Monday, May 20, 2013

MTC: Week 4 & 5 (Sorry so late!)



(Week 4)
Hey family!
     So I know you just heard from me like two days ago so this isn't going to be very exciting, but my P day was switched to Tuesdays. Since the semester just got over they re did everyones schedules to accomodate the new teachers. We now have to wake up a half hour earlier and we go to bed the same time as before which is kind of a bummer but oh well. I think this way we will get an extra P day on our last day here which is nice. We haven't gotten our travel plans yet, but I'm pretty sure we will be leaving on May 14th. I'll let you know when I find out for sure but I'll be able to call home from the airport so hopefully everyone will be available for me to talk to!
     These last few days have been good! Our new teacher Brother Wittaker is really nice. He's from Orem and he's my age so it's kind of weird having someone my age teach me, but he went to Portugal so he actually knows what accent to use. We had a cool devotional on Sunday about temptation. It was given by the MTC something department manager something... I can't remember exactly but he was a great speaker. Next Tuesday Sister Gidney and I were invited to be Ushers at the devotional so I'm the one who has to get everyone a seat. Oddly enough I'm a little bit nervous for that. Haha it will be fun
    The Elders in our district were invited to be Hosts tomorrow. All the sisters are bummed because we wanted to as well but we're shooting for next week. Oh my gosh I only have 2 weeks left here. I've been here a month already! It feels like it has gone by so fast it's crazy. This week in TRC...(I don't know if I explained that but it's when people who speak Portuguese, most of them members but some not, volunteer to have us teach them) we taught two lessons. The first one was a dad and his 8 year old son. The dad served his mission in Portugal and met his wife there, and they lived there for a while so their son is fluent. It was embarrassing he totally showed me up in Portuguese! Haha and then our next lesson was the mom and she is actually from Portugal so it was really cool speaking with her. She was really nice. None of her family are members so she hopes we can find them and teach them.
    Oh I heard this week that sending a package to Portugal is risky. Apparently they are going through a really bad economic crisis (worse than the Great Depression) and since they are so poor I guess they are desperate for whatever they can get their hands on. Most packages get opened before they get to you. So just letting you know, don't plan on sending anything important to me for the next 17 months haha. Letters will be fine though!  From what I've heard from people who served in South America though, if you put Jesus stickers all over the package they're less likely to open it because they're superstitious. I don't know if they're the same way in Portugal. Worth a shot I guess!
    So a bunch of Cedar City kids left or are leaving this week. We all met up on Sunday night and took a picture together by the map. Shayla is already gone which is crazy! I feel like she just got here. I saw Cody finally. I didn't have much time to talk to him but he seems to be doing well. You'll have to let me know what other people I know are coming here soon so I can be on the look out. Oh today when we went to the temple we were walking out, and this guy was looking at us so we turned around and it was Sister Sandholtz's brother. She was so excited! Then as we were walking in to the MTC gate someone yelled her name and we turned around and her mom was there. So she saw her brother and her mom today! Crazy. I still haven't seen anyone I know but I always look! :)
     Today has been a lot less busy since we just had a P day. It's been nice. Our district all went outside and ate a picnic in the sun. I love sunshine it feels like heaven! Speaking of sunshine, mom and dad I didn't realize you were leaving on your trip today. LUCKY. I'm so jealous. Hope you have fun and stay safe. Make sure to send me pictures so I can pretend I'm there.
     Oh guess what? On Sunday in Relief Society we had the new Young Women General President speak to us. She seems like a nice lady. Sister Gidney and I got to meet the entire Presidency after the meeting and they gave us hugs. It was pretty cool haha.  Well... I can't think of anything else but I do have a list. I left it in my room though so if I remember something later I'll send another quick email. Anyway thanks for all the support! Can't wait to hear from you.
Sister Carroll

