Mais uma Semana

Oi!

I guess there isnt much to talk about this week, just lots of language, lessons and learning. Sister Bailey and I have been working really hard on our lessons every day and our portuguese and teaching has improved. Its really difficult and time consuming the way we outline but it has helped a lot! I have learned so much since being in this CTM. I am really grateful I got to spend this month here. I dont know that I would have learned as much portuguese if I were in provo, well I know I wouldnt. Its still really difficult but I am beginning to comprehend more and more each day. It will be bittersweet to leave next tuesday, the 19th. I love it here so much! i love my teachers and the other missionaries and our district is finally down to the coolest people!

We are having the greatest pday today! I went to the SP temple this morning and only got a little motion sick on the bus, in an hour were going shopping with the CTM pres wife. (which should be kept on the down low) we told her we wanted a couple more skirts because we brought heavy ones. She told us about this store. We asked if it was in our boundaries and she said " i dont know, ill get someone to drive you" shes so very fabulous. I adore her, and she likes my outfits and my hair and my face so shes basically just a really great person to be around- see ill miss this about the CTM too! For lunch/dinner were going to a brasilian restaurant with our teachers. Our district is down to 6 now so its just a lot of fun!

I thought id share the most amazing ability i have developed while on my mission. That talent is sleeping wherever/whenever. I used to be so fussy about sleep, the temperature needed to be right, the clothes had to be the perfect texture of cotton, the lights and the noise had to be just so. Not anymore. If you arent talking to me or I dont have a task to accomplish im likely asleep. I can sleep on busses, in the temple, for a minute or 2 hours. Note to family and friends: when I get home from my mission I will sleep for 1 week straight.

I wish I could share pictures with you. I hope I can print some or upload some when I get to the field next tuesday morning! I am going to the field next tuesday morning, ready or not!

We have had some really amazing lightening storms lately. They are loud and beautiful! Anyway, sorry this is short. We need to get going on laundry and stuff. Pdays always seem to be the shortest days of the week. Eu sei que este igreja e o unico igreja verdadiero em a terra. Eu so grato pro o evanghelo. Joseph Smith fui um profeta! Eu amo o amo voces mutio!

Hopefully my emails will be more exciting starting next week! Pray that I wont be sent to the sketchier parts!

p is for proselyting

So last friday tose missionaries in my district who were to leave this week had the opportunity to go proselyting in dowtown sao paulo. They were nervous and excited, then the ctm decided we should all go. so without 1 hour prep time we were given 5 book of mormons and 2 hours. my teacher marched us into the city center, gave us a few boundaries and said "see ya!" At 1st I was a bit mad that we didnt have enough time to fully prepare but in retrospect it was just perfect! I didnt ever want to leave the CTM but now I cant wait! Sister BAiley and I said a quick prayer and then started walking. a man stopped us because he wanted to sell us something. I thought "perfect opportunity!" so I began speaking to him and he spoke english (more or less...) He said he already had a portuguese bom and wanted an english one. We got his email and said our goodbyes then he grabbed me in a side embrace and kissed me square on the cheek! a big kiss! I didnt see it coming and thats definitly not sister missionary kosher! Apparently this is how you greet in brasil, lesson learned! Next we ran into some teenage girls and we were able to muster our message. They accepted our book, probably out of pity but oh well! Then I started using my social psychology face reading skills (Brittany- imagine Michaels bird finagling) I found some sweet woman sitting on a bench, approach, speak give! they were so kind and helpful and genuinely interested. Then we found some more woman. Everyone is christian here and so accepting so its that much easier. By that point we had given away all 5 books and decided to take a stroll in a park that might have been the amazon jungle. As we were walking this old man was smiling at us and I just knew I had to speak to him. His name was Ozvaldo and he was from campinas. I introduced us and then he automatically said "ah, you have a big beautiful church in campinas!" and yes, yes we do. that is called the temple! he loved the temple. We had nothing to give him though. I saw some other missionaries and ran to them and asked for a spare book. Ozvaldo was so happy and was willing to pay for it! It warmed my heart. I know we were in the right place at the right time for him! After talking to the rest of our district we realized that our companionship did the best (not saying its a contest) we were not rejected once and we gave out 6 books! We didnt speak well but we spoke what we knew and just smiled. I think people take well to two inoccent girls who can hardly speak a word, who came from america for a year and a half to share this message! And... I realized I DO have a gift! i have a gift for finding, so deemed by my companion and my district. I may not have the gift of tongues but I have a gift for finding people. Ill take what I can get!

Today we went to the Sao Paulo temple and it is beautiful! Driving in the city always makes me nervous but all is well. We lost a bunch of friends this week, brasilians and americans alike but more and more american are coming. I met some senior missionaries who live in the same apartment complex as my mission presidents and the area is supposed to be gorgeous. oh and the reason there are 5 missions in sao paulo, 4 in the city alone, is because this city is huge beyond imagination. And apparently it has the largest independent helicopter fleet in the world because the wealthy wont travel through the traffic. I love this place.

tudo bom?

