This past week we’ve been focusing on learning from our trials and challenges, realizing that through our trials, and through our times of discouragement and despondency, we can become so much closer to our Heavenly Father and learn so much more about the Atonement.
Christ suffered every single mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual suffereing we have ever suffered, and as we go through trials and down times, we cen become more grateful to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for the atonement. It depends greatly on our attitude, and how we accept and grow through our challenges. Just rely on the Lord. Conversar com nosso Pai Celestial.
And we really do need opposition in all things. Those hard times make the good times so much better! Yippee skippee!
So basically, the mission has lots of hard times. Heat, cockroaches and ants :), new languages, lots and lots of hard work… People promising they’ll come to church on Sunday, then you get ready early, get a member with a car, and go out to pick people up for church, then no one is home or they’re sleeping, and you have no investigators at church with you, when you had lots of people committing to go the day before. Discouraging. But then it is so fantástico when you find those golden elect people, those who have been hungering for the gospel, and those who come to church and baptismal services!
This week was good in the hood, like always. I went on my first division! And I only ahve 6 weeks here! Ahhh. I was a bit nervous to be going out all day without my companion and with a member instead, but it was such a fantastic day. We taught coolio peeps, talked with lots of people, and had much much fun of course. And yes yes, ofcourse I grew muchly.
I’m just learning and loving lots out here. There’s no where else I’d rather be right now, adn this is where I need to be. Despite the fact that I had a cockroach crawl on my foot this morning as I was doing my laundry, everything is great. And the rice and beans are getting more and more delicious everyday. :) And it’s actually time for me to go eat some rice and beans now with our favorite Sorvete family now!
Boa sorte e bom dia também! Amo vocês, claro!
-Sister Owens
My first transfer just finished with much success and goodness! And now transfer number two has commmenced. I1m with Sister Morales still (yay!) and we’re in the lovely Jardim da Penha on the lovely isle of Vitória.
This transfer shall be an excellent 6 weeks. We have some really great people we’re teachign right now and I love them so much. It is such a blessing being an instrument in the Lord’s hands bringing the gospel and the spirit to these elect people!
Missionary work is so fun these days. Portuguese is improving on a daily basis, thank goodness, an dI love meeting these wonderful people and just how good they are. People are really good and Christian here. In fact the other day we were teaching this one super nice lady, Ivane, who we contacted one rainy day in the rain rain, and as missionaries, we get a bit tired at times. And Sister Morales had yawned and the lady asked if she wanted to go take a nap on her bed. They’re just so nice and welcoming. Although of course, we don’t usually take naps at people’s houses.
But funny story, the other week we were teaching this cool lady who makes rainbow jello and gives us delicious mango juice, and I was pretty much falling asleep in the lesson. Both of my companions were doing most of the teaching and I was sitting there, perhaps dozing off, fighting so hard to keep my eyes open. Soooo funny. If there’s a part of the lesson where I don’t talk for a while, it becomes a bit on the difficult side to keep my heavy eyelids up. :)
I’m so happy I’m here. Missionary work is defintely work though. Maybe that’s why I’ve been so tired. Never worked so hard in my life. :) We walk and talk all day long. And we laugh all day long too. Just having soooo much funny and so many funny things are happening.
Lots of funny things with Portuguese too. I’m learning the small differences in some words that make big changes in the meaning. Such as “com ela” (with her) and “comi ela” (I ate her). Now I’m focusing a bit more on saying “with her” instead of telling people about some other people I ate. I don’t like to eat people.
PS Many mahalos to Elena and Alexis and Hayley and Crystal for the lovely mail I got. Mail makes me like the happiest earthling ever. Obrigadão!
Olá!!!
My first transfer in the field is done! Crazy! I was in Pennsylvania for two glorious weeks and I’ve been melting in Brasil the past 4 fantastico weeks. I loooove this place and am excited for next transfer! One of my companions is done with her 18 months and is headed home. Craaaazy. But the other one and I are thank goodness stayign here in this area! Sister Morales and I in Jardim da Penha again! I am soooo happy that we are both staying, because we’ve got some elect peopel to baptize!
We are teaching some really wonderful people now and making such good friendships. I looooove these people and am sooo happy I am not getting transferred! I love these people here and this ward and especially those we’re teaching. It’s so incredible. It’s so wodnerful to find those people that have a desire to listen, learn, and come unto Christ. It is so rewarding. I am so happy to be here.
Oh and there is some massive flooding going on but it is south of me in a different state. But still keep those people in your prayers. I’m pretty much completely good and safe here. Doing fantastically of course! Just learning so so much.
And today I ate the cutest little baby banana. It was the best! The fruit here is sooooo good. I love it! And the beans… yum yum yum. It’s kind fo sad when we go to a member’s house for lunch adn there is no beans. We need that rice and beans every day! :) We need that energy to walk miles and mile in the 90+ degree weather with like 1000% humidity. It’s killer. But it’s so nice when you get home at night after a long hard day of work. It’s so much more rewarding to sleep! :)
I’m just excited for this next transfer that starts tomorrow, sad to see my companion Sister Olsen go though, but there’s always good things ahead. Hope life is grand for your all and that you’re doing lots of good things! :D
Peace out for now. Até mais!
PS I bought some TOUCAN earrings!
I love Brasil more and more every day! And I love my mission more and more everyday too! It’s so incredible being out here and being a full time missionary. Plenty of hard work, but my life is just being so blessed.
