Week 1 of Miriam's Mission (MTC)

 We got a phone call from our Stake President Wednesday evening, February 1st. Miriam had arrived at the Brazil MTC early in the morning the day before. My heart sank as he read the letter from the MTC President to him. They contacted us out of concern because she had broken down crying several times in less than two days. It was severe enough that they asked if she suffered from clinical depression. Joseph and I reassured them that she has never been diagnosed with anything like that, her nature is very cheerful and fun. She's a very happy girl. 

I told them that I simply think she's trying to take everything all in, she's overwhelmed, tired from adjusting to the time difference and losing an entire night of sleep on Monday, she's in a foreign land,  and surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar faces. I think she just needs to build some friendships so she doesn't feel so alone, she needs time to adjust to all of the massive changes, and she needs food pretty regularly because her blood-sugar gets low very easy.... And I'm sure she is missing home.

Even though I know she'll get through this, it is so hard to know she's hurting. I think of her constantly... trust me, CONSTANTLY!! I'm sure the rest of the family is tired of me announcing clock updates of the current time in Brazil. 😏 I haven't been able to get any messages from her since her first phone call telling us she arrived. I didn't think it would be this hard waiting to hear from her for a full week - How on earth did moms ever do this when we didn't have internet and the policy was missionaries could only call twice a year???!!! What a blessing things have changed in that way!

Today, I'm so grateful I got a short message from her asking for a couple downloads from her Christian Music playlist. In order to do this, I had to purchase the mp3's off of Amazon Music and email them two at a time. I got carried away and sent almost all the songs off her playlist. I think I've spent over 3 hours doing it. But it made me feel good, like I could do something to help her be comforted.