Week 5 - I ate a chicken heart

Hello! 

I only have 8 days left until I fly out! I'm so excited/anxious to get out and teach! It's starting to dawn on me that I actually have to leave, rather than "leaving" but still hanging out in the area. I'll have to say bye to Peter 

This week we had lots of sub teachers, which has been fun. One of them, Irmão Barroso, drew a little picture showing that whatever kingdom we end up in (celestial, telestial, terrestrial) depends on how often we speak and study portuguese. So I guess I'm going to the terrestrial kingdom guys.

I don't enjoy Halloween quite as much as a missionary. It's fun to dress up and eat too much candy, but some things are kinda gory! We went to a Halloween store and I low-key felt the spirit leave. There were a bunch of scary things like a pig zombie head, clown masks, and lots of other really ugly stuff, so I felt a little out of place in there with my missionary tag on. There was one thing that totally freaked me out: a scrawny, motion-sensored skeleton thing that was crawling on all fours, and it screeched at me as I walked by. I did not like that place. 

On Friday I also went to a Brazilian restaurant with my parents and the food was sooo good! I was having some serious flashbacks to when we went to Brazil in 2015. The fried yuca, cheese bread, cashew juice, and the rice and beans were muito deliciosa. I was having a jolly good time until Dad slapped a chicken heart on my plate, and told me to eat it. Gross! I completely lost my appetite when I saw the little tubes coming out of it, and I also had already eaten too much so I felt like I would throw up. But hey, on the mission people will give you weird food, and you just have to eat it. Also my Dad said that if I didn't eat it I'd have to pay for the meal. Then the owner came and started talking to us, (apparently he served in João Pessoa too!) and said that if I ate the two of them, he'd give us a free dessert. So I ate them. And it was pretty gross. Hopefully those two chickens don't come back to haunt me. 

One of my Dad's favorite hobbies is putting me (and his other kids) in uncomfortable situations. As we were waiting in line for the restaurant, he heard some people who didn't speak English, so he's like "Hey, let's go talk to them, maybe they speak Portuguese!" So he waltzed up to these strangers and just started talking to them. I was kinda uncomfortable (as was the guy's wife who cautiously backed away). So my Dad had a long conversation with this Venezuelan guy in Spanish as I stood there in silence. In my head I imagined it would be so easy to walk up to strangers and talk with them, but after that I realized I need more practice. 

Spiritual thought: In the past I felt a little confused about the atonement, and even what to repent for. I've been pretty good at keeping the commandments: I honor my parents, I keep the sabbath day holy, I don't kill people, etc. So I didn't really know what to repent for... But as I've learned more and more, I learned that Sinless ≠ Perfect. Being sinless is not committing sin, while being perfect is being the best person you can be: making no mistakes, being loving, accomplished, smart, humble, talented, etc. Everything that God and Christ are! Sure, I'm pretty much sinless. But am I perfect? Of course not! There is a very wide gap between me and where I could be. The atonement isn't just to cleanse us from sin, it's there to fix mistakes and to make us complete, and eventually perfect like Christ. So lately I've been repenting for things like being too focused on myself too much, not being as productive as I could be, and even for playing wrong notes on the piano. When I repent, Christ will amplify my efforts, and step by step, I can eventually become perfect like Christ. And you can too!

I know that this church is true. As I study and learn more every day, my testimony grows more and more, and there's no doubt in my mind that God lives, Christ is His Son, and that this is His restored church on the earth! I love it all so much, and I love being a missionary! And I love all of you people, (whoever 2 people are actually reading my emails)

- Sister Wride

1. Back from the Pumpkin patch

2. Brazilian food

3. Posing right next to the "please do not try on masks" signs 

(I'm sorry I didn't see them before and also I'm pretty sure I don't have covid)

4. Eating chicken hearts

Week 4 - What's going on??

 Olá! Como vocês está?

