MTC life

Family!   

  How is everyone doing? How is the house coming along? I'm gonna write some letters today so yeah be excited for that! :) 

  The MTC is still a really fun and enjoyable experience! I've only been here for two weeks but it feels like ten years. I'm learning so much, and also seeing that I have SO MUCH to learn. But that's good! It's a blessing that we can always progress. And like my district rocks. We have lots of fun and giggles and stuff. 

  Portuguese is MUITO difficile. I'm learning, but very slowly haha. I get frustrated sometimes, but I know that if I do my best and be patient that the language will come. Heavenly Father will bless me with the gift of tongues if I work for it! 

  The food.. oh what to say. I love the cookies way way too much. WHAT IS THAT?! It's an issue. 

  Okay so my teachers are Irmao N and Irmao L.  They are GREAT. They expect a lot from us and push us hard, but it's good. I'm grateful for them.  But here's the issue: Irmao L is like OMG SO GREAT. Holy cannoli. He was our first investigator, then we found out that he is also our teacher! So for the first week we only had one teacher and had no clue that our investigator would become our second teacher.  Let me tell ya, class can be ROUGH.

    Something I'm learning in the MTC so far is that the Lord does not expect me to be perfect.  This is so hard for me to remember, I think I expect perfection from myself. In teaching, in Portuguese, in everything.  I set my standards high because I don't want to waste the Lord's time. But something Irmao L shared with us made me pause and think a little differently. We read a quote by Elder Cecil O. Samuelson that says "Just as we should not lower the standards that the Lord has established for the conduct of His servants, we are also not authorized to raise them...Be sure that you do not have higher standards for yourself or others than the Lord has established." This really hit me. In the MTC so far, it's like a huge light has been shining on all my weaknesses. It motivates me to try harder and rely on the Lord, but I still fall waaay short all the time. I have successes, and I have many failures. I get frustrated and down on myself. BUT, the Lord does not expect me to be perfect. He doesn't expect any of us to be perfect! We are not on this earth to gain perfection. We are here to try our best and rely on the Lord in our many moments of weakness. Through our humility we can be tools in the hands of our Father in Heaven. I know that as long as I am worthy and willing, the Lord will help and guide me through!

  Anyway, I love you all so much! Have a great week! 

-Sister Wood 

Things I've learned about Portugal: 

-Apparently there is fresh bread and cake on like every street corner. One of the teachers here gained 40 pounds. OH NO

-The Azores have some French influence in the Portuguese they speak there. So that's pretty cool! 

-They eat cod like nobody's business. It's a funny word in Portuguese so the natives test you on your pronunciation of the word. Apparently if you can say codfish in Portuguese then you are on the right track!