March 17, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
Another week in Brasil has passed. It was a good week! I can believe how much I have learned is such a short time! Learning a new language is pretty amusing ;). I accepted a marriage proposal this week not realizing I did so until after the Brazilian Elders all laughed. I realized that I need to learn Portuguese really fast and not pretend to understand if I don’t. An Elder in my district…Elder Payne is my hero…he seriously struggles with the language. He has a lisp and has a gringo accent like crazy. He is so happy and positive and just laughs at himself. It is all I can do to not laugh through all the prayers he gives. But it is so endearing and he keeps me motivated and there is just as much reason to laugh at me when I speak too. One of the Brazilian Elders told me he can totally understand my Portuguese and it´s cute because I sound like a little kid…ha! I´ll have to work on that. Another funny story about learning a new language…this week in class we had our window open and one of my comps, Sister Marchant, said that it smelled like a barbecue outside. Our teacher (who is Brazilian) said (so I can´t find the quotations on this keyboard…bear with me), he said yes there is one down there. We were confused and didn’t want to get too excited so Elder Payne said…next door right? He said no it´s downstairs at the MTC and you can get your hair cut. Elder Payne got worried and said I need a haircut and Sister Marchant said a barbecue for getting a hair cut…as Elder Payne preceded to ask his comp if he needed a hair cut. We were all laughing way hard because of all of the confusion and suddenly I realized…oh Irmão you are talking about the barber shop. He said yes of course…and we all started laughing way hard! We explained to our teacher what a barbecue was and he said we should go on a p-day. It was great…and so funny.Thanks so much for the emails this week and the letter mom. So I know now what letters mean to a missionary and I am repenting for being the worst letter writer of all time before my mission. It was so great to hear from y´all!Dad I hope you had a great birthday! Anika I hope you got your birthday email today! My birthday went well too thanks for the happy birthday wishes! I got a card from my comps and some yummy yogurt candy things from the MTC president and his wife.I love the MTC here; I love the Brasilian people already and the food. Pretty sure I will enjoy my time here. It seems like I have a lot of it ahead of me but I´m sure itll go quickly.The MTC is a great place with a powerful spirit! My testimony of the restored gospel, the converting power of the Book of Mormon, and the great power and gifts of the spirit have grown a lot! I am excited to be here!Keep in touch!
Much love!
Sister Chelsea Dawn