us they were coming over to have a slumber party with us, hahaha, and while on their way over, we got a message from our Mission Presidente saying that all missions in Brazil were being placed on quarantine... but the STLs still came over. That next day, we went to their area with them. It was nice to get out of our apartment for a day and to be somewhere else. And Saturday we got to go to a baptism for a lady named Léa. She was adorable. And Sister Moreti (our stl) asked me to give a little talk about baptism and... I DID!!! And it was amazing to be able to share my testimony in Português about baptism. At least I got do that before I left. It was an awesome experience and one I will treasure always.

I am so happy for my time here in Brazil. I am heartbroken to be leaving, but I am praying and hoping that I will be able to come back here and continue serving  as a missionary here. I will also miss Sister Cunha so much. She has become one of my best friends. I told her earlier today in all seriousness... "Sister Cunha, you have been my favorite companion I've had here in Brazil." We both started laughing so hard hahaha!! 

I love this gospel and know it is so true!! Dont be afraid to share your testimony to other people. Even if you guys are 6 ft apart ;) 

Brazil, God be with you 'til we meet again!

Love you all so much <3 

Sister Guilott :)

Before we knew I would leave, we went to the store. They still have TP. 

So glad I brought yard to make bracelets for people. It has helped the time go by!

Surviving the quarantine-various things going on at once...That is me with my Tiger Pet studying.

Week #11 - Ubers, Teaching, and Guacamole!

Monday, March 16, 2020

Oiiii!!!

We got a brief break from quarantine this week!

You guys remember how I was quarantined and couldn't go outside and teach..? Well, we could go outside this week!!! And we taught some awesome people!! Last pday, we went to a family's house for dinner and they had an Uber pick us up. Me and Sister Cunha love Uber's because then people are stuck with us and they have to listen because they get money from us and then they're nice as well. Anyways this Uber driver told us his mom had a Book of Mormon and would want to be taught the lessons.... WELL OKAY!!! So we got his number; we called and set up a time and went and taught him and his mom a couple days later. They loved our message and you could feel the spirit so strongly in that room!! 

So happy to be out with the people and teaching!!

We also went out and gave pamphlets to people, and just talked with so many people. I even was able to talk a lot more to people this week. I still don't understand as much as I want to, but I can tell I'm so close... Anyways life was going great, we had a whole bunch of lessons planned for next week with different people and then.... our mission presidents wife called us and told us that we are now being quarantined again.... to say I was sad is an understatement. I was devastated because I finally was able to teach and feel like a real missionary, and now I have to stay inside again? But I quickly turned to prayer and the scriptures and came across the scripture Alma 38:5 that says, "As much as ye shall put your trust in God, even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions." I loved this scripture and it helped me so much because when we put all our faith and trust in our Savior, He will help us. I know that the start of my mission has been very different than I every imagined and has been hard for me, but I TRUST MY SAVIOR!!! Thank you again to everyone and all your prayers!! 

Outside feels good! Love my companion!

Funny story now... we were eating a meal with this cute old Brazilian family and when we walked in their house, I saw QUACAMOLE and was so excited. Then we didn't eat it and I was confused... then for dessert they brought out the guacamole and I was like "heck ya, chips and guac for dessert woohoo!" And then they told me that you add sugar to the avocados and I was a little grossed out and prayed that it would not be as gross as it sounded. Guess what? IT'S AMAZING--HOLY COW!!! Who knew avocados with sugar would actually sound appetizing?? Everyone stay healthy!

Love you all so much!!

Love,
Sister Guilott

A member gave us some peanut butter-a luxury item in Brazil!

Finding out we would be quarantined again

Some sort of yummy drink!

Something to pass the time-learning primary songs together!

Ice Cream cone my companion sculpted into me! lol

Week #10 - One Month this week in Brasilia!

March 9, 2020

We got to leave once this week: to go teach our English class

This week marks ONE MONTH IN BRASILIA!! And what a crazy month it has been... 

As most of you know, I had pneumonia last week and I feel so much better now. Thank you for all the prayers! I felt the love from everyone this week. I felt better really fast and was ready to go out and do the work, but then we got a call from our mission president... and someone in our area, Lago Sul, has the coronavirus and now we are on lockdown in our apartment... Let me just say that this has been soooo hard for me. All I want to do is just go out and work, but now we have been stuck inside our apartment for 2 weeks. Even though it has been hard, I have learned so much. Nothing exciting happened this week expect 2 baratas (cockroaches) flew into our apartment and we screamed like little girls. So, I will just share what I learned this week since all I did was study. I have been able to study more about our gospel and my testimony of it has grown so much. 

