Life in Brazil

 Brazil is FANTASTIC!!

On my first day, I had a pretty wild experience! It was my FIRST DAY in the field (Tuesday doesn´t count because we were at the mission office and didn´t get to my area until like 10pm since it´s forever far away. I´m in Lorena right now. You should google maps it. it´s a good place). Anyway, we were on the bus on the way home from district meeting and I sit next to this guy whose first few questions were if I had a boyfriend or any kids and how old I was. And then he told me I was beautiful and asked if I wanted to marry him. All in part English and part Portuguese and my companion (Sister Waite, who is awesome. I love her) was on the phone and couldn´t help me in my time of need. It was all very terrifying. Welcome to Brazil!

My first night, I killed a cockroach in our apartment. We actually don´t have tons of bugs here though. I thought we would, but we don´t. Everything is open and there aren´t any screens. As long as I put on bug spray before i sleep, i´m golden! 

Everyone says I have a Spanish accent. whoops. Sometimes I want a Brazilian accent, but then i wouldn´t be able to roll my Rs anymore and that´s just wrong. So it is what it is. also everyone has a different accent, so whatever.

We´re teaching a family!!! They´re really great and have loads of potential and they´re married too which is awesome. Two of the kids went to church yesterday and are progressing quickly. The parents are struggling with catholic traditions, so hopefully we can teach them about how no, we don´t worship Virgin Mary. The kids are great though, so open and willing and excited about church and the things that they learned and everything. It´s great. We´re very excited for them!

The work here in Brazil is so much easier than in AZ. Everyone is willing to at least listen to the restoration. But we´re not allowed to call people on our cell phone or text anyone or have any money. I get like the equivalent of 20 american dollars every two weeks. And things are expensive here. But we´re teaching at least one family, maybe two, and I´m getting better in Portuguese every day! Some people say I´m really good, but I´m not. There´s always room for improvement! One day soon though!

I love you all. Keep being awesomely awesome and keep me posted. Good luck on your game today James! And any games any of you may have this week. know that I´m cheering for you in my heart every time. And Benjamin, yes college is suuuper hard, but if everything in life were easy, then we wouldn´t be special if we accomplished something. You can do it. thanks for keeping up your ´one job´

Até mais!

Sister Tillman

I GOT MY VISA... I'm going to BRAZIL!!!!

I GOT MY VISA TO BRAZIL!!!! I leave this coming Monday from the Phoenix airport at 10am and arrive in Atlanta, Georgia at 5pm their time. I then have a five hour layover and leave there at 10pm their time and arrive in Brazil at 8:30am. That last flight is 9 1/2 hours long! But I'm just so excited, I can't even believe it's happening. I'll be able to call when I'm in Georgia for a little bit.  Thanks for the two letters from you, they're awesome! I love you lots. Even thought I never expected to be here in Scottsdale, I've loved it here and am sad to leave. I'm also super excited for BRAZIL!!

Love you bunches,

Sister Tillman, who's going to Brazil :)

My time in Scottsdale, Arizona Mission

This past Saturday we got to go to the visitor's center for the first time and it was BEAUTIFUL! I loved it so much. Such a strong spirit. And this week my zone gets to go to the temple. I'm excited because it's the first time I'll have gone to the temple on my mission. Pretty crazy, am I right?

So update on Carmen. She has been keeping the Word of Wisdom and has committed to keeping the law of tithing. She's such a perfect less-active it's crazy. She's willing to do whatever it takes to be worthy to go to the temple. It's so great to see that change in her life.

Last night we had a mini-lesson with a part member family that we didn't know too much about. The mom is a member, and I thought that she was at least sometimes coming to church, but turns out that she hasn't been in a long time. But we talked to her about returning to the temple, and the spirit was so strong. Seriously, take the family to temple a little more often, just to at least be on the grounds! It's such a difference that can be felt.

Reading out of the Book of Mormon stories made such a huge difference in my life. I realize that I know so much about the gospel just because I read the simplified versions of the scriptures over and over and over again. Sister Holyoak never read the simplified until she got the MTC so she's been confused her whole life! Thanks for having me read those! :D

There was a dust storm this past Friday that we biked in temporarily, but no worries we're all safe and sound. The worst part was when I could feel the sand in my teeth for the next hour. It was crazy.

