(Here is a picture of India with her companion, Sister Hollandsworth)
Hi Family,
We leave on Tuesday for o campo missionario!! We only have 2 more lessons to teach tomorrow, and then we have to have orientation, pack, and do a whole bunch of other stuff. I don´t know too much about what´ll be going on, but yeah.
I really like sitting next to York at breakfast. He still exaggerates things as much as usual. He hasn´t changed much. But he´s nicer, at least.
It´s starting to get hot here. GREEEEEAAT. I´ll survive.
I´m really gonna miss my comp. We get along so well. Also speaking English is nice, and I don´t really get to speak any after Tuesday.
On Sunday I had to give a spontaneous talk in Sacrament meeting. They pick 2 elders and 2 sisters to speak and they announce them after the Sacrament, and luckily I actually wrote a talk this week. Phew! It was good though, I talked about faith.
I´m a bit nervous to go out into the field. I´m not good at talking to new people, let alone in Portugues, and I´m not sure how my back is gonna hold up. But I knew through faith, obedience, and hard work, I can do anything out here. I´m excited to start teaching new people and bringing them the Gospel that I love so much. I know there are so many people out here just waiting for us to reach out and tell them. the Gospel changes lives, and I can´t wait to show people.
The longer I´m here the more I realize that there are some central elements to the Gospel, and to a strong testimony. The first, obviously, is Jesus Christ. He literally is the center of our faith. With his Atonement we can be clean from sin, understand the necessity of hard things in life, overcome pain and sad things, get through trials, and be worthy to hear the Spirit speaking to you. That is so critical, not just as a missionary, but in general. The other thing is the Love of God. Because God loves us, He gave us the things he has: the ability to repent, the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the priesthood, the Plan of Salvation, a prophet today, families, everything. Literally everything we have in this life is because of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. Beyond a doubt I know He is our loving Heavenly Father, and he wants nothing more than for us to return to his presence. That´s why I´m here. Because I know I can help people get there.
Love always, Sister West
India in Brazil 