Finally, news from the MTC!

Well, this is actually "ridiculouslygoodlooking" updating her blog for little miss Sarah Louise Ray as she is currently inside of MTC walls in Provo, Utah. I will be posting her weekly emails on here and other little tidbits she writes to me in my letters - that she wouldn't mind me sharing of course. Haha! Below is her first MTC email and address so all her friends and family can write her! Enjoy!

Sarah's Email:

"So I finally have the email set up and I am on the grid again so to speak. I will try to give you a good update in the time that I have left. So, I promised more information on the solo sister thing. What being a solo sister means is that I am the only girl in my district. There were no other Portuguese girls who came in last week. We also won't have any more for another two weeks. My companion is one of the sister in the trio that is 3 weeks ahead of me. Her name is Sister Earley and she is going to Lisbon. I am actually the only girl in the entire MTC that is going to Porto. We also have people in our Zone going to Mozambique and to Cape Verde. Basically being a solo sister means that I can go wherever I want as long as I am with two elders, hopefully in my district. OF course, on P-day, during gym, and on Sundays I am always with Irma Earley. I have to admit it is a little strange. I do my teaching with a companionship of elders as well as my companionship study. I get to do all the fun stuff with Irma Earley and usually we are with the other two sisters as well. We actually had a zone wide kick ball game during gym period and we had a lot of fun. It was a Portuguese only game so we all learned a wide range of vocab that included cheater, liar, and sinner. We are really uplifting people. They are actually usually the common four square words, but they worked well for Kick ball as well.

The other two sisters and Irma Vega and Irma Hokafunu. We actually all get along really well already. At fist they were in a different room from me even in the residence. Luckily, two days ago we played fruit basket turn over which resulted in all 4 of us being in the same residence room now. Before I was in a room with two Taiwanese sisters, two Swedish sisters and me. We called ourselves the misfits, and they were great. However, I think we were all happy when the Taiwanese sisters moved in with the rest of their district and the three Portuguese sisters moved in with me. Now we can all do better at practicing our languages. I have to admit we had some really fun conversations before the move when all of us were speaking different languages to each other.

The classes are going pretty well. I am definitely more confident in my teaching abilities. The Portuguese is a different story. Everyone told me Spanish was going to help. That is true in that I know how to conjugate verbs and the difference in the tenses as well as ser and estar. In every other aspect the Spanish is making the Portuguese a bit tough! I got called out completely for speaking Spanish in my first Portuguese teaching appointment. It was interesting because when I don't know the word in Portuguese I just automatically say it in Spanish and move right along. Well, that is a bad thing, but I'm sure that eventually I will get the hang of it. I was able to help the other sisters out with how to conjugate and when to use what tense.
So funny story of the day...We had the opportunity to go to the temple this morning and it was really a great experience. We have people who send our zone names so we do those and then give them all back to Elder Schenefelt to mail back. Well, Sister Vega has been having some really bad back problems so she is on Hydrocodone right now- which made her a little loopy throughout the entire session. Besides just being funny, it caused her to put the family file card down the laundry shoot at the end of the session. As a result they had the opportunity of taking a tour of the laundry facility. The really funny thing is when Irma Earley and I went to put our clothes down the shoot you could hear them attempting to explain to the temple workers what had happened. It was echoing through the dressing room!

So I had a nice little list of things to make sure and include in my email, but I left it in my room. BLAST! Well, I will just have to tell you all the random stories next week. I did have the opportunity(?) of giving the musical number in sacrament meeting last week. I had been in the MTC less than 4 hours when I was asked to take part in the musical number- In Portuguese! It made me learn the Portuguese pronunciation pretty quick. Irma Earley and I sang with two Elders and it went pretty well considering we hardly practiced. I also get to write a talk for this Sunday in Portuguese. I guess it is a bit of trial by fire. It is the best way to learn right??
I really am having a great learning experience. You have quite the roller coaster of emotions every day, but overall you know that you are doing what the Lord wants you to and it makes it all worth it. It seems like the minute that I start to get really down there will be an almost immediate answer to prayer and I will know that I can do this. Well, I have to send this soon because I only have a couple minutes left. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Irma Ray"

US mail (letters and all packages):
Sister Sarah Ray
MTC Mailbox #157 POR-PORT 1216
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah
84604-1793

This is Sarah and "ridiculouslygoodlooking" the night before she went into the MTC! She loves and misses ya'll, but is loving serving her Heavenly Father!

