1st week in Brazil - Bairro Novo - 1st Baptism

November 30, 2011

Oi tudo bem familia!
OK I have to be quick today, we´re running a little bit late. This past week has been insane, I don´t even know how to describe it. Brasil is a really cool place!
So, I'm doing good. Today, for my P-day, we had a meeting, played some soccer (I´m horrible) and did some laundry, which was horrible, because the cycle for the laundry machine that we have is 2 and a half hours, and Elder Brino went first, so my clothes are still all dirty.
Pretty much all of my clothes. Pois é.
I actually haven´t met Elder Patton yet, he must have been talking about Barkdull and Trevisanut. Honestly, I have no idea how they are doing, but I´m sure they are doing great. Tell me how Sister Patton is doing when you find out!
My companion is great! He is such a good teacher, it´s incredible, he explains things in such a simple way. We´re teaching this family of 7, with three little girls under 10 years old, and they pretty much understand everything. Brino just knows how to teach things simply. Sometimes, it does get hard though, because he only speaks Portuguese, and I think he forgets that sometimes, because he´ll say something real quick to me, and then he´ll go off and do something and I have no idea whats going on. Like on sunday, at church, he was running around all over the place, and I just stayed in the Chapel, because I didn´t know what he was doing. It turned out that he was teaching a class with the new investigators, so he was preparing, but I had no idea. But he is suuuper patient, he never really shows that hes getting frustrated with me. I think sometimes he does get frustrated, but I can´t really tell. He´s good. Once I master the language, we´ll dominate Bairro Novo.
My area--Bairro Novo-- is fantastic, I already feel like we´ve had sucess! I keep doing contacts every day, at least 15, but our daily goal is 20. And out of these people, about half give me their adresses. It´s actually really fun, because the people here are so open to any kind of visit, and they all LOOOOVE Jesus. It´s great. When I´m doing a contact, I usually switch up
the phrase I say to them, but if it´s going bad, I have my secret phrase:
Realemente, nosso mensagem é sobre nos podemos ficar mais perto a Jesus Cristo, e conhecer Jesus Cristo melhor. Você acha que este seria bom? (really, our message is about how we can become closer to Jesus Chrsit, and know him better. Do you think that this would be good?) and they always say yes. It´s great.
So we already had a baptism!!! It was suuuuper quick, we start teaching this woman--her name is Fernanda--on thursday, and on Sunday, she was baptized. Really, she was already so prepared,
her parents were ´eternal investigators´ so she already knew most of the doctrine, and already felt like she liked the church. So, we went to visit her on Thursday, and extended a baptismal invitation (I actually did the invitation. Part of my training is that I have to take the lead with all baptism invitations. Which actually is really cool, and fun) which she accepted. We spent Friday teaching her about all of the important commandments (tithing, word of wisdom, chastity, sabbath day), Saturday was her interview, and Sunday she was baptized. The bishop of our ward baptized her, which I was sort of glad that he did, because really, I had no idea what was going on with Fernanda during the lessons. I didn´t even know her parents were investigators until at
the Baptism itself, which made everything make a lot more sense to me.
The language is indeed hard, way harder than I thought. Everyone speaks soooo fast, and really, for me, it´s hit or miss whether I understand them. When it´s during a lesson, and we´re talking about gospel stuff, I can more or less understand everything Elder Brino says, and a lot of what our investigators say. But anything outside of that is sooo hard. Honestly, it´s completely random. Some Brazillians I can understand just fine. Others, I can´t understand them, no matter how many times they repeat something. But, what I´m doing now is the best thing I could possibly do to learn, and really everyday, I feel like I´m picking up more. I carry a dictionary in my pocket everywhere I go, and I write new words in a little notebook. I´m going to Learn
Portuguese.
Ok, I´m running out of time, I´ll try to write a letter soon. I hope all is well with you! I´m doing great here. It´s harder than I thought, but it´s also a lot better than I thought! I love you guys. Remember the Lord always. Pray to him, read about him, trust him. He´s with you!

With lots and lots of Love!
Elder Avram Twitchell
PS. I had an interview with President Cordon the other day, and we were talking about mailing, etc. It takes about a week or two for a letter to arrive, and about a week more for a package. DO NOT use Fed-ex because they tax the heck out of it, upwards to 200 or 300 dollars worth.

