July 23rd - Snail mail style

Dear Family,

P-days are wonderful, but oh man, email is stressful!  Half of the time the computers freeze up, there is a countdown timer that adds tension, and there are usually a pack of 19 year old girls desperate to email their boyfrannnssss.  It's great!  Also, for some reason, there are only about 3 computers that you upload pictures onto.  Even then, you have to use a card reader instead of a regular USB cord --UGGHH!  I've managed to borrow one for the past 2 weeks, but I feel like a street urchin begging for someone to have pity on me so I can email my mommy some pictures.  I think that the uber restricted email and picture limitations is one of my biggest frustrations at the MTC.

Another difficulty is the fact that we are not allowed to study in our rooms!  Sister T and I both really love to just have a break from being surrounded by missionaries and delve into personal study, but once again, we're restricted from going back to a place of peace.  I understand the need for strict rules, but it is hard to not feel stifled.

Studying outside is the next best thing to studying at your desk!

All in all the MTC is really great!  I 've never felt so spiritually high and low in such a condensed amount of time.  Every time we feel low, we are strengthened by a fireside, teacher, devotional, scripture, or a comment from a companion.

FUNNY STORIES:
They have missionaries do "service" project one morning each week, which is just a clever way of getting a bunch of free labor done.  After last week's experience, I am convinced that they give us the most unpleasant jobs. I think that "Dirty Jobs" should do an MTC special.  Last week, Sister T and I had to scrub out the bottom of these massive garbage cans...I am fairly certain that they had never been cleaned before.  Imagine an oddly gelatinous substance that smells like dog anal glands, and has rotting fruit and what could have once been cheetos cemented in place.  Add in a little bit of human hair and used tissues, and you have a delightful 7 A.M. treat.  I am so grateful that Sister T was there gagging alongside me.  It was a bonding experience for sure. Keep in mind that I am a farm girl and have done my share of unpleasant and smelly jobs in my life.  This one beats all!

I have been pretty good about tolerating the uber religious comments that the girls make ( um...if you get a shower after gym, it's really NOT a miracle sent from God...), but the constant Disney songs, humming, and attempts to harmonize are pretty ridiculous.  I try to find humor in it, but I do get some weird looks when I don't join in the 4th verse of "Part of Your World."

Every. Single. One. of the MTC teachers are super attractive.  It must be a pre-req.  It challenges my focus and attention!  Well I don't have anything especially profound to share with you guys.  I'm learning a lot about communication and exercising patience.

I love you guys loads!
Sister Colvin

It's a Coaster RIde

The ups and down of MTC and missionary life continue!

Health: Disease still seems rampant among our district. Our awesome DL (Elder P--but Elder A is now our DL) was soooo loopy on Wednesday, and then ended up sleeping almost the entire day on Thursday, and still has a nasty cough. Elder E (one of our zone leaders--the same one that had bed bugs) was also out for most of Thursday/Friday. The sisters are in good spirits, but we all sound like a pack of 40 year old chain smokers.

I've been sick for two weeks now, and I must say that I am thoroughly sick of being sick. Our first teacher, Irmao C, served in a more remote section of Brazil, and he comforted us by letting us know that he was sick his entire mission. Yay. I've been in good spirits, and despite hacking up disgusting yellow-green mucus from my lungs, I feel really pretty good. Poor Sister M has probably had the worst of it this past week, and she started dry heaving during one of her lessons with an investigator....then the next day her companion, Sister W, had a coughing attack to the point of tears during another lesson.

The district: I am completely convinced that we have the BEST district. We've been close since the first week, but this week we had an Elder go home, and it was really hard on all of us. We knew that it was best for him to return, but all of us were definitely really torn up about it, and it really felt like a brother had left us.

Elder S and Elder N probably took it the hardest. We had an emotional class period right after he left, and it has really helped us to grow and strengthen our district. I. love. these. elders. They are incredibly humble, sensitive, hardworking, and fun. We laugh and joke around at times (sometimes a bit too much), but in the end, we are a family, and there is always someone looking out for you. I had a ridiculously hormonal  down day yesterday, and they all were so sweet and tried to cheer me up--which worked! I so appreciate the fact that they look for ways that they can help those around them. They are going to be great missionaries. 