Í’m so happy I have my visa and that I’m here! It’s still wicked hot, but I think I’m adapting a bit. The people here are wonderful. We knock on lots of doors, which is actually clapping at their gate, and so many people are just so inviting and let us right in. I love just being in people’s houses with them, getting to know them, bringing the spirit to them. It’s the best.
And we went to one casa the other day, taught the first lesson to a mom and a daughter, and then they gave us a bunch of delicious mango. It was like the best I’ve ever had. Mangoes here are soooo good. I eat lots of them. I love all this fantastico fruit. But I could definitely use more vegetables these days. I’m getting plenty of rice and beans though, which is the best! And I’m not much of a meat fan, and fortunately I’ve been able to avoid most of the meat at meals pretty well.
And the other day there was a man who was pushing a big giant cart full of pineapple down the street yelling “abacaxí!” to sell it to people and I bought 5 cute little delicious pineapples for about $6. Fun fun in the sun sun.
Oh by the way, pedestrians do not have the right of way here. But all is well, no one has been run over for a while here. :) Just kidding, but seriously, you’ve got to be careful for those cars.
I love teaching and sharing the gospel with people. Some people realize we’re bring something incredible, and even thoguh we testify, others don’t realize we’re bringing something incredible. But it’s good to know we’re out here doing what the Lord wants us to do and the we are making so much more of a difference than we realize.
Transfers are next Tuesday. Wnoder if I’ll stay in this area of Jardim da Penha or move somewhere else. I’ll find out on Sunday! :) I love this area and these people here, but there’s always more good things and more good people ahead if I get transferred.
Love you all a lot! Make sure you’re going to church, reading your scriptures, and saying your prayers! :) Have a happy day!
Love Sister Owens
Feliz Ano Novo gente! :)
Being a missionary is fantastico! But tis quite difficult too. Especially when we’re just walking in the hot hot heat, you keep smelling the sewer, and you’re going from appointment to appointment and no one is home! It definitely takes a lot of mental, physical, and spiritual determination. But it is quite excellent. And I want to be no where else right now than here in Jardim da Penha. This is a perfeito area to start in! I’m a lucky ducky.
So it was New Years this week! I think I had the most uneventful New Years of my life. :) We just did our usual working all day, but there were some fireworks so yippee skippee! And NEw YEars Eve my companions and I got AÇAÍ bowls on our way home! Yay! Yumm yumm deliciousness! Oh there is so much wonderful divine fruit here. And it’s not very expensive either. I ate a fantastico mango this morning. Oh yum yumm.
And speaking of food, the rice and beans here, thank goodness we eat it every day at lunch pretty much, beacuse I love it. One of my companions and I are always wanting “arroz e feijão”. And at every house they have these yummy Garoto chocolates that they always give after lunch. Good chocolate appreciating people.
The people here are pretty wonderful of course. Everyone is welcoming and friendly. And when we knock doors/bater portas people will lets us in and let us share a little message and offer us water and things. Not all doors/gates let us in, but they’re mostly all nice. And for street contacts we make appointments to go back and taech people but so often they’re never home and we just go from dropped appointment to dropped appointment, which is not fantastic.
But we did find some excellent hopefully promising people this week. Interested and enthusiactic, so hopefully they’re genuine and we can baptize them! Batismos! We need two baptisms this month. But Transfers are on the 18th I think, and no idea or not if we’ll still be here. Transfers happen on Tuesdays every six weeks. We find out Sunday night if we’re being transferred to a new area so we have no idea. And then you don’t find out till transfer meeting where you’re going and who your companion is. Craziness.
I really like this Jardim da Penha area and our apartment is like a 10 minute walk from the beach. Fantastic! Not that we can go swimming, but I did walk in the sand the other day and my little toes were so happy! :) I am sooooo happy I’m serving on the coast.
And good news! It rained lots and lots and lots this week! Oh it was so fantastic and the best ever because it was not so so hot and I wasn’t spontaneously combusting this week like I was last week. Thank you for the rain! But I’m still getting plenty of sunshine and working on my sweet missionary tan.
Portguese is improving. I still just smile and nod and say “sim” and stuff, but I did much more teaching and contacting this week than I did last week and got through it pretty fine while still inviting the spirit. :) missions are the greatest, but yes, definitely on the difficult side.
And by the way there are so many old VW bugs here. It’s the best. I want one. And there’s tons of sweet VW vans too. Love it. I’m so happy I’m here, being led by the Spirit all the time, testifying of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Tis simple marvelous.
I’m in Brazil! It”s so crazy I’m here! I cant believe I got my visa and that I’ve been in Brazil for almost a week.
It took over 24 hours from when I left my apartment in Pennsylvania to when I got to the airport here in Vitoria. Traveling is exhausting. And then my two companions picked me up at the airport with one of the ward members and we went to our apartment, dropped off my bags, and went straight to work. Wowza. I did have time to change my clothes when I dropped off my giantesque bags but that was it.
But on my flight I flew down with Elder Lund, my mtc companion’s brother, who has been waiting on his visa and serving in Pennsylvania the last two months.
There was also one other elder who had been waiting for three months that was on the flight. I didn’t even have to wait two weeks! Craaaaaazy. And I ran into the girlfriend of one of my mtc elders on the plane too! Exciting looooong flight.
Tis crazy being here. It is so wicked hot and humid. I’m dying. And there is no escaping the heat except in a cold shower. I’m just sticky with sweat all day long. Last week I was in chilly winter and now I’m the hottest I’ve ever been.
