Sounds like he is feeling the pressures of the language...but seeing the hand of God in his life.
Its really hard here sometimes. I can speak what I want, not well but
i dont
understand people at all when they talk. So it is hard to talk
to people and
during lessons I always zone out after a few minutes of
trying to figure out
what is going on. And after talking to my zone
leader ive learned that Im in
the armpit of my mission. Statistically.
Its the toughest part, Imperatriz is
a fairly horrible city. the
people here drink sooooo much alcohol. And we had
a family of
investigators that were so close to being baptized and they
decided to
open a bar in their house to make money, and the father (hugo)
used to
be a prostitute.....for other men...which I guess is faily
common
here. gross. We cut them pretty quick. But we had our first
Baptism
Saturday. that was awesome. it was good to finally have some
results.
And we have 5 marked for the next few weeks that I really hope
happen.
But crazy story. So after cleaning all day last P day we went to
teach
1 lesson and after we taught Elder Azevedo collapsed and
stopped
breathing. It turns out he had cleaned our bathroom, which is the
size
of a closet, for like 3 hours and had closed the bathroom door
and
inhaled cleaning products the whole time. I panicked. I had no
idea
what to do. well i did but not in Portuguese. Luckily we had
Elder
Camargo with us who called the Hospital and the Bishop, gave Azevedo
a
blessing and then stormed into the closest house a demanded that
they
drive us to the hospital. Everything turned out fine, but it
was
probably the worst day of my life. Had Elder Camargo not been with
us
Azevedo probably would have died. I dont speak well enough to have
done
all of that. And I dont think Camargo was with us by accident.
Elder Yorgason
was in Teresina renewinghis visa which you only do
once, which happened to be
the day Azevedo collapsed so we had his
companion with us. It was an awful
terrible experience of just i
couldnt do anything. It sucked really bad. I
have enough Portuguese to
teach and what not but nowhere near enough to like
have a conversation
with somebody or call a hospital. Its still so hard
sometimes with the
language. The hardest thing is staying positive. Luckily I
go on
splits with Elder Yorgason everyweek and we speak english
to
eachother. Its nice to actually have a conversation with somebody,
like
a real conversation. Its improving everyday but I still suck at
speaking.
Hopefully things will start looking up for you guys, you
guys are always in
my prayers. Tell Colin to pick Gremio or Flamengo
Jersey. They are the
coolest I think. I really like Gremio. This week
was probably the hardest so
far, easily the hardest but im getting
used to it. Itll be awhile until i can
speak the language but itll
come in time. Im sending you guys my love
everyday. Tell Nathan I
mailed him a letter today. I hope everything else is
going well I love
all of you. Oh and Karch your friend Elder Gardner is now
the
Secretary of our mission. I guess hes an animal. I met him once but
I
forgot to tell him I knew you. my bad. Im out of time love you
bye
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Cleaning!!??
Kyle has requested an Ipod with appropriate music. He also mentions the fact that I gave up caffeine the day he left on his mission...oh yes I did...and I haven't had any since he left. This hasn't been easy but I figured I needed a large push to stick to it. So I committed to Kyle that I wouldn't drink it while he was gone. Pretty hard to break that commitment when you read about his commitment!
Please please please get the Ipod to me by the beginning of the month.
right not we have about 10 songs. And I swear if I have to listen to
terrible mormon remakes of 90s songs I'm coming home. Jk, but seriously
Azevedo is obsessed with these missionaries that changed the words to
songs like Born to be Wild, Green Day, and Red Hot Chilipeppers and i
cant listen to it anymore. The growth has definately come and is going
to come for a while. I'll have you know that we spent all P day
cleaning our house. I dont know if I already talked about it if I did
just emphasis but our house was absolutely trashed when I got here.
