Hello Family, Hello Friends!
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!
Can I just say, today has been the best day of the WHOLE mission!!!!! Well... everyday is... but, today especially! I am so proud to be an American! I was thinking about it today, and I have now been out of the country the longest ever in my life right now... crazy! I definitlely miss 'the land of the free and the home of the brave'! I will tell you about this week first, and then the great things of what today has brought so far.
This last Sunday was Fast Sunday, and here at the CTM we start our fast the night before, no dinner on Saturday. I hadn't fasted for this long in a while and was a little nervous. But I am so grateful for the chance to fast... and Heavenly Father blesses us when we do! Thats for sure! I shouldn't have been apprehensive at ALL! it was a wonderful experience! During Sacrament meeting we had a Testimony Meeting and it was one of the most powerful meetings I've had so far being a Missionary. There's something about everyone in the room being a Missionary... we all had sacrificed so much to be here, we all WANT to be here and do our best, and we all have POWERFUL testimonies of the Gospel and of the Savior. I LOVED it! I am so grateful for the chance to share my testimony every day while being a Missionary! If you have a testimony... share it! Don't hide it under a rock bushel! ;)
Sunday was also our 1/2 way mark interviews... -odd, since we have only been here 4 weeks, but its alright! Just weird to think about.... 1/2 way done with the CTM!? Ah! I also had quite the nice nap on Sunday... I won't even say how long it was, just that my companions had to poke my back to wake me up... my name wouldn't cut it. haha I was out! Sunday Devotional me and a few other sisters sange "As Sisters in Zion" and it was really pretty! Of course, in Portuguese. -All the prayers and hymns we sing are in Portuguese, way legal!-
On Monday night we said goodbye to our good friends... Elder Souza and Elder Vasquez... they were great to sit by at dinner and talk to! well... attempt to speak portuguese. They are going to be fabulous missionaries! I am so proud of them! They both have sacrificed a lot to be here... they are really good examples to me.
Wow, the FUNNIEST moment of the CTM experience happened this week as well! In our class, our teacher ONLY speaks portuguese now... which is alright, I pick up may 60% of whats going on... kinda. Then to help us speak more and use the different verb tenses we told a story as a class. We each said a bit then the next person added on... we all know this game right?! Well, my companion started it off by saying something like, 'When I was younger i went to primary and i really liked it. the teachers loved me, but none of the kids did.' My turn: none fo the kids liked me becuase I would sing loud and bad all the time... so on and so forth. well the story continues on to Darth Vader coming and playing soccer with Sis Johnson, her mom calls her home, where she finds mickey mouse, but oh no! Its actually darth vader again! It was the highlight of the CTM laughs! SO funny! We still talk about it, and I'm still sore from laughing so hard... ahhahah!
Last night was so wonderful! We had the Tuesday Night Devotional and at the end we sang "The Star Spangled Banner" and WOW! This was the first time I REALLY felt the home sick feeling! I just thought about Stadium of Fire, the Provo Parade when we were younger, Hot Air Balloons, Lots of food, fireworks... man. I loved it! And it made me realize how much I miss America! Don't worry or feel bad though, if anything, it boosted me to be better because I am proud of who I am, where I came from, and why I am here in Brazil! God bless America! :D
Today, we went to the temple and it was beautiful! As always, and we came back to the CTM to the Cafeteria decorated out the wa-zoo!!! Holy cow it was so amazing! Balloons everywhere, table runners with confetti, a whole table just for the ice-cream bar... yes ice-cream! It's been so long since we've seen each other it was divine! Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and so many toppings! I love today! It has been great! P-days are always so much fun, but today... its the Fourth of July of COURSE it's going to be great!
I love you all so much! Remember who you are and what you stand for... :)
Love,
Sister Waite
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