Portuguese nametags

May 28, 2013

Oi familia!

This has been a very good week!  Not a ton happened, but I learned so much about my purpose and got really excited and motivated.  I am definitely ready to get started in the field. The MTC is amazing, but I am just so excited to be working in the field.  Once I get there, though, I will probably be wishing I was back at the MTC.  Such is life!    Here are some general things that happened this week...

Sister Hargrove had to get a root canal.  We went on another adventure to the dentist!  I am sure it was more fun for me than it was for her.  We were gone from the MTC for about 3 hours so it was pretty weird.  We heard tons of pop music on the radio and it took me a few days to get it un-stuck from my head.  On our shuttle bus there was an elder from Ecuador and an elder from Brazil.  We enjoyed talking to both of them.  The elder from Brazil was so nice!  I love Brazilians!  We have to go in another time this week though so she can get crowns and fillings and such.  I do not envy her!  It makes me think of your root canal, Kirst.  Eeek.

We had an AMAZING! devotional last Tuesday night from Elder Nash of the 70.  It was seriously so good.  He talked about the doctrine of Christ and how vital baptism is for missionaries because it allows people to fully access the Atonement.  That made me so sad that there are billions of people out there who have no clue Christ suffered for them.  They have moments of sadness and trial and pain and are completely oblivious to the resource available for them to ease their pain.  It made me so excited though to be a missionary!  The fact I get to bring this happy message to people makes me so excited and joyful.  I am honestly so lucky to be here.

So reassignments happen this week!!!!  AHHH!!!  I am so stoked out of my mind.  I can't stop thinking about it.  We had a district from our zone get their reassignments last week and they left on Saturday and Monday.  They went to Houston, Denver, Washington D.C., and Mesa.  I really could be going anywhere!  We have figured out they reassign people with the stateside missions that are supposed to depart the same time as them.  I am set to depart on June 3rd, but I could be leaving this Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.  Or staying another week at the MTC....I hope that doesn't happen but I will be ok if it does.  More time to practice the language!  So far we have figured out there are missionaries going to Hawaii, Boston, Arizona, and Pocatello at the same time as us.  Everyone in my district is hoping we got to Hawaii haha of course.  I know there is a plan for me though and I am just so excited to find out where I will be next week!  This whole visa police letter issue is kind of just strengthening my testimony that the Lord has a plan for me.  I think more now than ever that there are people in the states I am supposed to meet and teach.  I am so happy for this opportunity!  I am nervous how the language will be when I actually get to Brazil, but I am sure after a hard few months it will be just fine.  I will probably be calling on Thursday or Friday so get excited!! I am not sure if I will get to call though if I am staying another week so we will have to see how things work out.  I will most likely get my assignment on Thursday.  Maybe Wednesday though.  We will see!!

We get new roommates this week.  We all have bunk beds.  We are getting 2 more girls so I am excited to meet them, even though we will only be roommates for a few days.

We have been teaching Sister Peterson and Brother Mateer as our investigators.  They both picked actual people from their missions and they act like the people as we teach them.  Sister Hargrove and I had Iris for our Sister Peterson investigator.  Iris is a hardworking mother who can't read.  She lives in a very small house and has 3 children and a drunk husband.  We had a cool lesson with Sister Peterson yesterday where she showed us actual pictures of Iris and told us Iris ended up getting baptized.  Holy Moly it was so cool.  I loved Iris so much and I loved teaching her so much.  And she wasn't even real!  It was seriously awesome.  When I saw the pictures of her on her baptism day it just touched my heart so much.  I am so glad I am here!

The language continues to be improving.  We have days called FSL (Fala Sua Lingua) where we have an English fast.  We had one yesterday.  It's really hard but it helps a ton.  I always carry a Portuguese/English dictionary with me so I can look up random words throughout the day when I need them.  My favorite word from yesterday was chorimingas (I think that's how it's spelled.)  That means crybaby.  We kept saying it whenever anyone complained.  It reminded me of when Chris would say Pobrecito!  I have been working on memorizing different scriptures in Portuguese.  It is challenging but I am understanding more and more every day.  I figure I need to learn as much as I can here because I won't have too much time to do it when I am serving stateside. 

Oh and let me explain our nametags!  It is in Portuguese as you can see.  Chris, you can see it looks lots like Spanish but I think it sounds pretty different.  Sister is Irma in Portuguese but that is what they call Catholic sisters in Brazil so our nametags still say Sister.  My name in Brazil will be pronounced Seester Geexon.  It's gonna be great!  I am curious to see if we will get an English name tag for my reassignment.

K I am sorry but I am running out of time.  I love you!

Linds

EU AMO VOCES MUITO!!!