MTC week 5

Oi familia!!

Yep. It is true...I am off to the GEORGIA MACON MISSION bright and early MondayMorning!! The fact that I am leaving the MTC in just a couple of days is all so surreal!! I am about to be talking to real people with real salvation!! Oh my goodness!! It's also so crazy that we just found out last night, and then we have a few days and we are gone! I'm excited though!! I am excited to go to Georgia! I know that is where I am supposed to be for now. Rumor has it...that Macon is a rough part of Georgia. Some Elders from Georgia said that the mission was closed for a little while and they just barely re-opened it. But I am sure they will keep the Sisters out of the rough areas. Also, the Elders said that people in the South LOVE the Sisters! So, that's good!! We will be fed really well, and most likely we will be getting cars because it is pretty spread out! So much for working off the MTC cookies and brownies...some good Southern cooking + cars = no hope. hahaha. YOMO!! I am a little nervous about being in the Bible Belt, because I don't feel like I know the Bible all that well! So, that will be interesting. I feel like you can tell what people's intentions are though. I might have some entertaining stories of people Bible bashing me. Woo! 

This week has been fun and crazy. Because it was our last week, the monotony was more broken up!

Sunday we heard from a man that is over the Missionary Department of the Church. I can't remember his name. He really talked about how as a missionary, Satan will try to push every one of your buttons, because he doesn't want us to succeed. And as a missionary, you really can feel your "buttons" being pushed sometimes. But it is so important to recognize Satan working on you and push out the distractions and center our focus on serving. I really want to serve my mission giving my all to my Heavenly Father, so that when my mission is up, I can truly have no regrets. 

Monday and Tuesday we taught our "investigators" for the last time. It's good. Because sometimes when you are so close to your teacher, it is hard to stay in the right mindset of them being an investigator. Our guy teacher sometimes helps us through the lesson, and we have had some pretty entertaining moments with him! Dad was asking about Portuguese, and I don't really feel all that confident with it. I can hold my own in a gospel conversation, but obviously my "investigators" are talking slower and using vocab that we are more familiar with. I am trying to get verb conjugations down, because that is definitely the hardest part, knowing how to conjugate, and not having to sit and think about it for a while before you speak. I am hoping that in Georgia, I will be able to figure out ways to keep my Portuguese up, so that I am not entirely incapable of speaking once I actually get to Brazil.

Tuesday we got to hear from Elder Anderson for our devotional. He talked about Sacrifice and Love. "We sacrifice the things we love, and we love the things that we sacrifice for." It was really good! Then, after the devotional, there was a thunderstorm going on outside, so they had us stay in the Marriott Center for a little bit while they waiting for the thunder and lightning to go down. So, we just sang songs and Elder Anderson walked around and went around shaking people's hands. When they gave us the clear...we entered the rain and kind of jogged back to the MTC! We were all soaked!! It was actually pretty fun!! I was just like, "save my notebook and my scriptures!!" hahaha. The valuables of a missionary!!

Wednesday was quite eventful. There is a sister from the district ahead of us that has had to stay behind because of foot problems, so I gained another companion. So, Wednesdaywe went to the Health Clinic with her, and she found out that she will have to have surgery next week and that she will be staying 3 more weeks after this week. So, a whole month extra!! I would die! They gave her the option of a medical release, but I think it would be harder to go home and come back out. But Wednesday was kind of rough for her!Wednesday I also got to host the new missionaries coming in! I was pretty excited!! Then, we were at the curb and a sister in my district stepped up to help host a sister, and I was tearing up just watching the sister say good bye to her parents. I was thinking, "Oh man, I don't know if I am going to be able to do this!" I was still standing there waiting to see a car to host, and they summoned me in a different direction, and I was asked to host a foreign sister. The foreign missionaries get here on Tuesday, so they were already getting used to the MTC, and I didn't have to watch them say goodbye to anyone! It ended up being good for me!! The first sister I hosted was from Germany, and she spoke fluent English, and she already loved the MTC!! She was so cute and everything went smoothly. Then, I was asked to host a sister from the Philippines, and it was an adventure. The poor sister had some type of surgery on her feet that morning...I think for like ingrown toenails. And her English was kind of rocky. But I took her to her temporary room, so that I could help her move her stuff to her permanent room, and she wasn't all packed yet. And her suitcase would not close, she was so persistent to get that thing to work, and tried for a good 15 minutes. And I was like, "Sister, I really don't think that is going to close. Maybe we should just try to carry it together." And she was just like, "I can't carry this thing." Oh boy. So, we went and recruited some sisters outside to help us carry her stuff to her new room. I felt so bad for the poor Sister. She was already so overwhelmed by being in the United States and speaking English all the time. But we finally got her all settled in her classroom.

