Tuesday, October 1, 2013

"Cast all your care upon Him, for He careth for you" 1 Peter 5:7 - August 14, 2013

Ola from Sister Sperry !

So I need to start off by saying that I don't have much time, but so much to say. First, this week Elder Wood in our District is SO funny. I really don't think i've met a funnier human being outside of our family, really. Okay, maybe not, but in the mission everything is funny. He was saying how he talks in his sleep and he's afraid one of the Brazilheiro roommates in his room will freak out because he doesn't know how to tell them "I talk in my sleep so don't be alarmed." haha! And then I told him about how one time my dad was at this camp where this guy totally freaked out in the middle of the night, talking in his sleep saying "what's happening, what's happening!!!" hahahahaha we were all laughing so hard and I could barely get the words out! My district was crying....we were laughing so hard. I didn't do the story as well as dad normally does, but i gave it my all, hand motions and everything!

Also, because they feed us so much here, they also have us exercise mostly every day. So we play volleyball, run on the track, basketball, lift weights (well, everyone else lifts weights :) ) etc. And i just have to say....the other day we played knockout with our District and it was down to just me and the best Elder in knockout! Talk about stressful! I definitely have not experienced loss of oxygen like that in awhile :) and then...I WON! it was quite the accomplilshment.

Time is so strange here. Saturday's don't really exist....and every day really does feel like a week and the weeks feel like days. But honestly, time is FLYING. I cannot believe we have been here two weeks....eeek!

Good news is, we had a solid dessert yesterday. I'm knocking on wood right now that we continue to have them. I'm tired of slurping my desserts off of a spoon! It was a really good pastel with caramel sauce in the middle...we saw that and thought, "oh my gosh...did we just skip all this and go straight to heaven?" haha

Okay, here they eat Halls cough drops like candy. Weird? Yes. Extremely weird for us Americanos. One girl in my district has a cold so she has a huge bag of cherry halls, and one day our brazillian instructor comes in and after he sees that, says, "oohhh! Candies!" we were like, what?? and he explained to us that they eat halls like candy here. We told him that in estados unidos they are definitely medicine, and he laughed right in our faces! We even showed him the medication instructions on the package, and he thinks for a minute, then says, "well, in Brazil, we don't print that on the package." We still laugh about that. This would also explain why last sunday, the Brazilheiro girl next to me handed me a halls out of her purse randomly. Now I get it! She was giving me a candy! OH the good times at the CTM,.

We have two new sisters and one new elder from the Provo MTC who just came in a week ago. They are adjusting i think. They definitely think that we are weirdos! They say the food is better here...i told them "that may be, but just wait until you have some mystery meat and jello that looks like relish every day. then you might think differently." :)

I feel sort of like a dog here, on a schedule. Let me explain. They feed us at exactly 4 hour intervals, and I find myself getting hungry right when we are supposed to be fed! At home, i could go all day and just forget that i'm supposed to eat. But oh, not here. They even feed us a snack at 9 pm of bread, juice, cheese, and fruit. EVERY.DAY. My district and I decided we are all going to gain 5 pounds a week here, so we can sweat it all off in the summer.

We have something here called TRC. It's where you teach an investigator, member, or inactive member a short lesson. This week we had an inactive member. We got to know him and then asked about what his beliefs were. He was really uncertain about going to church, and hadn't been in 5 years. I asked him if he would pray then with us to feel God's love and peace in his life. He was hesitant, but he agreed. His prayer was humble and sincere. I was so thankful for that. He agreed to come to church on sunday, and then asked when he could see us again! How cool is that? At the end he said, "Sisters, I have never felt the spirit like that. Thank you thank you for teaching me today and being my friend. and your portuguese is really good!" What a humbling experience. It really helps me to know that we have the Lord's help here in the mission.

Sometimes I take a step back and think about what we are accomplishing: teaching the gospel in another language that we don't know. Both new things, and I am already speaking really decent Portuguese and get compliments wherever I go. I am so grateful for the Lord's help. None of this would be possible without Him.

A quote that my companion shared with me that helped me lots: "There are events in the future, and not very far ahead, that will require all our faith, all our energy, all our confidence, and all our trust in God, to enable us to withstand the influences that will be brought to bear against us... We cannot trust in our intelligence; we cannot trust in our wealth; we cannot trust any surrounding circumstances with which we are enveloped; we must trust alone in the living God to guide us, direct us, to lead us, to teach us, and to instruct us" - John Taylor

I love you all more than I can say. Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Sperry

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