Here I am in the Fazenda do Natal writing on my blog. Well the fazenda isn't near the city of Natal at all. It basically means "The Village of the Nativity" and just happens to have the same name as the city Natal. I'm more or less in the middle of nowhere near the town of Simoes Filhos.
Life here is pretty tranquil. In the morning I do some manual labor work, which is pretty tough. After that the afternoons are mostly free. Sometimes I wash clothes by hand. Washing clothes by hand is really hard by the way. We have Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours at 6:30 pm during the weekdays. Saturday is the day of rest and when I'll be able to write on my blog a bit.
After a week of being here I can already speak a decent amount of Portuguese. It's really hard to understand the children though. They often make fun of my American accent. The living conditions aren't too bad. The fazenda has received a lot of great updates since the times that my friends were here. We no longer have to carry water from a well since there is now running water. There is also electricity and a computer with a 56k modem that I can use on Saturday. I haven't taken any pictures yet because I wouldn't be able to upload them on this computer anyways. There are internet cafes in this cities. I'm now sure how I will get to them, but when I can I will begin posting pictures.
The fazenda is a beautiful place. The flora and fauna here are quite different from where I live in Tennessee. Bananas, lemons, tomatos, mangos, coconuts, cashews, and some massively large fruit called Jaca all grow here. We drink a lot of fruit juice here although I generally prefer cold water which is quite strange to the people here. The creatures here are very weird. The mosquitos are really bad. They're big and they're smart and they're numerous. The bug spray that I have holds them off a little bit, but they are determined little devils. I hate insects. There are many types here. Ones that I've never seen before. Most of the creatures are unique here. There are ducks, but they don't look like American ducks. There are weird lizards here too. Yesterday I saw a lizard that was three different colors. The top of its body was gray like the other lizards, its abdomen was green, and its tail was blue. What in the world was that thing? My friend Edson told me, but it was some long Portuguese name. Every now and then I see something that completely freaks me out. If I'm near the entrance of my house here, sometimes I go inside and shut the door. Not that I'm scared, I'm just being cautious right?
The people here are all nice. I live with Rute pronounced Hoo-chi, her son Marcelo, Raphaela pronounced Haphaela, and Bento (Benoit) who is a French missonary. Raphaela is hard to understand and hyperactive, Marcelo is cool, but he makes fun of the way I speak too much, Bento is cool and he is essentially the rock of the family, and Rute is nice but sometimes cultural differences come between us. I think I offended her with my reaction to finding out that the meat in the feijon was donkey meat. I thought something was odd about it. Also one of my conversations with her was essentially:
Rute: You know that chicken that you saw the other day?
Me: Yeah.
Rute: That was yesterday's lunch.
Me: I think that it's probably better that I not know such things.
All things considered the food here isn't that bad. Two days ago I had dinner at the house of Lucas and Stephanie, who are two French missionaries that live here permanently.
My friend Edson just told me that the Liturgy of the Hours is going in the church right now. I have to go. Ciao as they say here.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
My Last Day in New York
I'm leaving for JFK airport in three hours. My plane leaves for Brazil at 9:25 am. I should arrive in Salvador on Friday around 1 in the morning. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I'm mostly going to sleep on the plane. Or so I figure.
Anyhow, today was my last day here in Brooklyn, New York. Instead of going on an apostolate in the neighborhood today, I stayed in the home to write my first letter to my sponsors. The letter is four pages long. All of my sponsors should receive it soon.
My French missionary friends made a special dinner for me today. Hamburgers and french fries! Now that's what I'm talking about! I often spoke about my anxiety of having to live without American food and candy while in Brazil. They took pity on me and decided to provide me with a good last supper. Two of my friends, Ben and Mathilde, will have already returned to France by the time I get back. Thus, I had to say goodbye to them tonight. I got to talk to most them one last time before they had to go to bed. I'm still up even though it's 3 am. There's not much point in going to bed at this point. So I'll just write on my blog for a while and finish packing (no I'm not done).
Anyhow, today was my last day here in Brooklyn, New York. Instead of going on an apostolate in the neighborhood today, I stayed in the home to write my first letter to my sponsors. The letter is four pages long. All of my sponsors should receive it soon.
My French missionary friends made a special dinner for me today. Hamburgers and french fries! Now that's what I'm talking about! I often spoke about my anxiety of having to live without American food and candy while in Brazil. They took pity on me and decided to provide me with a good last supper. Two of my friends, Ben and Mathilde, will have already returned to France by the time I get back. Thus, I had to say goodbye to them tonight. I got to talk to most them one last time before they had to go to bed. I'm still up even though it's 3 am. There's not much point in going to bed at this point. So I'll just write on my blog for a while and finish packing (no I'm not done).