Thursday we had in-field training, where you go to classes to prepare you for the field. We talked about "Finding" and how to "Use Members" and just talked about not putting yourself in the mindset of being a "planter," because Heavenly Father hasn't just called us to plant seeds. It was crazy because reality was setting in that we were leaving the MTC and that we were going to talk to real people with real needs and real salvation!! Ahhh!! It's crazy and overwhelming and exciting!!

Thursday we also had to go with my new companion, Sis. Spencer, to a doctor's appointment for pre-opp stuff. We left the MTC and went into the real world for a little bit!! It was weird to be driving around Provo. We only really went from the car, into the doctor's appointment, and back into the car. We were all excited to leave the MTC...and then we realized that it really wasn't all that exciting. hahaha. I saw some of Provo from the car. Woo!! hahaha. It has been really interesting to have a second companion. It is just different, because you are having to cater to more needs and be patient. 

Then, last night, we got our re-assignments! We were expecting to get them today, so when we got them yesterday, it was so surprising!! In my district, we have 3 going to South Carolina; 3 going to Cincinnati, Ohio; 2 going to Georgia; 1 going to Las Vegas; 1 going to Salem, Oregon; 1 going to New Jersey; and 1 going to Jacksonville, Florida. So, we are all over the place!! I think there are 5 Brazil Sisters that have been re-assigned to my Georgia Mission, but I only know of my companion!! My companion and I are the only companionship that is staying together!! 

But things are good!! I'm excited for the adventure that awaits, and I'm enjoying these last few days in the MTC! 

Amo voces!!

Sister Van Wag

Devotional in the Marriott Center. Pre-rain!!!

In-field Orientation

My district with our re-assignments!!

My building that I basically live in!

Post-rain

Temple

Our bedroom

Service

Doing the language program called TALL on the computers! We love TALL... ha!!

Gym at the field

My district at the temple after a temple session a few weeks ago!

My companions being hosts!!

MTC Week 4

Oi familia!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER DEAREST!!! I feel so lame saying Happy Birthday over an email, but it will just have to do. I hope that you are having a wonderful day!! I love you, and know that I am thinking about you!!

Man, I can't believe that I am here again emailing. I seriously feel like this week flew!! I mean, some of the days feel kind of long, but all of a sudden it is Friday again! I can't believe that I have been here 4 and half weeks!! Next Friday I will be getting my re-assignment...or I will find out that I got my visa...but most likely I will be getting a re-assignment. So, that's exciting and crazy!! We only have like a week and half left! Reality is setting in! As certain moments, I think, "Man, I am so ready to be in the field and teach real investigators!" and then other moments I am like, "Oh man! I really don't know Portuguese!!" So, it's a whole lot of mixed emotions up in here. But I am excited for next week!! 

Dad, I loved your story about the Elder that knew Sister Van Wagenen...sadly, you were both referring to different Sis. Van Wags. He must have been in the same district as my second cousin, because I don't know him. I can see how there would be confusion though...we are both Sister Van Wagenen, we are both going to Brazil, and we are both from California. It's really quite ironic actually!! 

I hope everyone had a good first week of school!! It seems like mom is getting in the swing of things with seminary!! I didn't get updates from Lauren or Kylie this week, so I am hoping there weeks were good...or at least got better. I loved the letters I got from people though! Lauren sent the handwritten letter...and she wins on writing the most random letter ever. hahaha. Both Lauren and Kylie's letters made me laugh. Kylie shared with me her schedule and next to lunch she wrote, "My main squeeze Lunch Lady." So funny!! Also, I love that McKay says, "Good Job Mckay!" when he is potty training! What a cutie! Amy, I will try to think of good missionary goals for you...I would start with just making an effort to bring the church up in conversations with your friends...or talk about your family and that you have sister on a mission! Then, you can explain all about missionaries!! I love that you are making an effort to be a missionary!! Kara, good luck with school this week!! You are going to be an awesome teacher!! And yes...the MTC does get monotonous...but we keep going. 

Mom, I got your snack package! So thanks! Dad, I got your dearelder package...and I read the outside that said "Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears" and I got really nervous that the whole thing was going to be bears, and it was a decent size box. I mean, I am not complaining about bears...but a huge box of them, that would have been bad news!! hahaha. But it had chips and dip, so that was fun! I brought it to planning time last night for my district to partake of...but it caused some chaos, and not so much planning, so...we will have to figure out another way to share the goodies without being a distraction! Also, Sis. Hansen continues to amaze me...she sent me a dearelder package too!! How nice is she!! Thank you, Sis. Hansen!

Ok...now I start the struggle of actually trying to remember what I did this week. 