I'm so happy that I'm here in Scottsdale. At first it was hard because I wanted to be in Brazil, and I didn't want to bike because it was SO hot and I was always sweaty and I didn't have a senior companion. I had a lot of things to be upset about. But then I remembered President Hinckley's father and how he said to "forget yourself and go to work". Once I applied that principle in my life, everything became loads easier. I was happy, I loved the people, and I recognized the help of the Lord at every turn. I realized that the Lord called me on a mission on June 26th, but He knows when He wants and needs me in Brazil. I needed to be in both places on my mission, and have had the awesome opportunity to spend time on two different missions! Now that doesn't mean that I'm not waiting the day I go to Brazil, but I'll be sad to leave this place too. And here I've been able to have such a great relationship with President Sweeny and his wife, a relationship that I might not get to have in Brazil because I might not be in the same area as the mission home and get to stop in to get water and supplies every few days.

I love you all very much!

Love you all,

Sister Tillman

I'm in Arizona!!! (until my visa comes in)

Once upon a time, Sister Tillman lived at the MTC and loved it a lot but realllly wanted to leave because she got kind of tired of living the same day over and over. So Heavenly Father granted her wish, and when she opened up her reassignment, she noticed that she was leaving in the next 12 hours. By then, she'd realized that she didn't want to leave that soon and didn't want to say goodbye to her district or her teachers or her investigators, but she had to because that's what missionaries do, so she packed up all her stuff, stalked her friend Sister Cleverly to take cute pictures with her, got three hours of sleep and then left the next morning for Scottsdale, AZ.

So Sister Tillman meets up with Sister Holyoak at the shuttle and discovers that they were both going to Scottsdale (ok, there's more back story, but I'm in the process of summing up because it's not that important) and so they became temporary companions. Or so they thought.

They make it to the Phoenix airport, and unfortunately Fawkes was not there to greet her, but a senior companion was, so hooray! So she and Sister Holyoak get into the car (Sister Holyoak is going to Austrailia Cantonese speaking but crazy things went down because she lived in Hong Kong so Australia held up her paperwork and said that she was a gross foreigner and needed to get her blood tested. Those crazy Australians) and the nice senior companion mentioned something about bikes, and that's when Sister Holyoak and our dear Sister Tillman realized that they had been reassigned and would be biking. So that was a shock. But there was more to come.

So they make it to the mission home (used to be the Mesa mission home before they split and Scottsdale took it over) which is really quite a lovely place, and began their "training" by being told that they are being guinea pigs for a new visa-waiter program because the mission president, President Sweeney, likes visa waiters. An incredibly long story short, our missionary and her companion are now companions until visas come and got handed a completely empty area book and have a totally weird purpose and are BOTH COMPLETE AND TOTAL GREENIES WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING. So yeah, our missionary is completely terrified. But the ward is nice and the Bishop is great. And her purpose is to focus on less-actives and part member families because there are also Elders assigned to the ward but they're the Zone Leaders. And the ward that she has been assigned to is about 50% less active so she and her companion have a lot of work cut out for them. But at the same time their planners are empty BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON.

Needless to say, there is much freaking out that is had.

On the bright side, she's moving into an awesome guest house where the room is about as big as the room she shared with other people at the MTC. So that's nice. And Sister Tillman is now designated driver forever and always because Sister Holyoak just got her American license a few months before going into the MTC and it weirds her out that people are driving on the right side of the road instead of the wrong one.

The end.

Love you all!!

Sister Tillman

Life at the MTC continues

Thanks for always writing to me! I appreciate it so much! 

 

Can you believe that two weeks from today I will be in the mission field? A week from this Friday is when my district gets are reassigments, so we're all very excited about that.

 

Yesterday we had a really neat experience with one of the elders in our zone. We were doing an activity where we traded teaching an investigator and tried to invite the spirit. Sister Christensen and I taught one of our best lessons yet because we really just focused on inviting the spirit, and focused less on the words that we were going to say. Foi otimo! It was awesome.

