Singing in the Rain

Hello Family!!

 



Epic rainstorm!

How is everyone?! It's so good to hear from you all!! Thank you so much for your emails and letters! :) This week has been good. It has been raining like CRAZY and cooling off a bit, so I feel a bit more at home. haha seriously though - we had the most INSANE rainstorm on Thursday! We were on the subway home and when we got off, we saw a ton of people waiting inside the station. We were like "psshhh... we can handle a little rain... step aside pansies!" (Don't worry, we didn't say any of that.) I stepped outside and INSTANTLY I was DRENCHED. Not even kidding, I was SOAKED (yes, those words needed to be yelled). Luckily I had my raincoat on, but it wasn't exactly zipped up until I was already well drenched. haha I had so much fun though! We started booking it home because we couldn't stand the walk of shame back into the station soaking wet, so we ran. I love running in the rain, but that was like... running in the shower! And that's just weird.


All wet from the storm

Anyways, we had a lot of fun and laughed and maybe screamed the whole way home. No, we only screamed when we had to cross the streets because it was basically a river. Not even kidding, the water went up to my ankles on the shallowest part we could find to cross. My poor shoes! haha but it was SO AWESOME. Like, puddle jumping. Only unavoidable. haha We stopped to take pictures and then ran the rest of the way home. When we got inside we had to ring out our socks, skirts... everything. And my watch STILL has water in it. I don't think that's a good thing, but it's still working. haha maybe I should have gone for waterproof. Oh well... It was crazy! haha I got some good pictures. Don't worry. That was a good day.

 

Eating dinner on a member's roof!

 

The next day, we went to our Relief Society President's house for dinner. She served in Rio, and she knows I'm a visa waiter, so she made us a Brazilian meal! Beans, rice, and pao de queijo!!!!! It was so good! Then she made me teach our lesson in Portuguese and only talked to me in Portuguese! I almost cried, I was so excited! haha It was so so good. Our Ward Mission Leader, and one of our Ward Missionaries also served in Brazil, so it's basically awesome. I make them speak to me in Portuguese, so at least I'm getting a little practice right? It's so nice.

We also got to attend an ASL Baptism this week! There are ASL Elders who serve in the deaf ward here. They had a baptism this week and... have you ever thought about how people who sign give blessings? Or say a baptismal prayer? I sure hadn't, but it was pretty cool to see. haha it's basically the same, they just put their hands on your head, sign, and then put them back on your head to close. Anyways, it was a very beautiful baptism, and also just very interesting. haha 

Jobie received the priesthood on Sunday!! He's so great. We're so excited for him! Rob has gone almost 4 days without smoking, which is pretty incredible. KJ and Aimee are so much fun to teach! They keep all their commitments and even go beyond. Last week we asked Aimee to listen to Elder Holland's talk - Safety For the Soul. She came back and had listened to like 5 general conference talks and had gone to see the CES Broadcast (which none of us where able to go to... haha)! They're so cool. 

We kept accidently matching outfits all week!  Look at these pictures ha ha!

 

Lets see... not much else happened this week, but it's been good. It's starting to feel a bit more normal now, so that's nice. And waking up at 6:30 is starting to get better. I'm still not a fan of having to exercise that early, but I'm getting there. haha I've still been reading my Portuguese BOM every day and I've passed where I am in my English studies! Mwahaha! I've been reading D&C during my English studies, so that helps. But anyways. D&C is really cool to read while you're on a mission. I'm pretty sure that entire book was made for me. :) jk... but really. Sister Weyandt (Why-ant) and I have fun and we work hard. It's a good combo. haha

Sometimes my companion gets bored
while I do my language studies
and she decides to do my hair.  Hahaha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh one more thing...our apartment complex. The smoke alarms here? THEY'RE AWFUL. Seriously, every time we cook they go off. And every time any one else cooks... theirs go off. Last night at like midnight, I was startled awake by our neighbors smoke alarm. I thought I smelled smoke so I started panicking and realizing there's no way I could ever open our fire-escape window. I was about to go start packing my bags (you know, cuz that's smart) when I realized I was being ridiculous and irrational and there was no smoke. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was scared I'd dream of fire. And I did... it took me ages to fall asleep, but I dreamed that the Manhattan temple burned down. We were in it, and I smelled smoke and had to yell at everyone to get out. I ran down to all the basement floors and people had already passed out, so me and my super human strength carried them outside. haha Apparently I'm a fire hero now. 