Avram with Mission President

President Cordon - Avram - Sister Cordon

New missionaries to Brazil Curitiba Mission

Arrived November 22, 2011

Dear Brother and Sister Twitchell
We wanted to share with you pictures of your son the day he arrived here in Curitiba. Elder Twitchell is a wonderful young man and we are thrilled to be serving with him. As he is obedient, the Lord will endow him with power and he will be part of many miracles here in Brasil.
May the Lord's choicest blessings be with your family as Elder Twitchelll serves here in Brasil.

Warmest Regards
Sister Cordon
Missao Brasil Curitiba

I'm in Brazil - November 22, 2011

Dear family,
My flight was pretty good, but honestly, I had no idea how long it was or whatever. We left at about 7:30 Atlanta time, and arrived at 8:30 São Paulo time. São Paulo is actually 5 hours ahead of California time, which I did not realize. During the flight, I only got 1 hour of sleep, maybe two. It was not good.
But, we arrived safe in São Paulo. I didn't get to see much of the city. Anyway, it was kind of a jungle in the airport, there were lots of Brazilians everywhere. There were lots of American missionaries with us on the flight, but pretty quickly we all split up to go to our separate missions, and it was just Barkdull, Trevisanut and me.
We went to our gate, which was really just a bus stop, where a bus would take us to our airplane. While we were waiting there, we saw some familiar missionaries: Elders Hobbs, Reeves, and Sister Horkley! It was really cool to see them again, I think they had a really good time in the São Paulo CTM.
Anyway, we got on the plane and flew down to Curitiba. This flight I got to sleep another half hour. Hurray. We arrived at the Airport, and we got to meet President Cordon and Sister Cordon! It was sweet! We all went down to their house to have Dinner (a typical Brazilian Dish: Beans, Rice, and some meat. Delicious!) then, immediately after that, we met at a nearby chapel, where we had a meeting to somewhat orient us to the field, and give us Credit cards. Que legal, I have money now. Also, we got to meet our new Companions! My companion is Elder Brino. At first, I thought he American, because he´s tall and white. In fact, when President Cordon introduced me to Elder Brino, Cordon said ´this is Elder Brino, from Texas´. But, in reality, he´s a straight up Brazillian from São Paulo, which is legit! He speaks a very small amount of English, so we have to mostly speak in Portuguese. Sweet!
So, after we met our New Companions, President Cordon told each of us where we were serving, and immediately afterwards, Elder Brino and I went and made use of the famous Curitiba Bus system, headed for my Area: Bairro Novo, which is a part of the city of Curitiba.
We got out of the Bus after about an hour, and walked to our apartment. The first thing Elder Brion said as we approached our apartment was: Não fica muito feliz which means Don´t get too (very) happy, and I could see why, because our apartment is quite small, and on the way, theres this little dog that barks a lot (no bite though, yet). It´s essentially a bedroom, a small kitchen, and another room to do study and planning. But, whatever, its all we need! I dropped off my stuff, grabbed a Livro de Mórmon, and at 6:30 PM Curitiba time, we went off to do some teaching appointments. Along the way, Elder Brino got me to do some contacts, which just means that I talk to everyone I meet on the street. Man, it is hard to understand what these people are saying! Elder Brino is a bit better, but I for the most part am too slow with understanding what they´re saying, so after I did the initial contact, Brino would take over. Haha, pois é. At about 7 PM, we got to his teaching appointment, which was in this man´s store where he sells clothing. we taught the second half of the Plan of Salvation, with me teaching the part about physical death, Spirit world, and the Resurrection. I think that our investigator understood. And then, Brino finished off the with the rest of the lesson, and got the man to come to church Sunday.
After that, we did some more contacting, and then we went to another appointment which was with these three young boys that Brino baptized last week. Their situation is a bit difficult, because their parents want to go to church, I think, but they refuse to go to church because their three boys are always fighting with one another and being unruly, and so the parents feel that it would be embarrassing going to church with them. So, when we got there, it was just the three boys, so Brino and I spoke to them a bit. Then, Brino asked me to teach them about Obedience real quick. I wasn´t prepared (whereas with the Plan of salvation, we went over it before the lesson) but I went ahead and taught it, and I think they understood. They did make fun of me though, because I talk funny. Lol, I should get used to it. Brino finished the lesson by telling the Boys that now that they were baptized they had to choose the right, and that they couldn't keep acting like they do.
After this lesson, we did some more contacting, and then went home, had daily planning (where we planned out our P-day, how fun!) and I finally got ready for bed, which for me, was mostly just cleaning up the mess I left when I dropped off all of my stuff. I went to bed at 10:30, and that was the end of my loooong day. It was very hard, especially trying to listen to the people speak, because I hadn´t really slept in more than 36 hours. I woke up at 6:15 on the 21st and I fell asleep at 10:30 on the 22nd. So, I was quite sleepy (still am). But, being in a new country helped, and also actually doing the contacts and the teaching helped out a ton too.
It´s so crazy I´m in Brazil! This place is nuts! It´s definitely not America, although it is pretty nice. Everyone speaks Portuguese, and it is hard to understand. A couple of times already, I was just thinking ´What am I doing here! I must be crazy!´ lol, but tudo bem, i´ll get used to it! It´s tons of fun!
Ok, i gotta go! Love you guys a ton! I´ll write again soon!
Love,
Elder Twitchell

