Oi!!!

Email received

September 10, 2013
[This means Erica's P-Day will be on Tuesdays in the MTC so I should receive emails Tuesday and will post them by Wednesday generally.]

 

Family and Friends!

Oi, minha familia e meus amigos! I hope all is well! Things in the MTC are beyond fantastic. It's hard to explain. Everyone told me "Oh, you will love it here! You feel the Spirit so much!" And I thought "Oh yeah, I'm so excited! I'm sure I'll love it!!!" Now that I am here, it is more like "WOW. I LOVE BEING IN THE MTC."   It's one of those experiences you can't quite understand until being there. Everyday is full and busy, and full of progression. The Spirit (yes, the Spirit of GOD! How amazing is that?) is ALWAYS here with us. It helps me in everything I do- waking up every morning before 6:30 (we have the early 6:30 breakfast shift, so we get up at 5:50 or 6 each day- but 6:30 is the latest missionaries ever wake up), learning to love all those around me, learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, learning to teach the gospel by the Spirit, and learning Portuguese! The Lord is surely my strength!

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.”

Everything I do, I am enabled to do by the Lord's strength. I can FEEL it! When my alarm goes off at 6am, I get up. That's it. I just do, and if you knew me the weeks before I left for my mission....you would know that that was not an average thing for me! But I KNOW that the Lord helps me! He gives me energy to study and learn all day! It is an incredible feeling. I know that missionaries are called by a prophet of God! That is why we can do what we do! There are thousands of young missionaries just like me in this MTC, many are learning different languages (over 50 different languages, I believe) and I can promise you that every single one of them who is obedient to the mission rules and schedules given to us, WILL be fluent in that language on their mission. Because ...

1 Nephi 3:7 “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”

God will never command us to do anything without providing a way for us to do that. He has called me to serve His children in Brazil and to bring them to Him. To do this, He has called me to learn Portuguese. Guess what! I'm learning! Faster, better, easier than I ever could on my own. We (my companions, district, and I) have been in the MTC for only ...let's see… 5 days? (it feels like a life time!) and we have already taught 3 lessons to our investigator in PORTUGUESE. But more importantly, by the language of the Spirit. Sure, our Portuguese is far from perfect! But with the Lord's help, we can all pray and bear our testimonies in Portuguese now. And we are able to teach lessons that -although full of broken Portuguese- bring the Spirit and inspire our investigator to act- to pray, to read, to change!

Our Portuguese teacher is awesome. His name is Brother Porter. He teaches us not only the language, but how to teach by the Spirit. He served in Brazil 3 years ago. My companions Sister L. and Sister Ch. are fantastic. Most missionaries are in pairs of 2, but we are lucky enough to be a 3-some. We are the only three sisters that I've seen so far who are going to Belem! But there are LOTS of missionaries here going to Brazil! Our district is made up of 5 sisters and 7 elders. Me, Sister L., Sister Ch., Sister F., Sister Th., Elder J., Elder H., Elder A., Elder T., Elder G., Elder D., and Elder B.. We spend LOTS of time together! Did I mention that you don't waste a minute in the MTC? From the time we are up at 6:00 or 6:30 we work until 9:30-10:00 and are in bed with the lights out by 10:30. We spend hours studying from the Book of Mormon and the Bible- personal study, companion study...class study or devotionals.., we spend hours studying the language in our classroom and teaching our practice lessons. We breathe occasionally. And we have gym every day! Which is great! My district sisters and I ran around the indoor track the first day, and we've also played frisbee and soccer on the outside field. I have learned that being exactly obedient is always worth it. Following the schedule and studying hard enables the Lord to work through us.

Cool experience. Yesterday was our 3rd lesson with Antonio. My companheiras and I prepared for hours. Planning what to teach, how to teach, who would teach what, and then learning the Portuguese to do that! Well, later on Saturday night we were in class with Irmõ Porter and while doing companion study and preparation, I asked him for help. I told him we just didn't feel like we were progressing with Antônio as much as we would like to. The first couple of lessons we spent talking to him about prayer, but we didnt really feel like we were meeting his needs quite yet. His background is that his wife was killed in a car crash, and she was actually baptized as a member of the church. Ever since she died, he has been looking for peace. So we talked with Brother Porter and he shared several passages from Preach My Gospel with us.  Ultimately, his advice for us was to pray.

During our break, we went into the hall, and Sister F. and Sister Th. and me and my companions were wondering what we could do for Antonio. Sister F. said, I feel like we should pray. So we stopped in an empty hall and prayed for help to know what to share with Antonio. The answers came. Like a flood!!! We scrapped our entire lesson plan and decided we needed to focus the entire lesson on Jesus Christ. The next day, Sunday, was awesome. And EVERYTHING was for Antonio! Everytime we heard something from a talk or a musical number and even the choir piece we are practicing (the choir was AMAZING. we are an army of missionaries here!!!) -"Where Can I Turn for Peace?"- we looked at each other and whispered "Antonio!". 

