Dear Everyone,
What a week it has been. Crazy stuff and wonderful spiritual stuff and everything else has happened. So lets get right into it!
Monday (September 3, 2018)
Today
was the last day here at the CTM and last day as a district. We gave
each other blessings and it was such a strong and powerful spiritual
experience to stand beside other men of the Priesthood. It is super
crazy that tomorrow is Day 1 in the field. I am kind of freaking out.
Tuesday (September 4, 2018)
Today
was a crazy day. We got up at 5 so that we could catch the plane from
São Paulo to Porto Alegre at 8. We arrived at 10:30, went to the Porto
Alegre Temple to take pictures, then we went to have lunch with
President and Sister Souza. At their home we talked a lot about how a
mission works. Afterword we went to the mission offices and had an
interview with President Souza, and had a lot more training. Then we
slept in a hotel. Cool beans. Im tired. Goodnight!
Wednesday (September 5, 2018)
Today we had breakfast at the hotel. Nice.
Then we had a boatload of more training. Nice, but less delicious. Then
we had lunch. Nicer. Also, I found out where I am serving. It is a city
called Pelotas and is the second biggest city in the state of Rio
Grande do Sul; Nicest. But the really crazy part is that right now I am
sitting in a random apartment with my Brazilian companion Elder Lira. He
doesnt know English so thats a good time too. Pelotas is pretty small, I
think. I dont actually know because we got here at 9:30.
Thursday (September 6, 2018)
What.
A. Day. First real day out here in the field. We woke up at 6:30, then
got ready and studied for 4 hours. I never knew that there were so many
different types of study. Personal study, companion study, language
study, Preach My Gospel study. But then the real work began. From 12
until 9:30 we were walking and talking. Teaching and preaching. It is
exhausting but so good. Our area is exclusively dirt roads except for
the main road. The homes are tiny shacks and have no insulation. And the
people are some of the nicest and most humble people I have ever met.
We visited one family in particular. Marcelo and Suelen and their two
kids Brenda and Lucas. They are so amazing. Their house has two rooms
and they have no floor. Just dirt. But their kids are so nice and when I
drew a picture for Brenda, she said she would hang it up in her room.
The parents are incredible too. In one week, they stopped smoking and
drinking and they are getting married in a week so that they can get
baptised that night.
Friday (September 7, 2018)
My feet hurt. But I am so full of joy. It
is so difficult but so worth it. (Im sorry, that sounded really sappy)
Today we visited a lady named Tais. It was really hard because she is an
investigator who has become less interested because of some things that
some members said and did. But our visit with her was great. We went
over the simple truths of the Gospel and the Spirit was so strong in her
house. Never give up on someone and please be nice to everyone. We also
taught a drug dealer so that was cool.
Saturday (September 8, 2018)
Today I learned a good life lesson. We
visited the husband of a recently converted woman and he had a ton of
questions, but about profound doctrinal things. He says he wont get
baptised and I think it is because he doesnt know things like how Noah
built an arc, or why God flooded the earth and didnt burn it, or if the
Lord literally took a rib out of Adam. We need to remember that the most
important thing is that God loves us and that Jesus Christ lives and is
our Savior. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. Hold on to
what is most important.
Sunday (September 9, 2018)
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE!!! I
love you! Today we had church and it was great. It was testimony meeting
for us because they had stake conference last week. Such powerful
testimonies. Later in the afternoon we visited a recently converted 14
year old boy who played video games during our entire lesson. It was
pretty funny to be honest. But one of my favorite parts of the day
happened after that. Today the two best teams in Porto Alegre played.
Gremio and Internacional. We were just walking down the road and
suddenly, it seemed like the street exploded. Everyone was screaming,
either in joy or disgust. Inter scored. Hahaha. Even then I thought, "Wow that was quieter than I expected". Dont worry. 15 seconds later
we could hear fireworks going off everywhere. These are my kind of
people!!
Random Thoughts:
- There are lots of stray things here. I have seen: 300 stray dogs, 150 stray chickens, 20 stray and dead cats and serious probably 15 stray horses. I didnt even know that you could lose a horse. Its bigger than you are!!
- Some guy started a fire in the middle of the road on my fourth day and I didnt even think anything of it because I had already seen 2 that week.
- Frogs here sound like a screaming cat mixed with a race car. Its so strange.
- Everyone has a phone even though they dont usually have a door on their house.
- My companion burps a lot.
- Portuguese is hard.
I really hope everyone is doing great fabulous things. Love you all!!
Elder Allen