Flushing Meadows Park
On Monday the missionaries have a free day. I decided to spend my free day at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. It took a bit of time to arrive there, but it was worth it. I'm very impressed by New York's beautiful parks. This particular park is where the New York Mets play baseball, where the 1964 World Fair was held, and where there is a cool globe thing called the Unisphere. I took a few pictures that I can share with you.
Friday, October 10, 2008
A Fun Apostolate
Today I got to go on a special apostolate. I went with the missionary Florianne to the Sisters of Mercy convent, which is not far from our house here. We went to visit children who were there with an after school program. We helped the children with some homework and then it was story time.
I sat at a table with three boys. Edward and Thomas were both 8 years old and in the 2nd grade and Nelson was 9 and in the 3rd grade. I first helped them with some math homework. Fortunately, the math problems were easy enough for me to solve. Edward said that he wished that I would come every day because we finished the first problem quickly. However, the two following problems were not as easy and I refused to just tell him the answer like he demanded.
After we finished the math, we moved on to reading. I was impressed with some of the words that they could read although I think "audience" and "applause" were a bit out of their league. While we were doing the reading Amantha, or some name like that came, she was also in the 2nd grade. The kids were rather unfocused the whole time, but we finished most of the problems before reading time began.
Their teacher Mr. Johnson wanted to read to them a book about Little Bill and a new kid, named Michael of course, who comes to Bill's school and insults. Before reading the story, the kids were told to draw pictures of how they feel when someone says something mean to them. They were also supposed to write two words to describe their feelings. That project was more or less of a success. Less rather than more, but whatever.
I thought that the story was quite interesting and Mr. Johnson handles the rambunctious youngers quite well. The kids who were quiet during the story were given candy. Banana flavored lifesavers. I was quite jealous. After the story their was a little discussion of the book. Mr. Johnson asked if they would have insulted the bully Michael back. It turned out that most of them liked making fun of people and making them angry. Children can be quite sadistic it would seem.
Shortly after the story, it was time for the kids to go home. We said a few prayers and then left the class in two lines. I talked to a few more of the children before we ultimately said good bye when they met with their parents. I had a lot of fun with the children. Strangely though when I finally made it back to our missionary house, I felt rather tired. I didn't realize just how much energy the wildly energetic children sap from you.
I sat at a table with three boys. Edward and Thomas were both 8 years old and in the 2nd grade and Nelson was 9 and in the 3rd grade. I first helped them with some math homework. Fortunately, the math problems were easy enough for me to solve. Edward said that he wished that I would come every day because we finished the first problem quickly. However, the two following problems were not as easy and I refused to just tell him the answer like he demanded.
After we finished the math, we moved on to reading. I was impressed with some of the words that they could read although I think "audience" and "applause" were a bit out of their league. While we were doing the reading Amantha, or some name like that came, she was also in the 2nd grade. The kids were rather unfocused the whole time, but we finished most of the problems before reading time began.
Their teacher Mr. Johnson wanted to read to them a book about Little Bill and a new kid, named Michael of course, who comes to Bill's school and insults. Before reading the story, the kids were told to draw pictures of how they feel when someone says something mean to them. They were also supposed to write two words to describe their feelings. That project was more or less of a success. Less rather than more, but whatever.
I thought that the story was quite interesting and Mr. Johnson handles the rambunctious youngers quite well. The kids who were quiet during the story were given candy. Banana flavored lifesavers. I was quite jealous. After the story their was a little discussion of the book. Mr. Johnson asked if they would have insulted the bully Michael back. It turned out that most of them liked making fun of people and making them angry. Children can be quite sadistic it would seem.
Shortly after the story, it was time for the kids to go home. We said a few prayers and then left the class in two lines. I talked to a few more of the children before we ultimately said good bye when they met with their parents. I had a lot of fun with the children. Strangely though when I finally made it back to our missionary house, I felt rather tired. I didn't realize just how much energy the wildly energetic children sap from you.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Some pictures from the day
I took some pictures today in order to test out my camera. We went to Sunset Park as a special surprise to Marie-Mai. She has served here in the United States as a missionary for a full year. She is returning to France Saturday.
Marie-Mai is the girl with black hair.
Marie-Mai is the girl with black hair.