Last P-day we got to go to the temple!! It was great! I loved it!l I can't really saw much more...but it was so nice to be in the temple again!! I had missed it. (Sidenote: I saw Stephanie Neilsen and her husband in the temple, so that was fun. I just saw them walk by, but it was cool. I think she is amazing!)

Sunday, my companion and I got the most prestigious calling in our Branch, we are the official Sacrament Greeters/Hymn book passer outers. Ya, be jealous!! hahaha. But there are really only a few callings in the Branch, so it is fun to have a responsibility. Even though every sacrament meeting, we are all stressed out until they announce which two missionaries are speaking, then we can breath and relax. Sunday night we watched a talk by Holland and he talked about how amazing it is that we live in this dispensation, which is something that we often take for granted. The people of the Book of Mormon, preached and testified of Christ, but they knew that they eventually would fail. But they saw our day and knew that they were writing for us, and they knew that it would be a day that people would listen and that we would succeed!! How amazing is that!! We live in such a blessed time, and we often don't appreciate that!

I don't know if I fully explained our "investigators," but we teach both of our teachers and they pretend to be real people from their missions. So, each companionship is actually teaching different investigators, with real stories and situations. Then, this week we also started teaching another companionship, and they are pretending to be non-members from home. My companion and I get taught too...it's an interesting experience to be on the investigator side of things.

So, Monday, we were sitting in class, and a teacher that we didn't know walks in, tells us in Portuguese that our teacher is sick and that he will be teaching. Then, he says that those that are supposed to teach her today will be teaching a new investigator, he writes the room number on the board, then walks out. I was like, "wait! What just happened?!" hahaha. So, we went and just talked to him and got to know him, and whipped out a little bit about the restoration, and I whipped out the First Vision in Portuguese, that I had finished memorizing a few days before. So, that was fun. But it really shows us that we are progressing, when we can not have any time to prepare and just go talk to an investigator, and give a lesson according to their needs. Look at us go!! hahaha. 

Ok. But Monday afternoon, we met with Irmao Gessel, who is our investigator "Douraci," so...he is our guy teacher and he pretends to be a 45 year old woman, so there's that. Anyways...the lesson before we had taught about chastity and had her commit to moving out. So, we walk into the lesson, which is really just in a classroom, and he says, "Do you like my new house?" and we say yes and get all excited. Then he/she tells us that he/she that it is really small, and that she didn't have enough money to eat breakfast. So, we tell her that miracles happen and that God will provide for her as she continues to exercise faith. Then, we are about to pray...and an Elder knocks on the door, looks in, and starts apologizing for interrupting, but he asks if he can steal our extra chair, and then leaves with the chair. And then our teacher mutters under his breath, "seriously", then he goes of as Douraci, "I am so poor, and my house is so small, and people are stealing my chairs!!" It was seriously SO FUNNY!! We were all dying laughing! Then, he began praying, and I was struggling to stay serious!! Then, on Thursday we taught her again...and my companion walks in and says, "It looks like you got your chair back!" and he says, "Miracles do happen!!" Oh man! So good!!

But then after that our lesson on baptism and repentance went really well. Our teacher will give us feedback on our lessons, and he said that we did great and that he didn't have any feedback to give! Pat on the back for Sisters Van Wagenen and Peterson!! Our Portuguese is obviously not perfect, but we are really learning how to be good teachers. Like, asking a lot of questions and really addressing the persons concerns. Positive reinforcement is always nice to get! 

Emily Briggs came in on Wednesday! And it's the best, because she is literally in the classroom right next door to me! So, I get to see her all the time!! I love it!! 

New moto in the MTC/as a missionary...YOMO...You are Only a Missionary Once. "Should I eat a mint brownie?!...YOMO!" hahaha. It's going to be a really bad philosophy when I come home with extra weight...but whatevs. I'm over it! hahaha. 

Ok. I don't know what else to say. I am doing good!! The language is hard...the more I learn, the more I realize that I don't know Portuguese. But we are learning! I can have a pretty good conversation about the gospel! hahaha. Normal conversations...a little more difficult. But we are getting there!! I love you all! I love hearing from everyone!! Seriously, stuff that you think it boring...I love hearing about!! 

Have a great week!!

Tchau!

Sister Van Wag

MTC week 3

Oi familia!

