2nd week at the MTC.

The second P-Day was very busy for Elder Pereira as he had to get his haircut and go to shopping.

Elder Pereira and his companion Elder Davis got on really well which made them happy. He also really loves his district and says they have a really good time together and all work really hard. During personal study in the mornings they always put music on and they've found a hymn that they all love and have dubbed their "district theme song": Praise to the Man. In classroom instruction they sometimes practice teaching lessons to each other, which isn't always easy when one of the Elders is pretending to be a woman and they have to call him by a female name and talk about "her" husband. Elder Pereira points out the fact seminary has really prepared him for his mission by teaching him scripture references and what they mean; often the other missionaries ask him for help finding a particular scripture.

On the Friday before the P-Day all the missionaries from the MTC went to Manchester to do street contacting. Elder Pereira said it was hard as people were somewhat rude and would literally tell them to "go away please". However on the train to and from Manchester, Elder Pereira had some great experiences. A lady and her husband asked him if he had been to Utah (she knew about Mormons already) and they had a nice conversation; the couple was on their way to do some genealogy and he was able to talk to them about that and to give them a copy of the Book of Mormon, Family: A Proclamation to the World and a pass-along card. Elder Pereira and his companion also approached a young woman and gave her a pass-along card too. 

On the Sunday the missionaries went on a church history tour around the area. 

In regards to how much he enjoyed the food: 

"I have gained 5Kg! I now weigh 73Kg! Wooo! haha I eat like a king here! :P Main meal, with salad, a bowl of fruit, dessert, and a choice of drinks! For breakfast I have cereal, yoghurt and toast! (Raquel, THERE'S 4 JARS OF NUTELLA AT ALL TIMES!)"

Elder Pereira said he has loved the letters he's been getting from his friends, so keep sending them!

1st week at the MTC.

"I am great!"

Elder Pereira wrote us on his first P-Day with lots of news. First off, he enjoyed the food. He also really liked his companion and room mates, he said that "they are the best", as well as his district, who are a lot of fun to be around. Even though their days are very busy with lessons they enjoy them as they learn how to improve their teaching techniques. When they practice teaching "investigators", they are filmed so that they can watch how they taught and learn from it. Elder Pereira said that he was loving the whole experience even if he can't wait to teach people in a real setting.

The MTC President's wife is President Hinckley's daughter and had many stories to share about her father which made learning about him an even more interesting experience.

Unfortunately he didn't have much time to reply but he assured us that he was well.

"I've arrived!"

As we were driving home from dropping Elder Pereira off at the Preston MTC we got an e-mail from him!

"So, we are told to email our family telling them we have arrived safely ;)"

Even though we'd dropped him off and he'd only been in the MTC for about one hour, Elder Pereira had lots to tell us. He's in a room with three other Elders: Elder Davis from Utah, who reminds him of Elder Sorsbie (serving in Kenya); Elder Power from Missouri, who's really nice; and Elder Grimaldi from Italy, who is "HILARIOUS!" and has made them all laugh a lot. He's loving his roommates. One of the causes for their amusement was the realisation that everyone's bags were packed by their mum's and all had lots of food (mostly chocolate) and other things they didn't realise were in their bags; they have a "huge stash of chocolates and cookies." 

According to Elder Pereira most missionaries are from Italy, Germany and Holland and he has a hard time remembering their names. Most of them seem to be going to Scotland or Leeds but he's met a Sister from Holland who's also going to be serving in Manchester. Elder Power and Davis are going to the Scotland/Ireland mission and Elder Grimaldi is going to the Leeds mission.

A few hours later we received another e-mail from Elder Pereira as he had some free time and was allowed to write to us again. 

He is loving being at the MTC and is really excited about his mission. Make sure you write to him as I'm sure he'll love hearing from all of you! 

Saying goodbye to Elder Pereira :(

Passing it on...

Most likely I won't be posting anything else myself as I am going to have dinner and soon I will be getting set apart!

Keep checking this blog for updates about me! My mum, dad and sisters will be the ones posting for me!

See you all in 2 years!

Preparing to go! Part 2

Today has been such a busy day! I went into town to get pictures printed, so I can take them with me.
They look great! :)

I also got my missionary haircut today! It's looking so short! I am not used to having it this short anymore! But I guess that for the next two years I won't be having it any other way!!

Saying goodbye to everyone has to be one of the hardest things for sure! Especially as I am still home, and it really doesn't feel like I am going... Even though my family keeps running around trying to get things done in time... But yeah!
I am going to miss everyone so much! But two years will go quickly! Especially as I work hard for the Lord!

I also had a long session of shoe shining with dad! My shoes are looking SHINY!!! I hope I keep taking proper care of my shoes... I'm not a fan of missionaries with really bad shoes :/

In 2 hours I will be getting set apart as a missionary.

Wow!

I'm going to have some dinner first though!

Preparing to go! Part 1

Last Saturday I decided that I would finally start packing my Mission bag! I had already packed my shirts and shoes the night before, so my bag was looking pretty tidy and empty!

So then I got all the stuff I needed to take with me on my mission and put it on top of my bed... Needless to say, it didn't look like there was enough space for everything in the bag! If you don't believe me, look for yourself!

(Yeah... Most of those things ARE in the list of things that I should take)

But I managed to get all of the stuff into my bag with the help of my lovely mother! I was pretty impressed too, believe me! Look at it! It's full!

The only problem of packing my room... The messy state that it was in by the end of it all!

 (My mum made me tidy it up afterwards)

What I am the most proud of is how many Stamps I now have! I am ready to send lots of letters now!!! Just hope I don't run out of pens before I run out of stamps!!! ;) hehehe

(That's nearly 200 stamps right there!)

Now I am off to do some last minute packing and see what else I still need to do before being set apart! 

Called to Serve

Welcome everyone to my blog!

I was called as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to labour in the England Machester Mission!!

(Here's a video of me opening my mission call!)

I am reporting to the England Preston MTC on Thursday, 17th of May 2012.

Although I will not be personally be updating my blog, my parents and sisters will! So keep an eye on here!

(Here's a photo of me reading my Mission Call)