Ola minha familia!!!! How are you all doing?? Today is my first and only P-day in the São Paulo CTM........and it´s been wonderful! It is sooo different than the Provo MTC.
First of all, I am the only sister in my district which means I am a solo sister for this week and have no companion. Weird! In Provo, this meant that you were assigned to 2 elders who escorted you around everywhere....but here it just basically means that I can wander alone wherever I want. Haha...it felt sooo strange at first...you really get used to having someone with you 100% of the time! My elders in my district are wonderful though, and we have a lot of fun. I do miss Sister Robson....a lot! I hope she gets her visa soon!!
The first day we were here, the MTC president gave us the whole afternoon as free time to unpack, take naps, and just relax after the 24 hour trip. (Crazy! Nap time?? This place is soooo different than Provo :) I was soooo exhausted that I just collapsed into the bed without even opening a suitcase or taking off my dress. But about a half hour later I woke up in a panic...trying to remember where Sister Robson was and why she wasn´t in the room. Haha...it really took me at least 30 seconds to remember that I was no longer in Provo :)
So.....this place is soooo great!! My absolute favorite thing about the São Paulo CTM is all the Portuguese practice that we get with the Brazilians! The missionaries from Brazil are so nice and they love talking to all of the Americans and helping us with our Portuguese! I really have loved meeting all of them....especially the Brazilian sisters!! They are soooo sweet :) Sister Rodrigues, Sister Brito, and Sister Travassos are a triple that have become my really good friends. I always eat with them at meal time and play volleyball with them at gym. I teach them English and they teach me new words in Portuguese...it´s very fun!
I also love the food here! It´s incredible...rice and beans and 2 different kinds of meat every day, and an amazing buffet of all different kinds of salads and fruits and vegetables. The fruit is so yummy...bananas, and goiaba, and manga, and mamão, and melancia, and caju! I love it :) And there are no lines!!! haha.... The biggest difference between the CTM and the Provo MTC is the size.....it´s so small here!! The CTM has room for 600...but right now there are only 150 here because of the visa issues. The halls are sooo empty! It´s definitely strange after being in the Provo MTC with 2500 missionaries... Today we got to go to the São Paulo Temple and then we had lunch at a rodizio...with churrasco!! It was exactly like Tucanos and sooooo yummy. I ate chicken hearts! Not my favorite...but interesting.
Yesterday the Area President, Elder Ulisses Soares came to speak for the devotional. It was so great...he spoke about how our mission calls really are from God and how we´ve been called to Brasil because there are people that specifically need to hear the gospel from us. It was really inspiring..... The rest of this week should be really fun. They are dedicating a new chapel that is very close by the CTM, so the choir is going to be performing Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night on the street outside the chapel. We´re singing 5 different songs...a mixture of Portuguese and English. I´m so excited!! I really feel the Spirit so strongly when we sing...especially when we sing my favorite of the 5..."Praise The Man"....I love being a missionary and having the calling of sharing the message of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It´s so wonderful to be able to tell people that the gospel of Jesus Chirst has been restored and that God has called a prophet again. I am getting very very excited to be going to Porto Alegre so soon and to start doing missionary work. :) I can´t wait!
Well, I´m doing wonderfully here and still loving being a missionary. I really am so happy that I got to experience the CTM here....even though it´s just for one week. I know that it was a miracle that my visa came....Heavenly Father is watching over each one of us. He is so good and kind and He´s leading us along every day, even when we don´t realize it. I´ll write you all soon hopefully!! I love you a lot!! Thank you for being the best family in the world! :) Eu amo vocês muuuuito!!! Love, Sister Jamie Gee
hola amiga!!!!!!! suerte en la mision!
ReplyDelete