GOODBYE!!!

So, today I go into the MTC! Hope that all you are having a great time and I hope that I get to hear from you soon! Thank you to everyone who helped to get me to this point and has been so supportive of my decision. Love all of you and please stay in touch!

"Every new Beginning comes from some other Beginning's end"

I really like that quote! It takes the bittersweet feeling of an era ending and new possibilities and ties it up in one thought. Everyone knows the feeling of being on the brink of something unknown- there is an excitement for the future mixed with a nervousness of not knowing what to expect and the sadness that a page in your life has turned. That is where I am right now. Sometimes I wish that life would just stay the same, but then it would be boring and we would never grow. I had my missionary farewell this past weekend and I still don't think that I have fully realized that this part of my life is actually happening. I never thought I would be here, but now that I am at the brink of going into the MTC I know that there is nothing else in the world I would rather be doing with my life. Of course, that doesn't mean that this decision has been, or is easy for me. I am a bit sad that an era of my life is ending. I will miss everyone quite a lot, but I know that this is right in my life. Nothing will be the same after this experience- and I would not want it to be, but it is strange to have no idea of exactly what to expect. I'm so excited and nervous and sad and happy all at the same time. I guess it is only fitting that most of the pictures of possible areas that I will serve in have cliffs! (Yes, these are pictures from areas in my mission!)

Vote for Someone GREAT!

You know those people who you see and think "I could never handle a trial that well"? I know people like that personally. Some of the people in my family are fantabulously amazing at life, and I hope that one day I will have their faith and optimism.

So this is a bit of a solicitation. My cousin Cindy Lynn is one of the most amazing people that I know! She has Cystic Fibrosis and is attending BYU Idaho. She was also recently married to a great guy. Unfortunately, this means that her insurance is no longer covering all of her VERY expensive treatments. She has qualified for a scholarship that will donate some of her medications. In order for her to win the award her page must receive the most votes. Each computer can vote once a day until October 15th. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take the time to do this for her if you get a chance. In her words "American Idol has gone Pharmaceutical." This only takes a second and you can vote from on this page.
Thank you so much! You guys are awesome!

Whimsical

There is something about thunderstorms that just makes my fingers and toes tingle with excitement. You have that very distinctive smell that always accompanies an impending storm and there is a tangible electricity in the air. Now I have a confession, most people don't like the rain but thunderstorms are right up there with stars and waterfalls at the top of my nature list! When I was little I used to stand in my driveway watching the rain and I guess not much has changed. I still have an overwhelming urge to go out in a thunderstorm. Usually, emphasis on the usually, I do something slightly more grown up such as going running in the rain instead of just dancing-but not always. I heard thunder today in good old Utah, and I don't think I have stopped smiling yet. Thunderstorms bring me back to my childhood and I feel like I could step into that magical land that we once knew where all our dreams come true. Thunderstorms make me feel like anything could happen and that life will always turn out okay, we really don't have to worry and stress out about everything. Reality is we can't change most of it, so why worry. Well, that is enough of the philosophy of Sarah for the day. I love this picture, it shows my inner kid feelings!

"Weddings, I love weddings, Drinks all around!"

