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Brazil, Lower 48

Some love from Sister Owens

29 October 2010

Ola minha familia e meus amigos!

Twas another fantastic week here at the MTC. I can’t believe I’ve already been here over 3 weeks. Crazy! It feels like I just barely got here but it also feels like I’ve been here forever. Time is weird here, and everywhere.

First of all, muitos obrigados/thank you verrrrry much, to all those fantastico people who sent me mail and letters and boxes. They make me soooo happy! And hopefully I’ll be able to reply to them all in my few remaining hours of time left today. Each one makes me so happy though. It’s so good to hear of your lives and loves and other good things.

Preparing to enter the field in 5-6 weeks is going great. Who knows which field I’ll be entering. Very few missionaries are getting their visas for Brazil, and another batch just got their temporary stateside reassignments this week. They’re going to California, Denver, Minnesota, West Virginia, all over.

Speaking of West Virginia, I really miss singing “Country Roads” with my ukulele. But fortunately my most favorite twins drew of picture of my ukulele for me and sent it in a sweet box with other yummy treats. I miss lots of things from home, but there is no where else I want to be right now. I am so happy for this oppurtunity to serve a mission and to invite others to come unto Christ.

I’m realizing how mucho mucho muitos Portuguese I need to learn. But considering I’ve only been here three weeks, I’m getting along pretty fine with it. :) I loooove learning it though. And it is so helpful having the french background.

I love all of our study time. My companion and I have found a new favorite place to study and it makes it so much more effective. For my daily hour of personal study each day I’ve decided to read a chapter from each of the Standard Works every day. It’s so fantastic. I love it. And then I get a little bit of everything. Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants/Pearl of Great Price, and of course the Book of Mormon. Personal study is the Golden Hour of the day.

Minha companheira and I also teach a lesson every day, so we’re trying to get in plenty of practice, because it’s going to be so crazy different and so much more important when we’re teaching real people with real needs! But it will also be so much more rewarding.

So I am learning a lot a lot. Denise Doxey, a member of the Relief Society general board, spoke at RS last week. She went to the Jerusalem Center and met her husband there too! :) Oh how I looove and miss the Jerusalem life. But she gave an excellent talk on how important sister missionaries are. And how we reach out to a whole different set of people. She also said how in the battle against Satan, missionaries are on the front lines, and we get a lot of hits, but we’re saving souls. And those on the Lord’s side will conquer. She also brought the love of the RS presidency.

And then on Tuesday at devotional, someone brought the love of the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles. Yes yes, we had another apostle come. :D Elder Richard G. Scott gave the most amazing, spiritually guided talk ever. Holy amazing. One of the things he said was that “to accomplish things never before accomplished, we must do things never before done.”

Oh I can’t tell you how amazing his talk was. And for those of you concerned for my safety when I get to Brazil, no worries. An apostle of the Lord Jesus Chirst “invoke[d] a protective shield that will give us [sister missionaries] warning, as we exericise faith in the shield, of any impending danger, so we can be protected by the Lord.” It was incredible. The spirit was so strong and the feeling over me was amazing, to be reassured again that I will be kept safe and that the Lord and angels will be looking out for me.

He again invoked his apostalic power, to give those of us studying a foreign language, the gift of tongues. Wow. So as we exercise faith and use the language, we will find it so much easier to learn. What a blessing.

Elder Scott also gave us a blessing of confidence and guidance of the spirit, that will help is realize we are far better prepared then we realize. Also that we will remember what we learn on our missions.

It was so grand. And our testimony meeting after it with our district was amazing. I loooove my companion and our ten elders. Our elders are soooo good to us. Never do we have to open our own doors, or take our trays out in the cafeteria, or have to wait in line. Oh they’re such gentlemen.

That night it also started SNOWING! Which was so beautiful and magical! I haven’t seen a first snow in a while! LOVED IT! But I’m not too prepared for a chilly winter. I’m slightly more prepared for the killer heat and humidity of Brazil. :)

Sister Lund and I are loving our morning runs in the beautiful crisp cool air. I loooove the stars and miss being outside all the time.

More good news, I got to see my aunt Connie again! It was of course completely wonderful. And she gave me the MOST delicious bread from my cousin Natalie. Loooove it.

Annnnd, Hayley my roomie sent me PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, whole wheat with half butter and half sugar. Holy divine. Oh I loooove them.

Ok, time is ticking very quickly! Love you all!