Hello world, hello family! I miss you all so much! where do i even begin? I am going to the federal police today to register with the country. That means we arent going to the temple which means we get to explore the city. this means we get to buy things from shops and the people can charge us extra reais because we are white and cant speak portuguese! hooray! haha. i am excited nonetheless. This past week was a good week. Yesterday was a bit tough. I was giving a lesson, the plan of salvation, to some brasilians and they were just looking at me like what is she saying... i thought i was speaking portuguese... my teacher was observing, which only makes things worse! I couldnt say what i was trying to say so i just started crying. not sobbing but just frustrated stupid tears. the brasilian elders looked at me like they didnt know what they should do- they were new themselves and here this american is crying! my companion nudged me and said you can do it! and my teacher nudged me and he said you can do it! but i couldnt do it! i couldnt! it was so pitiful. I dont know how ill be able to leave in 3 weeks! faith, the atonement. the atonement is real and i know that i couldnt get here with out it. no way. I was reading scriptures after the whole ordeal and thought about ether which then referred me to romans 8 - read it, its an amzing chapter. other than that whole ordeal things are great. my hair is looking good and one elder likes my blond hairs. haha. i have a new companion named sister bailey and i love her so much! Oh yes, mother, in brasil you throw your tp into trashes near the toilet. not at the ctm or temples though. these are classy places. i dont even want to think about having to do that. the water here is really good too, just not out in the real world. the water treating itself is good but the pipes that carry the water are the problems. they are old and gross. so we have our filtered water bottles! this next week ( although i hope they dont remeber) i look forward to street contacting. in the middle of sao paulo and the week after straight up proselyting. I get that ill have to do that soon but at least then ill be with a companion who can communicate! this will be the greatest challenge of my life! sorry for the short email, im writing to you all today! oh and hey, write to me here at the MTC will ya? theyll forward it to me if it comes to late. but i miss you guys! love sister neptune! tell pam im looking and watching for corey!

Mackensie Made it to Brazil!

Fammmiilly!!! (and friends, I am sending this to all because I wont have enough time to write individually, too much to say and excuse the poor writing) ok and no enter bar. anywayyyy! so mom, i sent you a letter but it didnt make last weeks pouch so youll get it sooner or later. please laugh at and then disregard it. i was SO tired when they made us write the letters so I loathed everything including brasil. but dont worry, i love it now!we just got back from the campinas temple today because the sao paulo temple is closed for cleaning and SISTER ROUNDY- campinas is just as beautiful as they say. it~s green beyond reason and completly breathtaking. i feel like I am in jurrasic park here! so after we got off our forever long plane ride we sat in customs and waited and waited and waited. one line to another. that travel day was the worst. sao paulo is huge. san francisco times 50! and i would sort of compare it to the sktechiest places in our cities, shacks built up against eachother etc except it doesnt feel unsafe at all, its just how things are. there are no building laws so its just colorful shanties or apartment complexes built into one another. i am in another world. this is not america, this is nothing like i have ever seen. i love this mtc! it is beautiful, our rooms are all wood and granite and tile, it looks like a hotel. the grounds are beyond gorgeous and impeciably well kept. the food is amazing, I will never miss the mtc food or american food for that matter! sure you have your rice and beans with every meal, which is delicious, but you also have fresh papaya, mango, pineapple and a myriad of other fruits and veggies I have never heard of before and will probably never identify because every time I ask: que isso? (what is this) people answer in portugues.... Oh hey, mom! Elder Brady jones (campell grandson) is in my district, i love the kid! he ran up to me at the airport and said my grandma was asking if I knew you! Oh and as soon as we hung up on the phone last week i had to do visa stuff then boarded, so | guess it worked out! classes here are great, real brasileiro teachers and we teach other districts, i love my teachers and its fun because there is a slight çanguage barrier all around, but we learn! this mtc is tiny so are meetings are always with the mtc presidency, everyone is really happy to see the americanos here again. about the brasileiros, I LOVE THEM! they are hilarious and warm and goofy. just last night a bunch of sisters knocked on our door and stormed in to chove lollipops in our hands and hug us. I dont know why but i like it! We had choir on sunday and we sang in portuguese, ingles and espanol because we have a few latino districts here. it sounded horrible! mostly because we cant pronounce one anothers languages but also because the brasilians cant sing, serio, we are stars here! then we watched the testament... an american movie dubbed in portugues with english subtitles. I think that sums up my life right now! and a bunch more americanos just arrived!!! god blesses us! sammy! youre registered for highschool, did mom cry? Jacob, I love you!!! mpm, thank you for sharing that story. you are the greatest example to me. I am so blessed to have you as my mother. Grandma, learn portuguese! at least little things and we can converse! I am happy, I am sooooo soo happy. I know this is exactly where I need to be and I am glad. I have only seen 2 cockroaches and they were little... and dead. so alls well so far. Oh and did you know you cant put toilet paper in toilets in brasil? you can in the church owned places, but nowhere else. some elders found that out in the airpot :) I wish I could say more but im out of time. did i mention apostrophes dont exist in this language so the keyboard doesnt have them! i love you, all of you! i think of you so much and I miss you more than I can express. I love brasil, I wish i could speak the languahe but I guess I leave that up to pai celestail!

