Hello everyone!!!
How was the week for y´all (shout out Trav and Chan ;) ). HAPPY BIRTHDAY Brett! Hope you did something exciting to celebrate!! Oh mom and dad thank you so much for the Easter package!!! It was so fun to get and my entire district says thanks for the chocolate! The chocolate here just isn´t the same. You all rock! I appreciate the letters and emails from all of you!!!YAY! It is my last p-day in the CTM! It is kinda crazy...I feel like I have served my time here and I am more then ready to leave but at the same time I´m a little nervous to be thrown into the real world of Portuguese. I feel confident here speaking and I feel like I´m understanding fairly well too but I also think that once I get to the field it´s going to hit me just how much I have to learn still :). Either way I´m super stoked to go! One of my teachers, Irmão Nacimento is engaged to a girl who is serving in my mission right now. She was called to be there for three weeks because one of the Sister´s had to go home for a health reason so she took the place for the three weeks before I get there. She actually came back today but Irmão Nacimento said that he is pretty sure I will have a Brasilian companion and that he thinks he knows the area I will be going apparently a little bit out of the main city area...he says it is great! I´m excited! I am hoping for a Brasilian companion...I feel like it would help my Portuguese improve a lot more quickly. So, I had a dream that the entire family was learning Portuguese...so...how is it going? It´s a great language to learn! I hear it´s the second most dominant language in the church. LOL I would love to come home to all of my nieces and nephews speaking Portuguese to me :). So we went proselyting on friday for the last time in the CTM. It was another wonderful experience and as I have expressed before it is so refreshing to get out and talk to people and TEACH about the restored gospel!! WOW...it´s amazing! I love these people!! They are so open to stop and listen and so patient with us forgeiners trying to speak their language!! I think we, in America, can learn a lot from them! I already have and I can only imagine what more I will learn from them in the next 16 months. A small accomplishment that I feel like sharing with you all...I did three pull-ups this week (yes total). Hear me out for a second :). I have never really tried to do pull ups in the past...I think in elementary school I had to do the hang above the bar thing for golden sneaker but other then that I can´t remember the last time I tried. But about three maybe four weeks ago my companion wipped out 5 pull ups like it was nothing so I thought sweet I´ll give it a try...only to find out that I can´t do a pull up. So I have been working on it...and struggling. On Thursday of last week I finaly did one...just one but I felt really good about myself, and then last night I did two in a row!! Haha! I hope I have somewhere to keep working on it once I leave the CTM. There is a quote by a general authority...I can´t remember who or what it says but something about how the spirit can increase our spiritual, mental, and physical abilities. I´m grateful for the help!!Well since it is my last week in the CTM I just wanted to share some thoughts about what I have learned here in the past 2 months. I look forward to learning much more once I get to the field of course :). *Faith works MIRACLES! This is not a new concept for me but my understanding and testimony has been strengthened causing me to have and act more on my faith.*God loves exact obeidience! As missionaries and members of the church we have the awesome opportunity to be constantly led and protected by the spirit and through the spirit we will have guidancein ALL aspects of life...we are blessed with this through being obedient.*I want to be trusted by all especially our Father in Heaven. As a missionary I am making it a goal to be trusted with His elect, so God can place them in my path and know I will recognize them, I want to be trusted by my mission President, my companions, the members, the investigators in any area with any companion, etc so that I will carry the work and never hinder it.*House of order. I tend to be spontaneous and just live life as it comes which is fun and can be fine as long as there is order! I have thought a lot about this here in the CTM...the importance of planning the importance of order, etc.*Always look for ways to improve. Watch and pray for ways to improve myself, my relationships, teaching, studying, all aspects have room for improvement and it happens line upon line.*Last one I will share (I have a long list but not time for all of them)...the power of LOVE!! I do love people pretty naturally but I don´t ever want to take that for granted or forget to express it. Love is central! I mean CHARITY really loving as our Savior does. ALL is possible because of love and without it we are nothing and could become nothing...with it we can have everything and become everything our Father has promised!!On that note...I love you all!! You are amazing! You are in my thoughts and prayers always!
Much love!