So yesterday the time for the lesson came. We left all our notes and preparations behind and just took our Book of Mormons and Bibles. Sister L. inspired us to do that. On our second lesson, we had prepared a lot of stuff, and then she found the scriptures…

D&C 84:85 “Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.”

And

D&C 100:5-8  “(5) Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;  (6) For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. (7) But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things.  (8) And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.”

So we left all our notes behind, and discovered through that experience that the Spirit was able to work through us much better, because we weren't distracting ourselves with our "lesson plans".  We are here to teach PEOPLE, not lessons. So it is so vital to let the Spirit direct you to what each person NEEDS, not what you want to teach them. So we went in to this lesson with Antonio to teach him about Jesus Christ. It went so well! Sister L. started us with the prayer in Portuguese - simple and sincere - and the Spirit was instantly in the room. We were guided to share certain scriptures we had come across for him, and to share testimony and experiences. We were able to answer his questions.

And I know that the gift of tongues is real. God, our Father in Heaven, has not ceased to bless us with these incredible gifts. Just like in the Bible, these miracles are still happening. Seriously, how do you think 70,000 LDS missionaries around the world can become fluent in a language on a 1.5-2 year mission. :) It's incredible. But it takes a lot of work!  Trust me, I am not speaking Portuguese like a native and I am far from fluent! haha! But I know that the Lord has enabled me to learn faster and more effectively than I EVER could on my own.

D&C 58:26-28  “(26) For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.  (27) Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;  (28) For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.”

Here at the MTC we are truly anxiously engaged in a good cause. I've learned that the key to doing good missionary work and being successful in the Lord's work, is to turn your focus from inward to outward. We had the opportunity to listen to a talk by Elder Bednar (when you hear him speak, wow! I can't deny that he is an apostle of the Lord. He is so humble, and yet he speaks with such power. You can FEEL truth.) called "Character of Christ." Even when Jesus Christ was suffering the Atonement, he never once focused on himself. He was praying in the garden of Gethsemane...suffering for the sins and pains of all mankind. And his apostles, who he asked to stay awake, fell asleep. He had been let down. But was he angry? Did he say "Do you even UNDERSTAND what I'm going through???" No. Never. After that, Judah - one of his apostles - betrayed him with a kiss. Did he hate Judah? No. Did he do anything against him? No. Did he stop loving him? No. As the guards are approaching Jesus Christ to take him away, Peter uses his sword to defend Jesus and cuts off on of their ears. Instantly Christ heals the guards ear. Wow. In his most painful moments, he was concerned for the welfare of others. Even on the cross, after having nails driven through his hands and feet and side, he sought to comfort those on the crosses beside him, saying that soon they would be with him in his Father's Kingdom. And on the cross he was concerned for his mother, Mary, and made sure she would be taken care of. THAT is selflessness, and charity. THAT is what it looks like to "put off the natural man and become a saint".

Mosiah 3:19  “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

I KNOW that Jesus Christ LIVES! During Elder Bednar's talk he told us that often we would want things on our missions - people to teach, success, baptisms, etc, etc, etc. He said "Who cares what you want?!!" He said it in the kindest way possible. :)  Haha! But it was something all missionaries need to hear. He said "NONE of this is about you!" We are here as missionaries to SERVE THE LORD! EVERYTHING is about HIM. It is SO important that we serve him in every way we can. Whether we are tired and want to sleep in, or whether we are missing our loved ones or our favorite tv shows or are feeling bad for ourselves because we haven't had the success WE want - WHO CARES?! All that matters is that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do. Our missions - MY mission - are ALL about serving Jesus Christ and God's children! Everything we do is to prepare to teach God's children and to bring them to Christ.

Our missionary purpose - Nosso proposito e:

Convidar as pessoas a achegarem-se a Cristo, ajudando-as a receber o evangelho restaurado por meio da fe em Jesus Cristo e em sua Expiaçõ, do arrependimento, do batismo, de se receber do dom do Espirito Santo, e preserverar ate o fim.

Being able to memorize that in Portuguese (I started studying portuguese 5 days ago and I have a terrible memory!) is to me a miracle! We are so blessed here in the MTC with strength beyond our own!

In English, our purpose is:

To invite others to come unto Christ and receive the restored gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

Eu sei que O Livro de Mormon e verdadeiro. Sei que Thomas S. Monson e um profeta verdaderio de Deus. Sei que esta igreja e a igreja verdadera e que as familias são eternas! (I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God. I know that this church is the true church, and I know that families are eternal.

I am SO GRATEFUL to be a part of this work. This purpose is so special - because as missionaries, we literally share the same purpose as Jesus Christ. It is so humbling to be a representative of him. I know that I am inadequate. But I KNOW that He has called me as one of His servants, and that He strengthens His servants. I love the Lord! He lives! HE is the way to find peace, happiness, joy, satisfaction, EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING you need in this life and beyond.

The Book of Mormon is true. EVERYTHING about it testifies of Jesus Christ and ANYONE who reads it and prays, WILL get an answer. I know this because I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT. And I have SEEN it change lives.

I love you all! Thank you for your love and support. God be with you!

-Sister Greenall