Tudo bem? Another week has past, and here I am! Super crazy that I have been in the MTC for 3 and half weeks! Over half way!! When you first get to the MTC, you feel like you are going to be here forever! Then, before you know it, you are over half way! With the Brazil Missionaries, you the countdown is to the day that you get your Re-Assignment. It's not even a countdown to when you go to Brazil...because we realize that is not realistic. But the group 2 weeks older than us got their re-assignments last night, and we were seriously so excited for them! We are excited for the day (in 2 weeks) that we find out what stateside mission we will be serving in! The only downside to going stateside will be the struggle with Portuguese, once we eventually get to Brazil. But we all know that we will be wherever Heavenly Father wants us to be. So, if we are supposed to be in Brazil, we will get our visas and go to Brazil...and if we are supposed to be in somewhere in the US...that is where we will be. I am really not worried about it. Plus, it will be so cool to experience a foreign and a stateside mission. Plus, stateside you have access to like Walmart or Target...and that in itself is a blessing. hahaha. Priorities.

Thanks for the letters! When you get letters, it is like a measure of how much you are loved. So, like no pressure...but...pressure!! hahaha. I think Dad thinks that I am being deprived of food in the MTC, because he keeps sending me treats from dearelder. I am feeling the love, but so is my stomach. The ironic thing was that the day that I got the package, I was thinking about how I really need to hold back on desserts around these parts. It is really hard to resist when they have delicious treats every meal...especially if they have BYU brownies...or ice cream...like, there is no hope of resisting. But I shared the delicious frosted sugar cookies with my district last night! They were super appreciative! Elder Huxford said, "Tell your dad that I love you....I mean HIM!" hahaha. It was pretty funny, especially since he got a little embarrassed. Classic.

This week has been good! I feel like the days really all just blur together, I am really struggling to remember what even happened this week. Also, the days become pretty monotonous, so sometimes it is hard to think of something that stood out about the day...I'll need to look at my journal. I am so proud of myself...I am journaled everyday since I have been here! Good job Sis. Van Wagenen!! hahaha. I am normally an awful journaler, so this is a big accomplishment.

Sunday was great!! Basically Relief Society is like my favorite thing!! All of the Sisters in the MTC have Relief Society together, and we always have amazing speakers and you are just like, "Ya! Look at all these awesome Sisters, and look at us being missionaries!" And you get all spiritually lifted up and are reminded that you are part of such a great work! And it is the best!! This past Sunday we got to hear from the General Primary President, Rosemary M. Wixom. She was awesome! She talked about "To know. To love. To follow." She talked about knowing Jesus Christ, and to truly have Him be your best friend. Be so thirsty and hungry to know Jesus Christ, the way we long for food or water. To love others and go in with the attitude of loving, serving, and showing gratitude. Don't convince people of the truth, show them love and bring them the truth. And to follow the Savior among the Nephities. We can't heal hands or sight, but we can heal hearts. We don't need to be able to speak to show Christ's love for people. It was so good, and the spirit was so strong. I think one of the reasons that all of the messages are so great, is because they always hit home. Also, temple walks on Sundays are always so nice!! We get to break free...and we just relax and enjoy the temple grounds! Sunday night we watched the Testaments. I had forgotten how cheesy that movie is...but at the end when Christ comes to the Americas...man, it gets me every time! 

Then, on Tuesday's Devotional, we had heard a rumor that the Devotional was being broadcasted, so we knew that it had to be someone big if they were going to Broadcast it. And in walked Elder Richard G. Scott. It was great. It was the First Ever Broadcasted MTC Devotional...it was broadcasted to all of the MTC's around the world! How neat is that?! It was so good to hear from him, because like I said, they know exactly what we need to hear, and it is always so wonderful to be reminded of the great work that we are part of. He gave us an apostolic blessing that we will be able to learn the language, depending on our faith and hardwork. It is really hard to doubt your ability to learn a language, when an Apostle of the Lord gives you an Apostolic Blessing that you will be able to learn your language. So that was great...I think I remember Kara saying that an Apostle did the same thing when she was in the MTC. So neat! He reminded me of how much of a blessing it is to be able to learn a language, even though it can be really discouraging. He really talked about the importance of prayer, and really talked to our Heavenly Father because he knows us perfectly. He said, "Can we ever really comprehend the immense power of prayer?" He wants us to succeed! He will show us our potential and capability that we did not know that we had.

I really have gained an even stronger testimony of prayer in the MTC. I was having a hard time...last...Saturday I think it was. And I was thinking how normally I would just want to talk to mom. But that is one of the amazing things about a mission, you don't have those normal supports in your life, so you are able to more fully rely on your Heavenly Father. Because He knows us perfectly, and He wants us to turn to Him. What a great blessing it is to more fully rely on Him, because I am so inaqeduate, and I know that I can't do this without Him. I am merely an instrument in His hands.