Oh one other thing I learned…. “Do you love God? Spend time with him.” -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Brazil, Lower 48

Sister Owens Week 3

24 October 2010

Ola! Things are still fantastico here at the missionary training center in Provo. I’m learning lots and lots about the gospel and about Portugues all day every day!
   I can’t tell you how much I love my district. Ahhh we have so much fun and such good spiritual experiences too of course. Those elders, as well as minha companheira are wonderful and I am learning muitos from them all. We’re in class together all the time and studying and teaching each other. Tis lovely.
   The transition to a missionary life is pretty great. I looooove getting up early (6-6:30) and exercising right away. Sister Lund and I usually just go outside by the Provo temple and missionary field, and run in the lovely crisp morning air, watching the stars fade away. I am not able to spend enough time outside at all, so it’s great to start the mornings that way.
   And I saw the Bozungs and Heather Wilson one morning, both who I went to Jerusalem with. I’ve been seeing so many people I know. Fun fun!
   Once a week we do service for an hour or so, which just means that we do some sort of assigned cleaning. The MTC is cleaned mostly by the 2500 or so missionaries that live here. Sister Lund and I were vacuuming chapels this week, with back pack vacuums, those ghost buster ones. So that was pretty excellent, and who doesn’t love a Ghost Buster vacuum? Aaaand the whole time I was vacuuming I was singing all the songs I play on my ukulele, so it was lovely. I really miss Matilda Hilda Ukulele. I dreamt about her the other night and so wish I could play her while singing and walking on the beach with Cody and throwing him sticks to fetch in the ocean.
   Speaking of dreams… funnnnnny story. So as you know, I’ve been praying in Portuguese since day 2 here. Like most people, I usually just pray while I’m awake, but a couple days ago I was praying in my sleep! Not sure what I was dreaming about, but I was full on praying in Portuguese, completely audibly. It was like 4 am and I woke up 4 of the 5 sisters in my room by praying in Portuguese out loud and clear. Funnnnnnny bunny!
   Hmmmm I wonder if that makes me fluent? Nope. It does not. There is soooo much to learn but I looooove it. I love Portugues and can’t wait to be fluent!
   We practice a lot of door contacts and get to know you things in Portuguese, and we have specific times of the day where we don’t speak English. Tis grand.
   I’m of course learning lots about missionary work too. We have speakers and meetings and workshops and such teaching us about how to teach people. This week they talked about finding the elect, those who have been prepared by God to hear the gospel. My testimony of Jesus Chirst is growing so much too, as I’m understanding more of how much he loves each one of us and wants us to be happy. I am so grateful for the restored gospel and profetas and Joseph Smith.
   Another highlight of the week was that I got to see my aunty Connie again! I look forward to it so much! It’s so nice to get that little bit of family in. And she brings me and Sister Lund treats too, which is fantastic of course! I love it.
   There’s been so much good this week. First of all, Susan W. Tanner, the general young women’s president, was the speaker for Relief Society on Sunday! Yep, that’s right. She helped me realize even more how wonderful and inspired RS is.
   And then on Tuesday for devotional, one word: NELSON, as in Russell M. Nelson. Yes yes, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ came to the MTC and spoke spefically to us missionaries. Excellent. The spirit was so so strong as he walked into the room. You just know he is a man of God.
   We also had a wonderful fireside and my favorite thing from it was that I learned the secret to happiness: “It’s not about you.” Devote your life to serving others and focusing outward, and you will be happy. What a true principle. Because now, as I’m dedicating my life to serving the Lord and soon the people of Brazil, I am so so happy every day. It’s wonderful.
   Yesterday was P day and I went and did sealings at the temple. So good. I love the temple and the lovely smelling roses outside of it. And I wish I were going to be in Hawaii for the Laie temple dedication soon! But I really only want to be here right now too.
   I got some very very maraveillosa letters this week! Thank you so so much to each of you who sent them. Many were such a completely delightful surprise and made me even happier! Obrigada!!
   Well everyone, thanks for reading about my missionary journey. Can’t wait to get to Brazil soonish! As soon as I get a visa! Not many missionaries are getting visas right now though, so who knows when I’ll get there. I finish here in Utah on December 7th and then if I don’t have my visa by then, then temporarily transfer me to somewhere in the states. So none of us really know what’s going on, but I know I’ll be just where the Lord needs me! :D
   Have a most delightful week!
 