Like our shower drain was clogged with body hair.....from which part I
dont want to know or think about, our sink to wash our shirts and
stuff was clogged with garbage and so it flooded our laundry room
everytime we used it. Our dishwashing sink is broken. 2 out of our 4
fans were broken (spend 1 hour here and you'll understand why thats the
end of the world) and our fridge was so nasty. Somebody had spilled
beans everywhere and something sticky on top of that so they were
cemented to the bottom of the fridge. And the worst part was there was
a pot of what I think used to be meat that had completely molded over
just sitting in the fridge, I promptly threw that out. And with
Brazilians you either have a clean freak or a nasty dirty person.
Which is my companion. Theres some things that really bother him. Like
I usually sleep until hes out of the shower at like 7 and it really
bugs him that I dont wake up, but hes content living in a hole. And
getting him to clean is so hard, I would clean at least one thing
before personal study everyday but he would just sit there. And
earlier today I was cleaning and he has a copy of one of Uchtdorfs
talks that he has memorized so he plays it and talks over it. And
whilst I was cleaning today he decided to watch and give me his
rendition of Uchtdorfs talk. Super annoying. Luckily for me I have a
mission President who suprised us with a visit for interviews this
week, AND he brought Sister Dias. In my interview I told him about how
nasty our house was and how I dont have money or time to pay and fix
everything. So they came to our house to see if it was as bad as I had
told them and it was much worse. Sister Dias started crying and said
something about dignity and tithing money, I couldnt quite piece
everything together but I got the point. She then left and returned
with well over $200 worth of cleaning supplies, pots, pans pretty much
everything we needed God bless her. So today we cleaned and now our
house is awesome. Im now not afraid to use our dishes or anything.
Tell Colin I'll send his jersey in a little bit, I have some things
like T shirts and what not that I need to send back. I have alot of
stuff that I have no need for. And im gonna send some of my favorite
things back. Im addicted to Guarana Jesus, and this thing called
goiabada. Its like jam but solid made out of guavas its amazing. its
like 1R$ so its super cheap and delicious. So once I gather said
things ill send a package. The thing that drives me nuts is I made the
mistake of buying my jersey in front of Azevedo. He now thinks that I
am made of money. And whats worse is he tells everybody the exact
price of everything Ive bought. Like we had a meeting with the bishop
and his counselors and he told all of them how much my jersey cost and
so now im the stereotypical rich american which is what I dont want or
need. I had a little sit down with him about it and told him my
feelings about it but I dont think he quite understands.I gave one of
my belts to Elder Azevedo. His was held together by duct tape and it
fell apart the other day and I have three belts so I gave him one Im
not using. Oh and about caffeine, I dont think ive ever drank as much
caffeine.....Coke is like worlds biggest thing here. Ive only found
pepsi in 2 places so far, so all the members have it and its super
cheap. So I drink coke about everyday, but that doesnt mean you can
drink it, dont give in, im super proud of you, I know I couldnt give
up caffeine. But its my cross to bear. Oh funny story real quick, we
lost all our investigators earlier this week. We were teaching this
housing complex and especially this girl that was like super excited
about the church and she would listen to all the lessons we taught to
the people in this complex. And everytime we went there would be
another girl or a friend or something and it turns out that this girl
wasnt interested in the church at all, she was only interested in the
American that shows up at her house from time to time and she told her
parents that she wanted to marry me. The bad news, she turned 14 like
3 months ago, the good news is we dont go around that area anymore.
The glory of being American in a country that worships Americans. It
gets us in doors sometimes. But I love you guys. Keep sending the
love. Its really hard here, but the way I see it is it can only go up
from here. My Portuguese cant get any worse. Love you byeeee
Please please please get the Ipod to me by the beginning of the month.
right not we have about 10 songs. And I swear if I have to listen to
terrible mormon remakes of 90s songs I'm coming home. Jk, but seriously
Azevedo is obsessed with these missionaries that changed the words to
songs like Born to be Wild, Green Day, and Red Hot Chilipeppers and i
cant listen to it anymore. The growth has definately come and is going
to come for a while. I'll have you know that we spent all P day
cleaning our house. I dont know if I already talked about it if I did
just emphasis but our house was absolutely trashed when I got here.
