“Seja bem-vindo” Elder Ferreira!

 

     That day, I was put on a bus “alone” headed straight for Caicó. During the ride, I remember thinking, “I’m in the middle of nowhere, hours from civilization in a foreign country where I barely know how to form a coherent sentence!” I mustered up the courage to ask the man seated next to me if the Caicó stop was coming up soon. With a look of confusion, he formed a squinted face and quickly nestled back into his seat and closed his eyes. Some people boarded the bus with live chickens and other animals. I was not in America anymore! So many things were running through my mind. “Did I miss my stop?!” “What should I do if I did?!” “I can’t even understand a thing these people are saying!” “They sound nothing like what I learned in the MTC!" "It’s all gibberish to me!” I was beginning to panic! After another two hours of anxiety attacks, the bus finally pulled into a station. As I stepped off the bus, two young men dressed in street clothes came up to me and said, “Seja bem-vindo [welcome] Elder Ferreira!” How relieved I was to hear those words! They introduced themselves as my roommates. My missionary companion would meet us later in the evening.