The bugs aren’1t too bad here. Although the other morning I did wake up with like 10 mosquito bites. And the past 6 days we’ve had 3 cockroaches in our house. Thank goodness one of my companions is a fearless cockroach killer. I woke up in the middle of the night last night to go to the bathroom and there was a cockroach on the bathrrom floor. I sort of tried to step on it and it ran out into the kitchen. I sort of tried to step on it again and it moved away. So then I threw a shoe at it hoping I had squished it, but figuring I hadn’t. And then I just tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t because I thought I kept seeing and feeling the cockroach. Crazy head. :) But one of my companions found it this morning and it’s gone now.
It’s so different being here. The people are fantastic. Really wonderful and friendly. If only I could understand what they’1re saying! That’s been the hardest thing. Both of my companions are American so they translate things for me, but it’s so hard not really having any idea what’s going on around me. But the missionaries here and the mission president and his wife so my Portuguese is great for just getting here and that I’m pretty far along with it. That’s good, but it’s hard being patient and not being able to speak very wel
When people are talking I just stare so intently and get all of the words I can understand, but have no idea what the main story is. And then if they ask me a question I realize I had no real idea what they were talking about and then my companions will do a little translating for me. :) When people talk I do a lot of smiling and nodding and saying “sim!” and “obrigada!”. I’m excited to be able to tell people what I want and express myself, but just trying to enjoy this time now where I look like a foooool. :) The people here are wonderful though. And I’ve learned so much this past week.
And missions aren’t supposed to be easy. I’m not out here for a vacation. I’m out here to work. These people need the gospel. Everyone does. So all day everyday we do our best to share it.
With only being here for six days and just trying to get used to things and understand people, its hard to see the fruits of my labors. But I know this is where I’m supposed to be right now and I’m doing exactly what I need to be doing.
We taught tons of lessons last week, especially on Christmas eve. Our mission president said if we completed our weekly goals before Christmas, we could sleep in on Christmas day and have more free time, and by free, I mean time to study ! :) Which is fantastic. I just really don’t get enough study time everyday. Weird how that’s happened.
So Christmas eve was a complete down pour. So much rain. And we’re just walking around trying to finish up our lessons and contacts. Twas lovely. And we got all our goals done and slept in until 8 on Christmas ! Yippee skippee! And then we stayed home until about 1 and just studied and stuff. It was so excellente.
This was the weirdest Christmas ever. But it was still good. But of course I missed home and snow and more Christmas decoration and musica and of course my family! But I got to skype with my fam bam on Christmas and it was like the best 45 minutes ever! It was sooooo good to seee their lovely faces and hear their wonderful voices. And I’m sure my call on Mothers Day will come soon soon. :)
All day on Christmas we spent at this member family’s house. We ate and listened to Christmas music and played uno and of course watched some sweet church videos. :)
The members of the ward here are so hospitable and wonderful. We go to a member’s house every day for lunch and they just prepare a feast for us every day, with rice and beans of course at every meal. But after being super ful lwith luch (since lunch is their big meal here and not dinner), its hard to go back out and work in the hot sun when you just want to tak ea nap. But I’m onlly her efor so long and you have to take advantage of every hour.
Well familia and amigos, I miss you all and hope life is grand! Life is grand here for me of course, because there’s nothing better than being a missionary and immersing your self in the gospel and studying and praying for than ever before!
NEW ADDRESS:
Sister Chelsea Rae Owens
Missão Brasil Vitória
Avenida João Batista Parr, 633 Sala 1501
Praia do Suá
Vitória-ES 29052-123 BRASIL
Ola ola ola!!
I am in Pittsburgh right now! It’s like a full on blizzard outside and chillllly willy! My sandals and mosquito net that I packed to take to Brazil are completely useless. But by wearing socks and multiple pairs of tights and many layers I’m mananging to stay warm. :)
It’s been so totally different out here in the mission field of Pittsburgh, PA, but it is so lovely. I definitely am not a huge fan of the transition periods of leaving old places and people and getting used to new ones, but it is going rather swimmingly here.
Leaving the mtc and saying goodbye to my wonderful companion and my ten favorite elders in the world was not fun. It was like cry fest 2010. So sad saying goodbye to such wonderful friends who you haev shared everything with all day everyday for the past 9 weeks. But I’m so excited to get to Brazil someday (maybe a couple months) and I’ll get to see one of the elders in my district!
Flying over here was weird. It was so weird to be out in “Babylon,” to see people in regular clothes, without nametags, and just to be back in the world. I got here to PA Wednesday night and went out to eat with one of the senior missionary couples and two sisters. Then I stayed with those two sisters and the next day we had a Mission Tour.
For mission tour one of the members of the seventy came and checked things out and spoke with us. It was fantastico of course! My favorite part was that Elder Gavarett who came… spoke PORTUGUESE! YAY! I loooove Portuguese! And I really really miss speaking it, but I do get an hour of language study in each day, where I Portugues it up a storm. I am searching for Brasileiros here in PA but haven’t found any yet. I also got to meet the mission president and his wife and yes, of course they are fantastic too!
Then… to PITTSBURGH! This past week I’ve been right here in the wonderful city of Pittsburgh with two other sisters. I was just here for this week though. But I loooove this city a lot. There is so much cool architecture and so much art all over the walls and so mannnny dinosaurs. Weird. And awesome.
