CTM

(Shannon's great granmother, Nana, died this week. This is her response.)

Wow. I knew this day would come and it shouldn´t be a shock. How is everyone? Are the little girls okay? -and gramma and mom? I knew when I said goodbye to Nana on my last day that it was only a matter of time...but wow. It´s good to know that she´s with Grandad now and that everything is okay. Still, I miss her and wish I could've been there.

That's FABULOUS THAT RACHELLE´S GETTING HER CALL. THINK BRAZIL!!!

Shout out to Grandma Cooney...we learned "Popcorn Popping" in Portuguese! I´m not kidding. It was lots of fun!

I had to give a talk on love and charity this week. The Branch president randomly picks people to give talks, so that we know how to be prepared. The portuguese is coming, I´m still slow though. Any good tips on memorizing? One of the elders has a great quote, "Yesterday was history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift." That's how I´m trying to live my life. To love every moment. How many people get to move to Brazil and teach people about God? How many people go to the Sao Paulo Temple? And... we met President Richardson of the SaoPaulo South mission. He´s from Edmonds! He knows President Busse and President Dance!
One of my teachers, Brother Luiz, is getting married in 70 days and he´s so excited. Sister Fiallo´s birthday is Friday so we're throwing her a suprise party!! Yeah!
We taught the first lesson and it ROCKED!!! I love teaching the lessons. I am honestly so happy to be here. It´s great, I´m loving every minute. Today it´s nice and warm. I love the sun!! I´m still the whitest person in the entire CTM (Helaman and Fiallo mock me for it) but I´m having a good time. Portuguese isn´t easy for me to learn but I´m trying my hardest and have faith that the Lord will help me. I can read it just fine and the grammer isn´t an issue, but when someone starts speaking...I can´t understand it. I know that the Lord will help me. He didn´t send me down here to fail, but to be a true missionary. And that's what I hope to become in the next year and a half. Know that I love you all, and I´ll get to see Nana again. Of that, I have no doubt. I will see my Nana again! I know that this gospel is true and I am happy to be serving the Lord. SEND ME MY BROTHER´S ADDRESS SO I CAN SEND HIM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARD. Love you all, give mom and grandma a hug for me, and a kiss to the little girls. Erynn and Megan, love you too. Take care. Shan