15 Oct 2012

Helloooooo, Dearest Family!
    Hey thanks for the email Pops it's great to hear from you. I can totally tell the difference between your e-mails and mom's, haha. Love them both! but you just tell me different things, haha. Miss you both so much and love you like crazy! Your fire alarm experience sounds awesome, haha, that's my Dad! The man with the keys :) When I get back your gunna have to take me to work at the temple with you. It sounds like a lot of fun. And good luck with the shed, can't wait to see it! (I'm still bitter that you got a riding lawnmower AFTER I left, haha). Elder Jung! Man I wish I could have gone to see his setting apart and Greg's too, miss those guys, let me know as soon as you hear about Greg's call, Please. You should do some facebook stalking for me and see if Cathy is engaged yet... :) Dad thank you so much dad for always being there for me and being the greatest example in every way, I honestly want to be just like you.
    Michelley Bellys getting married?! Que é isso! WHAT! When did this happen? Who's Alberto? haha, Well shoooot good for her! :) Oh the things you sacrifice for a mission... Tell her congratulations for me and that I love her bunches!
    I just got back from our chapel, our district played volleyball, outside, in the middle of the day, And I'm pretty sure I got a sun burn but it was worth it. It felt great to put on the running shoes and just go crazy. And two of secretaries of the mission president came and played with us. One of them, Elder Langlois, is 7 feet tall and played volleyball for BYU his freshmen year. I was able to hold my own thanks to my awesome sisters, yeah. He made the game interesting, every time he hit it we would all duck and cover, haha, but it was way fun, and hot.
    I´ll say, one thing that Brazil has over America is this.... They celebrate children's day... like father's day or mother's day. Haha, children's day! How cool is that and why hasn't America stepped up to this tradition, haha. What's weird to think I'm almost NOT a teenager anymore... Wooooaaah. Eww I'm getting old almost 20! Two Zero! Crazy.
    So anyway children's day is basically a day where all the stores close and everyone goes and drinks. The streets were packed with lawn chairs, bottles and people. And lots of loud music, haha, I saw a truck with a trailer that was hauling a speaker 5x8 feet. Huge! So a lot of our investigators were intoxicated or passed out on their couches most of the weekend. Before my mission I honestly don't think I've seen a drunk person. But I sure have now. They like to come up to you, shake your hand for five minutes and talk three inches away from your face. But at the same time they are really funny, people that we come in contact with everyday who aren't members, don't want to accept the gospel, but are our friends, they were fun to talk to, and watch them dance to Bob Marley.
    It's amazing to see how happy people can be when they have so little. These people have so little just family, a few possessions... that's it, but they're so happy its awesome, its definitely taught me that you don't need things, worldly possessions to be happy, just a family and a belief in Christ love it.
    This past week we taught the Plan of Salvation to one of our recent baptisms. That was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, I'm not even sure if I could do it in English. There's so many parts and concepts, and putting it all in the right order so it makes sense and actually seems like "A Plan"... Not easy, and then in a different language?! Woah, Time Out. But we've practiced it a few times, drew a picture or two and discussed what is most important and it's coming along. But still needs a few more months of practicing.
    One thing that really drove me crazy this week was just not being able to focus! Not because I was thinking about home or things like that... It was because every two minutes a loud motor cycle would drive by or a car playing super loud music, or someone would yell something, or fireworks would go off or a dog would come and pee on your leg. Things like this that I'm personally not accustomed to, driving me crazy, that I can't focus and stayed focus...ya know. But hopefully I'll get more and more accustomed to the loud active lifestyle here. Its sometimes really gets frustrating, cause if you're distracted in anyway and not thinking about what's being said, what the investigator is saying, the spirit won't be there to help you. I've felt that straight forward. When the spirit isn't there you get nervous, you doubt the knowledge you have of the language and of the principles that you're teaching and rather than opening your mouth and speaking you feel more inclined to shut it and let your companion take over. That's probably the worst feeling ever, not feeling the spirit, cause what takes it place is Satan, Diablo, and he makes you think that you don't know anything, that you´ll never be able to teach, that you're a horrible missionary. So this was all written in third person but it's an experience that I had this past week.
    You can't get down when you can't do something that you desire to do more than anything, when you have a dream that didn't come true, you just have to get off the ground and onto your knees, pray for strength, then get up and keep working hard.
    OH! Almost forgot, this past Sunday was our testimony meeting. Every time I bore my testimony at home or school I would always make a little plan in my head, a little rough draft on what I was going to say right, but right when you stood up my thought would go sit down in my original seat, haha .... Same thing happens in Brazil, haha, but it wasn't that bad for not really knowing the language... I think they understood what I said, haha. It was funny, right when I got up the microphone stopped working so I had to like yell my mediocre Portuguese to the ward, haha, but it was good. Oh! and I blessed the sacrament too! busy, busy, busy.
    So this was my week :) Learning more and more every day!
 ps. How's the pooch? Did you teach her any new tricks?

 Yours Truly,
 ELDER RALPH
 BRAZIL