It’s fun doing real missionary work, talking, meeting, and teaching real people, and inviting people to come unto Christ. It’s so excellent coming into the field at Christmas time because there is so much mroe of a focus on Christ. That’s what it’s all about amigos.
We do a lot of street contacting, handing out pass along cards, sharing quick simple lessons, just trying to get them to understand that they have a heavenly father who loves them, who they can and should always pray to, and that they have a savior Jesus Christ, and through his gospel they will find peace and happiness in this life and the next.
The other two sisters and I have a lovely time. I’m trying to do better to always be speaking with someone. But it’s hard. But I’ll get better because even though I know these people seem like they don’t want to hear what I say, they neeeed the gospel. Everyone does. It only blesses your life!
Well it has been an exciting week. Tomorrow I’m leaving the wonderful city of Pittsburgh and heading to my area of Lititz, which is near Lancaster which is near the Amish people. We don’t proselyte to the Amish, but I’m just excited for a new area and getting settled and learning and teaching! I’ll be there for at least 6 weeks and with one other sister and it will be excellent! Hopefully it’s not a snow storm there like it is here!
Merry Christmas and Feliz Natal familia e amigos! Espero que suas vidas sejao muito bom!
Ola ola ola!!! And Feliz Natal!!! I am so happy it’s Christmas time!
Sooooo my time here in Provo at the MTC is drawing to an end. I leave here on Wednesday, but not to Brazil. No visa yet unfortunately. So we all got reassigned and received those new calls yesterday! So exciting! Out of the 12 missionaries in my district, 7 are going to California, 2 to Montana, 1 to Texas, and my companion is going to Colorado. Guess where I’m going…… PENNSYLVANIA PITTSBURGH!!!
When they read it I was so surpised and a bit sad that I’m on the complete opposite side of the country as all of my district. But I am so so excited for Pennsylvania! To experience it, to love it, to learn and teach. So much good ahead! And I know that’s where I’m needed! The Lord needs me there and I am so excited and can’t believe I’m going to Pennsylvania! I’m just get more excited every day, but anxious and a bit nervous too. But I’m pretty sure I’m prepared hopefully! :D
And Woo hoo Pennsylvania is right next to New Jersery, where my brother is! Ah I love everything!
And I have zero idea how long I’ll be in PA for. Who knows when I’ll get a visa! No idea! But again, it’s all in the Lord’s hands.
While I’m excited for the field, I’m a bit sad to leave the MTC because I’ve had the most wonderful experience here. I’ve heard from apostles glaore and multiple general authorities. It’s fantastic. And I have sesriously had the greatest district in the world. I love my companion and our ten elders so so much! So blessed. I’ll be crying saying goodbye to them, but most fortunately my favorite elder is in my mission in Brazil! :D
I’ve learned so much here. I love all of the study time and being immersed in the scriptures. I’ve learned so much about faith too. As missionaries, we’re are inviting people unto Christ and helping them develop faith in Christ. Faith is a principle of action. There is a big difference between having faith in Christ and being faithful to Christ. We need so much more than just a knowledge of him an of what he has done for us. Because the devils know that. The devils know that Christ is the Son of God and that he has atoned for all of our sins. We need this knowledge and we need to have that knowledge lead to action, by following Christ. Learning of him by studying his words and keeping his commandments as well as living a life of service.
I’m so excited for Pennsylvania. But will definitely be sad saying goodbye to all the wonderful people and things and spirit ehre at the MTC. But I know there is soooo much more good ahead. Can’t wait to experience these next 14 months!
Thank you/obrigada to you all for the wonderful letters and packages of fun and love and goodness! I miss you all very much and think and pray for you often! Thank you for being wonderful!
PS I LOVE PORTUGUESE AND BRAZIL and am so excited to serve a mission there (and in Pennsylvania)!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Remember the reason for the season amigos!
NEW ADDRESS!!!!
Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission
2589 Washinton Rd Ste 410
Pittsburgh, PA 15241
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!
Bom dia!!! Do you realize what a blessed day today is? After all, it’s TIE DYE FRIDAY!!!! :D
I got a tie dye kit from my aunt Connie yesterday and I am soooo happy about it! Oh she just makes my week! So does tie dye! During laundry time this morning, my district and I tie dyed! Oh happy day. I miss tie dying, especially with my darling niece Natalie. But oh it was so so good and I can wait to unveil our shirts. One elder actually did a tie, another dyed an old button up shirt, and I dyed some white tights too. We’ll see how those turn out. :) But it was so fantastico.
I’m loving the MTC life. Learning so so much and I looooove these people here, especially my companion, the ten elders in my district, and the other Brazil bound sisters. As well as the new three sisters in our room! The four hermanas we had the first six weeks are now in Argentina, and on Wednesday new missionaries came.
Speaking of which, we got to host for the new missionaries and show them around. Twas fantastic! Especially since I got to sit outside in the lovely sunshine with the beautiful leaves and things.
And… one sister got her visa this week! But that’s the only one that came, a bunch more missionaries got their temporary reassignments this week. I guess the US doesn’t give Brazilians visa very easily, so they’re doing the same thing for us. I wonder when I’ll get there. My time here in Utah is done in 2.5 weeks. Crazy!
Portuguese is going well.I love it oh so much! I’ve still got so so much to learn of it though. But it’s incredible to believe how much I can speak after only studying for 6 weeks. Truly blessed we are.
I’m learning so much these days. It’s excellent. We have such good speakers and such good lessons and my study time is soooo wonderful.