This week we have new teachers, Irmão Coronado and Irmã Moreno! They don't speak English, so classes have been very confusing for all of us. (Especially because we're pretty sure they're switching back and forth from Portuguese to Spanish). I honestly feel like a baby in class. Our poor teachers, they're trying so hard. They talk very slowly and clearly, and ask us questions to try and get us to interact with the lesson, but all they get in return is blank stares. I truly admire their patience. Even if we did understand the things they ask, most of the time we don't know how to answer. Luckily we help each other out in the group chat, which is mostly filled with things like "what's going on?" "what did she just say?" "I'm lost again.", and "sweet mercy.."

It kinda reminds me of when our family went to Chile, and I was stuck in a school where people only spoke Spanish. (Except for in English class, where I was the star-student ( ͝° ͜ʖ͡°)ᕤ). I never understood anything, so I just copied whatever the teacher wrote on the board, along with little notes to myself since I had no one to talk to. It kinda seemed like a waste of fourth grade, but hey, by the end of those 3 months, I could speak Spanish pretty well! I remember getting off the airplane back to Utah, and how amazed I was that I could actually understand what people were saying! I passed by two guys having a conversation, and I could understand what they were talking about! So weird.. 

Also Irmã Moreno doesn't know how to pronounce my name, and it makes Sister Adams laugh every time. No matter how many times I correct her, the "Wr" still throws her off. "Sister.. Gwide? Goo-eyed?" "It's Sister Wride" "Sim, Sister Guiraije." 

I hope you all enjoyed conference today! It was so good. So many talks were exactly what the world needs right now. Quentin L. Cook talked about the need for unity amidst diversity, David A. Bednar and W. Christopher Waddell talked about the importance of preparing for the future (physically and spiritually), and Dallin H. Oaks talked about how we need to show love to everyone despite differences, to keep the laws of the land and use peaceful protests, to eliminate racism and contention, and to peacefully accept the result of elections. My personal questions were also answered on what I need to do to improve myself, in Scott D. Whiting's talk. I'm so grateful for living prophets and apostles! They really do speak as the voice of God. 

Speaking of which, you should go watch THIS video of President Nelson. I love our dear prophet! He is such a good example of Christlike love that I strive to follow. One thing he said in the video struck me hard, that "all the good in the world is done person-to-person", one-by-one. It seems to me that people are anxious to be big and important, that to have value in life, you have to do something that impacts everyone in the world. It's great to strive for that, but it's so true, that either way, all the good that's done is to individuals! Don't think you can only do good by starting a charity organization - go and serve the people who are around you right now! You don't have to find a cure for cancer, go do the dishes for your roommates, go visit your grandparents, give people warm smiles, go make someone feel loved. The reason people love President Nelson so much is because his efforts are solely focused outward, on individuals. In the end, it's all about people! 

I love people, and I love you, whoever is reading this! Feel free to reach out if you need anything, if you have a question, or if you just want to say hi :)

 - Sister Gwide

 

Pictures:

1-2. Our district BBQ, where I realized how short I really am. 

3-4. Peter

5. My blanket art

Week 3 - Another week gone by

Hello, hello! I hope you're all doing well! 

It's p-day again? The weeks are already flying by. But it's great to be a missionary, as always! This next week we're changing to teachers who don't speak English, so we'll be forced to speak Portuguese all of class. (send help). So this means we had our last class with Irmão Batista and Irmã Melo which is super sad. My companions and I have all agreed that Irmã Melo is one of our favorite teachers ever. She's so smiley and energetic, and her bouncy voice makes me happy. She's also too nice. I can totally butcher a sentence in Portuguese, not conjugate any of the verbs and pronounce everything wrong, but she will always reply with "MUITO BOM!! You guys are so fluent. You're literally perfect."

Update: my sense of humor is still deteriorating: During class, we were reading some scripture that said "Wo, wo unto this people", to which Elder Kofford "hit the woah" and it got me laughing so hard I had to hide my face from the camera.

Also Elder Foit keeps making weird faces during class, and I've been secretly screenshotting them, so stay tuned for a photo album. 

