MTC 10-23-12 to 10-30-12

"As for this week, it's been pretty normal. A lot of language study. I've also been struggling with the proper use of por and para. As far as I can figure out, it's like the direct object thing. If the verb is acting directly upon the following noun, use para. If it's not acting on it, then use por. Hope that helps. Idk if I've even gotten a hang of it yet."

"They just switched out the caju juice for guarana juice (they do that every now and then, the  last switch was pineapple juice, yumm!)."

"One thing that helps now is we got Brazilian roomates this week! Well, just one sister from Brazil, and the other sister is from Argentina and learning Portuguese (trying to get used to that instead of her Spanish), so we're able to talk a lot more in the apartment and I feel like I can have somewhat basic, but still pretty good conversations, which is very encouraging. Now I fell like I just need to learn more and more words. It's like in Shakespeare. Mom should get this quote, "Words, words, words!" aka for Dad, "Palavras, palavras, e mais palavras!" lol."

"It's super rushed here at the CTM just because they have so many missionaries." They call it the CTM instead of the MTC. Missionary Training Center in Portuguese is Centro de Treinamento Missionario.

"I'm excited for Halloween! I'm just going to wear a lot of black and orange. My South American roommates said that they've seen how we celebrate Halloween off of movies and stuff, but they've never really done anything for it. One said that they had a Halloween party, but it was more just like a fiesta. :p  Bummer we won't be able to carve pumpkins. That's always my favorite part of the holiday."


"It's been super hot here though. The seasons are actually switched, so we're getting into summer now here. It was a major bummer cause the AC was broken for two days. Our room was like 80 F and kind of really muggy with 13 of us in it for hours at a time."

"Well, I got to go. Wish I had more time."..."The Spirit here is amazing and I know that as you rely upon it, that it will help you through all things. Have a wonderful week!

Com amor,

Sister Grimes"

MTC 10/8/12 - 10/15/12

October 8, 2012 - October 15, 2012 
"This week we had conference which was SO AMAZING!!!!!!!! I was so excited for the announcement about the missionary age! I know several girls from college who were dying to serve but had to wait another two years to be 21. Now they can just pack up and go! I'm sure there are going to be soooo many more missionaries now!"

"I'm learning to distinguish between a papaya and a mango. I used to always mix them up, but no longer! I had a mango for lunch. I'm starting to get really used to the food here."..."my lunch meal is always the biggest meal of the day. Oh, and I'm getting used to meat, meat, and more meat with some rice and beans and fruit on the side."

"The week here went well. We celebrated Children's Day! It was a lot of fun!"..."on the 11th we went into the cafeteria to find colorful banners hanging from the ceiling and polk-a-dot balloons all over and lots of little stuffed animals and little stuffed flowers all around. Then all the cafeteria staff dressed up fun. One dressed up like a full clown and the others had bright colorful wigs and huge sunglasses and stuff. It was fun! Oh, and we had chicken nuggets! lol! All kids like chicken nuggets!"

"...they do have hot dogs here, but they don't have hot dog buns. They just put it in some sauce thing and serve it. Or once they cut a strip down the middle and put cheese in it."


"Oh, and last week they had cozinhas for the first time!!! They were really good!" Cozinhas are basically like a potato batter filled with meat and cheese and fried.

"My companion was talking to a couple who had served as mission presidents of the Brazilia mission when it still had Cuiaba in their mission and the lady looked at my companion and said 'you are white. wear a lot of sunscreen or your skin will get damaged." and her husband said 'you will melt"..."Oh, and she also said to wear a lot of bug spray in Cuiaba. Haha, sounds like I'll come back looking tan like a brazilian and having a permanent smell of bugspray and sunscreen. It'll be worth it though."

"In a week, my companion and I are signed up for a special musical number with a small choir to sing Consider the Lilies. I love that song. Oh, and every Sunday we get to sing the Brazilian national Anthem."

"I've seen a lot of plants here that are interior plants back home and come in little pots and have little leaves and stuff, but then here they're growing naturally and all over and... they're the size of trees! Like the bottle brush plant. Here it's a bottle brush tree. It's really pretty. Oh, and that little plant I saved from Walmart a week before I left, those are all over the place here with leaves as big as Sally!" (our dog)

"Each week I feel like I can understand more and more and this week we'll get Brazilian roommates so I can get used to hearing it more."

"I'm starting to be able to have conversations in Portuguese, though they're really simple, but it's a start. I know the Lord is really blessing me. It's crazy that we're even here in a different country learning a language we didn't know and going who knows where to talk to people about the church. And why? Because it's true. That's what makes it all worth it."

Sao Paulo MTC 9/25/12 - 10/1/12

September 25, 2012 - October 1, 2012

Oi! Tudo Bem!
Angie, or Sister Grimes, is in the MTC right now in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She's having a wonderful time! Mostly in the MTC she studies the language and lessons, but she also had a little to say about life at the MTC and Sao Paulo.

 Here are a few things she had to say:

 There are "a lot of blue, green, red, and yellow houses mixed in with the greys of the concrete buildings. very cool to see and will take some getting used to."

"...I am taking advantage of the guarana. All of the elders in my district go crazy over the stuff too. They have the maracuja juice and mango and pineapple juice too, so I'm mixing it around, but definitely always coming back to the guarana."                        

"...the food is really good, but I also have to get used to it. the desserts are super sweet and a very different texture. they are solid, but liquid at the same time. reminds me of cake that is way too moist to the point of just mushing. if that makes sense. they're also serving two helpings of meat at every meal, besides breakfast, so I'm getting a lot of meat. Which also takes some getting used to."



She also got to go to the temple recently and mentioned that it was small, but beautiful. "...the spirit is the same here as in the US. I've definitely been feeling it here. I feel like I've been almost to the point of tears many times recently just because of feeling the spirit here."







Well, that's it for now. More updates to come soon!

Bom dia!

Mission Call

Angie got her mission call!

Dear Sister Grimes:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Brazil Cuiaba mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You should report to the Missionary Training Center at Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday, 18 September 2012. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Portuguese language.

 
 















Purpose as a missionary: “to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.”