Oi! Week...5?

Hello hello familia!

 

How's everyone doing?! How's the North Ogden and such? Sooooo..... basically I am more than half way through the MTC!!! Wow, I can't believe it! This week was relatively quiet except for that little fact! Our district put our ties up halfway to signify that we are halfway through, and the sisters parted their hair down the middle. It's so weird that I'm more than half way through the mtc. I feel like I've learned so much, but not nearly enough! I am sooo sick of the mtc really, but once i leave, I know i will feel kinda nervous to be away from it's safe sanctuary. Today when we went out on the town to do some errands, some old lady was asking me about a screwdriver, and i have no idea what she was saying to me! I'm really nervous that my time is slowly ticking away, but really, the faster I get out in the field the more i will learn.

 

Everything is going well here though. :) I am happy and definitely used to the schedule now. I enjoy the food here and eat lots of it.... but i don't gain anything! I think I have been at 142 forever (which i guess is a little more than i was at home... but still!). Portgues is muito bom! I love it so much. It's much more fun to speak than English sorry to say! I am stoked for the day i can speak Portugues so well that i will come home and be stressing over learning English again. That will be a hard thing to accomplish, but i know i can do it. It's just making small goals and staying focused day by day. That's really what you have to do here or you will waste your entire time here, and really be in trouble once out in the field. So, i found out that just before we leave, we get to go proselyting out here in Sao Paulo! They take you somewhere random and you and your companion just go wild on preaching and teaching! I'm excited, but nervous, because i can't understand anything people say to me. Here in the mtc I do, but people speak much differently out there! Slang and accents make it crazy to understand!

 

So there was a Brasilian Holiday on Thursday! Kids day.. now why don't they have one of those in America?! It's such a fun holiday! Basically another Christmas. But no one works on this holiday. NO ONE. It's great! And they have at least one holiday like this a month! Brasilians are party people, and they enjoy not working as many people do. But here, it's always a party. :)

 

After our sad goodbyes to Elder Manzano and Fernandez last week, we received new roommates that night! They are sooooo cool!!! I will love them just as much, i know it. They are Elder Lima and.... shoot I can't remember, i will tell you next week! But they don't speak English, which is a very good challenge. We teach them english and they teach us portugues! I was actually helping them learn the missionary purpose and first vision since they don't have it memorized yet in their own language. Pretty ironic, eh? But they are really great, and i can see so many friendships arising from just this little time here.

 

This week was very spiritual for me as well. There were many things that humbled me, strengthened me, and built my testimony. We were re-motivated by this amazing video on the Atonement and Missionary work. It was almost exact to the paper Wade gave me to read during hard times. Basically, missionaries will sometimes ask why it is so hard. The answer is because Salvation was never easy. For anyone. Ever. The Atonement was not an easy thing for Jesus Christ. Being converted to this Gospel was never an easy task for the missionary or the investigator. This is why missionary work is hard. I was stunned by the video, but in a good way. :) Also, we had a district discussion on eternity. That's really broad, but when you think about this life and how small it is in comparison, it's insane. It's mind boggling! Our mortal minds can't comprehend such a thing, but once we move on after this life, we will, and have before in the Pre-mortal life. It's a crazy thing to think about, but so humbling and strengthening too.

 

This week has been good, and i hope for another great week. I love you Mom, Dad, Alisha, Lauralee, Wade, and the rest of you who read this. I am grateful for all the support i've been given. This is such a great work, and everyday i fall more in love with it. I hope everythings going well at home. Stay healthy and safe, and I will try to do the same. :)

 

Tem um boa semana!

 

Com amor,

 

Elder Stevie Bennett