Ashley's first letter from the MTC

Hello Family and Friends!!!

 I have made it to p-day!!!! haha I love it so much! The Lord is truly here with us here at the MTC! 

Well when we arrived at here they dragged me around showing me all the buildings and bringing me to my room~ it was crazy! I am in building 5M room 401! I had to drag my huge suitcases up to the 4th floor and my poor host sister was struggling! Cool fact she ended up being my sister training leader! hehe Then we didn't even stop... next she dropped me off in a classroom with 5 other kids and we started learning Portuguese! 

The teacher just started speaking portuguese to me and did not say a word in english until our 4th day! It really weirded me out when he did that! His name is Iramo Regher and you say that with an H sound at the beginning! He is amazing and only a year older than me! He looks maybe 23 or 24 but he's 21! 

I am in a trio with two spiritual giants! One is Sister Stowell (from utah) who is the happiest most bubbly person you will ever meet! And the other is Sister Judd (from NC) who knows the book of mormon like no one else! We have figured out the MTC the Lord does not let you cry here unless you are feeling the spirit because every time you want to cry we all start laughing about the weirdest things. Its hard here, the language is frustrating sometimes. But everyday the Lord blesses you with sweet tender mercies and I go to bed every night happy and ready for the next day!

There are 6 of us in my district. All of us are visa waiters. 3 of us are from NORTH CAROLINA! Its so wierd! The elders are another trio also and they are amazing! They are Elder Gowers, Elder Barrera, and Elder Huppe (sounds like puppy) (: They are awesome! We spend around 10 to 15 hours a day with our district learning the language, teaching lessons and studying. We have gotten to know each other a little too well~ When you spend all day with someone its crazy how comfortable you can get with each other!

They call us the laughing district because we can't stop laughing like ever! But we do pay attention in class. We have portuguese class for around 8 hours everyday. Its a lot but I think I am getting it.

As of today day 5! I can bear my testimony, teach 3 lessons, and pray in portuguese. The Lord exists and the gift of tongues is real! I am starting to have a horrible time reading english!!!!!!

 

Some tender mercies I have experienced this week.

One Sara Scarletts cousin Andrew (I SEE EVERYWHERE) haha his classroom (our classroom is where we spend the majority of the day) is right next to mine! He is so funny and keeps me on my toes about the language! He is speaking portuguese too!

I ran into my roommate Morgan Hall!!!!!!!!! I could not believe it! She was coming out of a building the same time we just got out of our first lesson (that went horrifically hahaha) and we both started crying and hugging eachother! This was on our 3rd day! We both needed the love of someone who know us. Its amazing how the Lord puts you in the right places at the right times. It was actually want I needed that day!

There was one day where the language was really hard and I was worried that I would never get it. So I decided to pray and pray in portuguese. And halfway through my very long prayer, I realized that I had said my whole prayer in portuguese and I had said it perfectly. I really began to cry! I know the Lord will help me as I continue to practice and study. I am hear to learn to teach through the spirit not to learn portuguese. God loves his children and will not let us fail with him by our sides!

We only have 60 minutes on the computer so I want to make sure I get my mailing address in there. My address is:

Ashley Malinda Wheatley

AUG11 BRA-JP

2011 N 900 E Unit 240

Provo Ut 84602

And there is this thing called dearelder where if you send me letters through that, I get it that day!

 

I love this gospel and I wish I could write more! But I have no time all day everyday! I have only been gone 5 days but it feels like it has been a month! 

Oh funny story I told an investigator that the Savior was the Savior. Over and over again without realizing what I had said. And my teacher busted out laughing and then told us a story on how he had told someone that Joseph Smith lives. And it made me feel much better. I also told the whole class I am getting women instead of saying I am getting better. haha Oh the joys of learning the language. Women and better are really close to the same word. 

The gospel is true. God lives! (: Love you guys and thank you for all your wonderful emails! (: <3

Te amo!

Sister Wheatley