We have two investigators right now. Douraci, was the one that had the really heavy situation...but we talked to her this week about Chastity...which we were nervous about. I barely know how to talk about Chastity in English, better yet, Portuguese. But it went well...we just didn't leave her with a firm enough committment. So, the next lesson we committed her to a specific way to live the law of Chastity. And we know that God will provide her...basically she needs to find a house. But she committed to Baptism and living the Law of Chastity. So that's good. It's neat to watch her progress. Then we got our second investigator, Silmara. She was super quiet. We talked about God's love for her, and we taught her how to prayer. It was good, because it was our first time meeting her, so we were able to plan our lesson off of her needs. I felt that our lesson went well, and Sis. Peterson and I balanced each other out well. 

Sis. Tirrell was gone last week for vacation, and it was so nice to have her back!! It really is so nice to have a girl teacher! Yesterday she had interviews with the Sisters in the District, and it was just really nice to talk about things with someone other than your companion.

This week my friend, Mary Jane Lund, came into the MTC! It was soooo good to see her!! She is the cutest!! There is another girl here from Jerusalem, Stephanie Cabamongon ...and then one of the couples from Jerusalem, the Petersons, are in a Branch Presidency here! So, I saw them on Sunday night! They are the cutest!!

All the Elders were making up riddles the other day...and I got a few made about me...

Elder Hardy: "I go to BYU and I like to party, Israel is my favorite country." I don't know if that was supposed to rhyme...because if so, he failed. Elder Hardy is the Elder that is always making people laugh and telling funny stories. So, I don't want to laugh at him, because you know that it gives him so much satisfaction. But he says funny stuff! But he is also sooo distracting!! hahaha

Elder Gonzalez did a poem that was way better than Elder Hardy's...but I can't for the life of me think of what it is...it was something along the lines of loving Jerusalem and knowing everyone with a white name tag (the teachers). I guess I talk about Israel too much...whatevs! They can get over it!! hahaha. Also, I can't help it if I am just popular and know all the teachers...hahaha JOKES! I don't actually know all of them, but I do know a good amount of them.

I feel like this email is not all that exciting. I'm becoming more spiritual and less funny...sorry about it! hahaha. But I am doing well, and I am continually learning and growing!! I love the reminders that I get that I am where I am supposed to be!! How blessed I am to spend 18 months focused on studying and teaching the gospel!! I know that it will fly, and I want to take advantage of the time that I have!!

Love you all!! Keep the love coming!!!

Tchau!

Sister Van Wag

Ok. First picture is with Sis. Craft. (I think that is how you spell it) Her family used to live in Fresno. Her mom was the primary president in Orchard View Ward. She is super cute. She left a few weeks ago for Portugal. 

Sometimes Sis. Peterson and I match and we honestly don't even mean to. So, that's precious. Also, today we get to actually GO IN THE TEMPLE!!! I'm so excited!! I have heard such good things!! The temple has been closed and it just opened up again on Monday, so this is our first P-day going to the temple! Hooray!! I've seriously missed it!

MTC Week 2

Oi familia!!

 

Email time stresses me out because there is a clock ticking in the corner telling you how much time you have left! I always have way more to say than the time allows, so hopefully I can get all of my thoughts out real quick!! This week went by so much faster!! It was so nice to be more in a routine and know what is going on. The days are long but the weeks are short. There is so much truth to that.

 

Dad! Thanks for the packages!! The same man that gave me a pep talk about working out, has also sent me dearelder brownies, a package with my debit card and skittles and M&Ms, and a dearelder munchie package...which is all candy!! Plus, the candy mom sent me...I have candy for days!! I am going to gain all sorts of MTC fluff. Just what I need. hahaha. But I love packages! So thanks!! I feel loved!!

 

So, I don't know where to start...last week we were given the bio of our "new investigator." Basically, we teach people that our teacher actually taught on his mission, but we treat them like a real investigator, and really address their needs. The funny part though is that we are "teaching" a woman...but really we are teaching our teacher...who is a guy. So that's funny, but you role with it. But, we were kind of nervous about teaching her because she has a really heavy situation. But we taught her on Tuesday, and it went really well. We talked about God's love and the Atonement, and that miracles really can happen in her life. We felt really good about the lesson, and the spirit was present, and our teacher even told us that we did a good job...so that's always encouraging. Thursday we had decided to teach her about the importance of faith and works, and that it is one thing to have faith, but that she needs to act on that faith. We realized that we had committed her to pray on the first lesson, but the second lesson we realized that she didn't know how to pray. So, we taught her how to pray and that pray is one way that she can exercise her faith. We also asked her to "go" to church on Sunday. Our teacher told us that in real life he saw miracles happen in her life, so it will be interesting to see how things will play out.