BRAZIL HERE I COME

We just got off the phone from talking to Elder Avram Twitchell. He was in Atlanta GA getting ready to board a plane to Brazil. He is so excited to be on this journey. He said it was weird to be out of the MTC, it has been so long since he was around people. He said the MTC was great but seemed like it took forever. He can't wait to get out there and teach the Brazilians.

Nov 20, 2011 Last Letter from MTC

11/20/11
Bom Din Familia!!
Well, this last week at the MTC has been crazy!! There are tons of things to get down, lots of preparation, lots of good-byes. On Friday we had our in-field orientation, which just got us all excited beyond belief. It was essentially about how to be the BEST missionary possible by Faith, finding people, goal setting and planning and working with members. I never realized
how important members were for missionary work! Gordon B. Hinckley said that the most effective missionaries are the ones who work well with members, and use them for finding.
We had a lot of people from the district 2 teach us. I don’t know if I already explained the district 2, but it’s like a show where they followed around these missionaries with cameras for their missions. A lot of times in class, they would show a quick clip from the District 2 and then we would analyze what they did well/poorly and then try to teach in a similar situation. So, I know the 8 or 10 missionaries on the District well, through the show. But, seeing them in life was crazy! It was like seeing celebrities! I accidently ran into Elder Murray from the show in the bathroom, and all I could do was spatter a sorry “sorry” and then gawk. When I saw Sister Voyles from the District 2, it was worse. I just shook her hand and got out of there. Man, these missionaries are my heroes!! Ha Ha
In the middle of the in-field orientation, we took Sister Patton to the hospital again, but this time they actually did something to help her out. They figured it was inflammation in her wrist, so they gave her a shot in her wrist to de-inflame the inflamed part. About time, she’s been in pain for like two weeks, she’s gone to the BYU medical center twice, and the Hospital three times. For some reason, I feel like this is a bit excessive they should’ve fixed this in two visits, not five. Boise
Part of the de-inflammation shot is that the pain gets a lot worse before it gets
better. Today Sister Patton is fine, but Friday night and Saturday morning, she could hardly even move her right arm. It was really sad to see her hurting so bad.
We taught our last MTC lessons in the past few days. And holy camolie, Elder Barkdull is a monster at teaching now. He knows how to say and explain concepts so clearly in Portuguese. On Thursday, he was teaching Sister Patton and I as investigators (Maria and Jack, the
bickering Brazilian siblings!) about Baptism. Now, sister Patton and I had agreed long before that we would not accept to be baptized, especially not on the first invite. But in the lesson, Elder Barkdull spoke and taught so well that we both agreed to be baptized. So much for being tough investigators. Elder Barkdull and I had a really cool experience this past Wednesday at the TRC. I was already excited for the TRC, because it’s the only time Elder Barkdull and I teach together, and when we do, no one can resist our power and authority. Oh, and we’re super humble, too. Anyway, we did TRC a bit different. Normally each companionship goes in the room with the person they’re teaching, and it’s just them. But today we went to a big room with people we could teach sort of scattered around. So, elder Barkdull and I decided to teach this older man, thinking that he served his mission in Brazil years ago and that he’d have cool stories.
Nope, he was a real live Brazillian!!
He is living in Utah because most of his children live here, but he can’t speak English at all, I think. He grew up in Sao Paulo, near the Temple. He told us all about himself, Curitiba, and the gospel. It was sooo cool! It was also intimidating. Up to now, we’ve only spoken Portuguese with
Missionaries and return missionaries. RM’s (ie our teachers) speak well, but they all tend to 1 – speak high 2- really annunciate when they speak and 3 – use a fairly simple vocabulary. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that because they’re not active speakers, they speak a bit clearer, and are easier to understand. This Brazilian man spoke really fast, in a low voice, slurring a lot of his words and using words we didn’t really know. I mean, think of how we speak English: it’s quick, kind of mumbled and doesn’t always make sense. For example, we don’t really say “How are you?” but we say “How’re you”. It’s quick and slurred. So, it was very difficult to understand this man, but he spoke like a Brazilian. I wouldn’t say we were like that missionary from Best Two Years -- “Elder, what language were they speaking?” -- but it definitely different. We could