Also--Elder S is pretty much all of the Sister's FAV. He's precious. He does a bunch of goofy voices, and his color-coordinated scripture tabs make my OCD heart smile. 

He grew up with 3 sisters, so you just know that he has a sensitive side. He also reminds me a lot of Sawyer, which is oddly really comforting. I'm grateful to have a reminder of home within my new MTC "family." ALSO, his mom is pretty much the greatest. I think he's gotten like 10 packages since being here, and she always sends stuff for his companion and the district. She sent us a few balls, and at the end of a 16 hour day, tossing that little green ball around is the greatest stress relief.

 
Investigators: We got a new "investigator", Francisco, last week. He's in his late 40s and his wife and two youngest children are members. He has never had a desire to hear the gospel before, and on our first visit he expressed how he is content with his life and doesn't feel the need for religion in his life. We testified and taught the restoration and BoM, but still felt unsettled after the lesson. After a day of prayer, thought, and study, Sister T and I both came together for companionship study with the SAME idea--teach him through the story of Ammon and Lamoni.  Ammon, a Nephite missionary, decided to serve a mission to the Lamonite people who were known enemies of the Nephites. 

Ammon was captured and become a servant of King Lamoni, the Lamonite King. King Lamoni was impressed with Ammon's faithfulness when Ammon defended the king's flock from a band of robbers. Ammon was then able to teach King Lamoni the true source of his courage and faith. King Lamoni and his entire household were converted. It was....missionary insight for sure! We spent two lessons going through that story, and relating it back to him. We helped him realize that Lamoni was content with his life, but when he opened his heart and heard the gospel, he felt even greater joy than he could have felt ever before. It was a powerful moment, and since then he has kept commitments, prayed and read scriptures with his wife, and committed to baptism in two weeks! We're grateful for the guiding power of the Spirit as we tailor our lessons specifically to his needs.

We also had the opportunity to do TRC for the first time this week. It's basically teaching Portuguese-speaking member volunteers, and sharing a simple message that can help them to draw nearer to Christ. Sister T and I were on fire! We were able to understand a lot of what they said, get to know them better, and really feel Christlike love towards these people. It was a huge blessing, and reading their feedback sheets was really encouraging.

But then....we did a practice door approach yesterday....rough. The door approach went smoothy, as ST and I have been practicing a lot, but once inside the person had a LOT of questions, and with our limited Portuguese ability we ended up repeating ourselves a lot and not being very clear. Ah well, live and learn. 

We've made it a district goal to do a contact every day, which is really fun. Often times we'll contact a companionship, and then we bear our testimony to each other in various languages. It's sweet! Everyone here is ridiculously friendly, and for the most part super happy as well.
   
Classes: Irmao C (our amazing first teacher whom has taught at the MTC for 3 years), has been out of town for a week, which means that we have had like 3 different substitutes.....we miss him. Every teacher has commented on how fast our district is learning Portuguese, and how we are doing really well at making plans and teaching, but unfortunately that means that we've gotten a LOT less structure and instruction with these subs. I'm very much a woman of structure, so sitting in our morning class for THREE hours without direction has been very frustrating. We've still had our other awesome teacher, Irmao D(aka Aquilino & Francisco) for night classes (6-9pm), and he's really good at keeping us focused without boring us to death....some of the subs, not so much....

The captive audience

Side note: I know I've said it before, but all of the teachers here are way attractive. We had one play the role of one of our investigator's friends in a lesson....whoooo man did I have to pray for focus. It's a struggle.

Companion: I cannot say enough good things about my dear companion, Sister T. (Mom keeps asking me where she is from, and I keep forgetting to answer her.) She has lived all over the United States, but is currently from England.

Every day we are so grateful for each other, and though there are some less-than-perfect ridiculously hormal rampant hippopotomus times, we really do work well together. She is so patient, kind, and hardworking. We're almost always on the same page, and we've gotten to the point where we know when the other person needs a break, or needs some words of encouragement. She's such a powerful teacher, and has been blessed with an ability to just LOVE people. It's a trait that I'm still working to develop, so it's really good that she's my first companion--I've learned a ton from her already.