Sister Chelsea Dawn
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
April 21, 2009
So I was writing an email and my computer froze up and so I´m going to have to recap real quick. CTM is good! Life here is good...I am getting anxious to leave the CTM to the field in only 2 weeks but as I have said before I love my district here and my teachers! It has been a good 7 weeks. This week a huge group of missionaries that I love...we flew in with them...left. It was sad to say goodbye but I´m excited for them! There were two Brasilian (mom I haven´t quite figured out exactly how many a brasilian is yet...) sisters that left they are like for real sisters...same parents ya know ha...and they didn´t have very many clothes and the clothes they did have didn´t fit very well so we talked to the CTM Presidents wife and arranged to get them a couple dresses. When we gave the dresses to them they were so grateful and it was so sweet! I was excited to see them head to the mission field with some nicer dresses! They were sweethearts! Helped me a lot with my Portuguese! This week we did a practice baptism and I had to give a talk in Portuguese...it was real short but it was fun. It´s amazing to me how strong the spirit is in our practice lessons and baptism, etc. It is an important work and the Lord guides it! I have been practicing the piano the past three weeks. I am an amature but I have learned like three hymns and a bit and I actually played for the special musical number in my branch this week. I played sweet hour of prayer and my companion and an elder from our district sang. It was awesome! It was a good experience...I was nervous but happy to have the opportunity. I am hoping to keep practicing and learning in case I ever need to play in a meeting, etc.So I would love to write more but I better bounce. Time is up. I love you all. I love this work! I am so grateful to be in Brasil! I am so grateful to be growing closer to my Savior! I am so excited to be learning Portuguese! I hope you are all well and know that I love you! I pray for you all everyday!Much love!
Sister Chelsea Dawn
Sister Chelsea Dawn
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
April 14, 2009 On the countdown . . .
To my favorite peeps!
I only have 3 more weeks in the CTM. How is everyone?! How was Easter? I hope you all had a great week and a good holiday!! Easter here was good. It was fun because all of the branch President´s wives made all of us missionaries homemade cookies and they were dElIcIoUs! And one of the Elder´s in my district got a package from his mom so he shared the candy and we had a mini district Easter party! It was fun put a little variety into our very structured lives here. I live for anything that adds some variety here at the CTM and this week we went proselyting as well as celebrated Easter so it made for a very eventful week ;). Proselyting ROCKED!! We went to a park near a museum here in São Paulo and it was beautiful (both the park and the museum). Some of the Elder´s got kicked out of the park and were told they weren´t supposed to proselyte there (we found out later) but we walked past several um...park rangers if you will...and none of them said a thing. Sometimes it pays off to be a sister :). Proselyting has been the most exciting and invigorating part of my time here at the CTM for me there are so many lessons I have learned here and I know there is much purpose in the CTM but when we go proselyting it is more clear to me what my purpose is and I love my purpose! I am so excited about this work! People here in Brasil are ready and willing to at least listen and the spirit guided and directed my words and my ability to understand Portuguese so much! Both of my companions are a bit better at the language because of their Spanish but it has helped me a lot! But on the bus ride home my companion said "wow you understand everything" she thought because of my responses and granted I did understand a lot more then last time I really did´t understand everything and I probably missed a lot more than I realize but the spirit directed my words and I was able to answer their questions. We gave away 11 Books of Mormon...it was a lot of fun! I also was very excited because I felt that I was still able to be and express myself even with my limited Portuguese...it made me so happy!! I am very grateful that the people here are loving and warm...they were patient and willing to listen to us with our broken Portuguese and to this beautiful message. I felt the love that the Lord has for these people so strongly! It was great. We don´t go again for another week and a half but I can hardly wait.My companions and my district are so great! We have a lot of fun together and laugh a lot! I have learned so much from them! There are six of us so it is a small and tight district...consisting of the three of us sisters and three elders. Our branch presidents wife took a picture of us at the temple today so you should get that soon. They are such awesome and hilarious people! The other night my companion Sister McCandless was singing ´God Be With You´ in her sleep. It was the middle of the night and I remember trying to figure out what was going on and having the desire to tell her to stop singing but in the morning when I realized what had happened it was so funny to us. She was creeped out by it...but it was hilarious. Our teachers here at the CTM are so awesome as well! They are inspiring and so patient! They are both very humble and hardworking people and I have learned a lot about what I want to be like as a missionary through them! It is a great experience to be here! Sometimes I get so anxious to get outside that I am clawing the windows but I know this is part of the journey too so I am trying to take advantage of the time I have here while making through it by remembering that at some point I really am going to go out and teach the gospel. This time is much needed to learn, prepare, and fill my lamp for the months and experiences to come! Life is sweet! You are all awesome! Thank you for the letters and emails! It is so fun to hear from home and feel the love and support! Keep me posted! Tiffany thanks so much for posting all of my letters on the blog I have already heard from a couple people that have been able to read my emails on the blog...you rock!I love and miss and pray for you all!!
