(Note: Received 3/23/2010)
Hello family! I have more time today than last week, which is really nice, because I can write a longer email to you, and I can answer a few other emails I got too! Hooray!!!!
So I wrote a bunch of notes in my planner about what to tell you, but they are all really random and don't have a ton of stories attached to them. Life at the MTC is good. Each day is similar to the one before it, but each day is also a gift from God, so it's not good to just say that it's boring. Because there's something exciting about every day. Like yesterday, for example, I found out that Elder Russell M. Nelson is coming! HERE!!! Before I leave!!!
Alright, so let me start with...today. We went to the Temple this morning as usual. Last week was the busiest session I'd ever seen...they had to bring in extra chairs for all the missionaries to fit. Today, we had too many people for one session, plus some regular people (not missionaries) came too, and more than usual. SO...We filled our session with people in chairs and all, and then the Elders that were left over (because there are only 6 Sisters who go on Tuesdays) went to another session that began 30 minutes later. It basically rocked! I have never, ever, seen too many people for a session, where they had to turn some away! And the person I went for today, Lucy Mary Seymour, was born in Minnesota. In 1866. Cool! After the Temple, we went over to distribution. I wasn't getting anything, but my comps were. So I just hung out there. They have a TV on the wall there, and it's always on the BYUTV channel. My alma mater. Anyway, it caught my attention because it was a show that I worked on! It was a show from my sophomore year, and I remember that I was the utility for the jib operator, and it was a sweet show. So I was like...whoa, I really do work for an international TV station! There's something indescribably cool about seeing your own work on TV in Brazil! And as I was standing there, one of the Elders in my district came over and mentioned that he was at that show. Cool...not a huge deal because it's BYU. But, I finally got it out of him that he was in the Young Ambassadors for a year, and I filmed him a few times! Crazy...haha he knows some of my friends!
Tonight, as usual, I am playing the piano for choir. And tonight the song is....Scripture Power!!! I'm so excited for it! I haven't sung that song since Primary! It'll be pretty fun. I'm also playing the piano for an Elder who is singing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. And next week for an Elder in my old district singing O Lord, My Redeemer, which is an absolutely beautiful song, and he's a Tongan with a sweet bass voice, so picture that if you can. Yeah, I'm practically the unofficial pianist here, which makes me pretty busy all the time! I didn't write y'all a letter this week, because I just didn't have time. Plus it helps that I can put it all in the email right now. Sorry I don't have picture to send; I can't take my camera out of the MTC, and I dont have a card-reader. Plus I don't have many pictures anyway.
Cars here are different. Fiats, Fords, and other cars are prevalent. Mercedes makes buses and trucks, but not so many cars. We did, however, pass a Ferrari dealership on the way back from the Temple! We also passed an ancient cemetary, but with HUGE gravestones, packed in there...behind a cement wall with barbed wire on top. Everything here is secured...it makes me wonder how much crime happens, or would happen without it. But I don't really know. Hahaha, we also passed a car with a snorkel on it. Yeah, the kind of snorkel where the car can go underwater. Weird! James, I think of you everytime we take the bus to the Temple, because the roads are basically tiny here, and the bus driver is pretty much pro at driving. I think you'd have quite the time here!
FOOD. Let me tell you about the food. Watermelon almost every single day, sometimes twice a day. And I haven't gotten sick of it yet. I also haven't gotten sick of beans and rice yet, and we eat it with every single meal except breakfast. Breakfast consists of delicious rolls that we use for ham and cheese sandwiches. Sometimes there is cereal. But there are always ripe bananas. Pineapple juice is pretty much the greatest invention ever. The juice here is SO sugary. I don't drink it, because of that, except for pineapple juice every couple of days. I haven't developed a like for guarana yet, which is like the Brazilian national drink. It's too sweet, and I can't even drink a small cup of it. There is so much meat there is here. At least two, usually three, dishes of meat at lunch AND dinner. I have gotten into the habit of making lunch my main meal, and dinner I usually just eat fruit, a salad, and a roll. Because I'm never even hungry by dinner time anyway.
