Monday, November 24, 2008

Classic Moments and Classic Mess-ups!

Hey y'all! Here is the latest - Please, please, PLEASE write her a letter of love! :) It means the world to her...
*muah*

"November 21, 2008

From the crossroads of the west....however that goes, Hello from the MTC again! Yet another week has managed to pass us by, and hopefully we are all still alive and kicking at the end of it! Life at the MTC is grand as always, the schedule of sit, eat, sit carries on strong. Not even switching to solo Portuguese could switch that up! Speaking of solo Portuguese, here are the funniest comments from teaching the first lesson in Portuguese:
3. Elder Tolman asked an investigator to read a scripture. When he finished reading Elder Gooding asked what that scripture meant to him. This prompted a question from our "investigator." Well, since neither of the elders can really understand Portuguese they both sat there and nodded their heads saying, very good, very good.- I was cracking up.
2. When talking about the ministry of Jesus Christ, One elder mixed up a couple of words and instead of saying that the church was established or created by Jesus Christ, he explained that Jesus Christ had childrened the church. Now that isn't even a word, but somehow it became one....
1. While relating the first vision Elder Bennet had a bit of a mishap, Instead of using the for whose (cujo) he used to word quexo(i may have spelled that wrong,i don't have my dictionary). As a result he told the investigator that Joseph Smith saw two beings, with the brightness and glory of cheese....
I was slightly frustrated with this weeks lesson because I managed to catch the cold that is flying around the MTC and woke up yesterday(the day of our teaching appointment) with no voice. SO, the elders had to do it all on their own...(for results... see above). The best part was that I could still understand everything, so I mostly just thought it was funny.

Lets see, as for the rest of the top 5 list (yes I know, it's not 10- I don't have that much time)
5. (funny teaching experiences...see above)
4. This week was stellar for seeing people I know... It was great to see everyone (Jon, Steve, Matt, Elise, Rebekah, Burke, Pam)
3. This was my last week with Irma Earley...I know sad day. She leaves on Tuesday for Portugal. Luckily I am only three weeks behind her. We also lost our Jim Carrey look alike/impersonator to Brazil this week. Our class is mourning the loss of Elder Taylor- he could do a perfect imitation- quite entertaining actually.
2. We had 30...yes 30 new Portuguese missionaries this week! 22 of them happen to be waiting for Visas to Brazil, but WOW!
1. Elder Holland was our speaker this Tuesday. Not only did he give an amazing and funny talk (which included him pretending to fly with a cape behind the pulpit) we had a pretty cool experience afterward. Irma Earley and I had just left the gym and were standing with a couple of other sisters on the curb when Elder Holland drove by. He rolled down his window, pointed at us and told us I love you, and you have the best times ahead of you!It was a pretty cool experience and one that we really needed. Every one has been getting pretty nervous about the fact that half our zone is leaving this week- and that makes my District the farthest along now. We are supposed to actually know what we are talking about- and that is scary. Luckily we are not doing this alone, I am so thankful for the help and companionship of the spirit. One of the lessons I learned this week is how vitally important having the Spirit is with everything that we do- and that isn't just in missionary mode. That is for life!
Well, so much for this weeks edition of the MTC no-news letter! Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels to everyone!

love

Irmã Ray

ps I appreciate all of your support...you are awesome!~"


The following is Sarah's contact information while in the MTC. She is scheduled to leave for Portugal on the 16th of December. Her contact information for
US mail (letters and all packages) is:

Sister Sarah Ray
MTC Mailbox #157
POR-PORT 1216
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

An alternative way, which is free and probably the easiest (letters only) is:
1) On the internet go to dearelder.com
2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Provo-MTC and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.
3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.
4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

Again, this is free and is valid during her time at the MTC.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Great Prayer???

Hey y'all! I am going to send out Sarah's Christmas Package in two weeks, so that it will be in Portugal when she gets there for Christmas. If you would like to put a letter to her inside there is plenty of room for many of those - I am also sending her a tape for her to listen to and you are more than welcome to do the same and send it with my package... It really is fairly relaiable mail-wise over there.... Just let me know!!! Enjoy the latest update posted below from our amazing missionary!!!


