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
Don't worry, I cried a little also. Especially the part about Hal. I can't believe how much Kyle has grown from that little boy I knew. He is a great example. Thanks for sharing these every week.
ReplyDeleteAnnette
Wow! Pretty awesome!
ReplyDeletegreat kyle, thanks for mkaing us all cry... he is doing so good. i am so proud of that kid!
ReplyDeleteLove y'all!
Emma