Well, for everyone who doesn't know, my visa hasn't come in, so I have been reassigned to the Georgia Atlanta North Mission until my visa arrives! I know the Lord was preparing me for Georgia after a few cool experiences.
1. My new teacher, Brother McGill, went to Brazil on his mission, but his visa didn't come so he got temporarily reassigned to Georgia (a different mission than me, though)
2. My old teacher, Sister Pettita, is from Georgia, where I am serving
3. My companion, Elder Bohn, is from Marietta, Georgia, the heart of Georgia Atlanta North
4. I've been preparing by playing that Georgia Baseball
Pretty crazy! Another cool thing about my mission is that there are some Portuguese-speaking branches! So I may get to use my almost-Portuguese sometimes! I am so excited! Although, I have found that my Portuguese is not very good. There is a sister here from Brazil going to London Central (Look out for her! Sister Carvalho!) and I tried to speak in Portuguese with her. I understood a lot but I was so confused when she kept saying "Londrinas". It totally threw me off. But that means London so I eventually figured it out. I then told her: "Eu nao fala bom em Portuguese com outros, mas eu posso dar um magnifico licao em o Palavra de Sabadoria"
(I do not speak good Portuguese with others, but I can give one magnificent lesson on the Word of Wisdom)
We're so cool, chillin' in the refrigerator!
So no worries. For lessons, I am good. For conversation...not so much. But I do understand a heck of a lot more Spanish. Elder Snow got his degree in Spanish and then lived in Spain for 5 months on study abroad, so he is definitely fluent. So there are two elders here, Elder Jimenez (from Peru) and Elder Fuentes (from Ecuador), going to the Provo Utah Mission, and they just love us so much. They come and hang out with us all the time. We've all become pretty good friends. They normally follow us to our residence and hang out after class. When they're in our room, we speak to each other in Porto-Spanglish. A mix of Portuguese, Spanish, and English. It gets pretty funny, but it's totally awesome. I'm gonna miss those guys. Another thing that Elder Jimenez started was, when something is awesome, saying: "Ohhhh siiiiiiiiiiiii" which means "Ohhhh yeaaahhh"
So here are all the reassignments of my district:
Me: Georgia Atlanta North
Elder Snow: Georgia Atlanta North
Elder Bohn: Tuscon Arizona
Elder Nash: Fort Worth Texas
Elder Knowles: Georgia Atlanta North (I had a feeling him and I would go to the same place)
Elder Farnsworth: Georgia Atlanta North
Elder Johnson: Fort Worth Texas
Sister Williams: Bllings Montana (where her sister served her mission; pretty cool)
Sister Shumway: New York New York South
Everyone else got their visas.
Getting ready to go into the field!
I am so happy to be going to Georgia! You have no clue how excited I am! Mostly because I may be getting Chik-Fil-A (ohhhh siiiiiiiii). Elder Bohn says the North side of Georgia is better, so I am pumped about that.
I had such a busy week with preparing to leave and In-Field Orientation that I haven't been able to really write anyone letters. I am really sorry, but whenever I even had a fragment of time, it was out in like 2 seconds. I have been really busy this week, but there are letters on their way today!
I leave Monday, early, so today is the last day for anyone to send me DearElders. Thanks everyone for the many birthday packages which I received! My birthday was incredible! I threw myself 2 parties.
Elder Fuentes with my Birthday Balloons!
During church on Sunday, one of the members of our branch presidency gave an incredible talk on faith and he made on of my very favorite analogies. He quoted the scripture: "Faith without works is dead, being alone" and then he said this. Faith and works is like a row boat. One paddle is faith. And one paddle is works. Without the other, you're just going to be paddling in circles. And without either, you're going to sit and nothing will happen. It's important to have faith. But it is more important to exercise that faith through your actions. Faith without works is dead. And what is the first principle of the Gospel? Faith?...Nope. The first principle of the Gospel is Faith in Jesus Christ. So we need to have our faith in him, and our actions reflect that faith in him. I know this church is true, and I know that as we have faith in Christ, and trust in him, all will work out, according to the will of the Lord. This church is true and the Book of Mormon is true. I testify of its power, and I will never deny it. If you haven't read it, read it. Open up a copy and get to work. Have faith that you will find the answers that your soul yearns for, and let your faith be reflected through your diligent reading and studying of it. I know it is true, and through the Book of Mormon and the Bible, we have the fullness of the Gospel restore on the earth today. I know it. I love you guys so much and I am so grateful to be out here serving the Lord. He needs me in Georgia right now. So I will go serve him there until he needs me in Brazil.
I love you guys a ton, and good luck in London! The Lord has some mighty plans for you guys! Go rock that UK.
Tchau!
No comments:
Post a Comment