Suddenly, week 4?

Surprise!
Hi! So, I guess since BYU's term ended, they changed all our schedules? Actually I'm not really sure why they did it. (Especially because they moved all our meals and classes up a half hour- breakfast at 6:30, class at 7, and dinner at FOUR O'CLOCK). But our schedule changed so we have P-day on Tuesdays now- so even though it was just on Friday, we get it again today!
Actually it kind of feels like a lot has happened in the past 3 days. On Friday we met our new teacher, Irmão Whitaker. He is an amazing teacher. We leave class, even the 6:30-9:30 p.m. class, feeling totally pumped and energized. And since he served in Lisboa, we get to hear about that. You can tell he really cares a lot about his students.
On Saturday, we had TRC again. It went WAY better. We did two 20-minute lessons about recieving answers to prayers. The first one we did was with a nice man and his 8-year-old son. The guy served in Lisbon, his wife is from Lisbon, and the family just moved back here from living in Portugal for 5 years, so they were both perfectly fluent. It was kind of frustrating to see a little kid speak way better than we can even imagine, but they were both really nice and we had a good discussion. The man even got a little teary-eyed when we bore our testimony of God's love for His children and how He wants to hear from us. But even better, when we went to the next room for the 2nd lesson, it was the wife from the family! She was really nice. She prayed in Portuguese and her accent was so cool. Also, after we were done with the lesson, she talked to us for like 5 minutes (in English) about Lisbon and her family there. All three of them were really kind and helped us a lot with the Portuguese. It made me really excited to go to Lisbon and teach whole families (I hope).
Relief Society this week was great. So Relief Society is basically just an extra devotional for all the sisters on Sunday morning, and they always have a speaker instead of a usual lesson. This week is was the new General Young Women's President. She shared a nice message about sister missionaries. Some of her granddaughters and daughters came, and she told her 4 granddaughters (all young teenagers) to stand up and look around, and "remember this sight, because this is what it looks like when a prophet of God calls, and the young women answer". She probably wants them to go on missions, haha. Also really cool was afterwards, we got to go meet her and her counselors! So I've hugged 3 general authorities now. No big deal. I think I liked talking to the 1st counselor the most - two of her sons went to Portugal on their missions, so we talked about that for the few moments we had with her.
Yesterday was one of the hardest days I've had since I've been here. On Sunday night in the devotional the speaker Brother Allen? (the director of the missionary department) talked about how Satan is going to "push your buttons" and yesterday that's what happened. I think it was because I realized I will be in Portugal in TWO WEEKS, so I was starting to freak out, so Satan was like "haha, kick her while she's down". But really. I think he really doesn't want me to go to Portugal--but he and I both know I am going--so since he can't stop me he's trying to make me as miserable as possible. I just was really worried and anxious and felt sick. But my district is really great and we all talked for about an hour last night just about that and a bunch of gospel stuff. And going to the temple this morning was exactly what I needed. It was so peaceful. And I feel better. I'm still really worried, but not to the point of not being able to eat or anything.
It's kind of weird-I knew a mission would be hard, but I didn't expect the MTC to be hard. Like maybe some frustration with learning, but not so much opposition still. I guess it just goes to show how important missionaries are to the Lord, if Satan is trying so hard to stop us. I wish he'd just leave me alone though :P
Also, in case you were wondering, the temple has the best waffles I've ever tasted. We are sick of the food here so we ate breakfast there this morning and it was heavenly.
Oh- did Katy and Emily get those tiny letters I sent them?? Because those were the cutest things ever.
Since it's only been 3 days that's about all I have to say. I will probably have my travel plans the next time I email you!!! It's getting really real. And scary. Keep praying for me. :) I think of you all often and I love you so much!
Love,
Sister Gidney

Week 3 in the MTC

Querida Familia,

This week has been busy but normal. On Saturday we had to do this thing called TRC, which is basically we teach a volunteer for 20 minutes. But they don't pretend to be an investigator, so you're trying to teach this fluent RM who knows everything already and it was really hard. The brother that Sister Carroll and I were teaching wanted to talk about "oomilge" and we couldn't figure out what that was even when he read a scripture about it... (turns out it was "humilde" or something that means humility). So that was hard and I didn't like it.

