Butterflies-March 31, 2014

Family and Friends!

Another week has come and gone and I can't believe it. I don't have much time left today, but I wanted to share a special experience from this week. 

 

As you know I have been having a hard time adjusting to being here and not in PA anymore. I miss all of those I came in contact in PA, OH, and WV. It was one of the greatest blessings in my life to spend so much time with all of you!

 

Butterflies have been one of my favorites for a couple of years. Before they were just pretty and a sign of happiness to me. Then on a particualarly hard day for me this past week I saw a pretty little butterfly. As I watched it silently enjoying its presence, I realized something. The care free butterfly wasn't always that way. It was a tiny catterpiller with a limited ground view. Then it created a cacoon and spent time changing. Then in a final battle before the freedom it has a beautiful butterfly, it had to get out of that darn cacoon. Like the beautiful butterfly, we start on the ground as a caterpillar. We have a limited view. Then one day Heavenly Father inspires us to build our own cacoon and make a hard and long change. Then to finish changing we have to get out of our cacoon. When we emerge from our cacoon of change, we have become a beautiful butterfly that has a greater and higher perspective. We have more freedom because we have changed, we are more beautiful because we changed, and we have a greater appreciation for the cacoon that has changed us. Life is hard and change is hard. But each day I count the butterflies and remember that God is helping me become a beautiful butterfly of my own. 

 

Doctrine and Coventants 98:1-3

1 Verily I say unto you my friends, ^afear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give ^bthanks;

 2 ^aWaiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament—the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

 3 Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been ^aafflicted shall work together for your ^bgood, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.

Remember the Lord loves you and the Church is TRUE!

Love 

Sister Nay

Things that I have eaten, seen, done:

 

Açai- a fruit that they drink the juice.

I met a genuine Catholic monk from Italy. Like the brown robe and everything.

Leaving the Brazil MTC- Love You All (3-10-2014)

Tomorrow I am flying out for the real world again. We have had some awesome experiences that I think I might have to tell you later I don't have much time. But I just wanted to say that I love you and I am praying that I will survive the weather. Right now Manaus is flooding because of all the rain they have been having. I don't know what time I am flying out but it is really early. 

 

Thanks for all fo your love and support!

 

Love you

Sister Nay

Brazil MTC- Brasil (3-5-2014)

Hello Friends and Family

 

MTC is crazy we are the first group so everybody is watching us like hawks. Plus they send videos of us teaching to the brethern, no pressure! The language is hard but coming faster that I thought. I am ok. Just like I thought I am in a trio. 8 adn 9 comps!!!! By the end of the transfer I will have had 11 comps in 9 months.
If you think driving in PA is crazy think again! People in sao paulo drive like mad men, it is scary. the roads are super narrow and they ride each other's tails like nobody's bussiness. Whooo!

Went to the temple it was so great!!!!!!  I love it. Warm raining and the people are so sweet. 

 

We got to go to the temple today! Holy cow. It was exactly what I needed. I have been struggling with learning the language especially becasue the reast of my MTC district seem to have caught on better. But I know that Heavenly Father loves me and I am glad to be here. Next week I leave for the field again. I am in a trio so that makes comps 8 adn 9! I know Sister Kunkel from the first MTC experience adn Sister Shipp is just great. WE are the first distrcit ever to go back to the MTC after time in the field so we are the THING to be. All the teachers talk to us all the time. They send videos of us teaching to the brethren and pics of us doing everything under the sun. It is kinda funny. 

 

All the teachers are Brazilian so you either speak portuguese or go without. It was hard at first but I know that this is exactly where teh Lord wants me to be! I will be leaving for the field again next week. It is warm and humid, but I am totally loving it. One of my compaions was with me in the MTC the first time so that was fun. Yeah I am in a trio again. Sister Kunkel whom I know and Sister Shipp. All of us have been out for at least 8 months. There are some missionaries in our group that  have been out for over a year! but we finally made it to Brazil. The drivers are so crazy i am so glad that I don't have to drive but that we ride the buses!