 

Twin Tower beams on September 11th

 

I hope you are doing well! I love you so so so so much! Thanks for being so supportive and helpful. I miss you! 

 

ate mais!

Drea

Jobie Baptized on Dad's birthday! :)

Oi Minha Familia!

I can't believe it's already Wednesday again! But at the exact same time it feels like it's been a century since I last wrote. haha time here is so so weird. 

 

Jobie's baptism day :)

We had our first baptism on Saturday!! Happy Birthday to Dad! :D haha it was such a wonderful experience. Jobie is so incredible - we've learned so much from him. There was a really good turnout from the ward there which was so good too. I feel like we learned more from Jobie than anything else. He came to us prepared, and we just sat back and watched a miracle unfold. That day was truly a blessing. 

 We found Waverly Place!!

We also learned a little more about how the online proselyting will go! Apparently we WILL keep our old accounts and are allowed to share pictures and stories on facebook! We will also be able to keep blogs and mormon.org accounts. I heard that we have to 'hide' everything (pictures, posts, etc.) not mission related on our facebook timelines in order to use our old accounts. That will be interesting... BUT we may also be allowed to use skype to teach friends from home if they want to know more. I'm not sure how that will work. It's crazy. The work in the states is changing so much! All teaching records and progress reports will be on the iPad... so basically we still have no idea what it will be like. But it's gonna be incredible. I wonder if other countries are doing similar things. I'm sure Brazil won't have iPads, but I wonder if the missionaries there will be allowed to do online proselyting also. hhhmmm... so very crazy!

Favorite place along the gorgeous pier in NYC

Teaching has been going well! We teach A LOT. I miss teaching in Portuguese though! haha I've been reading the Book of Mormon every day in Portuguese and that has really been good for me. I think I'm in chapter 8 right now and it's starting to get easier to read without my English Book of Mormon. But words like "wherefore" and "nevertheless" have taken me a while to sort out. haha I miss speaking Portuguese, but I really am grateful for the opportunity I have to teach in English for a while and feel like I'm making some sense. I still don't make much sense in English, but I'm trying. haha 

The far left building with the unicorn horn is the MetLife building, then you can also see the Empire State building and the Chrysler building (far right) yayy!!  

It's pretty incredible to be in New York City on this day. I walk by the new Freedom Tower every single day and I've gotten to see the Twin Towers light the past few nights. It's actually really cool - they have this HUGE spotlight that shines where the Twin Towers used to be - kind of representing the other tower that stands by the Freedom tower now. I get chills every time I see it. This city has been through a lot the past few years. The people are so wonderful though. I'm so happy to be here. 

Cool graffiti

Happy Birthday to our sweet little nephew, Braylon!! What a cutie pie - I miss that little guy! I miss you all. But as of yesterday I've been out two months! CRAZY RIGHT?! The time is flying. And crawling. And all of the above. But even when the times are hard - which they definitely are sometimes - there is joy to be found and I'm grateful for that. And I'm so grateful for the support of my amazing family and friends to lift me up. I love you all!! Have a great week!!

Drea

Are You the Mormons? :)

Hello family!!!

It has been quite the week! Let me tell you. Things are CRAZY!! haha 



Straw glasses Jen sent me!  Ha ha I LOVE them! :)

Jobie is still on track to be baptized on Dad's Birthday Saturday! I can't remember what I told you about him, but he is seriously incredible. He found us. Well, he found the sisters here like 2 days before I got here. But he came up to them and said "Are you the Mormons?" Then asked them to come teach him. On his first lesson, HE ASKED to be baptized. haha Every lesson we've taught him, he's ended up teaching us. Seriously, he has taught us every lesson. He just knows. On Sunday, he was the very first one up to bear his testimony. Last week, he went around after sacrament meeting and introduced himself to like everyone in the ward. So cool. haha We're excited for him. We are still teaching SO many lessons. This week we have over 16 lessons planned, which is pretty good. We don't have time to go contacting or tracting because we're always teaching! I love it. People keep just falling into our laps and we have been so blessed. Yesterday we had an appointment fall through and we -did- finally get to go contacting on TIMES SQUARE!!! hahaha!!! How cool is that?! I was super nervous at first and when people wouldn't take my card I would freak out a little, but then I started handing out the family search cards and everyone takes those! Seriously, I had so many people asking about family search - we ran out of cards in like 20 minutes. haha It's an amazing missionary tool because they always ask about our tags and why we're there, etc. so... it's a win win. Promoting my brothers work AND sharing the gospel. haha anyway... Contacting actually got fun after a while. Even when no one wanted to take the card, it wasn't as terrifying after being ignored like 80 times. And when you can keep a smile on your face, people always want your card. That's what I learned.