On Sunday we did a temple walk again. Elder Cluff's brother showed up so we met his niece. It was weird to see a baby. Oh, and we took pictures with a Portugal flag!

Sunday night's devotional was the BYU's Men's Chorus. It was really really good but kind of strange because I recognized/knew several of them.
I feel like I haven't improved much in speaking Portuguese, but I can understand more and more every day. I have even started thinking in Portuguese when I'm listening to our teachers - it's super weird. I don't translate what they're saying but I understand it in my brain. Except for there are a couple of really confusing words- mostly "mas" because it means "more" in Spanish but "but" in Portuguese.
OH on Monday I changed my earrings for the first time! It freaked me out and I don't like looking at the HOLES in my ears and maybe I'll get used to it but for now it's still gross.
On Wednesday(?) after lunch our district went to get mail and I saw Aunt Mardi! It was kind of surreal. Also I saw Joseph by the temple today (and I got to find out about his mission call!). It was nice to see them but Joe hugged me and I felt like a sinner. :)
One thing I love about the MTC/a mission is that I can read the scriptures for hours and hours and not have to worry about homework or whatever else. I can just focus on learning about the gospel all day e'eryday.
We still get too much candy here.

(me in a red shirt with a Dove wrapper I got that says "you look great in red").

But I have actually lost 2 pounds so that's weird. Maybe because we are doing well at going to the gym. We've only missed once.
Since BYU's winter semester just ended, some of the teachers' schedules are changing. One of our teachers is switching... It's kind of sad, but we are going to get a teacher who served in Portugal! So we will finally be able to learn the right accent and pronunciations. But Sister Carroll and I realized we're going to be sad when we go to Portugal - we're going to miss our district here SO much. But we will also be excited. I feel like that's how a mission just is...
I was so happy to get a letter from Jeremy! It was only like 4 sentences but I really liked it. Thanks for all the mail and emails :)
I love you all SO much! Have a great week. Amo voces
Sister Gidney

Letter #2 from the MTC

Querida familia,
Hi! Thanks for all the letters - I love hearing from everyone. It seriously is the best part of the day. Also, thank you for the package! I am glad you sent me hint of lime chips because first of all, I love them, and second, I get hungry before bed since dinner is at 4:30. Okay I'm trying to remember what happened this week. It seriously feels like I've lived here my whole life and that my former life is a dream. Okay Sunday we had a "regular" Sunday for the first time. We have relief society with all the sister missionaries. This lady talked who has been on like 5 missions and it was amazing. She was really funny, too. Sacrament meeting we have with our branch - it's like 5 or 6 Portuguese districts, but we're the only ones learning Continental Portuguese, so when we sing hymns, we are the only ones doing a different accent. Also they do all the prayers, and the sacrament in Portuguese, and the talks. Everyone in the branch has to prepare a 3-5 minute talk in Portuguese on a topic and then they just call a couple people up. You don't know before. (I hope I don't get called up...) After that a member of the branch presidency and his wife give talks (in english). We have a devotional Sunday night. And we don't have Sunday School. On Tuesday, we have a devotional in the evening. This week it was Elder Richard G. Scott!! He spoke about prayer, and it was really amazing. Our district was in the third row so it felt like he was looking right at us. At the end of his talk, he paused and said something like, "I feel impressed to bestow an apostolic blessing". I'm not exactly sure what that means but I am pretty sure it is a really big deal. He blessed us that we would be able to MASTER the language, and a bunch of other really great things for our mission and our life. :) And then after the closing song, he went back up to the podium in front of the sister who was supposed to pray and said "I forgot a few things" and then talked for like 5 more minutes. It was pretty amazing. On Thursday, Sister Carroll and I left the MTC. She had to get glasses so we went to the optometrist's on University Avenue. It was SO weird. I don't think I liked it. (But I did wave at D&H for Kalen). I don't have much else to say. The days are all pretty much the same here. Oh, but we have two new "investigators". We also tried to teach the Plan of Salvation for the first time yesterday and it was not very good... We didn't know enough words to explain it so well. Oh one more thing. On Wednesday night we had a substitute teacher who actually went to Portugal on his mission instead of Brazil like our teachers! So he told us all these things about the accent and now we can actually try to learn how we will speak :) Except s's make like 4 different sounds so that's confusing. Everything is pretty good. I started sleeping with earplugs and I've been sleeping better. Portuguese is HARD but I can tell the gift of tongues is real, because I am remembering all these words from Spanish 3 years ago, and sometimes I just make up words and they're right. That is about all. Keep writing me :) I loved hearing from Grandpa and Uncle John and Aunt Miriam and everyone else. I love you all very much, Sister Gidney "The Church is true and God loves you!" P.s. the pictures = me and sister carroll waiting for the shuttle on thursday, and our district at the temple. :)