Brazil, Lower 48

Week Two at MTC

20 October 2010

Hola minha familia e meus amigos!
   I’m into week 2 at the missionary training center in Provo, Utah! It’s still fantastic of course. And new missionaries arrived a few days ago so I’m not one of the new ones anymore! Yippee skippe! I only ahve 30 minutes of email time and it goes so quickly. Ahhhhh!
   Things here are so good. The spirit is so so strong as there are 3000 missionaries here all giving up 1.5-2 years of their life to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone is always studying or always teaching. We have like 30 minutes for each meal, 30 minutes to exercise, 30 minutes to get ready, and an hour in our room in the evenings before bed. Then time to sleep for 8 hours. I’m always busy busy busy. Glad I enjoyed all of the sweet free time this summer. :)
   It’s nice that the non class time is self governed though. there’s no one telling us specific things to study or specific ways to use our time. I love study time. Good thing there’s so much of it. But I’m never in my room, which I miss because I love my room and my tie dye sheets and my pictures on the wall. But we never spend time in our room, always out and about.
   The MTC here is pretty much as big as BYUHawaii. It’s bizarro. I love it here though. And all of the missionaries are so wonderful. Especially those in my district!
   Portuguese is progressing slightly. I pray about 500,000 bajillion times a day in Portuguese. “Querido Pai Celestial, adgradecemos-te por… por favor nos ajude a… nos te-pedimos que abencoas… em nome de Jesus Cristo amem.” And then I throw in plenty of English words, since my Portuguese vocab is rather limited. I loooove learning Portuguese though and am so excited to learn more.
   Sunday was excellent. Everyone is in branches of whatever language they’ll be speaking. There are about 60ish missionarios in my branch, 8 of those are sisters. The branch president is excellent and I love his wife too. Goooood people around this place. We have sacrament meeting from 8 to 9, watch Music and the Spoken Word watch Music and the Spoken Word from 9:30 to 10, then all of the sisters at the mtc meet together for Relief Society. There’s extra meetings too, such as fireside and district stuff. Sunday was beautiful here. My companion and I sat out on the grass and studied scriptures and Preach My Gospel and Jesus the Christ. Then we met up with our ten elders and walked to the temple and took pictures. I can’t really email pictures, but I’ll try to mail some soon.
   Tuesday we had a devotional with Richard C. Edgley. We get lots of General Authorities around this place. :) Sister Lund (minha companheira) and I sang Lead, Kindly Light in the choir for devotional which means we get good seats too. :)
   OBRIGADA for the wonderful mail you peeps have sent me! I got two packages (and like 5 from amazon that I ordered before I left :)) and cards and dearelder letters. YAY! Mail makes me soooo happy so keep sending it. Dearelder.com is the way to do it while I’m at the mtc, especailly since it’s free and I get it that day! Yay mail! Hopefully I’ll get some things sent out to some of you today, but I’ve got only about and hour of free(ish) time left to write lots of things.
   We went to the Provo temple this morning with our district. It was so wonderful being there and the temple is b.e.a.utiful! Especially with Sister Lund and our 10 favorite elders here at the mtc.
   And more good news… I got to see my aunt Connie yesterday! Oh it was so fantastic. We got to visit for like 45 minutes while she was here. It was the BEST! And she gave me the best hugs I’ve had since I left home! Oh it was so grand. Family is the greatest!
   I’m so excited to go to Brazil and share with the people that families can be together forever! I’m so excited for Brazil! But I’ll be here, along with tonnnns of other missionaries, until I get a visa. Peeps aren’t really getting them too much. And if I finish my mtc time here in 8 weeks and still don’t have a visa, I’ll be assigned to a temporary mission stateside, most likely not Portuguese speaking. But whatever happens works for me! The Lord knows what he’s doing. I’ll be where I need to be.
   I love you all muchos muchos and think of you all often! Hope and pray that each of you are doing well!
 
Brazil, Lower 48

1st email from Sister Owens

10 October 2010

Ola minha familia e meus amigos!!
 
I made it to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo! I’ve been here four days and they have been the most jam packed, spiritual days of my life! :) Needless to say I LOVE THE MTC!
  We do so so much every single day. Wake up at 6-6:30, exercise for 45 minutes or so, get ready for the day, and then we have class and studying all day long. We really don’t go back to our rooms until 9:30 at night. I finally had some free time to day to finish getting settled. All of the sister missionaries pretty much live on the same two floors of one building. In my room there are 3 bunkbeds, 3 desks, and 6 closets. There’s plenty of space. My companion and I share it with four hermanas going to Argentina and speaking Spanish. They’ve been here four weeks.
   Minha companheira is pretty much fantastic! Her name is Sister Lund and she’s from Seattle, studying elementary education at BYU Provo. We work so well together and I’m learning so much from her. And we have to spend 24/7 together. Everything. We always have to be within sight and sound of each other. Along with that, their are about a bajillion other rules that I’m not so used to, but that all have their purpose and will bring us blessings if we obey. I love being blessed, so I’m trying to obey. It’s a complete life adjustment being here, but it’s sooooo good.
   My district has my companion and I and 10 elders, mostly all 19 years old. I LOVE my district. You do everything with your district, same schedule, class together, study together, pray together, eat together. I love those elders though. So good. Speaking of eating, the food is pretty okay. Not a huge fan, but it’s not bad. I can see it getting old though. But I did just find out where to get the soy milk, which is fantastic. There aren’t too many vegetarian/vegan alternatives here, but there won’t be in Brazil either.
   I’ve been here four days now and it feels like forever. I’ve learned so so so much and my testimony has grown so so so much. On the second day, we were praying in Portuguese, and today we learned how to bear our testimunhos in Portuguese! Neato. I’m sooo excited to speak and learn more Portuguese! Although my vocabulary will be primarily Gospel centered, but that’s good because that’s what I’m here for… to teach the gospel to the people of Brazil!
   I’m getting more and more excited everyday to go to Brazil (hopefully within 2 months) and meet the people and teach them. Brazil is a very high baptizing mission area too so that’s exciting. Yippee Skippee! My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I’m so excited to fulfill that purpose and know it’s what I need to do right now and what the Lord wants me to do!
   God loves you, Jesus loves you, and I love you all too!
-Sister Owens