The Visa has Arrived!

Hello!!!

I have so much to write today. I will do my best to include it all but not write a novel.

Alright so first....in case you havent recieved any of my other 100 emails....yesterday my District leader gave me the surprise of my life....MY FLIGHT ITINERARY TO BRAZIL. I GOT MY VISA! :D I am the only one....I fly all by myself on Monday. I am terrified. But oddly calm. I wasnt expecting it. I didnt even pray for it. I was actually excited to serve two missions. But when I found out I felt oddly peaceful and content. It feels right. I know that I am going now because I need to go now. There must be a reason. I am excited. Definately in shock. But very excited. :)

Alright now that I got the HUGE news out of the way....this week was actually very eventful. On Tuesday they closed the Provo temple for reconstruction of the bathrooms and cleaning. Our district was assigned to clean the inside of the temple at 12:45 pm. We were kinda excited but I mean...its cleaning so we werent totally pumped. But when we got there we got to change into all white scrubs and the sisters that clean the temple and actually work there took the four sisters up to one of the sealing rooms. They then taught us how to take apart every crystal on the sconces in the room and clean them with vinegar and then re-attatch every crystal. It was AMAZING. We had no idea that they clean so detailed that they polish every crystal bead on the chandeliers. It was stunning and it was so fun to carefully hold all the real crystals and pass them to be cleaned and then put it all back together. It was kind of scary because they are so fragile but it was still amazing. It took us three hours to clean 4 sconces totally. The lady that worked with us told us to clean the Celestial room chandelier they lower it and take apart the whole thing row by row and clean each piece. She said with 10 people working on it it takes 3 full days. Its crazy! Nothing but the best for the house of the Lord. 

So Thursday was the 4th of July of course and while everyone else partied and BBQd all day I learned past tense subjunctive and taught two lessons. But it was okay because that night we actually all got to leave class early and they held a huge patriotic devotional for the missionaries. We heard some amazing speakers and then there was a really neat musical number that was actually up beat and fun! She played yankee doodle and stuff on the flute and an Elder played the piano and we actually were allowed to clap afterwards! :O It was awesome! :D haha. Then we watched the movie "17 Miracles" about the Willie hand cart company. It was really good! Cried pretty much the whole movie. It was very touching. Then it got over at 10:00 (WHOA 30 MIN PAST RESIDENCE TIME!) and they told us that we could all file out of the auditorium and there would be Magnum ice cream bars for everyone and we could all go sit on the lawns and watch the Stadium of Fire Fireworks! We could see them perfectly and it was awesome. About 5000 missionaries were all packed in ooing and awing. And then when the finale went off we all sang the Star Spangled Banner. We returned to our residence at 11:30....and still had to get up at 6:00. It was rough. But worth it. :) Maybe not as exciting as your guy's 4th but it was a good missionary experience to enjoy the spirit of the holiday one last time before Brazil. Next year there will be no 4th for me. <3 

It CRAZY rained. Biggest thunderstorm I have ever seen. Lasted all night. The sisters and some of the Elders decided to play in the rain and get soaked. I chose to take the pictures. I was not about to go run out into open air to get electrocuted. I know missionaries are safe but not if they do stupid things and I wasnt going to take any chances. haha. It was pretty exciting to watch though. 

The past few days have just been perfect. I have felt energized and at peace. The language is still hard but I feel much better about it and I am working harder. I am ready to go to Brazil. I am scared. But I am ready. I have had some very personal spiritual experiences this Sunday that really prepared me for the news I recieved yesterday. The talks were exactly what I needed to hear. All the scriptures inspired me the way I needed. And for the first time I feel truly converted. The MTC has done it's job. I am ready to move on and do the work the Lord needs me to do. <3 

Hope all is well from the home front. I Love you all. I hope you know that I am praying for all of you and I know the Lord is watching over all I love and care about. <3 The church is true!