"November 15, 2008

Well, I have officially made it half way through the MTC. We are considering throwing a party. The sad part is that as of today we no longer speak English...at all. From yesterday on all of our classes, appointments, and pretty much every thing else is in Portuguese. It will make life a little interesting. I am actually excited about it because I understand pretty well, but it is going to be quite frustrating for the rest of my district. It is kinda strange to think that in a month I'll be in Portugal. Sister Earley got her flight plans this week, and she leaves in 10 days. I don't know what that is going to mean for me as far as a companion goes, but we will find out.
So the question of the week is this: why do people congratulate you on your prayers when you pray in a group meeting? I had the opportunity to say the prayer for the fireside this past week and ever since then I have had people coming up to me and saying "good job on your prayer." That is a little strange to me...I guess it would be possible to have bad prayers, but it doesn't seem like Prayer is something that is or should be judged like that. Maybe that is just me, but I think it is a little strange. That and people kept asking me if I was nervous. Hmm....also strange. Anyway, needless to say I was capable of praying in front of a large group without passing out- since apparently it is a scary experience. The funny thing is that I have found out that I know more people at the MTC then I though I did, because they all recognized me on Sunday and have hunted me down.
Well, i know that the top 10 list has been anxiously awaited, but due to the lack of pretty much ANYTHING exciting happening this week, we are limited to 5. They are as follows:
5. Half of our entire zone is leaving for Brazil this week. It is a little sad because some of them have been in our district for 4 weeks now and we kinda forgot they were waiting on visas. That means that when Sister Earley's group leaves for Portugal we will only have 12 people in our whole zone. Muito Triste!
4. Sister Earley and I have discovered the wonderfulness that is the free box, and in order to increase our daily exercise we have started to race down the hall to check it every night. Quite the entertaining site I am sure.
3. For our service assignment ever week we clean the bottom two floors of the building we live in. For some reason our district always seems to be assigned the bathrooms- which then reminds me of you mom. I always remember cleaning the church growing up and you volunteering to clean the boys bathroom because it was the only time you could legally go in there. Just so you know, there are about twice as many boys bathrooms here than girls....twilight zone- I know.
2. I have once again been suckered into doing the musical number for church this past week. You would think with so many Mormons in one very small area someone else would have musical talent- but apparently they are stuck with me. It has become a zone wide project to get me to try out for a MTC wide musical number, but I am still in denial. We will see how that works out....
1. Our
mormon.org chats once again make the top list. This week has been really interesting with all of the Prop 8 stuff going on. I'm not even sure what is going on in the real world, but we have gotten some pretty nasty conversations about it. This week I did get to talk to a woman who was seing the missionaries, but worried that because of a divorce she wouldn't be accepted in the church. We talked for a while and she is now excited to be baptized. It was probably the highlight of my week. Being here day after day it gets a little hard to remember that there is a world out there and that things are happening. It was great to be able to see how what we are doing really affects people and that there is a purpose behind the hard times here as well.
Thank you to everyone for all the support you give me. It is great to hear from you, and I really appreciate the encouragement! Have a fantastic week!

Love,
Irmã Ray"

The following is Sarah's contact information while in the MTC. She is scheduled to leave for Portugal on the 16th of December. Her contact information for
US mail (letters and all packages) is:

Sister Sarah Ray
MTC Mailvox #157
POR-PORT 1216
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

An alternative way, which is free and probably the easiest (letters only) is:
1) On the internet go to dearelder.com
2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Provo-MTC and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.
3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.
4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

Again, this is free and is valid during her time at the MTC.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Top Ten List!

Here is the new update on Irma Ray's life in the MTC! She sent me some pictures with my birthday package - So if anyone know how to scan those into here, let me know and I will post them. Hope that everything is going great with ya'll!!!