View from my house!! :)

Our refrigerator broke this week!! And all our food went bad. That was sad. But we also got to eat pizza every day for dinner because we didn't have any food and we're not supposed to go grocery shopping except on P-Day. haha ooooh the things we sacrifice. :P Just kidding - I'm sure we could have bought food... but it was a great excuse for pizza. Jen, have you heard of Gotham Pizza? That's my favorite so far. haha Seriously though - it was crazy. But our fridge is fixed and we went shopping this morning! WOOT!

In the kitchen

Some of my favorite things about New York: The pizza. Definitely the pizza. Also, the people. Seriously, people here just don't care what other people think. Sometimes that's not so great. But other times it is the coolest thing ever! People sit on the subway with their headphones in and sing at the top of their lungs! I think Katelyn and I would fit in well. haha Yesterday we were walking and I heard someone singing behind us. He had such a ... soul-full voice and was just singing as he walked down the road! I turned around and he was in some sort of official uniform, but he was waving at people and smiling. It was just so happy! Also, people come and perform on the subways. ALL the time. So far, I've only heard "My Girl" and "Build me up Buttercup" but yesterday while they were singing, the guy said "Uh-oh! Sisters, don't tell your mission president you heard music on the train!" hahaha! We laughed. It was great. Another thing I love is the moment about 30 seconds before the train comes. You know it's coming because the wind picks up and it is SO HOT in the subway stations that everyone stands up and completely embraces the wind. It's so cool (literally). And because then you know you only have to wait 30 more seconds before the train comes. haha It's such a weird phenomenon. But I love it.

On the subway

The subway was COMPLETELY EMPTY which was a little terrifying cuz it's never empty. So we took pictures cuz we couldn't look like tourists if no one was around! Turns out the AC was broken so no one would use that car. haha

Anyway... there have been some good times here in NYC. I can't believe I'm LIVING in Manhattan! haha it still blows my mind sometimes. Something cool that I'm not sure I told you about yet is that our mission president has really been pushing the idea of consecration as missionaries. Giving everything (our fears, thoughts, feelings... anything that can hold us back) to the Lord. Doing everything in our power to be worthy of his trust. President set a mission goal of every companionship baptizing in September. Now, mission average per month is 14 baptisms. Already, there are over 80 planned for this month. It's insane. The Lord is surely preparing His people. Most of the stories here have been "they found us" stories just like with Jobie. We just have to do our part and show the Lord our faith to see the miracles. It's amazing. Another crazy thing is that our mission will be receiving iPads next month!!!!!!!!! AHHH. It's insane. EVERY missionary gets an iPad, and every companionship gets an iPhone. I may or may not get one since I'm a visa waiter... but it's still cool to see the changes happening in missionary work. 

I love you all so much!!! Thank you so much for your support and for reading my silly rambling letters. I love being a missionary, and I love being in New York. I read this morning in D&C 6:33-37 and I think you should all read it. "Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Behold I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen." 

I just love the comfort those verses bring. Fear not, little flock; do good. (: Now is the time. Let's do it. haha I love you all!! You are the greatest. I miss you. I'm so grateful to have such an amazing family. 

Sister King

I LOVE NEW YORK!!!

Awh my family!!

 

It is so good to hear from you all!! It has been a craaazy week! And today has been a craaaazyyyy day! haha I don't even know where to start.

