I hope your weeks are going well. As you may have noticed, this email is not coming on the typical day...there have been some changes here.
As a result of the 230 plus Brazilian bound missionaries that are stuck here waiting for visas, they have had to split the Portuguese zone again. So, I am now in a new zone and in an Italian branch (happy Dave?!) This means that I am on an entirely new schedule and that Tuesdays are now my P-days until I leave the MTC. It's been funny how such a little thing as a schedule change has had such an impact on life. The new schedule switches us from the latest to the earliest schedule, which is annoying as far as eating times and such. But, the saddest part is that we never really get to see the other Portuguese missionaries that are now in our old zone.
When the first told us of the change, I was rather upset and annoyed that we, the oldest district, had to change. But, when we went to Sacrament meeting with the Italian branch this Sunday, I really felt that God really IS in control of this work, and He knows what He is doing. Regardless of the convenience or lack thereof of schedules, there is a purpose for everything that we go through. All we need to do is to look for what we can learn, and trust in God to lead us to where and who we need to be. So, I am grateful for this chance to have learned this lesson in a (relatively) small matter.
But, not much has really happened since it has only been three or four days. The schedule change has been the big news and deal here. I am excited for the Devotional tonight though, they are always so good! I love the spirit that General Authorities have with them, and the power of the Spirit.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
This week a lot of the focus was on Portuguese. We had to teach the lesson of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Thursday all in Portuguese, so it took a lot of work to build enough vocabulary and grammar skills to be able to communicate for 50 minutes in Portuguese! But, it actually went pretty well. Although I can get frustrated by not being able to express myself as well as I would like, when I stop and consider that I have only been learning Portuguese for 5 weeks, it's pretty miraculous! The Portuguese is coming along- I can understand fairly well when people speak slow, and can get across my general ideas. Hopefully the next four weeks will help me a lot before I actually go to Portugal. But yeah, the language is going fairly well.
I was wondering what I should write about this week, becuase it doesn't really feel like a lot has happened, just more of the same routine. But I was thinking about some of the things that have stood out to me this week, and thought I would share those with you.
First of all, God answers prayers. I've always known this growing up and had experiences of many varieties. But this last week, I have seen soo many of my prayers answered, oftentimes very quickly (which always makes me happy!). But I know that God hears and answers our prayers, and that when do the work by praying and doing as much as we can, He will make up the difference and answer our petitions. I was studying about why we pray using Jesus' name, to answer some questions from investigators. The bible dictionary says that we pray in Jesus' name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes are the wishes of Christ. Thus, in order to truly prayer in Christ's name, we can't just say the words "in the name of Jesus Christ", but the words and intents of our prayers must be His as well. That struck me as really interesting and important, and it is when we pray according to Christ's mind and wishes that our prayers are most likely to be answered.
I have also been studying love this week. Some interesting connections from the Book of Mormon- King Benjamin teaches in Mosiah 2 that we serve God by serving others, and then says in chapter 5 "how knoweth a man the master whom he had not served and who is a stranger to him and far from the thoughts and intents of his heart". We serve God by serving others, and the thoughts and intents of our hearts need to be the same as Gods to truly serve. In other words, we truly need to have charity, the pure love of Christ, for everyone that we serve, especially as missionaries and representatives of the Lord. In his talk from General Conference, President Uchtdorf taught that love should be the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ. And that is soo true!! (a prophet would know!) Everything that we do should be centered on our love for God and our fellow-men. The only way that I can be an effective missionary and to help others feel God's love is to feel that love for them as well and share it with them. Love is the key!!
So, on that note, I love you all!!I am so grateful for all of the wonderful influences that everyone has had in my life. I am grateful for this opportunity to more deeply understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be able to serve my God by helping others to receive His blessings. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, that they have a plan for us, and that as we follow the guidelines they have set through the words of prophets, we will be blessed with peace and happiness and with the opportunity to return to live with them. And I am so grateful for this knowledge!!
Sorry if this is preachy, but the only this I really have to share this week is my testimony. I hope that it strengthens yours and helps you to come a little closer to Christ. I know that His arm is ever stretched out to encircle, help, and protect us.
I was wondering what I should write about this week, becuase it doesn't really feel like a lot has happened, just more of the same routine. But I was thinking about some of the things that have stood out to me this week, and thought I would share those with you.
First of all, God answers prayers. I've always known this growing up and had experiences of many varieties. But this last week, I have seen soo many of my prayers answered, oftentimes very quickly (which always makes me happy!). But I know that God hears and answers our prayers, and that when do the work by praying and doing as much as we can, He will make up the difference and answer our petitions. I was studying about why we pray using Jesus' name, to answer some questions from investigators. The bible dictionary says that we pray in Jesus' name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes are the wishes of Christ. Thus, in order to truly prayer in Christ's name, we can't just say the words "in the name of Jesus Christ", but the words and intents of our prayers must be His as well. That struck me as really interesting and important, and it is when we pray according to Christ's mind and wishes that our prayers are most likely to be answered.