I'm starting to really miss a lot of songs that I can't listen to anymore. But luckily I've listened to a lot of them on repeat like 90 times, so I can replay them in my head. It doesn't quite do it justice though. I'm pretty sure the first thing I'm going to do once I finish my mission is open Spotify and listen to all my liked songs (unless listening to TabCATS for a year and a half doesn't totally change my music taste). 

At home last weekend, Wesley sat down next to me listening to Bruno Major, and although I should have walked away like a perfectly obedient missionary, I sat and listened with him for a little while. His music is so good! It had been a few weeks since listening to him, so my heart kind of melted. 

But I can't do that - I need to be a consecrated missionary! I'm on the Lord's errand, so I need to be 100% obedient, and give up everything I have to him, whether giving up listening to music, 10 extra minutes of sleep, a fear of talking to people, or giving up all my money to help pay for my mission. It all belongs to the Lord! 

So since I can't, go listen to Regents Park by Bruno Major. I can't enjoy it, so I will find enjoyment through you :) (Also you should listen to I'll Sleep When I'm Older by Bruno Major, Takeoff by Cory Wong, Animal Spirits, Mr. Finish Line or Lonely Town by Vulfpeck. I could probably list 100 more, but those are some of my favorites.)

But if you don't, that's ok. What's really important is that you go study the scriptures! God is eagerly waiting to answer your questions and give you revelation, that's why he gave us the Book of Mormon! It was written specifically for you and me in these latter days, to answer whatever questions we have. If you've been watching lots of flat-earth-society videos, and you worry that the sun goes around the earth and everything you've been told is a lie, go read Helaman 12:15 - "And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun." The Book of Mormon can even answer questions for flat-earthers. Each verse and each page is there for you to learn from! The church did this cool thing called the Book Of Mormon experiment, where they asked people from different cities to read one page from the Book of Mormon, and see what they learned from it. Go watch the video, it's cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ8aeGztuwQ Each page is testifies of Jesus Christ. It's there to help you, so go read it today!

Also for those of you who aren't on Elder Ethan Wride's email list, I'll pass along his little challenge from his email: Go read D&C 138 verses 38-47, 49, 53, 55  while listening to this song - it's pretty epic. (If you don't get it, you need to watch more Marvel movies). And if you have the time and want more context, read the whole chapter (before starting the music). 

Ok, I'm done now. Have a great week! Stay safe and happy, and I'd love to hear from any of you!

love Sister Wride

Pictures: 

1-2. Last class with Irmão Batista and Irmã Melo

3-5. More fun with Zoom filters :)

Week 2 - I got my Reassignment!

 Olá tudo mundo!

First off, I got my reassignment to Indianapolis, Indiana! Isn't that fun? I get two mission calls, and two completely different mission experiences with their own advantages and perks! I used to feel sad for others when hearing about their reassignments, because I felt like instead of going to their cool foreign mission, they're stuck in someplace they're not really meant to be. But that's not true! Wherever we go, the Lord will use us to do his work in the best way possible. Everything is according to plan, so I shouldn't worry! I feel good about it. Also I have some cousins there, so maybe I'll get to serve in their ward for a bit. 

My companions Sister Jenkins got reassigned to the temple visitor center in Honolulu, Hawaii (we're all super jealous) and Sister Adams got reassigned to Farmington, New Mexico, on one of those Indian reservations, where Sister Jenkins says there are interesting people called "shapeshifters" and "Gadianton robbers"?? Idk. There are also some really cool rocks there! It'll be fun. But if we never actually make it to Brazil, the 3 of us have decided that we'll take a vacation there. 

Funny things this week:

- I accidentally set my computer system to Portuguese, so I could never tell what time it was because it's in military time. And It took me a few days to change it back to English because all the settings were in Portuguese. 

