Eu amo MTC!

My goodness familia! I love the MTC. So much... like, I could stay here for a few more months and be perfectly happy. It's just such an amazing experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So last Tuesday after I emailed you, we went to the temple and I ran into family! We were sitting there and I saw someone who looked really, REALLY familiar. I leaned over to Sister Anaya and I said, "You see that guy over there? I'm about 109% sure he's one of my cousins I've never met." When Sister Anaya finished laughing at me she looked at him and she said, "I can totally see it. You could be brother and sister." *I didn't even think that we looked related, but okay* As we were walking out of the temple I saw him so I figured I'd just ask and see if I was right or not. Me: "I have a question for you." Him: "Yes, ma'am." Me: "Are you a Stolworthy by chance?" Him: Confused look "I am." Me: "Is Mark your dad?" Him: More confused "Yes, ma'am." Me: "Oh great! We're cousins!" It was Mark and Kari's son Spencer. It took him a minute but then outside the temple he heard my first name and then I guess it clicked who I was. He called Kari and told her. Turns out he does TRC every Friday, so there's a one in a million chance I'll run into him again, but it was cool. It made my day. I was surprised I even recognized him... he was more surprised but it was still really funny. That night for Tuesday devotional Linda K. Burton came and spoke. It was probably one of the best talks ever given in the history of the Church.

On Wednesday my district was asked to be host missionaries. So, we missed our first classes and we got to wear the big white stickers that say "Missionary Host" as we helped the new missionaries as soon as they got here. It was pretty fun, but I discovered that most sisters bring a lot more stuff than I did. A lot more stuff.

So my companions are amazing. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when he put three completely different people together in one room. Sister Mills has the funniest laugh in the world. Even if nothing is funny, when she starts laughing I automatically start laughing. Her laugh is so contagious, and when I start laughing she laughs harder. It's really a vicious cycle, but almost every other night the two of us end up on the floor laughing so hard we can't breathe. Sister Anaya is usually just standing and looking at us because she doesn't understand what is so funny. Eu amo minha companheiras.

On Thursday the realization of how long we'd been here hit me. It was kind of weird. I wasn't sure if I should have been excited or if I should have been sad. I love the MTC. It's so cool.

On Friday, Irmão Gray went to a friend´s wedding so Irmão Machado came and substituted. He~s from Florianapolis, Brasil but he lives here now. He married the sister of one of his companions and they just moved back to the United States 4 months ago. Irmão Machado is one of the funniest people I´ve ever met. He had so many stories... and we laughed so hard all day long. We also taught TRC lessons on Friday. One of the members we taught just came back from her mission in Portugal so she had all kinds of things to tell us. The other member was a sister from João Pessoa. She spoke so beautifully. I´m sorry, but Portuguese is the most beautiful language in the world. End of story. *Perk of learning both Brasilian Portuguese and the Portugal Portuguese- we can understand everybody. The Brasilian missionaries can´t understand the Portuguese de Portugal, but we can.

Saturday was much fun. We taught two lessons to our investigators. Lenir (Irmão Gray) is a difficult investigator. He wouldn´t do the things we´d asked him to do, but then in that lesson the Spirit made us be bold. It was kind of crazy. I don´t even remember all the things that came out of my mouth. I´ve since been told that is a normal thing. If you speak with the Spirit you won´t always remember what you said because they weren´t your words. It was crazy, but the lesson was amazing. We taught the First Vision and the Spirit was so strong. Then, out of the blue Sister Anaya committed him to be baptized. It was amazing! Foi marvilhosa! That same night we taught Denise (Irmã Kimball). Denise is amazing. The Spirit was definitely there. It was so strong and by the end of the lesson all four of us were in tears. It´s amazing what happens when the Spirit is in the lessons with you.

Sunday was probably one of the best Sundays of my life. Church was great, all the meetings were great, and then after devotional we watched "The Character of Christ." It was a Christmas devotional that Elder Bednar gave at the MTC a few years ago. They only show it here at the Provo MTC, but it was probably one of the best talks ever given. I definitely have a long way to go and a lot of work to do, but it's totally possible. Have I ever mentioned how much I love the MTC? This place is fantastic.