For Relief Society we had MAry N. Cook of the Young Womens General Presidency come. She spoke to us sisters on the enabling power of the atonement. How Christ suffered for all of our sins, all of our pains, sufferings, temptaions, afflictions, all feelings of every kind. Every feeling, mental, physical, or emotional, Christ has felt. And he went through that not only to pay for our sins and redeem us, but to comfort us. He knows how we feel, because He has felt the same way, because He loves us.
And because Jesus has suffered for all of our sins, we need to use the atonement and repent. We can be forgiven of every sin and we must be. No unclean thing can dwell in the kingdom of God and we must be made clean. Repent and return to Christ.
I also learned more about Prayer this week. We are children of a loving Heavenly Father. He loves us and wants to bless our lives. But we must pray to Him. We are commanded to pray always and if we do, our Heavenly Father will bless us. But we need to pray in faith, knowing that God will answer our prayers. And we too must become to answer to our own prayers and to others prayers. We can’t just give God a shopping list of blessings we’d like, we have to work for them.
When we obey the commandments of God and do as Christ would, we are blessed immensely. We are also blessed with happiness, alegria. Who wants more joy in their lives? I think everyone does. So keep the commandments, all of them, and come unto Christ. And in order to keep the commandments, we must know what they are. AKA study the scriptures and words of the Lord and His prophets.
I love our prophet. And there’s rumor going around that he might come to the MTC on Tuesday for devotional or maybe for Thanksgiving. If not President Monson, then I’m sure another apostle will come. We didn’t have a 5th apostle at our devotional on Tuesday, it was given by Elder Pearson, a memebr of the first quorum of the seventy. And it was oh so wonderful. I learned lots lotslots.
He talked about being a disciple of Jesus Christ. As a missionary, I wear the name of Jesus Cristo on my name tag every single day. I am recognized as a representative of Jesus Christ and his restored gospel. I need to work more on giving up myself and finding the Lord, forgetting about who I was before the mission and find myself in the service of Jesus Christ. For when we lose ourselves for His sake, we find ourselves. I’m Sister Owens now. It’s so wonderful. I love it. I have never been so surrounded by the Spirit all day every day. I looooove being a sister missionary! :D
Ola familia e amigos!!
Eu tenho muitos good news isse semana!
First, I LOVE PORTUGUESE! And I looove learning it! We started teaching in Portguese this week and it’s pretty excellent. I don’t have all the tenses and conjugations down, nor do I have a very large vocabulary, but I can get by just fine. We taught in volunteer “investigator” this week for an hour and at the end he was telling us how impressed he was with our Portuguese, especially for only being here for 5 weeks. We are so blessed.
More good news… visas are coming! 5 came on Monday afternoon, and then five people were gone by the next morning. Wowza. But before your visa comes you have to do an online application, which only lasts 30 days. Annnnnd, I did the online application! So did 5 elders in my district! Which possibly means I’ll be in Brazil within 30 days. Maybe not though, we have no idea. But things are moving along!
And more good news, so you know how we’ve had three apostles in a row, Nelson, Scott, Ballard… well, yes yes, make that FOUR apostles in FOUR weeks at devotional! Elder David A. Bednar came on Tuesday! Whoa whoa crazy daisy. It was excellent of course. He spoke on how the answer to everything is ALWAYS in the DOCTRINE. The doctrine is found in the scriptures, in words of the profetas/prophets, and in authorized proclamations by the first presidency. He told us to study and teach the doctrine. It was so good and the spirit was so strong, especially when he walked into the room. Oh I love the MTC.
We had mission conference this week. Excelllent. I realized that those of us who are blessed with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ MUST share it, and that we really should be the happiest people in the world. Ola, we have the fulness of the gospel! Fantastico!
Every Sunday we have firesides, guess who spoke at that? Sheri Dew. Yep. Fantastic as well. She said how when we know who we are, it changes everything. When we know and understand that we are children of a loving God, and He desires to bless our lives, it changes everything we do and how we live. And when we understand and know that He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten son to atone for all of our pains and sins, we appreciate so much more. The Savior suffered every pain we have ever suffered, every sorrow, every sickness, every feeling, he understands how we feel in every situation, because he’s been through everything, because he loves us.
So more good news I share today is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The word “gospel” means good news. And it truly is the best news ever! The knowledge of the gospel brings me peace and hope in every situation. I know the Lord has his hand in everything and wants me to come unto him. I love the gospel and I am so grateful for my oppurtunity to represent Jesus Christ as a missionary and share the restored gospel with the children of God. Coming on a mission is the best thing in the world.
We watched a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland about how our missions are so important. They should mean everything to us. They should change our lives, the lives of our families, and the lives of the people we serve. My mission means everything to me.
I can’t wait to get to Brazil and teach real investigators. And our two teachers are returned Protuguese speaking missionaries and so I learn what it’s actually like from them. One of our teachers was talking about the food and I’m so excited to have acai bowls again when I get to Brazil, and real acai bowls! I’m not excited for the mystery meat, but hopefully I’ll be able to pick around some of it. Our teacher said that one time he had a pig tooth in something he was eating. Some people use the whoooole animal in there. Uh oh. Not good for me. But I’ll figure it out. And their beans and rice are just fantastic and there are sooo many wonderful and delicious fruits. I think I’ll survive, and thrive.
I got to see my wonderful aunty yesterday which is such a blessing. It is one of the highlights of my week. And she tells me how the family is doing and says inspiring things and brings me delicious treats from the outside world. :) Love it.
