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