understand most of what he said, but it took us time to process what he had said. Luckily, he spoke a lot because every time we had to respond, it took us a several seconds to figure out what
he said and reply intelligently. Man, was this a shock to the system! We’re going to be
in Brazil in a few days, and hardly understand what they’re saying. This might sound weird, but I’m totally ready to be that awkward new missionary who can hardly speak! I want to be thrown in the refiner’s fire, and really be in over my head with the language, teaching, meeting people,
whatever. It’s going to be hard, and I’m going to get frustrated with myself, but I want to relish in the difficulty and the hard time, and just push onward, diligent and obedient, trusting in the
Lord. I only get to have this hard, awkward time once on my mission, in my6 life, actually -- and
I don’t want to waste it!! I cannot wait until I get to meet my mission President, my District, my Ward, the Brazillian people and especially my companion (especially if he’s a Brazilian!!) I’ve already prayed aobut all of these people a few times, that they’ll be led by the Spirit and be comforted in hard times, especially given that they have to deal with a gringo greenie like me. I’ve also prayed that I’ll be ready to met them, and be able to be a blessing instead of a burden. Actually, I’m just too EXCITED!!!
Yesterday (Saturday) was kind of a melancholy day, because we had to say good-bye to our
teachers. Nossa Seahord (Our lady. This has reference to Santa Maria in Brazil, and they say it to say “oh goodness” or something along those lines. I know, it seems a bit disrespectful, but
apparently even the Mission Presidents up there use it) I didn’t think this day would come. First we said good-bye to Irmao Maxwell. We (Elder Trevenant and I ) taught him one last time as Ronaldo, then he demonstrated teaching Baptism, and then we spent the last hour asking about his mission and about his life. This basically just got us excited for the mission! Also, we found out that he’s going to ask his girlfriend, Gale, to marry him in two weeks. What!? (Oh, ps, don’t tell anyone this. He said he would fly to Brazil to kill us if we told anyone) this was kind of funny, because not too long ago he had been complaining about his companion on his mission, and how quickly he wanted to get married. They were standing in the temple, and the companion turned to irmao Maxwell and says, “I will never go to the Temple again, until I find a wife. This is the last time I’ll be in the Temple single.” LOL. But Maxwell wasn’t bad, he’s been dating this girl for four months. Then, he gave us each a hug (except Patton, he shook her hand) told us good luck on the mission, and that we were going to do great, and then left. In the afternoon, we had to say goodbye to Irma Gonzales and irmao Simons. This was hard too. For the last hour, again, we talked about they’re missions. You could just tell how much they loved the people they served, and how excited they were for us. Simons told us to really enjoy the first several weeks, because it’ll be hard, but you’ll grow more than you ever have, and you’ll have a different kind of happiness, even though things are hard. We all sang Deus Vos Guarde (God be with you til we meet again), Irma Gonzales told us to be obedient and Dilligent. Irmao Simons told us to love
the mission and the people, and then we said goodbye. It was very, very, sad. Mas, Tudo
Bem! When we get comfortable in one place, the Lord changes things to help us grow.
The Lord does nothing that is not for our benefit. And I get to Serve in BRAZIL!! What could be more beneficial than that!!
I know that you are sad that I’m going to be so far away, but don’t be sad! It’s going to be so great and you are going to be so much more blessed with me out in the mission field than in the US.
Keep up all the good work! I am so jealous that you get the babies. It’s not even fair. Dad, good luck with the calling, I’m praying for you. Autumn, good luck with school! It’s sounds like English isn’t that great but you’re smart, you’ll get it. Mom, I’m so glad things have been getting better, and that you’re becoming friends with our neighbors. The best missionary work sometimes is just being a friend. And Amber and the babies, be good! I’m praying about you too.
Love you all so much! Read the Scriptures, pray everyday, and Trust in the LORD.
Love

Elder Avram Twitchell

November 15, 2011 Last week at MTC

FAMILIA!!!Como vai!

