THIS IS IT

THIS IS IT! I know I just emailed on Saturday but that was because our schedule is all kinds of craziness. I leave tomorrow!!!! I can’t even believe it. Today has been a long day of packing and classes but it’s going pretty smoothly actually.

Up until yesterday,  I was kind of panicky about going to Portugal and being thrown out of the MTC because I don’t feel quite ready but yesterday and today have been amazing! Yesterday we had fast and testimony meeting in church.  That's where instead of having designated speakers, anyone who feels inclined gets up and shares their testimony of the church. Because our branch is all Portuguese speaking missionaries, everything in the church meetings is in Portuguese: talks, songs, prayers, everything. But, it’s so cool because I can actually feel closer to the spirit when I’m listening to and speaking Portuguese now. I think it’s because these experiences here are the ones that brought me closest to Christ and Heavenly Father.  All of these experiences have been in Portuguese so now I’ll associate Portuguese with being uplifted rather than stressed Ha ha. Mini miracles.

Okay, but anyway, the testimonies were so wonderful yesterday, and my district and I all sang together.  Because we are the oldest district and we leave this week. Tangent: I’m not sure if I told you guys this! Okay, so in church every Sunday, everyone has to prepare a talk ahead of time on whatever topic is assigned because they call you randomly from the stand DURING the meeting. So, you have no idea beforehand. Don’t worry, I got called on to give a talk three Sundays ago THE ONLY SUNDAY I HADN'T PREPARED A TALK. My life. Always. But, actually it went really well. I had just kind of picked a scripture by the chance I got called so I could make it seem like I’d prepared so I shared the scripture and why I liked it and basically just said the same stuff I say in lessons everyday and everyone was complimenting me on my talk so much! Goodness that spirit works wonders because I felt like a hot mess up there. BUT THEN. The next Sunday, guess what I did? For those of you who know me well, this is a big deal. I sang in church! Irma Bringhurst, the one who went home because of anxiety, it happened to be her last Sunday, and we had been preparing for the musical number for two weeks so it ended up being a really special memory for us. We sang the song "His Hands" by Kenneth Cope. If you don’t know it, GO LOOK IT UP. That song is so insanely beautiful. It’s all about making our hands like those of Christ's. It’s so powerful!  At the end, while we were singing we definitely had some difficulty getting to those high notes because we were on the verge of tears the spirit was so strong. I really hate singing in formal settings like church but a few weeks prior I got a really specific spiritual prompting that I needed to accept Irma Bringhurt's pleas to sing a duet with her so I accepted.  I was so nervous I thought I would vomit but it was such a blessing for her last day at the MTC. But yeah, just wanted to share that with you.  That yes, I have already given a talk in Portuguese on the fly, and sang in church (which I almost feel is more of a milestone).

Back to yesterday, the spirit was just wonderful.  We had mission conference and there were amazing talks given.  We also had the chance to do one last temple walk and take pictures together. Then we had district meeting and we all just basically shared our favorite things about the MTC and each other.  We shared our testimonies. We have all grown so close and the seven others in my district will be in my life forever. Guaranteed. So, the day was just beautiful and peaceful.

Today, while we were packing, it started to hit me how seriously cool this experience is. I really have been taking for granted how amazing of an opportunity I have. I get to go live in Portugal for 16 months! I get to live there under circumstances where the ONLY thing I have to be worried about is helping and teaching other people. My housing is taken care of, I don’t need to worry about making money, I don’t need to stress over finding my way around, nothing! I get to just have a companion help me through the adjustments and literally only worry about how well I’m serving the Lord and loving the people there. What a blessing! This is seriously once in a lifetime! I feel so lucky!

I was watching Mormon messages on YouTube today and I saw this video about the church growth in Cabo Verde. We had some missionaries from our branch leave for Cabo Verde a couple weeks ago so I know people there! I could understand almost every word without reading the subtitles! This is a hint as to what I will hopefully sound like after the next 16 months are over! After I watched this video I just felt so unbelievably excited to go to Portugal! Like more excited about going to Portugal than I have been about being on a mission this entire time so far.

I CANT WAIT!! In 24 hours I will be on a plane heading to France and then Portugal! This is real life! It's so strange in the best way imaginable. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to email again, so until then, I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and support and thank you everyone that recorded on the tape my mom sent! I loved hearing from all of you and it helped remind me that I’ve got so many people cheering for me back home! That means the world to me you guys, you don’t even know!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Sooooooo much love!

muito muito muito amor!

Irma Dean