Oh man. I have a limited time to do this today since I don't have a library card yet, and basically 2 weeks worth of information I can't wait to share! So I'll start from two Sundays ago, our last big MTC district moment. We sang Come, Come Ye Saints in sacrament meeting and substituted the word "west" for Brazil and the final "All is Well" to "Tudo Bem" (Portuguese translation). It was such a powerful experience, singing together one last time.

On Monday, everyone but me spend their free time packing. There were a bunch of sisters in our hall from "Kiribati" who sang us a farewell song and it was so sweet. Can't remember it much now, but they said they sang it on their island for graduations and farewells. Loved hearing them.

I had a bit of a Marius Pontmercy moment on Tuesday (Les Mis reference) where I woke up to a room full of empty mattresses... it was so sad! It continued throughout the day -- although I had two new companions (the remaining two from a neighboring district), I still had 3 hours of class with sister wells and our room looked sooooo empty. The best part, though, was that I got to go to last week's devotional where we heard from another apostle, Neil L. Anderson!!! So guess I wasn't missing out on much anyway. :)

His talk was entitled "Love and Sacrifice," and he shared this really great quote: "You sacrifice for the things you love, and love the things you sacrifice for." He related the message to the love that our Savior has for us and it was such an amazing talk to end my MTC days. We had to stay in the Marriott center for another 20 minutes for a thunderstorm, but they decided to let us out into the rain anyway even though no one had an umbrella with them haha. It was soooo fun. I can't believe Utah actually rained that much! It was about time!

So the following morning I got about 3 hours of sleep and travelled to Michigan. First thing I noticed: it's soooo green! I miss not living in a desert!! Seriously though, there's a nice amount of humidity and just green everywhere. We got to meet the Mission President and his wife, and then we were dropped on the MSU campus to tract and talk to students for 30 minutes. Sister Jackman (another visa waiter for Brazil Interlagos) and I talked to two people who weren't too interested, but then we found a young girl named Aje-e who put away her sandwhich and invited us to sit with her and teach her about the restoration!! It was so cool, seriously. After we finished she asked if we would call her and we said of course! I've since moved to a different area so not sure how's she's been since, but we gave her number to the sisters there so maybe I'll be able to see her again. :)

We also learned on the first day that they have black squirrels in Michigan. Apparently they're called "Lamanite Squirrels" because they're also vicious and unforgiving?? Haven't witnessed that yet but I thought it was a funny nickname.

We slept over at the Mission home that night and woke up to meet our new companions! Visa waiters get called into "trios" (three missionary companionships) here, so I got to meet Sister Nuttall and Sister Anson, from Utah and Colorado respectively. They're both amazing and I love them so much! Sister Nuttall played volleyball at Snow College and is always pushing us to do more each day. Sister Anson does modeling and photography and has the funniest stories. Oh, did I mention they're only like an inch or two shorter than me? Because that is the greatest. We are the tallest trio in the land, fo sho. Another great thing is that they run every morning at 6 and have vowed not to eat dessert except on Fridays (although Sister Anson and I have broken that quite a bit haha).

The first door we knocked at that day slammed the door in our face! So that was chill. Hasn't happened since, luckily. That was the day we knocked on Donny's door. He opened and stepped outside and told us his beliefs about being "born sinners." He listened to us and was super nice, although he also told us all about his past sins (including going to jail for gun possession and having wanted to kill a guy! He definitely leads an exciting life). I thought the whole encounter was hilarious haha. Oh, and then he commented on how tall Sister Anson was (I was a step down from her) and so when I stepped up to their level he took a step back and was all "...woah." So I pretty much intimidated a guy who's been to jail, nbd. Hahaha. But really, he was a super nice guy and we might even go back some time to talk to him a bit more.

Okay, so the first dinner we had with members I met a fellow nerdfighter who just deleted her tumblr! Whaaat. Needless to say, we bonded over Doctor Who. She's planning on serving a mission in four years and she's pretty great.

The last story I'll share is how I got to use my language skills for a bit!! We taught this hispanic lady who had two cute sons and a little daughter who's pretty sick. My companions don't speak Spanish so it's hard for them to communicate, and their usual member who helps wasn't able to come so it was up to me to share the restoration message! Luckily she had a Spanish BoM and we had a Spanish pamphlet, so I shared what I could. She didn't understand Portuguese like at all, but I understood her questions pretty well. We got through the first vision and I clarified that Joseph Smith wasn't our God (glad I could clear that up haha), and told her I'd practice my Spanish for next time. :)

The people we talk to here are so kind. I love those we teach so much already! I can't wait to go forward from here and share more with them the blessings that this gospel has brought into my life. I'm about done with time so I'll wrap it up here. I hope you all have wonderful weeks and I'll write again next Monday!!

Much love,

Sister Kaegi

The District plus Sister Wells I think.

Me and Sister Wells, Sole Survivors of the MTC!

Empty mattresses :(

Me and Sister Jackman en route to Michigan!

Sister Jackman and I in Detroit airport (this was a legit hallway and it was awesome)

Me with my new companions! Sisters Nuttall and Anson!!