  

First PDAY letter!

Querida familia, Ola! We FINALLY have P-day. After 10 days, we really needed one. And I am glad I can finally actually write a real letter instead of just sending lists of things I need you to send me. When you dropped me off, they sent us to all these buildings, and gave me my nametag with its beautiful orange dot.
 
 My companion is Sister Carroll. She is pretty great; we get along well, which is a blessing because I was worried about being stuck with someone 24/7. But now, if we get accidentally separated in a hallway or something, I get really anxious. Also the second day here, we accidentally matched.
 
 Katy asked me about our daily routine here "SPECIFICALLY": Wake up at 6:30, go to class, sit there all day... that's really all. We have class or study time in our classroom all day long, except for meals, and if we're lucky we have an hour of gym time. The first few days were really hard, but I'm feeling pretty good now. Portuguese is actually not as hard as I thought it would be. I can already pray, and bear my testimony. Sister Carroll and I have already taught three lessons in Portuguese to an "investigator", too. (The teachers like, act as investigators... it's hard to explain but it's fake but it feels real). We taught our first lesson on Thursday and it was really awful. We were in there maybe 10 minutes and didn't know how to say we had to leave at the end... BUT in our last lesson with him yesterday, we asked him to be baptized and he said YES! We were so excited, even though it's fake. The reason he said yes is because we had him pray with us right there to know if the Book of Mormon and the Church was true... It was really great. I was so happy. I can't imagine how amazing it will be when it's a real investigator. Mail is like the biggest deal of anything ever here so PLEASE keep writing me :) "MIssionaries were not made for P-day, but P-day for missionaries". We got to go to the temple today. It was really great.
 
 That picture is the sisters in my district. Sisters Brand, Sandholtz, Duke, Miles, me, and Carroll. I can bear my testimunho in Portuguese (but the spelling may be wrong): Eu sei que Jesus Cristo e' nosso Salvador. Eu sei que a Igreja e' verdadeira. O Livro de M'ormon e' a palavra de Deus. Jose Smith foi um profeta, e Thomas S Monson e' o profeta de Deus hoje. En nome de Jesus Cristo, Amen. Voces amo muito muito. I miss you all and love you. Choose the right, and "write". Love, Sister Gidney

This will be out of order but I am going to try to post some pictures of Sister Gidney leaving.

Sister Gidney has entered the MTC. She left instructions for me to post messages for her. As soon as I figure out how I will also post some pictures here. Mom

My Farewell Talk

       The Atonement of Jesus Christ is perhaps the most crucial event, and certainly the most loving act, in all recorded history. Centered about the city of Jerusalem approximately 2,000 years ago, the ordeal of the Atonement fulfilled the purpose of Heavenly Father’s creation, and satisfied the demands of justice, requisite from the Fall and our agency.