I have also been studying love this week. Some interesting connections from the Book of Mormon- King Benjamin teaches in Mosiah 2 that we serve God by serving others, and then says in chapter 5 "how knoweth a man the master whom he had not served and who is a stranger to him and far from the thoughts and intents of his heart". We serve God by serving others, and the thoughts and intents of our hearts need to be the same as Gods to truly serve. In other words, we truly need to have charity, the pure love of Christ, for everyone that we serve, especially as missionaries and representatives of the Lord. In his talk from General Conference, President Uchtdorf taught that love should be the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ. And that is soo true!! (a prophet would know!) Everything that we do should be centered on our love for God and our fellow-men. The only way that I can be an effective missionary and to help others feel God's love is to feel that love for them as well and share it with them. Love is the key!!
So, on that note, I love you all!!I am so grateful for all of the wonderful influences that everyone has had in my life. I am grateful for this opportunity to more deeply understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be able to serve my God by helping others to receive His blessings. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, that they have a plan for us, and that as we follow the guidelines they have set through the words of prophets, we will be blessed with peace and happiness and with the opportunity to return to live with them. And I am so grateful for this knowledge!!
Sorry if this is preachy, but the only this I really have to share this week is my testimony. I hope that it strengthens yours and helps you to come a little closer to Christ. I know that His arm is ever stretched out to encircle, help, and protect us.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
It is hard to believe that another week has passed already! I have now been here for a month, which seems crazy. This week was a good one, even though it zoomed by.
One thing that I have been meaning to write about but keep forgetting is the Brazil situation here. They are not giving any missionaries visas to Brazil, or at least only like 2 a month. So, they are sending all the missionaries that were supposed to go to the Brazil MTC here instead. This means that instead of about 7-10 people every three weeks, or zone receives 20-30 people a week. This has led to insane growth of our zone, and craziness for doing laundry, gym time, going to the temple, and other zone activities. So this Sunday, to mitigate the problem, they split our zone/branch into two to make it more manageable (we now only have around 80 people in our zone). While it was sad to see districts going away, something had to be done! But I still am in the same zone and branch, for which I am grateful. Without the Brazilians, there would only be about 12 of us intead of 150 plus. It's interesting how this one issue has such a large impact on the MTC experience.
This week for devotional, Ronald Rasband from the Quorum of the 70 and his wife came and spoke. I know their son from econ at BYU, so it was kind of cool to have a semi-personal connection to them. Brother Rasband talked a lot about being bolder in our missionary work. I know that that is true and that it is something that I need to work on. I know that this gospel is true and that it is the only way that we can truly be happy. I need to be bolder and more persistent in sharing my knowledge with others so that they can feel the blessings of the gospel as well.
Since I have been in the MTC for over 4 weeks now, we have begun the "sempre Portugues" phase, which means that in my classes we will only be speaking Portugues. It's a little challenging, but I think it is actually really fun and it will be really beneficial for picking up the language faster.
That's about it! I hope everything is going well for all of you! I have been studying the atonement a lot this week, and I know that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can freed from our sins, strengthened to endure trials, and perfected to be able to live with God. I am so thankful for my redeemer and my Savior! I know that it is upon Him that we must all rely, and that the only means of Salvation is through His name.
One thing that I have been meaning to write about but keep forgetting is the Brazil situation here. They are not giving any missionaries visas to Brazil, or at least only like 2 a month. So, they are sending all the missionaries that were supposed to go to the Brazil MTC here instead. This means that instead of about 7-10 people every three weeks, or zone receives 20-30 people a week. This has led to insane growth of our zone, and craziness for doing laundry, gym time, going to the temple, and other zone activities. So this Sunday, to mitigate the problem, they split our zone/branch into two to make it more manageable (we now only have around 80 people in our zone). While it was sad to see districts going away, something had to be done! But I still am in the same zone and branch, for which I am grateful. Without the Brazilians, there would only be about 12 of us intead of 150 plus. It's interesting how this one issue has such a large impact on the MTC experience.
This week for devotional, Ronald Rasband from the Quorum of the 70 and his wife came and spoke. I know their son from econ at BYU, so it was kind of cool to have a semi-personal connection to them. Brother Rasband talked a lot about being bolder in our missionary work. I know that that is true and that it is something that I need to work on. I know that this gospel is true and that it is the only way that we can truly be happy. I need to be bolder and more persistent in sharing my knowledge with others so that they can feel the blessings of the gospel as well.
Since I have been in the MTC for over 4 weeks now, we have begun the "sempre Portugues" phase, which means that in my classes we will only be speaking Portugues. It's a little challenging, but I think it is actually really fun and it will be really beneficial for picking up the language faster.
That's about it! I hope everything is going well for all of you! I have been studying the atonement a lot this week, and I know that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can freed from our sins, strengthened to endure trials, and perfected to be able to live with God. I am so thankful for my redeemer and my Savior! I know that it is upon Him that we must all rely, and that the only means of Salvation is through His name.
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