Like our shower drain was clogged with body hair.....from which part I
dont want to know or think about, our sink to wash our shirts and
stuff was clogged with garbage and so it flooded our laundry room
everytime we used it. Our dishwashing sink is broken. 2 out of our 4
fans were broken (spend 1 hour here and you'll understand why thats the
end of the world) and our fridge was so nasty. Somebody had spilled
beans everywhere and something sticky on top of that so they were
cemented to the bottom of the fridge. And the worst part was there was
a pot of what I think used to be meat that had completely molded over
just sitting in the fridge, I promptly threw that out. And with
Brazilians you either have a clean freak or a nasty dirty person.
Which is my companion. Theres some things that really bother him. Like
I usually sleep until hes out of the shower at like 7 and it really
bugs him that I dont wake up, but hes content living in a hole. And
getting him to clean is so hard, I would clean at least one thing
before personal study everyday but he would just sit there. And
earlier today I was cleaning and he has a copy of one of Uchtdorfs
talks that he has memorized so he plays it and talks over it. And
whilst I was cleaning today he decided to watch and give me his
rendition of Uchtdorfs talk. Super annoying. Luckily for me I have a
mission President who suprised us with a visit for interviews this
week, AND he brought Sister Dias. In my interview I told him about how
nasty our house was and how I dont have money or time to pay and fix
everything. So they came to our house to see if it was as bad as I had
told them and it was much worse. Sister Dias started crying and said
something about dignity and tithing money, I couldnt quite piece
everything together but I got the point. She then left and returned
with well over $200 worth of cleaning supplies, pots, pans pretty much
everything we needed God bless her. So today we cleaned and now our
house is awesome. Im now not afraid to use our dishes or anything.
Tell Colin I'll send his jersey in a little bit, I have some things
like T shirts and what not that I need to send back. I have alot of
stuff that I have no need for. And im gonna send some of my favorite
things back. Im addicted to Guarana Jesus, and this thing called
goiabada. Its like jam but solid made out of guavas its amazing. its
like 1R$ so its super cheap and delicious. So once I gather said
things ill send a package. The thing that drives me nuts is I made the
mistake of buying my jersey in front of Azevedo. He now thinks that I
am made of money. And whats worse is he tells everybody the exact
price of everything Ive bought. Like we had a meeting with the bishop
and his counselors and he told all of them how much my jersey cost and
so now im the stereotypical rich american which is what I dont want or
need. I had a little sit down with him about it and told him my
feelings about it but I dont think he quite understands.I gave one of
my belts to Elder Azevedo. His was held together by duct tape and it
fell apart the other day and I have three belts so I gave him one Im
not using. Oh and about caffeine, I dont think ive ever drank as much
caffeine.....Coke is like worlds biggest thing here. Ive only found
pepsi in 2 places so far, so all the members have it and its super
cheap. So I drink coke about everyday, but that doesnt mean you can
drink it, dont give in, im super proud of you, I know I couldnt give
up caffeine. But its my cross to bear. Oh funny story real quick, we
lost all our investigators earlier this week. We were teaching this
housing complex and especially this girl that was like super excited
about the church and she would listen to all the lessons we taught to
the people in this complex. And everytime we went there would be
another girl or a friend or something and it turns out that this girl
wasnt interested in the church at all, she was only interested in the
American that shows up at her house from time to time and she told her
parents that she wanted to marry me. The bad news, she turned 14 like
3 months ago, the good news is we dont go around that area anymore.
The glory of being American in a country that worships Americans. It
gets us in doors sometimes. But I love you guys. Keep sending the
love. Its really hard here, but the way I see it is it can only go up
from here. My Portuguese cant get any worse. Love you byeeee
Monday, April 9, 2012
He sleeps in a hammock!
