Do I want the life that's up ahead or the one I left behind? - September 4, 2013

Everyone should serve a mission. 2 months ago, I did not realize just how much I would learn. As a missionary, you need to work with people, and a lot of times it can be difficult. You must work diligently to study more than you ever have, whether you are learning a language or not. You hold meetings and are involved in leadership responsibilities. You learn to not waste any time, because the mission is not about you. Selfishness cannot exist within a successful missionary. A missionary learns to get out of bed when he thinks he can't. A missionary works constantly until she drops. As a representative of the Lord, you must be respectful and dignified. However, I have never laughed so much as I have on my mission. If we are sharing the plan of happiness, shouldn't we live it?

I have learned as a missionary to rely more on the Lord than ever before. If we didn't do that, we wouldn't make it. Our families, friends, and normal lives are put away for a little bit right now. When you are a disciple of Christ, you put away your own name to wear His on your heart. My life before the mission will always hold a special place in my heart, but I am not here to live my old life as Aubrey. It can be difficult at times when I miss my old life; it was easier, more comfortable, and certainly not as scary as this is. However, I like to think of a quote by Richard G. Scott: "To reach a goal that has never been obtained, one must do things that have never been done before." He also said "to get from wehere you are to where God wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain." These words give me hope that through these difficult challenges I am facing, I will obtain things I never have before and be stronger than ever before.

Christ lives. With all the miracles I have seen the past month, how could He not? I testify that life is too difficult to go through without him. Why fight what happiness and hope He has to offer? My mission will forever be an experience that has changed and refined me. I know without a doubt I will be more successful in the professional world, as a mother, wife and disciple of Christ because of these 18 months. I want to share a poem that I feel really reflects what it is like to be a missionary:

Behind or Ahead

As I stared out the window, the tears till in my eyes

I see the vision of those I loved as we had just said our last goodbyes.
The ride was long and tiring; two questions plagued my mind:
Do I want the life that's up ahead, or the one i left behind?
Two years is such a long long time; going door to door.
In my reflection I thought to myself, "There really must be more."
Well, I dragged myself down off the plane and smiled at the Brazillian rain,
when a man turned me the other way, saying, "Elder, go and find the stray."

It is reflecting once again, you see, as this day is my last.
Please Lord, it isn't fair; the time goes way too fast.
As I stared out the window, with tears still in my eyes,
I saw Elders, Sisters, and friends I love as we had just said our last goodbyes.

The road was long and tiring as two questions plagued my mind:
Do I want the life that's up ahead or the one I left behind?

I used to become somewhat emotioinal when I read that first part of the poem, because I love my old life and I always will. But now, after coming to love this country, people, language, and work, I cannot bear to think of leaving. Thank you all for being a part of my life; past, current, and future. I love you all to the moon and back. Keep pressing forward; try a little harder to be a little better. Have a great week.

Love,

Sister Sperry

A letter sent in response to my letter to Aubrey.  We had just put our dog Brandy down, who we had had for 14 years...most of Aubrey's growing up.

Hey Daddy,

I have tears in my eyes because i just read your letter about Brandy. I know you're right that she's in a better place now, but it sure is sad to think about her not being there anymore. Did she seem scared at all? I hope she felt it was okay to let go and feel no pain. I'm sure her and Grandma are having a good time.

I leave next Tuesday for RP! I cannot wait, but i'm extremely scared at the same time. It's a weird feeling. I don't want to leave the CTM yet i have the "senioritis of the CTM'" as my district calls it. So today is teh last p day here, and the last wednesday, and the last pizza night (which we always have on wednesdays.) I had my last devotional last night here. We will have a lot of lasts and a lot of firsts in the next week. It's a mix of emotions for sure.

I LOVE my scripture cases. They are BEAUTIFUL. i wrote you a missionties email about them that i will send later today. I can't thank you enough for thsoe!

About missionties, i'm really not sure. When does the subscription end? does it go by month? WE can just finish whatever month we're on and then wehn i get to the mission i'll find out how mail works. I have really appreciated it while here at the CTM, but i think you're right about it possibly being less efficient once i get to the field. between the two of us we'll figure it out.

Love you lots, i am gonna go write my family email now! Thanks for everything. If i have time in about 10minutes i'll email again!

