The Church Is Near the McDonald's

November 5, 2010

Tudo bem?

Wow. I can't believe it's p-day again! The days literally fly by here. I never quite understood why people said a mission is over before you know it, but now I see. I love it here! Mom will be happy to know that I am never bored (and she's probably happy that she doesn't have to hear me say "I'm bored" twelve times a day)!

Well, I know you've all been waiting to hear who spoke to us on Tuesday this week. (Drum roll, please.) Elder Ballard! It was amazing and we had great seats -- though we almost got trampled by a herd of Elders. Elder Ballard spoke about becoming master communicators. It's crazy how every single lesson/talk/meeting seems to focus perfectly on our needs. That's the power of the Spirit! He told us that if we work diligently and treasure up the doctrine, we'll have confidence to be able to talk to everyone and will be able to become excellent teachers and communicators. I have some really great stuff written down, but not enough time to tell you about it! So, remind me in eighteen months and I'll show you my notes. One thing he did say was that "We're in this together," (Note the absence of the word “all” so as not to be confused with the “High School Musical” number.) referring to the fact that missionaries and general authorities [and members] are all working toward the same purpose: to invite others to come unto our Savior Jesus Christ.

Portugués is going well, I think. We've been hearing awesome stories about Portugal (and I have to remind myself that I'm not actually going to be serving there) because that's where both our teachers served. Also, as part of a lesson, we prepared a little contacting message and read it to the rest of the District. After I read mine Irmão M. asked if I'd studied Portuguese before I came! Am I bragging? NO! Because there is nothing that I can do save the Lord gives me the ability to do it. (But it did make me feel good.)

Also, we've memorized our purpose and the first vision (in Portuguese). I had the awesome/embarrassing opportunity to recite the first vision to the rest of the District. Afterwards for personal study, I read through JSH. I never remember just how awesome Joseph Smith's account is and the miracle that the Restoration is! Wow.

We do have our 'service hour' every week and it's a lot of fun. Ironically, whilst I was mopping the stairs, I broke the mop (and I hear one of my siblings has already set that precedent), but I fixed it. Cool story.

I'm not sure I've told you about our living arrangements. There are three bunk beds in our room and we have five sisters in there. I'm back on my top bunk! It's so great. Yes, it's too bad I don't have [cousin] Lisa on the bottom bunk anymore, but Sister Laimana is pretty much as cool as Lisa.

Speaking of Cape Verde, remember how I said I was never coming home? Well, I repeat: I AM NOT COMING HOME. The next time you see me, I hope to have progressed and changed and be way cooler than the Emma that left. So, no, I'm not coming home. But Sister Brooks will see you in 2012 and she is going to be sweet.

We had an incredible lesson on having faith in Jesus Christ. Irmão O. is always telling us that if we want to do everything God has asked us to do, it will be through faith. Many people believe in Christ, but do we BELIEVE Him? Do we believe that He will do what He has promised us? That the Atonement applies to us individually? We need to trust our Savior and believe that He has done all that He says He has.

My subject: A igreja fica perto do McDonald’s. We learned that sentence and an Elder said the Church purposely builds chapels next to McDonald’s so that missionaries can learn how to tell people where our church is located. One really dumb, gullible Sister said, "Really?!" Yeah...they don't really do that.

Funny story: There's a sign that says whether the missionary field is open or closed. The other day, after gym, we walked past it and instead of saying it was open, the OPEN had been covered with a sign that said WHITE, ALREADY TO HARVEST. The missionary field is white, already to harvest. Get it? Yeah, awesome!

Okay, that's all. I'm out of time. I love you all!

Geronimo!

Sister Brooks