SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 Tuesday, TOMORROW IS WEEK 3

 

This week has been a roller coaster. Sister Padilla and I continued to teach our first investigator, Ellison. We had the hardest time with our lessons. First off, teaching all in Portuguese is super hard. There were times when Sister Padilla and I would just look at each other in silence and try to figure out what to say. It was also really difficult trying to figure out what Ellison was saying. Second, even though we planned, our lessons were all over the place. It's so hard to teach in an orderly manner when you don't know what to say. And lastly, though we tried, the Spirit was never really there in our lessons. I think that was our biggest problem, because it's not the missionaries that convert, it's the Spirit.

Anyways, it was kind of a wake up call for Sister Padilla and me. So, we decided to buckle down and work hard. With our next investigator, Marionildo, we planned for 2 days and practiced our Portuguese like crazy. With all that practice and planning, I knew that we could at least  get a lesson out. I was still worried about the Spirit however. 

Right before the lesson, I said a prayer in my heart that the Spirit would be with us as we taught (we had already prayed as a companionship, but one more couldn't hurt:)). I basically just said to the Lord, "Ok, I've done all i can for this lesson, I'm going to leave the rest up to you." After that, I just had a calm and confident feeling that I could do this.

We went into the lesson, and did amazing. We were able to convey our message in clear Portuguese and Marionildo seemed pretty interested in it. Once we finished, we asked if he had any questions. He wanted to know more about Joseph Smith. Both Sister Padilla and I knew what to do AND we did it in Portuguese. We told him more (we had taught a little about Joseph Smith, but we only had 20 minutes to teach) about the restoration and how the Book of Mormon is evidence that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that the priesthood had been restored. I felt prompted to share Joseph's word from the first vision (we have to memorize it in Portuguese), so I recited those powerful words and then bore my testimony to Marionildo. It was so incredible. 

Overall, our lesson was a success. He said he would think about baptism and he would read Moroni's promise in moroni 10:3.

Anyways, That lesson was so great and helped me to know that I can do hard things and that I can be a missionary!

 My schedule at the MTC changes every day, but most days we do the same activities, just at different times. I wake up at 6am every day and have a half an hour to get ready. Breakfast is at 6:30 and we start class (on some days) at 7. We have two teachers and class comes in 3 hour blocks. the speak pretty much the entire time in Portuguese. We have an hour of Portuguese, then an hour on how to teach, and the suggestions/how to be a better missionary/ practice language for another hour. Class is definitely my favorite thing. Irmao HIckman and Irmao Bitner are excellent teachers and I can really tell that they care for us. Lunch is at 11, dinner is at 4 and in between we have personal, companionship, and additional study. I would say I study for a good 8 hours a day. 4 days a week we have gym. The MTC has really nice equipment so I've been up in the gym just working on my fitness, Sister Padilla's my witness:) haha. Then we return home at 9;30 and lights are out at 10:30. Repeat until ready for the field. 

Eu amo sendo a missionia, e eu se que este igreja e verdaderio. Eu amo meu salvador, Jesus Cristo. Eu muito grata por a Expiacao. Eu amo minha familia. Voces estam o melhor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

(Google translate says: I love being missionia, and I that this church and verdaderio. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I very grateful for the Atonement. I love my family. Voces estam the best!)

 

Until next week,

 

Sister Whitney