Cate Mission Weekly Letters

  Olá! It was another great week here in Klamath Falls! Sister Massey and I spent a good amount of time joining all the Klamath Falls Facebook groups we could join-including the Klamath Falls Mom group. We posted saying we are looking for any kind of outdoor service opportunities. We had a few people ask for us to come over and a whole lot of "God bless you Sisters" so it was pretty successful. I also finally got to meet one of our investigators Gary! He recently had shoulder surgery, so the four of us and one of the members of our ward went over to do some service from him. As most of you know, missionaries always have to stay with their companion. This means they are very good at making one person jobs two person jobs. So sister Massey and I mowed Gary's lawn for him alternating every three rounds. A piece of the lawn mower kept falling off too, so if you weren't mowing you were replacing the lawnmower piece. And you better believe I was out there mowing his lawn in...

Olá!! Well I'm officially a real missionary now! I live in a small town about 4 hours south of Eugene called Klamath Falls! I like it here, it's very similar to Colorado weather wise. Because there are so many missionaries being reassigned in the United States there is a little bit of an overload of missionaries. So I actually have three companions instead of one so it's a little bit of a wild ride!! My trainer is named Sister Massey and she served in the Phillipines for about 3 months before coming here. The other sisters are Sister Nelson and she is training another Sister Johnson who was supposed to be in Norway! So I go by Sister CJ around here to help try and clear it up. Due to the virus, most of our lessons are still done over zoom or facebook. It's been an adjustment but I'm really liking it here. All the people we've met here have been very nice and welcoming. I am also so excited to be in Klamath Falls because my district leader is fluent in Portuguese...

Olá! Well I am finished with the CTM! Time flew by so fast I can't believe it's been six weeks already! I am so thankful for my amazing companion, district, and teachers. On Wednesday afternoon I'll fly out to Eugene and I could not be more excited to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone I will meet there! Some of the many important things I've learned these past few weeks are: - I am easily scared by loud music being played at the start of class - How to differentiate between saying grandma (avó) and grandpa (avô) - Portuguese church songs are wayyyy better than English ones - Loving the people is the key to learning a language - While this one isn't new, I know now more than ever God has a plan for me. Never did I think I would love the online CTM as much as I did. But, God knows me perfectly and He knew what a blessing this experience would be in my life. I am so thankful He knows me better than I know myself. If we trust in God and His plan, everything...

Olá!!! This seems weird to say but I only have ONE WEEK LEFT in the CTM!!! It has gone by so fast I am so sad that I am going to have to say goodbye to my amazing district and teachers, but at the same time I can not wait to get out and start teaching the people of Oregon!! This week, Sister Esplin and I taught three lessons. It is amazing to me that I am able to express my testimony in a language I couldn't speak five weeks ago. I couldn't even   introduce myself and now I feel like a 15 minute lesson is a walk in the park! People are actually understanding what I am saying and I can respond to their questions. While I am still far from perfect (see below) I know God is helping me learn Portuguese because there is no way I could do this on my own. While my Portuguese has improved significantly over the past weeks, there are of course still tons of mistakes. This week, Sister Esplin told our "investigator" she was married instead of tired. As for me, I accidentally us...

Well this week I hit my one month mark of being a missionary!!  I received my travel plans this week and I do leave mid-day on the 15th for Eugene! I can't say it enough but I am so excited to get out into the field and teach! During the MTC, we practice teaching lessons so we can get better at answering questions and using the phrases and words we memorize. In one of our lessons this week Sister Esplin and I showed our all time favorite church video! I put the link in this email, it's two minutes long and I highly recommend it! It's in English but if you would like the Portuguese version, let me know and I'll send it your way:)) I feel I've learned the equivalent amount of Portuguese as in my three years of High School Spanish, we learn and practice so much every day which is awesome. This week, we learned a trava-língua (tongue twister). It is: o rato roeu a roupa do rei de roma. But, before you try to say it, you should know in Portuguese the letter r makes an h ...

Olá Everyone!!! Well I'll just get straight to it I'VE BEEN REASSIGNED AND I AM SO PUMPED!!! I have been assigned to the EUGENE OREGON MISSION!!!! WAHOOOOOO!! (Go ducks:)))) I report July 15 which is the week after I finish my online MTC training. And, everyone in my district is leaving that same week so they're moving us out fast! There are six missionaries in my district going to Utah, one is going to Nashville, and two to Vegas! I am so excited the people of Utah, Nevada, and Tennessee are getting the BEST MISSIONARIES!!! Also apparently I can't pronounce Eugene correctly, my family tells me I sound like Rapunzel at the end of Tangled. So if anyone has tips on how to say it right I would greatly appreciate it. I'm so excited to live in the PNW and hopefully meet some fellow Seahawks fans;) This week we just continued to learn and teach in Portuguese. We are getting to the point where our teachers only speak Portuguese and they want us to respond in Portuguese. It...

Well another great but busy week in the online CTM this week!! I learned so much and I am once again so grateful for the amazing experience I am having!! One reason I love the at home CTM is that I get to explore CO! Today, a few of my siblings, my mom, and I went to the Paint Mines which were beautiful! I put a few pictures below. This week I got to teach a total of four lessons in Portuguese!! These lessons were just to one of my teachers, Irmã Melo, but it was still an amazing experience. Don't get me wrong, my Portuguese is so far from perfect, but I am learning so much faster than I thought I would. My companion and I also decided in our fourth lesson with our teacher, we would invite her to be baptized. AND SHE SAID YES!!!! Even though both Sister Esplin and I realize this baptism is not going to occur, we couldn't express how happy we felt that she said yes in Portuguese or English! This experience really reminded me of why I am on a mission. I am on a mission beca...