Time Flies

Time flies here in the MTC. It feels like just yesterday that I was writing home- it's so hard to keep days straight here. This week has been Otimo (yup still haven't figured out how to put in accents an such so sorry again to any of you who actually speak Portuguese). So on Tuesday of last week we had Elder L. Tom Perry come and speak with us. Que LEGAL! He gave an awesome lesson on companions and why they're so important. I really like my companion, the longer we spend together the crazier we get. I remember before I let that there was no such thing as a late hour. But now by 9:00 I act as crazy as I did at 3:00 AM. The mission is starting to mess with me-- I may turn into a normal human being and be able to go to sleep at a normal hour. Sorry Mom- no more daughter to encourage your bad sleep habits. Maybe I can help you too? :) Jk.

I love the MTC though, there is so much to do. And studying gets super hard when that is all you do for most of the day. But it helps that I am very humbled about my Portuguese and am hoping to keep getting better. It is a real compliment though to hear from my teachers and my district members that I am doing really well. Yesterday I ran into an Elder that is from the area I am going to serve in and he said that I sound like a Brazillian. Que LEGAL! That doesn't mean that I don't need to keep hitting the books though. 

So in the MTC people who are non-members are payed to come walk around and be investigators for the missionaries. So my companion Sister Arthur and I ran into a lady who just decided to come look into the church because there are so many LDS people in the area. So we started talking with her, and WOW I couldn't help but feel how much God loves her. Eu sei que Deus nos ama mais que podemos saber. Ele quer ajudar-nos sempre. It was such a neat experience- I think I liked it more because I could teach in English. Definitely made it 20X easier. That is my goal to make it just as easy to teach in Portuguese. 

So everyone ready for an embarrassing story. Ya this is a real and true story that happened... Oh just like 20 minutes ago. So I was doing my laundry and I squatted down to pick up a sock that fell on the floor. Then guess what happened? Oh yup you guessed it my pants ripped, right over the knee- But then the rip kept growing and went mid-way up my thigh. It was so embarrassing so I looked around and thank goodness no one saw so I quickly grabbed my towel and ran to the bathroom. It was really funny, and my companion and I had a good laugh and I hope y'all have a good laugh at my expense too. 

Okay I am almost done, just hang in there:) Just want to leave you with 2 quick thoughts from Sunday night devotional from our speaker Sister Mary Edmonds:

1. If you want to be Happy, then BE Happy! Happiness is a choice, and we all deserve to be happy. So chose to be happy and realize how blessed we all are. God loves each one of us so much and truly wants us to be happy. We have a Savior that died for our sins. What else could we even ask for? We are so blessed, so I encourage everyone especially during these approaching Holidays to be happy. Find reasons why you are happy. 

2. She told a story about one of her (sister Edmonds) investigators praying for the first time- He was mid-prayer and paused the prayer to ask, "If I am slow will God wait for me?" I thought about how many times God must have looked at me and my life and thought how slow I am. I know God answers. Elder Holland in a general conference address said something along the lines of this, "God has only ever worked with imperfect people." He knows none of us are perfect, but he waits patiently for us to accept his counsel and guidance. Eu sei que Ele e nosso Pai Celestial. Ele nos ama muito. Ele quer que nos estamos felices sempre. 

I love this church. I am so glad to be a missionary. I love you all so much. I love getting letters and hearing how you're all doing. I wish you all have amazing weeks. You are the best support system a missionary could ask for:)

Much Love, 

Sister K. Seal

SS2

 

 

Photo 1: Temple:)

Photo 2: You can tell we are running out of ideas for pictures, sorry they are all the same.

Week 2

So the saying goes here in the MTC, "The days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like days." E verdade! Its the truth, I kind of feel like I am loosing my mind in a sense- I have the hardest time remembering the day/date. Lucky for me though my companion, Sister Arthur, is very good at keeping it all straight- Yay for her! Speaking of Sister Arthur, she is amazing. I am so excited I can have a companion that i get along so well with as my first companion. It took us a minute to get used to having to constantly go everywhere with each other and having to get to know each other's little quirks. But honestly we work so well together and have become great friends. We only have one real problem, we both are just a little bit crazy and have lots of energy. So we have to make sure to keep each other in line and focused when necessary. But obviously God knew that I needed someone who was just as crazy with as me so that i could have an outlet for all this energy that I have. Also that is another hard thing for those of you that knew me well before my mission bedtime was definitely not until 3 AM. So now that i actually go to bed on time I have all this energy and since I am class all day I don't have an outlet, so I have to reign in the crazy a lot.

Portuguese is coming along- i almost feel silly worrying so much and not having faith that God would bless me and help me with the language. I am by no means fluent, but i am working hard and I know that without God's help I would not be able to speak nearly as much as I can.

MTC days are crazy long, but crazy otimo tam ben.

5:30- wake up make our beds and get ready

6;30- breakfast (which is otimo because they always have pineapple and not only do they have pineapple for breakfast, but they have pineapple every meal. It is the best. i love it, and thats pretty much my favorite thing to eat so ya...)

7:00- language class

10:00- Personal study

11:00- lunch (yay more pineapple- the salads are super good too except when they try to make cafe rio salads)

12:30 study with companion and work on lessons for investigators

3:00 gym- (also otimo because that is the only time of the day when you can just release all the energy you have. Its so fun)

4:00- Dinner (ya this is kind of really hard because it is so early and we can't go to bed until 10:30)

5:00- computer program to learn portuguese

6:30- Class until 8 then we teach our investigator for the last hour.

9:30 go back to dorms and get ready for bed.

So this is probably why the days feel so long. But there is so much to do and so much to learn to become a good missionary. Also speaking of learning cool things tonight we get to hear from apostle L. Tom Perry at devotional.

