Week 3!! October 19th-26th

Oi family and friends! Its me sister lytle here in brazil. being a
misisonary was CrAzY this week. On saturday we went proselyting for
the first time.  Scariest/best experience ever. So here at the CTM
they love to just throw you into things without giving you any time to
prepare or really any helpful directions. So that fun except for oh
wait no its not and i almost pee my pants every time. So they bus like
50 plus of us misisonaries into the middle of the city here in Sao
Paulo and hand us 4 book of mormons and say ok good luck meet back
here in 2 hours! and then they smile at you all nice like they didnt
just tell you to go preach the gospel in a foreign land for the first
time. Anyways my comapnion and i started walking and i was literally
just saying prayers over and over again just asking heavenly father to
please place some people in our path. well, God is so good and he did
just that. The first person was an older man who was coming out of his
apartment building. sister hamblin and i both felt like we should talk
to him so we quickly started running through all the portugeuse we
knew. Well we must´ve looked as scared as we felt because ´he sais
dont look so scared! I speak a little bit of english! hahah we all
just started cracking up and then he told us that he could tell we
were americans and that we had something important to tell him. OH BOY
did we! Anyways turns out this man recently had a stroke and had
really been struggling to be happy ever since. His children lived far
away and he had no family close by to be with him. He cried and we
cried and in awful broken portugeuse sister hamblin told him how much
god loves him and how he is never alone and then inj even worse
portugeuse i told him we had this free book for him that would help
him in times of struggle and he took it and we told him the
missionaries in his area would be in contact with him!! It was truly
amazing and i have never experienced something like it before. The
second person was a woman named Tanya who was sweeping the streets. We
stopped and told her who we were and she looks pretty suspicious but
then her face broke into the happiest smile and she started speaking
really really fast in portuegeuse and then she hugged us for like 2
minutes each and kissed our faces. Honestly i dont know if she
understood what we were saying to her but she seemed happy and she
took the book of mormon. so successful?? maybe. at least she was
happy. So proselyting got me way out of my comfort zone but it was
such a cool experience. I am learning more and more everyday to let
the spirit guide my words instead of worrying about how bad my
portugeuse or being nervous to talk to strangers. Oh dang i am running
out of time!! But things are good here i got asked to teach relief
society on sunday so thats scary but ill let you know next week how
that goes. we had splits this week and my companheira is so so cool.
ill send a photo with sister ferraira:) She speaks really fast but she
is so patient with me and helps me and im learning so much from her.
Oh man being a missionary is so great. there are definetly hard times
and difficult situations but overall i am just happy. I cant wait to
get to the field though!! Salvador is calling my name but the CTM is
just dragging on haha. All is well. Heavenly Father is so merciful and
he loves us so so much and i cant express that enough. Scripture study
is probably one of my favorite times of the day here becasue i get to
study and feel the spirit and find guidance and help. The food is
still weird. I eat alot of rice and beans and bread. ok i have to go
but everyone please wish my mommy a happy birthday tomorrow! I have
the best mom. I could write about her forever but i have to go. Love
you alll so so much talk to you next week!

Splits with Sister Ferraira this week







My Birthday treat:)

Week 2!! OCTOBER 12TH-19TH

city of  Sao Paulo

 Sao Paulo LDS Temple

Oi from Brazil!!

I cant even express the love i felt this week as i checked my email. I am so lucky to have such beautiful people in my life. also i need to apologize in advance for any mistakes in this email because this keyboard IS THE WORST. Also im typing fast because i have no time!! For all you you who sent me emails i am so sorry if i dont respond right away but please know that i am getting them and crying because i love you all so much. 

Let me tell you all whats new around these parts!!

There are cockroaches everywhere. They are massive and the best part is they can fly! So its super fun. Im trying to be ok with the bug situation but lets be honest i will never be ok with it. 

Every day my district has actividade fisica (physical activity) and we always play volleyball. Everyone is always so shocked and impressed with my skills and i dont understand why because why wouldnt a small white girl whos super emotional and talks about bunny rabbits be a straight baller on the court 

Humidity is not my friend! Its so dang hot and its supoosed to be even hotter in Salvador. But you know what cold showers might actually be a blessing in the field!

 An elder in my district who was also going to Salvador went home last week. My heart is so sad for him. It was really hard for our whole district but especially the elders. We have gotten super close as a district though and im thankful for that.

Portugeuse is still pretty rough. Im usually confused but more things are stciking in my brain then i realize because sometime sill be writing in my journal and ill write a word in portugeuse instead of english haha. Sometimes i wonder why God sent me portugeuse speaking. I know that i would be a better teacher if i could speak english. But i am always reminded that God wouldnt have called me here if he didnt think i could learn portugeuse or if he didnt have some purpose for me here. So im trying to find faith and hope in that. 

None of the Brazilians can say Lytle so they eiether say Little or Leetlay. I just kind of go with it and i stopped correcting them after week 1 haha. 

The days are pretty exhausting here and the schedule is pretty much the same every day and i can tell its gonna get old REAL fast. But its crazy to me that its already week 3 so i think ill be out of here before i know it. On tuesday and sunday nights we have devotionals and they are always SO GOOD. We always sing a hymn in portugeuse before and it just gets me every time. We heard from bednar this week and wow he is such a powerful smart speaker. 

I saw this huge bird the other day that actually might have been a small dragon or a pteradactyl. 

Today we went to the Sao Paulo temple and it is so tiny and so beautiful! 