Another sister I met in Jerusalem came this week too! Sister Mayfield! There are sooo many girls that I went to Jerusalem with that are now on missions. BYU Jerusalem is life changing I tell you. And my good wonderful friend from BYUH, Sister Lautiki, came too! And she told me about more missionaries that are coming. Missions are the best and I’m soooo excited for my amigas who are working on papers and preparing for the mish field. It is the BEST!
Life is beautiful here. I’m loving the missionary training center bubble. It’s fantastic. And fall is sooooo beautiful! I haven’t experienced fall in a while, going to school in Hawaii, so I am loving it. There are so many beautiful leaves! Be prepared, you might get some in the mail. :)
Well friends and loved ones, thank you for reading my letters of goodness and I hope everything is joyous for you.
Ciao!
PS I wear my parrot earrings every day.
Ola minha familia e meus amigos!
Twas another fantastic week here at the MTC. I can’t believe I’ve already been here over 3 weeks. Crazy! It feels like I just barely got here but it also feels like I’ve been here forever. Time is weird here, and everywhere.
First of all, muitos obrigados/thank you verrrrry much, to all those fantastico people who sent me mail and letters and boxes. They make me soooo happy! And hopefully I’ll be able to reply to them all in my few remaining hours of time left today. Each one makes me so happy though. It’s so good to hear of your lives and loves and other good things.
Preparing to enter the field in 5-6 weeks is going great. Who knows which field I’ll be entering. Very few missionaries are getting their visas for Brazil, and another batch just got their temporary stateside reassignments this week. They’re going to California, Denver, Minnesota, West Virginia, all over.
Speaking of West Virginia, I really miss singing “Country Roads” with my ukulele. But fortunately my most favorite twins drew of picture of my ukulele for me and sent it in a sweet box with other yummy treats. I miss lots of things from home, but there is no where else I want to be right now. I am so happy for this oppurtunity to serve a mission and to invite others to come unto Christ.
I’m realizing how mucho mucho muitos Portuguese I need to learn. But considering I’ve only been here three weeks, I’m getting along pretty fine with it. :) I loooove learning it though. And it is so helpful having the french background.
I love all of our study time. My companion and I have found a new favorite place to study and it makes it so much more effective. For my daily hour of personal study each day I’ve decided to read a chapter from each of the Standard Works every day. It’s so fantastic. I love it. And then I get a little bit of everything. Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants/Pearl of Great Price, and of course the Book of Mormon. Personal study is the Golden Hour of the day.
Minha companheira and I also teach a lesson every day, so we’re trying to get in plenty of practice, because it’s going to be so crazy different and so much more important when we’re teaching real people with real needs! But it will also be so much more rewarding.
So I am learning a lot a lot. Denise Doxey, a member of the Relief Society general board, spoke at RS last week. She went to the Jerusalem Center and met her husband there too! :) Oh how I looove and miss the Jerusalem life. But she gave an excellent talk on how important sister missionaries are. And how we reach out to a whole different set of people. She also said how in the battle against Satan, missionaries are on the front lines, and we get a lot of hits, but we’re saving souls. And those on the Lord’s side will conquer. She also brought the love of the RS presidency.
And then on Tuesday at devotional, someone brought the love of the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles. Yes yes, we had another apostle come. :D Elder Richard G. Scott gave the most amazing, spiritually guided talk ever. Holy amazing. One of the things he said was that “to accomplish things never before accomplished, we must do things never before done.”
Oh I can’t tell you how amazing his talk was. And for those of you concerned for my safety when I get to Brazil, no worries. An apostle of the Lord Jesus Chirst “invoke[d] a protective shield that will give us [sister missionaries] warning, as we exericise faith in the shield, of any impending danger, so we can be protected by the Lord.” It was incredible. The spirit was so strong and the feeling over me was amazing, to be reassured again that I will be kept safe and that the Lord and angels will be looking out for me.
He again invoked his apostalic power, to give those of us studying a foreign language, the gift of tongues. Wow. So as we exercise faith and use the language, we will find it so much easier to learn. What a blessing.
Elder Scott also gave us a blessing of confidence and guidance of the spirit, that will help is realize we are far better prepared then we realize. Also that we will remember what we learn on our missions.
It was so grand. And our testimony meeting after it with our district was amazing. I loooove my companion and our ten elders. Our elders are soooo good to us. Never do we have to open our own doors, or take our trays out in the cafeteria, or have to wait in line. Oh they’re such gentlemen.
That night it also started SNOWING! Which was so beautiful and magical! I haven’t seen a first snow in a while! LOVED IT! But I’m not too prepared for a chilly winter. I’m slightly more prepared for the killer heat and humidity of Brazil. :)
Sister Lund and I are loving our morning runs in the beautiful crisp cool air. I loooove the stars and miss being outside all the time.
More good news, I got to see my aunt Connie again! It was of course completely wonderful. And she gave me the MOST delicious bread from my cousin Natalie. Loooove it.
Annnnd, Hayley my roomie sent me PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, whole wheat with half butter and half sugar. Holy divine. Oh I loooove them.
Ok, time is ticking very quickly! Love you all!
Oh one other thing I learned…. “Do you love God? Spend time with him.” -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Ola! Things are still fantastico here at the missionary training center in Provo. I’m learning lots and lots about the gospel and about Portugues all day every day!