 

Another cool experience is that there is a native brazilian from across the hall and I was talking to him while Sister C was going to the restroom. He said that I don't have an American accent, and that I have an accent of a brazilian. I was so excited!

 

Nothing else super duper exciting has happened. We're getting two new districts in our zone, which will push us up to 96 people, which is pretty big. Sister C and I are still the sister training leaders, and I really love it a lot! It's so much fun getting to know the other sisters and to help them out.

 

Let me tell you about one of our investigators real quick. Her name is Angela, and when we first started teaching her, she was really timid, didn't really have faith in God and didn't know how to pray. We just taught her yesterday and she's progressed so much! She has total faith in God, has been to church with her husband and child, and reads from the Book of Mormon. We're working on setting up a baptismal date for her, which is really exciting. The gospel is true. Heavenly Father loves each and every one of you very much. And as long as you keep inviting the Spirit in your lives, it will bless you. I pray for you every night and I miss you, but at the same time I know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Have a fabulous week! Thanks for the dearelders!

Sister Tillman

MTC District

Sister Tillman and her companion 

Life at the MTC July 2013

The MTC has been pretty crazy of course. 

My district is awesome. There are thirteen of us, which is pretty big since most districts are between 8-10 people. The first few days were CRAZY. We taught our "investigator" 48 hours after stepping foot onto the campus. In Portuguese. I didn't realize how much I had actually known Spanish until I couldn't speak it anymore! There are lots of things that are similar to Spanish though, which has been a big help. I said the prayer on Sunday in Portuguese, which was terrifying too. But I knew that I could do it and that everything would be ok. And I really want to push myself because that's the only way I'll learn. My companion is Sister Christensen.  Also, in our district, there's an Elder Gangler who lived in Rio for a year, so he knows how to pronounce a lot of the words and he knows a lot of vocab. The grammar rules are fairly similar to the ones in Spanish, so between the both of us, we can piece together a decent paragraph with proper words and grammar, which has been fairly helpful.

So far, I've been loving it here. I'm also really tired a lot. By Saturday, the whole district was WIPED OUT. But we've managed to recover a little bit. Sunday was great! We had the new Brazilian MTC president speak to us for devotional and we had Sheri Dew speak to us for Relief Society. Both were great and exactly what we all needed to hear!

One of the reasons why we're so tired is because we're on the early schedule. Instead of just waking up at 6:30, we're supposed to be at breakfast at 6:30. Which means we wake up an hour earlier than most missionaries and still go to bed at the same time. I'm always really hungry by the time we get back because we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner so early. We have lunch at 11 and dinner at 4. So that schedule took a lot of getting used to.

One thing that's very different than what I thought is that I thought we would have a teacher all the time, but we don't. We only a teacher once a day, and then we teach our "investigator" for the other classroom time. The rest of the time we have is spent studying in the classroom, whether it's personal, companionship, or language study. It seriously feels like whenever I'm not eating, I'm studying. It's been good to have so much study time though because we really need it. Whenever I'm not exhausted, I'm glad that we have to wake up earlier because it gives us an extra hour to study. And we're always praying, which has been a huge help. So many times, we've received inspiration for our investigator. We have truly felt the spirit here. It has been wonderful.

One great way to get a hold of me is through DearElder. Just enter my MTC address into the boxes and I'll get it the same day! 

I'll be sending some pictures as soon as I figure out how to work it. I love you all and wish you the very best!! I love you all!!

Tchao!

Sister Tillman

This is how to fill in Monica's info on dearelder.com

Elder Sister President Hermana (No Title)     Title First Name Last Name    Unit # Mission Code or Mission (optional) Estimated MTC Departure Date

30 Days and Counting

Sometimes I think to myself "I got this!"

Other times, I think to myself "WhatdoImeanIgotthiswhatonearthdoeshavingthisevenmean!"

And then I take a deep breath and realize that I do, in fact, know what I am doing. I'm doing the right thing. I'm going to the right place.

Never mind that when I listen to Youtube videos about proper Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation I start hyperventilating in my mind (so we're not supposed to roll the R like ever? Because that goes against everything I believe in).

Never mind that I have no idea if I can bring everything I want to for the next eighteen months. (Self, Brazil is not a third world country.)

