Oi familia e amigos! Today I'm trying something new... actually writing this blogpost in advance so I don't have to stress out about the ticking countdown clock in the corner of the screen! Sometimes I amaze myself with intelligence. Other times I wonder what the heck took me so long to figure this out haha.

 

I'm 50% done with the MTC! So weird to think that in two short weeks I'll (probably) be getting my reassignement (when missionaries still don't have their visas by the end of their time here, they get temporary assignments somewhere in the states). Its actually super exciting because its like getting to serve two missions in one! Also teaching in English would be wild. My timing here has been great so far -- I got to chat with Sister Chelsea Aniel last week! I just love that sister! Shes here for 11 weeks (bless) learning French and Tahitian. And Kati Stone got in this week. So blessed to know so many people here!

 

Okay, so apparently this isn't available online because it's a talk (given by Elder Bednar) given at the MTC, but I love it so much that I need to share--this sunday, my district watched "Character of Christ." Talk about an absolute turning point in our missions already! Some points from his talk:

- Christ turns outward in times of his greatest tribulations (example: after Gethsemane, he heals a guard's ear...after all the suffering he had just endured, that must've seemed like such a trifle wound but still he put others before anything else! I'll leave it to yáll to find other instances of this. There are lots.)

- The natural man turns inwards (think the cookie monster - I want cookie now!). We must focus on turning outwards every day (as missionaries, this mission isn't about us or what we want. It's about the people we teach and their growing relationships with Heavenly Father!)

- Testimony is a foundation, not a destination. We must all be converted unto the Lord (his definition of converted is being constantly true to what you know)

- Repent = (re)turn back to God -- accomplished through the Atonement; the Atonement provides an increased capacity to do good and get better (it gives us strength beyond our own!)

The whole talk was so powerful that I'm definitely going to watch it again some Sunday. Absolutely incredible.

 

If it weren't for that talk, my Sunday highlight this week would've been at fast and testimony meeting, when a big, Samoan-looking Elder stood up at the pulpit and said: "Put your hand over your heart. Good. Now lean to the left a bit... now if my testimony doesn't do much for you, at least you can say I moved you physically and touched your heart!" Hahaha. I was cracking up. Definitely one to put to use later.

 

This monday was the happiest of mondays. I received 4 DearElder pages (the letters run into each other, and we don't get mail Saturday or Sunday so it was great) and a marvellous letter from Mallory (also shout out to Celeste for my Esther Day drawing, ilysm!). Consequently, I now have red glitter everywhere. I also found out that Sister Hill in my district knows more community quotes than life so that has been wildly entertaining. And although we had to say goodbye to two Elders, before they left we found the son of our mission president, Brother Pinho! He teaches here, apparently. He told us all sorts of neat facts about the Interlagos mission and got us all pumped to go! (Tender mercy fer sure!)

- There are half a million people in a single city block.

- We will mostly be serving in the city now, as Sao Paulo west took the rest of the mission boundaries when they added missions.

- Sao Paulo Interlagos is the second highest baptising mission in all of Brazil!! Which is huuuge. With just 100 missions, they baptise about 250-300 people a month! Talk about a prepared place!

It was so cool. A bit scary because his Portuguese accent is way different that our teachers', but he's such a cool guy. Look forward to eventually meeting President Pinho in field, because supposedly he's super funny duing meetings. :)

 

The only other thing I could mention is how we now rap our verb conjugations. It suprisingly helps a lot to say them to a beat haha. "Como. Sei. Diz. (drop) Eu, dormia. Eu - eu dormia." It's acutally hilarious though I promise!! (Or not--we're at that point in the MTC where anything is funny, tbh).

 

Quote of the week: "You'll never drown when your lifeguard walks on water." Amen.

 

You are all wonderful and are in my prayers every day. Don't forget to be awesome.

 

Muito amor,

Sister Kaegi

 

PS - if someone could DearElder me the Spanish rap from Community, I will love you dearly. It is something I absolutely must translate and add to my collection of memorized Poruguese things. Kaegi out.