 

Teaching investigators is definitely a learning experience. I am also learning better how to work with my companion. I tend to be more of a talker, and she is more quiet and talks when she has something to say. Tuesday our lesson went well, and I thought I was doing better at talking less, but after our Thursday lesson, I new I didn't do as well. We did a role play in class and my companion, Sis. Peterson, was companions, with Sis. Dunn, and then I was the investigator and Sis. Hymas observed. Sis. Dunn was talking most of the time, and she felt bad for not letting Sis. Peterson talk. Sis. Dunn said that she knows how it is to be the one not talking at much and not sure what her companion is saying. That kind of hit Sis. Hymas and I hard, because we are naturally both more talkative. I felt really bad because I don't want my companion to feel overshadowed or that I am taking over. But our lessons are usually pretty planned out...I am just more the one that will stray from what we have planned and say stuff. I need to learn to just let there be some silence and not always be so anxious to ask or answer questions. I tend to start talking and figure out what I am saying as I am talking, but she thinks it out completely before she says it. It's something I need to work on. But once I am out in the field, I will be so clueless to what is going on that I am pretty sure it won't be a problem. hahaha.

 

Sunday's are always awesome!! I had so much time to just read the Book of Mormon, and catch up on my reading. Our branch president challenged us to start and finish the Book of Mormon while we are here. I am a slower reader, but I am making way, I am a good way into Mosiah right now, so that's fun. I love reading the Book of Mormon, it is one of my favorite times of the day!! Plus, it is such a relief from studying Portuguese. I just am learning so much more as I read so consistently, and intently. It's the best!! I'm so excited for everyone that seminary is the Book of Mormon!! Really take advantage of the time to study and gain a testimony of the book!! On Sunday, we had Mission Conference and District Meeting (it's like Sunday school) and Sacrament Meeting and a Devotional. haha. Lots of meetings!! Our Devotional on Sunday night, we heard from Jenny Oaks Baker, who is Dallin H. Oaks daughter. She is an AMAZING violinist!! Like she went to Julliard and has major skills!! It was way good! She spoke and played. She even had her kids play and they were little muscial prodigies. What have I been doing with my life?! hahaha. Then we got to listen to a talk from Bednar called Character of Christ that he gave to the MTC a while back. I love that he said, "It's more important who we are than what we say." I love that!! He talked about Christ and how all he does is look outward, and that when you look outward, you improve yourself inward, without even trying. I was great! I came out of it thinking, "Man, I am such a natural man! I have so much to work on!" But it's definitely a lifetime of improving...

 

On Wednesday we had an all Portuguese day!! It was hard!! We have only been here for 2 weeks, so our vocab is very minimal. That's why Hannah told you that I would only speak Portuguese to her, because I was trying to be good...and I didn't want my district to judge me! hahaha. I spoke to her in English too, don't even worry!! It was a long day...and it was exhausting...it was comparable to normal fasting...similar feelings, giving something up. We definitely talked less, or just used whatever words we knew. Basically, we know a lot of gospel terms though, so that doesn't super help with everyday conversation!! Sometimes I would start saying something and then realize that I didn't know how to finish my thought, so I would just say..."Nao importante" and move on...or I would just drift off...or we would say that we would tell each other tomorrow. hahaha. Sis. Peterson and I are getting to the point where we could figure out what the other one was thinking, so that really helped! It was so happy when we could speak English again!! I am scared for the day when it will be Portuguese all day everyday...I am not ready for that!! But our dictionaries were our best friends that day, and we definitely learned more Portuguese.

 

Gym is one of the best times of the day! It is such a nice break from studying and classes. We love going to the gym in 2M because it is more of a gym set up...with elypticals and bikes. AND they have different screens with the Restoration movie, or conference talks or mormon messages. But you have to have ear phones...which I didn't bring, because we were told not to...apparently I was supposed to know secret things like bringing ear phones for the gym. But a few days ago, I brought my little speaker and plugged it into the machine, and it was the best thing ever!! Most people don't have earphones, so people around me enjoyed it too!! The past couple of days that gym has been closed, and it is so sad...we just want to watch mormon messages. Gosh dangit! hahaha. But I ran around the track and talked to Sis. Hymas, so I guess that is cool too.

 

I don't know what else to say. Things are good! The food is already getting boring...lots of comfort food...which is tasty, but I don't always want burgers and fried chicken and mashed potatoes. The sisters in my district are awesome!! I love them!! I love the times that we are just in our room together at night and we just talk to each other about life and really get to know each other!! They are awesome!!

 

Sis. Peterson and I started "You know you are a missionary when..." last night...here are some of the entries....