Have an awesome week!
Much love!
Sister Richins
I only have 3 more weeks in the CTM. How is everyone?! How was Easter? I hope you all had a great week and a good holiday!! Easter here was good. It was fun because all of the branch President´s wives made all of us missionaries homemade cookies and they were dElIcIoUs! And one of the Elder´s in my district got a package from his mom so he shared the candy and we had a mini district Easter party! It was fun put a little variety into our very structured lives here. I live for anything that adds some variety here at the CTM and this week we went proselyting as well as celebrated Easter so it made for a very eventful week ;). Proselyting ROCKED!! We went to a park near a museum here in São Paulo and it was beautiful (both the park and the museum). Some of the Elder´s got kicked out of the park and were told they weren´t supposed to proselyte there (we found out later) but we walked past several um...park rangers if you will...and none of them said a thing. Sometimes it pays off to be a sister :). Proselyting has been the most exciting and invigorating part of my time here at the CTM for me there are so many lessons I have learned here and I know there is much purpose in the CTM but when we go proselyting it is more clear to me what my purpose is and I love my purpose! I am so excited about this work! People here in Brasil are ready and willing to at least listen and the spirit guided and directed my words and my ability to understand Portuguese so much! Both of my companions are a bit better at the language because of their Spanish but it has helped me a lot! But on the bus ride home my companion said "wow you understand everything" she thought because of my responses and granted I did understand a lot more then last time I really did´t understand everything and I probably missed a lot more than I realize but the spirit directed my words and I was able to answer their questions. We gave away 11 Books of Mormon...it was a lot of fun! I also was very excited because I felt that I was still able to be and express myself even with my limited Portuguese...it made me so happy!! I am very grateful that the people here are loving and warm...they were patient and willing to listen to us with our broken Portuguese and to this beautiful message. I felt the love that the Lord has for these people so strongly! It was great. We don´t go again for another week and a half but I can hardly wait.My companions and my district are so great! We have a lot of fun together and laugh a lot! I have learned so much from them! There are six of us so it is a small and tight district...consisting of the three of us sisters and three elders. Our branch presidents wife took a picture of us at the temple today so you should get that soon. They are such awesome and hilarious people! The other night my companion Sister McCandless was singing ´God Be With You´ in her sleep. It was the middle of the night and I remember trying to figure out what was going on and having the desire to tell her to stop singing but in the morning when I realized what had happened it was so funny to us. She was creeped out by it...but it was hilarious. Our teachers here at the CTM are so awesome as well! They are inspiring and so patient! They are both very humble and hardworking people and I have learned a lot about what I want to be like as a missionary through them! It is a great experience to be here! Sometimes I get so anxious to get outside that I am clawing the windows but I know this is part of the journey too so I am trying to take advantage of the time I have here while making through it by remembering that at some point I really am going to go out and teach the gospel. This time is much needed to learn, prepare, and fill my lamp for the months and experiences to come! Life is sweet! You are all awesome! Thank you for the letters and emails! It is so fun to hear from home and feel the love and support! Keep me posted! Tiffany thanks so much for posting all of my letters on the blog I have already heard from a couple people that have been able to read my emails on the blog...you rock!I love and miss and pray for you all!!
Have an awesome week!
Much love!
