ESTOU AQUI!!!!!!!!!! :D- Letter #9

Oi Familia e Amigos!!!! Tudo Bom?!?!

Woot woot! I am OUT of the CTM! Where did those 9 weeks go? I am so grateful for the experiences I had at the CTM. I´ll miss my companions, but they´re off to João Posoa and Salvador! And I am here... in Morumbi!!!! (google map it... its fantastic!)

My new companions: Sister Faulstino and Sister Reis! I am so grateful to have both of them! :D Sister Faulstino is from Salt Lake, but is Brazilian! She is fluent in both Portuguese and Enlish... which is a big help! My trainer, Sis Reis is from the state of São Paulo about 7 hours drive away, is so kind and understanding. They both are down to earth really great missionaries! I´M A MISSIONARY! :D Its fantastic! being swallowed in Portuguese and picking up only the gist of the conversation.

Back up, I´ll start from the beginning... bus took us to the mission office, about 40 minutes drive, at 6:30 in the morning. When I arrived at the mission office the Elder there helping us passed out the mail that had collected for us while we waited for the President to arrive. After he passed out a few of the other missionaries mail, he goes back to the office and calls something out in portuguese but I here the words:... Sister Cartas está aqui! ? what? What does that mean... he comes out with my CHRISTMAS for the summer! Lots of mail! And a package!!!!! WOW! Sister Cartas for the morning.... cartas means letters, as in the mail letters. SO FUNNY! 

THEN!!!! the exciting moment, I met my Mission President! :D President Ferrin is SO nice! I love him! He interviewed all of us, met Sister Ferrin and then went to his house for some training. Wow, amazing apartment! Sister Ferrin is learning Portuguese and gave me a big hug saying what a relief that I could talk to her that day... cause I was with two brazilian sisters and she felt bad she couldn;t communicate with them. I love it! Wow!

It took a monteral for about 20 minutes, an hour bus ride, and poof! I´m here in Morumbi!  Companions are VERY helpful! I´ve been pretty quiet this week, but when we are by ourselves I´m asking questions and what words are, but I´m understanding the gist of the conversations that we have had... mostly I had a deer in the headlight look for most of the days...:D love it!

I HAD MY FIRST LESSON! The next day, we met with Alessandra. First, before I explain how the lesson went, I want to explain my first reactions for the city of Morumbi.... Humbling. Wow... So many people, of ALL different economical differences... the living situation in general... the best word to describe is humbling. I´ve never seen a place like this before, I love it so much! Nervous at first looking at the living conditions, but now... its amazing! Anyway, Alessandra is fantastic... Even though I didn´t really understand half of what my companions were saying, I could feel the spirit! They were teaching about faith, and then Sister Faulstino turns to me and asks if I knew how to teach the Law of Chastity... woah! Uh... yeah?! I told her no because I didn´t know Alessandra´s situation and what not... but after she taught about it, I testitified! Oh yea... and I prayed. I´ve prayed at all of our appointments so far and at church. I´m grateful for Prayer. Even in my personal prayers, the broken portuguese makes sense to Heavenly Father! 

I´m so grateful for that! I love this gospel, I love the work. The days are a LOT of walking, and clapping in front of the houses!!! AWESOME!!!!! It´s been a favorite part of the process... something I can do. Clap to see if the investigator is home. :D 

Happy Birthday this week Grandma!!!! :D Have fun starting up school Mom! I love you so much and am so grateful for you! You are the best!!!!! EVER!!!!!! 

Com Cainho,

Sister Waite! :D

p.s. THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!! My Christmas at the Mission office was fantastic!


-Sister Lambourne- thank you for the note!


-Natalie and Rhet Hall! THANK YOU! I loved your letter!


-Tyler Nicosia- in process of responding!


-Jessica Roylance- Pedigree


-Rebecca Waite! :D -it did find me! You´re so cute, thank you! loved the story!


-Chad Healey! loved the letter! thank you for the encouragement, and yes! I will write some experiences for ya!


-Sister Hirst!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!! I finally got all of your letters, you are fabulous!!!! Thank you SO MUCH!!!!! I love them!

