Let's be honest, not every week is good.

I'm having a hard time and I'm not gonna lie and tell you all that my week was great. Everyone told me a mission was hard but i didn't realize just how hard it was. These past few days I've really questioned if I can  stay here much longer. Physically im struggling as well as mentally and emotionally. Being moved to a new area was hard and the first little while in a new area is always a struggle. New investigators, new members, not knowing where anything is, being sad after saying goodbye to everyone in my old area. This week I got really sick as well and that didn't help with the adjustment. 

I wish I had some awesome story or scripture or experience to share that made me realize "wow! i'm just gonna be fine and be a missionary for another year and see miracles and be so so happy!" but I don't.

Maybe I'll learn some stuff this week after conference and through my experiences and have something to tell you all next week to inspire you. But this weeks letter is a bit of a downer and im just being real because lets be honest not every week is good.

letter to myself-

Have faith sister lytle. Faith that god will help you. Have faith that this week will be better. Have faith that your family is okay. Don't stop praying and hoping for better days.

Remember that you are loved. Remember that Jesus already felt all of these things for you and he can help you. Understand that you are not a failure no matter what happens.

"It's like leaving my family again!"

This transfer was super cool. I learned a lot of things. I'm sad to leave Camaçari Radial because it has been my home for 6 months and ive seriously met some of my favorite people in the world here. It has been so hard to say goodbye. It's like leaving my family again!! But I'm excited to meet new people and have new experiences. I will stay in Camaçari but i will go to a diffferent part of the city far away from here.

This transfer was really hard and I felt a lot of homesickness and anxiety and experienced some tough things but at the same time we were blessed with 7 baptisms and the happiness that came with that. I never imagined that i would see baptisms like this. Its been so cool to watch this gospel change peoples lives. It's so humbling.

Marcus and Caio baptism

Yesterday we had 2 baptisms of 2 young men we´ve been teaching for a while now. Caio is 16 and has been preparing so diligently for baptism for about a month. He reads the scriptures and says beautiful prayers and even stopped drinking coffee to be baptized. He had a desire to serve a mission along with Yago and Maycon! So cool. And the other boy Marcus. He was supposed to be baptized a few weeks ago but his mom didn't sign the papers. He was really sad. He wanted to be baptzied so badly and he goes to church every week and everything. Well we were preparing for the baptism of Caio and Marcus came running into the church with the papers yelling

 "sisters sisters!! my mom signed the papers!! she won't come to my baptism but she signed the papers! can I be baptized today?"

And of course we were like um yes. And he was baptized with Caio yesterday. I was sad that no one in his family was there but he didn't seem to upset about it. He was smiling so big just because he was baptized and because he knew he was doing the right thing.

It is very normal for these young people here to not have the support of their families. I can't imagine not having the support and love of my family. I can't imagine how hard it must be. But these young men who have been baptized (Yago, Maycon, Caio, Marcus) didn't have the support or love of their families but they never gave up because they knew that this was right and they felt that. They all have desires to serve missions one day. Im just so happy with this. to have more worthy young men serving missions and finding more people to bring to this happiness! ITS SO COOL!!! We´re all just helping each other out! and thats exactly how it should be. Ive been thinking of the scripture in John and the hymn Love One Another a lot this week and the importance
John 13:3 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Family in the ward

I'm so thankful for this opportunity to enter into homes of these people to teach them and to learn to love them every day. To realize that really we are all children of god, brothers and sisters and we should treat each other as such. The people of Brazil are the most loving people in the world I think. I know heavenly father sent me here because of this, because he knew I needed to feel their love and learn a lot of things from them.

Next week you´ll hear from me in my new area with my new companion and everything! AMO VÔCES MUITO MUITO MUITO

TCHAU TCHAU
SISTER LYTLE

Yago all ready for church!!

son of the bishop received his call to Japan!