- My grandparents have this thing set up so they get a text whenever a door opens. So whenever someone comes inside (which happens a lot because our cousins live next door), both of their phones go off, then when the door closes, they both go off again. It's kinda funny. My grandparents also get phone calls all the time (most of which are scam callers), and it rings from my grandma's phone, my grandpa's phone, and the home phone simultaneously. Sometimes during the day they go off every 7 minutes. My grandpa usually answers scam calls by saying something like "oh boy, I'm so glad you called! I haven't gotten a single call today!" or when asked about his car warranty he says "no, I have a horse". He has other grandpa-sayings, like "Hello Alice!" or "Don't dream about rabbits!" as I leave for bed. Haha I love it. 

- We played a little game in class on who could read the fastest, and since my companions were in the group that lost, their punishment was to only speak Portuguese for a full day. So in companion study we had the hardest time communicating with each other - I was speaking English, and my companions were speaking in what seemed like two different versions of Portuguese. I didn't know what was going on, so I sat there in silence for 45 minutes as my companions babbled at each other. So yeah that was probably the most frustrating part of my week 

Our classes now are almost completely in Portuguese too, which is um pouco difícil. There's probably a lot of useful information that I'm missing out on haha. The mission is going to be harder than I thought.. 

Spiritual thought: Do you ever wonder why God doesn't just show us heavenly signs to make people believe in him? Like in 3 Nephi 1, when the Nephites in the Americas saw the bright star and other signs showing that Jesus Christ was born, many people were converted and believed in him and God. But we learn in the next chapter, just a few years later, that "they began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard..." and started to harden their hearts and disbelieve in God. So seeing miraculous signs didn't actually help them gain a testimony! We need to grow a belief in God and Jesus Christ through study and prayer, and then the Holy Ghost will give us a feeling, a spiritual prompting, that isn't so easily forgotten. Like Joseph Smith, you need to study it out and pray to find out for yourself what is true. If you study it out in your mind and sincerely pray for truth, God will answer! He is eagerly waiting for us to turn to him so he can help us and give us answers. So my challenge to you this week is to pray to find answers like Joseph Smith did. If you pray to him, I promise he will answer you. 

Love you all! I hope you have a great week, and remember to Read and Pray every day! Feel free to message me :)

Pictures: 

1. Using my blue shirt as a green screen

2. Making a super awesome heart (which was actually quite difficult because I had to make the heart shape while reaching over and with one hand holding down two buttons on opposite sides of the keyboard)

Week 1 - "You single? lol."

 Hello everyone! Welcome to my first little missionary email. I hope you're all doing well!

So I'm one of 12 kids in my family, (as many of you may know) and as much as I love being around them, it's hard to get stuff done at home. So I'm doing my online missionary training at my grandparents house, and it's super nice. It's clean, I have my own space, and it's so quiet here! I can like - focus on stuff, and I'm not interrupted by screaming little kids. But it's a good thing I'm close to home because I still need my dose of baby Peter every once in a while. Also my grandparents are good cooks! I thought I was missing out on the MTC cafe with the chocolate milk and unlimited cereal bar, but this is just as good :)

I've also had a lot more time than I thought. I've been able to study portuguese, and learn more piano!

I love being a missionary, and I love online MTC so far! It's definitely different, but it's still amazing. My teachers are super fun, and I love my district and my companions. I'm in a trio companionship with Sister Adams and Sister Jenkins, and they're both awesome! We get along great. 

One thing I've noticed with missionaries and recently returned missionaries, is that they often have a weird sense of humor. I think it comes from some combination of being slap-happy (as missionaries tend to be), and being somewhat humor-deprived, since they aren't on instagram/youtube/etc. 

When my brother Joseph came back from Guatemala, some of the things he said made me cringe. Ethan noticed it too. For example: when we were filming the House video (you should go watch it if you haven't: https://youtu.be/VjIuEEauD1g ) we were coming up with ideas on what to talk about, and Joe was like "hey wouldn't it be super funny if I pretended to give a missionary lesson to my pen?" Then pulled out his guata-pen and started talking to it in spanish. It was a little weird..  But then Ethan started his mission, and I started seeing it in him too! He would laugh hysterically at the dumbest things, like how he accidentally said "soy um puku cansada" instead of "poco", or how a lady in a desert book said "did you look?" when we asked where to find something. He laughed about that for a good 15 minutes. 

