Week 7....

Oi Familha!! I cannot believe that I only have 2 weeks left here, (I know I always say it) Time goes by so fast! It´s crazy to think that if I feel time is going fast here, while I mostly sit and study all day, then it will probably go by fast out the mission field when I´m actually working. Awesome!

Not too much happened this week here at the CTM, well, there is a lot of stuff that happens every day, but not things cool enough to mention. The big moment of this last week was a little something called `TRC`. (I honestly don’t know what it stands for…ha ha) Basically, they have real Brazilians (wow! Real people!) come in and act like people interested in the church. We know the situation beforehand and are able to practice a little, but we have to teach for 10 minutes in Portuguese. I, fortunately, was called in earlier because a group further along needed another sister to balance out companionships, so I got to do it twice. The basic idea is: you knock on door and are invited in to teach. We talk, figure out their doubts, problems, needs, then teach accordingly. The most difficult part is understanding their fast Portuguese response when you ask questions, but it went okay. After 10 minutes, they stop you and (o- by the way, you´re recorded during this) show you the video. After watching it and feeling so stupid, you then return and start all over again, but improved. It was nice to actually feel like we were teaching someone, but a little intimidating. When you teach someone, and your companionship is new as well, it’s difficult to help each other out with Portuguese when you´re all on the same level. It will be so much easier when I´m with an experienced companion who actually speaks the language! :)

There has been a little sister missionary drama here, but nothing too much to talk about. I guess at times I am just surprised at some girls who choose to come on missions. I thought the girls would be all driven, spiritually strong people, but it turns out that there is a huge mix of personalities and strengths. All the girls are nice, but sometimes having to tell people politely to follow the rules they promised leaders they would follow, is a little difficult. O well!

I am getting excited to go out to the mission field! It is coming up soo quickly! I can´t wait to choose my own food to eat, see some sky, and walk a little, or a lot. I will miss the CTM a lot because I have quite enjoyed my time here so far. But I have the next two weeks to stock up all the information I can, and be prepared to hit the dusty trails!!

I want to end by telling everyone that I hope they are doing well and I think of you. It is such a weird feeling to be so cut off from the world. I don´t really miss too much, but I do miss instant or fast communication! I am sorry if I miss out on anything important in your life, I really do care about everyone! Just please keep me updated, it’s such a wonderful thing to hear how people are doing. I pray for you all and wish you the best! Being a missionary is wonderful stuff and I’m so excited to be here.

Love you all, and have a wonderful week! OO- because I will be leaving so soon, please write letters addressed to my mission. (Address is on the side of my blog)
Love you!
Stephanie