Okay, random bits:
We got TWENTY-SEVEN new people in our zone this week--it's insane. Nobody left this week, so every meeting/laundry/etc is super hectic. One district seems really super awesome, but the other one....not so much....kind of like the difference between my district and Garrison's district. I'M SO THANKFUL FOR MY DISTRICT. Our district has a tradition of writing letters to our district members twice a week, so that way every member gets a letter from everyone else by the end of our stay here. It's a huge blessing, and has been so sweet and encouraging! WE HAVE THE BEST DISTRICT.    

Elder E thought he resolved the bed bug problem........but a few days ago he found one ALIVE. Gross. He captured it and named it Korihor. (the anti-christ of the Book of Mormon) So.... great...bed bugs in the MTC!        Thank you for all of your love and support! Being a missionary is really awesome. It is such a unique opportunity to live, study, and breathe the gospel. I have such a testimony of this church, and the power that it has in people's lives.

"Obedience is the price, Faith is the power, Love is the motive, Spirit is the key, Christ is the reason, Joy is the reward"  Elder Goodman

 Sister Colvin    

Funny Friday

Friendly Faces in the Crowds

It is a reassuring feeling to see people that you know from home in the MTC!  Here are a few Spokanites who I have managed to capture a picture with:

Elders: Colvin and M, Sisters: Colvin and T.

Garrison and Kyle, err I mean Elder Colvin and Elder M. took senior year seminary together and are now studying Portuguese and headed to Brazil!!!  Please come VISAs!

Best Photo Bomb EVER ... Sister W. and Sister Colvin!

Hi again Sister W....we have seen each other a bunch even though she is a month ahead of me, learning Spanish, and headed to Guatemala!  She's gonna be great!

Sister M...a very favorite friend of mine!  She will only be in the MTC for 10 days, so I am really excited that I got to see her on my temple walk. She will be serving the the Provo, Utah mission.

Jace M. who teaches ESL missionaries at the MTC.

Sister K.

Being Bold with a Cold

DEEP Deep deep meditation. (or a bad cold)

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow! I cannot believe another week has already gone by! To begin, I'll respond to some of the wonderful letters that I've gotten this week. THANK YOU for sending me so much mail! It is really a blessing, and it helps boost our tired missionary spirits after a long 18 hour day. All of the sisters in our district have been sick for the past week. 
   
I swear I'm going to hug you guys (referring to her brothers) all the time when I get home--it is hard to not be able to touch people here! I'm not even supposed to show affection for my awesome companion! I would kill for a littlest brother back rub right now haha. I've learned a remarkable amount of Portuguese in just two short weeks, and now feel very comfortable teaching the first lesson, bearing my testimony, reading scriptures, reciting the first vision and missionary purpose, praying, and carrying a light conversation. It's awesome. The church is true. Your line (referring to Sawyer's letter to her)  "When you think about failures or other negative thoughts, you can't focus on anything else or anything good" is ABSOLUTELY true here. ST and I will walk out of a lesson, and it's very easy to focus on every little thing that we "did wrong," instead of focusing on how many things go right. That is something that we're always trying to work on. 

My wonderful companion, Sister T!

We did NOT plan this twin day.

 

Garrison has been doing great.  He is very positive and encouraging, and has really helps his companion, Elder W feel more confident.  Garrison is starting to get sick, which is a big bummer. I think it's kind of inevitable in this type of environment, but once one member of your district gets sick, all of you are wiped out. Course when the energizer bunny gets sick, he just seems to move at a more normal pace.

It's really interesting to be stripped of all worldy influences. I love what you said about King Benjamin and the people crying out in one voice. The MTC is a unique experience to feel that unity, and that's something that we really have to work on within our district. I LOVE our district, but sometimes we goof off a little too much, and it gets out of hand. It's hard to keep a whole group of 19 year old young men uber spiritual all the time.

Rio District Elders trying to contain themselves.