Yago and Maycon

baptism of Yago and Maycon

2 more baptisms this week! What! blessings.
 We were planning for the baptism of Yago for saturday night and all week we were preparing him and everything we needed for the baptism. Well since i first got here in Camaçari we visit with a 17 year old boy named Maycon. He has been taking lessons from missionaries for more than a year and has wanted nothing more than to be baptized. He was so prepared and just has the strongest testimony of the gospel. The only problem was that his parents wouldnt allow him and because hes only 17, there was nothing he or we could do.He came to church every week but it was a fight with his dad to get out the door every sunday. His birthday isnt until august so we told him, we will continue meeting with you every week and when you turn 18 you will be baptized. He accepted this but was always a little sad and we knew he didnt want to wait 8 more months. We felt impressed to make some goals with him. We felt very strongly that his dads heart could be softened. We told him that he needed to be praying every day for help, for his parents. He needed to continue coming to church every week. And we needed to fast together. We did all these things and at the beginning of this past week we handed him the baptism papers and said "take these home, pray in front of your dad, express your desire to be baptized, and ask him to sign them"
We left and waited anxiously for him to call us and let us know what happened. We tried our best to have lots of faith. He didnt call and we went to bed that night really sad because we assumed that his dad hadnt signed. Well early friday morning bishop called and said "sisters a miracle happened. maycons dad signed the papers." We all cried hahha it was so cool. This poor kid had been waiting and waiting to be baptized because he knew it was what he needed to do. He felt that. And through his faith and persistence and diligence he was baptized and confirmed a member of the church along with Yago friday night.
Yago and Maycon both have expressed desires to serve missions and will receive the priesthood this week.
Oh another miracle. Nadson came to church in a tie! He always said he would NEVER wear a tie. And he blessed the sacrament.

Where there is miracles and happiness there is always hard stuff too. missionary work is hard in case i haven't already said that haha. There are days that i really want to give up. Ive never experinced anything like this before. Such joy and happiness with such anxiety and sadness. Its confusing but i know its because where there is good there has to be bad to. opposition in all things. If everything was good here then it would be easy and i would'nt learn anything. I'd just be here in brazil for a year and a half and return the same person i was before. So ya its hard and i some days i dont know if ill make it 18 months but im still here and im seeing cool things and im learning so much. These people here who have been baptized are amazing.They have so much faith and they are helping me more thank I'm helping them.
                                                       

Cute girls we have been teaching 

love you all.

sister lytle

Mission Pres. wife sent us this excerpt from the mission newsletter:)

Careful what you wish for!  Fake has turned to real!

5 Months down!

Sister T and me

Oi Family and friends
This week was great. We had 2 baptisms which was super awesome!! First of course was NADSON! He really did it! He was really baptized and confirmed a member of the church. My heart was just bursting with joy!! It wasnt easy though let me tell you. The morning of the baptism we went to the chapel to clean and fill up the font. Well WHAT DO YOU KNOW the church didnt have any water. This is not a normal thing that happens. We spent the entire say trying to figure out why we didnt have water and how we could get water and what we could do. It was exhausting. When the hour of the baptism arrived and we still didnt have water, everyone started to complain and say things like "lets just move the baptism to next week" well we knew that this baptism needed to happen then. We called up the sisters in the other area here in camaçari and moved everyone and everything to the other chapel about a 15 minute car ride away. Very few people here have cars so bishop and some other awesome members made several trips back and forth to get people to support nadson. Others walked miles to attend the baptism. it was such a demonstration of love that i wont ever forget. The baptism was perfect and i cried and the spirit was so strong! I know that this baptism was extremely important. Thats why everything went wrong. thats why the chapel randomly didnt have water.Because the devil works the hardest in these situations... But through the faith of everyone there and through a little bit of work and struggle, the baptism  happened and it was beautiful.

Nadson baptism!!!!

The next day we had the baptism of Melissa. She's 9 and the baptism was wonderful as well. My companion and i sang "Faz Me Andar So Na Luz" ('Teach Me To Walk In The Light") with a few primary kids. I taught them to sing a part in english and it was so cool. A bunch of little Brazilian kids sang "Teach me, teach me to walk in the light" with the cutest little accents and again i cried. shocker.

Melissa baptism

Also I'm not sure if ive already talked about Yago but he's 16 and we've been teaching him for about a month now. He is awesome. Yesterday he bore his testimony in sacrament meeting. He said from the pulpit how he was so thankful for the sisters who have been teaching him and then he looked at us in the crowd and said "and i think i want to be baptized" the entire congregation was all like
UMMMMMMMM WHAT

So again tears.

Later that night we visited with him and set his baptism date for this Saturday the 11th. The only problem was his mom needed to allow it. so we spoke with him and said Yago, if this is really what you want, then you will talk to your mom as soon as you get home tonight. you will have lots of courage and we have faith thats she will say yes. and afterwards you call us and let us know what she said.

So we sat in our house just waiting. Amd then the phone rang. And it was Yago. And guess what. HIS MOM SAID YES. we shouted and jumped for joy haha it was a moment i wont forget.

