Portugal Lisbon Mission: MTC Week 1

Dear Familia, 8/26/14

I have had such a wonderful first week. Everything has gone so perfectly!

The first day I came and brought my luggage inside with my escort and I saw Sister Kaitlin Johnson within ten minutes of entering the MTC. It was really such a blessing. I have seen her basically every day since! Then I met my district. My companion, Sister McChesney, is just WONDERFUL. We get along so, so well. We always comment that we are "the same" person. We have the same hobbies, our personalities are similar.. everything! In the opening devotional they asked me to say the closing prayer! It was a really neat experience because I wasn't nervous.. that's a first! The Spirit has really helped calm me. I haven't been nervous at all my whole time here. Then we had some class time. I really love my teacher Irmao (brother) Nielsen. He has such a sweet spirit! I love picking out Portuguese words. He only speaks in Portuguese!

Then I met the girls in my room and unpacked. I love them all! There are two solo sisters Sister Schwedinger going to Brazil and Sister Bluker going to Mozambique. Then there are two other girls that are in our zone Sister Johnson and Sister Rovig and they are going to Portugal. Then me and Sister McChesney. :) We all get along so well! It's so awesome. I love it.

Portuguese is coming along great. It is amazing how fast you learn once at the MTC! I can now pretty much understand all that Irmao Nielsen says (or get the gist of it at least). We have been teaching our role-playing "investigator" Gabi. Our first two lessons went really well. Our third lesson was harder. It is so hard to teach someone in Portuguese when you barely know the language at all! But, I always feel spiritually enlightened after every lesson. And I never get super nervous. :)

There are 5 other Elders in my district. I love them all so much already! We are so close. Most of our days are spent in the classroom so we talk to them a lot. They are all 18 years old! They remind me a lot of Benjamin and his friends.

We get an hour of gym time each day and it is wonderful. Sister McChesney and I go with Sister Johnson and Sister Rovig to the field and we usually run a few laps. Then we do some little workout exercises on the grass. The weather has been PERFECT. Yesterday Sister McChesney and I did ballet with one other sister. We did some barre work and it was really nice. Did I mention that Sister McChesney does ballet too!? Yeah. It's incredible.

I love the landscaping of the MTC. There are lots of flowers everywhere and it reminds me of Disney World because we go to different buildings and the landscaping is nice. :)

I will try to send some pictures.. I think my camera battery is dead though! An Elder just taught me how so I will for sure send you some next week. I'll do what I can to send you some today. I am so glad that we found a lovely sister in the cafeteria to email you a picture on Sunday! I knew that you guys would really like that. When I do send pictures, tell Isaac to be on the lookout for surprises each week. :)

Sister McChesney and I have decided that Portuguese is the closest language to Elvish. :) It's awesome. We both love the same movies and stuff.

During our devotional on Sunday we watched a session of Music and The Spoken Word and they had a really nice song. Homeward Bound arr. Mack Wilberg. You should all listen to it (esecially Mom and Dad). It is such a nice arrangement!

My companion and I have already memorized the first vision and the missionary purpose in Portuguese! We really push each other to work hard. We are such a great companionship! I can say prayers in Portuguese and also my testimony now. I really love the language.. it is so beautiful!

Sunday was really awesome. We watched the Joseph Smith movie. It's my favorite church movie! When I was a Beehive we watched it at Temple Square and it's where I first gained my testimony when the "Praise to the Man" music plays at the end with the bagpipe. That's why I love that hymn- it is my favorite hymn!

You can all send letters to me through dearelder.com and mtcdelivery.com. Try both and then I will tell you which system I prefer. :)

I love you all so much!

Love,
Sister Anderson.