 My crowd angst is SO BAD. I just want some time to myself! I find bathroom time and shower time to be some of my favorite moments of peace haha. Sundays are way crazy--EVERYONE is in the cafeteria at the same time, and they basically stampede in order to get to the green jello pudding.(no picture of this...yet) 

Devotionals at the Marriot center involve a long long walk with thousands of missionaries.  It is nice to get out of the classroom and move a bit, and the devotionals are really inspiring. Elders and Sisters are segregated of course, so I can't sit next to Garrison during devotionals.

Not feeling well on this day...can you tell?

Sleeping is going much better, and I actually had a really interesting experience with that trial this week. Last Tuesday, as I was completely exhausted, my head was pounding, the world was spinning, and I felt completely humbled, I realized that I completely had to turn to the Lord for help. I had prayed to him, but for whatever reason, I had not asked for a blessing of heath and comfort. Even though I feel comfortable with the elders in our district, I figured that I could power through this trial, tough it out, and then be fine....but I think sometimes the Lord gives us trials to help us recognize that sometimes, we're not fine. Sometimes, we have to be "humbled even as to the dust of the Earth." It was such a trial of humility. (See D&C 8). As I turned to those young elders in my district, admitted that I had a problem, and rooted my faith in the Lord and His healing authority, I felt immense peace and love. Elder Arnold (the 22 year old in our district) anointed the oil, and Elder Papworth (the baby of our district @ 18.5) gave the blessing. They were both extremely nervous, but their words were incredibly sincere and simple. I am so grateful for their worthiness to have the priesthood power. After that blessing, I felt so much peace! Even though sleeping was still a struggle for a few nights, I felt calm and at peace through that trial. The church is true!

AUAGHGHGA EMAIL IS SO STRESSFUL. THE CLOCK COUNTS DOWN YOUR TIME SO FAST.

Mom & Dad:
Thank you so much for your letters and words of encouragement. It's a huge blessing. There have been at least 2-3 people from every district that get their VISAs in time to go to Brazil, but it seems completely random as to who gets them and who doesn't. Keep us updated!
 
My roommates are getting a kick out of hearing about Levi's flat tires--if my bike kit will help him to repair his tire and not have to carry his bike through thick brush, then so be it!

Close quarters!

It's so interesting to hear your different perspectives about the church tour. One thing I have learned so far is the missionaries are BOLD. At our first lesson with Francisco last night we straight up asked him, "so, your wife and kids have been baptized, why haven't you been baptized yet?" I think you can get away with that a lot more in Brazil, but it's always important to go by the Spirit. We are encouraged to always extend a baptismal invitation--often times if the person says no, you can get to the root of what their needs really are. Right now we're working on Faith and feeling God's love with "investigator" Francisco.
 
Ah! Almost out of time! This is so stressful! I still have to send pictures! Ah!!!!
 

Rio District

Yeah!!! Elder S's Mom sent us some Brazilian decorations for our classroom!

Temple grounds are as close as we can get....temple is closed until August 11th : (

I'll try to write you some funny stories about this week involving trash cans and Disney songs!
 
I love you all! Read Deuteronomy 31: 6-8.

Com muito amor,
Sister Colvin

PS~remind A. M. that she is a best friend of mine and should write me a letter ;)

Funny Friday

Some things never change

Devon will appreciate this one. She knows how hard it is for me to open things, and the very first night I sliced my finger open with my scissors while trying to cut a zip tie off of my lanyard. It bled a lot, but it's all good! Sister T. finds a lot of humor in how hard it is for me to open things. 

 

Missionary work in Portuguese is hard!

Sister Colvin and Sister T -- WE'RE GOING TO RIO!!!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Missionary work in Portuguese is really hard when you can't speak Portuguese!  I know what to say and teach in ingles, but I don't know enough Portuguese to be able to express myself.  But I am learning.  Thank heavens for a patient and hardworking companion.  I really love Sister T.  We have been on the same page emotionally since the first minute.  Today we taught our first investigator lesson in Portu"gles" (as our teacher, Irmao C would say).  It. Was. Rough....There were certainly some things we did well, but it was extremely humbling - especially because the other sisters are Sister W (who is fluent in Spanish, so pretty fluent in Portuguese) and Sister M (who is very positive and give commentary on everything) really did a great job with their first lesson.  Humility.Patience.Work.

