July 15, 2016

 Sister Hancock with her new Mission President and his wife

Oi Everyone!! Tudo bem?

I can´t believe it has already been another week. the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. Sometimes the days all blend together. One minute I am going to sleep and the next minute I am getting out of bed to start the next day! (I again apologize if the order is super random).

Today is P-day! Preparation days are great because we get the chance to go to the temple in the morning and then in the afternoon we can email people and then walk around the streets in Sao Paulo! Also there is a store right across the street from the CTM where you can buy the best cookies I have ever had in my entire life. Muito Bom!

Emily and her companion, Sister Gimm in the CTM

Then Saturday it is back to our normal schedule (Which isn't really normal because it changes from day to day. We taught a new investigator last Saturday and it was a really cool lesson! The Spirit was so strong and the gift of tongues is so real! When we asked her to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized she said yes!! (She is just our teacher and it felt so good I can´t wait until I am actually teaching real investigators!!!) We had her try to say the closing prayer and as she was praying she got chocked up and started to cry. You could feel the love of God so strongly for this woman. In the afternoon we taught another new investigator (Our other teacher), and it also went pretty well! The hardest part is responding to all of his questions and sometimes understanding him  because he talks MUITO RAPIDO!!! 

It is really cool when we are teaching a lesson and I don´t think I know how to say something but then I am able to respond in Portuguese in a way that they are ACTUALLY able to understand what I am saying. 

But other times it doesn't always happen. Sometimes our instructors are like ´What?.. nao entendo...` The other day in class we were learning about action verbs. My teacher would say a phrase and then we had to say it back to her in a answer form. She said something like ´´I am eating the food` and I accidentally said ``I am eating the church`` because I had forgotten the noun that she had said. It was really funny. A lot of times I feel super great about speaking Portuguese and other times it is a major struggle!!! 

My CTM instructors are incredible! I seriously think I lucked out and got the best two instructors in the whole CTM! 

Sister Hancock and her traveling companions to Sao Paolo

Also the Sundays here are amazing! They are super spiritual and a really nice break from our crazy busy schedule throughout the week. The devotionals are so amazing too. We watched a Mormon message from Elder Holland called sanctify yourself. If you have the chance, watch it!

Apparently the movie Hancock with Will Smith is a big deal here. Almost every single person that sees my name tag says ``Oh Hancock!!! Like the MOVIE!!! How cool! `` A lot of people say that Hancock is their favorite super hero and that Will Smith is their hero, therefore, I am their hero. 

On Tuesday and Thursdays we have started teaching TRC (which are 30 minute lessons with members) On Tuesday we were in class learning and then all of sudden Irmao Fatori was like okay time to go teach TRC! And we were like ´what we have nothing prepared...` but we went anyways and struggled through a little but it wasn't horrible. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have 4 lessons and then the other days we only have 2 lessons. 

One day after teaching our investigator Àndre` Our teacher came back in to the class and was speaking Portuguese with an English accent, basically showing us how we sound when we speak Portuguese. We are super American... ha ha it will get better over time. 

We get to go proselyting tomorrow!!! I am super excited!!!

I hope you are all doing well! 

We watched an incredible video about the Savior the other night. It was never easy for the Savior so why should it be easy for us. Missionary work is not easy because Salvation is not a cheap experience. It is not easy but it is so worth it. We must be prepared to walk the path that the Savior walked. To shed even just one tear of sorrow that He shed for us. Jesus Christ paid the price for every single one of us. His Atonement will carry you through any trial or tribulation.

E pode poder do Espirito Santo e podeis saber a verdade de todas as coisas. 

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo vive. 

Love you all!!!

-Sister Hancock

First Week at Sao Paulo CTM (MTC) - July 8, 2016

Oi everyone!

I am here in Brazil! I am here at the CTM in Brasil and I can´t believe I have already been here for about nine days! My preparation day is every Friday and I have about 45 minutes to email friends and family! I apologize if this is a little sporadic but I don't have a ton of time to write.

Brasil is a very different place from America. Different air, language, people, time zone, the food is REALLY different, and I have a really different schedule here at the CTM. However, the people here are so nice and I am loving the food and culture more and more everyday. 

On Wednesday June 29th, I got on a plane and we flew overnight to the CTM here in Sao Paulo with about 15 other missionaries! I had an aisle seat which made it extremely difficult to sleep. I got about an hour of sleep total for the entire night. We got to the airport, got our bags and then went straight to the CTM and started our day. We got a little bit of time to get settled in our rooms, eat some food, and then we had an introduction from the CTM President. Then they gave us about 15 pounds of study materials and scriptures and then our CTM teacher came and we went to our class. All day I thought ´`just 12 hours until I can go to sleep!`... ´just 7 hours 'til I can sleep.´´

My professor is AWESOME! He looks like a little David Archuleta and he is such a great teacher. He speaks muito rapido but he tries to slow down so that we can actually understand him. The first day we were there we just jumped right in and we didn't really understand much at all but he made sure to explain things slowly and he spoke in English a little bit. 

Everyone here is so nice. especially the Brazilian missionaries. They are so welcoming but the first few days when they tried to talk to me or my district we would just give them blank stares because they were talking super fast and we couldn´t really understand Portuguese. At this point I can understand most of the things my teachers and roommates are saying. The hardest part is thinking of how to respond in the correct form, with the correct conjugations and order of words. 

On our second day here we taught our first lesson (IN PORTUGUESE) to our ´pesquisadora´ who is one of our other teachers. It went alright and we were able to bring in notes and we mostly just read what we had written from our missionary phrases book. We have taught a lesson everyday and tomorrow we are switching investigators and we will have 2 lessons everyday! 

Our roommates are both Brazilian and they don´t speak any English. The first few days it was really hard to communicate with them but it is definitely getting better! They said they would help us with Portuguese and we could help them with English. In Portuguese they don´t have the `th´sound so any word with a ´th´is really difficult for them to say like `throughout´ or ´faith´. They are super nice and it has been very entertaining to try to communicate with them.

Our normal days here at the CTM start at 6:30 and then we eat breakfast at 7, classes from 8-12 Lunch, 12:45-4: more classes. Dinner, Physical Activities. Usually one more language study class for about an hour, then daily planning, then we have about an hour to get ready for bed, write in our journal and then we got to sleep at 10:30! So sixteen hour days, 8 hours of sleep and most of the day is filled with classes. 

Physical Activity time is a super great stress reliever and break from sitting in the classroom all day. We run 5 laps on a track and then we can play volleyball or basketball. We have been playing volleyball and it is super fun because the Brazilians get super into it! Also we are only allowed to speak in Portuguese during physical activities so we learn quite a bit. 

Also, this past Sunday was the BEST!!! We woke up and had a sacrament meeting with out zone (which is about 25 American missionaries), We had testimony meeting, district meeting, free time (to take a nap if you wanted to), devotionals and choir practice! It was incredible!!! 

I really love it here and everyday I love it more and more! I am trying my hardest to be my best and I am working really hard! I have 4 Elders and then it is me and my companion in my district!

I love you all!

-Love Sister Hancock