In my email I had asked him a lot of questions...so at the beginning of his email he is answering all my questions. Thank heaven for email...if not he wouldn't receive any word from home for a month! Which also means it would take longer for me to hear from him. Don't know if I could do that. His email is the highlight of each week for me!
ok questions, send everything to the mission home. Our zone leaders go
there at the beginning of the month and pick everything up. we now
have an hour on the computer and yes i can receive photos so send
them. And tell Colin if he wants a legit soccer jersey I can get them
dirt cheap. like 40 bucks. Tell him to look up a team that he likes
and I can find it. I suggest Corintians, Palmeiras, Flamengoes,
Vascoe, or Gremio. They all have really cool Jerseys, Corintians is my
favorite but Gremio has the coolest colors. Crazy story about jerseys,
I bought the Jersey of the team here and all the jerseys are number 10
cuz the best player always wears that number and so i have a number 10
jersey for this cavalo de aço team and we taught the guy whose jersey
it is. so I'm gonna get him to sign it, pretty cool how that happens.
Im glad to hear everything is going so well for you guys, I'm trying to
send pictures but I dont think its gonna work this week but next week
for sure. Oh and I bought a hammock to sleep in. we have beds but here
the people sleep in hammocks and they are way cooler so i sleep in one
now. But the Brazilians are so funny. especially the kids. I am the
official ADELE translator of Imperatriz Brazil. Ive almost translated
all of "someone like you" into portuguese because the kids love that
song but nobody knows what its about, kinda funny how that works out.
I had to give a talk in church yesterday....yeah not fun. I hate
talking in church in english so giving a talk in portuguese is a
million times worse. But it went fairly well. I was supposed to talk
for 10 minutes and they got 5. Thats what they get. Is there any news
on Alex Peck? He should be entering the MTC relatively soon. I wrote
him some letters but I haven't heard from him. Speaking of letters I
got the package with the Ryan Braun stuff (told you he was innocent)
but thats it. I got it the day before I left so it'll get here. if it
gets there after I leave they mail it to the mission home. We have to
eat lunch everyday in a members home and its gotten pretty
interesting. I already pulled the classic food in the pocket with some
fish. A whole fish actually. It was super gross but these people
honestly had like nothing and I didnt want to be mean and straight up
say no. But I ate codfish the other day, it wasnt that bad but
definately not my favorite at all. They have a line of soda called
Guaraná. the only equivalent in the US is something like Fanta. They
just have a bunch of flavors, but they are like regional flavors. and
the flavor of the state im in is called Guaraná Jesus....yeah epic.
and its delicious. only found in northern Brazil. my district from the
MTC doesn't get it cuz they're all in Brazilia. But Portuguese stinks.
The hardest thing is following lessons. like I have no idea whats
going on during lessons. So I listen for a little bit and then my mind
just wanders until the end when I bear a very generic testimony about
what was taught and that's that. But Elder Azevedo is an amazing
teacher and the people love him. Hes definitely different. Hes into
like Japanese Anime and stuff like that and he gets annoying. Like
some of the only English he knows is I farted. so every time he farts
he tells me he farted and stares at me until I laugh. Hes strange. but
luckily we work together. Hes annoying but hes a great guy. And he
keeps telling me about his passed life he used to fight people and
stuff and he was in the temple and promised god that on his mission he
would love all of his companions no matter what. So I deal with the
oddness and unlike Elder Lambert we work well together. Well he
teaches and I'm just there. Thankfully my zone leader is from Utah and
so I was talking to him about not understanding and feeling useless
and he said I'm probably gonna feel that way for 2 or 3 months and then
it'll pick up. Its especially hard when we eat lunch in members homes
cuz they talk to me and I have no idea what they're saying so its hard
to respond, but its gotten a lot better. I can at least talk to people
but its pretty much a one way street I say one thing and I'm out. Oh
and whats the Brazilians favorite food? Lasagna. they make the most
incredible lasagna. its crazy. I never would have guessed. But I'm
running out of time so I love you guys send my love to Colin and
Nathan tell them Arizona will be way more fun than Washington.