I can’t tell you how much I love my district. Ahhh we have so much fun and such good spiritual experiences too of course. Those elders, as well as minha companheira are wonderful and I am learning muitos from them all. We’re in class together all the time and studying and teaching each other. Tis lovely.
The transition to a missionary life is pretty great. I looooove getting up early (6-6:30) and exercising right away. Sister Lund and I usually just go outside by the Provo temple and missionary field, and run in the lovely crisp morning air, watching the stars fade away. I am not able to spend enough time outside at all, so it’s great to start the mornings that way.
And I saw the Bozungs and Heather Wilson one morning, both who I went to Jerusalem with. I’ve been seeing so many people I know. Fun fun!
Once a week we do service for an hour or so, which just means that we do some sort of assigned cleaning. The MTC is cleaned mostly by the 2500 or so missionaries that live here. Sister Lund and I were vacuuming chapels this week, with back pack vacuums, those ghost buster ones. So that was pretty excellent, and who doesn’t love a Ghost Buster vacuum? Aaaand the whole time I was vacuuming I was singing all the songs I play on my ukulele, so it was lovely. I really miss Matilda Hilda Ukulele. I dreamt about her the other night and so wish I could play her while singing and walking on the beach with Cody and throwing him sticks to fetch in the ocean.
Speaking of dreams… funnnnnny story. So as you know, I’ve been praying in Portuguese since day 2 here. Like most people, I usually just pray while I’m awake, but a couple days ago I was praying in my sleep! Not sure what I was dreaming about, but I was full on praying in Portuguese, completely audibly. It was like 4 am and I woke up 4 of the 5 sisters in my room by praying in Portuguese out loud and clear. Funnnnnnny bunny!
Hmmmm I wonder if that makes me fluent? Nope. It does not. There is soooo much to learn but I looooove it. I love Portugues and can’t wait to be fluent!
We practice a lot of door contacts and get to know you things in Portuguese, and we have specific times of the day where we don’t speak English. Tis grand.
I’m of course learning lots about missionary work too. We have speakers and meetings and workshops and such teaching us about how to teach people. This week they talked about finding the elect, those who have been prepared by God to hear the gospel. My testimony of Jesus Chirst is growing so much too, as I’m understanding more of how much he loves each one of us and wants us to be happy. I am so grateful for the restored gospel and profetas and Joseph Smith.
Another highlight of the week was that I got to see my aunty Connie again! I look forward to it so much! It’s so nice to get that little bit of family in. And she brings me and Sister Lund treats too, which is fantastic of course! I love it.
There’s been so much good this week. First of all, Susan W. Tanner, the general young women’s president, was the speaker for Relief Society on Sunday! Yep, that’s right. She helped me realize even more how wonderful and inspired RS is.
And then on Tuesday for devotional, one word: NELSON, as in Russell M. Nelson. Yes yes, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ came to the MTC and spoke spefically to us missionaries. Excellent. The spirit was so so strong as he walked into the room. You just know he is a man of God.
We also had a wonderful fireside and my favorite thing from it was that I learned the secret to happiness: “It’s not about you.” Devote your life to serving others and focusing outward, and you will be happy. What a true principle. Because now, as I’m dedicating my life to serving the Lord and soon the people of Brazil, I am so so happy every day. It’s wonderful.
Yesterday was P day and I went and did sealings at the temple. So good. I love the temple and the lovely smelling roses outside of it. And I wish I were going to be in Hawaii for the Laie temple dedication soon! But I really only want to be here right now too.
I got some very very maraveillosa letters this week! Thank you so so much to each of you who sent them. Many were such a completely delightful surprise and made me even happier! Obrigada!!
Well everyone, thanks for reading about my missionary journey. Can’t wait to get to Brazil soonish! As soon as I get a visa! Not many missionaries are getting visas right now though, so who knows when I’ll get there. I finish here in Utah on December 7th and then if I don’t have my visa by then, then temporarily transfer me to somewhere in the states. So none of us really know what’s going on, but I know I’ll be just where the Lord needs me! :D
Have a most delightful week!
Hola minha familia e meus amigos!
I’m into week 2 at the missionary training center in Provo, Utah! It’s still fantastic of course. And new missionaries arrived a few days ago so I’m not one of the new ones anymore! Yippee skippe! I only ahve 30 minutes of email time and it goes so quickly. Ahhhhh!
Things here are so good. The spirit is so so strong as there are 3000 missionaries here all giving up 1.5-2 years of their life to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone is always studying or always teaching. We have like 30 minutes for each meal, 30 minutes to exercise, 30 minutes to get ready, and an hour in our room in the evenings before bed. Then time to sleep for 8 hours. I’m always busy busy busy. Glad I enjoyed all of the sweet free time this summer. :)
It’s nice that the non class time is self governed though. there’s no one telling us specific things to study or specific ways to use our time. I love study time. Good thing there’s so much of it. But I’m never in my room, which I miss because I love my room and my tie dye sheets and my pictures on the wall. But we never spend time in our room, always out and about.
The MTC here is pretty much as big as BYUHawaii. It’s bizarro. I love it here though. And all of the missionaries are so wonderful. Especially those in my district!
Portuguese is progressing slightly. I pray about 500,000 bajillion times a day in Portuguese. “Querido Pai Celestial, adgradecemos-te por… por favor nos ajude a… nos te-pedimos que abencoas… em nome de Jesus Cristo amem.” And then I throw in plenty of English words, since my Portuguese vocab is rather limited. I loooove learning Portuguese though and am so excited to learn more.