Since being a missionary, I have gained an understanding for many more things and things are just starting to click in my head. I read so much in the Book of Mormon that it is now 100% my favorite book. I know it is the true word of God. I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon and that he was a Prophet of God. I have loved being able to learn more about Joseph Smith and my testimony of him has grown so much. I am so ready to go out and just share my testimony with the people here. Even though the start of my mission has not been what I thought it would be, I have seen God's hand in my life so much!!

One funny story... We have a little grocery store right by our house and there's this one guy that is always outside all day everyday selling pao de quejo. So we decided to buy some from him and he started talking to us. He knew I was American and was talking to Sister Cunha and was telling her to ask me something. I was understanding him and then he started saying words I didn't know and I got confused... Found out, he wanted to know my opinion about Trump and terrorist attacks.... I just stared at him and didn't know what to say--hahaha. So I just said that I didn't have an opinion lol.  That was a funny experience. I hope this week we can actually go outside. We are waiting to get the news it is safe to go out. I love you all and miss you all so much!! 

Com Amor! Eu te amo!

Sister Guilott

I finally was able to buy a pillow case and sheet today!!! I have
not had them this whole time! Simple things that make me happy!

Week #9 - Pneumonia

Monday, March 2, 2020

Rainy days and tracting -- may cause pneumonia!

WOWZA what a week I had... Lets just say that it wasn't what I expected... Tuesday morning I woke up not feeling to good, so my companion Sister Cunha told me I should sleep a little bit more. After another half an hour, I woke up and I knew I wasn't okay. That's when I realized I had a fever of 102... We called our mission president's wife, who is over medical, and she told us to go to the nearby hospital to be checked. So we went to the hospital and they did a whole bunch of weird tests and said something was wrong with my kidneys? Yeah, confusing. This happened to the be the first day a case of coronovirus was discovered in Brasilia, so when I walked in as a foreigner having just arrived 14 days before on an airplane, with symptoms of a high fever and weird cough....lets just say it was a bit crazy.

World's Best Companion

Anyways, the next couple days we just took it slow, in and out of hospitals to see what was going on with me. But my fever won't go away. Thursday we went back to the hospital, spend more time there, did more tests, and guess what... they still didn't know what was going on and although they still thought my kidneys were messed up (they aren't, lol). The next day we had zone conference and before that, me and my companion went with our mission president's wife, Sister Cooper to an appointment that I had with a nephrologist because of some abnormal tests from the day before. (Yeah, a lot of new words I never knew before.) And let me just add that I did not understand anything these past days because I already don't understand Portuguese, and I for sure don't understand medical terms in Portuguese. The nephrologist didn't think anything was wrong with my kidneys, so we went over to zone conference, even though it was day four that I still had a fever that didn't go away, and a strange cough. As Sister Cooper was driving us home (I looked to sick to go home on public transportation so she offered us a ride), all of a sudden my throat started to close up and I couldn't breath! And what happened to be right by us? A HOSPITAL!! So we went in... I once again experienced a Brazilian emergency room not understanding anything and again more tests were done. I had to get more blood drawn (my least favorite thing), get an IV, get an x-ray, get a ct-scan, get a weird q-tip shoved up my nose and I still didn't know what was wrong with me. They had ruled out coronavirus (lol) the couple days before, and so they now thought it was maybe Dengue Fever. But then they were all confused when that test came back negative. FINALLY!! After being so sick for 4 days and not understanding anything that was wrong with me, I found out I have... PNEUMONIA from the chest xray and I was then transferred (by ambulance) to a different hospital that was literally a 5 star hotel and stayed there until last night.... 

The doctors kept thinking I had scary things...

Smiling because my IV is out and I get to go back to my area!

Breathing treatments--they helped a lot!

So, I guess you could say this week was exciting. Even though these experiences literally were all my least favorite things (needles, hospitals, being sick), I could not get over how much peace I felt. My companion was amazing and treated me so kindly and has been my so helpful. My Mission President and his wife have been amazing. All the missionaries here have been so kind. Some Elders were able to come and give us the sacrament in the hospital and what a cool experience that was. My ward here in Lago Sul have only wanted to help and have been so kind. All the doctors here, even though I didn't understand them too well most of the time, were so nice and treated me with love. We definitely gave out a few pamphlets to some nurses and doctors. I felt the prayers of my family and friends at home who were praying so much for me. 