Community Life
Community life is an essential part of Heart's Home. In all the Heart's Home centers around the world a group of people committed to the charism live together sharing in all of the aspects of missionary life. We begin the day at 6:45 with morning prayer. I dislike this very much. I'd rather start the day no earlier than 11 and preferably 12. Unfortunately, I don't get my way.
We go to mass at 7:30 to St. Boniface parish. I like this parish. There are four priests who say the mass there, so I never know which it will be on any given day. Friday I met Fr. Mark. He was really nice and gave a good homily.
We then return to the house for breakfast. Later at 2 pm we pray the rosary. Sometimes we pray it in our chapel, sometimes walking down the street, and sometimes with the people in the nursing homes. On Saturday people are invited to come here and pray it with us. I don't mind this since I like praying the rosary in a group.
After the rosary we go on apostolates. We go either to nursing homes, into people's houses, we meet them on the street, or at a women's shelter for the homeless. I haven't been to the women's shelter yet. I'm not sure if any of the male missionaries ever go there or not. The aposolates are really the core part of the day, but they're also the most demanding part.
Mostly we just make conversation with the people and listen to what they say. It's always amazing to me to hear how much people appreciate our visists. We don't give them money, we don't give them food, clothes, or anything. All we do is give them our friendship and it transforms their lives. Fr. Thierry, the founder of Heart's Home, said that the greatest poverty is to be alone. To not have friends. Perhaps he is right.
After the apostolates we return for evening prayer. Then we have dinner. Then we wash dishes and attend to whatever matters. Finally it's bed time usually around 10:30 to 11.
The days are quite busy from start to finish. I'm more of a laid back easy going person, so it can be a little hard for me. I'm getting more used to it though. I like everyone in the community here. All of the missionaries are kindhearted and friendly as one might expect. All of the missionaries except one are from France. We do many things in a French sort of way. The food that we eat is also tailored to the French style. I'm not saying that it's not good, but sometimes I just want a hamburger. All things considered the community life is my favorite aspect of our missionary lifestyle. It would be impossible for me to carry the mission of Heart's Home without the support of the others. I'm very grateful for each of my missionary friends here.
We go to mass at 7:30 to St. Boniface parish. I like this parish. There are four priests who say the mass there, so I never know which it will be on any given day. Friday I met Fr. Mark. He was really nice and gave a good homily.
We then return to the house for breakfast. Later at 2 pm we pray the rosary. Sometimes we pray it in our chapel, sometimes walking down the street, and sometimes with the people in the nursing homes. On Saturday people are invited to come here and pray it with us. I don't mind this since I like praying the rosary in a group.
After the rosary we go on apostolates. We go either to nursing homes, into people's houses, we meet them on the street, or at a women's shelter for the homeless. I haven't been to the women's shelter yet. I'm not sure if any of the male missionaries ever go there or not. The aposolates are really the core part of the day, but they're also the most demanding part.
Mostly we just make conversation with the people and listen to what they say. It's always amazing to me to hear how much people appreciate our visists. We don't give them money, we don't give them food, clothes, or anything. All we do is give them our friendship and it transforms their lives. Fr. Thierry, the founder of Heart's Home, said that the greatest poverty is to be alone. To not have friends. Perhaps he is right.
After the apostolates we return for evening prayer. Then we have dinner. Then we wash dishes and attend to whatever matters. Finally it's bed time usually around 10:30 to 11.
The days are quite busy from start to finish. I'm more of a laid back easy going person, so it can be a little hard for me. I'm getting more used to it though. I like everyone in the community here. All of the missionaries are kindhearted and friendly as one might expect. All of the missionaries except one are from France. We do many things in a French sort of way. The food that we eat is also tailored to the French style. I'm not saying that it's not good, but sometimes I just want a hamburger. All things considered the community life is my favorite aspect of our missionary lifestyle. It would be impossible for me to carry the mission of Heart's Home without the support of the others. I'm very grateful for each of my missionary friends here.
Our Lady of Czestochowa Church
The Heart's Home missionaries and I stopped into a church today on our way to Sunset Park. It was called Our Lady of Czestochowa. It was the most beautiful church I had ever seen. I believe it was made by the Polish community as a memorial for WWII soldiers. There were large stained glass images lining the sides of the church, many statues of saints, and the front of the church behind the altar was amazing. I think the priest may have been Polish as well. He had a thick accent and it was a bit hard to understand him during the mass.
