Metade do caminho através da MTC (Halfway through the MTC)

It's good to be here, never again will I have so much time to dedicate to studying the gospel!

Tuesday Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke at the devotional! It was so great, he talked about the gathering of Israel and how we are taking part in this great work that has been prophesized so many many years ago.

Yesterday we had a good devotional, an MTC administrative director, it was good, he showed us all these old church homestead commercials and they were funny and cute and nice. Then after, we get to watch church movies or talks and we watched this video from a devotional Elder Holland gave a few years ago, and it was POWERFUL. He is such an intense speaker! He talked about how we only get this one chance to serve with all our time, efforts, directing every thought and action to serving Heavenly Father and teaching the gospel. He said being a missionary is a little like being an apostle, and really, for most of us, it's the closest experience we'll have to being an apostle, dedicating everything towards this work. He talked about working hard so that we can go to where miracles happen, I don't know if I'm saying this so it makes sense, but we need to keep pushing a little harder so miracles happen. And he said that it will be hard, really hard, because salvation isn't supposed to be easy. It wasn't easy for the Savior, and it won't be easy for us or the people we teach, it's just a tiny taste of what pain the Savior suffered but it is a taste of it, but along with it is a taste of the joy He feels when we come unto Him, we'll feel a bit of that joy when we see people we come to love make those changes and let the gospel in their lives.

It is really great to be here, I am so grateful for this opportunity. And we are getting so excited to go to Portugal! Mostly I'm worried about knowing enough of the language but I think it will be okay because when I'm there I'll HAVE to learn it, well. I think nine weeks is the perfect time at the MTC, ha. We will probably get to fly through Paris, spend a few hours in the Paris airport. But I don't know for sure because we aren't leaving for almost a month, ha. But usually going to Portugal missionaries stop in Paris, is what I've heard.

I love you all! Thanks for all of your love and support!

09 de janeiro (January 9)

The food here is pretty good. There's enough choices that you can find something you like. There are two different entrees, plus a grill-type line that serves either some kind of burger or hotdog every meal, also a different really good salad every meal, and then a wrap bar thing, where they will make you whatever kind of wrap you want (or salad), so that's always a good option. Plus soups and such. We do have BYU brownies every once in a while, they always are the mint kind with no nuts. They are very tasty! AND we have BYU ice cream every Sunday and Wednesday. YUM I try not to eat it too often though.

We do get to work out five times a week, there's a gym with treadmills/bikes/etc and free weights and they show church movies/ general conference on tvs while we run. Also there is a gym with a few treadmills/bikes/etc but also a track (they switch the direction you have to run on the track everyday, I thought that was pretty funny, but I guess it's some health principle that it's better not to run in the same direction every day) and also volleyball, basketball, and foursquare. The weather's been so nice, we've been hoping they'd let us go outside for gym, but I guess it's not really normal to staff the outdoor fields in the middle of January, ha. It finally snowed on Friday, though, and it's been cold since. Before it's been cold sometimes but sometimes it's been so warm we don't even need our coats. It's really odd.

Today we got to go to the temple for the first time since we've been here! (it's been closed for the holidays) It was really nice. The Provo temple is HUGE. But it was super good and nice and I really love the Provo temple, it brings back memories of walking over there from school.

Here is a funny story while I am thinking about it, it seems like it should be in some sort of reader's digest: I was in the laundry room reading an Ensign, there was this elder nearby carefully reading the back of a box of dryer sheets. His companion came over, and the first elder said "I don't know what to do with these!" The companion looked at it for a minute, puzzled, and then said "Elder! I've got an idea!" the other said "What's your idea?" And his companion said, "We ask the sisters!"

This week we went to the TRC for the first time, it was pretty awesome because there we just teach members, there is no pretending or anything. Just sort of like how the missionaries share a message when they come over for dinner. I volunteered there once when I was at BYU, so it was cool to go back, but on the other side of the table, ha. This one guy we taught, he spoke Portuguese SO FAST. and then we found out that he also speaks four other languages and is working on German. He learned them all from reading the Book of Mormon and talking to people. He served his mission in Idaho.

Sometimes the Portuguese feels like it is going really well, sometimes it is really frustrating and I feel like I don't know anything. Our investigators weren't keeping their commitments, so I was feeling a little discouraged, but then I talked to Sis. Jacobs, who is a teacher who subbed for us once, she is super sweet and nice and she's from Brazil and doesn't speak too much English, and she said my t's and s's sounded just like Portugal Portuguese! even though all our teachers are Brazil. So that made me feel a better =) But I need to work really really hard, the weeks just keep flying by and I'm definitely not good enought to say much of anything in Porgugal.

I love you all! I am so grateful to be here, and so grateful for all of you love and support

Feliz Ano Novo (Happy New Year!)

Because our teacher was out of town, we've been having substitutes. We had six different teachers over four days! It made it a little difficult. But one of the teachers spoke Portugal Portuguese to us (our normal teacher served in Brazil) and it was practically a different language. We couldn't really understand anything he said. So we've been practicing it with the proper pronunciation, and hopefully we'll pick it up in Portugal as well. One of the substitutes also told me and my companion that we needed to stop using our little red handbooks, that have lesson outlines and sentances and things written in both English and Portuguese. So we were terrified, because that's how we get through the lessons! But we decided it would be good to try. And the first lesson was a complete disaster, we didn't know what our investigator was asking about, let alone how to answer him. But the second lesson went SO WELL, the Spirit was so strong and the investigator went from thinking the Book of Mormon was evil (because of our bad lesson the day before) to agreeing to get baptized (but not really, because he's just a pretend investigator). For the first time I felt like I was really teaching and really saying what I was feeling and not just trying to say Portuguese words. But it was really cool, I feel like our Portuguese has gotten so much better just in the past few days. I carry a little notebook with a few Portuguese words that sometimes I forget, but that's it. And of course our Portuguese scriptures. It is good because before, sometimes we didn't really know what we were saying. Now we are saying much simpler sentences, but it is okay.

I hope all of you had a good New Year! We celebrated a little at around 9:30/10:00, Sister Palmer's friend had sent some sparkling juice and noise makers. It was pretty fun. It's strange thinking that it is already 2012.

I love you all! Thank you so much for all of your letters, I really appreciate them! Have a great week,