Isn't it amazing how when you look at things in retrospect you most often wish you could have done things a little differently. I'm not necessarily talking about huge life decisions, but the little things like treating someone with more kindness or paying more attention to grades and club participation in high school, watching fewer TV shows, actually listening to someone when they're talking, actually helping someone when they're in need rather than assuming that someone else with more time will help them... Many of us spend so much time thinking about ourselves that we miss out on countless incredible opportunities.
I served as a missionary for my church in the Brazil Salvador Mission from November 2004 to May 2006. Life as a missionary can be very challenging. Not only do you have a rigorous schedule that you need to adhere to, but 24/7 you are living and working with people that you have never met before...AND...if you aren't from that country you are faced with the challenge of learning the language and understanding the culture. Up until my last month and a half as a missionary I was the only American Sister (woman) missionary in my mission - which meant that all the girls I worked with were Brazilian and that I really needed to know the language.
After spending 2 months at the MTC (missionary training center) in São Paulo - which is where missionaries go to learn to teach and get a start on learning the language - I was sent to work in my first area. Camaçarí is a town full of color, flavor and incredible people. It is just outside of Bahia's capitol city, Salvador. My trainer, Sister Nascimento, was great. She helped me not be afraid to speak to people (I didn't want to make grammatical errors in portuguese so I wouldn't say anything that I wasn't sure of).
Now for the picture...After Sister Nascimento was sent to work in another town I stayed in Camaçarí and worked with Sister Macedo (far left in picture) and sister Rodrigues (in middle of picture). As we started our work together we were on fire! We loved sharing stories and teaching together. The young women of the church called us "As Meninas Super Poderosas" or The PowerPuff Girls. Sister Rodrigues was an incredible teacher and really helped me learn how to study as a group. Sister Macedo was full of energy and had a way of sharing her pure love with all those around her. We really did work well together. This picture was taken right after we had been caught in a rainstorm. We were dripping wet and were able to make to a friend's home for shelter. We were laughing non-stop as we ran through the rain to get to cover.
Now, any of you who have ever lived away from home and have had roommates that you're not related to will be able to understand that when you first start living together everything is just "marvelous", but that as time goes by it is easy to pick on eachother over the little things that don't really matter. I'm sorry to say that this happened to us. We were together for 2 transfers (1 transfer=6 weeks) and around the beginning of the 2nd one we were really starting to get on eachothers' nerves. We had many "meetings" where we sat down to discuss feelings and how we could better respect and love one another, but I'm afraid we waisted too much time with being upset.
Looking back now, or in retrospect, I would have used that time to become better friends with those girls. Life is too short to focus on how someone has wronged you or how they don't do things the same way you do. That lesson was hard learned almost 2 years after that time. In the Spring of 2008, after I had returned home and was back at college, I learned of the car accident that killed Sister Macedo. She was engaged to be married and had a life full of promise and adventure ahead of her, but it was cut short. The above picture is definitely worth more than a thousand words to me. It reminds me of the life of one young woman who was not afraid to share her love with others. I wish that I had taken advantage of the time we worked together so that I could have known more, but I am grateful for her example and courage. Thank you, Sister Angela Macedo!