Things just seem to be going crazy here. Everything seems to be wrapping up here, which is cool and kind of sad at the same time. It's all of a sudden very real--we're going to be in Brazil in a week, teaching people in Portuguese. Say what! I'm just feeling really serendipitous right now, having such a great district, such great teachers, such great leaders, and on top of that, learning
the best language in the world. Oh, and I have my Visa. No big deal.This past Sunday we had a "leaving the MTC" lesson with a member of our Ward Presidency, Brother Hodges. Haha, he's the most intimidating person I've ever met, but the funny thing is he doesn't try to be intimidating at all! Mom, I think you would have a hard time being in one of his classes, because he randomly asks people questions all the time. I remember the first lesson we had with him, we were talking about the 2000 stripling warriors, and he asked me,
"Who led the stripling warriors?" It's Helaman, of course, but I was so paralyzed by the intimidation factor, that I couldn't remember the answer! Lol, and then he asked me how many stripling warriors were, and I thought, 'oh, I know this one' with the certainty of a foolish novice. "2000!" I submitted

"No, 2060." Dang. Wrong again!

But he's really, really good at teaching. Anyway, he was telling us how we need to start packing early this week, and all of this stuff about traveling. He kind of got me freaked out, he said that people sometimes steal Visas or Passports, because there's an underground market for them. Man, I'm going to be guarding my Visa with my LIFE! I'll kill a man if he steals my Visa. Hodges also told us to make a good first impression on our Assistants to the Presidents, the Mission Presidents wife, and finally, the Mission President himself. A lot to remember! So, I think the
procedure is that I get on the bus to the Airport at 8 o'clock. It should be fun! I'm not sure exactly how everything will work, but I do know a few things. With regards to calling and what not, I really have no idea. As far as I know, I get to call you at the airport, but I'm not sure which one. They really haven't told me anything. If I had to guess, I would say I would call in Atlanta, but I have nooooo idea, but I think that a calling card would be a good idea. As for e-mail, I don't think I'm going to e-mail you again in the Northern Hemisphere. Me and Barkdull are now relating
things with regard to the Hemispheres, because it sounds so much more profound.
Like, ok, if I said today was my last P-day in the US, that sounds pretty cool. But when I say this is my last P-day in the Northern Hemisphere? Shoot-dang. That's not a light statement.So, I think I have some repenting to do. This past Sunday, I was pretty busy/distracted all day, so.... I didn't have time to write you a letter! :( I'm sorry! I promise I will send out another letter before I leave though. I'm sorry! Autumn can expect one , though. I finished hers before Sunday, so I'm thinking she could get it soon.Oh, oh, and another important thing, I cannot support or condone any sort of visit at the airport. That was something that they put on my traveling instructions
specifically, in Bold, on the courageous crimson paper--I cannot arrange these types of meetings. Sorry! Certainly don't come fly out for just that! I would love to see you, but I don't want to put that sort of financial burden on you, and it's against the rules. Thanks though! I know that you guys care about me, which is cool! I'll get to call you, though. Think, in a little over a month's
time, you'll be talking to me twice!

So Barkdull and Patton still do not have their Visas, but we're feeling really good about it. We're certain that Barkdull will get his, and Patton too! If not, though, they get reassignments on
Thursday, and Patton seems to be pretty excited about it. We're praying about it, and Patton will do amazing wherever. She is such a strong person, it's crazy! This past week, she has had this horrible horrible pain in her wrist, and they can't figure out what it is! We've had to leave the MTC three times so far, twice to the BYU medical center and once to the Hospital, to get her wrist
checked out. Yesterday it was hurting so bad that we had to go get her painkillers. It's really, really bad, and we have no idea what the deal is. But she is still suuuper positive, and hardly ever complains! She has to put up a hurting wrist, 3000 nineteen year old Elders, Elder Trevisanut, being a solo sister, etc., but she hardly ever complains. Even more, she's positive! She's such a great example to us, I just feel bad that we don't always appreciate that.