Friday, October 3, 2008
My Friend Brooke
I want to tell all of my sponsors about a wonderful person who is currently a Heart's Home missionary in Argentina. Her name is Brooke and she was here with me in Brooklyn during our two week training period. She has a blog about her mission trip in Argentina. The depth and simplicity of her ability to communicate the emotions of her experiences in Argentina is astonishing. I highly recommend that anyone who reads my blog also look at her's.
It can be found at http://hhargentinamission.blogspot.com or you can click the link to her blog to the right of this page in the section called "About me." Brooke's life in Argentina is a vibrant testimony to Heart's Home's charism of compassion. I read it eagerly every week!
It can be found at http://hhargentinamission.blogspot.com or you can click the link to her blog to the right of this page in the section called "About me." Brooke's life in Argentina is a vibrant testimony to Heart's Home's charism of compassion. I read it eagerly every week!
The Apostolate of Brooklyn
In all of the Heart's Homes the missonaries go on apostolates. The apostolates are when we go into the houses, nursing homes, homeless shelters or wherever we happen to encounter the people of the neighborhood. Here in New York we focus on meeting the lonely and abandoned. While I was here for my training period, I went into two nursing homes and met a few of the people of the local projects. Even though it's been over a month I still remember many of the people's names. In just two days I've been able to see many of the people that I had known before.
Yesterday I went on an apostolate to the Bishop Mugavero Catholic nursing home. I accompanied three other missionaries named Ben, Marie Mai, and Sr. Mariana, who is a nun that is a permanent member of Heart's Home. In the nursing home, Ben and I went together to visit various people. Before long I saw the familiar face of a lady named Mary. She insisted that we quickly organize a group to pray the rosary. Usually those who want to pray the rosary gather in the dining room, but yesterday the dining room was occupied with people playing bingo. Nevertheless, we rounded up a small group of people to pray the rosary. Afterwards, I continued with visitations. Ben and I were able to become friends with a man named Ishmael. He had served in the army for 28 years. Now he is retired and has suffered from two strokes. Through therapy he has recovered well and is expected to be able to go home as soon as next week. I enjoyed speaking with him about his time in the army and his visits to other countries.
After we left Ishamel, we went to visit a friend of Ben named Carlos. Carlos spent some time living in Canada and enjoyed speaking French with the Heart's Home missionaries. All of the missionaries who are stationed here in the United States are from France. I just happen to be a visiting American.
During our conversation with Carlos, a woman named Anna approached me. She had been nearby the whole time speaking with another lady, however, her speech is greatly impaired. We've concluded that she speaks Spanish, but it's nearly impossible to understand her. She approached me and took my hand. She kissed my hand, she kisses everybody's hands, and we went for a walk. I kept her company as best as I could while speaking to her in Spanish. I could not understand her words for the life of me though. I've seen several people in the nursing homes, who can understand language perfectly well, yet are not able to speak themselves. It saddens me very much to see the look in their eyes. Sometimes their frustration with not being to speak is evident, and at times they cry without being able to explain why.
I remember the first time that I went to visit a nursing home as a volunteer back while I was in college. Being around people who cannot speak, hear well, or sometimes even take care of themselves disturbed me. Old age can be quite scary when infirmity sets in. About two years passed before I ever went to another nursing home. The second time wasn't so bad as I was with a group of people having a Bible study. Even still when I walked through the halls of the nursing home that second time I was still a little shaken.
Now as a Heart's Home missionary I'm not bothered so much. I've seen much worse during my time here in New York than I ever saw during college. I had never met people who were completely demented until I went to the Bishop Mugavero nursing home. These people neither speak nor understand you. It seems as if many of them are in their own world. We don't often visit them as it doesn't seem beneficial to them for us to do so. Yesterday I met a woman named Luz I believe. She had to have both of her legs cut off because of gangrene. While I was listening to her speak, I looked her over. She was an old lady in a strecther bed with no legs, who I had to try hard to understand. Just a few years earlier and I might have run away. But now by the grace of God, I've learned to see the human dignity in every person. Furthermore, it's quite interesting to hear the stories of how the people in the homes have spent and continue to spend their lives. Being able to see the unsightly image of the person on the outside and yet the instrinsic value and beauty of the person on the inside creates quite a strange mixture of feelings. It's hard to put feelings into words, but I'm honored and grateful to God for being able to spend a little bit of time with these people and to share in one another's life.
I've already written quite a bit so I'll just summarize today's apostolate. Today with Marie Mai I visited another nursing home. I went to this home once before during my training. I was able to see my friends Catherine and Gwendolyn again. We spoke to Catherine about Marie Mai's imminent return to France and about a lady who would soon have a baby. It was nearly dinner time in the nursing home when I spoke to Gwendolyn. I told her about my past failures in my attempts to cook. She found it quite funny. She suggested that Marie Mai teach me to cook. Afterwards, Marie Mai and I left the nursing home. I tried to help Marie Mai make the dinner tonight. I helped her make an omelet. It turned out pretty good.
