Yes, yes, the rumors are true, I am now in Wisconsin until my Visa comes! Racine, Wisconsin to be exact (they tell me it's kind of ghetto, and some streets are banned) haha but no worries. My address is: 5651 Broad Street Suite #1 Greendale Wisconsin 53192. And the lady at the mission office said that if you want to send packages do not use fedex, only the us postal service so that they can forward the boxes to me.
Anyhoo, what a week. I will start at the beginning. So P-day monday was pretty great. I was running around like a madwoman preparing to leave the MTC. I went to alterations and the bookstore and drycleaning and laundry and many many other things. Mom, I got your package of shirts! IT WAS AMAZING! Seriously. I tried them all on and had a fashion show. I was pretty happy about it. I am wearing one right now
actually. So thanks. There is nothing like the feel of new clothes and they were exactly what I needed. Sooo, on to Tuesday. I had a really cool experience on Tuesday that I thought I would share. It was personal study time and I wanted to read from the New Testament. So I just randomly opened to John and started reading in Ch.13 and 14. I read a verse that basically said that God will grant you the righteous things you ask for if you have faith or something amazing like that. I can't remember the exact words right now. But anyways, it REALLY stood out to me. I read it about ten times and then I decided to say a prayer. So in my prayer I basically was just saying how I felt like I was doing everything I could to be obedient and be a good missionary but I really really wanted my electronic application to come. I remember just pleading with the Lord that it would come. I said that if it be possible to let my electronic application come. Also, I
prayed to have faith that it would come. So after I said the prayer I went to lunch and then we went to check the mail. There was a purple slip in the mailbox for me and it said "Come to the Travel Office ASAP" WAHOO! I was freaking out! I went to the travel office immediately and I GOT MY ELECTRONIC APPLICATION! I was SO happy I can't even explain it. oh man. That was the best thing. The Lord truly
hears and answers our prayers. It doesn't always come right when we want it to but He has a better plan than us so we just have to trust Him. Wow, I'm so happy it finally came. So my visa should be coming in the next couple of weeks! Pray hard that it will come rapidamente! Also on Tuesday there was the devotional. It was great. Elder Alonso of the seventy came and He was of course awesome. I sang in the choir again and love it as usual. But this time, after the devotional I had people coming up to me telling me they saw me in the
choir. My branch President said they zoomed in up close and personal on my face for like FIFTEEN SECONDS! hahahaha oh boy. That camera man gets me every time but this time was the worst. People I didn't even know kept coming up to me and saying "Hey, you're that girl from the choir" hahaha yeah, so that was my life for the rest of the week. At least I made some new friends right? Oh man, I am gonna miss
choir. Good times. And someone told me that they broadcast the devotionals to all the other MTC's in the world. Don't know if that is true or not but yeah. I am known worldwide. Beat that. hahaha jk but
seriously.
On to Wednesday. So I was supposed to leave the MTC on January 31st. Yep, that is tomorrow. I was expecting to get my reassignment on Thursday so it was quite the shock that they called me to the Travel
office again. I knew my visa didn't come in one day so I knew it was my reassignment. The Elders and I were making guesses all the way to the travel office on where I would be going. Yep, you guessed it, my
reassignment was the Milwaukie Wisconsin Mission. Wisconsin is all one mission by the way. One little part on my flight plans that was highlighted was that I leave FRIDAY morning! I had two days notice and
I was leaving about 5 days early from the MTC. I was pretty shocked and it took a while to sink in. Wow, I had one day left in the MTC. My Elders were actually pretty sad about it and were getting mad at me
for making them like me and then leaving them. haha I was sad to leave them too. They said when they fly home I have to be waiting at the airport to welcome all of them and so they can beat up anyone that I'm
dating. haha oh boy, they keep things entertaining. So also on Wednesday I got the Zellers A to Z book that you sent! SO CUTE! I loved it so much and I read it to my Elders like it was story time and
they all played the little "Find Martha" game at the end! They struggled with the behind the couch pillows one. So funny! SO thanks so much for that Rach. Way cute. and Dad, thanks, and the rest of the fam for being so awesome. We are pretty cool aren't we? haha jk So on Thursday it was my last day in the MTC. I tried to soak it all in and enjoy everything. Lots of writing in journals. So we went to TRC on Thursday and Elder Nicolayson and I taught a lady from, guess where...
