Knock knock. Who's there? It's the Mormons.

FAMILY!

AHHHHHH OH MY HEAVENS I'M A MISSIONARY! IT'S FOR REAL!! (: Holy Hannah, where do I even begin?! This timer is stressful! SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!

My companion:
She's wonderful! Her name is Sister Davis and she is from New Mexico. She's going to the Brazil, Salvidor South mission. She has an identical twin sister who is going to the mission just south of hers. They dress alike almost every day and she's in our zone so we see her a lot and it's hilarious. (: Sister Davis loves running and working out so gym time is a blast! (: She is perfect for me and we make an amazing teaching team. Speaking of which, we aren't messing around over here at the MTC. We started teaching on Thursday. By some miracle, the Provo MTC is low of Portuguese staff, so we had to teach in English last week. We are the only companionship in our district that was able to resolve all of our investigator's concerns and commit him to baptism. So, just saying. Funny thing, Sunday Sister Davis lost her voice and, by doctor's orders isn't allowed to speak for three days. Conveniently timed so that I have to teach the lesson on the law of chastity by myself? I think yes. Conveniently timed so that I would have the entire first and second Portuguese lessons by myself? I think so. I also think I'll take her twin with me..

Holy cow, I'm sweating right now.

Language:
I was mentally writing this section of the email for the past few days and was going to say something about it being the most stressful thing in the world, but it's getting better every day. I'm going to get it. (: It's a frustrating mess of gorgeous glabber at the moment, but for real, it's incredible. I can introduce myself, talk about what I like to do, pray, bear my testimony, and teach lessons. It's unreal. So unreal. I go to a Portuguese branch and every Sunday we have to prepare a 5 minute talk and we will know if we have to speak when they announce it. (: That's a wee bit stressful. (: No, but it's lovely. It's like a mix of Spanish, Italian, French... and Japanese for sure because some of the words don't sound like they came from this side of the planet.

Some Numbers:
3 - Companionships in my room. These girls are all so awesome. They are hilarious and insightful and obedient and crazy and wonderful. (:
6 - the estimated number of weeks I'll spend here. Visas are hard to get right now, and as far as they are telling us, it's common to stay for all 6 weeks. I'm moving in. (:
12 - Elders and Sisters in my district. We have such a great group. Ahhh. They are all sharp and obedient and I can't wait to spend the next 6 weeks with them. There is an Elder from Uniontown, PA. Crazy, huh? His name is Elder Kelley, which is awkward when someone calls out "Kelly" and we both say "what".
30 - minutes from the time we wake up until we are seated in our classroom. Somewhere I missed the memo that our morning schedules were different at the training center than in the field. Make up? Ain't nobody got time for that.
400 - the number of Sisters that were here two Sunday's ago for the last Relief Society.
1600 - the number of Sisters that were here this Sunday. Let's talk about the Sister Tsunami for a second.

Ok I really didn't realize the emailing time would go this fast. I literally haven't read any of my emails. ):

Just want you guys to know how dang happy I am! Seriously! (: I hope none of this sounded negative or down because from the first minute on, I've been completely happy! I've never read so much, I've never studied so hard, I've never gone to bed or woke up so exhausted, but I've also never smiled so much, I've never felt so good about where my life's headed, and I've never been so happy in my entire life. (: It really is a hard thing, and it's easy to compare yourself to others who are basically fluent in Portuguese already and there are times every single day that, even for a second you wonder, what have I gotten myself into. Well I'll tell you what I've gotten myself into. I've said yes to the call to bring people to the Savior. We are giving people the opportunity to have a relationship with their Father in Heaven. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I'm doing so so so so great! I wish I had time to tell you more!

Love, love, love,
Sister Vaughn