A Dunking to Remember

2 Months In!

First of all, mom, I want to share a scripture with you. *Matthew 15:4. Tbh, don't remember exactly what it says, it's a note I wrote down at the beginning of the week to send to you on P-day. It's for you to use with Andy and Bubba though.... haha. 
* For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

To answer your question, here are some things specific (maybe??) to our mission:

No coca-cola or any cola. 

No *chimarrão.

Always have a book of Mormon in hand when you leave for the day.

No soccer.

We have a mission song, specifically for Missão Porto Alegre Sul.

(*A traditional, South American, caffeine-rich infused drink)

So this week was kind of amazing. 

We had our Christmas thing on Thursday. Spent all day in Pelotas. What a dream. We heard a message from President Cruz and then they reviewed rules for the summer. I plan on buying sandals soon. We had a super bomb lunch and watched videos that some of the families of missionaries in the southern half of the zone sent. I was weeping the whole time. They were so sweet. We then performed skits as zones. I played *Mundo Feliz. It wasn't terrible.... Some of them were way hilarious. It was a really wonderful day. And we got to spend it indoors so we didn't die of heat. Haha. It was so great to hang out with the other missionaries, especially my fellow **verdinhos. Haha. We're pals. 

(* Brave New World- not exactly sure what it is! **Greenies. Apparently, it goes greenies, newbs, then regulars. :v)

After that was my first Divisao! (Split!) We literally had to take a boat to get to her area. It was so awesome. Our LTS are so great. She basically converted someone on the boat ride. It was awesome. There's a lot of sand in Sao Jose Norte. There was a family there, part member, that requested that I pray in english. Of course I tried.... and FAILED. I CAN'T PRAY IN ENGLISH. What the heck........ Also, please pray for this family. It's part member because the dad doesn't want it and also doesn't want to marry the mom, even though she wants to be baptized. It's really sad. Her name is Fabiani. I learned how to make *Brigadero. Unfortunately, it's super easy. Basically, this confirms that I will come home fat. 

(*from Wikipedia: (Portuguese for Brigadier); is a common Brazilian delicacy, created in 1940.The brigadeiro is made from condensed milk, cocoa powder, butter and chocolate sprinkles to cover the outside layer.)

We had a wedding and a baptism this week! The wedding was way cute. I think it's the first wedding I've ever seen. That was cool. The cake was good. I basically filmed the whole thing so.....

The Baptism. Wow. I will never forget it. It was supposed to be Saturday and literally everything went wrong. So we cancelled it and planned if for Sunday morning before church. We went to the church at 7 to make sure everything was ready. The water was GREEN. (again). It was horrible. I was afraid SdS was going to cry again. It was rather horrible. Also, we though the person who would baptize wasn't going to show up so we asked someone who we are preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He had never performed a baptism before. Everything happened right in time. Joice decided to be baptized in the green water anyway. The Bishop and members showed up late but they showed. So we started. It was pretty normal up until the ordinance. Man. He was SO nervous. (Name omitted for reasons that will be known shortly.) He didn't know how to hold his hands or her hands and it was all very awkward. He said the prayer, paused a microsecond, then THREW HER INTO THE WATER. The hand that is supposed to help her plug her nose MISSED. There was a collective gasp. She came up coughing. When we discovered she was fine, we were all relieved. Oh my gosh. It was SO FUNNY. It's horrible, and I shouldn't laugh, but Sister de Souza and I laughed TO TEARS, MULTIPLE TIMES that day. Oh man. Every time one of us laughs really hard, the other companion knows exactly why the other is laughing and we start crying/laughing. I will never ever forget it. Also, I will make sure the baptizer is more prepared next time. Wow.

Other news: I fooled two Brasilians this week. One thought I was from Santa Caterina (because I have weird intonation for Portuguese) and the other was surprised to hear I'm from the States. Other people guess that I've been in the field for a year and are shocked to hear that I've only been in the field for a little over a month. So that's cool. Gift of tongues is REAL.

