Happy 4th of July!!!

Hi!! I love you all!!

I feel like I've been here for a million years!!! 😃😃😃😃 but for real I love it here!! It's so fun to be surrounded by sooo many missionaries. The day I got here there were 500 new missionaries and it's the fullest it's been in 3 years which is so crazy. The first thing I saw when I walked into the MTC was a Sister with a Swig in her hand. Absolutely amazing. I gotta make that happen for me somehow gotta sweet talk the teachers.

Some things I learned this week:

- MTC food does not agree with me

- Apparently MTC food doesn't agree with anyone according to the bathrooms

- The whole world is at the MTC rn not kidding

- I love but also hate that I can see my BYU home across the street

- I love Sister Woolley!!!

- I love Portuguese!!!!

I thought my days were busy in the homt MTC, but they're even busier here. Even on Sunday!!! I thought that was against the rules. I love my district!! It has been so fun being with them and learning in an actual classroom. It's been so fun speaking in more Portuguese!! I've actually enjoyed being a beginner and learning which is super a blessing. I look forward to my Portuguese classes they're the best. Me and Sister Woolley thought it would be a good idea to sign up for our first practice investigator thing in Portuguese the day after we got here and that was so awesome for us lol. Sister Woolley was sitting there like 🙃 the whole time and this lady was grilling me on why it's important for us to believe in God and want to return to Him. It's actually hilarious hahaha. We get to watch film of the lesson and I'm absolutely terrified. We left and this lady eavesdropping was like "you did so well! Your Brazilian accent is amazing are you going there?" And I was just like "that's so awesome for me!!!!!! No!!!" So wish me luck!!

Guess what!! Me and Sister Woolley are Sister training leaders!!! We were here for a whole 24 hours before they assigned us. I'm excited it'll be really fun. A new district is joining our branch this week and quite a few Sisters are supposed to get here today and tomorrow when they're supposed to get here Wednesday, so we get to keep them lol and have them come to classes with us and have them sleep on our floor so that's kind of fun. I'm excited to get to know everyone better and check in on them and pray for them!

Saturday was fun!! and also sad!! Everyday is a rollercoaster let's be real. The first few days here were so awesome and everyone was going strong. And then on Saturday one of our teachers was evil to us and we were allowed to stay up to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks and so it ended up being more sad than happy. But the best part is, when I'm sad here, I can't be sad for long. With Saturday being a low, it's followed by such a high, and Sunday was one of my best days as a missionary yet. Sunday was amaaaazing and yes, I know it was fast Sunday. Our dinners are early so we ate dinner at 4:15 on Saturday and didn't break our fast until 5:30 on Sunday and I literally wasn't hungry. bro that is a miracle if I've ever heard one. Church was awesome because there are some Sisters and Elders in my branch that are leaving this week and they bore such a strong testimony. After church we did this thing called the "Go and Do Experience" where the MTC President gives us a little prep, and then break away and do personal study for 2 hours. It was literally such a cool experience. Being a missionary is so cool. When am I ever going to just have the time to sit down and study for hours and hours? I love it. I really can testify to you guys the power of personal revelation. It literally amazes me how easily I forget how accessible the Holy Ghost is to me. Over these past three weeks, I've also learned the importance of pondering and journaling about my spiritual experiences. I didn't just spend 2 hours reading the scriptures, I spent 2 hours reading the scriptures and studying what I felt prompted to study and pondering what I was reading and writing it down. I love this quote by Elder Richard G. Scott, "Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a sacred place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. That practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light." I love that!!!! And then Sunday night we had a devotional by the MTC President and he is so awesome I love hearing from him. The devotionals they give are literally amaaaazing. I feel like I need less devotionals and more time to think about them. So overwhelmed with the Spirit I love it so much!

I love you all!! Happy 4th of July! Go to Swig for me!

Sister Menden

1. We did this activity on the first day and look at the things my district wrote it was so nice I cried

2. I love my parents 💗

3. Squad

4. A walk to the temple

5. ME AND SISTER SMITH!!!

6. It is literally so pretty here I missed the Utah mountains