 

You know you are a missionary when:

-You are excited to go to bed at 10:30

-You feel guilty reading the Book of Mormon during language study

-You are excited to go to gym to watch mormon messages

-Everyone says "thank you" in a different language. (Portuguese is obrigada)

-The hardest habit to break is not calling people "guys"

-Everyone is harmonizing to hyms in the shower

-Receiving letters of packages is like gold

 

I love you all!! Keep the letters coming!! I love hearing about anything and everything!!

 

Tchau!!

Sister Heather Van Wagenen

Ginger and I the first Sunday here! She is already in her mission now!!

My district at the temple, before we lost two. 

The brownies that I got from Dad! Then Sis. Hansen! So delicious!

The sisters in my district! Woo Brazil! Sis. Hymas, Sis. Dunn, Sis. Peterson and I. 

The first 10 Days!!

Oi familia!!

 

Como vai?! I feel like I have so much to say and I don't know where to begin, so hopefully I have time to say everything!! Take your for all of the love this week!! Letters really are like gold! We always get our letters from our District Leader at 9:25, and they are always so fun to get after a long day!! So, I really appreciate all of you for the love!! Keep them coming!! And thank you, thank you, thank you for the packages!! I was really feeling the love this week!! I got dearelder brownies from popsicle, an awesome package from mom and Kara, and Sis. Hansen is so thoughtful and sent dearelder brownies to both Ginger and I! Could she be any more thoughful?! I was seriously feeling spoiled to be getting so much love! Getting packages is the best!!

 

Ok. So, Wednesday I got out of the car and a very enthusiastic sister started leading me around the MTC and getting me all checked in. I was a little overwhelmed by hearing "welcome to the MTC" alllll dayyy. And people saying, "the MTC is the best place ever." And you just think, "is it? is it really?" hahaha. But Wednesday was kind of a long day. I was the last one to show up to my class, so they had already been learning some of the basics. And the second you walk in, your teacher just talks in Portuguese the whole time. My teacher is Sis. Tirrel and I just love her. I think we just learned basic phrases that day. I don't know. It's all a blur now. I also had been up since 4:15 and I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, so I was really tired and I was just kind of ready for the day to be over, so that I could sleep and start the next day without this orange newbie sticker on my badge. I saw Ginger at dinner, and she yelled, "Heather!!" hahaha. It was so fun to see her!! She was like, "Oh em gee, I can't believe we are in the MTC. Oh em gee, we are missionaries!!" She was just so excited and I loved it!

 

My companion is Sis. Peterson. She is 19 and she is from Provo. She went to a year at BYU. She is going to my same mission. We have the strangest things in common...her older sister is exactly my age, like same birthday and same year. Her sister is currently serving in Washington while she is waiting for her visa to the Argentina, Resistencia Mission. How random is that?! Apparently Argentina missionaries aren't getting their visas either. We have the same little shoes from Hawaii, the same scarf...basically we are twins. Jokes. We are actually pretty different. I am more talkative and out there. She is more reserved. But we get along well. I think my personality was probably a little overwhelming to her at first, but she is getting used to it. Every once in a while she is sassy to me, and I think it is so funny. Like when we are planning a lesson and she suggests something to say, and she says it in Portuguese, and I tell her, "You can take the reigns on this lesson." And she says to me, "brat." I think it is so funny, probably because she gives a little sass back to me.

 

The other two sisters in my district are Sister Hymas and Sister Dunn. Sis. Hymas is from Kentucky and did a year at BYU. She is talkative and has been picking up on the language super fast. Sis. Dunn is from Medford, but didn't know the Brendles. She did two year at Idaho and is majoring in Photography with a minor in Dance. They are both cute and fun, and I love all of the sisters!

 

My district started out with 14 of us. Sadly we lost an Elder on Monday and we also lost an Elder on Tuesday. It was really quite sad. Even after a few days, you are with each all the time and you grow to love them. We all just pray that they will be able to figure things out and get back on a mission. So, now there are 12 of us. I love my district. They can be very entertaining, and distracting sometimes, but I love them. Most of them are fresh out of high school, and sometimes they do things that really remind you that they are 18 year old boys. You can see a difference in the Elders that got a little bit of school under their belts, they are a little more mature and understand more where we are coming from. But they are awesome, and they are good Elders.

 

Thursday was good, it was just long too, because it was our first full day. Those first few days are kind of rough just trying to get into the swing of things and becoming familiar with the schedule. We were told on Thursday that we would be teaching our first investigator on Friday...in Portuguese. We were like, "say what?" We pretty much had the whole script written out. I was so stressed about it, and as we were about to knock on the door, I was like freaking out. But it went...ok. Basically whenever our investigator replied, we kind of just stared at him blankly. It was awesome. hahaha. He would like ask a question, and we didn't know how to answer, so we would just bare our testimony instead. hahaha. We taught on Friday and on Saturday and we pretty much just felt like we were talking at him, because we didn't really know how to respond to him, and we just read from our notes the entire time. Those first few days were overwhelming with the language and everything.Saturday we finally got our first gym time, which was way nice to go outside and take a break from studying without feeling guilty about not studying.

