This e-mail never came on Monday, but I went in and stole it from Tom's account Monday night..... I think his one hour time limit may have cut him off before he could sent it. It's a funny, funny e-mail and I knew Tom had a good sense of humor, but it seems to be really coming out in his e-mails home. I was so relieved to find this.... being a mom, of course I imagined the worst all day when his e-mail didn't come.
Hello Everyone!
I am glad to hear that everyone is still doing good. Things here are pretty good too. Last week we had a baptism, well two, but only one was one of our investigators. His name is Rafael, he´s pretty cool. I think he´s been seeing the missionaries before I arrived, which is why he was baptized the second week I was here, but it was cool to be able to teach him. I´m not sure how much of what i said he understood and I didn´t understand anything he said, for the most part, but it was still cool and he´s a great guy.
But this past week was a little difficult. We met two people that showed interest in the church, and we taught them a little, but when we asked them to pray to know the truth, they say they don´t feel anything special so they will just continue to go to their church. And there was another person who I thought had some interest because he even helped us teach his mother a little bit but when my companion called to see if we can come over and asked for him, my companion is told he is not home and when asked who was calling he said a soccer buddy, and after he said that, they said "oh, okay, I will get him..." So we don´t have a whole lot of people to teach right now. We´ve pretty much just been walking around this last week. But my companion said that for his first 2 months of the mission, he didn´t have any baptisms and had very few people to teach, so they just walked around most of the time, so I feel a little bit better but when the mission president is pretty much demanding one baptism a week and 250 per month, it gets stressful.
Anyways im not having any trouble trying new food. The food at the members house is usually good. I´ve been told that I am very white, a lot, and when they ask me something and I don´t understand, they say "he understands nothing..." and I´m like... "I understood that..." (I don’t actually say it) so it’s hard and a little embarrassing, but whatever... The members are all really nice and willing to help. Some of them speak slower if I ask them to, sometimes my companion says what they are trying to, because I understand him much more than anyone else, and sometimes they just give up trying to talk to me. :/
The area that I am in isn´t very nice looking. A lot of people just throw their trash on the street and the garbage trucks come by and have to shovel what they can and pick the rest up with gloves on. And a lot of times the dogs are always digging into the trash looking for food. There are a lot of cats and dogs around here that seem to be without owners, but I don´t know for sure, and many of them are not very healthy looking, they have cuts and scratches, and are limping a little bit. Its pretty sad to have to see that every day.
Elder Funk was in Provo for 8 weeks, came to Brazil for his 9th when he got his visa.
I am glad to hear that everyone is still doing good. Things here are pretty good too. Last week we had a baptism, well two, but only one was one of our investigators. His name is Rafael, he´s pretty cool. I think he´s been seeing the missionaries before I arrived, which is why he was baptized the second week I was here, but it was cool to be able to teach him. I´m not sure how much of what i said he understood and I didn´t understand anything he said, for the most part, but it was still cool and he´s a great guy.
But this past week was a little difficult. We met two people that showed interest in the church, and we taught them a little, but when we asked them to pray to know the truth, they say they don´t feel anything special so they will just continue to go to their church. And there was another person who I thought had some interest because he even helped us teach his mother a little bit but when my companion called to see if we can come over and asked for him, my companion is told he is not home and when asked who was calling he said a soccer buddy, and after he said that, they said "oh, okay, I will get him..." So we don´t have a whole lot of people to teach right now. We´ve pretty much just been walking around this last week. But my companion said that for his first 2 months of the mission, he didn´t have any baptisms and had very few people to teach, so they just walked around most of the time, so I feel a little bit better but when the mission president is pretty much demanding one baptism a week and 250 per month, it gets stressful.
