Letter 4: The Lord is hastening His work!

Hello everyone!

Como vai? I don't know about you all, but I feel like my mission is FLYING BY. Tomorrow, I'll be starting my fourth week in the MTC. WHAAAT? I can't believe it. That's a month, people. Insane. Really. But what an incredible week it has been. I decided to write down things during the week that were worth mentioning, and my list got extremely long. Hopefully I have enough time to tell it all. Let's hope so. It's been an awesome week. AND SHANNON RENAE COMES IN TO THE MTC TOMORROW. I AM SO EXCITED.

So first, let me tell you what happened Tuesday night. We went in for our Tuesday Night Devotional, and all of a sudden walks in Elder Richard G. Scott. You've never heard so much silence and respect for someone as soon as they walked in the door. I felt the Spirit so strongly, just with his presence. His talk was incredible. He talked a lot about the Sister Missionaries at the beginning of his talk. Did you know that 45% of all the missionaries here are sisters? THAT is truly incredible. The Lord is hastening His work, SO FAST. I mean, He's really hastening it. It is the greatest thing to be a part of. His talk was on prayer, and how prayer is a gift from our Heavenly Father. It is so true. How amazing is it that we can personal speak with our God, at any time, in any place? He is always listening and He wants to hear from you. It was such an amazing talk. I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to listen, and to feel his spirit so strongly. When he left, I knew that man was called of God. I felt it so strongly. This church is so true, and so perfect.

After devotionals, we have DDR. Dance, Dance Revolution. Ha. Not. We focus here in the MTC. It's called like District Devotional Review, or Devotional District Response or something like that. I don't know. We call it DDR. But anyway, that's when we talk about the devotional as a district. Let me just tell you. My district is the bomb. I've never met a group of people more determined than they are and more willing to serve. We are all best friends and we are all so supportive of each other. They are seriously my family here and I love them so much. So whenever we have anything like this, the Spirit is insanely strong. We just talked about different things we learned about, new insights, anything. Afterwards, the Spirit was so strong, and we decided to have a little time for testimonies. I knew I had to bear mine, but I really feel like I am always talking, and always sharing things, so I didn't say anything right away. No one bore their testimonies. So right when the District Leader asked who wanted to pray, the Spirit totally got me and told me that I NEEDED TO BEAR MY TESTIMONY. So really quick, I said, "Can I just say something really quick?" I bore my testimony more heartfelt than I believe I ever had before. I talked about prayer and the impact it has on our lives. The way that we can pray to our Heavenly Father whenever, wherever we want to. He is ALWAYS there, and He is ALWAYS listening. I talked about the Atonement, and how our Savior died, just to know you, individually. Just to know the things you are going through. I talked about how important it is that we are all here, serving the Lord, bringing this joy to the people all over the world. It is truly wonderful. I was bawling. Everyone in the room was bawling. The Spirit was so strong. Afterwards, a few other people shared their testimonies as well. I'm so thankful I listened to that prompting. It led to so much more than I could have ever imagined.

Everyone, read 2 Nephi 2, if you want to see how truly amazing the Atonement is. We read it in class last week, and oh man. Muito bom. It is incredible. Just remember, your Savior suffered everything just to know you. He died so that you can live forever, with your family, in more happiness than you can imagine. It is the greatest blessing I have ever received, and will ever receive. Giving up 18 months just to serve Him, is nothing compared to what He did for me. I love my Savior and am so incredibly grateful for Him and His Atonement.

Portuguese is getting a lot better. Our district has a new goal of only speaking in Portuguese from 12-6 every single day. It is pretty rough, but we are getting there. We are learning so fast, all thanks to the Lord.

Sister Jensen and I met this old man this week, and it was the coolest thing ever. He randomly just started talking to us and told us his whole life story. He told us about how much he loves the gospel, and how grateful he is that he can live with his wife and family for eternity. His wife just passed away a few months ago, after being completely unable to do anything on her own for 9 years. He took care of her for 9 years, and loved her so much that entire time. I know I'm not supposed to be thinking about marriage QUITE YET, but I want that kind of love. He was incredible. He said, "before you get married, make sure it's 100% right in your mind, 100% right in your heart, then go to the Celestial Room and pray with everything you have, and if it's still 100% right, he's your guy." Definitely going to follow that one. Meeting that man was such a blessing. I learned so much from him, and loved talking to him.