-MOM!!!!!! the package was fantastic! I LOVE the ensign! Thank you SO MUCH for the hand sanitizer/lotion... i will definitely use it! :D You are the best mom! ;D Thank you for the letter! and quotes! Just what I needed! I love you

P.S. Pretty sure I get the mail ever 6 weeks, transfers, unless some one goes to the office and brings it back. It´s because Im so far away... thats alright though! I love you and am praying for you! I love you!

Pictures: Me in front of my new home for the next 6+ weeks! :D Yay! and with President Ferrin and Sister Ferrin when I arrived! Hope all is well! I love you!

ADDRESS UPDATE

Sister Waite is leaving the CTM! With that comes and address change, so here is her new address for letters!

Sister Jocelyn Michele Waite

Brazil São Paulo East Mission

Rua Caa-Açu, 229

Belenzinho, São Paulo – SP

Brazil  03171-020

Thanks for the love and support!

Last P-Day in CTM!!!!-Letter #8

Hello Family!!!! I love you!!!! Hi Friends!!!! Hope all is well!!!!

 

WOW!!!!! I'm officially going to Sao Paulo East Mission on Tuesday! I cannot wait! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!

 

So, this monday was a great day, want to know why! Because I thought the rest of our district were going downtown to proselyte, and we would stay back and study because we leave a week after them, a week behind right? But! Boom! WE WENT WITH THEM! What a wonderful suprise! On the bus ride there, a man sat down by me and we chated for a bit, -slaughtering portuguese while I'm at it- but he was really really kind and knew some english so he would help me! when i got stuck on a word he would ask me for it in english, than tell me what it is in portuguese, and so on and so on.... man. So cool! He thought I was Brazilian the first few minutes because I didn't have an accent... but, then he realized fast my vocabulary. Bah! It's alright, he asked why i was in Sao Paulo... :) Well sir, let me tell you! I bust out a book of mormon and we went on and discussed religion. I told him I'm here to teach people about Christ's Gospel and this book, he got really intersted! Yay! I was explaining about the book of mormon and just started talking about Joseph Smith when our stop came... NOOOO!!!! So I hurried and told him he could keep the book, and READ IT! :( didn't get a chance to tell him to call the number, or explain what a difference this book has made in my life... bah! I'm praying he'll read it, he WAS interested so... Hopefully! The rest of the time, poof... difficult! Busy busy people everywhere, not interested, or no time... It's alright though!

 

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

 

So, my district left this week, and Elder Krause moved to a brazilian district (he's definitely ready for it) so, it's me and my companions for the rest of the week! We make our own district! I'm sure going to miss them, I LOVE my companions so much! Crazy its the end of the CTM for me... ah! Just know that I won't be sending news for about a week and a half because... BOOM! I'M A MISSIONARY, out of the CTM on Tuesday!!!! Excited, nervous, and pumped!

 

Lots and Lots of Love,

 

Sister Waite

 

p.s. THANK YOU FOR THE LETTERS THIS WEEK!!!!!

 

-Grandma I recieved your letter, and am replying this week! look for the mail!

-Mom, I LOVED your card, and your letter about Greg, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

-Jessica and Derek, you two are the best! Art + Letter = FANTASTIC!

-Dad, I got yours too! Thanks for the email!

-Jenny Lowe Woolley!!!!!!!! I got yours too! :D I love that you're married! yay!

Branching out of the CTM!!-Letter #7

Hi Family!!! Hey Friends!!!

 

This week was absolutely fantastic!!! BECAUSE...  Monday we went proselyting!!!! We went out of the CTM!!!!! -That is exciting in and of itself, but! We had about 3 and a half hours to go contact the people around the CTM!!!! It was fantastic! Me and my companions had 7 Books of Mormon to teach about and challenge people to read. My favorite was with our very first one...

 

We had made a few contacts already, they had either already had one, -so of course we invited them to church- or they just weren't interested. Then we were about to cross a street when I looked down the road and saw a guy sitting on the curb just smoking a cigarette... we were about to cross the street and I told my companions to wait. We went to the guy, found out he was 24, had 4 brothers and sisters, don't remember where he's from, but this was our first contact that really seemed interested. -And! he thought we were from Brazil! Bah.. nope. 7 weeks! He was really shocked, he said our Portuguese was really great! That helped me feel a bit more confident... but my favorite part about sharing the Book of Mormon with him was looking him strait in the eye, and testifying that it was true and how I found out for myself... MAN!!!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!