Well I realize that I characteristically make my messages too long. I was quite eager tonight to be able to report on the current status of my mission. Right now while I'm in New York I have relatively easy access to a computer. I should be able to read any e-mails or comments within a day or two while I'm here. I'm not yet sure when I'll be able to make new posts yet. I'll try to find a day on which I can write consistenty, so you can know when there will be updates.
I wish all of my sponsors a good weekend.
Yesterday I went on an apostolate to the Bishop Mugavero Catholic nursing home. I accompanied three other missionaries named Ben, Marie Mai, and Sr. Mariana, who is a nun that is a permanent member of Heart's Home. In the nursing home, Ben and I went together to visit various people. Before long I saw the familiar face of a lady named Mary. She insisted that we quickly organize a group to pray the rosary. Usually those who want to pray the rosary gather in the dining room, but yesterday the dining room was occupied with people playing bingo. Nevertheless, we rounded up a small group of people to pray the rosary. Afterwards, I continued with visitations. Ben and I were able to become friends with a man named Ishmael. He had served in the army for 28 years. Now he is retired and has suffered from two strokes. Through therapy he has recovered well and is expected to be able to go home as soon as next week. I enjoyed speaking with him about his time in the army and his visits to other countries.
After we left Ishamel, we went to visit a friend of Ben named Carlos. Carlos spent some time living in Canada and enjoyed speaking French with the Heart's Home missionaries. All of the missionaries who are stationed here in the United States are from France. I just happen to be a visiting American.
During our conversation with Carlos, a woman named Anna approached me. She had been nearby the whole time speaking with another lady, however, her speech is greatly impaired. We've concluded that she speaks Spanish, but it's nearly impossible to understand her. She approached me and took my hand. She kissed my hand, she kisses everybody's hands, and we went for a walk. I kept her company as best as I could while speaking to her in Spanish. I could not understand her words for the life of me though. I've seen several people in the nursing homes, who can understand language perfectly well, yet are not able to speak themselves. It saddens me very much to see the look in their eyes. Sometimes their frustration with not being to speak is evident, and at times they cry without being able to explain why.
I remember the first time that I went to visit a nursing home as a volunteer back while I was in college. Being around people who cannot speak, hear well, or sometimes even take care of themselves disturbed me. Old age can be quite scary when infirmity sets in. About two years passed before I ever went to another nursing home. The second time wasn't so bad as I was with a group of people having a Bible study. Even still when I walked through the halls of the nursing home that second time I was still a little shaken.
Now as a Heart's Home missionary I'm not bothered so much. I've seen much worse during my time here in New York than I ever saw during college. I had never met people who were completely demented until I went to the Bishop Mugavero nursing home. These people neither speak nor understand you. It seems as if many of them are in their own world. We don't often visit them as it doesn't seem beneficial to them for us to do so. Yesterday I met a woman named Luz I believe. She had to have both of her legs cut off because of gangrene. While I was listening to her speak, I looked her over. She was an old lady in a strecther bed with no legs, who I had to try hard to understand. Just a few years earlier and I might have run away. But now by the grace of God, I've learned to see the human dignity in every person. Furthermore, it's quite interesting to hear the stories of how the people in the homes have spent and continue to spend their lives. Being able to see the unsightly image of the person on the outside and yet the instrinsic value and beauty of the person on the inside creates quite a strange mixture of feelings. It's hard to put feelings into words, but I'm honored and grateful to God for being able to spend a little bit of time with these people and to share in one another's life.
I've already written quite a bit so I'll just summarize today's apostolate. Today with Marie Mai I visited another nursing home. I went to this home once before during my training. I was able to see my friends Catherine and Gwendolyn again. We spoke to Catherine about Marie Mai's imminent return to France and about a lady who would soon have a baby. It was nearly dinner time in the nursing home when I spoke to Gwendolyn. I told her about my past failures in my attempts to cook. She found it quite funny. She suggested that Marie Mai teach me to cook. Afterwards, Marie Mai and I left the nursing home. I tried to help Marie Mai make the dinner tonight. I helped her make an omelet. It turned out pretty good.