So lots of cool things happening here in camaçari. Lots of people who are so prepared to have this happiness in their lives.

Miss you extra today family. Seems like a lot more than 5 months since I last saw you.
hope all is well i love you all and i cant thank you enough for the love and support i receive from you all.

tchau tchau
sister lytle

My companion made this for me for my 5 month anniversary, it says "I love my companion, everyday, I  need to pee."
she spelled everything wrong but this is what she knows so far in English.  haha

"He said YES!"

Oi family and friends

GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT
Nadson will be baptized this FRIDAY. WHAT. This is a miracle. I am so happy.  Nadson was one of the first investigators i met on my mission 5 months ago. For 5 months I've worked with him and invited him to read the book of mormon and pray and for 5 months he didnt. For 5 months he didnt want anything to do with baptism. He was shy and closed off and didnt really care to listen to our messages. For a short amount of time we gave up a little bit on him. But we really felt like we needed to try again this transfer. we prayed and fasted so hard for him. And these past few weeks i have seen such a change in him. And tuesday night we ran into him in the chapel and started talking and i felt so impressed to invite him to be baptized friday march 3rd. It was weird because we werent in a lesson but i just felt like i should so i talked with my companion and we invited him. and he said yes. HE SAID YES. We visited him every day this weekk because i was scared that he would change his mind or something. But no. Hes so happy! He so excited! Hes a differnt person! Im so happy. He will be baptized friday i dont believe what im typing!
haha but i have such a testimony that the spirit can change a person. His mom is so happy. Shes a recent convert and whne i called her and told her he accepted baptism she thought i was joking but after started crying and screaming haha. You all just wait for the ahppy baptism photos next week!
i have never felt so much joy/frustration/sadness/annoyance for the lives of other people before. i have never been so concerned for the lives of other people before. Honestly it's exhausting. but its great too because i can forget my own issues (a lot) for a minute. Helping others is the best part about this work.

Every day is hard but also every day I see really cool things and meet really cool people. I know this isnt supposed to be easy. Because if it was easy then it wouldnt mean anything. Every day when we talk to peopel in the street they say "you arent from here are you?" haha and then i say nop im from america and then they say what what the heck are you doing here! and then i get to tell them why i left my family and home and life and came to dirty sweaty brazil haha. but its cool because what an opportunity to bear my testimony of this work. Oh man i miss my family and home. but its just a short time more. and i still have to find a family to baptize and bring to this happiness before i can come home haha.
all will be well. missionary work is so cool!! the gift of tongues is real! A boy in the ward here got his mission call to japan this past week. his mom just about died. I told her my mom felt just about the same way about me coming here. but it was cool because i was able to talk to felipe about the gift of tongues and the reality of it. I know japanese is way harder than portuguese but people i never thought i could learn any language and here i am with 5 months in my mission able to speak and understand almost everything. and i know its not me. im not a very smart girl i know that. but i am with the spirit and with god. and so i know the gift of tongues is real.
well. i love you all so much. my freinds and cousins and aunt and uncles and gmas and gpas and family. i wish i could name you all and just tell u all how cool i think you are. thank you for your love and support and prayers.
tchau tchau
sister lytle

"Little girl I taught who had a Buddy bunny, I cried"

