Oi!
I don't even know where to start, this last week and a little has been absolutely crazy!!!
Word of the Week: Português.
I'll talk a little about the CTM in general... When we got here, we had a little orientation thingy on the first day, but that was about all the instruction we officially recieved on where to go and such. Everyone was jabbering in Portuguese and we didn't know what they were saying and we didn't know where anything was and we couldn't ask like anybody anything because everyone speaks Portuguese and we were all still drained from traveling.... I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, it was a bit overwhelming. Also, the day of a missionary is suuuuper long. You're either studying or teaching from 7 in the morning until 945 at night, and none of that is spent relaxing or doing anything leisurely. It's a brutal adjustment. Our Zone Leaders told us that it's always bad at the beginnning, you just have to stick it out until Sunday, and goodness they were so right. This week, I finally feel like we're getting into the swing of things. We're studying hard and focusing in class and having the greatest spiritual experiences... I wish I could write it all down, but I don't have time!
Being here in the Brazil CTM is awesome because you become immersed in the language and a bunch of culture immediately. Also, the cafeteria serves Brazilian food that is muito bom. I would tell what some of it is, but most of the time I don't know or ask and just eat it, thinking sometimes it's better to not know hahaha. Just walking through the halls talking to people taught me so much before our first class. It's just so great. Everyone is so happy, and we all know our purpose here.
We have the BEST teacher ever, Irmã Correa! (pronounced co-hey-uh) She is so otímo!! On the first day of class, she just barked Portugues at us and I thought "holy poo this is gonna be a long six weeks..." She is actually from Columbia, but speaks portuguese like a native. She is super energetic, and you can just tell she has so much love for us and for the gospel.
I've learned sooooooooo much! It simultaneously feels like I've been here for months, yet was home a few days ago.... I can't explain it very well. But on the 3rd day here, Elder Hughes and I taught our first lesson to an investigator (who actually was just one of our teachers) but it was all IN PORTUGUESE. The Spirit is amazing. There is no possible way that everyone here could learn as much and as fast as they do without the Spirit helping. Like one morning, Elder Hughes and I memorized 3 scriptures in less than an hour, and have taught so many lessons since then. It's just amazing. I know so strongly that God loves His missionaries, and He really helps them learn whatever they need, including Portuguese.
Today we got to go to the Campinas temple, and it was just soooooooo amazing. I love the temple, and I really needed the solace of the Celestial Room to refocus and ponder on what I've been learning. It was wonderful. The temple truly is the House of the Lord.
Amo todos vocês muito muito muito!!!!!
Elder Merrill
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