Sister Richins
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
April 7, 2009
Dear Family and friends,
Hello so I have such limited time on the computors and I have so much I want to write! I will try to hurry... This week was great! General Conference being the highlight! It was so powerful to watch it here with a bunch of missionaries it was so powerful and I learned a lot! I felt a big focus on being of good cheer! What a blessing to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ, knowing the fullness of His gospel and perfect plan in these hard times! I am so grateful and feel at peace! Protection through the temple was another theme that stood out to me! Another blessing in which brings much peace to me life. And I loved Elder Jefferey R. Holland´s talk about the atonement...he is powerful! His talk shed new light on the atonement for me and helped me understand why our Savior had to suffer completely alone. He being a perfect man never experienced aloneness...he was always worthy or the Spirit and had the Father so close...but in order to understand how we feel when we are far from perfect and feel completely alone the Father had to take His spirit away and our Savior suffered for us completely and alone! WOW! I also loved Elder Hales talk about provident living...so important and very needed in this day! What were your thoughts? I would love to hear what you all got from it!We went to the São Paulo temple today for the first time. It is the temple in my mission and it is BEAUTIFUL I would venture to say the prettiest temple I have ever been in!! We also went to a BBQ place with our teacher. It´s like Rodisio grill...or however you spell that. It was really good! I´m not a huge meat eater but it was fun to try and experience...and it did taste really good. I ate chicken heart...um...tasted fine but the texture was sick. I hope I wont have to eat much more of it. The language is coming along! This week our teacher told my companions and I that we don´t need to speak English anymore. He said that we can say everything we NEED to say and even though we can´t say everything we WANT to say...that according to his definition we are fluent...ha. My problem is what I want and need to say is all relative...he may think I can say everything I need to but I disagree. Forcing ourselves to speak Portuguese is great though. This week we are doing 3 no English days...wow...it is hard for me! I like to talk and express and relate to people and I can´t do that very well in Portuguese...it will come!I love you all! I want to write more but I have no time! Thank you for your emails and letters...it is so fun to hear from home!! Keep me posted!
Much love!
Sister Richins
Hello so I have such limited time on the computors and I have so much I want to write! I will try to hurry... This week was great! General Conference being the highlight! It was so powerful to watch it here with a bunch of missionaries it was so powerful and I learned a lot! I felt a big focus on being of good cheer! What a blessing to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ, knowing the fullness of His gospel and perfect plan in these hard times! I am so grateful and feel at peace! Protection through the temple was another theme that stood out to me! Another blessing in which brings much peace to me life. And I loved Elder Jefferey R. Holland´s talk about the atonement...he is powerful! His talk shed new light on the atonement for me and helped me understand why our Savior had to suffer completely alone. He being a perfect man never experienced aloneness...he was always worthy or the Spirit and had the Father so close...but in order to understand how we feel when we are far from perfect and feel completely alone the Father had to take His spirit away and our Savior suffered for us completely and alone! WOW! I also loved Elder Hales talk about provident living...so important and very needed in this day! What were your thoughts? I would love to hear what you all got from it!We went to the São Paulo temple today for the first time. It is the temple in my mission and it is BEAUTIFUL I would venture to say the prettiest temple I have ever been in!! We also went to a BBQ place with our teacher. It´s like Rodisio grill...or however you spell that. It was really good! I´m not a huge meat eater but it was fun to try and experience...and it did taste really good. I ate chicken heart...um...tasted fine but the texture was sick. I hope I wont have to eat much more of it. The language is coming along! This week our teacher told my companions and I that we don´t need to speak English anymore. He said that we can say everything we NEED to say and even though we can´t say everything we WANT to say...that according to his definition we are fluent...ha. My problem is what I want and need to say is all relative...he may think I can say everything I need to but I disagree. Forcing ourselves to speak Portuguese is great though. This week we are doing 3 no English days...wow...it is hard for me! I like to talk and express and relate to people and I can´t do that very well in Portuguese...it will come!I love you all! I want to write more but I have no time! Thank you for your emails and letters...it is so fun to hear from home!! Keep me posted!
Much love!
Sister Richins
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