1st email from the MTC!

Hello family!

I hope you get this email because I'm sure you weren't looking for it today. For further reference my pday is on Fridays so expect an email then. I'm going to apologize up front for any mispellings or the likes. We only have 30 minutes and the time ticks ominously in the upper right hand corner.

Important things first, write me! please. Just do dear elder. it's super easy, all you have to do is go to dearelder.com and choose the mtc and all that good stuff. It's amazing how much I do miss hearing from everyone, especially mother, when i don't have the opportunity to call or text!

Where do I begin?

Life has been crazy since I hung up the phone and got out of the car this wednesday. We haven't stopped since. We have been learning portuguese, SO much Portuguese, we only are ever spoken to in Portuguese while in class and that makes learning confusing and really beneficial. I can say (and pronounce, which to be honest is even more difficult for me) Oi, me nome e sister neptune e eu sou missionaria de igrejia de jesus cristo dos santos dos ultimimos dias. Hi, my name is makensie neptune andI am a missionary from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. But I didn't just memorize it, I understand the parts of the sentence and what it all means! and d's in portuguese as in "dia" are pronounced like a "g" so it's more like gia. r's are pronounced like "h's" and nothing is pronounced like in spanish, forget about rolling r's and y sounding l's . The gift of tongues is real, because how else could I understand any of this. Ah, the beauty of being thrown to the wolves!!

I have 2 companheiros sister Roundy and Sister Schaeler. They are both nice. But we are different. It should be a growing experience. You know how I like to be the leader ;) but it's good. very good! When we are learning together and feeling the spirit everything is as it chould be. My district (my class) is great! Most every Elder is from Washington! Some of us have done our online apps and some of us haven't my companions haven't so every time they call a name over the intercom they hope it's them being called to the travel office. My one companion has had her visa done since october even and hasn't gotten anything back! (utah) but the prognosis for me is about a month and there are a lot of prayers here for visas. I know it will come.

BUT. I am SO happy to be here in Provo, this place is amazing. It's remarkable to look around and see 2,000 missionaries wherever you go. Everyone says hello in their various languages. We are all trying so desperatly to learn. There is no way I could learn this language if I wasn't called to by Heavenly Father (pai celestial!) Everyone is so helpful and friendly and we all have the same goals. It's so great.

I have been able to rub elbows with some dear friends: Elder Markham and Elder Baker and Elder Harmon from BYUI, it's so much fun! and they give me all the ins and outs.


I live in a dorm with 5 other girls. you do that math. The other girls in our room are hermanas.

What else? Nothing too exciting, just class every day and meetings and just intense life. That's the perfect word. Intense, but we laugh too. But there is so much to be done. For instance, we have to write a talk each week for sunday even though we probably won't be called on to give it. Ok that's fine and dandy but it has to be in portuguese. Which is awesome because I don't know portuguese.

I know I am missing a lot and I need to write more I can't think of anything else and I am running out of time. I know this gospel is true and I miss you guys SO much! Please let me know what is going on in life!!!

I love you,

The Administrator

This is Brittany Nielsen.

She will be the brains behind this whole shin dig. I love her lots. I will miss our adventures together but I am glad she has control over what the world hears about my Brazilian life here on my blog. (and by world I mean my grandma, and perhaps Nicole Hill [hey guys!!])

Side note...

I already miss this girl a lot. I hope by putting her face on this blog she will remember to keep in touch with me. write me, anna baer.

That goes for: Makelle Alldredge (I want to hear about gym boys), Mackenzie Biringer (tell me about Utah and how we will "run into" each other at the Provo Temple, I kid...), Nicole Hill (wedding info pleeaassse), Chrissi Call (tell me bout the cold life), Jordan Burrows, (nanny diaries please and thank you), Kim Sieber (africa!), Ash Holt (your life is a perpetual dream)......... Ok and the list goes on and on but I need to pack...

To all those I forgot- Love you!

Just Day(s) Before

I leave on Wednesday and all of a sudden that seems very soon. I am so excited to go. I have so many people who love and support me and I could not be more grateful! Thank you to everyone who does so much for me!

Especially these people (photo taken moments after being set apart, and no we cannot open our eyes at the same time)

Please write to me everyone! I only want to hear all about your life. So when you find yourself wanting to talk about yourself, just put it on paper and mail it to this address:

Sister Mackensie Elisabeth NEPTUNE
MTC Mailbox # 185
BRA-SPIN 0419
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793