Week 3

week 3-companion-elder rindlisbacher

 

once a week to send emails is not enough!!

i got two mission ties letters the night of last pday, so right after i sent the email pretty much. that might happen today also! i also forgot to bring them, so i cant respond to any questions : ( i will for sure bring them next week! i also got a letter from grandma and grandpa, dylan parry, and andy! it was so fun hearing how everything is going : ) thanks so much guys! i got one from you also with the addresses of the missionaries and some other things, but i cant remember if that was before my last email or not...

this has been a pretty good and bad week. so at the devotional last week at the end of our pday, we had a devotional by the mtc president. halfway through a huge strom rolled in and we could hear the rain just pouring down and lightning right outside the building. it was so intense! the power went out about 5 minutes later, so the generator kicked in and got that on, but then all the fire alarms started going on, but we just started singing hymns until they got them turned off. it was super crazy but cool. i feel like that message was super important for us to hear and thats why there were so many problems.

on wednesday i got a companion of my own! his name is elder rindlisbacher and he came from the provo MTC. its nice to have one of my own because working in a group of three is kind of hard. we get along really well so all is just great!

on thursday, i started to do a challenge for myself to read the Book of mormon in 4 weeks or less. so i started all over! ive been reading around 20 pages a day and broke the 100 mark yesterday. i really want to do this because i want to read the book of mormon all the way through just for the sake of reading it. not for seminary or school or anything.

i got really sick around wednesday or thursday with a sore throat and just felt really weak. it lasted up until today pretty much. it made it really hard to focus in class and to stay positive, but im just glad that i am better now :)

we had TRC again (where you teach volunteers) and i feel that it went better this time! me and my new companion taught pretty well together and the person thought we did pretty well!

later that night, me and my companion made a catapult out of an exercise band and a chair. we launched bars of soap down the hall. all the brasileiros loved it and it was super fun :)

we made a goal as a district to have english fasts for this week. we did it on monday, we will do it tomorrow, and friday. the first day went pretty well! we definitely did not talk nearly as much, but it was all in portuguese! hopefully we will get better and better as the days go on.

me and my companion taught a really really good lesson last night. it was something i really needed because i was beginning to become a little discouraged with my teaching. we had previously invited our pretend investigator to church and she had been really the book of mormon. so yesterday after teaching her about the spirit and how it was the spirit that she was feeling while at church and while praying to know if the book of mormon was true, we asked her if she would like to have this all the time and work with us to prepare to be baptized. she was hesitant and asked a bunch of questions that me and my companion were able to answer together. at the end of the lesson i could feel the spirit so strong and she committed to work with us and be baptized. i think the teacher was feeling it too because it seemed as though she was tearing up a little bit. it was so nice to feel the spirit during that lesson because she was asking tough questions and its something that hasnt really happened to me yet while teaching.

last night i had a really fun time with the brazilians in my hall. i have grown sooo close with alot of them and love them so much. even though its really hard to communicate with them, between my broken portuguese and their broken english, we are able to talk pretty well. i was showing them all the pictures that i have and they loved seeing our family and the snow. i played soccer with them all in the hallway last night and it was super fun. they are amazingly good so it was really fun : ) they always come in and talk with me at night about the church and their families and my families. i just love them so much : )

my stomach is doing great so far! definitely a little gassy, but life is more fun that way. the food has been a problem for some of the guys here, luckily not me though. visas arent too big of a problem now i dont think because the big push is over. now its kind of an awkward time, so most of the missionaries will be coming from provo. my companion said that there is one more missionary in provo who is in our week, so we will see when he joins us. the pants fit as well as when i left! i havent washed them yet because i have been wearing all of them so they dont really get dirty. the nights have been sooo hot though recently! until two nights ago i would fall asleep and wake up in my own sweat every night, kinda gross huh? today for P-day i was able to go to the temple again which was fantastic! then i went out and bought another soccer jersey, some crayons for my scriptures, and mailed some letters.  i have also sent you a letter before and another today with one for you and dad, and one for nat. i hope you have gotten the first one!

everything is still going pretty well. the language is as tough as ever, but i am still progressing! i just want to get out in the field and teach for real even though im incapable of teaching  in fluent portuguese yet. how is everything going at home?! how are you and dad, amy jeremy and anne, mel and dave, and nat? i still cant explain how excited i am that she is going to brazil for her mission. she will absolutely love it here! if you ever see any of my friends, tell them hi for me! i love you so much and i am so thankful for everything that you guys have done for me! its so great to have a family that is so strong in the church. i am a blessed child : )

 

Eu Amo Voce! (i love you)

-Elder Derek Lambert