Smiling and Nodding

Hey Mom, hey Dad –

I love you guys SO MUCH. It was awesome to hear your experiences, missionary and vacation wise. I hope you guys are having a great time and everyone is safe and happy. First, Mom, from what I can understand from my trainer (who is from Sao Paulo and speaks no English) all mail goes through the mission home, and we only receive it once a month. So unless it’s something really special, or tangible, or something I need, just for normal communication email it will be.

 I am serving in Campina Grande, which I am told is much more mild then Joao Pessoa but let me tell you it does not feel mild AT ALL. HOT, HOT, HOT! I am in the Monte Castelo Ward, which has 500 recorded members, 70 active members, and had about 30 members in attendance yesterday. Sounds like that is kind of how it goes in Brazil. . I’m in a LAN house, little internet cafe, I see a printer but not sure how that works, I’ll ask my companion and get back to you next week. (Carson still has not received any of our mail.  After chatting with some of the Mom’s on my missionary Mom’s of Brazil facebook group, I told Carson that I would send him emails and just put money in his account to print them.  In the subject line I would put PRINT THIS so he knew he didn’t have to take up his computer time to read it or READ THIS if it is something I needed him to read and respond to right away.  We will see how that works.  I will still collect everyone’s letters to Carson and send them in one as I did for snail mail to save on the printing – so keep the letters coming!)

I have a lot to say so excuse my terrible spelling and grammar. Last Tuesday we woke up at 2:30 in the morning to fly out to Joao Pessoa.  We met our mission president and had a fancy meal at his house. I haven’t had a chance to interview with him so I don’t really know what he’s like. 

I am assigned to Elder Galdino, he’s 22 and from Sao Paulo and does not speak any English.  Let me tell you, this mission is kicking my butt right now. I cannot communicate with my companion except for one-word things. I can’t even talk as good as the babies of some of the members families here. The bishop asked me to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting - something I was uncomfortable doing back home in English, and I was up there for a painful 3 minutes with just blank stares. It makes me want to rely so much more on the spirit because it’s like the only form of communication I´ve got. I read Uncle Don’s talk about the Holy Ghost and a few others on the plane ride here. I had forgotten about the “Best of the Best” and it is AWESOME thank you! (The “BEST of the BEST” was the book that I put together for Carson before he left.  I asked everyone here at home to send me their favorite conference/gospel talk and why it means so much to them so Carson would have the ability to study the gospel with each of them while he was on his mission far from home.) I am trying to put the things into practice.

Now about Brazil and my week!  I will try and send all my pictures today. I have some of our apartment... On my scale it is a step BELOW Tanners house down at BYU, haha. There are occasional rats, lots of bugs, our shower is pretty awesome it’s like a 2x2 space next to our toilet and it soaks the whole room when you use it! This is quite an adventure. I am definitely in BRAZIL now. The CTM did not prepare for the culture shock. Sanitation isn’t really a thing here, I can see why I will be getting sick frequently (that hasn’t happened yet, food has actually been great so far, hopefully that continues). They don’t flush toilet paper they throw it in garbage next to the toilet which feels so wrong hahaha. The streets are FULL of dogs, and always people too. I can’t drink the tap water, but lots of people here have mineral water (filtered), so i just have to always double check that. and shower with my mouth closed! I haven't come across anything I HAVEN'T liked yet, which is awesome. The Brazilians love it when I say ``Eu gosto de sua comeda` which is one of the few phrases I do know, but I think I need to stop... they LOVE to feed an American who appreciates there cooking! I have been fed cake 3 days in a row so I gotta be careful and not get fat toooo quickly. I exercise every morning but it is definitely not the same as my exercise at home and not as good as the CTM either. I don’t want to get fat but I think it’s gonna happen :(

The people here are super nice even though I can’t understand anything they say, and I know they make fun of me 24x7.  Because I am American I get a lot of attention everywhere I go, people try to talk to me and it’s frustrating when I don’t understand them let alone be able to respond, and they are obviously disappointed AS WELL. My bishop speaks a little English and so does his wife. They are very nice and encouraging.  They keep saying 3 months you’ll be fluent. I’ve been hearing things like that ever since my first day and it’s just frustrating to never meet those goals. Elder Galdino (I think) says that people are a lot more open to missionaries now because I am here. I’m like a celebrity, which I actually kind of hate but oh well. He’s been here 3 months and says we´ve already talked with people that wouldn’t talk with them in the past just because I am American. 

I was able to visit a less active who spoke English; the bishop wanted me to invite him back to church. I really connected with him, his name is Thales.  He looked me up on Instagram haha.  He plays violin, loves music, and used to be really active. I finally invited him back to church and he said he´ll come next week. But afterwards he told me the reason he stopped going - he loves the church and almost all its teachings, but he’s gay. He doesn’t see how he could possibly be a member when the church basically says he can’t marry and be as happy as everyone else. I remember this exact discussion in seminary, and let me tell you, there’s no good way to help. I feel for him. He’s gonna come to church this next week just because I asked, but probably not again. He also said that ´the church preaches acceptance, but its members aren’t accepting.  This is a reminder that we truly need to love EVERYONE, and truly accept everyone for who they are. With his struggles I don’t know how it would have been different, but from what I heard one reason he left the church was also because of the way the members treated him about being gay. I felt so bad. I know just how judgmental people can be. But I spent 2 hours with him and know he’s a really cool guy. We just need to be accepting.

Also I got to share my testimony with an investigator, Marielle, about Ether 12:6. She says she doesn’t receive answers to her prayers so she won’t be baptized or come to church. We taught about the importance of having ACTIONS in faith, and how afterwards we receive the witness of our faith. I was able to share my testimony in Portuguese about that and I think she understood the gist of it. She didn’t end up taking any steps towards the church or baptism and I know that’s why she hasn’t received any witness of faith, or answers. Also she expects big answers and more often than not, we receive answers in small and simple things, and confirmation is always small.

Elder Galdino is a really nice Elder, and we have had the opportunity to teach people and I can tell he´s really good. It’s just frustrating not being able to understand or really contribute. I’m sure I will have more to tell in the future. I think he thinks my understanding is better than it really is because I always just smile and nod when he says things and I guess it’s always the right response. Smiling and nodding, I do quite a bit of that here!  I really miss my District from the CTM, I love them so much and they really helped me. Not having them here makes it even more difficult. 

Here in Brazil, or at least from what I can tell, they’re super focused on baptism but the recent converts all just fall away again which is sad to see and so different from the way I always thought of the church back home.

Overall, it’s SO COOL to be in a different country and seeing how other people live. It’s crazy and makes me so much more grateful for what I had back home.

Photos? My computer couldn’t read the SIM card and my USB port is not working so my companion is sending them from his to mine and then I will forward them to you... but it’s taking forever.  (We still couldn’t get it to work, so Carson will hope for a better computer next week where he can upload the photos.) 

                                                                                                    Love you!  Elder Sork