And now it's starting to happen to me! 

Me and my companions were preparing a practice lesson, and I was typing "we need the atonement so we can turn back to God", but I accidentally typed we with two e's, so I saw it as "WEEE! need the atonement" and it was the dumbest thing ever, but I was laughing so hard. I couldn't even pull myself together to explain to my companions what I was laughing about. SO dumb. 

My companions have been in a weird mood too. Sister Adams often laughs at the most random things: In a zoom call, our teacher typed "monday" in the chat, and we didn't know why, but it made Sister Adams laugh super hard, which then got us all laughing over literally nothing. So yeah my humor is at a low point in its life. And this is just the first week! I need help. Being trapped in the basement is making me slightly insane. 

Funny story - so since a lot of missionary work is being done online, I've been accepting facebook requests from a few people I don't know very well, as well as some guy named "Hasa" who I didn't know at all. Then the next day he started messaging me, saying "You're cute. lol". Oh great... Now, if this had happened last week, I would have ran away, but I'm a missionary now, so I kinda have to talk to strangers. And he looked like he could use the gospel, so I started chatting with him. 

He asked me where I'm from and what I like to do, (for some reason he thought I lived in Australia?) and I tried bringing up the gospel. I talked about how I'm on a mission, I'm learning portuguese, and how I love the church. But he kept changing the topic, asking questions like "how old are you?" "how tall are you anyway? lol." and "Are you single? Just checking, lol." Ugh. Clearly this guy has different intentions than me. But it's ok! I tried to work with it. "U got Random pic of you at the beach tho?" Um, no... gross. Later that day I asked if he wanted to hear a lesson with me and my companion, but after I told him that I'm not allowed to date as a missionary, he abandoned ship. First rejection of the mission, let's gooo!! Haha, it's probably for the best. I showed my Mom and she's convinced he's a robot, and now that I think about it she's probably right (he has 0 facebook friends). So that was kinda funny/creepy. Don't talk to strangers online, kids! 

Spiritual thought for the week: 

Helaman 5:12 

"And now, my sons, remember, remember, that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." 

If we keep Jesus Christ as the foundation of our lives and our beliefs, no matter what is thrown at us, we will be ok! Whatever hard things you're going through, whatever challenge or bad habit you just can't quite get over, or wherever you're falling short, through Christ, you can do all things! 

For those of you in Utah, you may have seen some of the trees that fell over from the storm a few days ago. Like those trees, Satan is constantly blowing all sorts of storms and winds of temptation on us. But if we center our lives on Christ, live as he did, and repent using his atonement, we will not fall. 

I love you all! Have a good week and feel free to message me!

- Síster Wride

1. My district (laughing about how Facebook is pronounced "Facie-buk")

2. My new favorite background

3. Peter

Melodie Set Apart

Melodie is officially on her mission. She was set apart tonight and then left with Corey's parents to start her online MTC experience over there at their house like Ethan did, in their nice quiet house.  

I sent a message to Ethan to let him know what time Mel was getting set apart, in case his mission President would let him call, and he did get permission, yay! So this was the only other pic of tonight cause my phone was turned into Ethan's virtual presence. 

President Hill from the stake came over to set her apart. My parents and Corey's parents and Joseph were all here with us. After the setting apart, she's official - she put on her name tag. The church's name is in Portuguese, but it doesn't say Irma Wride, it says "Sister Wride" cause they've adopted that English word into their language I guess, just with a Portuguese accent, sounds like "Sees-tur". 

Instagram Invite

Only 4 days until I start my mission and become a representative of Jesus Christ! I'm so excited to serve and bless others as a missionary. DM me or comment if you want to be on my group email list or you can email me at melodie.wride@missionary.org