June 14, 2013 First P-Day!!

Oi, everyone!! Its finally our first P-Day!!! Took long enough, right??

I'll just jump right in with whats been going on.

So, I arrived here at 12:30, Wednesday June 5th, and was greeted by my host missionary who also happened to be going to Brazil! She helped with my luggage and waited outside with it while I went inside, got my badge of honor (aka name-tag) and keys and a map. We took my luggage to my room and went to the bookstore to get a huge yellow bag full of learning materials. Then, we headed to my classroom. There I was greeted by my teacher, Irmao Durfee, who began speaking rapid Portuguese to me. Somehow I was able to comprehend the gist of what he was saying and followed him to a computer lab where I was instructed (in Portuguese, of course) to do the training programs for new missionaries on the computer. I finished after twenty minutes and headed back to the room. There were two elders in there so far, Elders Fillmore and Underwood. There were basic Portuguese phrases on the board that we were told to practice with. (Remember that all the instructions were given in Portuguese). More and more missionaries showed up, including my companion, Sister Goimerac!

When everyone was there, we went around the classroom and told everyone our name, where we were from, what mission we were going to, what we liked to do, and what we did before the mission. (Eu sou de Georgia... Eu gosta de escrever etc.... PS my spelling may be off since I'm trying to hurry! and I can't really do accent marks on this computer... grrrrr). We spent the next few hours learning some Portuguese basics, ate some dinner, then went through in large groups with all the newbies and taught 'investigators' in the evening. It was all about learning what people need, and learning how to best adjust things to what they need. That's what missionary work is all about- helping people the best you can. Dinner is like the Cannon Center all over again- woohoo!!

The next day, I ran into Hermana Arntsen!! Sister Goimerac and I were walking back from breakfast or maybe lunch and randomly we heard, "SISTER SHELL SISTER SHELL SISTER SHELL SISTER SHELL SISTER SHELL!!!!" and then I was hug tackled by Hermana Arntsen. It was good to see her and talk to her for a minute!! She said that Spanish is going really well for her and asked how I felt about Portuguese. The typical response is "overwhelmed." However, I am confident I will get it!! Thursday we also found out that we had to teach our first 'investigator' Friday evening. Not a problem right? Wrong, because we were also told that we would have to teach entirely in Portuguese. To say we were slightly nervous might be an understatement. We also found out a few other nerve-wracking things- like how sacrament meeting is done in Portuguese and one elder and one sister are randomly called up to give a talk in Portuguese. Eep!! At least by the time I hit the field I'll have six talks prepared. We spent the rest of the day preparing for our lesson, and I believe we also met the Branch Presidency that night. The days are becoming a blur so its hard to remember everything that has happened!

Oh! I also got a package and several letters on Friday! It basically made my day. My package was a whole huge thing of fudge brownies with chocolate chips in them from my mom. Sister Goimerac and I decided to save them for Sunday night to celebrate making it through to Sunday. Its a pretty big deal.

Friday was a pretty good day. Sister Goimerac and I were pretty much already best friends for life by the time Friday rolled around. We are very similar people, and are always making each other laugh. On Friday she decided that she would love to see me at 2 am because apparently I would be hilarious. It's true. Anyways. The lesson did not happen on Friday, unfortunately, because 'Joao' (our investigator) was unable to make it. So, it was rescheduled until Saturday night. Needless to say we were slightly relieved.

So, at the CTM (pronounced say-tay-emee) we have little id things to swipe us into buildings and into the cafeteria. EVERY SINGLE BUILDING IS ALWAYS LOCKED. I have honestly never felt so safe. Anyways, because you ALWAYS need your id thingy on you, they have these little circular things that you can clip onto your skirt/belt/cardigan that you can hook your id to. It has retractable string so you can just pull it and swipe and then let go, and it stays with you. It's pretty handy. Sister Goimerac and I have taken to calling them "retractable ninja stars" or "spiderman thingies" because we feel pretty cool using them. Like secret agents.