I know that this church is true. I love the gospel with everything in my being. That is why I chose to serve a mission because i know how much happiness the gospel brings me. The idea that I can be cleansed of all my imperfections- because I know i have many- the idea that i can live with my family forever. I love my savior Jesus Christ, for his willingness to atone for my sins that through him we may each be clean and live in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. I know God Loves You. I know God loves me. He has a plan for each one of us- a plan that can make us better than we could ever do all by ourselves. I know our lives each have a purpose. Essas coisas digou em nome de nosso Savador, Jesus Cristo. Amen.

Muito amor,
Sister K. Seal

-Congrats Sister M. Seal on another baptism. Sounds like you are just loving your area.

- Hope Papa and Grandma are having a blast in Cancun. Wish I could be enjoying that warmer weather with you.

-Mom, Dad Michael conner have fun in Boston.

As for everyone else it has been so good receiving your letters, I love hearing how everyone is doing. I hope that you have an amazing week. I love you all.

Pic one: sister's in my district on our temple walk

pic 2: #studyhard #thechurchistruefolks #somuchtolearn #constantlypraying

Pic 3: Plan on wearing out these shoes real quickly in Brazil.

Pic 4: The classic missionary picture, i am kind of sad that I don't have anyone in my zone going to my mission. But still my companion is awesome.

Pic 5: Yup. These girls are great and I love them. I am excited to be a part of this district.

Week 1

Wow. I think that is just about the only way to sum up the time that I have been at the MTC so far. Going into a mission you don't really know what to expect, but somehow you still have expectations of what you think it is going to be like. Our district presidency said it best when they said: "Its like going into junior high for the first time: You are nervous, excited, and really just are overwhelmed." That is how I feel. But I know that as hard as it is missing my best friends, my family, and Costco pumkin pie:) I know that this is where I am supposed to be and I know that this is what God wants for this chapter in my life. I am so excited to teach the people of Brazil of Jesus Christ's love for each of them. Eu sei que Jesus Cristo nos amo muito. Eu sei que Ele morre por nossos pecados para que podemos repenter e viver outro vez com nosso pai celestial.

Yes that is the other thing that I learned this week. I remember when people would ask me what I am most nervous for my popular response would be: The Language. Which to this point I will admit that it is still a concern, but I didn't realize how much the Lord blesses his missionaries. I would like to make the claim that the Lord doesn't actually care about me learning Portuguese. The reason that he is blessing those in the MTC with the gift of tongues has nothing to do with them individually. The reason he cares so much to bless so many missionaries with the gift of language is that he cares for those people we are going to teach:)

So as soon as we got to the MTC it was a crazy rush of emotion. I was nervous, but really excited. I met my companion. Her name is Sister Arthur: she is from Massa-Hampshire. She made up that term to describe that she lives between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Ela e otimo! I am so excited about such an amazing companion. We get along really well. My only concern that I still have is that I have to go EVERYWHERE with a companion. That is definitely going to take some getting used to. I am a very independent person as my family will attest to- but I am going to try my best:)

Craziest part of the mission so far would be this: So on your first day at the MTC you go through a lot of orientation stuff, unpacking you bags, meeting your district. Then so when we went to our language class on Thursday our teacher told us that we would be teaching a lesson. That is fine and everything I know what I believe and am pretty familiar with the preach my gospel material. But are you ready for the kicker: Umm ya she told us we would be teaching the lesson in Portuguese. WHAT? I had less than 24 hours of experience with the language and I was going to teach people about Jesus Christ in Portuguese? Ya well it happened. Our investigator (he is not really investigating the church they have a member come teach us and pretend to be an investigator) is amazing. He is very nice about not making fun of our Portuguese, and with where our Portuguese is at thats a lot to ask:) JK that is amazing to me how much Portuguese I already know- By the way for any of your Portuguese speakers reading this please don't judge my language skills yet, I have not yet learned how to do all the accents and well I have had less than a week of Portuguese. So please just bear with me.

Well I really am so excited to be here and to be learning so much:) This week we watched the talk entitled The Character of Christ from David A. Bednar: what an amazing example Jesus Christ was for each one of us and I hope that I can some day be able to not only wear his name upon me as a missionary of His church, but hopefuly be able to engrave upon myself his name through becoming like him. Eu sei que Jesus Cristo Espiou por nossos pecados e por Ele podemos ser limpos de os pecados. Eu sei que Deus nos ama muito. Ele quer nos usamos o Expiaco para que podemos viver com Ele outro vez. Eu sou muito grata por todos meus amigos e por a ajuda que voces sao. Eu sou muito grata por minha familia. Em nome de Jesus Cristo Amen.  (I know that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and that through him we can be clean of our sins. I know that God loves us very much. He wants us to use the atonement so that we can live with him again. I am grateful for my friends and for the help they are. I am very grateful for my family. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.)

I love you all:) Shout out to my amazing Friends & family: Kaitlyn, Kim, Dad, Mom, Grandma and Grandpa for the letters:) I love getting all your letters and hear how you are all doing!

Love,

Sister K. Seal

P.S. : So I am the only one from my whole district going to Santa Maria. Everyone else is going to Brazil but pretty much all over from Brazil.

Quick Note Home

*** This is just a short note from Katie - but thought you would all like the news.

Family-

Thank you for all the letters in my ;luggage, it made unpacking so much more enjoyable. So yes, my p-day is Tuesday. - it's perfect because then I will get McKenna's letters very next day Oitimo! (McKenna's p-day is Monday).Yes, Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, so that is going well. Today was crazy, and awesome. They have you wear a red dot saying you're new - and everyone says hi. It's really nice, I feel so welcome here. My companion's name is Sister Arthur from Boston, Mass.

I love you all to the moon and back - Don't forget that!

Sister K. Seal