Oi from Brazil!
This week was great and we are finding new people to teach and its just awesome. Oh something cool..we had 12 investigators at church on sunday. 12. TWELVE. DOZEN. WHAT. I didnt believe my eyes but God heard our prayers and we are just seeing miracles.
We had a zone conference this week in Salvador which was super awesome. I learned alot because now i can actually understand what people are saying! YAA! We learned about the importance of working with members. Its so true that we have so much more success when the members help out by giving us references or by visiting people with us. WE also learned about the importance of daily repentance. This is something that I never really grasped the importance of before my mission. We need to be repenting everyday because surely everyday we make mistakes. But we need to be humble enough to ask for this forgiveness everyday and try to be a little better the next. Also especially as missionaries we cant walk around telling people they need to repent if we arent repenting ourselves. But im learning and gaining more of a testimony that repentance truly is a gift from god because without it we cant ever return to his presence.
We are working really hard with Nadson and set a new date for baptism for March 4th. He is still struggling and saying he has fear but we arent sure of what yet. But i have so much faith in him and he comes to church every week in a white shirt and he goes to the activities too! i have been working with nadson since the first day in the field-almost 5 months! I have seen such a change in him and i know he will be ready by the 4th..he just has to believe that himself.
We also are tecahing a girl names Melissa. Shes 9 and will be baptized on the 4th as well. She is awesome and is super excited to be baptized but still has alot to learn. I love teaching kids about the gospel because everything is so much simpler and they are so honest and sincere. Her mom is a reccent convert and has been helping us out alot.
My companion is the best. She is so funny. Heres a story for everyone to have a good laugh:
So the other day she found a butterfly cocoon on the ground and decided she wanted to bring it home and build a home for it. i wanted to say ummm are you 5 years old? but i was nice and said ok go ahead instead.
She talked about this butterfly everyday. she would say "oh my companion, one day it will come out of the cocoon and be so beautiful" and i went along with it but i was pretty sure it was dead since it was on the ground and since it had been sitting inside our house for like 4 days. Didnt want to break my companions heart though. well the other night i was just starting to fall asleep when she starts yelling "SISTER SISTER!!" and then i feel something hit me square in the head. WELL JUST GUESS WHAT IT WAS. We turned the lights on and there is the biggest ugliest moth ive ever seen in my life. Im not kidding this thing was huge. size of a small bird. So theres this weird brazilian moth flying around our house and my companion running after it with a cup yelling "MELISSA AUBREY!" (she named it both of our first names lol)
anyways we opened the windows and waited in sheer terror for this weird moth butterfly bird thing to leave for like 20 minutes. And then finally it flies out the window and my sister torquato looks at me with tears in her eyes (im not kidding) and says in english "Melissa Aubrey is gone..my baby is gone" hahahahha i have never laughed so hard.
Anyways that was my week. Taught lots of cool people and am learning so much about our savior jesus christ and what he did for us and the plan our heavenly father has for us. we are so lucky to have this knowledge. what happiness it brings and what comfort in times of anxiety.
I miss you all! I love you all!
sister lytle tchau!

my wall

Lots of teaching English going on!

I have a new companion! Sister Torquato!

She's awesome. She really wants to learn english so everytime shes sees something she asks what it is in english. then i tell her and she repeats it with the worst accent ive ever heard. just imagine how she must feel with me and my portuguese everyday! The other day we were walking down the street and she looks at me and says (in english) "my blood is red" hahah i couldn't stop laughing and i asked her if she knew what she had said and she said no. i told her in Portuguese and she couldn't stop laughing either. not sure where she learned that and not gonna lie it freaked me out a little.

Speaking of english I taught an english class this week! it was awesome and a bunch of people showed up. it was super hard not to laugh at everyones accents.  They LOVE english here. they love it so much but no one knows how to speak it. haha

My English class!

Ana Luiza was baptized on Saturday!

She is so awesome and so happy. So many people came to see her be baptized. It was a very happy day for me because Ana Luiza and her family were some of the first people i met in my mission and they have helped me so much and I'm glad i got to be a part of helping her get baptized.

Nadson came to church again!! But this time... In a white shirt!! I could've cried i was so happy. Hopefully he will let us set a baptism date for him soon. We are working so hard with him.
I also gave a talk yesterday in church and let me tell ya if you think giving a talk in english is scary, try it in portugeuse. i was a nervous wreck but i got through it haha. I spoke about obedience and it was really awesome to be able to study and learn a little more about obedience and how important it is. i spoke about jesus christ and his example of obedience when he atoned for our sins in the garden of gethsemane. He didn't have to do that because he is perfect. at any moment he could've said, no im not doing this, this is too hard. But he knew his purpose and he knew he needed to be obedient to Heavenly Father. In matthew 26,  He asks twice if there is any other way 2 times but he also says "not my will but thine be done" "não seja como eu quero, mas como tu queres."
 He performed this act for every person who ever lived- the hardest thing that ever was done or ever will be done out of pure love. I cant even tell you the love i feel from this. I know that jesus christ truly atoned for our sins. I know he did it because it was the plan of heavenly father and he knew he needed to be obedient. When i struggle i think- ok, jesus already felt this he felt it so that he could help me to go through it today. he felt it because he loves me. I can obey i can continue on. Becasue of all he did for me i can serve and obey.
We went to the home of a woman named Joselha the week. We met her in the street and she said we could visit her in her home. We arrived at her house and she didn't seem so excited to let us in or talk to us in general. But she let us in. I felt super uncomfortable at first but as soon as we sat down i felt like i just needed to start asking questions about her family and life. She talked about her family and their struggles. she cried. She told us she didnt have a religion (super rare here)  but she believes in god. She poured her heart out to us. I sat there wondering why some random woman was so willing to tell us all about her life and problems. I realized that she must be so lonely and so in need of people who love her and care for her.
Never in my life have I experienced so much love for complete strangers as I have in my mission so far. it so cool to realize that we truly are all brothers and sisters and we are here to help and love each other.
Joselha said that we could return to her home ths next week and teach her the first lesson. It was so cool to bear testimony of the happiness this gospel bring into the lives of even the most discouraged sad people to talk about Jesus Christ and that he already felt what she's feeling and all she has to do is pray to find help and love.

