MTC life

I asked Emily questions that I needed to know as a mom...like are you sleeping?  Eating well?  Having fun? Are you happy?  etc.  This is her reply...

I am good! I love it here. :) I am rarely sad and rarely homesick because I am always busy and always studying. Blessings of the MTC.  Hopefully the field will be just as distracting.

 

We go to bed everything night at 10:30 and usually get up between 5:45 am and 6:00 am. Breakfast is at 6:30 every morning for us. We were blessed with the earliest shift. -_-. But yes I am getting enough sleep. I am tired because you literally can't go to bed earlier than 10:30....which we honestly would if we could....so we are scheduled less than 8 hours. But if Sister J. and I are really really struggling than we take a power nap at the end of additional study. Our branch president said that he read that sister missionaries should try to take a little nap everyday they are in the field during the day to keep their energy up and not get sick. So if we start to get realllllly overwhelmed and can't stay awake in class we "practice field napping". ;) But for the most part we are good on sleep. More sleep than I used to get that's for sure.

 

The food is okay. It tastes fine but its not very good for you. The portions are HUGE cause they are serving everyone the same thing and we are surrounded by big elders. So I made a goal not to eat any cooked breakfast. (So I get cereal, bagels, toast, fruit, etc.) and cut the portions in half for lunch and dinner unless I am starving. I am trying to stay fit. I desperately don't want to gain weight. :(

 

We go to the gym or go out to the fields for different sports every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and on Wednesday we have personal exercise time where we can do stuff in our residence or on the lawn or run. We have gone to the gym a few times. Every Thursday we go play sand volleyball as a district. We have done badminton as well. Its really fun. We don't run as much as Id like though. We don't really go all out and burn nearly enough calories for me. I think its starting to stress me out. Getting outside is awesome but I don't get my heart rate up enough.

 

I'm not sick yet. Although most of our branch and half the MTC got the stomach flu so now no one is allowed to shake hands. Pray hard. I am literally wiping myself down with anti bacterial wipes and hand sanitizer and drinking tons of my emergen-c stuff.

 

Yes I am happy. :) I love it here. The spirit is awesome. Nothing is cooler than wearing my name tag. Seriously it is the best feeling in the world. I feel weird without it. And ugly. When it's on I always feel pretty. Weird.

 

Yes I have lots of friends. ;) My companion and my fellow district sisters all room together and we have a blast. The elders are like my brothers now. It is so fun. Our district laughs all the time and we crack jokes and do fun things to learn the language and bond (like volleyball). We also have tons of spiritual moments too. Its amazing. They are all very spiritual and serious about being here. They are the best. They make all the stress bearable for sure. I am also making friends in my branch. The other sisters are so sweet. They come visit us every night and we chat. I have also made friends with a few of the elders in other districts. I met two other elders outside our district also going to Campinas and one is HILARIOUS. The other is really shy and....is Courtney's cousin. Small world. They are awesome. Everyone here is pretty great. Including the teachers. We are very blessed. I almost really really don't want to leave here.

 

I am definitely learning a lot about myself and how to be patient. But mostly I am learning how to listen to the spirit and how to become fully converted. It is amazing here. I love the language. It is really hard. But it is really starting to click for me. I love it. I can't wait to be fluent. They said we should be fluent by like....month 16. ;)  But still it's awesome. They only thing is that as Portuguese gets easier, English gets harder. I feel sooo illiterate. I am really going to need you to edit my letters before posting so no one thinks I'm uneducated. But seriously my brain thinks half in English and half in Portuguese. Every word (Toda palavra) I know ( Eu sabe) in Portuguese (em Portugues) comes to my mind (minha cabaca) when (cuando) I write (eu escrive). Its a blessing a curse.  As we would say in portuguese NOSSA. which means like...."Oh my gosh or goodness or wowwww).