December 5, 2011

Hello! Hello!

I am finally a missionary! I love the MTC so far! Everyone told me if I could make it to sunday then I would be okay and I have loved the first week so the rest should be awesome! ha ha I am so excited to be here. I loved putting on my name tag today and I can already tell it is going to be hard to take it off when I go home. There are some adjustments that have to be made here in the MTC. I always get scared my phone is going to go off in meetings and I swear I can hear it vibrating sometimes. ha ha 

Mom, that alarm clock I got plays the most annoying song ever! My companion says it sounds like something they would play at a Rodeo. ha ha I am in a trio so I have two companions, Sister Barnes and Sister Felber! They are great! Sister Barnes and I are so alike it is hilarious. We even brought some of the same clothes. She reminds me so much of Debra. My district is pretty great too. There are 6 elders and then us 3 sisters. The elders are so dedicated and it is so humbling to see their desire to teach people! 

Thanks so much to everyone who sent me a Dear Elder! I didn't get them until Friday night but it was so great to get them! So our first day was really exciting! We got to sit in on some elders teaching an "investigator" and it was very interesting. We couldn't tell if the investigator was real or not. They told us they were really investigators but we couldn't tell. Then we watched the Christmas fireside last night and we saw one of the so called "investigators" singing in the choir! All of the new missionaries in the crowd busted up laughing and everyone else had no idea what was going on. It was pretty funny. 

When we got to our classroom on the first day the teachesr would only speak portuguese! We were all so lost but since then we have learned a lot. We planned and taught our first lesson to an investigator on Friday.... IN PORTUGUSE! We were so nervous and the performance was a little rough. We taught again on saturday and it went MUCH better. As of now we can pray and bear our testimonies in Portuguese. How Amazing! I know we are learning so fast because we aren't learning it for ourselves, we are learning it to benefit others. The Lord is with us and I know the gift of Tongues is so REAL! 

We had church on sunday all in portuguese and then we had a mission conference. It was great! The main thing I got out of it was "What gift can i give to Christ this Christmas season?" I want to give him my everything and be the best missionary I can be! Christ has done so much for us and we can never repay Him but we can give Him our hearts. The Atonement is so amazing and this Gospel really is the truth! I can't wait to share it with the Brazilians! Pray for my visa to come and for me to learn the language quickly! Write me on Dear Elder! I will love you forever! I miss everyone but I am so busy I never have time to think about anything else. You realize how precious time is when you are a missionary! I can't believe I have wasted so much of it in my life doing things that don't matter. Let us be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do much righteousness! I love you all! Send me microwave popcorn por favor! Until next week, Tchau!

Sister Zeller

P.S. Katie, I really like the food here. You are crazy.