Being a missionary is the coolest. The people here are incredible. I will never forget them and their examples and love. I realized the other day that I will hit my 6 month mark in Camaçari. I will have spent 1/3 of my mission here and i think that means its pretty special in my life and there were people here I really needed to meet and learn from. I learn more from these people than they learn from me and thats for sure.

 sol isso. I miss you all. I love you all!!

tchau! sister lytle

Four months!

OI FAMILY AND FRIENDS-
HAPPY FEBRUARY. I've been in brazil for 4 months and today i saw an iguana. So cool stuff happening.
So the transfer is tomorrow and i will be staying in Camaçari! I will be getting a new companion though- Sister Torquato. She is from Rio De Janeiro and we were in the CTM together! Im excited to meet her and get to work!
This Saturday we will have a baptism for Ana Luiza! Ana Luiza is the grand daughter of Irma Haidee and she is so cute. She is 9 so technically shes an investigator but not really because she already knows everything about the church and shes been going her whole life. Her mom didnt allow her to be baptized last year but now she is letting her! Im so excited.
One of our investigators Auzenie is progressing well. Her family is all members and she knows alot about the church but she hasnt been baptized because she always works on sundays. We have seen so much progress and i think even little miracles with her these past few weeks. We taught her about the importance and blessings of the gospel and of church attendance and the spirit is always really strong. This week she told us how she has been feeling a desire to come to church again. She said she doesnt want to work on sundays anymore. And she said that lately she has been feeling very strongly like she needs to read the scriptures. She said sometimes she hears a voice in her head telling her to read. We told her that this is the spirit and how important is is to follow those promptings. I have faith in her and we are going to try and make sure she gets to church this sunday.
Something that we do sometimes is walk up to people on the street and ask is we can pray with them. Its the scariest thing ever because you have to be really bold. But its been such a cool experience for me. We pray with probably 20 people on the street everyday because the people here love god and know hes real and love to pray to him. Well i felt so impressed to pray l with a man sitting alone in the middle of this park yetsreday. I felt really nervous and scared but i looked at my companion and said "vamos orar come aquele homem" and we went and we prayed with him and i have never seen someone so thankful and happy in my life. As we walked away i looked back and saw that he was smiling and watching us walk away with a smile i will never ever forget. The people here have so much faith. They love to pray. i felt gods love so strong for this little old man. Sometimes all people need is a prayer. to feel of gods love for them. And thats a cool part about this work is that there are so many times that i forget that i am only here to be an instrument in the hands of god. To do as he would do and to use spirit to find those people who need the gospel. for 18 months i get to work for god and only god. i get to forget myself and my own doubts and insecurities and speak with his spirit and just have the faith that it will be ok. Its really not about me. i am not doing anything. i am nothing without god and i realize that more and more everyday. There is NO way im doing this by myself.
I have been studying humility amd i came across a quote i really liked
"HUMILITY INCLUDES GRATITUDE FOR GODS BLESSINGS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OUR CONSTANT NEED FOR HIS DIVINE HELP. HUMILITY IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS; IT IS A SIGN OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH."
I have never had to rely on god more in my whole life. I have never cried so much or felt more nervous and inadequate in my life. But because of this i have never prayed so much and seen god helping me so much in my life. Through these hard experiences i recognize more that god is so real. I recognize that prayer works and we can find peace in a hard moment if we just get on our knees and speak to him and ask him for his divine help.
I have been humbled by this work already and i know i will learn more as time goes on. This is the hardest thing ive ever done hands down. but i think one day ill say its the best decision i ever made. I have alreday learned so much and ive been changed already by the things ive experienced.
I wish i had a funny story this week but i cant think. honestly just sacrament meeting here is the funniest most entertaining thing. I have never seen a meeting move so slowly in my life. The hymns take 3 years to get through because evryone draws out there words for like minute a word. i swear somtimes everything is moving in slow motion haha. The people are just so laid back. Its honestly great.
Well i think thats all i got. oh but pls pray for me because i have to give a talk in sacrament meeting this sunday and bishop asked me to teach an english class on thursday nights.

ok love u all. thank u for your emails i wish i had time to write you all back and tell you how cool i think you all are.