 

Everyone had been telling us, "just make it to Sunday." And I didn't really understand why...until Sunday came around. We just got so spiritually fed, and I was reminded why I was here and that I was where I was supposed to be. The first few days of being in the MTC, even if you know that you are where you are supposed to be, you really start to question what in the world you are getting yourself into, and a year and a half just sounds like forever. But Sunday I felt the spirit so strong and I really heard what I needed to hear. Also, Sunday night between 8 and 9...you get to choose a little movie to watch, so we went and watched a talk by Elder Holland from years ago to the MTC...I'm sure Kara has seen it...I think it was called, "Missions are Forever." It was AWESOME!! He just talks about why missions are so hard. And he talks about how salvation is not easy, and that Christ sacrificed for us, and we need to have a taste of the Climb to Calvary to truly be a witness of Him. It was so good!! I want to watch it again. Plus, he says things so funny sometimes that we were laughing and crying all at once. hahaha.

 

Monday we taught our investigator for the third time in Portuguese...with NO NOTES!! We were freaking out beforehand.We were like, "how in the world are we going to teach a 20 minute lesson in Portuguese when we do not know the language!" Our teacher, Sis. Tirrel, gave my companion and I a pep talk and it was just what we needed to hear. She said how we are able to pick up stuff in class, and I said, "Ya, because you say vocab that we know." And she was like, "Exactly. You know vocab." She just brings us down to earth and reminds us that we have only been here a few days, we aren't expected to be fluent. And surprisingly it went so well. We only had our scriptures and a dictionary, but it went so much better than we had expected. We still didn't understand everything, but we understood him a lot more. It was also a lot better to not have our noses in our noses the entire time. On Monday we committed him to baptism, and he said yes. My companion and I joked around that if he didn't commit to baptism that we would just drop him, and for some reason we thought it was way too funny...probably because we knew that he really was a member of the church. But he was basically a golden investigator the entire time...so we figured he would say yes. But it was still happy to hear him say it...we had to double check that he had understood us and we had understood him. hahaha.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday, we continued to teach him. I knew from previous missionaries that he was going to become our teacher, and that he was just posing as an investigator...but it was exciting when he showed up in our class on Thursday! All the Elders were loving it, and those that didn't realize that he was a teacher were so surprised. I also think the Elders loved getting a guy teacher. Plus, we had found out the night before that one of our Sister Training Leaders had dated this guy before, and that he wanted to marry her, but she went on a mission. So, pretty much they see each other all the time! That seems like that would be hard. So the Sisters were all wanting to say something to him about her, and he ended up asking us if we knew her, and he figured out that we knew the story. When my companion and I were walking out, we asked him if it was hard to see her, and he said, "It hurts my heart, but I love it so much. She is happy, so I am happy for her. I just love her with every fiber of my being." Our hearts pretty much melted. We hope they get married. Wednesday and Thursday were kind of rough because I felt...for lack of better word, "crappy." I just sucked it up, because I didn't have any obvious symptoms, but I was really lacking energy. I really wished that I could just call dad and ask him what I should take. Today I am feeling better though, so that's good.

 

I see people all the time that I know!! So, seeing Ryan Smith wasn't that weird. Since I went to BYU, I know so many people that work here. My companion thinks it is ridiculous how often I see someone that I know, but I love it!!

 

Fun quotes and stories:

 

Elder Hardy: "You are lucky I am an Elder right now. I am the King of the Body Roll. My hips don't lie and my body doesn't lie either."

 

Elder Hardy was also giving a lesson and the investigator asked if they had talked to their parents, he said, "No, we email them on...'payday'." He said that in Portuguese and the investigator started laughing and the Elders were so confused. They told us about the story and I told them that payday means "I farted." The Elders companion was on the ground from laughing so hard. He is never going to live that one down.

 

I'm doing good though!! Each day gets better and we have gotten more in the swing of things. Keep the love coming, it is the best!!

 

Love you all!! I love what I am doing, even though it is hard, it is already rewarding. I know that I have been called to speak Portuguese, so eventually I will be able to speak Portuguese!!

 

I am out of time, so I won't be able to write individual emails to people, sorry!! Love you all!!

 

Sister Heather Van Wagenen

 

P.S. It was so hard to get used to called people Sister and Elder and introducing myself as Sister Van Wagenen...every once in a while, I still slip. hahaha

Here is me with my second cousin from Rocklin!