Aprendo Cada Dia

I can hardly believe that another week has gone by! This week was... difficult. I guess that's the best way I can put it. However, I learned so much more because it was difficult! The biggest thing that happened was that my companion, Sister Packard, got her visa, as well as another sister in our district, Sister Sanabria! To be perfectly honest, although I was very excited for the two of them, I was also quite discouraged. I had to say good bye to them this morning, and it was very difficult. I'm really going to miss Sister Packard! She has taught me so much about teaching with the Spirit, carefully preparing, and working diligently all of the time. She's going to love the Brazil MTC though. She said it will be really good for her because then she will have to speak the language all the time. And it will be good! The course of this week has been difficult as I have worrying about my visa... Through prayer, though, I have finally been able to let these worries go and place them in the Lord's hands. It's hard to accept His will, but when I do I am filled with so much more trust and love for Him! (So no one ask me about my visa again--it's not my problem. :P ) But my new companion, Sister Dustin is great!) I have learned a lot about faith and patience this week; the Lord is definitely the greatest teacher.

The Fourth of July was quite an experience here at the MTC! My teacher Irmão Machado, who is from Florianopolis, Brazil, gave us the greatest lesson on appreciating our country and the principles on which it stands. It was so enlightening. We also spent a great deal of time studying about Captain Moroni! There was a special fireside in the evening about bringing the gospel into all the world. The speaker sort of went nearly an hour over... so we all hurried out to the parking lot, watched about five minutes of fireworks, and went to bed late. It was great though! I like getting a nice break from all the stress. 

I have learned so much about teaching this week. It is fantastic! We got a second teacher, Irma Hill, and she's wonderful! Her teaching style is quite different than our other teacher. We have two new investigators, Vania and José, who we taught for the first time yesterday. I have loved seeing the difference in what we prepare and what we actually teach. It is obviously important to prepare as well as we can, but it is even more important to listen to the investigator and the Spirit to know their needs. We had some really tender teaching experiences. And that's the whole point of missionary work, right? It's amazing to see the Spirit work with them, even with our broken Portuguese and help them tell us the desires of their hearts!

Hmm... just for funny experiences (in case you are all bored already), Sister Packard's favorite song is "Ye Elders of Israel," so this whole week has been full of us breaking into deep, manly harmonies while singing that song, much to the surprise of surrounding elders. Sister Sanabria and I have also created a form of communication based solely on facial communication! So now I'm known as that weird sister who can make strange faces... love that... But it's been fun. :) 

I hope you are all doing well! Have the greatest week ever!

Love,

Sister Dickerson