BUT I'll just start by saying that I LOVE NEW YORK!!! Seriously, I can't even believe how lucky I am to be here. I am in love with Manhattan and as insane and a little smelly as it is, I seriously love it. I love walking the streets all day and I especially love walking the streets at night (don't worry Mom, we're VERY safe. Seriously.) because all the city lights are so gorgeous! I love the sky scrapers and the crazy amounts of people. It's so invigorating. It is, however, a little smelly. They don't have garbage cans here? So trash bags pile up on the side of the street until the trashman comes and squishes it all together creating one of the most pass-out-dead smells that has ever entered my nasal cavity. But it's fine. Just very interesting... I never expected that. haha On the flip side though - Manhattan is seriously one of the most gorgeous places ever. We went to Battery Park (I think...) the other day for a ward party and I was so in awe with all the gorgeous scenery that I kept not hearing people when they were talking to me! haha they understood though - I was totally in my own world just soaking it all in. I'm still completely in awe over the city. Sister Weyandt knows how to get everywhere and it blows my mind. She's so good. BUT - I know how to get to church and back now! So that's happy. And if I find a subway, I can usually get home. :) I feel pretty cool being able to navigate SOMETHING in NYC. haha

 

Anyways, I got to go to the temple to do baptisms on Friday with a woman in our ward who was going for her first time! We had to get special permission, but it was so worth it. I love it. THEN - we went back to the temple because I had my 'new missionary' interview with President Morgan in the church building right next door. THEN - today we got to do a session for P-Day! I lucked out with that one too because usually you have to put your name on a list and wait to go, but President Morgan wanted me to go today because they're not sure how long I'll be here. I'm getting spoiled I tell you what. But it was crazy cuz we were supposed to go to the 12:30 session so we left a little before 11:30 (usually 25 minutes of travel time). It took  us over an hour to get there because subways were down. So we missed the session and had to grab a later one... but anyway. OY. It's been a crazy day. A lot of the subway stations here are still down from Hurricane Sandy so they stall trains like crazy in the middle of the day while they're doing work. I actually don't really have any idea what's going on but I know it has something to do with Hurricane Sandy. I just smile and nod.

Manhattan Temple

 

So, I've been here a week and I've already gotten to do baptisms and a session in the Manhattan temple! hehe also, one of our investigators, Jobie, is getting baptized on Dad's birthday! He's so so awesome. He came to church with us on Sunday and showed up a half hour before it started just to introduce himself to the bishop and the 'early arriving members.' After Sacrament, he was like "You two go on ahead, I have to introduce myself to the members!" haha he is so excited about the church and already felt so comfortable. It's so fun to see! We have another person with a baptism date for the 14th, but we're not exactly sure if it will work (long story) but he also is so so excited about the church. We gave him the initial baptism date and he was like giddy with excitement. It's really an amazing thing to experience - someone else's learning and growth. I never really anticipated how exciting it would be getting to work with real members and real people as opposed to just teaching our teachers in the MTC all the time. haha 

I'm finally starting to stop being sore from all the walking and carrying books on one shoulder. haha I seriously didn't want to move the first three days I was here. But, I'm pretty much buff now. haha jk, but seriously, we climb so many stairs! OH MY GOODNESS I ALMOST FORGOT. I had to go to Rite-Aid today. :'( :'( It's the closest normal store to our house and we only had a few minutes to go grocery shopping today. Don't worry - I didn't buy anything. I just gagged and tried not to die while I was in there. HAHA Seriously tho - that was rough.

My companion is amazing and I love her. We have had so much fun this week, and we also work so incredibly hard. It's the perfect combination. She's the best trainer I could ask for and I'm so grateful I get to learn from her.

 

Anyways... this is kind of a ridiculous letter. I'm very sorry. My brain is all over the place cuz so much has happened!! haha but again we're short on time today which is sad. But we will have more time next week for sure! I love you all so so much! Thank you for all your emails and support! You make me so happy! I love you!! 

 

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are very safe where we live, and we are very cautious and aren't even allowed to take pictures cuz we are 'true new yorkers" hahaha OY. It's depressing. But we're safe. I just want you to know.

It's a great time to wear a badge! (:

 

Drea

Madison Street in Manhattan!!!

Oi Minha Familia!!

