Monday, November 17, 2014

Alma 56:45-48

Hey, guys!
I´ll be typing off the top of my head most likely from now on because we don´t have a lot of time to pre-write, but I do have journal time. Well, Im in Salvador now. Sorry if the punctuation or grammar is bad. I´m using a laptop and the keyboard is set for Portuguese so it might autocorrect me sometimes. As far as the clippers go, I´m kind of glad about that. Our apartment is a little small anyway and I´m trying to pack kind of tight. I got my first package through the mail when we went for our transfers earlier this week! I remember you said that it was just a small thing but it made a world of difference for me. Thanks for the cereals. Cold liquid milk is apparently a bit pricey-er here and we´re supposed to get a new fridge here, so for the most part we use powdered milk to add to our oatmeal and stuff, so for now I just eat the cereal and peanut butter as a small snack. I really do appreciate you guys in sending me packages. I know it wasn´t cheap to send that out. I´ll do my best to see if I can send stuff out as well because I dont really know how to yet. It makes me feel so loved. It´s hard out here. Portuguese is very hard because now its the real deal. It´s been hard to have a good morale about things. It´s weird, some moments I´ll feel really comfortable and others I feel overwhelmed. Elder Rivera, my new companion, has been there to help me out and lift me up. He´s a really good guy and I´m so glad to have him. His Dad was in the military so he´s moved around quite a bit. He was a VISA waiter so he served like 6 months of his mission in Bakersfield CA. He´s from the States so he speaks English of course and we do companionship studies in English. Afterwards, he asks me how I´m doing and he´s said some motivational stuff to keep me up. Once again, he reminded me how proud you guys must be of me and that there´s no better place for me to be right now. He´s also said that I´m at the point where most missionaries should be at the END of their training periods as far as Portuguese goes. I really miss you guys a bunch. Not near as bad as the MTC was but it´s a different world here and I feel lost. I keep wondering how I´m supposed to remember names and streets and how to be a better missionary. But at the end of the day, I try not to worry about it for the moment and  just try and remind myself of the eternal perspective of things and how I only have to be here for 2 years of my life. It´s like Dad said, they can´t kill me and eat me out here. The worst I can do is make a mistake, and Elder Rivera has told me that no matter what mistakes I do out here, the Lord will still bless me because I´ve still made the decision to be out here. Anyway, it´s actually nice out here. The people are all nice. I´ve had the opportunity to contact a few people where you just talk to random people and ask them about what they think about religion. It´s hard because sometimes I´ll hit a dead end in my head and not know what to say next. What to say about Salvador. Lots of stray dogs and trash. Our house is on the outskirts of a favela. In fact, most of our área here is just favelas. Just like you see in Call of Duty or Fast 5, brick houses with cement and stuff. They´re a lot nicer when you get inside though. Lots of pharmacies and SOOO many churches. At least one or two on every corner. ours is a lot different than the ones in the states. No built in chairs, just a bunch of foldable ones and the schedule is different. We do priesthood, gospel doctrine, and then sacrament. I had the opportunity to bare my testimony and some members came up to me after and said I didn~t have na accent. It really does make me feel better but I still feel sad because I don´t understand very much when people speak yet.  It´s been very hot here only because I have to wear a shirt and tie wherever I go. I miss the days where I could just be in a shirt and shorts. Food is good. I tried Acaraje or however you spell it. A lot of pasta, rice, and meat here. It´s all good stuff. Mom, I have something I´d like to share with you. Alma 56:45-48. These talk about the stripling warriors and particularly about how inexperienced and yet how brave they were. It mentions that they remembered the words of their moms and the teachings that they got from their moms. Mom, I love you so much. I´m so grateful to have been raised in a home that teaches the gospel. I´ve appreciated that more than ever. I love all of you guys so much. This first week went by pretty fast so I can only imagine how fast the mission goes. I can´t wait till I get to the point where I can speak and be myself and look forward to teaching people and making a difference where I don~t have to worry about the dumb things I´m worrying about now. All in all, just remember that I´m safe, I´m where I need to be,  and that I´m thinking and praying for you guys. I´ll try and send some pictures to you guys now. Let me know if you got them. I´m sorry If I didn´t address everything I wanted. Ask me next P-day for the things I missed and I will address them. I wish I had more time to talk to you all individually. I´m glad to hear about all the things going on back home.  Anyway, I Love you guys!!!
 
Rivera and I are trying to send pictures but it´s saying the file size is too large, etc etc and plus the members´ internet here is really slow. I'm soooooo sorry.. I´ll have to send them next week if I can. I´m doing my best to make you guys happy and update you. Being a missionary is so stressful.

Love you guys!
 
Logan sent this to me later after I had responded to his email:
Oh, hey. We´re still here at the members house. Sorry if anything I said worried you at all. I´m actually feeling loads better talking with some of them. I´m not having any problems understanding. I feel like the mission will be a lot like this, being really good some days and really bad others. I wanted to email again before I left to tell you where we live. Rivera and I don´t remember the exact address but it´s  Rua da Grecia. That´s our street. I don´t know if that´ll help at all, but I´ll be sure to get it next time. Anyway, tudo bem! Eu não posso esperar ate o próxima dia de preparação. eu quero que vocês sempre lembrem que eu sempre teria o Senhor ao lado de mim! I don´t know if that is good portuguese but I just wanted to leave something for you. Love you Mom! I´m feeling awesome!
 

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