Blessing the Rains Down in Africa: Sister Forsyth's a Numpty

Dearest Familia,

Right out of the gate it's worth mentioning that I am technically not “Irma” Bradley. I've meant to say something every week but kept forgetting. Often in Portuguese they associate Irma with Nuns, so I'm really just Sister Bradley. I hope that wasn't too confusing.

This week has completely breezed by, last Monday feels like yesterday and yet so much has happened! To start where I left off, Tuesday we taught our very first TRC lesson! Which is basically a lesson we teach completely in Portuguese to real people, not actors or our teachers pretending to be investigators, but real life people speaking real life Portuguese. Luckily a lot of them are returned missionaries and they're really nice so that's good, especially considering we spoke absolute gibberish.

Wednesday was wild! We started our day with service, which isn't bad and cleaning windows is probably the easiest activity one could do for service. On the downside, I stupidly got locked out of the building we were cleaning and was awkwardly rescued by a confused security guard who found me repeating "minha companeira" while trying to attract the attention of my companion who was cleaning windows on the other side of the gym. I also felt like I'd inhaled half a bottle of Windex by the time we finished, but man those were some nicely cleaned windows. Unfortunately things only got worse from there though because in that same gym later that day, Sister Forsyth deeply bruised her wrist playing volleyball. Playing volleyball with twenty Elders maybe wasn't our wisest move, but Sister Forsyth really likes volleyball (which I didn't even know was a thing in Scotland). Anyway, she walks up to me afterward with a huge bump on her wrist and doesn't even know when it happened. We thought something might've been broken but the clinic was closed and she wasn't in terrible pain so it was decided we'd wait til tomorrow to see the doctor. Still, she was a little shaken so we asked if she could get a priesthood blessing. It was the first blessing our zone leader had ever given and despite being a bit panicked and dropping a whole vial of consecrated oil on the ground, it was really good. When we went into the clinic the next morning, the doctor said she only has a bone bruise and it's already begun healing. On the same topic of injuries, I did skin one of my knees, again playing sports with the Elders, but it's nothing too bad and really only hurts when we kneel to pray. But I'm pretty sure the MTC gym is cursed, so we'll probably be avoiding it for the next little while. Also I've had a cold for the past four-ish days, so you could say it's been a rough week for Sister Forsyth and me. But for as many trials we've experienced, there's been even greater blessings.

We taught some good lessons this week! Even if they were to our teachers pretending to be investigators or returned missionaries. It's such an unreal experience being able to teach by the spirit in Portuguese when you can literally not speak Portuguese. Studying all day everyday is hard, especially when you feel like you're not retaining anything, but it's moments in those lessons when you remember a question or something important to say that makes you realize how real the presence of the Holy Ghost is. Two of our Elders this week went into a lesson without praying and came out in absolute turmoil over how bad they did and how they couldn't remember anything. Lesson learned, always pray first. In addition to our regular lessons we also were invited to teach the lesson in our District Meeting which we graciously accepted, and then invited to teach Relief Society, which we also accepted. It's a good thing it was Fast Sunday or else they might've made us speak in Sacrament Meeting too. Our RS lesson went really good, thanks to the spirit and everyone's participation. Our DM lesson was alright too, but admittedly it wasn't as well planned. But Sunday's events weren't finished yet, as Sister Forsyth, Sister Goldrup and I were called to be our zones STL's (Sister Training Leaders). It's kind of a new calling so I don't know how long it's been around or how to describe it, but essentially it's the Sister counterpart to the Zone Leaders. Getting a calling in the MTC is a thrilling experience because they don't really ask you beforehand, they just suddenly read your name in Sacrament Meeting, so that was a fun time. We quickly realized we had no idea what we were doing as they gave us very minimal instruction and handed over a flip phone that looks like it was made 2005 and only ever had a single phone call made on it before being dumped in a trashcan behind a CVS. We also don't remember the names of our Zone Leaders or how we’re supposed to somehow lead the orientation of 33 new missionaries with them this Wednesday, but I'm sure it will work out.

Unfortunately, tomorrow both Sister Mosey and Elder Williamson will be leaving for the Brazil MTC because they've both gotten their visas. On the bright side, they will probably learn the language really fast there. But it's still sad to say goodbye. Today is our last day all together. Tomorrow Sister Goldrup will join me and Sister Forsyth, and the Elders will combine into a trio as well. We're excited to have Sister Goldrup with us because she's really focused and amazing at the language, so that should help me and Sister Forsyth stay on track. Being in a trio is going to be an adjustment just because we've all formed habits and whatnot, but luckily Sister Goldrup is responsible enough for all three of us, so we've tasked her with holding onto the new STL phone.

As per usual I've heard some truly amazing messages this week, my favorites being:

-"Begin with the end in mind"- President Russell M. Nelson
-The importance of learning to condense and simplify.
-The word Saudeades in Portuguese, haven't quite figured out the depths of its meaning but it's cool.
-Ether 3
-John 10:27-28
-And we watched The Testament yesterday, which is simultaneously amazing and cringy. Sis. Forsyth and I decided we liked the actor who plays Jesus in all the new videos best.

-Sister Bradley

What do you do when you only have ten outfits!? I'll tell you what, you theme the days of the week just to keep it spicy. This week my district killed it with Floral Friday (which wasn't hard considering a good 90% of my clothing is florals). And of course the only thing better than Floral Friday is Swap Saturday.