I forgot to tell you one thing you asked about a few weeks ago: sleep walking/talking. It's basically an every night thing. Sister Anaya is terrified. I wish you could have read the email to her friends. She was so funny. I talk every night and I sleep walk every other night. Actually, last Friday I woke up outside of my room and the doors are always locked. Fortunately, Sister Mills is a very light sleeper and woke up as soon as I knocked on the door. It was about 1:00 in the morning. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see someone in my life. :) Minha companheiras say that I speak in Portuguese in my sleep and that the other night I was talking about the Resurrection in my sleep. Sister Anaya said she felt like a slacker because she doesn't dream about the gospel. I don't remember any of these things though. I'm perfectly safe and normal though, so don't worry about me. Everyone thinks it's really, really... like, REALLY funny. Jokes are made all the time about my sleeptalking... and because I'm from Idaho. People have all kinds of jokes about Idaho... and they don't even make sense, but I laugh anyway. That was random, but yeah. My brain is all over the place.

As far as Christmas packages go, I do have a lot of books and I don't know if I would have enough extra weight depending on what you're planning on sending. Sorry. Also, Dad, the lady one the plane gave us $50 dollars. We asked the travel office what to do with it and they said to keep it, so Sister Mills kept it. She also had 30 euros that she gave to us. Sister Mills kept the $50 and 15 euros, and I have 15 euros. That's all it was.

I sent a postcard to y'all today and in it I mentioned maybe getting an emergency package sent this week? Possibly? If you love me? Just in case it doesn't make it to you here's my list: 1- Gain apple mango tango dryer sheets (I need those ones, my yellow blankey is not supposed to smell like anything else) 2- German chocolate (trust me, I need it. Actually, I just want to give some to some people... can you believe people have never had it?) 3- luggage tags. I gave mine to Sister Pace.

Also, Feliz Aniversário Eric and Ammon! I´m going to write Ammon a letter and mail it to your house Mom and Dad. P.S. Can I have Clarissa and Sam´s email address? In Portuguese, Ammon's name sounds pretty awesome. Irmão Gray really likes that name. Sister Anaya said she´d forward her emails to me so that you can read her stories about my sleep stuff. Oh I love her. I´m sorry, I´m kind of scatter brained right now, but I love you all and I love being a missionary. It´s the coolest thing ever. I love the gospel and I love the opportunity to give this time to the Lord.

Eu amo vocês!!!

Sister Smith

P.S. The coolest thing about Portuguese is that I can understand Spanish... and Italian.... it's so cool. Erin Anderson gave me a hymnal with her testimony in it in Spanish... and I can read it. I almost started crying when I realized I could read it. So cool. The Spanish and Italian speaking missionaries can't understand us, but we understand them. Irmão Gray and Irmã Kimball said that they can understand them all, but other people can´t understand them. Portuguese really is the best language. :D

Here is the part of Sister Anaya's e-mail: 

Yesterday, my two comps and i were in the residence hall. We were talking about spicy food as i was eating hot chetos and takis (which my loving dad sent me) and so Sister Smith says, did you know that people that eat lots of spicy food are more tolerant to pain. she was like Yeah so i've heard that for Latino women giving birth is less painful. Sister Mills comes in and says "Is that why they have so many children?" In all seriousness. i died. We all did. We ended up on the floor. I was coughing cause i had takis in my mouth and that was just seriously so funny!

Sister Smith yeah she's is still sleep talking. Three nights ago, she strated yelling "SISTER ANAYA! SISTER ANAYA!" I'm asleep and im like shes doing it again. Im used to her sleep talking now.

Last night she started talking about Christ's resurrection and then talking in Porteguese! Im jelous! i wish i could dream in porteguese and dream of the gospel! not fair! lol

Two weeks ago!

Okay so as you know i have two other companions/ roomies. We'll, the first day at the MTC she worned me that she sleep walks. I don't believe in sleep walking so i was like okay this girl trying to be funny. so a week goes by. Three days ago, i witnessed it! I always thought of sleep walking as an illness so i was like no way? Okay so this night, i could not sleep. I probably stayed up till about 3. Around 1 i hear my comp. (Sister Smith) She yells "OH SHOOT," I freak out of course and grabbed my blankets. She gets out of her bed, walks to her closet, opens it and walks back to her bed. She sits on bed stariing out the window for a solid 20 seconds. Longest 20 of my life. She then goes back to sleep totally normal. Okay so about an hour passes. This time she yells, "No just let me finish im almost done with my work. PLEASE!" This time i just started cracking up but i had to hold it because at the same time i am super scared because never have i experinced this i mean duh who has? Okay so after yelling, she walk out of her bed, goes to her desk, grabs her pen, clicks it, then on the way to her bed says "Compeniera." She then sits on her bed, and this time stays starring outside for about 1 whole mintue. Then goes back to sleep. I couldn't sleep for the longest time. hahaha The next day, i talked to her about and she just had a blank starel, she had no idea what i was talking about. Well since then i have heard her have full on conversations with herself. Last night she recited the "Missionary Purpose."

