Andrea Restrepo Lisbon Portugal Mission: I AM IN CLOUD NINE!!!

This week has definitely just flown by! The time here at the MTC is the weirdest thing in the world. I feel like I have been here for 5 years, but I also feel as if I just got here. I also have no idea what is going on in the world right now, so if y'all have any updates that are worth sharing, send them my way!

Monday: We had Chick-fil-a (which was so delicious!) We moved to another classroom to accommodate the new missionaries coming in. The picture of the new buildings is where our new classroom is. There are two buildings. The smaller one is where the missionaries learning weird languages go. There are only classrooms on the 2nd floor. The 3rd floor is used for what is called TRC and that is where we teach members the lessons in Portuguese. They are trying to find help for their problems that we need to find out what they are. Being a missionary is kind of like being a detective! The other, bigger building is where our classroom is located and that building is purely classrooms! We just moved to a new room because more Spanish speaking missionaries are coming and they need to accommodate them all. We didn't really want to move, but then we saw the view from our new room and it is ten times better than we thought!!!! We have a clear shot of the temple, and it is the best view in the world!!! Outside the new building, they hang new flags everyday from countries where missionaries are sent and there was a day where both the Costa Rican and Colombian flags were up. It was just the best thing in the world to see (since my dad is Colombian and my mom's family is Costa Rican) !! I also carry a picture of my family with me everywhere I go in my journal!

Tuesday: I am convinced that we have the best MTC teachers in the world. They care so much about us and they love us dearly! I feel like I have gained a whole new family here at the MTC! We also had a devotional (which is where everyone here at the MTC gets together to listen to a speaker! It is usually a general authority in our church) and it was given by Jorge F. Zeballos. He and his wife both spoke and they said some things that I really needed to hear. Something that I took from it was that learning the language should not be a reason to fear. I can understand everything being said, but when it comes to my turn to talk, I go into a weird half Portuguese half Spanish mix. I have a pretty thick Colombian accent when I speak Portuguese. Whoops! I also say "pero" a lot which means "but" in Spanish, but it doesn't mean the same in Portuguese word! It means "more" in Portuguese. I just need to stop that habit, and quickly.

Wednesday: We had another opportunity to host today! It was definitely interesting. Since they opened the new building, they wanted some people to wait at the new buildings for the new missionaries to come so we could lead them to their classrooms. My companion and I went for it! We were waiting in the lobby for about 30 minutes just watching the new missionaries going into the other building, when the man in charge told us that maybe he made a mistake and that no one was scheduled to go into the building where we were. My companion and I decided to try to make ourselves useful and went into the other building to lead missionaries where to go. It was really fun!

Thursday: I love everyone in my District and Zone so much! I appreciate every one of them as well for their hard work and example! I see it more and more each day! How on earth did I live my life without these people?! There is a part on all the floors in the building that plays instrumental music and has a beautiful picture on the wall. We have called it the music room and my companion and I always make a beeline to get there for personal study! Music is so amazing and makes such a difference.

Friday: I was playing volleyball in the gym (which is the only way I enjoy exercise time) and the ball was coming low, so I knelt and ended up sliding a bit and skinned my knee. They tell us not to dive, and I guess that's what I get for unintentionally diving. Lesson learned! We are trying to teach Julia, one of our investigators (someone who is interested in the church. For our purposes, both of our teachers are acting as our investigators) how to pray and she isn't following our invites, but we will keep working on it! She is so great, and we love her so much! They are also shooting a movie here for some open house they're having, so camera crews have been here all over the place! We may have a part in it where we're praying! Whoop whoop! I may get really famous, but who knows? ;)

Saturday: We did an activity today where we all just taught each other the second lesson in Portuguese and it was so wonderful to hear the testimonies of the other people in our zone. The spirit was so strong and I could just feel the love that they all have for the Gospel and the love that Heavenly Father (God) has for each one of them. My goodness, I love them so much! My heart is so full!

Sunday: THE MOST AMAZING THING IN THE WORLD HAPPENED YESTERDAY. YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHO WAS AT THE MTC!!!! I SHOOK PRESIDENT UCHTDORF'S HAND AND HUGGED HIS WIFE. I WAS ON CLOUD NINE!!!!! This has been my favorite day at the MTC by far!!! We heard he was having a tour of the new building (He is the second counselor to our Prophet/President of our church, and is a huge deal. He's basically a celebrity among Mormons), and we looked out the window and saw that there was a HUGE crowd of people and right in the middle of it all was President Uchtdorf!! We decided to stay upstairs and to just let him be. We were planning on going to the temple, so we walked downstairs and the crowd was dispersing back to their classrooms. My district and I were making our way to the temple when we see a full head of grey hair appear right in front of us. I could not breathe. My stomach went in knots, my brain turned to mush, my heart was pounding, and I got my camera out. I had to take a picture with him!!! His wife looked at us and asked who wanted a hug from their mother and I said ME of course! Who doesn't want a hug from Sister Uchtdorf/ their mother! There was an elder in my district that took a video of me hugging Sister Uchtdorf and President Uchtdorf! OH!!! My companion and I are now Sister Training Leaders! Basically, all that means is that we have a flip phone here, and we check up on the other sisters in our zone and make sure they are all okay! We will have this assignment until we leave on July 4th! It’s been fun and crazy busy here! We then had a devotional later in the evening and it was about the power of the Book of Mormon! It was so great! I felt so empowered last night and like I could do anything!

It was a fantastic week! I love this Gospel and my Savior, Jesus Christ with all of my being!

I love you all so so so much!

Sister Restrepo

Colombian Flag (Dad)