Okay, once again I am a slacker about the blog. SO- this is my special edition blog to cover the many weddings that I have attended over the past week. It has been quite the busy week. My brother had his mission farewell on Sunday following which my family flew to Utah. Here they met me, fresh off of EFY and still VERY sleep deprived. The day was spent saying our goodbyes in Bountiful and in Provo with the weekly tradition of Eat with Pete! Tuesday was full of family once again as I was able to go through the temple for the first time. I feel so blessed that I have such wonderful family and was able to have most of them there with me (including Andrew..yay). We managed to then cram all of us into a room at Brick Oven where the teasing continued on the fact that my little cousin was getting married tomorrow, and I was going on a mission. No offense to Vince, but I think I am getting the better end of the deal! Tuesday night was an emergency fitting of the bridesmaid dress and although I was thinking " I may not be able to breath tomorrow", the dress did fit-mostly, well close enough. Wednesday was a very busy day. We were at the temple for the wedding in the morning. I was able to be there which was really cool and so was Andrew. Afterwards we walked across the street and put my little brother in the MTC. Of course the missionary meeting us though that I was the one going in- way to rub it in dude! Oh well, 6 more weeks and we get to do this all over again for me. I have to rant for a moment when I say that the whole mtc entry process is probably the most miserable thing I have ever participated in! Whoever designed the whole fiasco must have been taking bets on seeing how many families they could make cry. You sit there in a really big room with everyone else who is going in at the same time and they keep playing the family commercials over and over again. I think it is purely to point out that you are losing part of your family for a couple of years. BLEH! Anyway, they then show this missionary work video that, besides being about 50 years old, serves to emphasize the difficult experiences that your loved one is about to face. Sitting there I was hugely tempted to turn to Andrew and say "lets make a run for it!" Afterwards we get to listed to a 20 minute dealy about how it is easier to just say good bye quickly like a band-aid ( the long talk being completely against what he seems to be saying) accompanied by a rousing version of Called to Serve- which most people just cry through. Now, I am not much of a crier and was actually strangely composed right until I turned to look at my brother. Now i know that guys say they hate seeing girls cry, but to me it has to be worse to see boys cry. I had never seen my brother cry before that day but seeing him try to hide it from my Mom was the catalyst for the flood gates to open. Looking back one day I'm sure it will be funny to see all four of us sitting there, all crying, and all trying to hide it from everyone else so that it is not harder. Of course then the lights go on and it is the infamous missionaries through this door and families through this door part. Needless to say Andrew was out of there before we hardly had time to say bye. As we left Mom was about a centimeter away from cussing out the entire MTC staff if anyone looked at her the wrong way. Okay, rant over. There was one redeeming quality to the entry process. Before we actually put Andrew in Katie and him took some great pictures in front of the MTC sign. I think that they have become my favorite wedding pictures of all time- so I am sharing them with all of you! Well, we all left to grab a bite to eat and I had to rush to get on the bridesmaid dress and it was off to Sundance for the reception. No rest for the weary... which in this case was probably a good thing. The reception and ring ceremony went off with a huge bang. Of course my favorite part was the flower girls getting bored during the ring ceremony and deciding to start conking the bridesmaids with their flowers. Gotta love little kids!
Anyway, Thursday we drove to Idaho and Friday was another wedding, this time in Rexburg. Now I know that we always joke about there being nothing in Idaho and sometimes I feel bad about that, but once again it was shown to be true! The entire town takes about 10 minutes to drive across and our survey of favorite restaurants turned up Applebee's every time. It probably helps that Applebee's is one of two restaurants in the entire area. Cindy-Lynn made a beautiful bride and after the reception it was back down to Utah for yet another missionary farewell. Jenny Badham has joined the Ray family missionary force! As we sat there with almost the entire extended family I realized just how blessed we really are to have family like this. I have to say that I am so thankful that all of my family chose to be married in the temple so that we can all be together for the rest of eternity! It was so great to be able to be around all the people I loved!

Promised Pictures- well, at least some!

So EFY is always an experience...here are some of the pictures to prove it! That is, if we really needed pictures. I think the craziness of efy is pretty much assumed by everyone!