MTC 5/Brazil

I got my visa yesterday! I'm pretty stoked. I am leaving on Tuesday. I'm flying to Dallas at 2:30 and flying out at 7 something. Then overnight to Brazil. Sister Kersh, a sister an my district also received her visa at the same time. Another Elder from our newest district just got his visa today. So that district will be down to one elder and our zone will be down to 9 missionaries on tueday. Unless we get more visas on monday then it could be even smaller. When the intercom beeped, the voice asked "is Elder.................................. is in the room?" The intercom cracked so nobody heard what the name was. He repeated it, so I went down to the travel office. When we got there he asked us if Sister Kersh was coming too. Apparently he had said her name during the long pause of intercom static. So we came back to the room and said there was another visa. This one, for one of our two sisters. One of the sisters(the one who didn't get her visa) started freaking out. We might have taken a long time getting to the point of who it actually was. But you need to do something after you get your visa. Everyone always hides their visa and makes up some lie about how the consulate messed up their paperwork so they had to reapply. We went with a different approach.

So having my visa probably means I will have to talk on Sunday, along with Sister Kersh. My zone leader status won't grant me immunity anymore. Leadership positions normally don't speak in church, but we are all so small, everyone has to play a part. I was also asked to teach on Sunday in our combined district meeting, and give a short lesson about district goals on monday.

The BYU Mens Choir came to the MTC on Sunday night for our fireside. It was awesome. They sang all kinds of songs. Everyone's favorite was a Maori song from New Zealand. It was awesome and the harmony was crazy cool. They also sang a really cool Hungarian song. Everyone loved it. The fireside was a nice break from our daily routine.

We taught for completely in Portuguese for the first time yesterday. We made it through and I thought it went rather well. I guess that's what a week of prayers will do. =) Elder Toala is convinced I can speak Portuguese fluently, but he must not have been in the same room as me. I was very happy how it turned out though. Well, my next email will be coming from the MTC in Sao Paulo. I'll will be there for about three weeks, so when everyone has the desire to write me everyday, go ahead and send me a Dear Elder. I don't know if snail mail will get there on time. Well, probably for a week or so, but not after that. The mail takes 2 or 3 weeks from what I hear. Tchau!

Elder Siemers