A Look Back in Time

Here I am, a little over a year later looking at my blog from the time I spent in Brazil on my internship. Currently I am getting ready to embark on a new internship to another Portuguese speaking country. I have been looking through this blog and remembering how stressful and hard these months were for me. The newness of the culture, being far away from friends and family, and sometimes feeling as though I was not helping at all, that my service was not making a difference made the internship hard for me.

But then I was looking through my computer, sorting out documents and putting them into folders and I ran across this. Once I returned from my internship I had to go up to Salt Lake to Church Headquarters for a de-briefing of what we did on our internship. We had a power-point, our excel spreadsheets of the people we had taught and trained, and this document that I turned in to Rob and Mimi, the head directors that work directly under the presiding bishopric of the church. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it was exactly what I needed to read today, it helped me remember that even though things can be hard, it is through those trials that we grown the most. Therefore, I am excited for this great growth opportunity that has been given to me, and I hope to make the best of the six weeks I will have in Mozambique.

here it is, my pick up for today:

My experince with the ERS internship.

Being an intern for Employment Resource Services has given me opportunities both spiritual and secular that I would not have found otherwise. Living in another country in a new culture helped me learn more about the world we all live in as well as myself.

I loved the opportunity I had to travel and teach while in Brazil, I got to see places I otherwise would have never gone to, meet people that I built friendships with, and create lasting memories. Teaching for me was a great learning experience of how to use teamwork both with my companion, as well as with the job seekers.

My reliance on the Holy Ghost and Heavenly Father grew daily as I sought to find ways to help those we were teaching and to find the words they needed to hear. I am so glad that this is a church based program, because I saw the difference that basis gave to both members of our church and those of other faiths. They came away from the workshop with a new outlook on their abilities and talents as well as the love Heavenly Father has for each one of them.

It was incredible to watch the self-esteem of those we were teaching grow over the course of 3 days, and how they came to truly believe in themselves. I enjoyed seeing the difference the workshop made in people, how they cleaned up their appearance, cut their hair, shaved, and wore their best to the interviews. You could tell that they did this out of respect to themselves, that they had regained a self respect that had been lost while being unemployed; they felt like they held a place in society again.

If anyone wanted to do something to serve others while gaining more experience and learn about their own abilities, I would recommend doing this internship. It literally changed my life and perspective on countless things. I could write them out for hours, but instead I will say this. I know that the service I gave while in Brazil made a difference in the lives of over 150 people and their families; and I am both humbled and grateful for the opportunity I had to go do this work for a semester. I know that this service is small in comparison with the problems and challenges of the whole world, but I now realize the blessings I have been given in my life, and how I can use them to help others both on a large or small scale.

Thank you to the employment services department of the church and for all the good that you are doing across the globe. I truly now have a, “welfare heart” as Mimi wanted us to gain back in September. I truly believe that this is the most meaningful thing I have done in my life thus far and I thank you for this opportunity.