Okay, I'm running out of time, but I have just a couple things that are SO MISSIONARY that I have to tell you about. Is that a thing? Being so missionary? I don't know, but I am so missionary right now. If you could only see me now. I told you all I wasn't going to be an awkward missionary when I came home, but I already am an awkward missionary. It's the best thing, but just be warned, when I get back, I'm going to be such a weirdo. Just prepare yourselves for it. Anyway, so we sing all the time. There's no shame in it here. I'll be in the shower, bustin out some Celine, some Les Mis, some Hymns, pretty much anything and everything. Then, the other Sisters join in. We get like this big choir going singing "I Dreamed A Dream" in the bathroom at 6 in the morning or at 10 at night. So funny. People just start slamming their doors because they are so sick of us singing, but oh, it's such a joy. We love it all so much. Another thing that was so funny, was on Sunday. We all watched The Testaments in the big gym. That's such a good movie. But anyway, there's two parts when they kiss. HAHAHAHA you have never seen or heard so much uncomfort in one room. Everyone was seriously so stunned that we all just watched two people kiss. IF THAT ISN'T SO MISSIONARY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. It really was the funniest thing ever. So embarrassing. See, I'm going to be weird when I come home. Just be ready.

I love the church. I love missionary work. I love the Book of Mormon. We had a challenge in our Branch to start over and finish it before we left the MTC. I've been here three week and I'm already in 3 Nephi. I love it so much. I can't get enough of it. It is such an amazing book and we are so blessed to have it. We talked about it yesterday, and it is like a Magic 8 ball. You have a question? Boom, open that Book of Mormon, and you'll get an answer. Really though. Missionaries are embarrassing. We come up with all sorts of things. It's the best though, it really is. I'm so blessed to be a part of this work. I'm so blessed to come in contact with all these amazing young men and women with so much determination to serve the Lord. I'm so blessed to have such an amazing district. I'm so blessed to have such an amazing family back home, who always supports me. I'm so blessed to have such amazing friends who have taught me so much about myself and who I want to become. This church is true. 100%. I have no doubt in my mind that this is where I'm supposed to be, and what I'm supposed to be doing. I love it. I love you all, and pray for you all. You're incredible. Thank you for the letters, and KEEP THEM COMING. I love and miss you all so much! I'll see you in 17 months. Crazy huh? It's so soon. But really.

Love, Sister Card

(Now the wall-sit and the plank champion here. I refuse to turn into Fat Jazzy, even though this MTC food isn't helping.)

xoxo

Week 3 already? Whaaaat?

Hi Everyone!!!

This week is our third week in the MTC and I am completely stunned. Where did the time go? Seriously. Tomorrow is my third Wednesday and I literally feel like I got here a few days ago. My mission is already going by waaaay too fast. 18 months isn't nearly going to be enough. There is so much that I need to still learn, and that the Lord needs me to accomplish. I am working SO extremely hard though, because I know that this is where I need to be and what I need to be doing. I can't believe that Melissa and Justin are already gone! I saw them on Sunday and said bye to them! They are going to be AMAZING missionaries. Mountainville 4th Ward DOING WORK out there.

So first, let me tell you all about Portuguese. It is probably the most beautiful language ever ever ever. I love it so much. It is coming so quickly. We have taught five lessons in Portuguese now, and our sixth one is tomorrow. The first two were a little rough, but now I know how to say the majority of what I want to in the lessons in Portuguese and even teach by the Spirit. We even "committed our investigator to baptism!" It is absolutely insane. I have memorized the Missionary Purpose in Preach My Gospel, The First Vision and James 1:5 all in Portuguese. I am able to use those in my lessons and it seriously brings the Spirit so strongly. My district ALWAYS speaks to each other in Portuguese and we are getting so good at it. I know that when I get to Brazil it will be a completely different dialect, but I know that I will get it down! I am loving it. Sacrament Meeting is all in Portuguese as well. It is so cool to hear all the talks and the Sacrament prayers and the testimonies. I love it. So at the beginning of church, the Branch President says three missionaries who are going to give a talk in Portuguese, with literally a two minute notice. There are 87 missionaries in our branch, and it was our first "real" Sunday there, so here I am thinking there is NO WAY I'll get called to speak. And of course, I WAS THE ONLY SISTER TO GIVE A TALK THAT DAY. You all know, I have NO problem speaking in front of people, but this time, I was SO NERVOUS. I had literally been there for ten days and I had to give a full on talk in Portuguese. It was on Charity and  I felt pretty good about it afterwards. When I talked with my Branch President though, he asked me where I had learned to speak so well. He told me my Portuguese was already amazing and he was so impressed with the things I had done the past week. WHAT A RELIEF. Seriously, that was the most amazing thing to hear from him. I owe it ALL to my Heavenly Father. He has helped me so much with the language and I am so grateful for that. There is still a lot that I need to work on with the language and I am constantly studying flashcards and notes. But I love the language so much already.

