Brazil Piracicaba Mission: MTC: Week 2

Hey family and friends!!

So, I have decided that all languages should only use the present tense for now on! Good plan?? Great! Oh. my. goodness. I finally know how to express myself in past and future tense but do you know how hard it is to actually remember to use those tenses? REALLY HARD! So, 98.7% of the time I usually just say everything in the present tense. Probably not the best idea.

Two wonderful things happened this week! number um, my companion, Sister Roberts got her visa! So, she leaves to the Brazil MTC Tuesday morning bright and early! I am so excited for her! She is going to have a Brazilian Christmas in 90 degree weather! Which brings me to number dois! It snowed this Tuesday! Like ALL day! And, it has been super cold ever since. But, the nice thing is that we are inside most of the day so I just get to look at the beautiful snow coming down onto the mountains. Truly magical.

We got two new districts in our zone on Wednesday and I decided to scare them by saying hi and only talking in Portuguese. It was truly successful :) I was very proud of myself. It's weird to think that I've been here for 2 1/2 weeks and now we are considered the "old" district.

Yesterday was a day I seriously wish I remembered where I put my band aids. In class Sister Roberts finally understood what our teacher was saying so she fist bumped me really hard.....so hard in fact, that my knuckle started bleeding.....right after, I got a really bad paper cut that wouldn't stop bleeding! Then, I didn't get any mail. Which is a first. Right before P-day too. But, I'm not complaining. Most of the elders hardly get any mail. ( but that's mainly because they don't write anyone.)

Well, this week we had a devotional by Bruce C. Hafen. (Elder Ballard was supposed to be there but couldn't because of the snow) It was an amazing devotional! He talked about missionary work, obviously. But, he also talked about the importance of the Temple (Kind of a bummer that the Provo temple is closed for cleaning the whole 6 weeks while I am here) and also about overcoming hardships on our mission. We will all have hard days but it is how we deal with them and our attitude that is life changing. We wear the name of Christ on our badge everyday but we need to live like Christ every single day, in everything we do, not only on our full time mission but throughout our life. He shared a quote by a pioneer that went something like this, "The price to pay to know Him was a privilege." We need to live our lives in that way. Coming closer to Christ doesn't mean that our life will get easier but the price we pay to come closer to Christ TRULY is a privilege. Being on a mission is a privilege and I know it will be hard. If it isn't, that means I'm not trying hard enough. But, I know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be. In a lesson yesterday, the question was asked 'what is my purpose for being on a mission.' I had him turn to 3 Nephi 5: 13. That is the exact reason I am here. I love being a missionary, this is truly the happiest work on earth!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe week!

Sister Keeler