I am in NEW YORK!!!! AHHH!!! Can you believe it?! Cuz I sure can't. Seriously though, I am so in love with New York already. You won't believe what has happened. But before I start into my beautiful New York experiences, I will start from... Friday. OH - Wednesdays are P-Days now!! Isn't that so nice? My first day in the field is a P-Day. hahah 

So, leaving the MTC was a little hard. But we left at 2:00 AM so... it wasn't as hard. haha mostly just exhausting. And confusing. Cuz no one told us ANYTHING about where we were supposed to find our luggage cuz it came on a different bus. So... I'm glad I have my luggage now. haha But anyway, that was a ridiculously long day. I'm SO glad I got to talk to you (Mom and Dad) for a few minutes!! It was so so so good to hear your voices! I'm sorry it got all cut off. But I'm so glad I got through for a few minutes. :) Also, I got my frequent flyer miles all worked out! They had to do my Alaska number because it said the Hawaiian number was ... not working... ? Anyways. When I got to Georgia, I was a little overwhelmed because I was all alone and I was just trying to figure things out. I finally got to my gate and this woman came up to me and said "Why are you all alone?!" I explained I was traveling and didn't have a companion, and that I would soon enough. Then she said that she and her family were from Twin Falls. She had me get up and come meet them, and as she introduced me to her husband she said "This is Sister King. We're taking her to lunch!" I laughed, but she was totally serious. They BOUGHT me lunch. Cuz I'm a missionary and they felt bad for me being all alone. HAHA! How incredibly sweet is that?! If I wasn't stoked to be a missionary before... I sure am now. haha it completely made my day. I love nice people.

I arrived in Westchester finally and was met by my new president. I feel like I was kind of in a daze, but he was so warm and welcoming. We were driven to the mission home where we had SUCH a wonderful meal prepared by Sister Morgan. That mission home is the cutest house ever. I love it so much.

NYC Mission Home

One of my favorite moments of the evening was when President Morgan was talking to us about some logistics stuff then asked Sister Morgan "Anything else?" And she said "Welcome home!" and he said "We've been waiting for you!" It just made me so happy for some reason. They are so great. I love them. We spent the night in the mission home (after being fed some New York Cheesecake for dessert!!) and then went to transfer meeting this morning (after being fed some New York Bagels for breakfast. YESSS!!!). Okay. Are you ready for this?!

I'm serving in Manhattan!!!!! YEEEEAH!!! I'm SO stoked! I'm in the Manhattan South zone. So... basically everything awesome and amazing. I LIVE IN CHINATOWN. In the cutest apartment known to mankind. Seriously, I am so so spoiled. But it gets better. My companion. Sister Weyandt. She is SO amazing. I've only known her a few hours, but we are so similar. I just love her. But it gets better. Do you remember that one time when we went to New York? Like... in May? Do you remember how we went to church in Manhattan on Mother's Day and I got to talk to the sisters all about my new mission call and how you were leaving to Africa soon? And then you got a picture with the sisters? You took a picture with my companion.

She's the one you're standing next to, Mom. =O We met my companion in May. HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!? I realized that sitting in transfer meeting because I was about to compliment Sister Weyandt's skirt. And then I had a dejavu (I can't spell that) moment cuz I realized I'd seen that skirt before. I looked up and realized I'd seen that girl before. HAHA!! CRAZY.

I'm so excited. I LOVE IT HERE!! I'm so excited to be here!! And we just ate pizza, so I'm such a happy camper. And, I've already ridden the subway twice. We have unlimited passes. It's so legit. 

Anyway, not a lot has happened yet as you probably know. But I'm just so so happy. I'm SO excited to be here and I'm so blessed to be a part of the New York North mission. I've gotten to meet a lot of people the last few days and they are all just so wonderful. I love this mission!! We also have spent most of the day getting all of my stuff home and unpacked so we don't have a ton of time on transfer day. But we have our first appointment in two hours!! :D I will try to write, but if I don't get to all of you I'm so sorry! I love you all so much!! I love being a missionary. It's so crazy to be out of the MTC. But I feel as if I have been greatly spoiled by the Lord. I couldn't ask for anything more. 

I love you all so much!! You're in my thoughts and prayers! 

Love,

New York and Porto Alegre!Sister King




The last of our district just before our new assignments.  Sad little group that last week.
 

 

Awkward sister missionary pose with our Portuguese teacher


 

                                           Look at all these missionary map pictures!!!!

New York!
 

New York and Porto Alegre Brazil!
 




Porto Alegre & Finland
 

Porto Alegre & Africa
 

Porto Alegre for me, Finland for Andrew & Africa for Mom & Dad!



A "fast" from English!!

Oi Minha Familia!!                                                                                        August 16, 2013

It is a GOOD DAY!!! I hope it is just as good for all of you. :) This week has been craaaazyyy! But soo good. Okay... we'll start at the top.