How cool is the Priesthood? Oh my word. That is the one thing that I am most grateful for, while I am out here. There is nothing more amazing than the fact that there are all these boys here, worthy to hold the priesthood and have the knowledge of how to use it. I am in complete amazement. These boys really are such amazing examples to me, and it is seriously so awesome. We have an Elder in our district who was extremely sick this week and was in bed for a few days. He asked the other Elders in our district for a blessing one day after class. He asked his companion to do it, who was just a young 18 year old missionary, who had never given a blessing before. I HAVE NEVER FELT THE SPIRIT SO STRONGLY IN MY LIFE. He started out, not really knowing what to say, and after 10 seconds, the Spirit took over. Those words literally came from Heavenly Father. I had never heard such power and such conviction in a blessing before. All the Sisters were bawling. All the Elders were bawling. We were all bawling. After Elder Weight finished the blessing, he said that he wasn't saying those words, Heavenly Father was. Completely. It was the most amazing thing to witness. Ever. The Priesthood is amazing and I am so grateful to have it in my life.

On a completely different note, I am the reigning plank champion of our district. We have these plank contests every day at gym time, and we hold it as long as we can. Probably the most killer thing I have ever done. But we have an Elder that just did an Iron Man, and I beat him by like thirty seconds! Sisters are definitely buffer than you all think. I want to thank my brothers, Jackson, Zac, and Eli for the contest that we did every once in a while, for getting me where I am today. HA. But really. It was cool.

MOM! Thank you so much for all the packages this week. I have the best mom ever. Sending me all sorts of treats, all the time. You would have all died if you saw the girls in my room when we got strawberries and nutella from her. Oh my lanta. We seriously downed two packages of strawberries and an entire jar of nutella in five minutes. So embarassing. The Sisters here are insane. We have so much fun together, when we are supposed to of course. We get along so well, maybe even a little TOO well. We have had a major problem with staying up late talking, but we are working on it! There's just a lot of love for each other here. A LOT OF LOVE.

My companion is the bomb. We work so well together. We are totally able to open up and talk about everything that is going on in the mission. We are totally on the same page with everything and we are trying so hard to keep that up. We are accomplishing miracles. We really are. The language is coming, our abilities to teach are coming, everything. It is amazing. We have really been focusing on the Lord and what He needs us to accomplish, and it has brought so many miracles and tender mercies upon us. I know that when we focus on Him, He will bless us. Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to HIS purpose." This mission isn't about us. It's about the Lord and what He needs from us, and what He needs from me. This has been the most humbling experience of my life. Alma 26:12 - "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." It is so true.

I love the Lord. I love the gospel. I love the people of Brazil already. I love the missionaries. I love Sister Jensen. I love my district. I love Portuguese. I love my Savior. I love the prophet. I love my family. I love everyone back home. I love this church.

I love you all. I miss you all. WRITE ME LETTERS. DearElder is super awesome because I can get them THAT DAY. I won't write you back until P-Day, but I WILL write you back. I love you guys!!!

Com muito amor,

Sister Card

xoxo

Tough Girls

The District

Sister Missionaries

Sister Jensen and Sister Card

Surprises from Home

You are o-FISH-ally the best missionary

Hi everyone!!!

Where can I even begin? The MTC is the greatest place I have ever been in my entire life. I am learning so much each and every single day. I know that this is the Lord's work. I know that there is no place that I would rather be than here. This is the true church. This is HIS church. And we are so blessed to be a part of that. And I'm sure you want to hear about my first week in the MTC, so I'll stop getting distracted!

