Half way point in MTC!

Hello Friends and Family!

What a week this has been! Due to some recent chest pain I will be having an endoscopy today, I will be put to sleep for a while, but I'm expecting everything to be just fine and I got a priesthood blessing last night, so I know I'll be just fine. I have had this test done before, except the first time I woke up with a feeding tube in my nose, so as long as I don't wake up with a feeding tube, I'll be a happy missionary! Haha I'll be happy either way, I know things will be just fine!

Tuesday: We had a really great devotional about faith in God. There are people who don't understand that God is an actual being or that He loves us or that He hears and answers our prayers.I don't know what I would do without that knowledge and that's why I can't wait to serve the people of Portugal and share this amazing message.

Wednesday: Every Wednesday at 6:15 A.M. we get up and do service! I actually really like the mornings we get to do service. I feel like I'm more awake throughout the day. This morning they had hardly anything for us to do, so we spend 15 minutes dusting vents and then we got to go back to our residency! So that was nice! Haha I also had an almost normal conversation in Portuguese! I'm understanding more and more every day!

Thursday: The days here are so long, but the weeks go by really fast! We taught our "investigator" about God today and he seemed more interested, so that was great! :)

Friday: The fire alarm went off during gym today and no one knew if it was real or not! I don't think it was, because no one was in a real hurry to get out of the building, but it was still an adventure! We also had TRCs today! (Teaching Resource Center) members come and volunteer and we teach them more about the gospel in Portuguese! They're my favorites! We taught two sisters who just got back from the Portugal Lisbon mission, so that was really awesome!

Saturday: We were able to teach a lesson today without using any notes! I feel like I'm getting better and better every day! Language is hard, but it's amazing how fast we're learning. I love it!

Sunday: Sundays are awesome! So full of the Spirit! I also got to play the piano for sacrament meeting and I loved it! I miss music so much.. The Sisters get to watch Music and the Spoken Word every Sunday and it's the highlight of my week! I love it! We also had a great devotional about knowing the adversary and what the Doctrine of Christ is. We also get to watch a movie every Sunday and this time we watched "Legacy" in honor of my sister, Martha. That's an old time favorite of ours ;)

Monday: I spent most of the morning at the Doctor today because of some chest pain, all is well and I will be having an endoscopy today. I got a blessing so I know all will be well :) Take advantage of the Priesthood, it is amazing.

That's all for this week! It's been a really great one! And we hit our halfway mark today! Wow! Time flies! I love you all! 

Sister Steagall

P.S. Here are pictures of my district and our Branch President!

there's some of the elders from my district and the other portugal district sitting on each other, so the sisters decided to do the same thing. 

Then there's a picture of most of our district minus sister Runyan and Sister Elliott - i don't know where they were when we took that.. haha

Then there's me and my companion with Brother Coffman - funniest guy ever! And also some other random elder we had to have in the picture. 

Week 2

I can't believe I'm almost on my 3rd week! Time really flies!

Tuesday: P-day! Super great! We had an awesome devotional about how crucial the book of Mormon is to helping an investigator. We need to read with thte investigator/new member so they can understand what the scriptures say. We also got to go to the temple today. It was a really nice break from the business here at the MTC

Wednesday: New missionaries came! Wow! It feels like I just got here! The best part about Wendesdays is that we get Ice Cream! 

Thursday: Today was great! Our teacher didn't show up, so our district had a big group study and shared some awesome scriptures! I love my district, we have some really amazing people here.

Friday: Thank you all for the Valentine's presents and cards! They are so very much appreciated! I never realized how exciting it was to get mail and packages! Please feel free to send me a letter or write to me any time! I would love to hear about what's going on in the world!

Saturday: Happy Valentine's day! My teacher showed us a demonstration on how to teach a lesson and how to  fullfill our missionary purpose as we teach. I got to be the "investigator" for the whole hour, so my job was pretty easy! When I had no idea what my teacher was saying, I could just say "Eu nao sei (I don't know) and it worked! I also heard an awesome quote by Elder Holland that I wanted to share: "The Lord does not ask about our ability or inability, but of our availability and if we prove our dependability, the Lord will take care of our capability."

Sunday: I love Sundays! We had a great devotional by Elder Stephen Allen, an area 70 and I think the assistant MTC director? Something like that.. anyway! He talked about the importance of companions and how we should always be loving and show charity towards them, no matter how annoying they might be. I'm really glad Sister Miller is the most amazing person ever! We get along really great! :) 

Monday: We taught a new "investigator" today, he's really just our teahcer pretending. And we also practiced street contacts with another district. It was really fun and I think I'm making progress with Portuguese. I've learned that the most important thing is to not compare yourself to others, if you do that, you'll get really depressed. 

That's all for this week! I love you all! Thanks for the letters!

Sister Steagall

1st week in the MTC

Hello everyone!! I am finally a missionary and it feels great!! I am so excited to be here serving and learning Portuguese, the MTC is wonderful, food is great and the spirit is here. Here's what happened this week:

Wednesday: I was dropped off at the MTC after a delicious sushi meal and was sent straight to class where the teacher was only speaking Portuguese! I had no idea what she was saying at first and I was a little scared! But I got the hang of it and I'm understanding more and more every day! My teachers are Sister Lewis (served in Brasil) and Brother Lemperlie (Served in Portugal). They are great teachers and they only speak Portuguese to us! So that's kinda fun! :) My companion is Sister Miller from Sandy Utah.

Thursday: I went to more classes and met the branch President - President Jackson. He's a great guy! I was also called to be the District Sister Trainer so that is also really neat. I'm not really sure what I have to do yet, except that I'm expected to know everything that goes on! Haha

Friday: Our 3rd day and we taught our first lesson in Portuguese to our investigator, Luis! Really terrifying! And I really didn't understand what all was being said, but it was a good experience and I learned a lot!

Saturday: We got to do "service" today! Haha we washed windows of our classroom, but it counts! It was really fun. We also taught our second lesson in Portuguese and it went better than the first, but I was still really confused.

Sunday: They say once you make it to Sunday, things get a ton better. And that is true! I was starting to get a little frustrated with the language, but on Sunday I started to feel a lot better! Our Sunday devotional was given by Elder Kelli Mills, who is the president of all the MTCs.. I think.. Him and his wife gave wonderful talks and reminded me that if I want to succeed I really need to rely on Christ. I also watched a video on Sunday night titled "Character of Christ" by Elder David A. Bednar. AMAZING!! He reminded me that this mission is not about me. It's about The Lord. I need to stop being frustrated that I am not learning the language fast enough because I've only been here for 6 days! And I need to start focusing on the investigators and the people I teach and have patience with the language, it will come little by little and only through the strengthening power of the atonement.

Monday: We taught Luis again and invited him to be baptized! He accepted! Even though I'm sure he's not a real investigator, it still felt really good and the spirit was so strong during our lesson. I'm really excited for him! 

Well that's it for this week! I love being on a mission! 

O Evangelho e verdadeiro. (The Gospel is true)

O Livro de Mormon e verdadeiro. (The Book of Mormon is true)

Love you all! 

Sister Steagall

PS You can write to me at:

Sister Elizabeth Steagall

MAR18  POR-LIS

2009 N 900 E Unit 144

Provo UT 84602

You can use DearElder.com and I will get the letter the same day and you don't have to waste a stamp!