Happy Birthday Ammon!

Sister Smith and her companions

They were so cold!

The whole district

"I left my heart in San Francisco..."

Actually, I almost left one of my pens...but it's a nice pen so no way was I leaving it behind. :)

Olá familia! Eu amo vocês! So this week has been without a doubt the craziest week of my life.

Last Monday we found out that six of our missionaries got their visas and were going to São Paulo, and then on Wednesday morning they all left. Later Wednesday morning, Sister Mills and I got called down to the Travel Office, but we were really confused because if you hear something about a Portugal visa that generally means there's a problem. Anyway, we get down there and one of the ladies starts by saying, "So I don't know what's going on, but I'll tell you everything I know. We're flying you to San Francisco on Friday." My response was, "What? Why? On a plane?" There was some problem with our visas at the consulate so we had to make a personal appearance. Apparently they have very rarely ever had to fly missionaries to the consulates, but it's becoming more common. Our teachers were excited for us, but they also knew how important this trip was and they were definitely praying for us. We were technically "In-field missionaries" the entire time we were out of the MTC, so it was a huge learning experience for me. I'm so glad I found Kay before I left though. It was so nice to see her. I think weekly visits are in order until I leave for Portugal or get reassigned.

First time on a plane for Sister Smith!

I love flying! Take off is my favorite part.... but when we were all the way up I got vertigo and it was kind of strange. I survived though, and there's a picture of the San Francisco Bay as we flew over it. I had an exit row window seat. Awesomeness, huh?! We actually travelled with a Brazilian kid who's going to our mission in a few weeks. He had to come to the consulate with us. We met a lot of nice people and we met a lady whose husband is a BYU profesor. She sat and talked to us the whole way and she kept saying things like, "Oh I wish someone had texted me pictures of my son" and "I would have loved to have gotten pictures from people who met my kids on their missions." I finally figured out that she wanted to send you all a text and she was so excited. I'm glad you all liked the text. When we got to San Francisco we took a taxi to the consulate (I'm convinced the taxi driver was going around in circles.... and I also never want to live in San Francisco, the drivers are terrifying), and when we got to the consulate they didn't know we were coming. ?! The people that work at the Portugal consulate are all Brazilian... and I had no idea what they were saying most of the time. Anyway, once they found our information all they did was take a picture of each of us and have us verify our names and passport numbers. That was literally all we had to do. We were so confused. 

San Fransisco Bay

We took another taxi back to the airport and the whole time I kept remembering that we were "in-filed missionaries" and as such we were supposed to share the gospel with everyone. I was TERRIFIED to talk to people, but the Spirit kept telling me that I needed to talk to our taxi driver. After a few awkward moments of silence I started asking him about San Francisco and what he liked to do, and I knew we needed to introduce him to the church but I didn't know how. I was just praying to know how to do it and then we just asked him if he went to church. He totally opened up at the question! We learned so much about him and when we mentioned our church he was so interested, especially by the fact that we do a lot of humanitarian service all over the world. He's from Ethiopia so that's a really important thing to him. Anyway, he was super interested in the church and then he asked us if we knew where the Church was in San Francisco or if we knew where there were other missionaries. I felt awful because we didn't know, but then I told him that there were websites he could go to and he could find the missionaries through the website. He was so happy and he had me write down as many of the websites that I could think of. Then I had the thought "Give him a Book of Mormon. If you give him one he'll read it." Well, I felt really awful then. All I had was my Portuguese scriptures and I just had to tell the Spirit "I didn't come prepared." (The very next day Irma Kimball taught about the importance of always carrying Book of Mormons and giving them away) ... I definitely learned a lesson about bringing copies of the Book of Mormon with me. I told him that if he would find the missionaries they would get him a Book of Mormon, and he told me he would do it as soon as he dropped us off at the airport. Overall, we had a very nice trip. I think the most important thing we did was not the visa stuff. We learned a lot and I really think that in a lot of ways that trip was a blessing for me and for my companions, and maybe someday some of the people we met.

Missionaries called to serve in a Portuguese speaking area

Anyway, our districts and teachers were so excited when we came back and Irmao Gray and Irma Kimball loved our stories. They were so glad that we learned so many things, and I'm jsut glad we had the opportunity.

