Ola Familia!
Lets be honest I just really wanted to start off with that to make it seem like I know some Portuguese-but the truth is.....I still feel like I know absolutely nothing! haha
Oh my goodness, where to start! This week has been absolutely insane! From the moment we said goodbye, it has been nonstop chaos! I have to say that I think our goodbye went well, no? I was able to manage with only a few tears and then it was all smiles from there on out! Literally for about the first 6 hours I could not stop smiling! After quickly dropping my stuff off at my room I was taken to my classroom where a teacher was speaking nothing but Portuguese from the moment I stepped in. I thiought it would be more overwhelming and stressful, but to be honest, I was loving every minute of it. My teacher is the nicest person in the world, and we love her to bits. I said that I know nothing in portuguese, which is true in a way, but at the same time, it is hard to comprehend how much i have learned in the past 6 days. I know the basics of a simple prayer and testimony, and I have already felt the help of my Heavenly Father guiding me while learning this crazy language. Most the time I think they are speaking a combination of spanish, italian, and Chinese.....so weird!
Mom, I know you have been dying to hear about my companion, so let me tell you a little bit! She is AWESOME! Honestly, we get along SO well! to give you an idea of what she is like, she reminds me of a combination of Bethany Sugden and Mason's sister Megan. And guess what her name is? SISTER PARKINSON! She is the one that was in my mission prep class that I met briefly before! Crazy eh! I have loved being her companion, we agree about everything, teach with the spirit, and she makes me laugh constantly. It is great, so you can take a nice deep breath about that!
I am not going to lie, the first day at the mtc Draaaaaaged. I was smiling for the first few hours, but then after awhile I felt everything hit me. It hit me big time and I was more exhausted then i have ever been, and asking myself what the heck i was doing here, but that first night was the only slightly hard time i have experienced here. I have loved everything about my experience here, and i know a big part of that is because of my heavenly father and the people I am surrounded with. Which leads me to my district. My district is honestly my family. We get along like peanut butter and jelly, and have had no problems. We have barely been here a week and i already have so much love for them. It is going to be so hard leaving them at the end of this 6 weeks. We are all going to Portugal except for elder mills who is going to Angola, but we have no idea whether we will be in the same mission after they split the mission. Sister Barratt-the one who's missionary is in Mason's mission is in my district as well, so that has been fun! Actually about half our district has a girlfriend or a boyfriend waiting for them which i thought was pretty interesting! i have never been so mocked for being Canadian in my life! my district just loves the canadian jokes! But most the times it's just an insult to them and not to me, so it doesn't phase me!
Like I said before, i have loved learning Portuguese! I was a little worried that I might be overwhelmed and stressed out about not knowing anything, but it has been amazing!
My birthday was definitely a different experience here in the MTC, but I loved it. It didn't phase me one bit not being home celebrating with everyone. Thank you mom and dad for your letters and gifts- they of course made my bawl, and I am so lucky to have such amazing parents and examples. Thanks Jantz and katie for the pictures-again that definitely made me tear up this morning seeing nix and benz! man I miss those two! And thank you Rawley and Lindsay for the cupcakes! it was the first and only mail I have received at the mtc, so it was very nice! i was so blessed, and the church meetings were amazing! Every sunday night you get to watch a movie at the MTC and we decided to go to the talk given by elder Bednar called "character of Christ". It is strictly and MTc devotional, so you won't be able to find it online unfortunately, because it is one of the most incredible talks I have ever heard! it's all about forgeting yourself and "turning outward", so my challenge to you all this week is to think about yourself a little less, and turn yourselves towards serving God and Others. i know I am striving to do that here at the MTC. He also talked about being converted to the Savior, and that the only person you should be committed to is the Savior, Jesus Christ. Something to ponder.
Also! You should all figure out what dear elder is.....hahah because everyday when everyone else gets a trillion dear elder letters, it looks like my family doesn't love me.......so if you are bored and love this sister missionary, you will go check that out! Mom, if you have ever thought "man, I wish Michaela were here so i could tell her this", you can with dear elder because it gets to me the same day :) Maybe you have never thought that, but i would definitely take advantage of it while I am here!
We taught our first investigator Joao on friday in Portuguese, it is absolutely insane walking in to talk to someone in Portuguese when you don't know squat! hahaha and i can testify that it definitely is not pretty, and the gift of tongues definitely does not mean that the words will flow flawlessly through your mouth, but it is an incredible feeling nonetheless. Even though we don't think he is actually a real investigator, it is amazing to feel the love that grows inside you for these people! We have taught him 3 times now, and everytime I think we get better. I wouldn't even say we have gotten a whole lot better at Portuguese, but we have improved on utilizing what we do know, and doing a lot of object lessons!
My new motto here at the MTC is small victories. The days are long, (but honestly now I feel like they are not long enough), and discouragement it real, but i have learned to appreciate every small victory even if it is not perfect.
I have a million other things I could write about, but as you probably know, I don't have a lot of time! Thank you so much for every thing!
Eu Te Ama!!!
Sister Selk.
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