My mom's research has been to find out how to prevent all the different parasites from entering my body and eating me alive.

My research has been to find out which soccer players will be on the Brazilian national team next year.

But even when I'm starting to stress over the whole "leaving the country for eighteen months" thing, I always fall back to what I know to be true, without a doubt.

I know that Christ lives and that he loves us.

I know that one day we can live with our Heavenly Father again.

I know that there is a prophet of God on this earth, just like in the days of old, to give us direction and guide us through revelation.

"Oh sweet, the joy this sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives!"

And a little child shall lead them

I was sitting at lunch with my good friend last week, mourning the loss of my youth since I am no longer a teenager. He then asked me if I still felt youthful, or if it was all gone once I had turned 20.

Well. About that.

I told him about how when I got back from school, I spent one evening with my 15 year old brother giving him a horsy back ride.

Yep. That's right. We totally did that.

About halfway across the room, I paused and realized that I was twenty years old.

So? Jacob said. I'm fifteen. Giddy-up!

I continued our epic adventure around the room.

Now I have a carpet burn on my knee. Totally worth it.

So am I still youthful?

Heck yes.

Especially around Jacob. Something about us being together makes us five years old again. We sit there like giggling idiots doing dumb things. And it's AWESOME.

Hopefully when all the little kids get to go play with the lions in the millenium, I get to go too. Because that sounds pretty awesome to me. It's like a giant cat. But a lion. Dibs on calling my lion Simba.

I'm still a little child, right?

General Conference

Watching General Conference and listening to the apostles of the Lord is how I spent my weekend. On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to actually go up to the Conference Center in Salt Lake with my cousins. A few of my favorite quotes from conference are:

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is a member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He spoke  about how we need to act on our faith.

Elder Richard G. Scott is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He spoke about how we can strengthen our homes and our families.

In between sessions on Sunday, my cousins and I took pictures in front of the Salt Lake Temple:

Yes, we are cousins. Yes, I'm a midget.

The beautiful Salt Lake Temple in the background.

Some of you may be wondering: What the heck is General Conference? Well, let me explain. No there is too much. Let me sum up*:

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints**, I believe that we have a living prophet on earth today, as well as apostles. This is similar to the organization of the church after Christ was resurrected and asked his apostles to "go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). After Christ ascended into heaven, Peter became the prophet of the world, and sent his apostles out to preach the word of God. The apostles and prophet that we have today also follow Christ and preach the gospel to the whole world. They travel to different countries each year and help strengthen and build up the members of the Church (now more than 14 million members strong). In addition, twice a year, we have General Conference, which is broadcast across the world. We listen to the testimonies of the apostles, and listen to the counsel that they have given us for our day. I love Conference because the Spirit of the Lord is powerful.

I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and that they love each and every one of us. I'm so excited to go to Brazil this summer and follow Christ's admonition to preach the gospel to them. I'm looking forward to serve them and to share God's love with them.

*Yes, I did just use a Princess Bride quote. Because why not?

**Want to find out more about our beliefs? Visit mormon.org.

To the Campus Couples

To the on-campus hand-holders,

           
To start, let me commend you for finding happiness in life. It’s cute that y’all are confident enough in each other to profess your love and attraction by holding each other’s hands in public. While it’s great to know that such affection exists out there in the world, I have a couple requests of you hand-holding couples:

          
First off, would it be at all possible to move to the edges of the sidewalk? Walking side by side is already taking up a ton of sidewalk space, and then you add the space occupied by your linked arms or hands and bam! The whole sidewalk has disappeared under your love, making it impossible for anyone to go around you. Or (heaven forbid) try to pass by between you two.

           
Secondly, maybe you don’t notice it, but I’m actually in kind of a rush. In my single life, I actually do care about getting to class and work on time. I know that sometimes these class breaks are the only times y’all get to see each other throughout the day, but you guys move SO SLOWLY. It's hard because I'm walking at a quick pace, and then I come up on your heels. Suddenly, I go from walking quickly to moving at a pace similar to a snail's And I really do want to get to class on time. Your slow pace, combined with the fact that you guys hog the whole sidewalk makes it really hard for us single people to make it anywhere on campus in a timely manner.

