A few of us cried a little bit when we left Sister Wainwright at the airport, but for the most part we were all really excited for her. These are a few pictures of our family saying goodbye!

We were sent a picture of Sister Wainwright the day she arrived at the CTM (the Sao Paulo Missionary Training Center) on September 4, 2013. She will spend a few weeks here learning the language (Portuguese) and how to serve the Lord in the best way that she can! She is pictured with the president of the Missionary Training Center, his wife, and a few other missionaries heading to other areas in Brazil!

Along with this photo, the CTM president sent this email:

Dear Parents,

We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.

They now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting.  These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.

The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others.  We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “ There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".

Please accept our love,

President Ralph Degn and Sister Mary Ann Degn

And so it begins!!!

Today is the day!

In just a few short hours I'll be departing from this promised land to live in another country for 18 months! The feelings I'm experiencing are not so much anxiety or nervousness... but a sense of real etherealism that I've never before felt. I cant use the word "excited" to describe the sense of being I'm currently in. If I were "excited" I would be jumping up and down and smiling like a fool and laughing exuberantly at everything around me. Instead... I am calm. I honestly feel at peace now that the time has finally arrived.

A few hours ago, I was set apart as a full time Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I had many family members and a few friends there as well. President Smith set me apart, and my father, grandfather, and Brother Don Little stood in the circle. It was a beautiful blessing, and only added to the peace and readiness I feel. I will tell on myself- the moment he said "Amen" and I was fully set apart, I started hugging everyone.... and then I stopped *MidHug* of hugging President Smith and said aloud, "Oh my Goodness.... I'm not supposed to hug you!" He assured me he wouldn't tell my mission president! LOL!

Granny has had the great fortune of being my temporary companion whilst I am still in the Great USA! She joked around about it but I think she was proud of it. She just about made everyone cry tonight: I had asked her to give the prayer, and she was not expecting that! I think it touched everyone in the room to see her surprised reaction. The love between the family and friends there really amplified the spirit. 

Well I'm about to go to bed and sleep on American soil for the last time for a year and a half! I don't yet know if I'm going to be sleeping in a bed, a hammock, or on the floor yet in Teresina! For all I know the areas I'm sent to will be just as industrialized as the USA, or rural and impoverished.  I will not know until I get there. But I'll be in the Sao Paulo CTM for 6-8 weeks first! 

I do want to take a minute just to say how incredibly grateful I am to have received my visa in time to go straight to Brazil. Many...well, all, of my friends who have been called to Brazil, or others that I have seen or heard of, have been deferred to the Provo MTC and then temporarily reassigned stateside while they await their visa. The reason for this long waiting is due in part because of the third-party process that is undergone when missionaries send their visa work in through the church (which is standard). The dramatic increase in missionaries has backed-up this process. And then I won't even begin on the tricks and secrets and tiny minute details to go through with the Brazilian Consulate. It's a scalping, scalding, stressful process. I'm so grateful I turned in my visa in person, rather than mailing it in!

Alrighty my dear friends. Until the next time I'm in front of a computer!

Tchau,

Sister Wainwright