Speaking of, I'm glad you liked my letter I wrote about getting my Visa! I get bored sometimes here, especially with writing in my journals, so every once in a while, I'll just have some fun describing things in the most dramatic way possible. That whole scenario I described happened within a 2 minute period, and honestly was not that noteworthy besides the Visa. But I enjoyed making it seem like I overcame countless trials and traveled so far, all to get my Holy Grail--the Visa. I'm glad you all enjoyed it.As for staying an extra week, it's a little bit of a disappointment, but honestly, I was not terribly upset about it. We have amazing, clear, loving teachers here, and I'm excited that we still get to learn from them this week. Also, going down to the CTM would not have been that great, because we would have spent that whole day trying to orient ourselves. Also, I've heard that you don't learn the language as well down there. So no, I'm pretty happy where I am. Certainly ready to leave, though. I'm starting to get so anxious! I'm imagining teaching people, all the experiences I'll have, how cool it will be not speaking English for 22 months, and I just get sooooo excited. Honestly, the past few nights, I've layed in my bed for like 10 or 20 minutes just thinking about Brazil! As for the language, I think things are going pretty good. I'm understanding it more and more, which is really good. It's weird though, because with every day things, like talking about a meal or something, i have a really hard time. But during lessons and stuff, I can usually say what I want. The other day they had us teach in English for a MTC workshop, and I could not teach for my life. It was bad. I was teaching Barkdull about Chastity, and all that came out was what not to do, will you keep the Law of Chastity, and I know that you'll be blessed if you do. There was no substance to it at all! So yeah, I felt dumb.

I did Host last week, which was pretty fun. Although, it took longer than I thought--I only got through one elder and one Sister. My Elder was English speaking, and I didn't really know what to say to him. Oh, you're speaking English in Oregon? Cool... That will be fun... uhhh... you'll be able to say what you want in your own language, so that's a... bonus... And then the Sister was a Russian speaker. I get to do it again tomorrow, though, so I'll look out for E. Heiner. Trust me, if i get any Portuguese Speaker, I'm going to totally freak out in excitement. I'll look for him, and if I see him, I'll get him excited!

Sounds likes things are going alright down in San Jose. How is Dad doing with his calling? I'm glad you guys are doing extra stuff in the ward, I think you'll find that being more involved in church will bless you in pretty much every other aspect of your life. I'm super jealous that you have the babies with you. It's not even fair. They already look like they're growing up, which isn't
cool, they really should stop doing that. I hope you guys don't get sad that I'm going to Brazil, because for me it's the coolest thing ever. I'll still write, and I'll be sharing some legitimate spiritual experiences involving real investigators. It'll be cool. I'm super nervous, but excited too. I've never had to do something like this before in my life, and never will again. So, I'm just going to take things as they come, and give it my all. Gordon B. Hinckley said a few years ago that if he wanted any one trait in a missionary, it was being a Hard-worker. If you work as hard as you can on your mission, everything else that a missionary needs will come along with that.

Stay strong Family, I hope you guys know that I love you soo much and really appreciate all of the letters and support that you give me. In the next little bit I'll probably be gathering up items that I don't really need and sending them back to you guys, so expect that. I don't know of anything I still need for my mission from you guys, but thanks. I'm sure I'll forget something!Keep praying, reading your scriptures, and trusting in the Lord! I think about you guys all the
time.

Love,Elder Avram Twitchell

PS. I've already decided that I'm going to baptize everyone on the plane on the way to Sao Paulo. What else am I going to do during that time on the flight?

PPS. Or maybe I'll read the BOM through. I think I have
time.

PPPS. Or I could sleep.

Message from Sister Patton's mother

Hi Klaudia,

My daughter just e-mailed me and I wanted to share something with you. I thought it was pretty special and your son was involved. Kendra did get her electronic Visa last week so we think she will be in Brazil before Christmas. She has had a problem with her wrist and so has needed medical attention. It is strange. She is a very strong, athletic young woman so weare puzzled by what is happening. She is getting an MRI soon.

This is what she said:

"Something cool though, Saturday night I was in lot of pain, and Elder Barkdull and Elder Twitchell took me back to the residence hall to get medicine. On our way back, Elder Barkdull randomly said "You know we can give you a blessing if you want it." I don't know what prompted him to say that, we hadn't ever discussed it before, but I spent the next hour thinking about it and realized that maybe God was telling me to humble myself and askf or the blessing. So I did.
Elder Barkdull gave me the blessing, and it was his first one ever! You could tell he was nervous, but what was amazing was that as soon as he laid his hands on my head (The other two elders were also participating) the nervousness vanished. His blessing made me realize without a doubt that blessings come from God. He said actually what he needed to say. I know Heavenly Father is watching out for me, I don't know why I have this problem with my wrist but I hope it's for a good reason. I'm grateful for my elders, I have become close to them and they have been very helpful. They also have loved getting to leave the MTC :)

Sarah Castleton