           
Lastly, if you see me coming towards you, could you quite possibly move closer together to give me a little space to go around you? I feel like you guys would want any excuse to be closer to each other, but somehow, I’m the only one that’s supposed to bending over backwards for you guys to walk at your slow pace as you gaze into your lover’s eyes. I’m really not that big. I just need a little sidewalk space to quickly move out of your way. Even if you can’t move to the edges of the sidewalk or pick up the pace, then the least you could do is try to take up as little space as possible when I come through. That’s all I ask really. I don’t see why it’s only my job to maneuver through the busy sidewalks. A little help from y’all is all that I need.

           
Again, I’m not bashing your public displays of affection. It’s sweet and endearing. And I’m not even being a tiny bit sarcastic. However, I just want a little accommodation on the sidewalks. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

            Sincerely,

I like to move faster than a snail

An Utter Travesty

There are very few straight-up travesties in my life, and I am trying my absolute hardest to fix all of them. I grew up fairly cultured. I read all of the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books. I watched the Disney movies and the Pixar movies (yes, those are different, I promise). I grew up loving Star Wars. But there are some things that for whatever reason, I did not have integrated into my childhood.

For example, this past weekend I watched Top Gun for the very first time. Please don't be too terribly shocked. Think about it. My parents had already seen it by the time I was old enough to understand what was going on. So why would they watch it again when there are cool, new movies that haven't been watched yet? However, this is not the actual travesty. The real travesty is the fact that I have never, ever seen a James Bond movie.

Ok. Hold up. Don't get all upset and disbelieving at me. Please. Calm down. I'll be fixing this horrible mistake as soon as I possibly can. Hopefully this weekend I can get two birds with one stone: I will watch Skyfall (which I've heard is amazing) and I will watch a James Bond movie for the first time ever.

So. That's the plan. It's going to be a James Bond weekend!

AHHHHH!!! I'm going to BRAZIL!!

About every five minutes, I turn to Emily and ask her "Guess what? Guess what? Guess!! I'M GOING TO BRAZIL!!!!" It's a wonder she hasn't murdered me yet.

Why am I going to Brazil? I have chosen to become a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Starting June 26th, I will be in Brazil for 18 months. I will be able to call my family twice a year on Christmas and Mother's Day. I will be able to email my family once a week, and I will communicate with the rest of my friends via letters. That's right. Super old school. I'm convinced that Mormon Missionaries are the only ones keeping the postal service alive.

Considering my extensive background in Spanish, I thought for sure I would go to a Spanish-speaking mission, whether it was here in the States or in South America. It wasn't a matter of what language I'd be speaking, but which country I would be going to. However, the Lord has something else in store for me, seeing as I'm going to be learning Portuguese. I keep having to say it to myself in order to believe it. It still doesn't seem real sometimes. Although Google Maps helps. A lot.

So while I wait for the next four months, I'll be stalking Sao Paulo through the internet. Needless to say. I'm thrilled to be going to Brazil this summer. It's where I'm supposed to be. Next stop on the way to Brazil? Getting my passport! This'll be fun...

Love Appreciation Day

Some of you may call it Single Awareness Day. And for others, it's Valentine's Day. I choose to call it Love Appreciation Day. Whatever it is, may this day be filled with joy and gladness.

What? You mean I can't celebrate Valentine's Day if I'm single? Well, that's too bad, because I am going to, whether y'all like it or not.

You see, Valentine's Day shouldn't be about whether or not you "have" a Valentine (last I checked, I'm not allowed to "have" anyone. I'm pretty sure that's called slavery). It's about showing your love for your friends and family.

The best way to have fun on Valentine's Day? Serve others! Show your love for them. Stop focusing on why your day stinks because you're single, and start focusing on how you can brighten someone else's day. Make a cheesy Valentine. Write a corny poem. Make your best friend their favorite dinner. Tell the people that you care about that you love them. As far as I know, nobody can be told that they are loved enough times in their  life.

I promise that if you get out there and serve others, and have a good attitude, then your Valentine's Day will become Love Appreciation Day. So get on out their and show your friends and family that you care!

Happy Love Appreciation Day!!