Anyway, this week was super great and this next week is Christmas! Can't believe it's already here. It doesn't feel like Christmas because I'm lacking a few fundamental things: you and snow. BUT I get to share messages of Christ and spend Christmas with a lot of really wonderful people so it's not too bad. ;) 

Advice from a sister Missionary:
I Know that God lives, loves us, and knows each of us individually. Also, think about your potential. Think about what you're doing right now. There is a 99% chance that you can DOUBLE your performance. Sister De Souza and I had the really cool opportunity to more than double the number of people we talked to every day, simply by trying to push ourselves more. Be worthy to have the spirit. By living worthily to have the spirit, your lives will improve and after that, you will be blessed more because you have the spirit! Man, this gospel is so true. 

Miss you all so much!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

Boa Semana!

xoxo,

-Sister Hartman

Smiling in the rain

Ahhh, the food here!

I freakin' love brasil

I freakin' love brasil. 

The food is weird but good here. Rice and beans for every meal. But it~s way good. Pão de queijo* for breakfast. Guaraná every day. Desserts are always gelatinous in some way. *Translation: Cheese bread

Cockroaches everywhere. It rains a lot. SB and I have our own bathroom and we~re the only ones in our room rn*.  *Right now

*I asked her about the difference in the keyboard:

As you can see, the key that is normally an apostrophe is now the thing that makes letters nasalized. Like in the word amanhã. The shift key is smaller to fit all of these other keys. Mostly accents and the ç button and stuff. It~s annoying. Also, the language is português so this is saying that every word I type is wrong. Lol. 

We do splits here. AKA, we trade our companion for a brasileira and then everyone teaches each other. My splits companion is from Rio Grande do Sul, the state in which I will be serving! É muito legal*. She is very excited for me. Don't remember her name, sorry. Amanhã**. (*Translation: She's very Cool.) (**Translation: Tomorrow.)

Sao Paulo Lds Temple

We went to the São Paulo temple today. Out of all the temples I~ve been to, it~s definitely one of my favorites. SO beautiful. We boarded vans as districts and drove the hour to the temple. I got to sit in front and chat with the drivers. It~s very fun. They're very considerate of my poor understanding. It~ll get better soon, I hope.

I really enjoy the brasileiros. Some of my favorites are Elders Zuza and Araujo. EA is super nice and has decent english so he can tell me how to say a lot of stuff. EZ and I joke around a lot. Brasileiros really like their jokes and their fun. I love it. I think I am a brasileira at heart. The first time I joked around, I got them so good because they didn~t expect me to joke with them because the only white people they~ve met didn~t take things the right way. Anyway, it was awesome. 

Soccer has been banned for all missionaries of brazilian missions. NO ONE can play it. I~~m pretty darn jealous of those other south american missions. Ugh. Guess I'm not coming home pro at futebol as planned. 

VOLLEYBALL IT IS.

I'm not sure what the address is here. No one ever gets mail here (so sad!). I'll try and look later when I have time.

I got the pictures you sent! I love them!! Andy is such a goof. :}   Thanks for sending them! 

Our CTM prez is awesome. He~s the one that put in all the footnotes for the portuguese bible and finished it this year. my district was the first one to get the new bibles. We~re super special. ;) Also, he~s the recorded voice of HF in the temple. 

Some miracles this week: 

So, we teach "investigators" (our teachers) and their job is to make things pretty difficult but to also ask questions that are like investigators they taught on their missions. Well this week, we committed both to baptism. With my Provo teachers*, we never got there. It's one of the best feelings ever to have someone to commit to come closer to Christ. I can't even imagine what it's like to do it for real. I'm so excited for that day. Anyway, the miracle is that we are FINALLY teaching great lessons again. In provo, I was feeling like our lessons were getting worse and worse. When we got here, SB and I have been working so well with each other. I'm so glad she's my companion. Teaching is SO FUN. I love when our investigators ask questions because it shows that they're truly listening and wanting to change. Also, I'm still really impatient when it comes to my portuguese. I just want to be fluent now. Well we had a fantastic class about the gift of tongues this week and following the Spirit and it was exactly what I needed and had been praying for. I'm so glad that we have a loving Heavenly Father that gives us the answers if we ask for them. Whenever we teach, we always have to ask the investigator to pray to know for themselves because that's the only way we can be converted. I know the Lord hears and answers our prayers if we pray with sincere hearts and real intencão. (Moroni 10:4-5). *They were only there a week and a half though.

