Brazil here I come:) (July 21, 2018)

OLA

This week was a huge step up from last week. It's only been a few days since I last sent an email, but a lot has happened!!

First off, our Tuesday devotional speaker was M Russel Ballard and MAY I JUST SAY that man is called of God. The spirit he brought with him was so unreal. His message developed my testimony of Joseph Smith more than I thought possible. His words were so full of power, and I sang in the choir so I was on the big screen;) Anyway, it was an amazing devotional, I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a long time, though I feel it almost always here in the MTC. It was like the spirit on steroids.

It was great to see Ridge! (Middle)

Next great thing, my district hosted this week, so we took in all the baby missionaries. That was quite the experience. Being on the receiving end of those elders and sisters, was super fun and cool. But seeing all those cute families cry so hard was so sad cause that was the worst moment like... in my life... saying bye to my family. Talk about heart break. But even though it is sooo hard, and so sad, these elders and sisters grabbed their things with eyes full of tears and walked away from their families for 18-24 months. How can this gospel not be true if we are so willing to sacrifice? food for thought. Just awesome. I love being here!!!! Later Wednesday me and my companions sat outside our residence and watched all the new missionaries go to class, and I saw RIDGE!! It was the best thing in the world to see another familiar face. He's so strong. Keep him and his family in your prayers everyone!

Yesterday (Thursday) was hard cause it was the second to last day of classes here at the Provo mtc. It started getting real that we were leaving this place... AH! It's gonna be a good experience but speaking only Portuguese.. pray for me por favor. Anyway, we taught Artur about families, and how the Gospel could bless him with his family, if they pray together and read in the book of mormon together. The spirit was so strong in that room as we testified in broken Portuguese of the truth of the things we taught. It's amazing the things you can say when you teach by the spirit, and rely on the Lord to help and guide us when we get lost or stuck. I testify that when we live in such a way that the spirit can be our constant companion, we will be able to overcome any trial we face. I'm grateful for that knowledge and for the opportunities I've had to grow my testimony and faith in Cristo being here for the past few weeks. 

Today we taught Rodrigo about his relationship with Jesus Cristo and invited him to read 2 Nefi capitulo 2 to learn more about Jesus Cristo and what we can do and recieve through Him. It was so sad to say bye to my teachers. They have been awesome! I'm so grateful I got to come here (to Provo). I now understand why I came here first, and I honestly wish I was not leaving on Monday. MAS I know I will learn things I need to learn in Brazil, that I wouldn't have learned here. Like learning to like beans and rice................. eeeek

I love you all so much, I can feel the power of prayers getting me through the moments I wanna give up. Both with the language and when my eyes hurt from reading too much. Keep them coming I appreciate them muito.

Packages! :)

TCHAU FOR NOW

See ya in Brazil;)

sister walstad

SEMANA DOIS (July 16, 2018)

Ola everyone!!

SO.. long week.. though it felt shorter than last week in a weird way. I'm getting used to the schedule so it's all good. The language of course is hard, but the gift of tongues is very much real. And the gift of preaching the word of God is even more real. LOVE IT

This week was pretty eventful, big news, I got my visa!! Kinda crazy, just thought i'd be here in provo for the whole training period, but was proven wrong! I leave in exactly one week from today, so next time y'all hear from me i'll be in Brazil!! 

We had service this week on Wednesday, and woke up at 5:30, 6:30 is already hard enough but.. It was a good way to start the day. New missionaries came in later that day, so we were no longer the newbies which was great. Ths MTC honestly is so awesome. It's hard here, I can see my church from the top building of the classroom building so that's cool.. 

I sung in Sacrament meeting this week with an elder in my district, an elder from district F asked us to sing, he's a phenomenal piano player. so yeah that was super fun! We're auditioning it this week for the Sunday Devotional, i'll let you know how that goes. I'll be perfectly fine if we don't get chosen cause there's like 2000 missionaries, but I know Elder Nelson (Piano Player) wants to pretty bad.