Thank you all so much for your love and support. But most importantly, I felt my Savior's love this week. Through Him, I was able to handle this situation with grace and patience. I know that God gives us trials for a reason, and it is hard to have this one with only being in Brazil for two months, and Brasilia for three weeks. But I feel so much love from everyone. Thank you again for all your help this past week. <3

LOVE,

Sister Guilott

On the bus, before getting sick!

Week #8 - O que você disse? (What did you say?)

Monday, February 24, 2020

Lago Sul - Learning our way around the city!

Hello friends!!! 

Crazy that I've been here in Brasilia for two weeks. Also crazy because I UNDERSTAND NOTHING!! Holy cow, that has definitely been the hardest thing for me here... but every time we go and eat with members, they always want me to pray (since I'm the American that doesn't know Portuguese) and they always are surprised that my Portuguese is actually pretty good haha. I love speaking it and can say a few things, but I just never understand it.

This week was a crazy one. My companion got some sad news about her nephew (a baby) being in the hospital and he almost didn't make it. That was super hard for her so we were not able to go out and teach while while he was so critical and she processed that information. He is doing so much better now. It was hard for me because we didn't go out and teach and that's all I wanted to do. But I guess it was good to have that breather to get organized and ready to work hard. The best day this week was Friday and Saturday. 

Friday:

We went to lunch with some members and then afterwards were waiting at a bus stop and realized half an hour later it was the wrong bus stop... right when we were about to leave a lady came up to us and was saying how pretty we were and then saw our missionary name tags and went on and on how much she loves missionaries and wants to learn more. Then all of a sudden her bus was coming, and really fast she told us her name and where she worked and told us to come find her and teach her. So we did exactly that the next day: We went and found her and her work, talked to her and she was so receptive and excited, and she wants to learn more!! Talk about miracles.

Food!

A member taught me to make pastels, my new favorite food!

We took an Uber home later that day and the Uber driver told us he wanted to learn more. So we had that contact. We went and ate food at a cute restaurant and a worker there told us she wants to take the missionary lessons. We kind of taught a lesson to a lady named Ruth, and we also gave her a Book of Mormon. I was able (in Portuguese) to testify to her about it and she understood me! She said she would read it!! Literally so many miracles that day. 

On the bus - trying not to get lost!

Saturday:

Saturday even we felt like we needed to go and visit this one family, the Barros. We got on the bus and started our journey (remember we are both new to the area, so its hard to find our way around). All of a sudden I look out the window and realize we are not in our area at all and were in the middle of Brasilia--lost. (We reported it to the Zone Leaders so they could know as we are supposed to do.) We ended up finally getting to the right bus and eventually got to the stop we really needed. We were still pretty lost then, our phone was dying, and it was raining and pitch black dark outside... so we finally found the houses where the Barros lived, but didn't know which house was their house. Then we looked through one of the windows and there on the fridge was a picture of the Sao Paulo temple! We knew we had found their house! We later found out that the lady who lives there, never opens her curtains to the room that we could see into where we saw the picture of the temple.  But that day, the lady noticed that her mom was acting so lonely and felt like that day they needed to open the curtains to let in the light and have her mom be able to see outside. And that was what allowed us to find them! It was such an awesome experience to follow the spirit like that!

Our Chapel in Lago Sul

Lago Sul is definitely super hard, but it is so amazing here and I love being able to feel the spirit so strongly here. I hope this week you all are able to feel the spirit in anyway!! 

Eu amo sendo uma missionaria e falando português! Eu não entendo nada mas eu amo ouvir outro pessoas falam português. Português é difícil e eu preciso paciência! Eu te amo!

Love you all!

Sister Guilott :)

I love it here!

Practicing my Portuguese to these Brazilian cats!

View Pictures of Lago Sul

 

We walk A LOT!

 

This is a house across the street--we are in a really nice area!

Lots of rain, not too hot, and on purpose I didn't send a bug bite
picture.....Too many!!!

Loving it! It's hard, but it's where I want to be!

Week #7 - Hello Brasilia!

February 17, 2020

Sister Cunha and me in Lago Sul

HELLO BRASILIAAAA! 