Other stuff happened this week but a) I can't remember and b) they're basically shoving us out of the computer lab.

Scriptures are awesome. Prayer is awesome. O dom de línguas* is real. This gospel is awesome. Tchau! (*Translation: The gift of tongues)

Miss you all so much!!!! Muitos beijos*! xoxoxoxxox (*Translation: Many kisses)

Até*! (*Translation: Later)

-Sister Hartman

Remembering fall at the Provo MTC

The picture I sent her of Andy, the insta-pirate

It's Your Daughter, the Missionary

Dear Mom, and Dad (since I'm sure you'll let him peek),

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!! I feel like I have so much to say. I am in a TRIPANIONSHIP with Sisters Jensen and Bateh (fun fact: the pronunciation of sister B's name sounds like the portuguese word for beat so her name is "i beat sister"). I love them muito (a lot). Our schedule is finally on track now. It was kinda wacky on the first few days. Sister B is from Seattle and went to BYUH. She's great! Sister Jensen is from St. George. She has a boy back home that she's going to marry when she gets home and he's going to be here at the MTC for HIS mission in a few weeks. Probably in our classroom building since he's spanish speaking and our building is primarily spanish speaking missionaries.

As for the language, our first lesson, and all of our lessons, are completely in portuguese.  I'm so glad I studied before coming here. Our teachers and other portuguese missionaries have asked if I studied before because I can speak well. My prayers are coherent and I could possibly go all day without English. However, I cannot understand Brother Pimental, a native brasilheiro in our branch presidency, so he's my personal goal. If I can understand him, I know that I've improved. 

Our "investigator" is named Michael. We teach him in portuguese. We have our third lesson with him tonight. Our first lesson went SUPER well. I bore my testimony about the power of prayer and the Spirit was so strong. The next lesson wasn't nearly as good. We got waaaayyyyyy off topic so we're gonna try and bring it back together tonight. Hopefully it goes well and we teach with the spirit again. 

This week, I have realized that I really need to work on charity and patience. Sister Jensen got really sick so we had to take turns watching her. She got better Sunday morning (we kinda dragged her out of bed for Sacrament meeting) so luckily we didn't miss anything important. BUT they are super happy and very diligent, if distracted a lot, haha. We have companionship inventory tonight. I'm kind of dreading it. Also, I might not be able to send pictures every day. If I send pictures on non-Pdays, it'll be at night when we get to go back to the residence halls. 

Our class motto is "Nos conseguimos com e em Cristo". We can do it with and in Christ. I love being in class. We have learned how to pray, testify, and extend invitations so far. I love it. I love love love love it.

We watched the Character of Christ. Reading it was powerful enough but watching it was so much more. Elder Bednar is such an inspired man! I hope I can be as converted as he is someday. Yet another reason to work on charity.

I have had a lot of fun too. On Friday, we went searching for buckets in our classroom building so we could organize all of our study materials (remember when they said they'd give 8-10 lbs of study material? Yeah, that was in no way an exaggeration) and we were walking into a classroom so I stepped to the side, behind the door, and jumped out at sister jensen and she jumped so badly. It was SO funny. When you are a missionary, things are way more funny than usual. Probably because we are all SOOOO busy and stressed all the time. 

Today has actually been probably the hardest day for me; I've been in a bad mood. We're going to study after this so hopefully I'll get happy again before we teach Michael. 

I love being a missionary. This gospel is so true. The Spirit is here always and it's so wonderful. I'll try and send more pictures, if I can figure these computers out.

I love you so much and I miss being home with you guys!

Thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sister Hartman

Just me-n-my peeps

Cafeteria's not too shabby (Bring on the Rice Krispy treats!)