Not gonna lie, this week was hard. Just so much to do and somehow, even with how long the days are, there's not enough time to do it all. My Branch President gave me a blessing and that helped a little, I have a testimony of the Saviors love for each of us individually. He knows that it's been hard, and he has provided me with many tender mercies and miracles to bring me back up when i needed it most. 

The Sunday devotional last night was unbelievable. SO GOOD! I was whooped into shape just sitting and listening to Brother Thurston talk. He is such a power house. Put God first in literally everything, and He'll know that He can trust you. I love this Gospel!

To start pday today, my district had service at the temple. We helped prime walls for wall paper and empty a bunch of trash, it was so... slow... but can I say I helped renovate the Provo temple now?? 

I love you all. I Challenge you all to study the restoration this week, and to read the first vision. The power in that account is like nothing I have ever felt before. Having it memorized in Portuguese is the best feeling, and easiest thing to recall because of the spirit associated with it. 

Wish me luck in passing off basic core (Language) today.

Her Visa came!!!

Kassidy with Sister Moody (Left) and Sister Lindsey (Middle)

SETTLING IN (July 9, 2108)

Ola meu familia e amigos!

The MTC is very interesting. Not what I expected it to be...if anything it's better. But the last few days have been good. Extremely difficult but good. The language is so great, but I go to sleep with a head ache every night as I try to retain the information we receive through the day. My teachers, Irmao Wilcox e Irmao Haymore are awesome! They're very different, and speak with completely different accents but both bring a lot to the table. We learn different things from each of them, all important. 

We taught our first "person" in Portuguese on Saturday. Guess how that went...HA! It was a good experience and went better than expected, but I could only understand the beginning and end of sentences. The middle sounded like rubbish. We're getting there though! My companions are Sister Lindsey and Sister Moody. I'm in a trio and am so happy about it. We balance each other out very well, and all have a lot to offer when you put us together. Moody is from Virginia, and Lindsey is from Saint George. We're all waiting for our visas to Brazil and sadly going to different missions, but we'll totally stay in touch.

Days are so long here. By the time we get to the evening it feels like that morning was the day before. But they are days full of learning and growing. The term "Hardest but greatest" has an all new meaning to me now. Cause that's exactly what the MTC has been so far. I go to sleep with a headache every night, working my brain harder and longer every day than I ever have. But having these companions, we help each other remember and learn. LOVE THEM

A lot has happened this week but I'm running out of time here for emails, so I'll end with something we learned last night during Sunday Films. (How we end Sundays here in the MTC, after the Sunday Devotional, which is also great btw) Everyone said "Just make it to Sunday" when we got here, and honestly it felt like it was never gonna come. But here we are. Anyway, continuing with what I was saying:

The new missionaries in the MTC are told to go to the film "Character Of Christ" a devotional given by Elder Bednar in the MTC , I wanna say maybe 8 years ago? He defined the character of Christ, and how we can inherit qualities of Christ. Christ,for His entire life, always turned outward, when we as natural men, would instinctively turn inward. Repentance is the action taken in order to return to our father in heaven, in other words TURN TOWARD GOD. Not away, or to yourself, but to others. Serve with love, and compassion toward everyone. The MTC has taught me so much and it's only been a few days. I want you all to know, that there is truly no place I would rather be, I am EXACTLY where God needs me, and wants me to be. I was individually considered as a daughter of God, to be His servant, in Brazil, and that's amazing. 

Eu testifica que Deus e nosso Pai Celestial. O expiacao de Jesus Cristo e o reason we get to return to nosso Pai Celestial. Podemos always be better. Eu amo isto evangelho com todo meu coracao.

Sorry this is half English half Portuguese.  I'm still learning and that's all I can remember. But I know that through the Lord I will learn this language. And for those out there who speak Portuguese, sorry that I couldn't accent the letters correctly I dont know how on this keyboard. 

Love you all!

Sister Walstad​

The "Missionary Map"