Byeeeeee
ok questions, send everything to the mission home. Our zone leaders go
there at the beginning of the month and pick everything up. we now
have an hour on the computer and yes i can receive photos so send
them. And tell Colin if he wants a legit soccer jersey I can get them
dirt cheap. like 40 bucks. Tell him to look up a team that he likes
and I can find it. I suggest Corintians, Palmeiras, Flamengoes,
Vascoe, or Gremio. They all have really cool Jerseys, Corintians is my
favorite but Gremio has the coolest colors. Crazy story about jerseys,
I bought the Jersey of the team here and all the jerseys are number 10
cuz the best player always wears that number and so i have a number 10
jersey for this cavalo de aço team and we taught the guy whose jersey
it is. so I'm gonna get him to sign it, pretty cool how that happens.
Im glad to hear everything is going so well for you guys, I'm trying to
send pictures but I dont think its gonna work this week but next week
for sure. Oh and I bought a hammock to sleep in. we have beds but here
the people sleep in hammocks and they are way cooler so i sleep in one
now. But the Brazilians are so funny. especially the kids. I am the
official ADELE translator of Imperatriz Brazil. Ive almost translated
all of "someone like you" into portuguese because the kids love that
song but nobody knows what its about, kinda funny how that works out.
I had to give a talk in church yesterday....yeah not fun. I hate
talking in church in english so giving a talk in portuguese is a
million times worse. But it went fairly well. I was supposed to talk
for 10 minutes and they got 5. Thats what they get. Is there any news
on Alex Peck? He should be entering the MTC relatively soon. I wrote
him some letters but I haven't heard from him. Speaking of letters I
got the package with the Ryan Braun stuff (told you he was innocent)
but thats it. I got it the day before I left so it'll get here. if it
gets there after I leave they mail it to the mission home. We have to
eat lunch everyday in a members home and its gotten pretty
interesting. I already pulled the classic food in the pocket with some
fish. A whole fish actually. It was super gross but these people
honestly had like nothing and I didnt want to be mean and straight up
say no. But I ate codfish the other day, it wasnt that bad but
definately not my favorite at all. They have a line of soda called
Guaraná. the only equivalent in the US is something like Fanta. They
just have a bunch of flavors, but they are like regional flavors. and
the flavor of the state im in is called Guaraná Jesus....yeah epic.
and its delicious. only found in northern Brazil. my district from the
MTC doesn't get it cuz they're all in Brazilia. But Portuguese stinks.
The hardest thing is following lessons. like I have no idea whats
going on during lessons. So I listen for a little bit and then my mind
just wanders until the end when I bear a very generic testimony about
what was taught and that's that. But Elder Azevedo is an amazing
teacher and the people love him. Hes definitely different. Hes into
like Japanese Anime and stuff like that and he gets annoying. Like
some of the only English he knows is I farted. so every time he farts
he tells me he farted and stares at me until I laugh. Hes strange. but
luckily we work together. Hes annoying but hes a great guy. And he
keeps telling me about his passed life he used to fight people and
stuff and he was in the temple and promised god that on his mission he
would love all of his companions no matter what. So I deal with the
oddness and unlike Elder Lambert we work well together. Well he
teaches and I'm just there. Thankfully my zone leader is from Utah and
so I was talking to him about not understanding and feeling useless
and he said I'm probably gonna feel that way for 2 or 3 months and then
it'll pick up. Its especially hard when we eat lunch in members homes
cuz they talk to me and I have no idea what they're saying so its hard
to respond, but its gotten a lot better. I can at least talk to people
but its pretty much a one way street I say one thing and I'm out. Oh
and whats the Brazilians favorite food? Lasagna. they make the most
incredible lasagna. its crazy. I never would have guessed. But I'm
running out of time so I love you guys send my love to Colin and
Nathan tell them Arizona will be way more fun than Washington.