(Week 5)
Ola! 
     I can't believe today is my last P day at the MTC! We leave May 14th (a week from today) and we have a layover in Atlanta, Georgia and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Cool huh? We got our flight plans on Friday and our whole district opened it together. We are all on the same plane along with 31 other missionaries! There are 43 of us flying together. Can you imagine what the people at the airport will think when they see so many missionaries? Hahaha it is going to be awesome! I think it's about a 26 hour trip so it will be long but I'm glad we will all be together. There are about 10 or so missionaries flying in that same day from other MTCs. We're the largest group of missionaries to ever go all at once to Portugal. I'm really nervous for my trainer. I can just picture her now. From Portugal, doesn't speak a word of English, and has a crazy temper whenever I mispronounce a word. Just kidding I hope. Pray for me. Hahaha.
     Well since it's our last P day it was also our last temple session for a year and a half! We woke up at 5:00 so we could do a session of both since it will be such a long time. It was nice! I feel like there is so much to do today since we don't get another chance so I'm sorry if this email doesn't make any sense. My mind is scattered. 
     Oh dad, Ryan, Raymond, etc. guess what??! Chad Lewis like who played for BYU and the Eagles was our speaker on Sunday. I shook his hand afterwards. He's such a cool guy! I thought you'd think that was cool.  So tonight is another devotional. This is the one we get to Usher for. We get to Host tomorrow too so I hope I know some of the new missionaries coming in. On Sunday since it was fast Sunday we had a Missionary Conference instead of Relief Society and Priesthood. A sister in our district (Sister Sandholtz) played the violin so we got to sit front row. She's an AMAZING violinist by the way. Like seriously way way good. It was really awesome! That night we had the devotional by Chad Lewis and somehow we got in super early and got to pick our seats before everyone so we were front again! We met some Elders there going to Ughanda. One was from Texas, one from England, one from New Zealand, and one from St. George. Michelle and Alex I told them to look out for Kole! They said another sister had already told them the same thing. Kensie met them before too. They're really cool kids so Kole should have fun with them!
     Oh I never told you. There's this walkway here at the MTC that's uneven on one part and seriously 1/4 people trip while they're walking there. Every single day I see missionaries sitting on the bench facing that so they can watch people trip. It's hilarious. They always think we will fall for it so they always yell out, "Hey sisters how are you?" Like we're amateurs. HA Oh Michelle and Alex while you were up here over the weekend I did all my studying outside just so I could look for your car pass by. I wanted to see you so bad! I hope you had fun at the Women's Conference! I'm sure it was awesome!
     Oh by the way, last email I told you to put Jesus stickers on packages or letters if you send me anything, but I also heard Mother Mary stickers are helpful. They might be trickier to find, but apparently those help a ton. Wouldn't hurt to get both.
     I can't believe Ammon will be 2 in 21 days. I looked in the bookstore here for something to send him for his birthday but seriously... the only option is like a highlighter pen or a hymn book so I'm guessing he would be happier with nothing. Give him a hug from me though. I miss him! And Lincoln! And everyone else! Oh mom tell Sister Allred that she's the sweetest lady ever. (Unless you're reading this Sister Allred then I'll just tell you.) She sent me a huge package and I got it today full of tons of snacks and stuff. Sister Allred you're AWESOME! Thanks so much. My district loves you too haha.
     Mom Happy Mother's Day in 5 days! I'll be able to call you a couple of days after, but just know I am sending a card and I'll be thinking of you! (The cards are super limited so hope you aren't disappointed with Winnie the Pooh. hahaha)
     So there's been a trend in all of your letters that you're super concerned that I'm not speaking enough Portuguese in my lessons. Hahaha tudo bem. Tranquilo. I'm speaking a lot don't worry! I'm still really bad at the language but I can understand what everyone says and see myself progressing in speaking from lesson to lesson or week to week. Once I get to Portugal that will be a different story but that's okay! I'll get it though.
     There's a sister in the other Portugal district who is SUPER sick. She got a nasty cold so her immune system was down, so then when she got the flu it got really bad. She's been in the hospital for I think like 4 or 5 days now and they're keeping her until at least Thursday. I'm not sure exactly what's going on there because she was supposed to come home on Sunday, so I'm assuming it's pretty bad. Her companion is only allowed to visit her every once in a while so that's got to be weird to be seperated for that long. Keep her in your prayers!
     Oh totally forgot to tell you. So remember how I thought I would be Irma Carroll? They recently changed it to just Sister. I guess people there thought we were nuns so we had to change it... It's pronounced Sishter though. I wish I could be Irma but Sister it is! Hey what did you do with Kelsey while you've been out of town? Can't imagine you'd leave her home alone for that long. Kels you better be good. :) Give Bear a hug for me because he's so fluffy. Like seriously. Can you mail him to me real quick?
     Okay I really can't think of anything else and have a lot more to do but if you have any questions before I go to Portugal better ask them now! Sorry to all of you that wrote me and haven't heard back. I didn't have time today but I appreciate it! Sorry if this email makes zero sense. Have a great week everyone!
Sister Carroll 

Flight Plans to Portugal!
LV: Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) 2:25 PM (May 14)
AR: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DF) 6:05 PM (May 14)
LV: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX  (DF) 9:25 PM (May 14)
AR: London Heathrow, England (LHR) 12:25 PM (May 15)
LV: London Heathrow, England (LHR) 3:05 PM (May 15)
AR: Lisbon, Portugal (LIS) 5:40 PM (May 15)

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