Our 2nd "First Day"
Email received Monday, March 19, 2012
I checked with the travel office today, and no news. I’ll be here for at least one more week.
I checked with the travel office today, and no news. I’ll be here for at least one more week.
So, our second “first day” [beginning as Portuguese missionaries in a new district], Sister Sessions and I enjoyed feeling “new” again. :) Sister Sessions and I are the only sisters in our district, branch, AND ZONE! We were a bit hesitant about sitting with the district elders the first few meals, especially since they called us over during the first meal saying, “Sisteres! Sisteres! Come sit with us! AGORA! AGORA!” Really??? They have been hungry for us? Lol. Elders Russell, Byers, and Simmons are from Washington. Elder Clawson (DL, District Leader) is from Mapleton, Utah. Elder Raleigh (the SWEETEST elder I’ve ever known) is from Pennsylvania. Elder Edwards, who is Simmons’ comp, is from Beaverton, Oregon. Elder Fry (ZL, Zone Leader) is also from Beaverton! Almost all of them have been out with the elders since age 16, so they know pretty well how to teach, which is GOOD! We needed the English district to help us have that foundation, and I am SO thankful for Brother Crandall and Brother Sikahema. EVERY time we see them even STILL, they are so excited to ask us how it’s going. We have coordinated eating lunch together, so we can catch up. Our Portuguese teacher, Brother Villanova, is from Porto Alegre, Brazil, and has the best accent! I love listening to him and have picked up the way words are supposed to sound pretty fast. YEA! Remembering the words and phrases are what I’m struggling with. Yesterday, we went a whole day without practicing Portuguese; and by the time the fireside rolled around, we couldn’t even bear our testimonies to an elder who wanted to hear it in Portuguese! |
Saying good-bye to our English district “family” was hard; accepting our new Portuguese district “family” is difficult-er hahaha. I have warmed up to them faster than Sister Sessions has. I guess that’s a good thing because she is leaving, and I’m “stuck” with them for a while longer. When Sister Sessions got her visa on Friday [March 16], we asked EVERYONE we knew to pray for me to get MY visa; but even as I was praying for it, I felt like I was asking for the wrong thing. I even predicted that Sister Sessions would get her visa before I was going to, and I feel like there are some more things I need to learn at this MTC before I’m ready for what lies ahead. So, in my last prayer, I put everything on the line. I told Him how I felt and what I wanted (which was still up in the air) and just gave the situation to Him to figure out. He knows me better than I know myself. I know He has plans for me, so I just prayed that I’d find those whom I was supposed to teach or help OR learn the things I was supposed to learn here soon. I want to be effective in whatever capacity He has me in. I want to lift wherever I stand. |
There's nothing like a little LOVE from home.
Mom, thanks for the CARE package. It came on Friday—just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. That day was really rough! My comp got her visa, and I didn’t get mine. Just holding the box made me happy. :) I didn’t even open it until late that night. It’s terrible when I get frustrated because it bugs Sister Sessions, but we talk it out. |
Saturday night, March 17, I tried to stay up and catch up in my journal but ended up falling asleep at 11. Pathetic, lol, but it did remind me of my oh so loved roommates. KIRA, JACKIE, JULIEEEE!!!! I miss our stay up late rotations on the couch. :) Jackie, use livemocha.com!!! It’s pretty much just like the stuff we use here.
I don’t know what’s going on in the language classes, but they just give you books and—sink or swim—they make you teach. It’s very teach-yourself oriented, and I WISH I had actually tried to learn the language before I came. Although it’s cool that they want to teach you how to rely on the Spirit, learning a language on your own is difficult! Let alone TEACHING in another language, which is ridiculous. At least you know that what you’re teaching is true, and you are founded on personal revelation in your own life to get you through. Being a missionary is pretty much like being a salesman in a foreign country and attempting to speak that language. The only difference is we aren’t selling this message. It’s free to all those who want to hear it. The money is coming out of OUR pockets to
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spiritually feed those who are seeking it. Ezekiel 37 is a famine not of bread or of water, please look it up. However, salvation is not a cheap experience. So many prophets of the Bible had to sacrifice much to declare repentance to the children of God. God tries us to see how we would react.
Going to the temple and basking in the strong spirit today, I got the impression that I can have “Celestial Room” experiences wherever I am because my body is a temple. As long as I stand in holy places, I can receive personal revelation ANYWHERE. The answer may be louder in the temple, but the answer will still be the same, as long as I’m WORTHY of and LISTENING to the Spirit.
PHEW! I forget what typing only once a week does for my poor fingers. I’m losing it! One final funny story. On our way home from gym, some elders came busting out of the door we were about to go into, ready for their gym time. One elder ALMOST plowed right into Sister Sessions. She put up her hands and went, “HELLOOOOO!” He, stepping aside just in time, said, “AWKWARRRRD!”
Random stuff: Mom & Dad, thanks for sending me the new watch. I’m so glad to have it. I’d REALLY LOVE to have the "Song of Testimony" song. Can you please send it to me?
Oh, I can’t remember if I told you, but I found the spinner CTR ring you gave me! AND I found my necklace... the necklace that some AWESOME person--Jasmine Bingham--gave me to remind me to have faith in every footstep. Thanks, Jasmine! |