Byeeeeee
Monday, April 2, 2012
He is in the field!!
We finally received an email from Kyle. He is definitely in the field and doing well. He also sent a separate letter to Kevin with a really cool temple experience. That one is at the bottom of this letter. I spent the morning in tears. I miss him so much but I am so proud of him and the faith that he has!
Sorry about the silence, we flew out on P-Day and didnt get the chance
to Email. I have so much to tell you guys. lets start last week in the
MTC. It was really hard saying bye to all my friends and my teachers.
Its crazy how close you get to people when you spend 24 hours a day
for 7 weeks with the same people. Its also crazy how much you can grow
to dislike some people. Me and Kamalu didnt talk the entire last week
and I didnt get his information or anything and I dont plan on
contacting him after the mish. Or Lambert. Kid drives me nuts, Im so
glad we arent companions anymore. But it was hard to leave my teachers
too. We loved Irma Pozete. She was so awesome. But we left at 4 30
hopped on a plane to Brasilia and then to Teresina. We ran into Elders
from the Teresina mission going home. 3 were from Washington and one
said he knows a Jared Rindlisbacher that lives in Chewelah. Probably
not related but still cool. But it has been the hardest week of my
life. You guys have no idea. But it has also showed me that God really
does answer prayers. So we spent 2 days in Teresina for training and
all that good stuff I met my trainer, Elder Azevedo. Hes from Manaus
and hes the man. Hes so goofy and funny always smiling. He goes home
in August but he was telling me how happy he is to train now cuz he
knows that the Lord has confidence in his abilities to train. and he
awesome. Its so hard to teach cuz I dont understand details of a
conversation. just the general direction. But Elder Azevedo makes me
talk. Me and Azevedo and our Zone Leaders (one is from Utah, Elder
Yorgeson) had lunch in the stake presidents house yesterday and he
knows a little English from his mission so we taught Elder Azevedo
that when hes done eating to say "Im pregnant" super funny. We enjoyed
it. Back to Teresina. We proselyted around the city for 2 days and its
crazy to see the living conditions of these people. T Pain has no idea
what a real ghetto looks like. These houses are made of mud with
thatched roofs, cardboard, rocks, reeds, whatever they can get their
hands on. And its funny where they build stuff. If theres empty land
or anything they build. And it gets to a point where there is so many
of them the city cant do anything about it. But Ive seen people in the
streets getting water out of gutters to drink (there is dead cats in
these gutters mind you), they've constructed trenches on the side of
the road to flush the sewage away which doesnt fix the problem of
sewage in the streets but it makes it better. Just real 3rd world
problems. And we taught in this one guys house that was seriously mud
with clay shingles on the roof. Speaking of dead cats in the gutters.
There are stray dogs everywhere. And its so sad cuz some of them are
beautiful dogs, or would be if they had a home. It breaks my heart cuz
the Brazilians love their dogs like their children, but they dont get
them fixed and let them roam the streets so the puppies just get
abandoned and I dont want to know what happens to them. </3 But the
people are so humble. They all listen. Even on the streets they stop
and they will listen and actually listen to our message. The first
night in Teresina I went out with 2 Brazilians and we started talking
to this guy in the street and he takes us to his house and we talked
with his family. No joke 10 minutes later baptismal dates for the
entire family. But its funny here, the baptismal numbers. In my area
its all youth that we baptize, which I find strange. They have a huge
group of strong youth but not that many men. But I got my first Area,
Imperatriz, along with it a 13 hour bus ride. But the city is awesome
I love it. Its not a huge city but its not a village. And it has a
huge chapel. A really nice building. Not what I expected at all. My
area has a lot of inactive members but the active members are super
strong its amazing. And the good news was it was the first time that
our chapel was going to transmit general conference. But in Portuguese.