Anyways im not having any trouble trying new food. The food at the members house is usually good. I´ve been told that I am very white, a lot, and when they ask me something and I don´t understand, they say "he understands nothing..." and I´m like... "I understood that..." (I don’t actually say it) so it’s hard and a little embarrassing, but whatever... The members are all really nice and willing to help. Some of them speak slower if I ask them to, sometimes my companion says what they are trying to, because I understand him much more than anyone else, and sometimes they just give up trying to talk to me. :/
The area that I am in isn´t very nice looking. A lot of people just throw their trash on the street and the garbage trucks come by and have to shovel what they can and pick the rest up with gloves on. And a lot of times the dogs are always digging into the trash looking for food. There are a lot of cats and dogs around here that seem to be without owners, but I don´t know for sure, and many of them are not very healthy looking, they have cuts and scratches, and are limping a little bit. Its pretty sad to have to see that every day.
Elder Funk was in Provo for 8 weeks, came to Brazil for his 9th when he got his visa.
And
yeah, I will at least see the other missionaries of my district serving
in Belém (the state of Pará) with me, but the others are all serving in
other states,
2 in Curitiba, 2 in Belo Horizante, and 1 in Teresena.
Good to hear David is really enjoying his senior year, and that he is
doing stuff with Landon more. Try to do stuff with all your friends and
don´t stop talking
to any of them. I had some friends that I wish I still talked to after
high school, and now that I don´t I really regret it. :/ Anyways, Toby
is soo funny. :) I love you TOBY! DON´T YOU DARE change my room! DON´T
YOU DARE!... just kidding, that’s cool, grandma
and grandpa can use my room, I don´t care. :) It is better than what
happened to Elder Fox´s room. They changed his into an office,
permanently. Haha, that sucks, but I don´t think he minds too much. His
ward also split and his family is part of the ward that
he knows no one in, lol... I hope that doesn´t happen to us. Changing
David´s room is neat. It´s going to be weird coming home to a different
house, well, a little different. Enjoy the snow for me! por favor!!
I have not been given any pills for malaria, but I have had some weird dreams. But dreams are unimportant and I don´t have much more time...
I have had a small cough since moving into the apartment. It doesn´t bother me though and its nothing to worry about. I´m guessing it is from swallowing some of the water when I brush my teeth. My companion said I don´t need clean water to brush my teeth, so I´m trusting him. I have 3 super small warts that don´t seem to be going anywhere right now, not getting bigger or smaller. Hopefully the stuff I have will clear them up.
My companion is from Bahia and he´s been in the field for about a year and three months now. He doesn´t speak English but he uses Portuguese words I understand all the time and speaks slow enough for me to understand.
I am feeling a little better about the language. There are some things people say that I don´t even have to think about to understand, but for the most part they need to repeat themselves once or twice.
The weather is okay. I think it has rained every day so far, at least a little bit, and it does get pretty hot. I am usually sweating before we even leave the house. But I was told that right now in Belém, it is winter, and it rains everyday during the winter. But in the summer, the sun beats down on you for about 2 weeks and then rains a little bit. Should be interesting... and sweaty.
Well I am not sunburned yet, but I am a little darker. I don´t think i need to worry about getting burned much now but I will still wear sunblock.
According to Brazil Belém mission rules, we cannot wear sunglasses. Maybe if it starts bothering me and becomes a problem I can talk to the mish prez about it.
Largest meal of the day is lunch, yes, which is why we go to the members houses everyday for lunch.
I have cereal, toast, and homemade cheese pizza for breakfast and dinner. I will get my companion to teach me how to make some eggs and easy to cook chicken though, so don´t worry.
I don´t think I had to leave anything at the MTC, no problems there. I think the luggage weight restriction comes into play when transferred to one of the smaller zones, so I am good for now.
I will send pictures home next week, I think I figured out how. I don´t have a lot of time right now to do it, sorry! :/
We have a washing machine but no dryer. We can only hang them up to dry. I ironed for the first time though! pretty neat...
There are a bunch of cyber cafe´s around the area. Anyways I need to go. I love you all and miss you all a bunch. And I´m praying for you all. Have a good week.
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