Sorry with such little time I have been copying and pasting so I know that there are some of the same things!

I have been having a hard time because the over achiever in me doesn't like to be mediocre at something. Portuguese is hard! Plus I didn't really get to study for 4 months. I think the hardest thing is that i know what it is like to know what you are doing and how to do it. I know what it is like to be a great missionary and with the language barrier I just can't do everything that I could before and that realy frustrates me. But President Swenson has been super helpful and my profs are super awesome and so are my comps. Also we went to the Campinas temple and it was exactly what I needed that new video is awesome and the Spirit was so strong. Plus i learned so many new things! Can you believe taht I have been endowed for over a yaer now? Crazy right! Taht was exactly what i needed today.

 

The traveling here was fine. I slept okay. I was able to talk to the people sitting next to me on both flights. Elder Lowe and i actually taught the guy sitting inbetween us the plan of salvation together. We gave him a card to get a BOM. He was from Uruguy and mennonite.

 

Love

Sister Nay

BRAZIL- Safe and Sound (2-26-2013)

Hey family!

I am safe and sound in the Brazil MTC. We are the first refresher course that they have here so we are forging new ground. Elder Lowe from the Provo MTC flew out with me and 4 other missionaries. We met Sister Kunkle form the Provo MTC and other missionaries at the Sao Paulo airport.  It is hot and humid and I am ready for bed and a shower but I am safe. 

For real we are the first refresher course in history so that's pretty cool. I am in a trio with Sister Kunkle and Sister Shipp that is companions 8 and 9 I will break 10 in two weeks when I get to Manaus. I will set many records on my mission. 2 missions 4 states 3 mission presidents overflowing US MTC and a new program at the Brazil MTC with unnumbered companions. Call me a modern pioneer. 

Love you all lots!

Sister Nay

Your Missionary's Arrival at the Brazil MTC (2-26-2014)

Dear Parents,

Sister Swensen and I are very happy to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil Missionary Training Center.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they begin their missionary experiences with us. We will surely take good care of your missionary.

The missionaries now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  Their branch presidents and wives, will meet them this Sunday.  These wonderful couples are richly blessed as they work with, motivate, and interview the missionaries assigned to their branch.

The MTC has a full-time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife who is a nurse. We are also happy to report that the cafeteria food is plentiful, healthy and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of many others. President Lorenzo Snow said: “There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".  We love these missionaries as if they were our own.  We will watch over them carefully to ensure they are ready for a wonderful missionary experience after the rewarding time they will have in the MTC.

We thank you for preparing such a wonderful representative of the Lord.

President Robert Swensen and Sister Julie Swensen

 

Third Area Week 26- Tell Everybody I'm On My Way (2-24-2014)

Family and Friends!

I don't really have much to say! I am off to Brazil after nearly half of the mission time! Whoo! I am Brazil bound!

What has been playing through my head lately is not a spiritual song and so I can't remember all of the lyrics. But here it goes:

Tell everybody I'm on my way

New friends and new places to see!

That is all I can remember folks but it is from the movie Brother Bear so if you want to hear it I am sure you all could look it up on youtube or something :)

But this week my companion and I have put our shoulders to the wheel.

Speaking of wheels... after pushing our car out of snow a couple of times we got our tires check and then got new tires. So that was a fun filled day. Thankfully Sister Matthews from the ward was willing to drive us around a bit.

We have done so much tracting and finding this week. Amazingly we have found a number of potentials that Sister Hathaway and her new companion will follow up with! So exciting! It is hard work but totally worth it.

One day while we were tracting we unknowingly tracted into a born again ministers house. That was fun. He tried to get pretty contentious with us. But we bore our testimonies and left calmly. It is so important that we testify with boldness and with the Spirit. That was quite the experience.