So i was praying for 3 days to be able to watch in English. And we
were able to find one computer in the back corner of a storage closet
that we could watch the English session. Prayer answered. And just
alot of the talks I felt were directed at me. I got alot from Neil
Anderson those guys from the 70, Uchtdorf Holland and Eyring and I
especially Liked Richard G. Scotts. Another prayer answered. I dont
have a whole lot of time left but know that Im doing alright. Its
going to stink until I can understand and speak the language but there
hasnt been a prayer yet that hasnt received an answer and I liked what
President Monson said in the Priesthood session "do your duty to the
best, and let the Lord provide the rest" and with the language there
isnt a whole lot I can do more than my best and hope and pray for the
best. I love you guys. I only get mail once a month so dont expect a
whole lot of responses but Ill send letters. oh and tell Andy Vidmar
that there are flyers in my ward building about missionaries in Brazil
with his face all over it. Super funny. And tell him that Sister
Yorgansen who is in the picture with him, her brother is my Zone
Leader. Small World. Give my love to Colin and Nathan, make sure they
know that even tho my emails arent addressed to them they are for them
and they can email me anything and anytime.
Dad,
i'll email you first this time....feel special. But seriously this
passed week was probably the hardest ive ever had. you cant even
comprehend the things ive seen in the passed week. Ill explain those
in the family email. But I wanted to let you know that I've changed my
nametag name (who would have guessed that it would be impossible for
Brazilians to say Rindlisbacher) and it turns out they have problems
with Kyle too. So my solution... Elder Hal. Thought you might enjoy
that. Ill be walking around with your Dads name. Speaking of him,
Since I got to the MTC its been tough and I always pray for help and
comfort and all that. But towards the end of the MTC I started praying
and asking Grandpa to watch over me, and I was muttering one of these
prayers in the Celestial room of the Campinas temple...and I felt a
hand on my shoulder...I was the only person in the room, but I wasnt.
Now it could have been alot of things. the AC could have hit my
shoulder but I dont think it was. I believe he was there with me. Just
something to ponder and know that I have somebody watching over me.
Love you Dad
Sorry about the silence, we flew out on P-Day and didnt get the chance
to Email. I have so much to tell you guys. lets start last week in the
MTC. It was really hard saying bye to all my friends and my teachers.
Its crazy how close you get to people when you spend 24 hours a day
for 7 weeks with the same people. Its also crazy how much you can grow
to dislike some people. Me and Kamalu didnt talk the entire last week
and I didnt get his information or anything and I dont plan on
contacting him after the mish. Or Lambert. Kid drives me nuts, Im so
glad we arent companions anymore. But it was hard to leave my teachers
too. We loved Irma Pozete. She was so awesome. But we left at 4 30
hopped on a plane to Brasilia and then to Teresina. We ran into Elders
from the Teresina mission going home. 3 were from Washington and one
said he knows a Jared Rindlisbacher that lives in Chewelah. Probably
not related but still cool. But it has been the hardest week of my
life. You guys have no idea. But it has also showed me that God really
does answer prayers. So we spent 2 days in Teresina for training and
all that good stuff I met my trainer, Elder Azevedo. Hes from Manaus
and hes the man. Hes so goofy and funny always smiling. He goes home
in August but he was telling me how happy he is to train now cuz he
knows that the Lord has confidence in his abilities to train. and he
awesome. Its so hard to teach cuz I dont understand details of a
conversation. just the general direction. But Elder Azevedo makes me
talk. Me and Azevedo and our Zone Leaders (one is from Utah, Elder
Yorgeson) had lunch in the stake presidents house yesterday and he
knows a little English from his mission so we taught Elder Azevedo
that when hes done eating to say "Im pregnant" super funny. We enjoyed
it. Back to Teresina. We proselyted around the city for 2 days and its
crazy to see the living conditions of these people. T Pain has no idea
what a real ghetto looks like. These houses are made of mud with
thatched roofs, cardboard, rocks, reeds, whatever they can get their
hands on. And its funny where they build stuff. If theres empty land
or anything they build. And it gets to a point where there is so many
of them the city cant do anything about it. But Ive seen people in the
streets getting water out of gutters to drink (there is dead cats in
these gutters mind you), they've constructed trenches on the side of
the road to flush the sewage away which doesnt fix the problem of
sewage in the streets but it makes it better. Just real 3rd world
problems. And we taught in this one guys house that was seriously mud
with clay shingles on the roof. Speaking of dead cats in the gutters.
