Monday, December 15, 2014

Second Week in the Mission Field


Okay!!! My week was great, at the beginning I knew nothing, and now I can actually talk to these people!

My companion/trainer is Elder Cavalcante and he is from Fortulaza, Brazil. He has an accent from the north, which is way fast, and he has to slow way down for me to understand him sometimes. But his accent is understandable, and he's a lot like Dad. He makes jokes and teases me plenty. But as always, I play back. My accent is difficult, apparently, for people native here to understand. [I have an ] American accent, and half of them don't have a clue where I'm from just because I have an accent that isn't from Brazil.

We don't have to go anywhere to do laundry, as we have the things to do it in our house. I don't have pictures of the house ... oops … Next P-day. I have been talking with Blake and Jason [friends from home who are now missionaries], and I'm glad I have. They have been a great help here. Oh yeah! Will you send a paisley tie here? Or a few? Apparently they don't have them down here, and all my encounters with Brazilian missionaries have started with them asking if I have one to trade with them. My companion actually won’t stop bugging me about it some days.

I had a great experience that I'm sharing with just you because it was way special for me: My companion and I were "knocking" gates on a really sketchy looking street and we got talking to one woman named Rose (Hoe-see) and we got to enter her home and start teaching her. She actually felt the Spirit right off the bat and teared up after the prayer. We taught the Restoration (the first lesson) and set a date to go back and talk to her next Sunday because she works every other afternoon. 

Now, on Tuesday we had a brief switch of companions as mine is the district leader here. Elder Peay and I went out and proselyted most of the day. We found a wonderful family and taught them the Restoration. After which we found a really interested investigator who has a lot of "deep doctrine" questions. (for example, are there more than one God, where did He come from, etc.) I was mostly following Elder Peay lesson-wise, as I had NO idea what was going on. I chose the streets, and we "knocked" them. That's my outward value right now. You’re going to see "knocked" like that a lot just because we don't actually knock. Those of you in Brazil now know. You clap outside the gates. We actually were really careful that day because there was some really drugged up guy wandering around beating things. 

We have some great families we're teaching. One investigator is getting baptized this week! whoo! We know she's feeling the Spirit because we showed her “The Testaments” film and she cried from when Christ was crucified all the way to the end.

My companion and I actually missed an appointment one day this week due to (oddly) weather. When it rains here usually it's not hard and in the evening. But to our surprise on Wednesday we actually just about drowned in the street! It started raining and neither of us remembered a coat or umbrella, and we got stuck under a little shop sun shade and waited for something like an hour before we could get out from under it, and we were still wet up to our knees! More, the streets weren't safe to walk on due to the torrents of water pouring down them! That was an adventure I was glad I didn't have a camera for!

Beyond that, we're out doing the Lord's work, and I couldn't be more excited to be learning the most difficult "romantic language" in the world. Until next week!
Elder Smith and Elder Cavalcante

Elder Smith and his mission president

More singing at the Christmas Conference

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