The best month of my life - August 28, 2013

Familia,

Can you believe I have been here a month! It feels like just yesterday that I left. But at the same time, i feel I have learned an incredible amount in the last four weeks.

First off, we committed our investigator Michael to baptism! Can I get an amen?? It was awesome. Also, we got to go out on the streets of Sao Paulo on Friday and talk to people! Real people, can you believe it! With real portuguese! Haha. All I know is, I would not have been able to do that had I gone to Provo for missionary training. So i'm really grateful. Okay an experience from talking with the people: Sister Chatwin and i were walking around and we come across this painfully drunk lady who also probably had some sort of dimentia, and she is just throwing rocks at this yellow van and yelling things! We were like...uh.....what do we do?? So we just tip toed quietly behind her and then turned right. It was quite the experience. People are genuinely so nice and they always wonder what are americans trying to speak our language doing here?? We had some good conversations with people. I already am in love with brazil and the people here!

Last p day, Elder Wood and I saw a box of 24 full size milky ways. We went back and forth..should we get it, or should we not? Well, since milky way is both of our favorite candy bar, of course we splurged. It was a killer deal: each of us only paid 7 bucks! haha. I now have 8 milky ways left after giving some to the new americana girls here. We took some pictures with all the milky ways so i'll send those in a few weeks. American candy is a treasure here! Also, in the mornings sometimes we make paninis with bananas and milky ways with the bread that is to DIE for. It sounds weird, but it's pretty good! (or maybe my taste buds are ruined by now. it's totally possible :) especially because we just had lunch and my district scarffed it down while the new americans barely touched theirs. They just have to wait until they realize they won't get anything else. haha )

One of the Elders in my district was made Zone Leader on Sunday! So that's cool. Basically that means he is over a big group of Americans that's here.

I have to tell you, this email is so awesome. Currently we are all in a pact to speak only portuguese until we leave the CTM. seriously. only portuguese. I have a love hate relationship with this. However, I know I am improving. So, to enforce the law, we made a cone of shame that says (in portuguese) "I spoke english...what shame!" and you have to wear it if you speak. it's hilarious. At least we can have fun when we can't speak our own language.

So they try to help us americans feel at home by ocassionally giving us hot dogs or hamburgers. The other night we were in line to get food and sister willette says, "are these hamburgers or spamburgers?" HA! wouldn't i like to know.

It's funny because the verb esperar means to wait. So all the latinos and brazilheiros always use a form of that verb to say "wait!" turns out "espere" is how they say sperry as well. So the big joke is always to say sperry espere! Or "Sperry wait!!" they all get a kick out of that.

I want to express my sincere gratitude for being here on a mission. I have learned more about myself, others, and life in general in these 4 weeks than ever before. It is miraculous how fast I am learning portuguese. I love this work. I laugh every single day, all the time. I am truly grateful to have my family and friends, and realize now how much they mean to me. You all are incredible. Keep up the good work!

"For this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo" -Alma 26:36

Love always,

Sister Sperry

The CTM is a killer on the waistline - August 21, 2013

Hello hello!

I'm sweating right now because i have 15 minutes to write this email...hopefully it doesn't show too much in the content that my stress level is through the roof!

We have two new roommates who only speak spanish. So there is an interesting language beign spoken right now in our room....portuenglanol. (portuguese, engish, espanol) but they are awesome.

So, since we have people that came from the Provo MTC to our district, they also brought this virus from provo that made nearly everyone in our district sick. We are all wrapped up in blankets in our classroom, eating cough drops (they are becoming candy because we eat them so much :) ) and blowing our noses and coughing. Everyone calls it "the Plague of the Americans" haha. it's quite funny. Instead of shaking hands, we do lots of "elbow bumps".

I work out every day with Sister Shirts. She's a machine! We run sprints on the track and try to run a few miles, and incorporate some abs and legs as well. If nothing else, i feel better and am maintaining a good weight.

This week Irmao Allan didn't come to class one day. The next day he comes in and says, "You want to know why i didn't come to class yesterday? Because i dislocated my jaw while eating an apple!" Everyone was like....what! Haha so now he has to be really careful. Too funny.

