Oi! Fica Chique!!!

Oi!

The MTC is definitely Spiritual Disneyland! A few scary rides, but definitely the happiest place on earth! 

It has been 10 days since I have been here! It only feels like a few though. They say that the days go slow and the weeks fly by and that is sooo true. We really needed this P-day (preparation day). We all ran out of clothes, especially gym/workout clothes so we all were really stinky for a few game of volleyball.

WE play district sand vollyeball most days. It is fun because we get to go outside the MTC gates-FREEDOM! ;) and hangout with each other. Also, me and one of the other sisters in my district, Sister Hansen, go to workout classes in the morning. We have to wake up at 6 AM but its totally worth it. They have Yoga, Cardio, Kickboxing, etc. for the sisters only! Our teacher is like 5 or 6 months pregnant though so its pretty funny. 

My companion is Sister Phillips. She is from a small town in Tennessee so she's a southern belle with a cute little accent. She is soft spoken so the Elders make her yell, but I love her! She is so fun! She is also way dedicated to the gospel and loves the Lord. She left her boyfriend behind to serve; they are basically engaged already so I was WAY impressed that she's here. We also teach really well together. I bear testimony and cry a lot, and she has Portuguese down pretty well-- so it's a good combo. It is her birthday today so we have had fun with that too!!

My teacher Brother Beck is so funny. He teaches us Portuguese slang and funny things about Brazil. So far my favorite words in Portuguese are "Nossa" which means "dannnngggg" and "que chique" (KEE SHE-KE) which means "that's classy." Portuguese is so fun to learn. It is hard to pronounce because it sounds like French and Spanish combined. 

Honestly, the first couple of days at the MTC was a struggle. You are constantly working hard and trying to feel the Spirit. After my first lesson, I was so humbled! Learning Portuguese has stretched me more than anything else in my life because it requires so much faith in to give lessons and talk to investigators in Portuguese. I have only been here 10 days and I have already given 4 lessons totally in Portuguese (they are each like 15-30 minutes of Portuguese)! Also, I cry in basically all of my lesson...not because I am sad but I AM JUST SO HAPPY!!! I feel the Holy Ghost so strongly especially in the lessons! I need to have so much faith in God that he will bless me to be able to use Portuguese to be able to help João (John).

 One of the most important lessons I have learned so far is that: Portuguese is just a tool; the Spirit and the Book of Mormon are how people are converted to the gospel. 

Also, I love this quote from Elder Holland: 

"If you only have one convert on your mission (yourself), your mission was a success."

On Tuesday night, we had the coolest devotional ever! Elder David Evans of the 70 came to the Marriott Center. He is the executive secretary of the missionary department, so he basically knows everything. He said that there are over 76,000 missionaries in the field as of last week and they will have 85,000 in the field by fall. 

He also gave us really cool insight into Jacob 5 (especially verse 27, 50, 61-62, 71-72). He said that the servants are prophets, and that the servants all ask for more time and the last servant calls more servants. He said that verse 72 is a prophecy about our generation. So cool that the Lord is hastening His work in the latter-days!!!! I love it!!!

Also I was in the choir at the devotional and they told the sisters that we should definitely be at choir for the next two weeks because we will be a part of something "that we will remember for the rest of our lives" but that is all they could tell us. We think that that means that we will maybe sing in a big meeting coming up soon (wink, wink). 

So, I met Elder Kraudy! He is Jessie's friend from Nebraska! He just got his VISA though so he will leave for the Brazil CTM on Tuesday. I have also seen Tanner Lennon, Rachel Taylor, Logan Johnson, Sean Goar, Jake Fairbairn, Joshwa Motley and Britain Ross who are all people I knew in my freshman year at BYU. It's sooo nice to see familiar faces!!! Oh and Elders Fairbairn and Motely are in my branch/zone!!!!

I love you all so much!!! Keep writing! I love to hear from you all even if I don't have time to reply (we only have an hour to respond to emails). 

Love,
Sister Bledsoe! (that's so weird but awesome!!!!!)

You know you're a missionary when...

-You're favorite holiday is P-eve (the day before p-day) #joytotheworld

-You wake up at 6 AM to go to a workout class just so you can hear some music

-Your district finds out your first name and you feel exposed