Well I realize that I characteristically make my messages too long. I was quite eager tonight to be able to report on the current status of my mission. Right now while I'm in New York I have relatively easy access to a computer. I should be able to read any e-mails or comments within a day or two while I'm here. I'm not yet sure when I'll be able to make new posts yet. I'll try to find a day on which I can write consistenty, so you can know when there will be updates.
I wish all of my sponsors a good weekend.
My Current Location
Hello everyone. I'd like to start by thanking all of my sponsors again. I left home Tuesday night and it's been quite a wild and unexpected ride ever since.
I arrived at the airport in Nashville around 3:30 pm I think. I checked in my bags and sat in the lobby with my mother for a while as I had time to spare before my flight at 6. On my way to Brazil, I was scheduled to make two stops; one in Washington and then in Rio de Janeiro before ultimately heading to Salvador da Bahia where the fazenda is. Well when I got to the flight counter in Washington, I received some bad news. The United States is not one of the countries on the visa exemption list for tourists. In other words I couldn't get on the plane to Brazil.
So there I was stuck in Washington unable to continue on my route or to return home. I called the people in the Heart's Home headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. Lucky for me a HH missionary named Monette lived an hour away. After waiting for hours to get my luggage, Monette and I returned to her house where I spent the night.
The next day I got on a bus in Washington and headed for Brooklyn where the American Heart's Home is located. After a long ordeal of wondering around the cities of Washington and Brooklyn, I finally arrived at 5:30 pm. I was quite tired from hauling around my two large suitcases and soaking wet as it just so happened that rain was waiting on me in NY.
It was litle over a month ago that I was here for my two weeks training. I never really expected to be back, especially so soon. Nevertheless, I was quite happy to see my missionary friends again. During my brief stay here, I will simply continue where my training mission left off. I'll write more about the apostolate work of the missionaries in another post.
It goes without saying that my first task was to get the visa for Brazil. I took the subway today to Manhattan, where the Consulate General of Brazil in New York is located. The application process took very little time and I'll have my visa by Monday October 6.
The people here in the home kindly rescheduled my flight for me and I'll be staying in Brazil from October 16 until January 12. It's quite amazing to me how many difficulties I've faced since I decided to become a Heart's Home missionary in November of last year. My baptismal priest, Fr. Mark Inglot, would often say, "For every cross there is a resurrection." Despite the various difficulties, I am still glad about my decision to join Heart's Home. Also not being able to get to Brazil on Tuesday has made it possible for me to both visit Brooklyn again, and still go on my mission trip to Brazil at a later time. I could almost say that I'm glad things have turned out the way the did.
I arrived at the airport in Nashville around 3:30 pm I think. I checked in my bags and sat in the lobby with my mother for a while as I had time to spare before my flight at 6. On my way to Brazil, I was scheduled to make two stops; one in Washington and then in Rio de Janeiro before ultimately heading to Salvador da Bahia where the fazenda is. Well when I got to the flight counter in Washington, I received some bad news. The United States is not one of the countries on the visa exemption list for tourists. In other words I couldn't get on the plane to Brazil.
So there I was stuck in Washington unable to continue on my route or to return home. I called the people in the Heart's Home headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. Lucky for me a HH missionary named Monette lived an hour away. After waiting for hours to get my luggage, Monette and I returned to her house where I spent the night.
The next day I got on a bus in Washington and headed for Brooklyn where the American Heart's Home is located. After a long ordeal of wondering around the cities of Washington and Brooklyn, I finally arrived at 5:30 pm. I was quite tired from hauling around my two large suitcases and soaking wet as it just so happened that rain was waiting on me in NY.
It was litle over a month ago that I was here for my two weeks training. I never really expected to be back, especially so soon. Nevertheless, I was quite happy to see my missionary friends again. During my brief stay here, I will simply continue where my training mission left off. I'll write more about the apostolate work of the missionaries in another post.
It goes without saying that my first task was to get the visa for Brazil. I took the subway today to Manhattan, where the Consulate General of Brazil in New York is located. The application process took very little time and I'll have my visa by Monday October 6.
The people here in the home kindly rescheduled my flight for me and I'll be staying in Brazil from October 16 until January 12. It's quite amazing to me how many difficulties I've faced since I decided to become a Heart's Home missionary in November of last year. My baptismal priest, Fr. Mark Inglot, would often say, "For every cross there is a resurrection." Despite the various difficulties, I am still glad about my decision to join Heart's Home. Also not being able to get to Brazil on Tuesday has made it possible for me to both visit Brooklyn again, and still go on my mission trip to Brazil at a later time. I could almost say that I'm glad things have turned out the way the did.
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