       The Atonement is infinite, eternal, and unfathomable. We cannot comprehend the exquisite pain Christ must have suffered, nor the agony of the innumerable thoughts, words, and actions He atoned for, as well as the pains and sorrows of every generation to walk the earth. Christ’s Atonement, made possible by His divinity and perfection, and consisting of His suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection, provides us justification with the laws of God, as well as reconciliation with Heavenly Father. The word atone itself is most simply broken down to “at one”. Through Christ’s Atonement, we can eventually become one with the Father in purpose and in exaltation. Additionally, in Hebrew, the basic word for Atonement is “kaphar”, which means to cover. According to my Old Testament professor, in Biblical times, if a servant wronged a lord, he would be severely punished if he did not receive forgiveness. The servant would approach the master, and if the master reached out to wrap and cover the servant with his cloak, the man was forgiven and beyond reproach. He became free from the consequences of the law. The Savior’s atonement does the same for us. We can be redeemed, and encircled in the arms of His love (2 Ne 1:15).

       Every man, woman, and accountable child is in desperate need of that love, for “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). As no unclean thing can abide the presence of God, there must be a redemption, a way to escape the condemnation of eternal laws. The law must also remain intact, for as we know, if there is no law, there is no sin; and if there is no sin, there is no righteousness. If there is no righteousness, there is no happiness, and if there is neither righteousness nor happiness, there is no punishment nor misery, and if those things are not, there is no God, and if there is no God, we would not be (2 Nephi 2:13). We must have a Mediator to remove our condemnation, without removing the law. That is justification—the elimination of the punishment of our sin, or rather, the transferal of our punishment from ourselves to the Savior. The Atonement allows this justification, and also, enables our sanctification. Christ purifies us and removes the effects of our sins. Through His blood, our garments are washed clean.

       To claim these wondrous blessings of the Atonement, it is necessary for us to act. Given the magnitude of the gift of His grace, we could never suppose, even with all the good we could possibly do in this life, that we had earned it. It is simply too great. It is, and always will be, a gift from God through His divine Son. However, what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receives it not? We must rejoice in that which is given (D&C 88:33), and though we cannot earn it, we must do all in our power to accept the gift of His grace and atonement.

       We can do this by following the laws and ordinances our Heavenly Father has set in place to protect us, namely, believe in His name, repent, be baptized, strive to always keep the Spirit, and endure to the end. We choose to accept Christ’s sacrifice by offering ourselves with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. The penitent soul is one willing to change, and through the Atonement, is able to be born again as a child of Christ.

       This process of repentance and accepting God’s grace is an ongoing obligation. The Atonement’s mercy will claim the penitent, and they will be saved. We must persist in our covenants, relying on repentance. Though striving to do all in our power every day, we must also accept that we cannot achieve perfection in this life. As we know, during Christ’s mortal ministry, He counseled His followers to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven. It wasn’t until after His resurrection that He admonished the Nephite people to be perfect as He AND the Father. We must not presume to achieve what even the Son of God could not in mortality. Far too often, I forget this fact. We must realize that in our lives, we will make mistakes. We will sin. We may become discouraged at our imperfection. But if we strive to develop as children of a divine Being, doing our best, and repenting when we fall, all will be well. As Elder Christofferson explains:

"Personal persistence in the path of obedience is something different than achieving perfection in mortality. Perfection is not, as some suppose, a prerequisite for the justification and sanctification of the Atonement. It is just the opposite: justification (being pardoned) and sanctification (being purified) are the prerequisites for perfection. We only become perfect “IN Christ”, not independently of Him. Thus, what is required of us in order to obtain mercy in the day of judgment is simple diligence."

As the Prophet Joseph Smith counseled from the dank prison of Liberty, Missouri: “Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God” (D&C 123:17).

It does not matter where we are on the path to perfection, as long as we are on that straight and narrow way. As we strive to do all we can, we can stand assured that because of Christ’s Atonement, it is enough. We could not satisfy the demands of justice on our own – the suffering which caused even God to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit (D&C 19:18). Christ’s atonement allows Him to act as our advocate to the Father and to the demands of justice. And the Savior WILL be our advocate and our friend. He knows, from experience, how to help us, and He suffered personally, to redeem us.