We sent off 8 more of our elders and sisters to São Paulo this morning. We were up before four again and then by the time we got back to the residence we were all so tired that we decided to skip part of our P-day stuff and sleep. Sleep is so nice. There's a reason it's on our schedules.

I've been called as the Sister Training Leader for our zone. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I work with the zone leaders. I help the zone leaders every Wednesday welcome new missionaries and I'm responsible for all the sisters in the zone. I know there were other sisters that wanted this calling, and I'm not sure why I got it. I'm not friendly or anything like that, but I guess Heavenly Father wants me to do something. Also, our district gets to be the host missionaries tomorrow for all the new missionaries. So, I get to be the missionary that comes and pulls all the luggage and then shows them around and gets them so excited to be here! I'm so excited! :D

So much happened this week and there just isn't time to tell about it all! I love you all and thank you so much for the emails and the letters. I got Marlee's letter and Kristin's letter, and I will send you both letters some time this week. Maybe... I don't generally have time to do anything like that.

I love you all, I love being a missionary! It's not at all easy. It's definitely the hardest thing I have ever done, but it's worth every moment. I love the gospel and I have definitely learned that Heavenly Father has a unique plan for each of us. I have the best teachers and companions and friends in the world, and I am just so happy. Even when things are hard I don't have anything to complain about because I just feel so blessed!

Yeah, life is good. The gospel is everything, and I love the opportunity to be a missionary.

Sister Smith

P.S. I had an epiphany this week: when I'm not focused or I start to get off topic a little bit, I start speaking in German...... I've never spoken this much German in my life, but I realized that it only happens when I'm not working as hard as I should be. When I'm working hard and obeying exactly I speak in Portuguese. Random, but good to know. Portuguese is starting to become my favorite language... tut mir leid Vati... or in Portuguese: desculpe Pai. :D

Hopefully next week won't be as crazy and the email will be a little more coherent. I hope you like the pictures!

Elders!

Sister Smith and Sister Pace

Sister Smith and her district

A Igreja é verdadeiro! (The church is true!)

Olá familia! Eu amo vocês!!! I love the MTC. Have I mentioned how much I love it here? So, this week I came up with a fantastic system for remembering all the nifty things I wanted to tell you. I keep a sheet of notebook paper on my desk and I just list a bunch of the things that I loved. It's a pretty fantastic system, if I do say so myself. :)

So one thing I forgot to tell you about last week was our Sunday evening devotional. The speaker was Wendy W. Nelson (Russell M. Nelson's wife) and she brought her good friend Sheri Dew with her. Sheri Dew is an amazing pianist. Sister Nelson gave a beautiful talk and then afterwards Sister Dew played the piano while we sang a new hymn. It made me so happy.

Tuesday is my p-day... obviously, but on Tuesday afternoons my branch goes to the temple. Oh my goodness. I love the temple so much! It made me feel so much better and it gave me the energy to do everything that we've been asked to do. The temple just makes me so happy, and to be able to go with my companions is so nice. Oh! The Provo Temple is BEAUTIFUL! I love it. The grounds are amazing and the inside is so pretty. I love being a missionary. The Spirit is so strong, and to be able to go to the temple as a missionary is so special. Also, on Tuesday we were invited to go to BYU's devotional in the Marriot Center. I think the speaker was Elder Evans... he mentioned that he was the brother who gave the final closing prayer for General Conference and prayed that our "strength may be faithened." He gave such a good talk though! He talked about diligence and tenacity. I really liked the devotional and I got so many good notes, but I think I prefer BYU-Idaho's devotionals. I just like hearing President Clark say, "Welcome to another great day at BYU-Idaho." I can even hear it in his voice inside my head. Before the devotional I ran into a friend from BYU-I, Elder Dalton Willard. We had seen each other last week but we ran into each other again and he gave me a great piece of wisdom. He told me, "You know, everyone always says 'make it to Sunday' or 'make it through the first two weeks'. Honestly, just make it everyday. Gratitude every day." That Elder Willard is a pretty smart kid. We said goodbye because we figured we wouldn't run into each other again, but then we ran into each other three or four more times that day. We decided we had to get a picture together, but then we didn't see each other for several days so I figured we probably wouldn't get a picture. Well, on Saturday morning Sister Anaya forgot her MTC card for breakfast, so we had to go back to the classroom and I had the thought to bring my camera. The timing was perfect and we ran into each other on the sidewalk and we got one picture before he left for Mexico. It just kind of made my day.

