Still going strong :)
Querido a minha familia e minhos amigos~
Ola! Everything is absolutely great this week! It has totally flown by and I don't even know what just happened. My companion is doing a lot better. She apparently still has the ear infections, but she has antibiotics, so she is able to do pretty much everything now. Don't worry about me getting behind--I did a lot of Portuguese study over those three days and it turns out that I am actually ahead of where we are supposed to be with memorization. So, it's all good :)
So, you know how they pick people every Sunday to give talks off the fly? Well, this past Sunday, I did not get picked to give a talk, but I was chosen to give the closing prayer in Portuguese. I thought I was off the hook, but apparently they call prayers from the pulpit as well. It was good though. I love praying in Portuguese. It sounds so pretty and refined. Anyway, my first week here I was asked to conduct the music in Portuguese, which I admit was a bit of a challenge because I couldn't read Portuguese back then. So, that was interesting...
Then this past week I said the prayer and this next week I am singing--yeah, I think I would rather just give the talk and get it over with than have to keep being asked to do other things. But, it is good because there are not that many sisters in our branch to do such things and it is giving me good experience.
So, my companion is going to Brazil but she is definitely here in the Provo MTC. Why is that you ask? Well, there is currently a huge problem with Brazil visas. Nobody is getting their visas to Brazil, so they are coming to the Provo MTC instead. This means that the MTC has about 200 to 300 more missionaries than normal. And, since the visas are not coming through very quickly, there are missionaries that are staying here for about 3 months. Yeah, it is all kind of a big mess. They are reassigning some of them, but they are keeping most of them here in hopes that they will get their visas, so a lot of elders and sisters have been here for 13 weeks and are going crazy with wonder of whether they are going to leave tomorrow or keep being here...
A lot of the elders in my district do not like the Brazilian missionaries being here because they feel like it messes us up because we have the same eating schedule, gym time, temple schedule, and such, which can get really crowded, but I personally love it. I have learned so much from the other missionaries and they are great to practice with and to get advice from. Although our accent is different, I still enjoy meeting them and commend them for their patience. It is not easy being in cold Provo when you could be in warm Brazil...:)
This week, in the TRC, we had to contact this person in Portuguese and I actually understood everything he was saying! AND he is one of the elders in the mega-district (the missionaries that have been here for over 9 weeks get put into a mega-district because they don't know what to do with them) so he knows quite a lot of Portuguese, but I got the chance to correct him! Not that I am better, but it was good to be able to practice. I am still being humbled in my Portuguese when we talk to natives over web cams from Brazil, work on this program called TALL, which speaks to us in a Portugal Portuguese accent. Those are the days when I feel like I know nothing. But, I am progressing. I have only been here for three weeks, so I am amazed at how much I actually know.
Anyway, everything is great, the gospel is still true, I love you all. Thanks for everything.
Love to the moon and back,
Irma Perez
p.s.--I got the other package with the ribbons! I love it! Everyone here knows me as the sister with the ribbons in her hair that always match her clothes! Thanks! :)
Ola! Everything is absolutely great this week! It has totally flown by and I don't even know what just happened. My companion is doing a lot better. She apparently still has the ear infections, but she has antibiotics, so she is able to do pretty much everything now. Don't worry about me getting behind--I did a lot of Portuguese study over those three days and it turns out that I am actually ahead of where we are supposed to be with memorization. So, it's all good :)
So, you know how they pick people every Sunday to give talks off the fly? Well, this past Sunday, I did not get picked to give a talk, but I was chosen to give the closing prayer in Portuguese. I thought I was off the hook, but apparently they call prayers from the pulpit as well. It was good though. I love praying in Portuguese. It sounds so pretty and refined. Anyway, my first week here I was asked to conduct the music in Portuguese, which I admit was a bit of a challenge because I couldn't read Portuguese back then. So, that was interesting...
Then this past week I said the prayer and this next week I am singing--yeah, I think I would rather just give the talk and get it over with than have to keep being asked to do other things. But, it is good because there are not that many sisters in our branch to do such things and it is giving me good experience.
So, my companion is going to Brazil but she is definitely here in the Provo MTC. Why is that you ask? Well, there is currently a huge problem with Brazil visas. Nobody is getting their visas to Brazil, so they are coming to the Provo MTC instead. This means that the MTC has about 200 to 300 more missionaries than normal. And, since the visas are not coming through very quickly, there are missionaries that are staying here for about 3 months. Yeah, it is all kind of a big mess. They are reassigning some of them, but they are keeping most of them here in hopes that they will get their visas, so a lot of elders and sisters have been here for 13 weeks and are going crazy with wonder of whether they are going to leave tomorrow or keep being here...
A lot of the elders in my district do not like the Brazilian missionaries being here because they feel like it messes us up because we have the same eating schedule, gym time, temple schedule, and such, which can get really crowded, but I personally love it. I have learned so much from the other missionaries and they are great to practice with and to get advice from. Although our accent is different, I still enjoy meeting them and commend them for their patience. It is not easy being in cold Provo when you could be in warm Brazil...:)
This week, in the TRC, we had to contact this person in Portuguese and I actually understood everything he was saying! AND he is one of the elders in the mega-district (the missionaries that have been here for over 9 weeks get put into a mega-district because they don't know what to do with them) so he knows quite a lot of Portuguese, but I got the chance to correct him! Not that I am better, but it was good to be able to practice. I am still being humbled in my Portuguese when we talk to natives over web cams from Brazil, work on this program called TALL, which speaks to us in a Portugal Portuguese accent. Those are the days when I feel like I know nothing. But, I am progressing. I have only been here for three weeks, so I am amazed at how much I actually know.
Anyway, everything is great, the gospel is still true, I love you all. Thanks for everything.
Love to the moon and back,
Irma Perez
p.s.--I got the other package with the ribbons! I love it! Everyone here knows me as the sister with the ribbons in her hair that always match her clothes! Thanks! :)
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