AMO VOCÊS.

TCHAU sister lytle

Short but Sweet January 30th, 2017

Marcus's baptism

Oi family and friends

We had a baptism and it was great!! Everyone was an hour late (normal) and we had cake after and Marcus was baptized!

After the baptism bishop went to go let all the water out of the font and what do you know a drunk homeless man had managed to make his way into the church and into the baptism font unnoticed to take a little bath. Oh Brazil. 

Irma Haidee, the most amazing lady , she has helped me through so much!

OIII!!!!

Oi Família e Amigos!

Happy Day Jane!

This week was awesome! Our investigators are all progressing so well! I love them all so much. Like tears are coming to my eyes they are all such cool people.
Right now we have two different 13 year old boys preparing to be baptized this Saturday! I dont know why but we have taught so many 13 year old boys and i think Heavenly Father really wants me to miss my fav 13 year old back home. Everyone give Aves a big kiss for me:(
I thnk i already talked about Zefi last week but he is still struggling with his grandma not wanting him to be baptized. yesterday we talked with him because he was feeling really discouraged because she didnt let him come to church this week. We just reminded him to have faith and courage and remember the stories of Nephi and his courage to do what is right. We have been praying so hard and i just hope everything works out and he can be baptized on Saturday!
The other boy Marcus is the son of a member who was living with his mom in another city but moved here to live with his dad. He came up to us at church and said he wnats to be baptized so this week we taught him almost every day and he will be baptized Saturday! Hes so smart and so ready. Also he looks like a mini version of harry potter so thats cool.
One day this week we were walking in the rua and this little girl ran up to us and said "are you the people who visit people in their homes and talk about Jesus?" and then i looked around for the hidden camera and for someone to tell me this was a joke. But we said why yes we are. She told us that her mom has been looking for us and wnats to be taught. OK THNK U HEAVENLY FATHER.  BLESSINGS. so we marked a date to visit them this week.
Oh heres a funny story. So a few weeks ago this random guy showed up at church. he seemed a little weird but we were like oh sweet a new investigator awesome lets teach him. sO turns out hes actually crazy. he makes lots of comments about reincarnation and other weird things and raises his hand or stands up or claps in sacrament meeting. haha not gonna lie its entertaining. He comes back to church every week and does the same sorts of things. We have nick named him Paolo Loco. Nothing more to report on him right now but ill keep you all updated on how this week goes with paolo loco. hahahah
You guys the music here is a probblem because we all know how much i love to dance. the music is so good and i literally just want to dance and party with the brazilians so bad. but my companion always reminds me "sister lytle, não pode" UGGGH. one day ill come back and party after my mission.

Sister Jones and I in Pellorinho

I had a cool experience this week with a new investigator named Joni. We were teaching her for the first time and lately i have been struggling with some homesickness and wondering if being here in brazil on a mission is right for me. I have been praying and fasting and while we were teaching Joni yesterday she looked right at me and said "What are you doing here in Brazil? Why are you learning Portugeuse? You are so young. Doesnt your mom miss you?
Well i felt the spirit so strong in that moment. stronger than i have before i think. I told her why i was here and what i was doing and why i was willing to leave my family and home for a year and a half. I was able to testify of the truthfulness of the gospel and of my savior. my faitha nd tetsimony grew with this experience. I know that this was an answer to my prayers. An answer to my discouargemnt. Heavenly father hears our prayers and he answers them!! I know that this is true! He answers them through other people like with Joni most of the time for me.
I am working on patience still through my hard times. I am learning alot about patience here. I wasnt very patient before. im still not but im working on it. And i have been given many experiences to help me to learn.
I love this phrase in Portugeuse- TUDO VAI DAR CERTO. It means all will be right. I know that in the end all will be right if we continually put our faith and trust in god. if we reach out for his hans like in the story of peter. Continue on in patience and in faith. continue on. thats what i like to remember.
I love and miss you all. Brazil is crazy and hotter than the surface of the sun im convinced and amazing.
AMO VOCÊS.
SISTER LYTLE

"When our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the lord comforted us, and said...Bear with patience thine afflictions and i will give unto you success."
ALMA 26:27

Pellourinho

pinha fruit

weirdest fruit ever

Mom, these face masks you sent are scary

Jan. 16th! They are on FIRE!