Our schedule is crazy - we get up 30 minutes before everyone else because our breakfast is at 6:30 am.  Everything is early! Our dinner is at 4 pm, but we are still scheduled to go to bed at the same time as everyone else...meaning we are exhausted by the end of the day.

Random Facts:

• I am senior companion which is done alphabetically and we switch in 3 weeks.
• There are 8 elders and 4 sisters. 
• We are learning a TON of Portuguese
• My companion is popular.  She attended BYU for a year and knows a ton of people.  Everyone loves her, as do I.
• I see Garrison all the time.  We have the same schedule. He seems very happy.  I remind him not to eat the fried pancake and sausage sticks...(yes, they exist). He has a nice companion, Elder W.
• The food....is nasty. It is really greasy and unhealthy. I've been eating the salads, wraps, eggs, and fruit, but because our mealtimes are so odd, I am often STARVING during class time.  
• Despite being exhausted, it's hard to sleep at night.  I slept very poorly the 1st night, and last night I took a sleeping pill (thanks for remembering to include that in my first aid kit Mom!).
• We don't get to study in our rooms....it would be so much easier to focus if we could, but we are being obedient.  

The place we wish we could study!!!

 I saw one of my favorite sister missionaries today and had to get a picture with her before she leaves for Guatemala!

Sister W and Sister Colvin

Week 1 at the MTC - Rio style

First off, THANK YOU so much for sending the DearElders and the lovely emails and pictures. They have truly been a big blessing this past week! Please have someone post the DearElder information on fb, because for a missionary, getting mail at the end of the day is such a huge encouragement, and I'd love to hear from more people.

I made a list of things to write to you, so much of this email will be in bullet points.
 

-Garrison seems to be doing really well! His companion, Elder W, is struggling with the language, but seems like a really great guy. Garrison is senior companion and he seems to really be encouraging and inspiring Elder W. They had a very successful lesson last night with their investigator, and I think Garrison hasn't stopped smiling (or bouncing) since he came here. I do not know how he has so much energy! It is really a blessing to have him here with me--we have the same schedule and so we are able to see each other at every mealtime and briefly catch up....but at other times it is really hard to have him here as a reminder as to how much I miss all of you. It is really hard to see him and not just want to scoop him up and give him a hug.

I know I'm not a touchy-feely person, but I really miss being able to hug him. Our branch presidents both told us the second night that we needed to set an example for others, and so we are being obedient....but it is really hard. He has been (and still is) such an encouragement to me. He's a great missionary. The first few days we had a LOT of training meetings, and he would make really inspired comments--I would find myself turning around in disbelief that such wise words were coming out of my 18 year old kid brother's mouth...but they were. The power of being set apart as a missionary is real.

-Our P-days are Tuesday, but we only have access to computers for an hour, so it's hard to get everything I want written. ALSO, we do NOT have access to anything besides the misssionary portal, which means I can't blog from here--please copy and paste messages from this email or from my letters as you feel inspired. It can be a great missionary tool!

-DearElders are the best way of communicating, and if you write them before noon, I get them the same day! Please please please write, and encourage the boys to write as well. Also, please respond to this email through DearElder so I don't have to wait a week to hear from you again!

-Special request for Maddie, we are in sore need of decorations for our district! (Chris Traeger voice) it would *literally* be the best thing ever if you could draw pictures of us/for us to put up in our classroom. There are 8 elders and 4 sisters. 

Brazil Rio District Elders

Brazil Rio District Sisters

-Rosetta Stone really helped with pronunciation! I can read and write words really well, and am finding that for some reason I remember words in Spanish, and they often translate to Portuguese. (If only this would have happened when I was taking Spanish in college....)

Please profusely thank Sister J for her sweet letter. It helped me so much, and the scriptures she included came at the perfect time. She expressed how being a missionary is HARD, but that it has to be, because it was never easy for our Savior. There are so many ups and downs associated with missionary work, and I think we mostly hear about the ups.

Here are my list of "ups" and things that I am grateful for:

-My companion. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am to have Sister T as a first companion.

