Ola!!!
Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing so very well. As you may have guessed, today (Tuesday) is my P-day, and so I have the blessed opportunity of using a computer. I have so much to tell you!
One day here feels like one week. We are so productive all day (6:30am-10:30pm) that it seems like I've been here for way longer than six days! It is AMAZING to be here. I love it. I love it!!! I don't want to be anywhere else or doing anything else right now. Everyone is so kind, and the atmosphere is amazing. I know that many of you heard all of the comments about missionaries during conference. The amount of missionaries here, especially sister missionaries, is unprecedented! Imagine being able to be here among all of the excitement! I just sit there while we're singing hymns or listening to talks and I almost cry because the Spirit is almost tangible. My heart has been completely full since I've been here, and therefore I have been very content and happy. :) I can honestly say that I'm not sad at all about not being in Brazil. In fact, our district is already so close that I would be very sad to leave them at this point. The five elders in our district decided that we are the "boa constrictors" because "boa" means good in Portuguese... It's just kind of funny. On a more serious note, everyone in my district is INCREDIBLE. In bearing our testimonies to each other last time, I started my crying about my testimony of faith, and then everyone after that (including ALL of the elders!) bore their testimonies in tears. We ALL know that we are in the RIGHT place, at the RIGHT time, doing the RIGHT things. This is because the Gospel is true, and we WILL share the happiness with those we come in contact with.
I am the oldest person in my district of 12! The next oldest person is a 21 year-old sister. It is both exciting and humbling to be serving among so many 19 year-old sisters. Their spirits are so strong! Their excitement and energy is contagious. I feel humble to be here with them because they were among the wave (shout out to Elder Nelson!) to jump at the chance to serve a mission as soon as the age change occurred. This means that they were already spiritually ready to answer the Lord's call, and so they are amazingly strong. My companion is a doll - she's 19 and she's way better at Portuguese than I am. She has already helped me so much and has been really patient with me.
Dad, the Lord answered the unspoken prayers of my heart through your letter. The first few days at the MTC were spiritual bliss - the adrenaline helped me wake up on time and stay alert all day. We were also spoiled with General Conference. However, yesterday (Monday) was basically the first day of real nitty gritty working. At one point during the day, I got really discouraged about the language. There is just SO MUCH to study and we only have a teacher for 3 hours a day. I was pretty bummed out for awhile. Then, I read your letter and I just started crying (it was the first time that I partly cried since being here) because of what you said about learning the language. You reminded me that the Lord is with me and that I shouldn't be discouraged about where I am compared to others. You also reminded me that the Lord called me to Brazil for a reason. These are things that I should tell myself, but it was different coming from my dad. So, thanks dad, and I am once again ready to be patient with myself and the language. I do love learning and speaking Portuguese, after all. I just have a long way to go, with the Lord's help.
I am grateful that missionaries have fun - we played volleyball in gym yesterday and I made all of my serves! Simple joys, simple joys. Also, a Samoan elder spiked the ball at my head. Such fun!
I am also grateful that Sister Clark is here - whenever we see each other we give each other a huge hug and just a check up of how things are going. I do not envy her learning of Russian!!!
Being here has only solidified my testimony of EVERYTHING. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much. I know that this is true, because I don't feel alone here. I wouldn't have been able to give up seeing my family and friends for 18 months if I felt alone, though I miss all of you very much. I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father more than ever before, and in such a strengthening way. I have been working really hard to keep all of the mission rules, and so I have seen blessings from this obedience. It has been really rewarding to use every minute of every day for productive things. I am so grateful to have this opportunity. So, thank you mom and dad, and everyone else that is making it possible for me to be here. I love it here. I love it. And, I love you guys. :)
Love love love,
Sister Williams
Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing so very well. As you may have guessed, today (Tuesday) is my P-day, and so I have the blessed opportunity of using a computer. I have so much to tell you!
One day here feels like one week. We are so productive all day (6:30am-10:30pm) that it seems like I've been here for way longer than six days! It is AMAZING to be here. I love it. I love it!!! I don't want to be anywhere else or doing anything else right now. Everyone is so kind, and the atmosphere is amazing. I know that many of you heard all of the comments about missionaries during conference. The amount of missionaries here, especially sister missionaries, is unprecedented! Imagine being able to be here among all of the excitement! I just sit there while we're singing hymns or listening to talks and I almost cry because the Spirit is almost tangible. My heart has been completely full since I've been here, and therefore I have been very content and happy. :) I can honestly say that I'm not sad at all about not being in Brazil. In fact, our district is already so close that I would be very sad to leave them at this point. The five elders in our district decided that we are the "boa constrictors" because "boa" means good in Portuguese... It's just kind of funny. On a more serious note, everyone in my district is INCREDIBLE. In bearing our testimonies to each other last time, I started my crying about my testimony of faith, and then everyone after that (including ALL of the elders!) bore their testimonies in tears. We ALL know that we are in the RIGHT place, at the RIGHT time, doing the RIGHT things. This is because the Gospel is true, and we WILL share the happiness with those we come in contact with.
I am the oldest person in my district of 12! The next oldest person is a 21 year-old sister. It is both exciting and humbling to be serving among so many 19 year-old sisters. Their spirits are so strong! Their excitement and energy is contagious. I feel humble to be here with them because they were among the wave (shout out to Elder Nelson!) to jump at the chance to serve a mission as soon as the age change occurred. This means that they were already spiritually ready to answer the Lord's call, and so they are amazingly strong. My companion is a doll - she's 19 and she's way better at Portuguese than I am. She has already helped me so much and has been really patient with me.
Dad, the Lord answered the unspoken prayers of my heart through your letter. The first few days at the MTC were spiritual bliss - the adrenaline helped me wake up on time and stay alert all day. We were also spoiled with General Conference. However, yesterday (Monday) was basically the first day of real nitty gritty working. At one point during the day, I got really discouraged about the language. There is just SO MUCH to study and we only have a teacher for 3 hours a day. I was pretty bummed out for awhile. Then, I read your letter and I just started crying (it was the first time that I partly cried since being here) because of what you said about learning the language. You reminded me that the Lord is with me and that I shouldn't be discouraged about where I am compared to others. You also reminded me that the Lord called me to Brazil for a reason. These are things that I should tell myself, but it was different coming from my dad. So, thanks dad, and I am once again ready to be patient with myself and the language. I do love learning and speaking Portuguese, after all. I just have a long way to go, with the Lord's help.
I am grateful that missionaries have fun - we played volleyball in gym yesterday and I made all of my serves! Simple joys, simple joys. Also, a Samoan elder spiked the ball at my head. Such fun!
I am also grateful that Sister Clark is here - whenever we see each other we give each other a huge hug and just a check up of how things are going. I do not envy her learning of Russian!!!
Being here has only solidified my testimony of EVERYTHING. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much. I know that this is true, because I don't feel alone here. I wouldn't have been able to give up seeing my family and friends for 18 months if I felt alone, though I miss all of you very much. I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father more than ever before, and in such a strengthening way. I have been working really hard to keep all of the mission rules, and so I have seen blessings from this obedience. It has been really rewarding to use every minute of every day for productive things. I am so grateful to have this opportunity. So, thank you mom and dad, and everyone else that is making it possible for me to be here. I love it here. I love it. And, I love you guys. :)
Love love love,
Sister Williams
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