WHAT EVEN IS ANGOLA?!

Entao, esta semana foi CRAZY. So crazy. Let's just start at the beginning.

On Wednesday last week our district was chosen to host the new missionaries
that were coming in that day. Over 500 new missionaries came in. I know. It
was INSANE. It was so fun though. It was sad to see all the missionaries
crying but as hosts we assured them that what they were doing was the right
thing and we told the parents we would take care of their child. At least
for a little bit. It was really fun but also probably the hardest workout
of my life. Have you ever tried to carry 3 massive bags by yourself? Yeah,
bem-vindo minha vida no quinta-feira. It was still great and I loved
getting to know the sisters I hosted a little bit before I dropped them off
at their classroom. All of them were going to the states and it's weird
because they'll leave before I will. All in all, it was a great experience
and I hope we get to do it again!

That night we were in class after dinner doing personal/comp study and our
District Leader came in and was super excited about something. He had been
called to the front desk during dinner along with Sis Bow and Sis Gutke. He
then told us that our district had been chosen to have the CONSULATE
GENERAL OF ANGOLA, AFRICA come visit our class the next morning. Chaos
ensued. PUXA VIDA WHAT IS HAPPENING? If you don't know, the consulate
general is the person who decides if people come into the country or not.
Angola recently decided that they don't want LDS missionaries in their
country anymore. The Church has been talking to them and they don't believe
we're the real deal so they sent the consulate general to come visit the
MTC in Provo. Yup. And for some crazy reason our district was recommended
for this. So craziness is happening and then our teacher shows up and we're
telling him this and he's kinda freaking out too. Anywho, someone came to
our class later to tell us about tomorrow morning and he inspected our
classroom and told us to fix different things and told an elder to not
spike his hair so much and we needed a Brazil flag in there and all sorts
of things. He said that pretty much the whole of the Church was relying on
us showing a good face not to mention the 88,000 missionaries out in the
field. This was a BIG deal. They speak Portuguese in Angola so we had to
wow the consulate general with our Portuguese as well. DID I MENTION WE HAD
ONLY BEEN HERE FOR TWO WEEKS AT THAT POINT?!

The next day. All of us were on edge and jumping everytime someone opened
the door because we were supposed to stand when the Consulate General
walked in. Eventually he came with his entourage and also Elder Hinckley
and President Nally (MTC prez). Yup. And then we all had to introduce our
selves, tell where we were from, and where we were going.......all in
Portuguese. All went well. We showed the Consulate General how we learn
Portuguese and thankfully all went great. Then we took a picture and he
left. Woooo. So much crazy!

Other than that the week was pretty slow. It was still really good though.
We taught a lesson to our pesquisador Amizade last week and Sis Lopez and I
did sooo well. We taught him the Restoration and also how to pray. He said
he'd be baptized. Also guess what when we were talking about Joseph Smith
and his vision I recited the whole first vision in Portuguese and it was
totally awesome! Blessings of the Spirit are real. He's progressing so well
and I'm so excited what we can help him learn next!

We eat a lot here. And read a lot. And speak caveman Portuguese a lot. It's
great. I love it. Loving the mish!

I love you all and hope you all are doing great! Share the joy the gospel
brings with those around you!

Sei que este o evangelho e verdederio. Jesus Cristo e meu Salvador. O Livro
de Mormon e verdederio. O evangelho de Jesus Cristo e como nos podemos
viver com nosso Pai Celestial de novo.

Sister Helm