"November 7, 2008
Okay first order of business...HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN ANDREW AND LINZE!!!!! For some reason I thought the 6th was today until yesterday and then I realized that I wouldn't get an email out before it came and went! muito triste. So, moral of the story is I'm a slacker of a friend/sister and I'm totally bummed out about it.
Item of business #2... life at the MTC is much the same as usual. This week was fun because we have 3 more sister joining the Portuguese Team...pretty much we are going to destroy the Italians, with whom we have a bit of a war going on. The four square courts will never be the same. The wonderful thing about having gym at 6:30 in the morning two days a week is that everyone is too tired to do much more. Now, I know you are all thinking...4 square?!?! I haven't played 4 square since I was about 8. Well, the MTC has taken it to a new level- We have some pretty intense four-square games. The rivalry includes special shoes and everything.
Anyway, the new sisters seem really nice, but since they have only been here for two days we don't really know them yet. It seems hard to believe that it is already time for the new districts to come in. That means the next district to leave is Irma Earley's which puts me without a companion. I guess we will see how that goes. They get their flight plans next week- which is very strange.
The other exciting thing that happened this week is we had our first real snow. That doesn't really affect us since every where we are walking is covered, but it was fun to watch out of our window. Our district won the lottery apparently because we have a great view out of our window of Timp and the temple. YAY! We will probably need it soon considering that we are down to less than a week before everything we do is in Portuguese. SCARY!!! I guess that is what I get for being half way to Portugal. We have been doing our best to prepare- so we play a bunch of games to review vocab and conjugations. Of course, then the Elders decided that I had to play left handed to race in writing on the board...totally picking on the girl. Not nice.
Item of business #3... This week's Top 10 list of moments that made me happy :)
10. Receiving a letter addressed to "the lone woman in the wilderness of the MTC"...Thank you Peachtree Corners Ward Relief Society!
9. The letter from Brother Drake's class with one being signed " I don't know you, but good luck on your mission"
8. Sister Couch recommended a fly swatter to keep the district in line....I'm seriously considering it!
7. Sister Beck was our speaker this week, and it was a really good talk
6. Instead of doing phone calls at the referral center, my district does chats every Wednesday morning. If you get on the
mormon.org site you can ask questions on live chat...well those chats come to the missionaries here at the MTC. I had a very interesting experience talking to a woman who's boyfriend has been convicted of murder. She thinks that prayers aren't being answered or he isn't sincere because he is praying to be let out of jail. That was fun.
5. Elder Zabriskie and I wrote a song for a mission wide musical number. He wrote the music, I wrote the words. I'll let you know how it turns out.
4. PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED!!!! I have so many experiences I could share, but they are all summed up in that sentence. I am so thankful that we have a Heavenly Father who knows each of us individually and takes the time to give us exactly what we need. I was fasting for something in particular this week, and I hadn't even made it back to my residence after the Sunday fireside before exactly what I needed came my way.
3. I was chastized for attempting to take my own tray in the cafeteria...go figure. I was told that I had to learn how to use the Elders to their full capacity.
2. TEMPLE VISITS!!! I love going to the temple every week. There is such a fantasitic feeling associated with being there. I also see someone I know every time so that is kinda fun!
1. So, this isn't exactly inspiring, but I totally locked myself in the bathroom stall. Since I am a solo sister the Elders were waiting for me outside and I could not for the life of me get the door unlocked!!!! I was about to lay down and squeeze under the door in my nylons and skirt, but luckily after a about a minute and a half I was able to force it open. The good thing is since the MTC is the opposite of reality, I got out before the elders did!
Portuguese phrase of the week: pelo amor : for the love...it has become a favorite in our district!
Anyway, I love you and I really appreciate your support!! Tell Bev Jones thank you for her continued letters, and I always love to hear from you. Also thank you to Rachel and Grandma for their letters, I am going to respond as soon as I can!!!

Love always,
Irma Ray"

CONTACT INFO:

Sister Sarah Ray
MTC Mailvox #157
POR-PORT 1216
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

An alternative way, which is free and the easiest (letters only) is:
1) On the internet go to dearelder.com
2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Provo-MTC and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.
3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.
4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

A Little Trip to the Hospital!

It's ridiculouslygoodlooking here again! She has been in the MTC for just over three weeks now, and I can hardly believe it - it is incredible! Pasted below is Sarah's most recent mission adventures email - she would LOVE to hear from each of you, so PLEASE drop her a line!

