We got to go see a show at JSU (Jacksonville State University) and one of the church members is in the band, plays the trumpet, which is the best instrument, and so we got to see their practice show for the alumni. I got pictures so I will send those.
Hola familia e amigos!
This week went by pretty fast, but some days pretty slow. I feel like I am getting a lot better feel out here in the "mission-field" as we call it. I have learned a lot and we had some cool stuff happen this past week. Let's see..
So last wednesday we had a multi-zone conference where a lot of the missionaries from the Birmingham Alabama mission, this area, went to Birmingham and heard from our Mission president (or our top guy pretty much, he is in charge of the area that we are in and stuff). It was pretty cool to see al the missionaries. We have been continuing to teach the fmaily from Panama and it ahs been going well, actually we teach them tonight so I got to prepare for that haha But yeah, we ahve been seeing them and it has been goibng well, they watched the Restoration DVD which talks about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and they said they loved it so that is always good. The 2 older sons of hers are cool and they always kick aroudn the soccer ball with me and ask me how to say stuff in Portuguese and then I will ask them how to say it in Spanish so it's pretty cool to see the similarities between the two. I am always soo excited to go see them and the mom always answers the door with a giant smile on her face when she sees us so it's pretty sweet. She also says our accent is easier to understand then the Southern one so that is also why she is glad we talk to her haha I thought that was pretty funny.
Sometimes people talk and go on and on and on and then they stop and later you reflect back and realize "wait, I heard something about deer hunting, beer, football, Roll Tide, and a truck.." not everyone is like this actually only a small group, but it is common to run into to someone, say "have a nice day", and then realize you had no clue what the heck that person was saying haha They all put The phrase "Roll Tide" which is for Alabama football. For example:
"...I mean that deer came out of no where and I was driving down south and yeah Roll Tide.."
"...yeah I am busy picking up my kids and then I come home, turn on the TV Roll Tide and sit back..."
"...well Roll Tide, let's go..."
"...You say you from California? Roll Tide that's a long ways to go..."
"...HA HA! Roll Tide baby!..."
now these are just some of the many uses of Roll Tide haha but not everyone says it and not everyone sits back and sips on beer so I will get that out of your heads haha They are nice people and like any other place, they have their own things. They say Ya'll soo much out here too.
We had a baptism for Michael, he is married to a girl in the ward named Sky. She just got baptized about 2 months ago and introduced him into the church so it was cool, he is an awesome guy and he said it ahs been the best change he could make. he quit smoking in a week, one week! now his wife (Sky) either makes him eat candy or chew gum when he gets a slight craving for a cigarrette but he is really striong now,. They already have 3 kids from previous relationships but just in the 2 or so weeks I have been here, I have seen how they have came together more as a family.
So we got our transfer calls this morning. Every 6 weeks or so we have what's called a "transfer" where you can, or maybe not, get reassigned to another city in the area, like a neigboring town or so but it usually is to change things up or so, your president is the one who telle you. but all the missionaries usually anticipate it and wonder if they are going to be switched, and if so, where. My companion and I got our call and we are staying so that is good because I really want to continue teaching here, I mean, I have only been here 2 weeks and I still don't know where the heck anything is haha Some missionaries have been in their areas/cities for 6 or 7 transfers, or some switch around more so for now I am here for another 6 weeks ooorr until I get my visa (which I hope is soon because I am sooo anxious to learn more Portuguese).
Yesterday was Fast Sunday, which is where we don't eat for 2 meals and when we go to church we share our testimonies, or our feelings of basically anything really. But anyways, I got up and shared my testimony about how I love the church, grateful to serve in this area and get to know the South a little bit more haha and yeah, and then I wanted to share a little bit in Portuguese and I looked back at the branch President and they gave the ol' nod of approval and I was off. I think I spoke for 3 or so minutes straight in Portguese and sometimes it just flowed off my tongue to where I wasn't even thinking about how to phrase things or what I wanted to say. It was really cool and a lot of people came up to me afterwards and said how much they enjoyed it and how they loved hearing it. This one lady said they don't have a lot of boys leave for missions because well, they don't have a lot of members of their branch (which is smaller then a ward), so she said it was soo nice to heard me speak. I thought it was a pretty neat experience and I am glad I did it.
Got to hear President Boyd K. Packer speak last night and it was amazing but something he said that stood out to me was "no matter what you have going on in your life, the Lord has prepared a way for you to come back." and I also liked "overcoming discouragement is part of the test...do not give up!" I thought this was awesome because it applies to me here on my mission, everyone out there, and all of you guys! It really does, just think about what you have that is a problem of something that you struggle with or has been hard for you and if you keep trying and turn to Him, it will be ok. I know this and I can't express it enough. It works, 100% guarantee.
No comments:
Post a Comment