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