Sunday, September 4, 2011

August 29, 2011


Dear family and friends,

Sounds like a very busy week. I´m glad I wasn´t there because I just would have slowed things down by forgetting to do my part or something. :) That is great that you guys had so many blessings come to you throughout the wedding week. I am glad to hear that the wedding was good and I wish I could have been there (except for the picture part; I can´t stand the whole picture taking thing. I can't handle more than 30 pictures). Now you guys can kind of have your life back, and for Tessa and Dan they can begin their new lives, and just sit back and slow down a bit and enjoy life, rather than worry what the next stressful thing will be.

Oh, and talking about stress, I have figured out how to deal with it. If I am starting to feel stress, I slow down a bit and look at what kind of stress it is. If it is pushing me to be a better missionary or person and follow God, then I keep that stress. If it isn´t doing those things, then I stop everything, sit down, and start thinking. I just start thinking how I can get rid of it, or even better, transfer it into stress that will motivate me to do better. I have to stop everything or else it will just get worse and worse.

I am not sure if I told you guys yet, but did you know that Brazilians clean the bathrooms differently than we do. They begin by splashing everything with water, putting some soap on the floor, and scrubbing with a broom. It´s different than I am used to. They do the same thing in the kitchen, too. Oh, and none of the houses have carpets. Just hard floors. Not hardwood floors but just hard floors. And the bathroom has a little gutter on the floor because the shower is the same level as the floor. It´s not like a bathtub. The good thing though is that the water is perfectly fine to drink and, get this, Brazilian water tastes more like Oregon water than Utah water does. However, I don´t drink the water too much because we have been asked to use the filtration bottle.

We had a huge thunderstorm today. A few of the lightning flashes were less than a mile away from hour house.

Yeah, about the photos, I don´t really know how I can make the quality go down but every week I will download as many pictures as I can and will eventually catch up.

So we weren´t able to do a lot of lessons this week because a lot of the investigators were gone, but we made a few contacts. We had investigators come to a baptism for a member family on Saturday so that they could feel the spirit of that, and I am sure that they did.

I did a little better with talking to the investigators and giving a message and bearing my testimony, but at times I just cannot focus at all. Sometimes I have no idea what is going on because I do not know the language well. For example, we had a conference that a general authority came to this week, and it was about 5 hours long but it was all in Portuguese so I did not understand a lot of it. After President and Sister Fernandez gave their talk, I just lost all focus so I remember very little of what the General Authority said. I don´t even remember his name. And my companion hasn´t yet told me a single thing that he said. I talked to him about it and he said, "Tanto faz" or "It doesn´t matter for you." I have felt a little frustrated this whole week because he stopped translating English for me because he thinks that I will learn faster. But I feel like I can´t really do anything if I don´t understand what is going on!

Other than that, I think the language is coming along pretty great. I am looking forward to the completion of these first 12 weeks of training. No time left.

Elder Brady

1 comment:

  1. Hi Elder Brady, Really enjoyed your letter. It must be very frustrating wanting to understand all that is being said but cannot fully yet. I remember Michelle's frustration with the Korean language....and then she came home speaking so fluently that even your Auntie Ann couldn't believe it was Michelle. I have a feeling the story will be the same with you. Give it time. It really hasn't been very long....the gift of tongue apparently isn't always an overnight situation. I do believe Heavenly Father will bless you.
    Well, we are getting ready to head back to Hawaii...I am so not ready...the summer has gone by too quickly and there is still so much to do. Besides...Hawaii is a long way from children and grandchildren...but it has been a blessing to see many of my loved ones.
    I know you are where the lord needs you. I so firmly believe he sends his missionaries to where a particular person needs that very missionary to teach them. I have always felt that about the missionary that came to your mother and me.....and it was because of a missionary that your family was able to raise you in righteousness using the gospel principles...and look where you are....amazing.
    It is easy to take the gospel for granted...but having it in our lives is an incredible blessing...so many of our brothers and sisters without it and you have the blessing of sharing it and concentrating on that...I envy you...and love you and will continue to pray for you.
    Love grandma Hankel Ferre

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