Sunday, May 13, 2012

Glad to be a missionary

Brazil Missionary Training Center
Well.... everything here has been going great :) The language is coming along more or less, but I definitely have a LOT more to learn!  It's all good though.

So can I just say that I am SO glad I decided to come on a mission?!  I have learned SO MUCH already and I feel like my testimony has been strengthened a lot already!  I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  And I've been noticing just how big of a blessing it has been in my life to be a member of it.  Seriously, my life would be completely unrecognizeable without it.  Anyways, I decided to come on a mission (well, for several reasons, but one of the main ones is) for the people I will have the opportunity to share the restored gospel with - o evangelho restaurado.  I know this church is true - through prayer and as it says in John 7:17 by doing the Lord's will, I have come to know of the truth of His doctrine.  And I know that our Heavenly Father wants these people to receive His gospel - why? ...because they are His Children.  And He loves them.  A lot.  I'm pretty sure that everything Heavenly Father has done is for his children - as it says in the scriptures - "For behold, this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Or if you like portuguese better, " Pois es que esta é minha obra e minha glória, levar a efeito a immortalidade e vida eterna do homem."  And this purpose of His is evidenced in everything that has happened in the world.  The reason why he has called prophets in the past - Moses, Noah, Abraham, etc.  The reason why He came to earth and suffered for our sins and died for us - this was all so that we can repent and be cleansed from our sins and so that we can return to live with Him again.  This is also the reason why the church needed to be restored.  He loves us and so after the original twelve apostles were killed and His priesthood authority was lost, He brought back the church in its true form onto the earth again, as soon as He safely could.  How cool is that?  I know that Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ live and they love each of us.  Immensely.  I love this church and I am so grateful to be able to share this message with others! It has already blessed me so much in my life.

Also, I know that the Lord takes care of His missionaries.  How else in the world would anyone be able to learn a foreign language (or at least enough to get by) in six weeks??!  I was in Provo taking the language for longer than that!!! It is awesome the times when a concept here just clicks, but it was SO confusing when I was trying to learn it earlier.  Or when I come out saying words that I didn't even know I knew.  I know that Heavenly Father is blessing me to be able to learn the language.  I still have a long way to go though!! But I do believe what it says in Moroni 7:33 - great scripture! Love it :)

The CTM is kind of funny - we have missionaries from the United States, several Spanish speaking countries as well as Portuguese speaking countries (Brazil, Mozambique, Portugal). It's great though because Portuguese is the unifying factor.  We can all somewhat communicate with each other through it.  Or just play charades, you know.. one or the other. :)
 Eu amo vocês!
I love you!

For those who are wondering what the scripture Moroni: 7:33 says:


Moroni 7: 33 And Christ hath said: aIf ye will have bfaith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is cexpedient in me.

Also, if you would like a link to the entire book of mormon online here it is:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng 

For those interested in learning more about the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints, here is a good website:  www.mormon.org



Sao Paulo Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints







If you would like to try a taste of Brazil. Here is a recipe for Brazilian Lemonade:

Brazilian Lemonade
4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
Mix cold water and sugar and chill until ready to use.
Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you’re using the WHOLE lime.
 Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.
Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.
Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn’t test it and it came out a little bitter. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although, people will want more; plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.








Tuesday, May 1, 2012

An Average Day at the CTM


                                         Me and Sister C in front of the Sao Paulo Temple

An average day - we wake up at six thirty, get dressed for the day and eat breakfast.  Then we have personal study, companion study, and then the language lab.  Then we have gym where we run for a little bit and then go play volleyball for the rest of the time.  The Brazilians are intense!! And yes, soccer moves are completely legal in any game of volleyball - it is awesome! :)  After that we shower and get ready for the day - again - and then we go to lunch and have class with Irma S - she is our teacher and Irma translates to sister - we're called Sister's though, (In English not Portuguese because Irma is the same as nun here.... awesome? haha) We do gramatica with her and then we practice teaching with her - she is our fake investigator Angelica.  Then we have dinner at four fifteen - SO EARLY!! It's awful! haha.  We never get hungry!!  Then afterwards we have class with Irmao C (Brother C).  He is the best! We go over stuff with him as well and teach him too.  We taught a lot last week, I feel like - and yes, it is only in Portuguese.  Scary!  My companion is a really good teacher and speaks awesome Portuguese, so I have learned a lot from her already.  She did three weeks in Provo, in English, before she came here.  After class, we plan for the next day and go to lanche - just a snack thing we have.  Then we're in our rooms by ten and from there we study/ write in our journals, etc.  Just wind down for the day.  I really like it here though.  I really just want to make the most out of the time that I do have here to be able to do the best I can once I actually get into the field. Only four more weeks!!!! Ahh!
There are a couple things that are different here than in the states - one is the driving.... They are crazy! Especially motorcyclists.  We were driving in a huge bus, with one in the next lane over and a motorcylcist just comes zooming on in between! 

Well.... I love it here! I love being a missionary! I am SO glad that I can finally be here!  I am grateful that I can wear Jesus Christ's name over my heart as I love him so much.  His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man - which definitely speaks of the great love that he has for each of us.  I am excited to be able to serve Him for the next year and a half.  I love the Plan of Salvation. 
I would love to hear from you all!  



                                      My district from the CTM in front of the Sao Paulo Temple