Okay, so I guess I'll just start with the first day! After Mom, Dad, and Eli dropped me off, I literally had no time to be sad about anything. Cody Harris was my escort in and it was SO cool just to be able to see him and talk to him about being a missionary and really just get me excited to be there! I got my nametag, which is probably my favorite thing ever because I feel so cool wearing it, dropped off my stuff, and went straight to Portuguese class. And, oh boy, was it Portuguese. No English at all. On the first day! But, you'll be glad to hear that I already understood like 90% of everything my teacher said because of my Spanish, which is so amazing! Granted, they were very basic sentences, but still, it was incredible! That night, we taught our first lessons in English. WHAT? Yes. So after the first day, I was pretty much a straight up missionary.

My companion's name is Sister Jensen! We met through Facebook before and had been talking for a few months, so we were beyond pumped to be companions. She is UNREAL, you guys. She is seriously such a sweetheart, such a hard worker, and has such an amazing testimony. I am so blessed to have such a gem as my companion. There are 6 elders and 6 sisters in my district. We are all going to Brazil, but different parts. I am obsessed with all of them. They are from all over the country: New Hampshire, Idaho, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Utah. So it's been really cool just to see how similar and different our lives are. We do everything together. We eat together, study together, pray together, sing together, honestly, everything. We have already gotten so close and it has only been a week. The girls are amazing! We all live in one room. Yeah, six girls in one room gets a little insane. But honestly, it is like a big huge spiritual sleepover always. We have the best talks at night and we already know so much about each other. I know that I will be friends with these girls for a long long time. I really am so blessed to have such an amazing district. We talk about it all the time. We lucked out for sure!

Thursday was amazing. We had all of these teaching workshops and really started to understand what missionary work is about. I always believed that I was here to teach people and that I was here to convert people. NO. So wrong. Honestly, it isn't me at all. It is the Lord. It is the Spirit. We are merely tools in His hands to bring the gospel to His children. If that isn't that coolest thing I have ever heard in my life, I don't know what is. We have had countless talks on obedience and on teaching by the Spirit. They go hand in hand. When we are obedient to the Lord's rules, we are going to be filled with His Spirit. We will be able to do and say what we need to. It is His gospel and we need to teach it in His way. Not our way. His way. I love that so much. Within my first 24 hours of being here, my whole perspective of missionary work changed. I'm not here for me. I'm here because the Lord needs me to bring people the gospel. I'm here for the Lord.

Then, that night, we met with our Branch President and his counselors. We bore our testimonies to the branch and had interviews with the presidency. Turns out, I'm the new Coordinating Sister, or Sister Training Leader. (They just changed the name). I had no idea what that was, but it's like a Zone Leader for Sisters! What? ME? I was beyond excited. So I'm in charge of helping out all the Sisters in our branch, making sure they are feeling okay, and doing everything they need to be doing! It is quite possibly the greatest blessing I could have ever asked for. I'm excited to be a leader, even though it is something that will be so new to me!

On Friday, we taught our FIRST LESSON IN PORTUGUESE. Insane, right? Two days here and we already had our first "investigator" to teach! I loved it. Sister Jensen and I knew absolutely nothing and came out of there feeling like we had SO MUCH to learn. And we do. So we immediately got to work on our next lesson and totally got prepared. Our next lesson was yesterday, on Monday, and we were so prepared and totally taught by the Spirit and taught him everything we felt that we needed to! So yes, I've taught two lessons in Portuguese already! It's crazy. I love the language so much already. It's beautiful. It's insanely hard, because I always want to speak Spanish, but it is coming!

Then this weekend... CONFERENCE WAS THE BOMB. It was so good. There were so many talks about missionary work and about moving the work forward. Wasn't it awesome? Especially being here in the MTC with all these amazing missionaries, I just couldn't get enough of it. It really was perfect!

Yesterday, I learned the most valuable lesson yet. Trust in the Lord. He knows everything that we are going through. He knows who we are, who we need to become, and what we need. He knows it all. I felt that I needed to be doing so much more than I was doing, but there wasn't enough time in the day. 16 hours of work, and there isn't enough time in the day. It sounds impossible, but it's true. There is a lot I need to learn, but I know that if I have patience and if I trust in the Lord with all my heart, I will learn the things that I need to learn in His time. His timing is perfect. He knows it all. REMEMBER THAT. Never forget it. He is perfect and this gospel is perfect.

