WEEK #2

Hello!

          It has been a really good week here at the CTM. We wasted no time after Christmas and got right back to learning. I am learning a lot here and I'm having some really meaningful experiences. One big highlight was our new years eve festivities. I have always sort of thought that new year's was an overrated holiday filled with empty resolutions and an anticlamatic countdown. Not here! It was so fun, partially because it was a little different from the regular routine. We had a churrascaria for dinner complete with guarana and an edible dessert! The lunchroom was decorated very festive and it was just fun. Then we had a special devotional about goal setting and a snack with the whole district. Then, we hosted our very own dance party with our new Brazillian roommates. They are crazy! We listened to lots of Disney but the favorite was Hakuna Matata and we listened to that a few different times. We have a pretty great view from our bedroom window so we sat up singing and dancing and then we watched a LOT of fireworks go off at midnight! Ah it was so fun!

           Yesterday we had a pretty humbling experience... We have a new instructor because our typical professora is pregnant and pretty sick. He is really amazing. He only got baptized a few years ago but he served a mission and he LOVES missionaries because he truly feels like they saved his life and gave him direction and purpose. So he is very passionate and a great teacher but he is also a stickler for the rules. And let me tell you, at the CTM there are very many rules. And a lot of these are sort of secret, I have found. Meaning, we don't really get the memo until we have broken the rule. Oops. As an example, nail polish is not allowed here and my nails are always painted. Or, when we are in gym clothes a lot of the hall ways are off limits. Or, we can't send pictures home while in the CTM. And the list goes on. So the other day our teacher walks in and finds the three new Elders in our district looking relatively sloppy. One was chewing gum, one had his tie tied sort of funky and one had his top button undone. All at once the teacher began to reprimand them. It seemed sort of harsh at first and I even sort of felt for the Elders because I can agree, there are a lot of rules.

            But then we watched this video and I had a total change of heart. It is amazing and I only know the title in Portuguese but Elder Holland and Elder Eyring liken missionary work to the Atonement. Holland begins by posing the question that he states most involved in the missionary program feel at one point or another... "If this is the true church and we teach salvation, then why are people not flocking to the baptismal font? Why is missionary work so hard? He continues that maybe missionary work is not an easy task because salvation is not an easy task. Compared to the immense suffering that the Savior felt as he atoned for all of our sins, the tasks and challenges we face are nothing, but maybe we need to, on occasion, feel a small portion of sorrow and pain in order to completely understand and appreciate His sacrifice for us.

              Another thought I have been having a lot this week as I study and prepare is from the devotional Elder Bednar gave on Christmas. He talked a lot about how Christ ministered to his people one by one. This phrase appears 6 times throughout the Book of Mormon. He had us turn  to 3 Nephi when Jesus Christ visits the people and takes the time to talk to them each individuallly. (We were challenged to find the other 5 on our own.) Likewise, he asked us to always remember the "ones" we are teaching. Like instead of teaching a family of seven, we should think that we are teaching seven individual children of our Heavenly Father. I am not in the field yet but I have tried to direct my personal study and prayer to that line of thinking. Right now we are practicing on fake investigators but soon I will be teaching people that have challenges and heart ache. They may feel terribly alone in this big world. They may have no idea that they are children of a Heavenly Father who loves them or that they have a Savior who redeemed for their sins. They might have never prayed or recognized the whisperings of the Spirit. And I have the opportunity to tell them about their purpose! It is pretty exciting. So I am trying to find how the scripture stories I am reading will help teach eternal principles or show examples of how to be faithful diciples of Christ. This has made all the difference in my studies. I get a lot out of it and I look forward to sharing what I have learned.

               We all have the opportunity to be an influence for good whether we are missionaries or not so I think you guys should try reading like this and see if it makes a difference in the way you approach life and the people you interact with. I think it will.

Love you guys! Have a great week!

Sister Lauren
p.s.

I gave Paulinho his necklace but I haven't seen the Ferrins. If I don't see them in the next couple weeks I'll just give the stuff to my companion when she leaves because she's in Ron's mission. California sounds so fun!! I leave the MTC in 3 and a half weeks on a Tuesday. I heard briefly from Vanessa but I need to get her address to send a letter. No word from Dallin but that's okay. My district just split so I think it's just me and my companion and I'm not sure how many girls are in my branch because it's always changing. As sister leader I mainly just welcome girls into the branch and make sure they are doing well. I am going to give them some of the cookies and I wrote a letter already but I hope I am still here when Kennedy gets here! That would be really fun to see a familiar face! And I probably will be her sister leader because all the Americans are in the same branch.

This is my first P day but it seems good so far! And I will look for Wilson Lamb.

Love you!

our new years eve celebration