There are stray dogs everywhere. And its so sad cuz some of them are
beautiful dogs, or would be if they had a home. It breaks my heart cuz
the Brazilians love their dogs like their children, but they dont get
them fixed and let them roam the streets so the puppies just get
abandoned and I dont want to know what happens to them. </3 But the
people are so humble. They all listen. Even on the streets they stop
and they will listen and actually listen to our message. The first
night in Teresina I went out with 2 Brazilians and we started talking
to this guy in the street and he takes us to his house and we talked
with his family. No joke 10 minutes later baptismal dates for the
entire family. But its funny here, the baptismal numbers. In my area
its all youth that we baptize, which I find strange. They have a huge
group of strong youth but not that many men. But I got my first Area,
Imperatriz, along with it a 13 hour bus ride. But the city is awesome
I love it. Its not a huge city but its not a village. And it has a
huge chapel. A really nice building. Not what I expected at all. My
area has a lot of inactive members but the active members are super
strong its amazing. And the good news was it was the first time that
our chapel was going to transmit general conference. But in Portuguese.
So i was praying for 3 days to be able to watch in English. And we
were able to find one computer in the back corner of a storage closet
that we could watch the English session. Prayer answered. And just
alot of the talks I felt were directed at me. I got alot from Neil
Anderson those guys from the 70, Uchtdorf Holland and Eyring and I
especially Liked Richard G. Scotts. Another prayer answered. I dont
have a whole lot of time left but know that Im doing alright. Its
going to stink until I can understand and speak the language but there
hasnt been a prayer yet that hasnt received an answer and I liked what
President Monson said in the Priesthood session "do your duty to the
best, and let the Lord provide the rest" and with the language there
isnt a whole lot I can do more than my best and hope and pray for the
best. I love you guys. I only get mail once a month so dont expect a
whole lot of responses but Ill send letters. oh and tell Andy Vidmar
that there are flyers in my ward building about missionaries in Brazil
with his face all over it. Super funny. And tell him that Sister
Yorgansen who is in the picture with him, her brother is my Zone
Leader. Small World. Give my love to Colin and Nathan, make sure they
know that even tho my emails arent addressed to them they are for them
and they can email me anything and anytime.
Dad,
i'll email you first this time....feel special. But seriously this
passed week was probably the hardest ive ever had. you cant even
comprehend the things ive seen in the passed week. Ill explain those
in the family email. But I wanted to let you know that I've changed my
nametag name (who would have guessed that it would be impossible for
Brazilians to say Rindlisbacher) and it turns out they have problems
with Kyle too. So my solution... Elder Hal. Thought you might enjoy
that. Ill be walking around with your Dads name. Speaking of him,
Since I got to the MTC its been tough and I always pray for help and
comfort and all that. But towards the end of the MTC I started praying
and asking Grandpa to watch over me, and I was muttering one of these
prayers in the Celestial room of the Campinas temple...and I felt a
hand on my shoulder...I was the only person in the room, but I wasnt.
Now it could have been alot of things. the AC could have hit my
shoulder but I dont think it was. I believe he was there with me. Just
something to ponder and know that I have somebody watching over me.
Love you Dad
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