Pictures from the CTM

Sam and her companion at the cookie place across the street from the CTM

First Week At The CTM. Had a Little Trouble But All is Well

hello hello! oh what a week! now i truly understand what people mean when they say the days go by slow but the weeks fast. it feels like we got here yesterday! and now im taking off my newbee sticker! its so busy here and we*re all learning super fast. teaching is still really hard because theres so many words i want to say but dont know. we try to memorize as much vocab as we can before the lesson but someitmes it just jumps right out of your brain when you need it! but then sometimes you remember things you barely studied, amazing how the spirit works! two awesome miracles this week. but first my companion is sister sowers, my beloved facebook friend. it is so great that we get to be together! and our roommates are wonderful. the four of us are like a little companionship of our own haha. we cant send pictures from the mtc but gary wait elder nielsennnn took one of us today after the temple and he said he would send it asap. yayayyay! they are from texas and virginia, such great sisters! and it was so good to see elder nielsen today too! his portuguese is amazing...of course. he has a little accent now haha. ok so miracle one> first night we get here, go to our room and guess what? my luggage will not open. i was 100 percent sure of the combonation but nope did not open. i started crying because it had all of my clothes everything in it. so bad and sad right? so my companion was like lets just cut it. i was uuhhh i guess thats the only option. but then we prayed and decided to go downstairs to ask for help. the irmao downstairs was sooo nice and he said he would get a lock cutter. so he comes up and he has these huge lock cutters and hes like ive never seen a lock like this. then he goes have you tried 000. tried 000 and it opens. power of prayer and the priesthood. it was amazing. seriously such a miracle because theres really nowhere to buy luggage here at all. it must have got reset in security. but seriously such a cool experience although emotionally draining haha. then yesterday i got a really bad headache and the elders gave me a blessing after i went to the doctor. i went and rested for awhile and when i woke up i was better! today im feeling better than ever! its so great! its certainly been an adjustment being here but i think im getting used to it. we are getting a new set of missionaries today from provo which we are all excited about! the food is good, the people are sooo nice. everyone says hi to everyone. the brazilians all want to practice their english with us. so its very basic conversation at meals but we do communicate somehow. they love seeing pictures of family, im so grateful i brought those. even though we cant say much to each other, ive made some amazing friends here. they are just so warm and welcoming. it makes the whole experience 100 times better. it really is such a blessing that i can be here. the language is hard, mostly because theres so much a i want to say but dont have the words yet. but its only been a week so i cant expect too much! goota go! love you guys so much!

 

-Sister McKenzie

sorry about the spelling and lack of caps descuple! love you! keep praying!