This week was awesome! First, a little more about Recife. The sun goes down here at around 5:30 pm. So for three hours we are working in the dark. It's pretty cool. I'm not sure on when the sun comes up, but I woke up one morning at 4:30 am, and it was light out. We are not far outside of Recife. We can see the city really well from parts of our area. We can get there in 30 minutes. We take a bus and then catch the train. We actually go to Recife tomorrow for more training.
To send emails, we go to a LAN house (internet cafe). It costs about 3 reals (about $1) for the time to write emails. It is pretty fun. We do laundry at our apartment. We have a little washing machine and dry the clothes on a line. We just hang them up and go to work. We walk a lot, but its not that bad, it feels really good! I convinced Elder Carrari to go on a run with me today, and it felt so good! We do a lot of talking with members and teaching lessons to investigators. When we aren't doing that and have some free time, we knock doors (clap outside). It's so great!
I maybe worried you a little last week when I said we have no food in the house. We don't, but have no worries! I have a full tummy always! The members here are fantastic and keep us fed! They give us lots of treats and goodies that I'm never crazy starving! The one meal a day thing is definitely a cultural thing. A lot of people are poor, so if they eat one huge meal in the middle of the day, it avoids having to spend money on two other full meals. That's also why it is a lot of high carb stuff like rice and beans. We had hard boiled eggs this week and they tasted sooo good! We just haven't had time to buy food yet, but we are doing that when we get home after this.
We have the best members here. Every night when we are walking around, we have anywhere from 1-7 members walking with us. When we need a member to come to a house with us, they are always ready. We ran out of phone minutes this week and could only accept quick calls from non-missionary numbers, and they would call us to see if we needed them! They always give us snacks and random treats, and we have lunch in one members house every day!
This week we marked two people for baptism. One could be baptized Saturday, but we have to get permission because she has been attending a ward that isn't in our area. But she is ready, and she started filling out a membership record. The other is a man named R--- that wasn't too excited when we first challenged him, because he didn't know if it was true. We promised him that if he read and really sincerely asked God before and after reading, he would receive an answer. And he did! He read 1 Nephi 6: 2-4, and received his answer. He understood that Nephi could have written more about his interesting lineage, but he instead he wrote the things God needed us to know. That's so cool, and it was really a miracle. He is living with a less active member, so they are going to get married, and then we are ready to baptize him!
Elder Carrari is a great trainer. I'm learning a lot from him. He will randomly turn to me during FHE, and say, "You have a scripture, right?" So I have to make something up on the spot, but I have found those impromptu messages are some of my better messages. He likes to make fun of the dogs here, and twice this week two HUGE dogs stuck there heads over the fence and scared us really bad. It was so funny!
I feel good with the language right now, I still have a lot of work to go with it, but I can communicate with the members when I need to, and I am speaking more clearly in lessons. The Lord truly helps us, and I see it every day! We had 6 investigators at church on Sunday, which was great!
There were a couple of days this week that were tough because I didn't understand any of the people, and they always talk about me to Elder Carrari. But Sunday was awesome! We went to two wards, and they were both primary programs. They sing the same music as they do in Utah, and I really felt the Spirit! And that really helped me during our lessons that night. I was more confident, and the people I was talking to could understand me. I can talk with the members as we are talking, and it feels so good! I am feeling really good right now.
Oh, and we had Lasagna twice yesterday! Its good, but different. They always use ham, and it is interesting. Still not as good as you make it though Mom!!!
The Lord really helps us when we put our faith in him. We still have difficulties, but he will never let them get the best of us!
I love you guys so much, and all you have done for me, and I hope this email finds you all well!
Love,
Elder Nielson
Love your letters Elder Nielson. Keep smiling-your positive attitude is inspiring. God bless you in all you do
ReplyDeleteLove, Aunt Linda