Her email from October 31, 2008

"Hey Hey!!

Do you miss me yet??? I can hardly believe that I am already in week 3 of the MTC. I feel like I have been here forever and no time at all. Kinda weird. We actually get two new Portuguese districts on Wednesday, so that will be exciting. I will no longer be the bottom of the Language totem pole. Life here in the MTC is pretty much the same week after week. We do a lot of sitting and eating. Very exciting. The highlight of the week was actually Tuesday. Irma Vega and I broke out of the MTC! Well, broke out is the wrong term considering the fact that we had a shuttle pass. Irma Vega has been having some bad back problems so we have all taken turns staying with her so none of us have to miss when we have teachers. Apparently I had the lucky straw because I got to be her companion on a super fun field trip to Utah Valley Hospital. She had to go see a specialist so we were able to leave the fence...I know, scandalous! It was really weird to be driving the normal routes I used to drive, and not really being part of the real world. We did take pictures to prove it though! My favorite involves Irma Vega wearing her tag with her hospital gown--definitely a new fashion statement. I thin k it may become all the rage with the Sister missionaries. Of course then we would have to wear regular hose instead of knee highs and that could be depressing. Luckily, she is going to be fine, and hopefully will not have to have surgery. We found out that she had a small fracture on her 5th Lumbar. We are all hoping and praying that it doesn't continue to effect her work and learning.

The other highlight of Tuesday was that Elder L.Tom Perry was our devotional speaker. We had our sneaking suspicions that it was an apostle when Irma Earley and I were at choir practice. They were using a mirror to check under every single seat in the entire place. Seemed like a pretty boring job, and it didn't seem to be part of the usual security check. He gave a great devotional on missionary work and on relying on the Lord. Trusting in His plan is definitely something that I am working on right now.

Portuguese: It is actually going decently well. I am trying my utmost best to forget every bit of Spanish that I have ever learned. I am realizing it is an imperfect form of Portuguese and isn't worth knowing (sorry Dad!) In all seriousness, I really am trying to forget the Spanish because it makes it harder to learn the vocab (easer on grammar though!). It is kinda funny because when I am in class and such I am just fine with Portuguese. However, the second that I get into a teaching appointment or praying or something I revert to Spanish. That results in me being called out by my teacher. Oh well, it will come eventually. I actually can understand pretty well already and I can make myself understood just fine- I just have to remember not to use Spanish words.

As for today...we survived the temple with no mishaps. That is probably because Irma Vega is no longer on narcotics. Kinda a bummer because we have no more entertainment, but we are all really happy for her- and no one put the family file card down the laundry shoot this week!!! I did run into Adam Ruri in the temple this morning and that was fun. It is weird being so close to my prior life and not knowing what is going on. All of us sisters wave at grandma's house every time that we are up at the temple.

Anyway, Sister Earley is also doing well. In order to answer questions about her- it was inspiration that made us companions. We are pretty close to being the same person. We are very silly together at times, but we make sure that we have fun even while we are working hard. Actually, we are dressed up for Halloween today- I am her and she is me! We were super creative with the costume thing. We are going to start coming up with an MTC top 5 list for every week- so stay tuned. She is from Preston, Idaho and went to BYU-ID before the mission. She is going to Lisbon so not quite perfect, but hey, we can't all be :)

Well, my time is almost up and I can't think of any really funny stories to add. We just keep on working hard and hopefully we are improving. I know that I am improving in pretty much every way, and that is a great blessing. It is amazing how much you can learn here if you really try. I know that I am closer to my Heavenly Father because of what we are doing here. I am amazed at how strong the spirit can be even when we are just practicing teaching the lessons. It is a testimony to the fact that it is true, you can feel it even when we are just working on how to improve.

Love you all!!!

Sarah

Portuguese word of the week: ótimo ... it means awesome and that is what life is! Love y'all"

CONTACT INFO:

Sister Sarah Ray
MTC Mailvox #157
POR-PORT 1216
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

An alternative way, which is free and the easiest (letters only) is:
1) On the internet go to dearelder.com
2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Provo-MTC and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.
3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.
4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

She loves and misses everyone, but can't wait to get out there and serve!