 

The other contacts that were interested were really receptive! I sure hope and pray they really take the time to read and ponder... and pray! I love it! We gave one to a woman who must of said she was Baptist about 3 times, but still was interested to know more... YES! Then, here in Sao Paulo there are little cafe's on a lot of the corners, a place to hang out really, so we stopped and talked to a few men and a few different restaraunts. They were all very kind! One, was catholic but didn't see the need for God in his life... Oh man, we bore testimony that God lives, and he DOES love him... so cool to see the curiosity begin to swell in their eyes! Oh man... I LOVE THE WORK!

 

I have learned so much about FAITH this week... I read a great article by Jefferey R. Holland titled "The Best is Yet to Be"... or come... and it was fantastic! Faith is looking forward! Learning from the past and looking for a bright future! I love it. Read D&C 68:6.... my NEW favorite scripture! :D I love this gospel!

 

HEY!!!!! I have a brand new cousin!!!!! Yay! Congratulations Aunt CaraLee! I am so excited to meet Sophia Louise! :D

 

I hope you all have a fantastic week! I love you so much!

 

Love,

 

Sister Waite

 

P.S. Thank you Maddison Olsen, from my primary class! I got your note and your Mom's letter! Both VERY sweet! Your response is coming! :D

Chilly Update-Letter #6

Hello Family and Friends!

This week, Sao Paulo has been so cold! The other morning, we walked out of the cafeteria to our breath!!! Wow! I never knew that would happen... it's been rainy and wet. I love it!

Something exciting this week... we had eggs! Haha twice! It's always a treat to see something new for the menu. :D

TRC this past week we were role-playing as the investigators for week 2 missionaries. It's neat to see just HOW much I have learned while being here... I know exactly where those elders have been! Then, just as fabulous, Heavenly Father blessed me with that afternoon... in class our instructor put on a few films with investigators telling their story, they all were from different parts of Brazil and WOW! i didn't understand a thing!!! :D I'm grateful for the checkpoints Heavenly Father gives us... letting us know we're doing good, and letting us know how we can progress. I'm so grateful for that!

GREG I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! You will be a fantastic missionary! I hope your talk went well! I hope you have fun today on your first day being a missionary! You'll love it!!!!

I'm so grateful for the power of personal revelation, a lot of things have pointed to that this week for me. Just know that you have someone who is ALWAYS there to hear your prayers and in return... HELP you! Because He knows us perfectly, and He gives us opportunities so that we can learn more about ourselves too.

Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sis. Waite :)

STORY TIME- Letter #5

Hello Family and Friends!!!! :D

 

This week has been the same as the others... Portuguese is coming ever so slowly... but! I AM participating in the lessons more with my companions... as in I am asking questions and answering and testifying like mad! Woot woot! I feel like I can understand a lot better than what I can speak right now... and thats fine! Since everything is generally the same... I decided to share a favorite moment in the CTM! :D

 

 "The Moment When Sister Waite EXPLODED with Excitement:

 

It was just this past Monday! a few of our friends who are in the districts ahead of us went proselyting and told us their experience with talking in portuguese and seeing people read the Books of Mormon they passed out. Well, you know Sister Waite, she just beamed! So proud of her Elder friends and was just hopping and skipping on the way to dinner. This is when things really began to sink in... that I am a missionary! I get to do that someday! I am a missionary!!!!! I was just so excited and squeaked everywhere I went... like a mouse. Then, my companion Sis Johnson hugged me to calm me down and breathe, but then she said something that just brought on the tears of excitement... she said, "Sister Waite, you are here! You are living your dream!" That did it... BOOM! Sister Waite on a high again!

 

I love this gospel and this work! I love being a missionary and feeling the spirit. I know I can't do ANYTHING on my own... especially learn portuguese, but I am so grateful to have the Lord on my side, because I can do anything!

 

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

 

Love,

 

Sister Waite

God Bless America- Letter #4

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