One Month

Hello Everyone!!!!

I don´t have much to say this week. Once again, more and more classes all day long. BUT I have been out a month!! That seems so crazy to me! AND whats even crazier, is I leave the MTC in 2 weeks...  um not sure if I´m ready for that, haha. My district is awesome and I don´t want to leave them! 

First off!!! Elder Quentin L. Cook came!!!! It was such an amazing experience!! I got to play the piano for the choir and for Sister Cook leading us in ¨Hark all ye Nations¨... it was just so amazing to feel the spirit so strongly in the room. The message he shared with us was incredible as well. He promised us some pretty huge blessings which were extremely comforting to hear. 

I´m gonna be honest for a little bit. This week was kind of rough for me - the language is really hard and its so easy to get discouraged. I had a Brazilian elder give me a hard time about how much Portuguese I know... lets just say that had an effect on me. BUT I am coming to know that through faith I WILL learn this language. And I know I will have this struggle (10 x worse probably) in the field so I just need to have faith!!!! Through faith ALL things are possible,As we continue to exercise faith, it continues to grow!!!! 

Anyway... I love you all and thank you so much for all your love and support!!!! 

- Sister Egan

Olá!!!

Hi everyone!!!!

Nothing really exciting happening here in Brazil!! My day pretty much consists of going to class, eating, going to class, eating, and of course... going to class. Haha!! 

BUT on Saturday we got to go Proselyting!!! (I dont know how to spell that in English) Wow, what an experience that was. We literally only have 3 weeks of portuguese under our belts and we have to go teach people?!! I was beyond scared. Anyway, we all hopped on some vans and were taken to some big streets in São Paulo. We get off the vans and it starts POURING rain. I have never been in rain like that... 30 seconds later my hair was soaked, I'm not even kidding! I look at my two companions (two elders in my district) and we were all like, "lets go!" So off we went in the rain, stepping in puddles and getting drenched, to go find some people to talk to! At first no one would talk to us. They wouldn't even look at us. We walked up and down the streets for 20 min. just saying "Bom dia!!" (Good morning!) and occassionally people would answer. If we were lucky people would smile. 

At this point, I couldn't wait for the next hour and a half to go by. I was so done. Then all of a sudden, I look back at one of my companions and he's talking to a girl about the church! Of course, our vocabulary is very limited so the girl was so sweet to let us try to speak with her. And guess what?? We got her contact information!!! I was so stoked after that. And an hour later we got three more contacts!!! I don't really remember what we said to those people, and I know it wasn't good portuguese, but I hope they could understand the sincerity of our hearts. I pray for those people we found that day everyday. I want people to have the gospel in their lives because the church has CHANGED my life!!! 

I am soooo grateful for this opprotunity to serve God and to represent Jesus Christ! Right now I have just been struggling with the language but I know that through Heavenly Father we can do hard things!!!! You can do hard things! I can do hard things! 

I love you all!!

- Sister Egan

 Here's my disrict from the MTC. They're all so weird but i love em ... With our instructor Imrão Lima.

God Helps Us

Hello from Brazil!!!

This past week has flow by!! Life at the MTC is pretty crazy! No free time whatsoever. 

The language is going okay right now. I honestly don`t know how else to explain it. We taught an investigator this week and I didn`t talk the ENTIRE lesson!!! One of the elders accidentally took my part, and I didn`t know enough portuguese to say anything else!! Haha so I just laughed when everyone else laughed! 

My district is awesome!!! I get along super well with Elder Cooper and Elder Searle. There have actually been some times we`ve  had to pray so we would stop laughing haha!! They are super good missionaries and are actually the new Zone leaders, so thats pretty cool!! They always make sure Im doing okay being the only girl!! 

They`ve got me working a lot. I was the chorister for sacrament meeting, I played the piano, I taught a lesson, I played the piano for a devotional, I played the prelude music for another devotional, I played for the choir, AND I got called to be the sister training leader over my branch. So it`s been crazy!

I just want to share a little story. So.. I  have been playing the piano a lot, haha, and  I was given a piece to play for the choir to sing at the devotional. It was 7 pages long, had 3 key changes (c major, 2 sharps, and 3 flats), and the choir pianist cried when she saw it... so they gave it to me! yayyyy (that was sarcastic)... I practiced that piece 3 times for 30 minutes (it was the only time I could practice). I had to go to a room at 9 pm and practice til 9.30 so I could be in my room ready for bed by 10. In this choir song, there were going to be cellos and violins being played and two soloists. Lets just say, I was a little bit nervous... haha. Then right before the devotional, they announced that a general authority was coming... ahhhh I about freaked out! I prayed that God would help me through the piece because I literally practiced all I could. I gave it my all. I worked to the best of my ability on that song so I knew God would help me. AND.... the song went beautifully. It wasn`t perfect, but it wasn`t too bad either. It was as if I had been practicing all week for hours.

I know that God helps us in ALL things. Yes, we will have to work for it and do all we can, but He will deliver us. I know that this language is going to take hard work and time, but I know God will help me. God won`t ask us to do anything we don`t have the strength to do. 

Love you all!! Thank you for all your prayers!

- Sister Egan

The view outside my MTC room.

My room.

Oi from Brazil!

Oi everyone!!!!

I can`t believe I`m a missionary!!! This has been the craziest week of my life! And guess what I`m famous! Haha everyone knows me around here at the MTC because I am the new Elder Valentine... they call me Sister Valentine. So he was an elder  (he left this week) who didn`t have a companion and was in a district with 9 girls. I don`t have a companion and am in a district with 5 guys. So that`s pretty rare haha... I don`t think I`ve ever been so surrounded by guys before in my life... which is weird because I`m on a mission haha. I pretty much only talk to sisters at night. PLUS I am in a room with 5 Brazilians who are learning Japanese!!! Woohoo! Only one of them speaks English, so that has been pretty rough not having a companion and going back to a room not being able to talk to anyone. BUT I know I will only grow from this experience. The American sisters have been EXTREMELY helpful! They give me hugs, let me cry with them, so I`m pretty well off. Plus, I don`t have to worry about always being with a companion, haha!

My district (of all guys) is awesome! They are so nice and funny and make sure I`m doing okay being on my own. 

The food here is interesting. Literally beans and rice EVERDAY... haha lunch and dinner. Suprisingly I look forward to meals though. Then breakfast is this weird white soup stuff that I`m not fond of, and sandwiches!!! I`m not sick of any food yet, but it`s only been 8 days so we`ll see! 

As for the language... On the first day,I have never felt so anxious in my life. The instructors came in only speaking portuguese telling us everything we would have to learn and memorize over the next week. I have learned so much since then, but I still kind of wonder how the heck I`ll ever become fluent! I know I will, but only with hard work. Someone said that the gift of tongues may be one of the most painful gifts of all because we have to do EVERYTHING we can in order to recieve it. I am super excited to learn this language and to work hard. Being in the Brazil MTC has been a huge blessing already because I am surrounded by the culture and the language. 

At one of the devotionals, someone said ``there is always a purpose.`` There is a purpose for a hardship you are going through. There is a purpose for me not having a companion or English speaking roommates. I don`t know what that purpose is yet, but I know I will come to know that purpose someday. I love this gospel and I am so grateful for this opprotunity to serve! Love you all!!!!

Love, Sister Egan <3

P.s. I only have a short time to email so if you`ve emailed me, I will get back to you as soon as I can!!!

President Danilo Carvalho and my district.  I am the the only sister!