I have focused alot on faith since being a missionary. I am a worrier and I think about things too much but i ahve learned that through faith i can put all of my worries into Gods hands and he will strengthen me and help me to focus on the moment and be happy and not afraid. Alma 32 26-27 is a really good scripture about that and it always helps me to feel comforted when i am worried or anxious. 

I am so happy that i get to be a missionary. I am so happy that i get to wear a name tag with the three most important things in my life written on it. The name of my family, the name of my church, and the name of my savior. I am doing this for my savior and im doing it because he has done everything for me. I want to serve him and i wnat to bring his children back to his gospel because this gospel makes me happy and strong and confident and everything i want to be. Prayer works and it only works if you are faithful and diligent and thats something i didnt know for a long time. I am so so so blessed and so excited to serve and be here in Brazil as a missionary of God. 

I want to bear a very very simple testimony in portugeuse for you all...

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo e nosso salvador. Eu sei que ele vive. Eu sei que o livro de mormon e verdedairo. Eu sou grato pelo evangelho e meu pai celestial. Eu amo Jesus Cristo. Eu amo missionario trabalho. Em nome de jesus cristo amem. 

I love you all so much. Tchau tchau!!

I was so happy when these pictures showed up in my email today!

First P-Day began at the Sao Paulo Temple

Sister Lytle and her district

Sister Lytle and her companion Sister Hamblin from Kentucky

Week One! Oct. 4th -Oct. 12th

Oi friends and family!! i´m in Brazil! What the heck! I dont have much

time to write but i want to update you on how everything is going

here. This last week was without a doubt the longest and hardest week

of my life so far. haha that is not an exaggeration!! The first 3 days

seemed pretty hopeless and I really didnt think i was gonna make it

but because of prayers and fasting and kind people i am still here and

im doing SO well. The CTM is way cool! Its 7 stories high and its

surrounded by like a million other huge buildings. Sao Paulo is a like

jungle city! So many trees and plants but also alot of buildings and

people. The food is weird here haha but im learning to just take a

bite even if i dont know what the heck it is and usually it turns out

tasting ok. unless its the purple grape jello because i almost threw

that up everywhere. Pretty much my schedule is the same everyday. At

least 8 hours sitting in class learning portugeuse. Portugeuse is

MUITO DIFICILE. I definitly spelled that wrong but its very hard and

im struggling with it but also chillin because i know it will get

better and that heavenly father will help me. Its mostly frustrating

because right now i can pretty much get the idea of what someone is

saying to me but i have no idea how to respond to them. My district is

4 sets of elders and 2 sets of sisters. The elders are all only 18 and

they are a little hyper but overall they are good guys. OMG my

companion! So i met her in the Atlanta airport and after talking to

her for like 10 minutes (lol) found out she was a sister missionary

and was also going to....GUESS WHERE. salavdor. I cried, she cried it

was the first little miracle of many since being here. Sister Hamblin

is from Kentucky and is super tall and funny. We will for sure be

friends forever. I have two Brazilian roomates who are SO cute and so

funny. They are both going to Tokyo so they are learning Japanese

which is cool and super crazy. The other night we all prayed together

before bed in japanese, portuegeuse and english and it was so cool

because no matter what language we prayed in, the spirit was there. So

its pretty great here. Things are looking up and seriously there is no

way you can be unhappy or scared here because everyone is so nice.

Around every corner soemone is smiling and saying Bom Gia! or Tudo

Bem! There are always going to be hard and frustrating things but

being around good happy people makes a big difference. We are already

teaching fake investigators which is the scariest thing ever but its

also cool to listen to myself speak and here how much i already know

in a week of being here. Oh funny story- so we were teaching our very

first lesson ever and i walked in all confident and I told her that we

had a massagem (massage) instead of a mensagem (message) for her. So

confidence went out the door after that ahhaha. On sunday nights we

have devotional and the other night we got to see a broadcast from the

provo MTC and the speaker was Holland and it was of course amazing! I

wish I had time to tell you what he said but I will some other time!!

We also sang Reunidos nos estamos (come thou fount of every blessing)

my favorite hymn. Today we went to the temple in campinos and it was

so beautiful but also hard because it was all in Portugeuse. But it is

really cool that we can go to a temple anywhere in the world and feel

that it is the house of god. You guys i just want you to know that i

have no idea how or why im here yet. Like i said it has been very hard

for me and sometimes i wonder if i can do it. But since being here i

have never felt more like i belong. i cannot even begin to tell you

the amount of blessing and miracles i have alreday experienced.

Heavenly father answers prayers and sends us the holy ghost in times

of doubt and frustration and anxiety.  I know that this is Gods work.

I already love brazil and brazilians so much. im not so sure if i love

portugeuse but i guess we willl see where im at next week. I just love

you all so much and i hope all is well back home! Be happy and be kind

to everyone around you!!! LOVE YOU LOVE YOU TCHAU love, sister lytle

Enjoy the view.

Welcome letter from the CTM

Dear Parents,

Sister Grahl and I are very happy to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil Missionary Training Center.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they begin their missionary experiences with us! We will surely take good care of your missionary.                                                                                                     

The missionaries now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  Their branch presidents and wives will meet them this Sunday.  These wonderful couples are richly blessed as they work with, motivate, and interview the missionaries assigned to their branch.

The MTC has a full-time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife who is a nurse. We are also happy to report that the MTC food is plentiful, healthy and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of many others. President Lorenzo Snow said: “There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".  We love these missionaries as if they were our own.  We will watch over them carefully to ensure they are ready for a wonderful missionary experience after the rewarding time they will have in the MTC.

We thank you for preparing such a wonderful representative of the Lord.

Pres. Paulo R. Grahl and Sister Zuleika M. Grahl