I kid you not. That tree smells like cream soda.
I do not make this up.

So, I played a musical number in sacrament meeting on Sunday!! I played my flute (and by MY flute I mean a community MTC flute which I had to force myself to not wonder how many had played before me. Don't worry... I hand sanitizered my face after every time I played.) and an Elder in my district played violin, and our zone leader played piano. We played Our Savior's Love. We've been practicing for a few weeks and it was pretty fun to get to play the flute on the mission. So I'm all pumped for the musical number, right? We practiced that morning, I had the flute and my music in hand so I knew I wouldn't forget it. We sit down (after running to the bathroom 3 times before Sacrament meeting started... I'm the worst at nerves) and I'm trying to calm myself down. I wasn't really that nervous, I just psych myself out too much. I actually did a really good job of calming down and was hardly nervous at all, and then they called the tributes (remember, those two lucky souls who have to give talks in Portuguese and don't know about it until 8 seconds before they're supposed to get up?). Yeah... "Sister King aaaand.... Elder Ajdouea;klsdjf (I just made that up because my brain didn't comprehend his name)." Do you remember how I was playing the musical number? I had just finished telling my district that this was the first week I've felt safe! Karma. So... my mouth hit the floor and I started shaking uncontrollably. And then I started laughing uncontrollably because I knew I totally deserved it. BUT - luckily for me the talk I had prepared for this week was my favorite talk thus far. So I was happy to give it. I walked to the stand, gave my talk, walked down, grabbed my flute, and walked back up. It was great. Both went really well and my branch president complimented my Portuguese... so I felt cool. Wow. Eventful day.

This is the laundry statue. haha just kidding.
He's right outside the laundry room so it makes me laugh every week!
He's not actually carrying laundry. I haven't the foggiest idea what he's doing tho. 

Tuesday was also pretty eventful. So, in choir practice on Sunday, our instructor (Who is AMAZING. Andrew, you HAVE to do choir) was making a huge deal about the piece we were doing. He was talking all about how he picked it special and it had to be good. "Because we're going to hear great things on Tuesday." So, Sister Cleveland and I decided right there we wanted to be early on Tuesday because we wanted good seats. Turns out, it was the very first ever MTC broadcast. It was broadcasted to all other MTCs AND Elder Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH it was seriously so cool. Good seats, and being in the choir. Also, I was on TV. I didn't look, of course, because I'm a good little choir go-er, but my district saw me, AND our Branch President saw me. WOOOT!!! That means my friends in Sao Paulo maybe saw me! And maybe Tyler Klingler too (is he still in the MTC?) Anyways. That was definitely not the most exciting part of the evening. Elder Scott is amazing. I took really good notes that I don't have much time to talk about, but he talked about prayer. How we have the opportunity to converse personally with one who has created worlds of people. It's an incredible gift and we should express our thanks for prayer. I loved it. In the very end, he said 4 or 5 times, over and over again "We love you, missionaries. We love you so much." Then he closed. After the broadcast, the room was absolutely silent as he walked away. He turned around probably 7 times. The first few times, he waved to us all and we waved back. Then, he turned around, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled "Be good!!" and everyone giggled... and cried. And he waved again. And then he turned around again, cupped his hands around his mouth again and yelled "I love you!!" And, stood there and listened as 3500 missionaries shouted "I LOVE YOU TOO!" to an apostle of the Lord. He waved a few more times and then left, and no one moved. No one WANTED to move. We finally had to, but I think any one of us would have sat there another few hours just to feel. It was truly incredible. 

One more quick thing - we had in-field orientation yesterday! And guess what?!?! My teacher was Elder Christensen from The District #2!!! bahahah!! It was so cool. He checked me into orientation and put a sticker on my book (to tell me what room to go to) and I just sat and stared at him because he looked ridiculously familiar. haha I finally got it. But it was an awkward few seconds. Anyways... I asked him if Jynx ever got baptized and she didn't. :( But he said "She will! And when she does, they'll film it and put it on District 3!" haha and then he told me to keep praying for her. So that was kind of fun to meet an MTC celebrity. lol He also got up in front of the whole group and said "just to clear the air - I am SO sorry for that Law of Chastity clip!" And everybody laughed... but I can't remember what that clip was so I was confused... but I still thought it was funny. haha 

Besides that - I think you know what the next eventful part was!! haha NEW YORK BABY!!!! I'm so excited. Thank you all so much for being so excited with me!! Did you hear I'm serving in the same mission Tom served in?!?!?! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?! I'm sad, and a little terrified to leave the MTC. It's been such a good experience and I've met so many wonderful people. But I'm SO excited to get to the field and get to serve. The Lord sure loves his missionaries. I'm so blessed. Next time I write you I will be in New York!!! hehe That's kinda crazy. But I may not have a P-Day again for a while so... we'll see. :) I love you all SO much!  Ate o proximo vez! 

