And now Portuguese?

Hi everyone!

This past week was really good! Surprisingly, it's warmed up a bit! Today I'm just in a sweater and no big coat-it's about 40 degrees too! I would rather have it be cold than hot any day though. So I've finally completed my first week in the field. It has been really fun out here. 

We spend a lot of time right now planning because we are new Sisters to the area and are just starting to get to know people and build trust with the members. So, we have dinner appointments with families in the ward everyday pretty much and we are starting to rack up appointments with investigators and less actives. We've only taught about 2 lessons so far to investigator's but I'm so pumped every time we leave the appointment. I always think they'll get baptized.

Everyone still calls me greenie and makes fun of how long I've been out in the field because I'm the newest one in our area. Haha it makes me laugh because it's true! I learn so much from my companion and the other missionaries everyday. It's crazy how much I've grown and how much knowledge I've attained already.

This week we ate dinner at 2 Portuguese families houses who are from Brazil. They are really fun families and they have really loud voices and children. Every time we eat fried bananas! Apparently it's really popular in Brazil.

We laugh a lot and Portuguese sounds like drunk, chopped up Spanish. But we understand a lot of it because it is seriously so similar to Spanish! 

Sister Laudie and I are trying to learn Port. now...we'll see how it goes. I'm excited because it will be really easy to learn!

We are teaching Jose who is the husband of a recent convert Christina. She's really small and cute and has 2 little boys. They are fun to teach and they really love church. They are usually in their underwear and love playing with iphones. But you can feel the spirit in their house-Christina is a really active member and already wants to share the gospel with everyone because she knows it's true.

I was able to go to the Boston Temple this Saturday. We thought we were only going to watch baptisms but we were able to do a session. We were really excited about that and the Boston Temple is beautiful.

FUNNY STORY 1:

When we were leaving someone's house with our Elders on Saturday, Elder Blackburn was holding the door open and I was turned around talking to Hermana Laudie and Elder Treseder. When I turned to leave, I smacked the door with my forehead so hard, everyone burst into laughter. I was dying. To be honest, it didn't even hurt. The Elders kept telling me I'd wake up with a huge bruise but NO ONE WORRY! I'm okay.

FUNNY STORY 2:

We were taking bookshelves and apartment decor from our other Sister's cars to bring into our apartment one night. Hermana Laudie was trying to get a bookshelf out of the back of the seat all by herself. We tried to help her but she insisted on doing it alone. As we watched her struggle, she finally got the bookshelf out, turned around, stepped into the snow (knee deep) and fell face first into the snow bank...with the bookshelf. After all that time of struggling in the car she finally gets the bookshelf out and falls into the snow! 

Well, have a great week everyone! I love you all! :)

Love,

Hermana Sutherland

HI! From "Connect-the-Dots!"

My MTC experience was awesome. I loved it there actually. I think it was because my companion and my district was amazing. We laughed so hard everyday and grew together so much. We became so close in 2 weeks it was hard to say goodbye.

The MTC food was gross cafeteria food-and everyone there ate a ton. Like plates and plates of food on their trays every meal! Haha. The new missionaries are crazy. Everyone gains weight there.

I went to Boston for 2 days to train before being sent to my first transfer last Wednesday night. My mission president is President Packard and he has a lovely, very intelligent wife and 4 kids. They were so hospitable and are the easiest people to talk to. I loved getting to know them. Their mission will end 6 months before I leave though, so I'll get to be under 2 different President's. I'll miss them when they go.

So my area:

It's not a very rich area, but there are many ethnicity's here. I live in an apartment with my new companion, Hermana Laudie, and 2 other sisters who serve in the 2 English speaking wards here. I don't know how I get so lucky but we all get along so well. The 3 sisters are so cute and fun, I'm really happy we all get along.

Hermana Laudie has been out for 11 months! She's from American Fork, Utah and is probably the best missionary ever. She is PRO at everything! She is pro at Spanish (fun fact: she almost studied in Puebla, where my family and I lived in Mexico, to learn Spanish so she knows a lot about that area).

She loves to laugh and have fun, play the piano, she loves art and painting with water colors (she's really good at it too), and is very spiritual. She has taught me so much already about the gospel and missionary work. It's amazing. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am to have her as my trainer-I already know! She's great.

The first day I was here in Connecticut, we got red dotted. That means the snow storm was/is so bad, that it's too dangerous to go outside so we have to stay inside all day. Luckily it was my first day so we had time to unpack, decorate the apartment, and get to know each other. But it was a bummer being out my first day and not being able to leave! I still got dressed and put my missionary tag on to feel like I was doing something.

Also, it's so cold here. I really love it there. We got blessed to have a car here so that's lucky but we still never leave the house without a huge, warm jacket, gloves, and a hat. My nose gets so runny though. It's constantly dripping inside and then freezing outside.

We serve with 2 Elders in our Spanish ward (the Spanish ward just became a ward like a month ago too!). Together they are crazy. They LOVE to tease people and we work with them every day. 

If you are in a ward with Elders you share everything. The investigators, dinners, and coordinate all lessons and meetings (who's meeting with who each day) so we have already gotten to know them quite well.

They are troublemakers but hilarious and very good missionaries and we work well with them.

Ok-every Friday we eat with the Bishop Sanchez's family! They said it's been a tradition for years. We went last Friday with our Elders and Elders from New Haven (where Yale is located...fun fact). It was a blast and they fed us SO MUCH FOOD. It was yummy though. Guess where they're from? PUEBLA, Mexico of course. 

They have 2 kids..G (Guillermo) 21 and a 16 year old (I don't remember his name). They both have girlfriends and one of them isn't a member but after dinner on Friday she said she would like Hermana Laudie and I to start teaching her! G was so excited.

My companion and I are the first Spanish sisters in the past 20 years in Bridgeport area! So everyone is so excited to have us and after going to church on Sunday, everyone booked dinner appointments for us. Sunday night, we went to the Aguirre's house for dinner and they gave us food to share with the Elders and bring home.

We will never be hungry.

We will never have to buy food ever again I don't think.

Everyone feeds us all the time. Our fridge is already stuffed. WE ARE SO LUCKY! The members are so kind to missionaries.

Well, thank you everyone for the emails and birthday wishes!! I feel so loved. I miss everyone back home and I'm praying for all of you all the time. The mission is so hard. We work constantly and there is never a break in hastening the Lord's work. But, it's the best decision I could've ever made and I am so happy all the time. It's amazing. 

Remember, when life seems hard, Heavenly Father is watching over you and is always there for you. And prayer works. I have a strong testimony of that. We may have struggles and trials in life, but God is always there to not take the burdens away, but to ease them. And that makes all the difference.

Stay safe and warm! Love you all.