Past the half-way mark at the MTC! (Pictures at the end)

Hey everyone!!

IT’S P-DAY, P-DAY, GOTTA GET DOWN ON P-DAY!! (to the tune of Friday by Rebecca Black because conveniently, P-day IS on Friday!! How awesome is that?)

 Also, happy 1 month of me being gone! Exactly one month today I said good bye to all of you. Sad day. But hey! Only 17 more months now till I'm back! Less and less happens each week, but I'll do my best to make this a good email home :)

So, Dad, I got the scriptures!!! I LOVE THEM THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!  We're supposed to get our travel plans tonight, so depending on what the deal is with my visa etc, I'll write home and let you know what the plan will be.

So last Saturday was the first day without mail!!! Apart from Sundays and holidays. That was a sad day :( but I should probs get used to it, huh? On that note, SHOUT OUTS to Mariah A, Amanda M, Grandparents Briggs with an awesome card, Mom, Dad, Abby Evans, Paige T, Aunt Steph, Ali Smith, Dad, and Audrey Briggs for Two letters!! I LOVE YOU ALL!! Also, Rachel W and Hannah J wrote me like the first week and I haven't heard back and I want to because I love them too.

This week two of my teammates were here, Sis Jensen and Kayla Richardson. That was so fun to have them here. They came down to visit a couple nights and it was just a blast to chill with them. 

The language is coming along. We were teaching investigators this week (aka our teachers who take their ties off and make us knock on another classroom door) and I just had a moment where I was like, holy moly I'm speaking Portuguese!! I know it’s all because of a lot of struggles and faith in the Lord and really humbling myself and learning to rely on Him. Prayers are definitely felt here. But I also know I'm gonna be humbled like no other when I get out there ha-ha. Oh well. When I talk to you guys at Christmas I'm planning on being fluent. It’s a goal of mine.

Sisters Kropf and Vomocil got really sick this week. A cold went around our whole district but it hit them really hard. I gave Sis Vomocil some Nyquil one night and you've seen those commercials where it’s like, Best sleep you ever got with a cold, medicine? Yeah, she looked straight up like she was off of one of those commercials ha-ha.  They both slept all day Tuesday, that’s how sick they were. So me and Sister Rosemann got to hang out and she's so great. We had some adventures.

On Tuesday mornings we have to do "service" which is basically some sort of Chore around the MTC but they call it service so you can feel Christ-like while doing it.... yeah. Lies! :) It’s easily the worst part of my week. And this week we had the dreaded job of cleaning the showers. I hate the showers. I will not miss the nasty communal showers at the MTC. So we sprayed them down and then foamed them down and then scrubbed them down and then rinsed them down again. Sister Rosemann was scrubbing in one of the showers and accidentally turned it on. All I heard was a splash of water and then some screaming, and then realized what was happening I started dying laughing. She walked out of the stall with her entire front soaked ha-ha. Then we had to pick all the hair out of the drains. I'm pretty sure I pulled a small, dead furry animal out of those drains. It was disgusting.

Well, after this whole thing, we were taking a break on the couches on our residence floor, and all Sis. Rosemann wanted was some ice cream out of the vendies, but the machine was broken. We tried a million times, but that ice cream was just not coming out. Finally, sister Rosemann sat down on the ground, her shirt still damp, just tired and defeated. Then who comes around the corner? The Vending machine lady. TENDER MERCIES, PEOPLE. Ha-ha seriously. She fixed the machine and sis Rosemann got her ice cream and I don't think I've ever seen anyone so happy to eat ice cream!

We got to be new missionary hosts this Wednesday!! Meaning we brought in all the new people that were getting dropped off. I only got to bring one girl in but it reminded me of my first day and how overwhelmed I was. I took her to her classroom and she was still a little teary eyed and she walks in and her teacher starts speaking Portuguese to her (she’s going to Brazil) and she has no idea what was going on, and that was totally me ha-ha. Gosh those were some rough days, but I'm loving it now. I see her around and make sure she's doing alright when I see her. I saw a lot of families in tears as they said good bye to their missionaries and it about broke my little heart!! This one mom was videotaping all the missionaries on the curb as she drove off and shouted to us: Your mothers love you!!! I LOVE YOU TOO MOM!!!!!  Ah cutest thing ever.

The one night sister Kropf was sick I went and did her sister training leader duties for her, which basically meant I visited all the sisters in our zone and saw how they were doing and shared a short message. There’s a group of sisters in our zone that I play basketball with most days and they are so awesome, and there’s a little Haitian girl who’s in a tripanionship and her name is sister Mont Joy and they wrote a line in a rap for me. We're gonna take a video of it, it’s pretty sick ha-ha. But they are great, I just love em.

ALSO I GOT A PORTUGAL TSHIRT FROM THE BOOK STORE FINALLY!! Pics to come. Also they had chicken cordon bleu in the cafeteria one night, best thing ever. Also me and Rosemann still did choir this week and it’s probably one of the highlights of my week. This week we sang praise to the Man for pioneer day and it was so good, and we got to learn about Joseph Smith. Go look in D&C 135 for how I feel about him. During the performance, who else got a close up on camera but our part-time model/actor, Elder Muniz. We wouldn't let him forget it ha-ha.

Spiritual thought for the week: This week I've been thinking about baptism. We work so hard to commit investigators to baptism and prepare them for baptism, but in my mind, baptism is not the most important thing we do in this church, or in our lives really. But what baptism really is a symbolic moment, where you show Heavenly Father that you’re willing to follow Him, that you’re willing to change your life and your habits and desires to become more like Him. Essentially when we invite investigators to be baptized, we're asking them if they are willing to change their lives and follow Christ. And they don't need a 100% knowledge at that point that the church is true, they just need faith, just a desire to believe like it says in Alma 32:26-27. And then every week when we take the sacrament, it’s like we're baptized again. We get to renew those covenants, take the sacrament that represents the Atonement which is how we become clean for sin and which we have to be clean to partake of, and then renew our faith and desire to follow Christ. This week, family and friends, but especially Family, I want you guys to take the time during sacrament to really think about these things. Really find that desire in your heart to follow Christ, to keep the covenants because you want to, not because mom and Dad won’t let you have a phone if you don't. Read the sacrament prayers in Moroni, read about baptism in Mosiah 18 during sacrament, and really pray and think about these things, and let me know how you feel and what you learn. I LOVE YOU GUYS, BE GOOD AND DO THIS!!!! :)

So much love. My one request as far as mail goes is pics. This goes for family and friends. I have a whole picture album that I want to fill up, of teammates and friends and family and good memories that I can show people in Portugal so they know I'm human. If anyone gets the chance this week to print a pic or two of us off and send it to me, I would adore you for life. That’s all.

The gospel is true people, live it!!! I love you all.

Paz, Amor, e Casamento do templo

Sister Kelly Briggs