Saturday we finally taught our first lesson to Joao in Portuguese!! It went pretty well, but he asked a whole lot of questions in Portuguese that we weren't really prepared for, especially with our limited vocabulary. It was sort of frustrating to me, especially since Sister Goimerac can communicate more. She did, however, do a study abroad in Spain so the Spanish she knows helps a lot. I was able to talk with him though, so I know that the Lord is blessing me with the ability to learn Portuguese.

First off, my district is fabulous. I love them all a ton! Elder Underwood is quite a character. He has some very interesting stories that he loves to tell. Basically for any topic. His companion is Elder Kohls and they get along really well. Muito bem.

Sundays are my favorite days at the CTM because they are so amazingly spiritual. All the sisters in the whole CTM have relief society together in the gym. That's 1297 sisters. Its amazing. One of the things we discussed a lot all day was "BE BOLD, know your purpose, and expect miracles." A phrase that was quoted a few times was from Elder Holland, who said, "Welcome to the work of angels." I just love that phrase, and I know that its true. This really is the work of angels. The Spirit here is so incredibly strong. Everyone is kind, loving and supportive. Everyone smiles and everyone loves the work. After the Relief Society meeting, Sister Goimerac leaned over and gave me a hug and told me how glad she was that I was her companion. She truly is the sister of my heart. Honestly.

I didn't have to give a talk the first Sunday, which was a huge relief!! We were also supposed to have a walk to the temple, but we ended up having a long discussion with our branch president. It was cool, even if I felt like I didn't know nearly as much as him about the gospel!! I will though. I know it.

That night we went to the CTM choir practice. Here's where it gets realllllly cool and neat. On the 23 of June, there is going to be a huge missionary training broadcast that will be shown to thousands of members and missionaries throughout the world. The 12 apostles will be there, as will the first presidency. There will be a choir of about 1200 missionaries and 1100 members. I will be in that choir!! They are also going to put it up on lds.org so people can watch it whenever they want. Basically, I'm a rockstar. (Just kidding.) I am so excited!! It will be a wonderful experience, and a wonderful way to share our talents.

This week has been going by so fast!! We taught Joao a few times before we were told that he is actually our second professor and will be teaching us in the evenings from now on!! Sneaky sneaky. Both of our teachers are married, and Irmao Durfee has a son named Rad who just had his first  birthday this week! We had some Hermanas in our room that moved out at 3 in the morning this week on Tuesday, so we were a bit tired that day. But that meant that Sister Jacobsen and Paravan were able to move into our room with us!! They're in our District. District 54E!! Tuesdays are also our service days. We did some custodial work in one of the buildings. It made me feel like I was back working at the Cannon Center again!! A sort of weird feeling. We also sang in the CTM choir at the first ever devotional INSIDE the Marriott Center. It was amazing. I learned some really amazing things there and ran into Hermana Arntsen again. Wednesday was fun because we were no longer newbies!! It was fun to see the new missionaries walking around with their dork dots (little orange dots to show that they're new) and to yell things like "Benvindo!" and "Bom sorte!!"

It has been so humbling to teach and to try and communicate in Portuguese. I know that the Lord will bless me with the ability to learn, and I know that this is what I am supposed to do. I will be able to understand all that is going on. Despite being thrown into 3rd year Portuguese, I already understand and can speak so much. It truly is a miracle.

EEP! My time has run out!! I'll try to send some pictures. Hopefully everything works out. If not, know that I love you all and that I'm sorry if I didn't answer all your questions!! This truly is the Lord's work. We are blessed to be here, and are taken care of. I know that He loves and protects His missionaries. I feel so happy here and I always have so much more energy than I think I will. This truly is the work of the Lord.

I promise that I will share more next week!

Tchau tchau!

love,

Sister Shell

PS- HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE BEST DAD IN THE WHOLE WORLD!! :D