August 14, 2007

OK so I've been in the field one week now and this is my first P day. My companion is Elder Eric Maughan. Mom, he says that his mom talked to you on a website. Actually that was one of the first things he told me when we met, which was at the bus station, which is where everyone meets their new companions at the transfer. My area is called Cruzeiro. The bus stop was actually in our area so after I said bye to the three other guys from my district at the CTM who came to Brasilia with me (Elder Day, Elder Barton and Elder Valentine, all of whom I love) we started walking with my bags to our house. It wasn't far, I didn't mind. We almost got hit by a few buses though. Drivers are crazy all over Brazil, I thought it was just Sao Paulo. I miss Sao Paulo. Well, I miss the CTM. Sao Paulo sucks. Anyways, our house is a dump. It has walls, a roof, beds, everything we need to survive, but it's a dump. It holds up, I think it's fine. The funny thing is that Cruzeiro is one of the richest places in Brazil, yet we live in the smallest house. If there is one thing I could change about our little one-room house it would be the bathroom. It's really small. When we go to the bathroom our knees hit the wall, so you have to sit sideways on the toilet, it's not natural. And rather than having a designated place in the bathroom as a shower, there's just a shower head that comes out of the wall and you stand there. It's all truck stop/janitor's closet style. Everything gets wet. If your at the sink and you drop your toothbrush it's over. As for the work.....well,I really don't know the language, but it's only been a week. Maybe things will pick up. I read Alma 32 last night, it made me feel a little better. But yesterday at Zone Conference (which by the way, is done in Portuguese and I didn't know a single word). Let me go back a little. Before we went to the bus station to meet our companions, we were picked up at the airport by Presidente Aidukaitis, his wife, and the assistants to the President. We took pictures and did some obligatory proselyting and then a van took us to see the mission office and then to Presidente's house. There we had lunch, went over rules, etc. then we had interviews with the President. My interview went well. When I walked out, everyone was in the backyard practicing how to baptize. I joined in. I dropped a Brazilian. The APs made us do some uncomfortable stuff, like stand up on a chair and preach to them in Portuguese, which I don't speak. One of them said "be prepared to teach multitudes", he really said that. Anyways, awkward. The first night was good though. All we did was walk to a member's house, in an extra rich area, and they fed us pizza and Coca-cola and then gave us a ride home. We drove past a Wal-mart. I wouldn't have guessed that on my first night in my mission in Brazil I would have ate Domino's pizza and drove past Wal-mart listening to Pink Floyd in the Bishop's counselor's nice Volkswagon. Lex, as for losing a little of your personality, don't worry, I'm losing mine too. We can become losers together. Not that I wasn't already. But because I'm trying to only speak Portuguese all day, I have no personality. I have a personality in English, but not at all in Portuguese, because I can't speak it. I mean maybe I have the personality of an infant or something. I stay quiet a lot of the time. And thoughts I would normally share I keep to myself. Did you start school at MCC? Do you love it? If school, if it sucks, pressing forward is the best thing to do. I'm sure that's the best thing for me to do here. Hmm...anything else? We had one baptism this week. A girl named Poliane. There is an incredible emphasis on baptisms in this mission. Maybe because my Mission President baptized over 1,000 souls on his mission. It's weird, it all about the numbers. I don't like that but whatever! We taught her twice and she was baptized. That was it. I guess that's just what happens here. There will be a temple here sooner than I thought. You need 12 stakes in an area (not a mission area, just an area...I don't know how the Church delineates it) to have a temple. There is 10 in the Brasilia area. Elder Maughan says don't be surprised if they might announce a Brasilia temple at Conference in a few months. That's a happy thought. But whatever, I don't make a difference here. I don't even speak Portuguese. My companion says it's time to go. I love you all very very much! Jordan