Sister King

 

PS - Also on Tuesday our teacher challenged us to have a "fast from English." So I burst out in German! And he added "And anything other than Portuguese!" haha dang it... BUT - long story short. From 6:30 AM to 10:00 PM on Tuesday, I didn't speak a word of English. Besides singing in the choir. But that's not speaking. And I did accidentally speak German a few times, but a lot less than normal. haha I was just so proud of that day, I had to share. I actually felt so good about it. I can communicate in Portuguese!! (That, and I'm really good at Charades.) But seriously, it felt so good! I was exhausted. But so happy. We had more assessments today and it wasn't even as scary anymore! Thank goodness they're all church related topics cuz I can pretty much say anything church related. Well, that's not true at all. But I'm wayyy better at talking about church stuff in Portuguese than I am about... not church stuff. haha anyways. had to share. I love you! 

New York City!!!!

My Dear Beautiful Family:                                                        August 15, 2013

I write you this evening because we seem to have received our reassignments early. I am not sure why exactly... but they were in our mailbox today and after about 2 hours of serious melt downs from every single person in the district - (as we were not expecting them for another day) we opened them. I don't have time to send pictures today but I'll send pictures and a better letter tomorrow. GUESS WHERE I AM GOING. Guess. Do it right now. Oh, also- I'm totally not breaking any rules right now, they told us we had to give all flight information before the end of today. Anyways... on to it. Remember all the dreams I had before I got my initial mission call? Now I'm just being a horrible person and making you all wait before I tell you... READY?!?!?!?!

I'M GOING TO THE NEW YORK CITY NORTH MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just before we opened our reassignments
and we were freaking out

Is that enough exclamation marks? Because I don't think it is. Do you know HOW many times I dreamed I was going to New York? I dreamed at least 4 times before I got my first mission call, and I've had two more dreams here about serving in New York. JEN - how close is this to where you live? Tom - where in New York did you serve?! I'M SO EXCITED. It's such a tender mercy from the Lord. If I can't be in Brazil - I'm SO excited to be in New York. I sobbed. It's fine. Because of the dreams. But seriously. I've felt sick most of the week being nervous over this reassignment. There's so much emotion behind it because not getting a visa is hard. We have all been nervous and panicking EVERY time someone calls over the loud speakers (cuz that's when they announce visas). It was hard because I have felt needed in Brazil, and I didn't want it to feel like I was just flung somewhere random. I KNOW I'm supposed to be in Brazil someday. But it's not my turn right now and I feel so overwhelmingly blessed to have been given the gift of KNOWING I'm needed in New York too. I don't have a visa simply because the Lord needs me to be in New York right now. I honestly can't stop telling you how blessed I feel. I'm needed in New York and for that I am truly grateful. Besides all that mushy stuff - NEW YORK IS BEEF PACKETING AWESOME. And I'm stoked. AGH I'm SO STOKED.


This is right after opening the reassignment
& I'm freaking out even more!!! :) 
(Sister Cleveland is going to Oklahoma)

Now because they told us to give you flight information - I leave at 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning. My flight leaves UT Tuesday August 20 at 7:10 AM and I arrive (via Georgia) in Westchester NY at 2:25 PM. Sister Cleveland is going to Oklahoma. I'm gonna miss that girl. :( But we're both going to Porto Alegre North someday so, that's very happy. No one else in my district is going to New York so I think I'm flying alone. Which is scarier as a missionary. But it's fine. :)

I'm supposed to have at least $200 in travel fees... could you maybe check that for me Dad?

Anyway... I'm gonna let you go because I'll be emailing again in like... 15 hours. But I love you all SOOO MUCH! I can't wait to talk... write to you tomorrow!! :D :D I hope you have sweet dreams!!! :D

Love,

Sister King