So our "investigator" Carol is actually our new teacher. Her name is Irmã Kimball. Oh my goodness, I love her so much. She is so sweet and such a good teacher, but the first day in class I had kind of a hard time. She speaks with a very different accent because she served in a different mission than Irmão Gray. I couldn't understand her. For 15 minutes I was sitting there and I had no idea what she was saying. I started to get really frustrated because I wanted to know what she was teaching us. I was almost in tears, and then I just started praying that Heavenly Father would help me to know what Irma Kimball was teaching us. Immediately after that I could understand everything she said! Then I REALLY started crying because what she was saying hit me like a brick wall. In Portuguese she was reading 1 Nephi 3:7 (or something like that) about how the Lord prepares a way for us. Well, what she said was that the Lord COMMANDED us to learn Portuguese and teach the gospel in Portuguese, and if the Lord commanded us to learn Portuguese He will prepare a way for us to learn the language. That was all in Portuguese and it all happened right after I prayed to understand what she was saying. Heavenly Father really does love me, and I know that He wanted me to hear that message. I love being a missionary so much! That same day I found the grammar lessons on the computer program we use. Those are a huge help.

On Sunday a huge group of missionaries from our branch was leaving so my companions and I got the callings of "Sacrament Meeting Greeters."  They said we have to smile and welcome people.... I'm sure I'll learn to love it... eventually. :) Because so many people are leaving there is a solo sister without a companion, so she's been assigned to our trio. Her name is Sister Knapp and she was born in Spain. She's going to Brasil and she got her the week before I did. For the Sunday Devotional the speakers were Elder and Sister Condie. He spoke at a BYU-Idaho devotional and I love hearing him speak. His wife is German and he worked for the Church and had a lot of callings in the German-speaking countries, so they used a fair bit of German references in their talks. I understood it and it made me so happy, and Sister Condie is just cute. Super cute.

On Monday we found out that 6 of the 18 missionaries in my class got their visas and they will be leaving on Wednesday for the São Paulo MTC. We've only known each other for two weeks, but we're all really sad to see them go. We love all the missionaries and it's just so much fun to be with them all. We had a good little cry and then we had just had fun the rest of the day. They're all off to do whatever the Lord needs them to do in Brasil, but we're sure going to miss all of them.

We do interviews with our teachers just so that they can make sure that we're all doing okay and that everything is going well. My interview was with Irma Kimball. I love her so much and I want to be like her. She said some amazing things and I just sat and cried and laughed because I knew that what she was saying was not her own words and I needed to hear everything she said. She talked to me about my potential and my purpose as a missionary. I can't tell you how much I love it here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here. This is definitely where I'm supposed to be right now.

Matthew I think I found the corner in the gym you were talking about with the view of the mountains and the canyon. That is my favorite corner. It has the bikes in it so I get there early with my companions and I sit and ride the bikes and just look at the scenery. It makes me happy. Gym time is fantastic, and apparently Sister Anaya says my calves look great so that's a good thing. :) Oh! Your fuzzy pj's were stunning. I loved the pictures so much.

I'm running out of time and I still need to put pictures on, but I love you all so much! Oh.... so I haven't gotten any emails from Mom and Dad... I got Matthew and Inette's email, but I haven't gotten any emails from any other family members. I don't know if the emails just aren't getting through the filters or if they just aren't emailing me. Oh well.

The Church is true and I love you all!

Sister Smith

*P.S. I have a really neat experience that I'm going to put in a letter to Mom and Dad and then they can share it with you all. I love you!

Sister Smith and Sister Mills

Picture with Elder Willard

"Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the authority of the priesthood of God?"

Sister missionaries going to Portugal

Sister Smith and her three companions

Sister Smith with most of the missionaries in her zone

Ola minha familia!

Has it really only been one week?! It feels like I've been here for months! :) That's okay though, because I love being here at the MTC. On Wednesday when we were saying goodbye I was so excited that I kind of just ran off and left you all standing there... sorry. I was pretty excited and I didn't want to wait any longer.

So on Wednesday my host sister missionary took me to all these different buildings and I got checked in. It was nice because there are volunteers telling everyone where to go so I didn't have to worry about anything. I got my name tags, my ID card, and my residence key in this little yellow envelope. Oh! In the envelope there's a little ministerial card that we have to sign that legally certifies us to go into different countries and serve as missionaries. It's pretty spiffy. Anyway, we dropped my luggage off at the residence and then my host sister took me up to my classroom. I got in there and the teacher, Irmao Gray, was only speaking Portuguese. My first thought was, "Holy smokes... I don't think I'm gonna be able to speak that language." It was an adventure trying to speak in class that first day... oh man. That was hard. :) We had a meeting with the MTC presidency for all the new missionaries and they made a lot of Idaho jokes... a lot. They called out the names of all these places and we were supposed to stand up when they called our state or country. They skipped Idaho until the very end, and then when they had us all stand up they starting making jokes about getting up early and milking cows..... I didn't get up early, or milk cows though sooo.... it was weird Funny, but weird.