       Though impossible to comprehend the eternal nature of His suffering, we can gain faith in Christ’s atonement. That faith can come through a small conceptualization, which offers a glimpse at the greatest power of the atonement. That marvelous power, the most significant aspect of our Savior’s sacrifice, lies not in the infinite nature of His suffering. It is not how the Atonement spans time and space, and can never be extinguished. That magnificent power is not what He did for the hundreds of billions of His brothers and sisters who have lived or will live. The greatest power of the Atonement is what He did for ME. It is what He did for YOU. That is the aspect of the Atonement that I understand. I know how He suffered for MY sins, and the sweet forgiveness I receive from that. I know the peace He provides me when I am fraught with anxiety. I know the comfort that He gives me when I am overcome with grief at the loss of a loved one. I know the hope He gives me in resurrection and in eternal life. And that is why I know He is my Savior, and everyone else’s. That incredible gift, His complete Atonement—that is why I am serving a mission. The gospel is the good news – the incredible news that Christ has made a perfect Atonement for mankind that will redeem all from the grave, and all who accept it from sin. That news MUST be shared. Christ has redeemed mankind—Christ has redeemed ME. And each of you. You can still go to the Garden of Gethsemane, but the Lord cannot be found there. Nor will He be at the Garden Tomb. He is not on the road to Jerusalem, nor in Galilee, nor at Nazareth or Bethlehem. He must be found in your heart. And that is what the Atonement allows us to do – find Christ and our Heavenly Father, and return to them – no matter what. His gift – His grace – His mercy – allows us to merely do our best. We don’t have to run more than we have strength. Just do all we can and He will make up the rest. The Atonement is infinite. It is mind-boggling. I couldn’t hope to understand or explain it fully. But what is the most important, is what the Atonement does for YOU. Christ’s love for each of you is unfathomable. And if you reciprocate that love, you will be blessed beyond comprehension. The Atonement allows us, allows me, and allows you, to come unto Him and be transformed. So come unto Him. Be purified in Him. Be sealed for eternity – to Christ, our families, and our Heavenly Father. That is the purpose of this life – to gain our next estate; to become qualified for eternal life. And that purpose is made possible through Christ and His atonement. The ultimate blessing of the Atonement will be to become one with Him, to be in His divine presence, to be called by name as He warmly welcomes us with open arms to be enfolded in His boundless love. The gift of His great atoning sacrifice for each of us is what will allow us to access such forgiveness, mercy, and love. It is far more powerful than anything we can comprehend. Everything hinges on the Atonement, and our acceptance of it. Without it, our souls would be lost. With it, we are saved.

       I am so grateful for the Atonement. In December, a good friend and my grandmother passed away within a few days of each other. It was the first time I experienced death. Without my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and Christ’s Atonement, I don't know if I would have been able to get through this trial. But with the peace that I was able to overcome. I am also grateful for the Atonement because I often worry that I may not be good enough, in life, and now as a missionary. But the Atonement provides me the assurance that as long as I try, through Christ, I am more than good enough. I am grateful for the temple, the spirit there, and the strength/protection covenants provide. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to serve a mission. The gospel means everything to me and I am so excited to share it with our brothers and sisters in Portugal. 

I know the Church is true. The gospel is truer than ANYTHING. Christ and Heavenly Father love us so much. I know that through the Atonement we will be saved.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Some talks I read to prepare: 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1988/10/the-supernal-gift-of-the-atonement?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-miracle-of-the-atonement?lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-atonement?lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-atonement-covers-all-pain?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/the-atonement-can-clean-reclaim-and-sanctify-our-lives?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2001/10/the-atonement-our-greatest-hope?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/10/the-atonement?lang=eng#20-

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2001/06/justification-and-sanctification?lang=eng