In gym time, I always play volleyball. Tuesdays are awesome, because we have gym with a Brazilian district, and they play volleyball with head, arms, feet...basically anything goes. And it's intense. Last week, we had so many people playing, that we made it two-court volleyball, and it was the most fun I've ever had playing that sport! Unfortunately yesterday we got to gym and there was no volleyball. It had popped. Which means we probably won't have two-court volleyball tonight. It also means I was bored yesterday...so I went running around the tiny track...I don't like running at all! But I can almost do a pull-up now! Hahaha. It's my goal to be able to do one before I leave. I've got 6 more weeks! :D Mondays, after gym, we get to do service. Yesterday, I got to fold pillowcases, mop floors, and dust some stuff. We found like half a dozen dead cockroaches. Sweet.
This week, my companheiras and I made it a goal to teach a lesson a day, in Portuguese, so that we'd have taught 7 by the end of the week. So we were doing that. They were short lessons, and we just taught Brazilians or other Americans at snack time, at 9:30pm. HOWEVER, yesterday we taught 4 lessons! It was crazy! And awesome! It is amazing what the Lord has done with us, as far as learning the language goes. I have so much more to learn, but I have only been here two and a half weeks, and already I feel that i have learned SO MUCH. My comps and I also made it a goal a while ago to spend 15 minutes of our companion study time speaking only portuguese. At first, we didn't know what to say. Now, the 15 minutes flies by, and we have full-on conversations. Yesterday, we talked about sports. All the Elders in our district know we do this, so it's cute when they ask every day how our 15 minutes was. Hooray! It's really helped us learn new vocabulary and better ways of expressing ourselves.
I had a thought the other day about Brazil. In a lot of ways, it's like the early church in the United States, because most of the Brazilians are first or second-generation members. I've met tons of missionaries who are converts. I met one Brazilian sister the other day who is a 3rd generation member, and that is a big deal. The country is so ready. I'm so blessed to serve my mission here!
My thought for the day comes from...1 Kings 19:11-12. My comps and I have been preparing a lesson on prayer, and we read this scripture a few times. I love that the Lord is not in the huge things of the earth, but is a still small voice. We just have to listen, despite what all is going on around us. And we'll be blessed for listening to the Lord. Obedience brings blessings beyond comprehension.
Can you all do something for me? Can you look for blessings in your lives because of my serving a mission? I can already see tons of blessings in MY life, but I'd love to hear about the blessings coming into YOUR lives! Keep pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ. Pray. Study the scriptures. Keep the gospel and the Savior in your mind always.
Much love and lots of smiles,
Sister Karen Ogden
Hello family! I have more time today than last week, which is really nice, because I can write a longer email to you, and I can answer a few other emails I got too! Hooray!!!!
So I wrote a bunch of notes in my planner about what to tell you, but they are all really random and don't have a ton of stories attached to them. Life at the MTC is good. Each day is similar to the one before it, but each day is also a gift from God, so it's not good to just say that it's boring. Because there's something exciting about every day. Like yesterday, for example, I found out that Elder Russell M. Nelson is coming! HERE!!! Before I leave!!!
Alright, so let me start with...today. We went to the Temple this morning as usual. Last week was the busiest session I'd ever seen...they had to bring in extra chairs for all the missionaries to fit. Today, we had too many people for one session, plus some regular people (not missionaries) came too, and more than usual. SO...We filled our session with people in chairs and all, and then the Elders that were left over (because there are only 6 Sisters who go on Tuesdays) went to another session that began 30 minutes later. It basically rocked! I have never, ever, seen too many people for a session, where they had to turn some away! And the person I went for today, Lucy Mary Seymour, was born in Minnesota. In 1866. Cool! After the Temple, we went over to distribution. I wasn't getting anything, but my comps were. So I just hung out there. They have a TV on the wall there, and it's always on the BYUTV channel. My alma mater. Anyway, it caught my attention because it was a show that I worked on! It was a show from my sophomore year, and I remember that I was the utility for the jib operator, and it was a sweet show. So I was like...whoa, I really do work for an international TV station! There's something indescribably cool about seeing your own work on TV in Brazil! And as I was standing there, one of the Elders in my district came over and mentioned that he was at that show. Cool...not a huge deal because it's BYU. But, I finally got it out of him that he was in the Young Ambassadors for a year, and I filmed him a few times! Crazy...haha he knows some of my friends!
Tonight, as usual, I am playing the piano for choir. And tonight the song is....Scripture Power!!! I'm so excited for it! I haven't sung that song since Primary! It'll be pretty fun. I'm also playing the piano for an Elder who is singing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. And next week for an Elder in my old district singing O Lord, My Redeemer, which is an absolutely beautiful song, and he's a Tongan with a sweet bass voice, so picture that if you can. Yeah, I'm practically the unofficial pianist here, which makes me pretty busy all the time! I didn't write y'all a letter this week, because I just didn't have time. Plus it helps that I can put it all in the email right now. Sorry I don't have picture to send; I can't take my camera out of the MTC, and I dont have a card-reader. Plus I don't have many pictures anyway.