I actually have two companions. There are only three of us going to Portugal so Sister Mills and Sister Anaya are my companions and we are a cute little trio. They're pretty nice and we get along, but you'll just have to wait until I come home to hear about them. We have an hour to email on P-days and there's just so much I want to tell you!

So in my class there are actually two districts, so our class has 18 people in it. My companions and I are the only three going to Portugal and the other 15 are all going to different missions in Brasil. They were all supposed to go to the Brasil MTC, but none of their visas came in so they're here with us, but I'm so glad they're all here. We're all pretty good friends. One of the sisters going to Brasil is named Sister Pace (her mom is actually Brasilian, but she's so white she looks very American) and she and I get along really well. Actually, we're just kind of goofy together, but we have a lot of fun. When I first saw her she reminded me of Katie Rundall. She's just so nice, and I'm so glad that she's here instead of in Brasil right now.

Anyway, back to all my stories. Thursday we spent almost all day in class. We starting doing a lot of Portuguese learning and memorizing. I can kind of remember the missionary purpose... at least the first two or three words: Convidar as pessoas a achegarem-se.... I don't remember the rest. I think the Lord is humbling me, because this language is my personally challenging language. I will get it eventually, but for now it's hard.

We taught our first lesson in Portuguese on Friday... it was.. um... Well, the three of us kind of slaughtered the language. Our "investigator" Carol was just staring at us because she couldn't understand us. We taught another lesson in Portuguese on Saturday, and holy awesomeness. This is one of my cool stories of the week: We were teaching the first lesson and we were talking about how a restoration needed to happen. We were talking about that and then all of a sudden Carol starts asking us what this one word means. We couldn't figure it out at first, but then Sister Anaya realized that she was asking what "sacerdocio" was, the priesthood. We had't prepared for that question so we didn't know what to say. My companions started looking in our manuals to try and find something and then all of a sudden the words "autoridade de Deus" were put into my head. I said it as soon as I thought it, and it was so fast that I didn't realize what happened. After we left the lesson Sister Anaya was saying, "Sister! How did you do that?!" And then I realized what happened... awesomeness, huh? I had a little moment where the Spirit guided me because I'd been so prepared.

Sunday was Fast Sunday so we went to our Branch's fast and Testimony meeting (I'm in Branch 69... the Portuguese branch) and then after that we had a mission conference. I loved the mission conference! The Spirit was so strong when President Hackey talked about the First Vision and when we sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" I was so choked up that I couldn't even sing the last verse. I also saw this one lady who was in a Church movie that we watched in seminary. She played John Tanner's wife in the "The John Tanner Story." It's on the D&C dvds so you should go watch it. She and her husband are going on a mission, but it's weird to see Church actors in normal people clothes... and using technology.

Monday we taught another lesson in Portuguese, but I didn't have the gift of tongues yesterday. I couldn't understand a single thing she said and I got really discouraged. It seems like everyone else is learning a lot faster than I am, but at the end of the day Irmao Gray was telling me that it's a process. He told me that I'm doing well and he gave me some more ideas for practicing Portuguese. His main point was that I need to quit being so hard on myself. He's right... I'll work on that. (The girls in our class think Irmao Gray is just the cutest thing to ever walk the earth and that's all they ever talk about... it's kind of awkward).

Anyway, my p-day is Tuesday so you'll have to email me on Monday nights while I'm here at the MTC. I also found out that President Fluckiger doesn't allow the missionaries to Skype home on holidays, so we'll be doing phone calls. I'll attach some pictures of my class from our temple walk on Sunday (the two districts) and the view from my bedroom window (I can see the mountains through the smog... but you can't in the picture). There's also a picture from Halloween... we switched our name tags. Poor Irmao Gray... he was so confused.

I love you all and have a great week! The gospel is true, and I love it more and more everyday!

Love,

Sister Smith

                                        

Sister Smith and her companions Sister Anaya, and Sister Mills

                                    

Sister Smith and her companions switching name tags for Halloween

                       

All the Sisters in Sister Smith's class

                                           

Missionaries going to Brazil and Portugal

Sister Smith's view from her bedroom window