We also did service for the Muir family! We helped Sister Muir clean her house. Her son has a lot of health problems so they have been going to the hospital lately. It was so much fun. She is such a great lady and her kids are super cute. I love all these opportunites to serve others. I have come to love and desire to find people to serve each day. It is so much fun!

Well, next week I will be emailing from Brazil!

Remember the Lord loves you and the Church is true!

Love Sister Nay

I sing these lyrics to myself when I feel down:

For I believe that whatever the terrain,

our feet can learn to dance

Whatever stone life my sling
We can moan or we can sing!

Grateful, grateful

Truly grateful I am

Grateful, Grateful

Truly blessed and duly grateful!

They are just a few lines from a song I discovered on the mission!

And...

 

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/our-temple-in-the-amazon?lang=eng

http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/videos/call-of-the-champions-salt-lake-2002-winter-olympic-games?lang=eng

Okay so the first one is about Manaus and the new temple that they have there. It is in portugues so have fun!

The second one was a tender mercy last week. I found it on the MoTab website. If you remember correctly. This is what inspired me to be a musician. Look at the horn section, Kamber is there. Wow it is amazing that that was 12 years ago and look how far I have come. It made me cry! Call of the Chamions with John Williams and the MoTab! Whoo!

Third Area Week 25- Let the Holy Spirit Guide (2-10-2014)

Family and Friends!

W-O-R-K is what missionaries do. Even in crazy weather like what we have been having. Like yesterday it was snowing super hard when we got out of church and we had to go home. Our apartment is up a hill like everything here in PA and we got stuck halfway up. So I had to get out of the car and push while my companion continued to drive. I never thought in a million years that I would have to push a mission car up a hill on a Sunday. Especially since I had pushed our car out of snow only 3 days previous at a members house. Everyday Brazil looks better and better. Except for the 100 degree temperature difference. We are consistently hanging out somewhere between 10 and 15 degrees out here!

Tuesday we had a pretty large dumping of snow and so Sister Hathaway and I spent about 3 hours the next day going around our neighborhood shoveling snow and scrapping ice off of cars. We ended up helping this cute little Chinese girl scrap off her car so she could get to school on time. She invited us over if we ever wanted genuine Chinese food. She was super cute and sweet. She is studying business at the university here.

So this week we have been working hard on finding new people to teach and working closely with some select investigators as well.

Let the Holy Spirit guide;

Let him teach us what is true.

He will testify of Christ,

Light our minds with heaven's view.

One of our investigators is very special to both Sister Hathaway and I. She has progressed so much since we met her and she loves the Gospel. This week we really have been focusing on helping her recognize the Spirit testifying the truth of the Gospel to her. We have really been trying to focus on praying and asking God to know the truth of all things. I truly have come to know that the Spirit will testify to all of us if we but ask. We are told in John 14:26 that He will teach us all things and bring to our remembrance all things. As you go throughout life, remember to turn to God and listen for the promptings of the Holy Ghost and He will guide you to what you need to do.

Let the Holy Spirit guard;

Let his whisper govern choice.

He will lead us safely home

If we listen to his voice.

Earlier this week our phone was stolen at a local restaurant and the mission was unable to get us a new phone until this week. So Sister Hathaway and I have really had to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost to guide us to where to be and where not to be. For, example we were going to visit a former investigator one night when both of us felt very strongly that we should not be in that neighborhood and that we should visit a family from our ward (congregation). I have never felt the Holy Ghost more strongly in my life guiding me to when and where I am supposed to be. I was recently told to let Jesus Christ be the pilot of my soul. And we can do that through the Holy Ghost and listening to His quiet promptings to our hearts and minds. I testify that if we listen to the Holy Ghost we will be guided to the things of God and we will be protected and comforted.

I hope that all of your weeks are great! I love each and everyone of you and I am grateful for all your support and friendship.

Remember the Lord loves you and the Church is true!

Sister Nay

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-012-patterns-of-light-spirit-of-revelation?lang=eng