Sunday, May 29, 2016

A Case of the Gripe (rhymes with creepy)

Hey Fam!!!

Time is flying by so fast at the MTC! I hit halfway on Wednesday. Halfway there and livin' on a prayer (name that song) I can't believe I've been in Brazil for almost a month. This is insane. Proselyting went really really well, my companion and I handed out 14 Book of Mormons in 2 hours while being restricted to 2 blocks on some random street in Brazil. All the people we talked to laughed so much at our accents, kinda embarrassing but funny though.

at the Brazil MTC

We got new roommates this week, one of them went to BYU this last semester which is so cool, and the other is going to my mission! I miss my old roomies so much though, they were great. I never realized how many goodbyes a mission would have, haha we'll meet up in the CK (celestial kingdom) I guess. 

My companion got a bad case of the gripe (flu) and we stayed in our room for a whole day, I thought it was fantastic because I just took naps on naps on naps and I wasn't dying. Blessings. Also, tons of people ask me and my comp if we were friends before we came to the MTC and I was trying to tell some instructor that I hated her (jokingly) and she informed me that the whole MTC knows we love each other. HAHAHA. People also always ask us if we started learning Portuguese before we came here and all I think is nah fam I spent all my time trying to not flunk out of college.

Among other things Sister Berry (member of my district) and I gave my comp a haircut on Wednesday, we both had no experience but by some miracle it looks good. We didn't have the foresight to have her change out of her dress and put something on the floor so I'm just glad the haircut wasn't in my room...

Also our investigator (our instructor) bailed out on baptism and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't salty because all of our district teaches her and she didn't bail out on them. SMH. Trials.

On a happy note they stopped serving hot dogs for breakfast and I couldn't be happier. BLESS UP

love y'all,

Sister Jolley
Sister Jolley with her companion and former roommates




Sunday, May 22, 2016

A Fast From English

WAASSSSUPPP FAMMMM


My week here at the MTC has been so great!! Yesterday we had a fast from English and it wasn't as  bad as I thought it would be. Our whole district only spoke Portuguese from 7 am to 9pm. It's crazy to think that 2 weeks ago I didn't know any Portuguese and now I speak it all the time, granted we've only had like 4 grammar lessons so my sentence formation is a little wacko, but we still speak it. My companion and I have a couple investigators (fake ones actually) but we teach the lessons in only Portuguese and we don't even need notes anymore. Miracles y'all! Bless up! 

Sister Jolley with her companion and Brazilian roommates

Also update on the food situation: They serve hot dogs and salami sandwiches for breakfast here and eu quero vomitar cuz thats disgusting. Also, lanche took a turn for the worse cuz its been chashew juice (tastes like dirt) and ham flavored (emphasis on flavored) crackers. Dinner isn't quite as bad so I'm pulling through somehow. 


ALSO LISTEN TO THIS THE ELDER HOLLAND  (from the quorum of the twelve apostles) CAME AND TALKED TO US AND IT WAS LEGIT. His talk was the bom.com and I loved it. He talked about how it's really important to be just as good missionaries at the end of your mission as you are right now. CONTINUE HOW YOU STARTED, AND WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO WORK, WORK HARDER AND WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO TRY, TRY HARDER THAN YOU EVER HAVE. (@portuguese) He came in clutch with the pump up speech. He also talked about his life as an apostle as he travels around the world living out of suitcases, etc. He said, and I echo "I would not come halfway around the world if this was not true. This is not some cunningly devised fable, it is truth. It is not a made up story, a fairy tale or a joke we are trying to play on the world. This is the salvation of the human family. This is truth and it is the most important thing you can share." I love being a missionary and I have seen miracle after miracle every single day here as I work and prepare to serve the people of Brazil. 

Tomorrow we proselyte in the streets of Sao Paulo and hand out Book of Mormons and I'M SO PUMPED. 

Fun fact: Last preparation day my companion and I low key got lost in Sao Paulo cuz I've never needed to read an old school map before, and it was a tad scary but we pulled through and I'm here to tell the tale! 

love you,
Sister Jolley


Sao Paolo Temple






Friday, May 13, 2016

English is a Sin and Lanche is Life

Hey fam! 

My first week here has been great! long but great. We have classes all day long and then go to bed and do it all over again. Whoever said the days feel like weeks at the MTC is soooo right. Sounds boring but its actually been a bit of an adventure. 

My companion and I share a room with two other Brazilians and they are straight up such a trip. One of them is so crazy clean and the other one is crazy messy. They only speak Portuguese so our communication can sometimes go awry. My comp decided to ask if they had boyfriends and by the end of the conversation they ended up with the idea that I have/want a Brazilian boyfriend. HAHA Every time I try and explain that that's not that case they seem to lose their ability to understand. And if that's not enough the other night one of them handed me a pamphlet on chastity. Subtle, I know. haha They're great and my comp and I learn a lot of Portuguese talking to them. 

The food here is definitely interesting and mostly I just live for lanche,every night at 9 the day gets better. The best thing we have is pineapple. It's the bomb.com and honestly I'd probably be dead without the pineapple, it's this funny white color but it's so good. Also they serve hot chocolate here EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It's really good but it's warm here in Brazil so its sorta weird to have it. 

For all concerned parties, being fully immersed in a new language did not impede my ability to constantly talk. Ha I feel like nothing could. I just constantly talk but in haphazard Portuguese. The Brazilians are great and talk with my comp and I all the time. ALSO I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE BECAUSE BRAZILIANS ARE SOOOO LOUD AND SO AM I AND THEY NEVER TELL ME TO LOWER MY VOICE CUZ THEIR VOICES ARE LOUD TOO. DON'T BE SURPRISED IF I NEVER COME HOME, I LOVE BRAZILIANS AND I'M HERE TO STAY. 

Our instructor is this short little Brazilian guy and is honestly the most subtly sassy person I've ever met. He is so funny and has the weirdest mannerisms. The other day he said that English was a sin and has stuck to speaking Portuguese since then. He teaches in 80% Portuguese already so I'm mostly just glad that by some miracle I can understand it. 

Fun fact: The first word I learned in Portuguese was listen (@Bri) 

Moment of the week: 

In class the other day we were eating lanche (lanche is life) and sitting in a circle talking as a district and all the sudden my comp threw her lanche trash at our district leader who was talking to us. It was beyond hiliarious. She claims she was trying to aim at the trashcan....haha

ALSO GOOD NEWS BECAUSE ELDER HOLLAND IS COMING TO THE MTC ON MONDAY AND I'M SO PUMPED. WOWE.

love ya,

Sister Jolley



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