VITORIA, BRAZIL! I think I had taught her before actually but it was still really exciting. Everyone tells me that the accents in all the different parts of Brazil are different and some are really weird and funny but her accent was BEAUTIFUL! So I am glad I will be speaking that one day... when I am finally fluent.... which will probably be a while. haha but yay, I am excited about that, and she was of course so awesome and warm and friendly as I am sure a lot of the people in Brazil will be. I can't wait. But I have to. haha So I finished
packing on Thursday and had my stuff all ready to go. It's weird packing on a mission because you are literally just packing everything you own. Mom, did you get my package yet? Katie, I sent you
one too. So on to my big day. Friday. I got to the travel office around 3:00 am friday morning. yeah, 3:00 am. count your blessings. So it was just me and the driver heading up to the airport. So he dropped me off at the airport around 4:00 am (sorry I missed ya Stef. Wish my flight had been later!) So I got there and the ticket agents weren't even there yet so I couldn't check my bags. So I sat down on a bench next to two men and started talking to them. I told them about my mission and they were actually from Portland, kinda cool. They didn't know much about the church so I told them a bit. Then right before I had to leave I gave them a pass along card. I was SO SCARED! But I just did it! My first real missionary experience. pretty crazy.
So I checked my bags and then headed to the payphones to give you a call. I didn't have much time before my flight but I was all alone at the airport (it feels really weird to be completely alone when you are with other missionaries for 2 whole months). It was SO good to talk to you mom and dad and martha. So then I got on my flight to Minneapolis and then on to Wisconsin. I went down to baggage claim and got my bags. I figured someone would be waiting for me but NOPE! haha I was kinda freaking out. I was all alone on the other side of the country with no phone and no idea what to do. So i waited. Oh, funny thing while I was waiting, a guy from my flight with really bright blue crazy long hair wearing all black came up to me after I got my bags.
As he was walking up I was thinking, "what in the world could he want to say to me?" haha I had no idea. Then he says, "Hey, I just wanted to let you know I think you have really great style." HAHA So this
hardcore whatever guy carrying his guitar tells me, sister missionary wearing a flowery dress, pink blazer, and white tights that he thinks I have great style. haha oh man. I was so shocked I was laughing so hard. But that was nice of him I guess. So I got the number of the mission home and called them and they said someone should be on their way. So I plopped down on a bench and started reading. Then two missionaries and the mission President came and found me. I was so relieved to see someone else with a nametag let me tell you! They said that since my flight was early they got to security after I had already went down to get my bags and had been waiting for me up there. haha of course that would happen to me. So I met my new companion
Sister Jones. She is pretty nice so far. She is from Utah. All the other missionaries here are from Utah.
So I was SO tired on Friday and friday night Sister Jones let me take a nap for like an hour and a
half. It was divine. On friday we went to the mission office and I signed a bunch of papers and what not and heard all the rules. Oh, so I can only email Mom and Dad. That's a rule here. Just FYI. Mom, you
can forward my email to the rest of the fam right? thanks. you da best I ever had. Friday we just went around and met lots of the members in the ward. They are all pretty nice but it's gonna take me a while to
remember all of the names. Sister Jones was telling me that the Racine area is similar to areas in europe. Hard. Oh boy. So she said I just need to be really patient here and just keep pushing forward. So here we live with some members. They are very nice and have a nice home. We have the top floor with a bathroom and our bedroom. It's nice living in a house. I am sure things will be much different when I get to Brazil. haha We also have a car. haha definitely won't be having that in Brazil. It's a good thing though because it is so darn cold here I would turn into an icicle if I were walking everywhere. The area is really big too and everything is spread out so we need one. We also have a cell phone. Weird. It took me a while to figure out how to
use it. haha Everything is going great here though. I am getting used to everything and excited to get out there and find some people. Today is p day and tonight we are reading the BOM with a less active lady.
Most of the ward here is less active so we will be working a lot with them I think. On saturday we went to visit a part member couple. The husband is not a member but he was SO NICE! He reminded me of uncle
Shane. and he is a good cook. Like Shane. And he said we need to come over for Lasagna. oh and did I mention he is Italian? So it's gonna be good. and supposedly Wisconsin has good cheese. haha and his wife gave me this way too big thick coat because she felt bad I only had a really thin one. So I have been wearing that around. haha Sunday was good to meet the ward and put faces with names. I got to talk to the Spanish
Branch President in Portuguese because he also speaks Portuguese! Pretty cool! Although it is so nervewracking! haha He said that I should come to the Spanish Ward. That would be awesome. Maybe I will get to next week!
I love you so much! Dad, if you need to tell me anything you can call the mission home and they will call me right away and tell me. Any visa news or other news or anything. The lady wanted me to let you
know that. Also, did you check online for my visa status? you should. Just google Brazil visa and do some digging. Well I gotta run! Love you so much! I pray for you always! Thanks so much for your support
and prayers and helping me go on a mission. It is and will continue to be a life changing experience for me! Tchau! Oh also, Chicago is like 40 minutes away. I might get to go to the temple there. It is really
cool being so close to where you served Dad! If I'm not already, I should be your favorite child. Who am I kidding, I totally am.
hahahaha
Sorry this email is a MONSTER! So much happened this week and I wanted to fill you in. haha
Your freezing but loving it (sort of) missionary,
Sister Zeller
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