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TO MY JANE! everyone give her lots of hugs and kisses because we all know how loving and affectionate she is!!!! So thankful for my baby sister.

This week was HOT lemme tell ya. I've never been so hot in my life!!

But we are also ON FIRE hahahha with our investigators right now. Im sorry for that joke that was lame but i dont have time to backspace and retype. 

We have been teaching a family and they came to church on sunday! They stayed all 3 hours and i hope they felt the spirit and will come back next week. They have a baptism date for the 28th as well! Our other investigator who came to church was Zefi. He's 13 and so so smart and so ready to be baptized and wants it so badly but his grandma is of a different church and is super unhappy about him wanting to be baptized. So its tough. but we told him to pray that her heart will be more open and that she can still be happy withe him even if he is baptized. 

We have been teaching alot of our investigators about the holy ghost lately. I love to talk about this because i have such a strong testimony of the influence of the holy ghost in my own life. I am so thankful for the consolo and peace i can feel and just the sense of hope i can feel from the holy ghost. The fact that after baptism we can have the spirit with us always as long as we remain worthy is the most amazing gift. I cannot deny that i have felt the spirit. I have the amazing opportunity to feel it everyday here as i testify of the gospel and its truthfulness. I feel the spirit prompt me to say things in lessons and that is always such a cool experience. 

I love camaçari so so much. i never want to leave this area! the members here are incredible. our investigators are so awesome and so willing to follow christ. I have freinds in all of the shops on the road that leads to our house. Every night i wave to my freind José in the bakery and my friends Aliese and Joao in the juice shop and Raphael in the market. 

They eat alot of tapioca here which is really good! I don't know if we have it in the US. Also something called cus cus which is really good. And this juice called acerola and umbu!

No one can say my name and the members just refer to me as sister because no one knows how to say it still haha. One guy calls me sister pequena (small) haha. 

Its a whole different world here but im loving it. There is so much to see and so much to learn. Everyone loves God here. Even if they are not religious they love god. so its normally easy to talk to people. I a blessed to be here. To represent christ and to laugh and conversar with the people here. I love these people!! I know it will be hard for me to leave this area when that time comes. I've got a little family here. 

I love and miss you all. hope all is well back home!! AMÔ VOCES!

Jan. 9th....3 Months in Brazil!

i have officially been in brazil for 3 months people who would've thought i would make it that long?? not me thats for sure. in some ways time is flying but mostly if i'm being honest i'm pretty sure i've been here for 9 years.


haha everything is good with me and the people of camaçari. We had 4 investigators at church on sunday! 4!! thats pretty good and we were so happy to see them all there. it was a miracle in some ways because most of these people work on sundays or were just really not accepting our invitation to come and they showed up anyways! i know its because we fasted and prayed and didnt give up on them. i know that god prepares a way for us when we are faithful and these people have so much faith! So god is preparing so many people for us and its so cool and such a blessing.

A lot of our investigators lately have had a hard time following  up on compromissos which is tough for us. normally its just something so simple like read 3 verses or say a prayer and ask god if he loves you or come to church. And then the next day we come back and they havent done these things. At first i got really frustrated and thought to myself "ok is it really that hard to just read these verses?" or to say a one minute prayer? and then i had to remind myself that ok this is hard for them. theyve never heard of these things we are teaching them about. they dont understand the importance of these things yet. i have to put myslef in their shoes and think of how it would be if i were them. these two random white girls from another country are asking me to pray to a god that i dont believe in and to read out of some book. And then i relaize ok, i guess that would be difficult. I have had this gospel in my life since the day i was born and oh what a blessing it has been. but these people havent! but they need it! so i guess what im saying is im learning to be more patient and more loving towards these people even when they dont follow up on things that i think are simple. These people really do ahve so much faith and love though. they are so accepting.
I learned this week too about just giving my best and knowing that god will help me. sometimes in a lesson i will have a moment of bravery and ill start talking and the words will come. its really cool. but on the other ahnd ive had a few experinces where i start talking and have no idea how to expalin what i started saying and its just a mess. and in those moments i know god is teaching me humility. its so humbling and so frustrating learning a new language. one day you understand everything and can speak with people and the next your sitting in a lesson and you literally have no idea whats going on. But i just keep reminding myself to be patient and it will come. i think the hardest part is not being able to express myself and tell jokes and laugh. but i hope soon i can do that again.
well i dont have much else to say this week but i love you all so much and am so thankful for your prayers and support each week.
tudo bem. eu amo vocês muito muito! tchau tchau
sister lytle

stairs she fell down (handrail now in place)

view from members home

Happy New Year !! Jan 2nd, 2017

Oi family and friends!!!    