Irmao Allan also has names for each of our books that we use to learn portugues. One is Shrek, another is Fiona, and the last one is "gato de botas" (puss in boots). Its so funny...he'll say, "okay, page 15 in gato de botas and page 175 in Shrek!"

They have cheese bread here that is similar to Tucano's...it's a killer on the waistline but soooo good. I try to contain my self :)

On sunday, the whole CTM had to prepare a music choir number for the fireside that night. There was one part that our director wanted someone to demonstrate how to sing. But no one raised their hand! So i went up there and sang the part into the microphone. Once i finished singing, everyone went, aweeee ohhh. It was funny. Later on, Elder Wood said, "Sister Sperry, i'm pretty sure all the Brazilian's name tags flew off once you sung so that they could propose to you" :)

Some sisters in our District bought the brazilian version of "funyuns chips". They smelled awful...we were all passing the bag around to take a whiff when Elder sprouse said, "ya know, they have a familiar smell. They smell like my brother's 5 year old sandals!|" They seriously did smell bad. In that moment, i will admist i missed America a bit :)

So. There are two buttons on the drinking fountains here: one for the American's (blue) and one for the Brazilheiros (white). The white one is normal temp water, and the blue is cold. It really is true though. I only drink from the blue one!

There is a kid here from our stake in Illinois named Easton Huch! He's super good at piano....last night at devotional he played this arrangement with the choir that he just made up from the basic hymn we sang. How funny that he's here at the same time as me in Brazil. At the devotional,. Sister Moore, Sister Christophersen and I sang a trio by Sally DeFord called I come to Him. It was beautiful! I really do love music.

ON Sunday I was called by our Branch President to be the Sister Leader of our Branch. Essentially I need to make all the new Sisters feel welcome and make sure that everyone is doing okay. I am really excited to serve and get to know them better!

The other day I was reading in Alma, and it talks about the 2000 young men, the army of Helaman. As Helaman is writing about them, he has great respect for them. I want to share a few of the things he says:

"And they were all young men, and they were exeedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength; but behold, this is not all - they were men who were truat and all times with whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and walk uprightly before Him . . .

Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with EXACTNESS; even according to their faith it was done unto them. Never had I seen so great courage. Now they had NEVER fought, neither did they fear death . . . yea, they had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. . . And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such and power and miraculous strength"

So, what can we learn from the Army of Helaman? Have courage. Be EXACTLY obedient. Remember what you've been taught and have faith in that. Trust in God. This mission is the most difficult thing I have ever done. But it is the BEST thing I could be doing in my life. Like the Army of Helaman, I will go forth with courage and faith in who I am and who I can become. When we have God on our side, we can NEVER lose. So rise up; try a little harder each day to be a little better. When I think about the type of missionary I want to be, I think of these young men. I challenge each of us to try a little harder to be a little better.

I love you all more than i can say and I wish you a fantastic week. Christ lives! And I love Him so much.

Love,

Sister Sperry

Visit to the Campinas Temple! - August 14, 2013

Dear Family,

This week the temple in São Paulo was closed for cleaning, and we have had the opportunity to have the missionaries visit the beautiful Campinas temple. It is a little further away than our temple in São Paulo. It is a smaller temple set high on a hill, which is seen from a distance as we enter into the Campinas area. The missionaries have really enjoyed the visit. We thought you would like this photo.

We have an amazing group of missionaries here in the CTM at this time. It is such a blessing for us to be able to serve with them. Thank you for your continued support with emails and letters. They are much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Sister Degn

 

 

"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

First Visit to the Sau Paulo Temple - August 12, 2013

Dear Family,

 

We are pleased to be able to send you a picture of your missionary´s recent visit to the São Paulo temple. This is always a special moment, entering the temple with other missionaries engaged in the Lord´s work. We know they will treasure this remembrance.

It is a great honor to serve with each of these fine young people and to watch their growth as they learn more about their sacred calling of a missionary. We have a great love and respect for each one of them.

Thank you for your support for them. They love to receive emails and letters from you, and feel of your love. We know that your family will feel the blessings of their service.

Sincerely,

 

President and Sister Degn

 

 

 

 

Sister Sperry With Her District (Group of Missionaries) in the Brazil MTC. August 7, 2013