Dear Everyone!!!
Holy cow! What a week it
has been. I feel like I have been here for about 2 months now. But it
has been so so amazing. This is crazy!!
Wednesday (My first full day here)
On
our first day we got up at 5 in the morning to go to the temple in
Campinas. I was so tired so I wasnt thinking straight and when we were
about to board the bus someone says, "Elder Allen, did you forget a
tie??" Of course I did. Literally the most Campbell thing I have ever
heard is to forget a tie on your first day as a missionary. But the run
up and down the 6 flights of stairs was a good one. Wow! But the Temple
was absolutely beautiful and it was amazing to be in the house of the
lord. Afterward we had a devotional. I think the most amazing sound in
the world is to here the Army of God singing at the top of their lungs. "Called to serve our King!!!" It amazes me that even though I dont
know what anyone is saying most of the time I can still feel the
Spirit.
Thursday
Thursday was mostly
a day of instruction. We heard from President Silva but here you say it
Presidenche Silva. We got our districts and started studying together.
My companion is Elder Abbott who is one of the most hard working people I
have ever met. He is constantly pushing me to follow "Perfect
Obedience". He is always saying "Obedience brings blessings but
Perfect Obedience brings miracles." The other people in my district are
Elder Evans, Elder Hughes, Elder Gillespe, Elder Harris, Elder Sato,
Elder Cannell, Sister Jensen and Sister Tew. We know how to laugh but
also how to feel the Spirit. It is a great group.
Friday
Friday
was our first full day in the classroom learning about the Gospel,
about Portuguese and about our instructors girlfriend. We had a kind of
Physical Activity time and it was great to get away from all of the
studying and just play basketball.
Saturday
On
Saturday we taught our first lessons to our fake investigators Victor
and Leandro. The only problem is that the whole lesson has to be in
Portuguese. It was so hard but then you have to remember that we have
been here for less than a week and we are already teaching lessons in
Portuguese. The Lord is so kind to help us with this beautiful language.
Sunday
Sunday
was so much busier than usual. I thought Sunday was supposed to be a
day of rest but apparently that phrase doesn´t translate well into
Portuguese. ;) We had Sacrament Meeting and talks and Devotionals and
everything. Today at choir though the Spirit filled the room so much it
was palpable. I felt an incredible love for everyone in that room and if
I felt like that towards people that I dont even know, imagine how much
more God loves His children. I also had an amazing experience on Sunday
and I´m just going to quote my journal. ´´I have been wondering and
asking Heavenly Father how to deal with some small annoying things my
companion does. Right as I was about to fall asleep a voice said, "Get
up, and open your scriptures and I will tell you." I have been trying
hard to listen to Revalation the first time so I got up and the first
verse that I saw was 1 Nephi 11:22 about the Love of God. I then heard
another voice say "I will always keep my promises." Wow that humbles
you. But it was an incredible experience and such a tender mercy from
the Lord.
Monday (yesterday)
Yesterday
was kind of uneventful but something really fun that happened last
night was that I busted my head open :) (Dont worry Mom, I´m fine!) I
was leaning down to put away my scriptures and my head got impaled by a
brass thing inside my closet. It was bleeding quite a bit for a decent
amount of time so that was fun. But hey, dont worry about it. I still
got the light out by 10:30 and only got a little bit of blood on my
pillow. Hahahaha. (Really though I´m fine. It doesnt even hurt anymore.)
I just want to say a couple of things before I sign off until next Tuesday.
- The keyboard here doesnt have a apostrophe key so I have to use the accent button and thats a lot harder so if I dont have an apostrophe thats why. :)
- I can now testify with assurity that the gift of tongues is so real. I have been here a week and I can pray in Portuguese, bear my testimony in Portuguese and have a basic conversation in Portuguese. No thanks to me though. I am just trying and that is all that He asks for.
- I miss every single one of you like crazy. I really hope you all are doing great without me to look after you ;)
- And last thing. Please. Just because I am not there doesnt mean you cant talk to me or email me. Please tell me about everything. I want to hear it all. I may not be able to respond to a lot of you just because I dont have a lot of time to email right now but I promise you I will read it.
You all are amazing and I just want to bear my testimony in Portuguese. (Forgive me. Its still not very good haha :)
Eu
sei que nosso querido Pai Celestial nos ama. Eu sei que A Igreja de
Jesus Cristo es um igreja perfeito. Eu sei que Joseph Smith fui uma
profeta de Deus e que o Livro de Mormon é um livro de Deus. No e nome de
Jesus Cristo Amen.