Holy cow I cant believe that I am here in my mission. I LOVE IT HERE! My area is called Lago Sul and it is the richest area of my mission. Our ward is 50% Americans... So I guess I won't learn Portuguese as fast as I had hoped. Hahaha. With the Embassy nearby, there are a lot of government people who live in this area from all over, so that is why we have an English-speaking ward in this area. But it has been fun to go to lunch at members houses. One day we go to a Brazilian couple making rice and beans, and then the next day its Americans making breakfast burritos. This week was definitely a crazy one though. 

My companion is Sister Cunha and she is amazing. She is from Sao Paulo and knows both Portuguese and English. She is a blessing from God.  She and I both are new to this area. So that is interesting and fun! She has been out 7 months and also loves to sing! When we walk around (trying not to get lost as we learn our new area) we love to sing hymns in Portuguese and that is so much fun. When I arrived on Tuesday, I quickly met with the Mission President and his wife, and then Sister Cunha and I arrived at our area to move in and unpack. 

I was the only American who arrived on Tuesday!
The elders and sisters who came with me from the CTM and the office elders.

Wednesday was our first day to go out and it was so fun. I didn't understand a single thing and still don't, but I feel the spirit here. Wednesday night we found out that we would be getting another sister in our companionship for a few days who burned her hand really bad named Sister Robison who is also American. She has been serving for 7 months. She wasn't allowed to go out in sunlight for 6 months... so that meant we had to stay inside and not go out and teach for a few days. That was so difficult for me because all I wanted to do was go outside and teach people and learn the language. Then the next day we got a call from our mission president and he told us that she would be going to live in the mission home. I was sad because we had become good friends, but also happy that I could go and be outside and get to know my area. She did give me hope about learning the language. She said, first I will understand my companion; then the other missionaries; then the members; then the investigators; and finally everyone else. I am starting to understand my companion....

Sister Robison - with us for two days

The next day, Saturday, we went and met with members and people in the city. We met two investigators whose names are Jaceleine and Joaquim. They are amazing. They had baptism dates with the other sisters and then they didn't anymore. Not quite sure what happened. But they love our gospel and I have a lot of hope for them.  Joaquim came to church on Sunday. That was exciting!

We also met a neighbor named Michal Joseph who is from England that we talked to for 45 minutes about his theory on life. He also made us English "tea" and was asking us so many questions about our church and just talking about his view on life. He wants to just have Star Trek come to life and live in space. He was telling us about this tv show on Netflix about space that I had never heard of, and he told us if we watched it, he would read The Book of Mormon... We told him he didn't have Netflix... so we will pray that he will read the Book of Mormon. We feel his spirit so strongly, even though he said a lot of strange things. People are looking for the truth!

Sunday at church was so fun because it is half Americans that don't know Portuguese and half Brazilians that don't know English. So that is interesting. A talk was given in English, and a Portuguese woman stood next to the person giving the talk and translated it into Portuguese. We had four investigators at church, so that was exciting since we had only had three days to get to know people in our area. 

I was expecting the Brazilians not to really notice me since I look so young and foreign. The few times we went out in Sao Paulo, it seemed like they didn't like any of the Americans. Like they literally ran away from me. But I'll tell ya.... I have never received more attention in my whole life than this week in Lago Sul because I am an American girl. An older man came up to my companion and told her that he wanted to take me to his city and marry me. I have had countless guys wink and just smile and stare at me or call me an angel... Flattering, but no hahaha. I wasn't expecting all that. 

I honestly love it here in Lago Sul and I feel the Spirit all the time here. I know that what I am doing is where I am supposed to be right now and that I am teaching about the true and restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The hardest thing right now for me is learning Portuguese. I don't understand it that much, so pray for me to learn it!! I love you all so much!

Sister Guilott <3

It's not too humid or too hot. Happy about that!

Awesome street art!

Many of our member dinners/lunches have fallen through-haha!
So we eat out sometimes!

In our kitchen, making food!
Our apartment is nice!

This street is called "friendship" street

Cute sandwiches Sister Cunha made for us!

Walking in my area Lago Sul

It's beautiful -- we walk, take the bus, or members drive us.
They drive crazy here -- I don't think I will ever get used to it.

5 bites I got the first time we went into a home to visit people...
Don't worry mom, I am going to start using the bug repellent.