I was so worried about getting along with my companions, or getting a companion that didn't want to work as hard as I do. Sister T is amazing. Think Paige 2.0. She is incredible--we have really worked well together the past week. We are dilligent about communication every emotion, why we are feeling that way, and what we can do to uplift one another. We are united through our goal to teach our "investigator", Aquilino, and both are studying and working really, really hard to do our best. I am grateful for her compassionate hardworking attitude towards missionary work.

-The teaching power of the Holy Ghost. We're learning Portuguese. Last night we carried on a whole conversation in (broken) Portuguese. We're learning to be humbled and to teach to our investigator's needs and to rely on the Holy Ghost (Espirito Santo) to teach them--often times/all times, it is not our words that teach them, it is the Spirit we bring. I am grateful that both Sister T and I recognize this and are striving to live in a way that brings the spirit with us.

-Our district. We have been blessed with some amazing people in our district, and our district leader (Elder P) is so sensitive to our needs, and often writes an uplifting note or expresses his appreciation for qualities of people that he appreciates. They are all wonderful, and I'm grateful that the MTC helps me to recognize the good qualities in people, because everyone has them. 

Brazil Rio District Missionaries in front of the Provo Temple

-The devotionals. It seems as though every devotional has been directly tailored to my needs.

Now for some downs....

-I am having a really hard time sleeping. I think it's a combination of extremely hard beds, being on the top bunk, being with other people, and just not EVER having any time to yourself here in the MTC. I find my mind racing, and my body tossing and turning as I try to fall asleep....4/6 nights I have given up and taken a sleeping pill, but I can't be relying on them. It's extremely frustrating, as we are all exhausted enough with our schedule. (Oh, and we're guests at the MTC, which means that our schedule is 30 minutes earlier than everyone else's, but we still go to bed at the same time). I am TIRED, but I feel myself being humbled and focusing on serving other people. When I'm thinking about their needs, and not my own, I find that I have enough focus, drive, and energy to remain positive and make it through the day.

-It is really hard to teach people, not lessons. We have an incredible "investigator," Aquilino. He is so receptive and he has so much faith, but we've had some rough lessons where sister T and I focused on outlining things, making sure we knew how to say it in Portuguese, and then teaching him that specific lesson...and that's not what he needs. We had an incredible lesson with him on Saturday in which we focused on his needs, went completely off script, and you guys....it was incredible. I don't think I've ever felt so spiritually touched in my life. Sister T and I were truly filled to the brink with the Spirit, and Aquilino's heart was touched as well. I've never felt like that before. As we prepare tomorrow's lesson, we are really trying to focus on praying about his needs, and what we could say in order to help him.

-THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME. I love people, but I don't like being around them 24/7. Luckily, neither does Sister T, so we often separate ourselves from the district during companionship study time so that we can get a break from people.

Other than that, things have been wonderful. I feel like I am constantly being humbled and refined in this proccess. Just when I feel as though I've "got it," we teach a lesson that was what we thought was right, not what the Lord wanted me to prepare for my investigator. Our teacher, Irmao C, shared a spiritual thought with us that I love a lot. He talked of the story of Joshua, and how Joshua had to get his feet wet before the water would part. I need to read that story in its entirety, bue I love that message--we are certainly getting our feet wet in this MTC!

I love you all. Please continue to send pictures and emails! (Also, I haven't heard from A. yet, so tell her if she wants to maintain best friend status she better write me a dearelder...haha jk. But really.)

Com muito amor,
Sister Colvin

PS~ Way to go Marcy, and way to go Sawyer! It looks like Daniel Stewart was SO fun!

The Departure - A picture is worth a thousand words.

We are ready to go!

Luggage Weigh in...Garrison's bags = 49 and 48.5 pounds.  Taylor's bags = 49 and 51 pounds.  In the background you can see an employee who was a young man in our ward when we first moved to Spokane.

It was a bitter sweet sibling farewell. 

True love! It sounds cliche, but it is true that it just seems like yesterday I held her in my arms first time.

On the way home from the airport, Taylor planned a surprise for each of us in the car.  She wrote very tender personal messages to each of us and placed them in the glove compartment of the car.  Then she set an alarm on our Iphones to check the glove compartment.  We had just pulled away from the airport when the alarm went off.  It was such a thoughtful surprise and we were all deeply touched.