Eating my greens, haha

Mosias 2:41

E ainda mais, quisera que considerásseis o estado abençoado e feliz daqueles que guardam os mandamentos de Deus. Pois eis que são abençoados em todas as coisas, tanto materiais como espirituais; e se eles se conservarem fiéis até o fim, serão recebidos no céu, para que assim possam habitar com Deus em um estado de felicidade sem fim. Oh! Lembrai-vos, lembrai-vos de que estas coisas são verdadeiras, porque o Senhor Deus as disse.

Callings and Growth: LDS Missions

This is a posting by Morgan Hartman's mom, mostly because she's not here to speak for herself.



There are few times in a mother-of-a-teenager's (did I say that right?) life where the mom gets to speak for the daughter sans eye rolling, irritated huffs of annoyance or outright correction. This is, therefore, an opportunity! And, because she'll be away to Porto Alegre, Brazil for 18 months with limited electronic exposure, it'll be my pleasure to update you on her whereabouts, adventures and perhaps even struggles (with help from Heavenly Father, she'll work them out, we're sure.)

However, rest assured, Morgan (or I should say, "Sister Hartman", her moniker for the duration of her Brazilian stay), I will limit myself to just a few a la carte comments, but only when absolutely necessary. The rest shall be in her words with her sentiments and her point of view.

Unless I can't help myself. Just kidding, I can do it.

Presently, (I did say this whole posting would be from me, right?) Sister Hartman is in the Provo, MTC (Missionary Training Center) where she is getting religious and language training: she will be teaching about Christ and serving the people of greater Porto Alegre. She is expected to remain in the Provo MTC either for the whole 6 weeks of training or until she receives her visa, whereupon she'll go to Sao Paulo to complete her training there.

When did she decided to serve a mission you ask?  She had made some friends at BYU who spoke Portuguese. And Gigs (one of our nicknames for her), being the goal-setting type, decided she wanted to learn it too. When she graduated Duolingo (a free language learning app she used to teach herself Portuguese), she received a Portuguese Book of Mormon (thanks Carla Santana!) and started trying to read it. Meanwhile she had decided to start asking HF (The Big Guy upstairs) if she should go on a mission. She said that mostly, she couldn't get thru the verses without serious work, but one night she came across a scripture that she just understood. When she read it, she received an undeniable answer: Yes, definitely a mission!

In case you don't know, missionaries are called to serve by God in areas away from their home for either 18 months (female) or 24 months (male). While serving, missionaries are asked to dedicate their lives to being His hands. They do this by teaching about Christ, performing regular humanitarian service, and living the Gospel in a joyful way (that's the goal, anyway). In order to be most effective, missionaries are asked to put romantic relationships on hold while avoiding new ones, relinquish most time-wasting frivolous fun, postpone  educational pursuits, and continuously study Christ's teachings. It's a tall order and means we as families participate in sacrificing as well since contact is limited to weekly emails and letters and bi-annual calls or skyping with our kids. Not gonna lie, it's painful.

But, also r e w a r d i n g! How many parents are in the war against entitlement? Has gratitude ever been a problem? Humility? Generosity? Hard work? Self sacrifice? Self control? Goal setting/achievement? Empathy? Missions can help humans develop these traits and more. This is very often the outcome for these young adults focused in such outwardly ways. Although these are not the reasons we support her in this endeavor, these are the results. And what parent doesn't want their child to become a better human being??

So, even tho we mourn the loss of those 18 months and miss her terribly (it's only been 6 days!) we anticipate welcoming home a healthier (mentally, spiritually, and emotionally if not physically), happier, and wiser daughter who has learned to love and serve people of many types, along with their cultures, and who has a more intimate knowledge of God.

In the end, the price is worth it.

Now, I'm going to cease watering my pillow and practice gratitude and serenity. If she's working on things, I should too (dang it). See you soon, my girl. We're so excited for this growth opportunity and cannot wait til your return (and before then, our next letter!)

Hugs from,

The Mama