My Shampoo is Vegan

Dear Amigos (Yep. Its the same in Portuguese)

It has been a good week. I feel like I have kind of started to get the schedule down and get used to it but I still miss yall like crazy. Anyway, heres my week.

Wednesday (August 8, 2018)

Today was our second P Day outside of the CTM. We went to the Campinas Temple this morning and it was beautiful as always. After the Temple we went to the haircut shop to get Elder Abbott a hair cut (Generally you need to go to the haircut place to get your hairs cut). He was getting a normal haircut then suddenly told the barber to shave it off and now he looks like he should be in the military with his buzz cut. But hey, he wont have to cut it for a long time ;) We also tried acai and it is so stinking good. Today was a really good day for Portuguese because, for one, during choir, I was talking to a missionary from Brazil and he asked if I was Brazilian. It made me so happy. Then in our room I had a 15 min conversation, in Portuguese, with my roommates about soccer.

Thursday (August 9, 2018)

Today was kind of a rough day. Our district kind of hit a collective wall. Everyone was super stressed out and was way tired. It was a pretty hard day but then Elder Abbott came up with the great idea to do Jeopardy in Portuguese. It was a great idea and it boosted everyones moral. I think that we are going to keep doing it. Also I say Connor Jones (Now Elder Jones) from Davis and it was way cool to see someone from measly little Kaysville.

Friday (August 10, 2018)

Pretty normal day today nothing too exciting. A weird thing though is that I have only known the people in my district for about 3 weeks and it feels like I have known them for years.

Saturday (August 11, 2018)

Today was a really nice day to refocus on what really matters. An different Instructor was helping us while people in our district were practicing teaching our fake investigators. Her name is Irma (Sister) Gonzales. She spoke no English but was definitely sent and spoke by the Spirit. She had me and my companion read Galatians 5:22 which talks about the gifts of the Spirit and said to us (in Portuguese) "Elders, do you feel the Spirit when you preach in Portuguese? Because if you cannot feel the Spirit while preaching, how will your investigators? If you cannot recognize the Spirit, how will they?" She spoke like Elder Holland with kindness but fierceness and it was just what I needed. She later said that when she walked into our classroom she felt and could almost see the potential in us. She said, "Elders, the Lord sees potential in you but how can He work with it if you cannot see it in yourselves. Elders, do not be afraid. There is no time to be afraid. Your work will save souls. Love these people. Love the work. Love the Lord. Please Elders. They need you." Wow. That will set your priorities straight. I hope I dont forget that experience. Just love. Nothing else will bring more happiness or righteousness.

Sunday (August 12, 2018)

Today was a weird day. But I learned a lot. I think that my understanding of Portuguese is coming along well but I still have to work at it because I have a goal to be fluent by Christmas. But if the Lord helped Nephi build a boat, he can help me learn Portuguese.

Monday (August 13, 2018)

Today was a pretty hard day actually. Not because anything bad happened but because I was a little bit sick and it hit me today with a runny nose and a tiny sore throat. (Im really fine, I dont need to come home haha). I think the worst part was thought that today was pretty tedious. I was kinda bored. Bored of studying the language for 10 hours a day. Bored of being in the same classroom for 12 hours a day. Nothing bad just kinda bored. You know? Oh well. I really do like studying the scriptures though! You learn so many things about Nephi and his situation and how amazing he was if you really think about it.

Well a pretty good week overall! Portuguese is coming. I can now do a Portuguese lesson for 30 minutes with no notes so thats something.

I think Ill leave you all with some random thoughts that Ive had.

• My shampoo is vegan just in case I hated natural food and also in case I wanted to try and eat my shampoo.
• The ant colony that comes out of my shower faucet is named San ANTonio. They experience frequent hurricanes.
• My roommate thinks that Lebron is not the best player in the NBA. He thinks its Paul George so thats hilarious.
• In São Paulo they serve hot dogs with mashed potato in them.

Love you all! Hope yall survive another week.

Elder Allen