The MTC is amazing. Everyone always tells me how hard it is to be a missionary, but I honestly haven't even noticed it. I just love this gospel so much, and I've never been happier. So it has been perfect! I love it so much. I love this work, and I am so blessed to learn everything that I'm learning here.

I love you all. I miss you all. I am so busy, but I love everything I am doing. Thank you for all the letters, the packages, everything! Heather Kristine Hemingway. You are the cutest person ever. She sent me a package with Swedish Fish and a big fish balloon saying, "You are o-FISH-ally the best missionary." So cute. I love her. I love you guys. KEEP THE LETTERS COMING. Missionaries love letters, they really do! And CORBIN PETERSEN GOING TO CHILE! I am so excited for you Corb! Missionary work is the best thing. You will love everything about it! I'm so excited for you!

Okay, well I have no more time, but I will write again next week! I can't fit even close to everything I'm learning in these emails, but I'll do my best! I love you all and I pray for all of you every day!

I MISS YOU GUYS, BUT THIS IS ALL SO WORTH IT!

Love, Sister Jazmyn Card

xoxo

One of Jazzy's best friends, Heather Kristine Hemingway, sent her package with Swedish Fish and a big fish balloon saying, "You are o-FISH-ally the best missionary."

Best sister companionship ever!

Temple Day with the District

Jazzy with Mike Needham, friend from St. George

Companions for a season, friends for a lifetime, sisters for eternity. 

 

Letter 1 - First Day at MTC

Family –

Hello!!!  So my P-day isn’t until next week, I believe on Tuesdays, but I’m sure you’re DYING to know how I’m doing after my first day.  Let me tell you…I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.  Honestly, it is already the most incredible thing I’ve done, and I’ve only been here for like 8 hours.  It’s been a really long day.  I feel like I’ve been here for weeks already.  Everyone is so happy and just loves the Lord so much. 

Today I saw like everyone – Cody Harris, Justin Cloward, Melissa, Chandler Oborn, McCall Moderzitski, Sydney Jorgensen and Jackson’s old buddy Jaden Beckstrand!  Isn’t that crazy?  He got here today and is going to Portugal, so we are both learning Portuguese.  We started our Portuguese today and I’m unreal!  I understood like 90% of what the teacher ON THE FIRST DAY.  The accent is tough and I keep wanting to speak Spanish, but I’ll get it.  And understanding it is like half the battle, so I’m feeling really good. 

Okay, so get this, my companion is the girl that I met on Facebook, going to my same mission!  So we’ve already been talking for like months now, and now we’re companions!  She’s so awesome, and I already love her so much.  Her name is Kaylee Jensen.  She’s from our favorite place:  Tennessee!  Not close to Morristown at all, but it’s fine!  And she went to BYU.  She’s a gem.  Our district has 12 people in it.  6 boys and 6 girls.  Sister Jensen and I and a companionship of elders are going to Santa Maria [one of those boys is so cute – it’s so bad, I already got my first crush.  DON’T WORRY, I’M FOCUSING ON THE LORD] and the other 8 are all going to another mission in Brazil.  All 6 of us girls live in one room and I love them all so much.  It’s crammed in here, but we love each other so it’s good.   

Today, I got here, got my nametag, dropped off my bags, went straight to Portuguese class for an hour, had orientation, ate dinner, unpacked for a little, started TEACHING some “investigators” [in English, luckily], met our Zone Leaders and now we’re in our rooms.  They really get you going here.  It’s amazing.  I have already learned so much about the mission and about the missionary I want to be.  The biggest thing I learned about mission work is that it really isn’t about you.  The things that YOU feel are important, might not be important to your investigators or to the Lord.  Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of his children, and He will guide me to teach in His way.  Isn’t that such a cool lesson?  I love it so much. 

But the mission life is incredible.  I love it already.  And there really were no more tears!  I hope it was the same for you guys!  Don’t miss me too much.  I’m not THAT great.  But I really do love this work already.  It is already the greatest thing I’ve ever done, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I love you.  I love the Lord and I love His gospel.  It really is so perfect.  Down to 17 months and 29 days!  That’s like nothing.  I love you!!!

Sister Card