Sunday was excellent. Everyone is in branches of whatever language they’ll be speaking. There are about 60ish missionarios in my branch, 8 of those are sisters. The branch president is excellent and I love his wife too. Goooood people around this place. We have sacrament meeting from 8 to 9, watch Music and the Spoken Word watch Music and the Spoken Word from 9:30 to 10, then all of the sisters at the mtc meet together for Relief Society. There’s extra meetings too, such as fireside and district stuff. Sunday was beautiful here. My companion and I sat out on the grass and studied scriptures and Preach My Gospel and Jesus the Christ. Then we met up with our ten elders and walked to the temple and took pictures. I can’t really email pictures, but I’ll try to mail some soon.
Tuesday we had a devotional with Richard C. Edgley. We get lots of General Authorities around this place. :) Sister Lund (minha companheira) and I sang Lead, Kindly Light in the choir for devotional which means we get good seats too. :)
OBRIGADA for the wonderful mail you peeps have sent me! I got two packages (and like 5 from amazon that I ordered before I left :)) and cards and dearelder letters. YAY! Mail makes me soooo happy so keep sending it. Dearelder.com is the way to do it while I’m at the mtc, especailly since it’s free and I get it that day! Yay mail! Hopefully I’ll get some things sent out to some of you today, but I’ve got only about and hour of free(ish) time left to write lots of things.
We went to the Provo temple this morning with our district. It was so wonderful being there and the temple is b.e.a.utiful! Especially with Sister Lund and our 10 favorite elders here at the mtc.
And more good news… I got to see my aunt Connie yesterday! Oh it was so fantastic. We got to visit for like 45 minutes while she was here. It was the BEST! And she gave me the best hugs I’ve had since I left home! Oh it was so grand. Family is the greatest!
I’m so excited to go to Brazil and share with the people that families can be together forever! I’m so excited for Brazil! But I’ll be here, along with tonnnns of other missionaries, until I get a visa. Peeps aren’t really getting them too much. And if I finish my mtc time here in 8 weeks and still don’t have a visa, I’ll be assigned to a temporary mission stateside, most likely not Portuguese speaking. But whatever happens works for me! The Lord knows what he’s doing. I’ll be where I need to be.
I love you all muchos muchos and think of you all often! Hope and pray that each of you are doing well!
Ola minha familia e meus amigos!!
I made it to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo! I’ve been here four days and they have been the most jam packed, spiritual days of my life! :) Needless to say I LOVE THE MTC!
We do so so much every single day. Wake up at 6-6:30, exercise for 45 minutes or so, get ready for the day, and then we have class and studying all day long. We really don’t go back to our rooms until 9:30 at night. I finally had some free time to day to finish getting settled. All of the sister missionaries pretty much live on the same two floors of one building. In my room there are 3 bunkbeds, 3 desks, and 6 closets. There’s plenty of space. My companion and I share it with four hermanas going to Argentina and speaking Spanish. They’ve been here four weeks.
Minha companheira is pretty much fantastic! Her name is Sister Lund and she’s from Seattle, studying elementary education at BYU Provo. We work so well together and I’m learning so much from her. And we have to spend 24/7 together. Everything. We always have to be within sight and sound of each other. Along with that, their are about a bajillion other rules that I’m not so used to, but that all have their purpose and will bring us blessings if we obey. I love being blessed, so I’m trying to obey. It’s a complete life adjustment being here, but it’s sooooo good.
My district has my companion and I and 10 elders, mostly all 19 years old. I LOVE my district. You do everything with your district, same schedule, class together, study together, pray together, eat together. I love those elders though. So good. Speaking of eating, the food is pretty okay. Not a huge fan, but it’s not bad. I can see it getting old though. But I did just find out where to get the soy milk, which is fantastic. There aren’t too many vegetarian/vegan alternatives here, but there won’t be in Brazil either.
I’ve been here four days now and it feels like forever. I’ve learned so so so much and my testimony has grown so so so much. On the second day, we were praying in Portuguese, and today we learned how to bear our testimunhos in Portuguese! Neato. I’m sooo excited to speak and learn more Portuguese! Although my vocabulary will be primarily Gospel centered, but that’s good because that’s what I’m here for… to teach the gospel to the people of Brazil!
I’m getting more and more excited everyday to go to Brazil (hopefully within 2 months) and meet the people and teach them. Brazil is a very high baptizing mission area too so that’s exciting. Yippee Skippee! My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I’m so excited to fulfill that purpose and know it’s what I need to do right now and what the Lord wants me to do!
God loves you, Jesus loves you, and I love you all too!
-Sister Owens
Goodbye!
Write me!
Sister Chelsea Rae Owens
MTC Mailbox # 257
BRA-VIT 1207
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Love you all!
My email – chelsea.owens@myldsmail.ne
“Thursday We Will Be Free” – A jam sesh with Ally and Hayley. Singing about our excitement for Thursday when our finals and papers were over and we would be free and headed home for Christmas!
“Spontaneity”- yes we should’ve been studying and doing homeworks, but instead we spontaneously had a dance party, dressed up, and made this sweet video. We made the better choice.
Needless to say, I miss the fun times with my roomies, especially the cockroach killing escapades Stacy and I would go on. The best of times.
Had a little goodbye party at Holly and Jordin’s. Twas excellent.
Said goodbye to many of the wonderful people of Homer ward.
We had a delightful time with delightful foods and delightful people.
Beach excursion with niecey and doggy.
So chilly out, but found a plethora of jellies.