Cars here are different. Fiats, Fords, and other cars are prevalent. Mercedes makes buses and trucks, but not so many cars. We did, however, pass a Ferrari dealership on the way back from the Temple! We also passed an ancient cemetary, but with HUGE gravestones, packed in there...behind a cement wall with barbed wire on top. Everything here is secured...it makes me wonder how much crime happens, or would happen without it. But I don't really know. Hahaha, we also passed a car with a snorkel on it. Yeah, the kind of snorkel where the car can go underwater. Weird! James, I think of you everytime we take the bus to the Temple, because the roads are basically tiny here, and the bus driver is pretty much pro at driving. I think you'd have quite the time here!
FOOD. Let me tell you about the food. Watermelon almost every single day, sometimes twice a day. And I haven't gotten sick of it yet. I also haven't gotten sick of beans and rice yet, and we eat it with every single meal except breakfast. Breakfast consists of delicious rolls that we use for ham and cheese sandwiches. Sometimes there is cereal. But there are always ripe bananas. Pineapple juice is pretty much the greatest invention ever. The juice here is SO sugary. I don't drink it, because of that, except for pineapple juice every couple of days. I haven't developed a like for guarana yet, which is like the Brazilian national drink. It's too sweet, and I can't even drink a small cup of it. There is so much meat there is here. At least two, usually three, dishes of meat at lunch AND dinner. I have gotten into the habit of making lunch my main meal, and dinner I usually just eat fruit, a salad, and a roll. Because I'm never even hungry by dinner time anyway.
In gym time, I always play volleyball. Tuesdays are awesome, because we have gym with a Brazilian district, and they play volleyball with head, arms, feet...basically anything goes. And it's intense. Last week, we had so many people playing, that we made it two-court volleyball, and it was the most fun I've ever had playing that sport! Unfortunately yesterday we got to gym and there was no volleyball. It had popped. Which means we probably won't have two-court volleyball tonight. It also means I was bored yesterday...so I went running around the tiny track...I don't like running at all! But I can almost do a pull-up now! Hahaha. It's my goal to be able to do one before I leave. I've got 6 more weeks! :D Mondays, after gym, we get to do service. Yesterday, I got to fold pillowcases, mop floors, and dust some stuff. We found like half a dozen dead cockroaches. Sweet.
This week, my companheiras and I made it a goal to teach a lesson a day, in Portuguese, so that we'd have taught 7 by the end of the week. So we were doing that. They were short lessons, and we just taught Brazilians or other Americans at snack time, at 9:30pm. HOWEVER, yesterday we taught 4 lessons! It was crazy! And awesome! It is amazing what the Lord has done with us, as far as learning the language goes. I have so much more to learn, but I have only been here two and a half weeks, and already I feel that i have learned SO MUCH. My comps and I also made it a goal a while ago to spend 15 minutes of our companion study time speaking only portuguese. At first, we didn't know what to say. Now, the 15 minutes flies by, and we have full-on conversations. Yesterday, we talked about sports. All the Elders in our district know we do this, so it's cute when they ask every day how our 15 minutes was. Hooray! It's really helped us learn new vocabulary and better ways of expressing ourselves.
I had a thought the other day about Brazil. In a lot of ways, it's like the early church in the United States, because most of the Brazilians are first or second-generation members. I've met tons of missionaries who are converts. I met one Brazilian sister the other day who is a 3rd generation member, and that is a big deal. The country is so ready. I'm so blessed to serve my mission here!
My thought for the day comes from...1 Kings 19:11-12. My comps and I have been preparing a lesson on prayer, and we read this scripture a few times. I love that the Lord is not in the huge things of the earth, but is a still small voice. We just have to listen, despite what all is going on around us. And we'll be blessed for listening to the Lord. Obedience brings blessings beyond comprehension.
Can you all do something for me? Can you look for blessings in your lives because of my serving a mission? I can already see tons of blessings in MY life, but I'd love to hear about the blessings coming into YOUR lives! Keep pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ. Pray. Study the scriptures. Keep the gospel and the Savior in your mind always.
Much love and lots of smiles,
Sister Karen Ogden
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