HAPPY NEW YEAR. i spent new years trying to sleep while outside my window justin bieber was blaring and someone was setting off fireworks until 4 am:) haha oh brazil.
Im back in Camaçari! The members have been so nice and loving and call em their bebê. They have all been so worried about me and it really feels like i have a family here. Also they make sure to tell me EVERYTIME i see them to hold onto the handrail, wear sunscreen, and eat lots of food. Whenever we eat at members houses they always always say EAT MORE EAT MORE and im always about to throw up. You guys would not believe how much they eat.

My new companion is sister jones from Oregon..i keep getting American companions which is weird because there are only like 5 of us in the whole mission! i miss sister Nogal a lot and i wish i had had more time with her but she calls me very night to send a beijo (kiss) 

Teaching this week has been hard because evryone leaves for christmas and new years. So we had alot of appointments fall through and did alot of walking and being disappointed. Luckily in my mission i dont have to be disappointed very often though because the people are so accepting. Heavenly father new i needed loving people and i know brazil is where im supposed to be in large part because of that.
We are working really hard with a woman named Auzenie right now. Her husband is a member and 2 of her 3 sons have been baptized. also we found out this week that her uncle is the stake president here. So baptism will hopefully be soon for her. Her only problems are that she works on sunday and she doesnt like to read and never follows up on her commitments to read o livro de mormon. But we are working with her on that and i have faith she will be baptized soon!
We taught a man on a bus this week which was an interesting experience. So on the buses her you always have a guy from some religion who is screaming about god and how we are horrible people and we will all be burned if we dont praise him right now and sing HALLELUJAH and clap our hands. And you know what everyone on that bus starts singing hallelujah and clapping there hands and yelling AMEN! and while this is happening youre trying not to be thrown out of your seat by the sharp turns the bus driver is taking at like 60 mph. and if your anything like me you´re trying really hard not to throw up. But somehow while this was all happening my companion managed to start talking to a guy about our church. He was super intersted and i didnt hear most of what he said but i was able to yell my tetsimony at him at the end. We got his info and will hopefully be contacting him soon.
we taught a man named vinancio the first lesson this week in his restaurant which was really cool. We taught him about joseph smith (oh haha funny thing they pronounce his name Josephy Smichy) and about the priesthood and gave him a book of mormon. He is super awesome and very receptive. Something funny ive noticed about brazilians is they love to touch you the whole time their telling a story or talking to you. So hes telling us about his family and about his beliefs in god and what not and the whole time hes either squeezing my shoulder or grabbing my hand unexpectedly or adjusting my bracelets. haha it was super weird and uncomfortable the first time it happened but now its pretty normal.
I am starting to understand people better which is so exciting! I still dont speak very well but being able to understand makes it alot less frustrating.
I am eating lots of weird things! the other day i tried a fruit called jaca which was gross but i choked it down and told the guy i loved it haha. I ate a chicken heart! i hated that too! but honestly most of the food here is super good and pretty normal.
Theres something good in every day even when its so hot and im so tired and just want to sleep or sit down. But i remember a talk by eyring where he said that whenever he felt like he had finished some hard task and deserved a rest he would remind himself to "remember him" to remember christ. I try to do that as well. Sometimes i think okay, i just walking like 6 miles in the heat and we taught alot of people and im hungry and my feet hurt and im so sweaty and gross and you know what i think i deserve a rest! and then i remember this thing. remember christ. I remember that i can keep going for a few more hours and i will rest when its time to rest. i remember why im here and who im here for. firstly im here for christ. but also for the people here and for my family. and its all worth it when i remember this.God lives and i know this!! he is here in brazil everyday and i see his influence and i feel his love.
happy 2017 people! i miss you all and im so happpy to hear about the happy things going on at home. be safe and be kind to the people around you. love your family and hold them tight!
AMO VÔCES! TCHAU TCHAU
sister lytle

Look at these TAN feet!!