Dear Mom (and everyone else that will read this),
WOW!!! What a week! The CTM is the coolest place ever!!! So just to
clarify, the other sister in the picture is not my companion. That's
actually Sister Bojoqurez, she arrived late Wednesday
night so she didn't get a chance to take the picture with President and
Sister Degn. We aren't allowed to send picture from the CTM :( so I
won't be able to send you pictures of my district and companion until
after I leave. So...I'll try to answer all the questions that you guys
asked. So...there are 6 English speaking sisters (one of them is
actually in a spanish district and one of the sisters just got here on wednesday
and she's from Fredericksburg, VA). There are probably about 10 or 12
English elders, so definitely the minority. It is so cool to be
surrounded with so many Hispanic and Brazilians. But it definitely makes
it a lot harder to communicate. Taking Spanish is definitely helping
though, I'll try and say something in Spanish or mix Portuguese
and Spanish. So Sister Skudder is my companion and there are two other
girls that live in our room, Sister Acuna from Chile and Sister Sofia
from Argentina. I love those sisters, we have so much fun! We don't see
them very often except for the morning and evening. So a typical day is
wake up around 6:15,
get ready (there's a bathroom and shower in our room which is nice)
Then personal study in our classroom (our second home) from 7-8,
desjejum (breakfast) from 8-8:30 then we have tempo com instrutor (class) with Irma (sister) Igrezia from 8:30 to 11:30.
During that time we learn grammar, stuff from Preach my Gospel,
and then we normally teach our investigator Maria (Irma Igrezia
in disguise) at the end of the time. Maria, "our investigator," is
so sweet! She committed to baptism a few days ago but we're still
working on explaining the importance of going to church and not just
having faith. Then from 11:30 to 12:15 we have estudo adicional (additional study) then almoco (lunch) from 12:15-1.
The food is actually really good! There's always, and I mean always,
rice and beans, usually chicken and some type of meat, cut up lettuce,
tomatoes, and a ton of fresh fruit, and some type of dessert pudding
thing or fried empenada like thing. I am so surprised how good the food
is. We are asked to sit with Brazilians or Hispanics and they are so
fun. It can sometimes take a long time to say something or understand
what they are saying but they are so willing to help us with our
Portuguese and we help them with their English. In total at the CTM
right now there are probably about 130 missionaries but it fluctuates.
The Brazilians are only here for two weeks so they come and go really
quickly. The Hispanics are here for 6 weeks just like us. So after lunch
we have TALL (a computer program made by BYU to help learn Portuguese)
from 1-1:30 then we have tempo com instrutor from 1:30 to 4:30
with Irmao (brother) Allan. Same thing as Irma Igrezia, we learn
grammar, PMG stuff, and then teach "him" (as an investigator). Our
investigator is Alessandro. He has been a struggle for me and Sister
Skudder. We're trying our best to speak Portuguese and convey what we
want to say but almost all the time he doesn't understand what we're
saying and then we don't understand what he says back because he mumbles
a lot. Funny story about Alessandro, last Saturday we taught him and we
were asked to try and commit him to go to Church so we had him read D+C
59:9-10 but for some reason when I marked my Portuguese BOM I marked
D+C 19:9-10 which is not at all what we wanted. So he read that
scripture and we asked, so what does that say about going to church and
he was like, uh that doesn't say anything about that. So then we
realized it was the wrong scipture so I quickly flipped to what I
thought was D+C 59 but I accidently flipped to D+C 60 and then he read
that and didn't understand and I realized my mistake. So basically, the
whole lesson was a bust and we we're so flustered and embarassed that we
couldn't stop laughing, it was so bad and so obviously when we
committed him to go to church he said no. Haha, oh well, I was pretty
frustrated after but I'm glad it happened here for the first time and
not with a "real" investigator. Yesterday was really frustrating with
Alessandro as well because I know that he understands what we're trying
to say (cause it's really Irmao Allan) but he acts like he doesn't
understand anything! I ended up crying afterwards because I was so
frustrated but some really sweet sisters saw me in the bathroom and told
me to read about Patience and the Gift of Tongues in PMG. I LOVE the
sisters here, they are literally angels, even though I can't understand
all of what they are trying to say. Sister Skudder was really sweet too
and understood because she was crying the day before because she was so
frustrated. I know that I just need to have patience becuase I've only
been here a week but I just want to speak Portuguese! Haha, it's all
good though. Sister Skudder and I have this joke that we hate the phrase
"Fala Portuguese" which means talk in Portuguese because it's what all
our teachers tell us and we're like, We don't speak Portuguese! Haha,
it's really all good though because I'm actually picking up a lot more
than I thought I would! So back to the schedule, after Irmao Allan, we
have estudo adicional from 4:30 to 5:00, then jantar (dinner) from 5:00 to 5:45 then we have thirty minutes to digest and get ready for atividade fisica (gym) which we have from 6:15
to 7. We usually play volleyball and we have so much fun playing with
the Brazilians and hispanics even though we don't even speak the same
language. After that we have 30 minutes to get ready and then we have
more studying from 7:30
to 9. Then lanche (snack) at 9 which is basically a roll, an apple, and
a juice box. Then we write down our schedule and plan for the next day
until 9:40
and then we go to our rooms, read the BOM in Portuguese with some
sisters, write in our journals, companion prayer, pray, then go to bed
and do it all over again! It's great!
So, I have the best district ever! We literally have the best time
and we laugh all the time. Lindsey, Sister Skudder said she didn't know
him but that's still cool! It's very funny having 4 Americans, 1 kiwi,
and 1 Brit! But we have the best time and we are always joking around.
Sister Skudder and Elder Beale are always joking about how they're
annoyed that were called an "American" district because they're not
American. Haha, they use some pretty funny phrases too though! It's
great though, we just have such a great time together and goof around
but also have deep spiritual conversations as well. We had an awesome
district meeting where we ended up just doing a testimony meeting and it
really bonded us all together and now we're even closer. Oh, and Elder
Beale even gave me a pound coin! :)
So Friday
is our P-day but I didn't have it last week because it was my first
week. We went to the Sao Paulo temple this morning and it was absolutely
amazing. The session was in Portuguese but we had headphones so we
could listen in English. I am so grateful we get to go.
Oh, and by the way, the security is super max here so you don't
have to worry about me at all! It took us like 5 minutes to get back
into the CTM becuase no one came to open the huge gate. There are
cameras EVERYWHERE and a ton of security guards. We are all safe and
sound for sure!
I am so grateful to be here and it's such a cool place. It is
actually dedicated and consecrated so there is such a special Spirit
here.
Another thing, every Sunday
they have a testimony meeting with all the sisters and the sisters that
are leaving bear their testimony. It's so cool to hear all the sisters
testimonies and even though I don't understand a lot of what they are
saying, the Spirit is so strong. The Spirit breaks the barriers of
language and I was so grateful for the opportunity to attend that every
week! Also the broadcast was so cool! They showed videos from the CTM
and the Sao Paulo temple! You'll have to watch those videos again if you
have a chance! And yes, such a cool broadcast! Also, listen to the
Brazilian National Anthem because we sing that every Sunday as the opening hymn for the devotional, it's crazy but the Brazilians are helping to teach it to us!
I love all you guys and thank you for all your love and support! I
definitiely need it. I love you and know that your baby sister is safe!
Love you all! I hope you keep feeling better Mom!
Got to go! Love you!
Love you the mostiest,
Sister Hicks
P.S. Email is definitely the best way to communicate because I've
been told that mail takes FOREVER! But we can still get it eventually!
Love you!
