Oi! More from August 28, 2006
Sorry my last email was short, you just never know how the day is going to be on those p-days. We spent most of the day going to Brazilian shops looking for things for Sister Mc Allister. I am sure glad I am not leaving anytime soon. It seems stressful! And it’s hard because you can’t really remember what things are in the US…well, I can, but Sister McAllister can’t…so it’s hard to know what to take home to her family. She keeps asking me, “Sister, is the food really that different?” Ha-ha…Oh how the time flies by. I’ve only been here three weeks, but I can tell I will be the same way when I leave. You just get so focused on your mission that you completely forget other things J Anyways, enough rambling…I thought I would write out a typical day so you can get a feel for my days here:
6:00 Up and stretch. My legs are always sore- I say this not to complain, but just to say I have to honestly never been this sore in my life. I am certainly getting a good workout each day! Yay for this “exercise”or err…stretch time J
6:30 Shower and get ready, which consists of well, brushing and braiding my hair. It’s too hot to do much else to get ready.
7:15 Breakfast. My latest food kick has been a half of a papaya and a banana for breakfast! Yeah for lots and lots of yummy fruit…I really eat a ridiculous amount of papaya, banana, pineapple, tangerines and strawberries! Yummy!
7:45 Read the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, and pray that someday I will understand all the words…or verses at least!
8:00 Personal study. This time flies by! I love this chance to read the Book of Mormon and Preach my Gospel. My brother made a comment about Preach my Gospel that I just love- I think I will just quote him here: “It is the cliff notes to the scriptures. Imagine a book that taught how to find happiness and peace, how to understand our eternal origin and destiny, what we must do in this life to obtain those blessings, how to receive answers to prayer, how to develop faith and become more like the Savior.” Yep, it’s nice to have a brother who always puts things perfectly. Booyah. I love this time and it passes quickly.
9:00 Comp study – This is always a lot of fun! I just love talking to Sister McAllister! First off, she understands my Portuguese and she is so patient. She is teaching me so much in how to be a good missionary.
10:00 This is suppose to be time for language study…but we normally end up leaving early to walk to some part of the city for an appointment.
10:00 – 12:00 Proselyting, walking, and teaching. We try to talk to everyone that will listen.
12:00 Lunch, normally at a ward members casa. This is always rice and beans, a little meat, and lettuce or tomatoes or zucchini, and sometimes pasta. You know what is super good? Rice, beans and a banana! Yummy! Ha-ha, Brazilians really do eat a ton of rice and beans, but it’s pretty good! I like it!
1:30- 9:00 Proselyting, and more walking, and teaching. We normally walk straight up for at least three hours a day- there are far off neighborhoods- and luckily for us we are teaching someone in each big neighborhood, and so I get excited to walk to these places even though most of them are a good 30 to 40 minute walk.
9:00 We return home, I eat a whole pineapple J or make a banana smoothie/shake, we plan the next day, and shower!
10:30 In bed! Wahoo! I am always exhausted J
Well there you have an average day. In the week, there are always exceptions, but that’s what makes it exciting. I continue to love this city – Mom, you asked what it is like – I don’t know what pictures you saw of Porto Feireira on the internet, and there are some beautiful spots in the city – like the river, and the big Catholic cathedral. But the majority of the city reminds me a lot of Tijuana. All of the houses are pretty close together- there are a few occasional rich houses, but mostly it’s just really poor. I have yet to see carpet, but I can’t complain. I am pretty sure as far as Brazil goes, we live in a really, really nice part. We are in the richest state of Brazil, and I am a sister. They don’t put sisters in bad parts J and don’t worry Mom, we do try to avoid walking through bad parts of town- but sometimes it can’t be helped.
Anyways- as far as a few highlights of the week- we are teaching a man in a wheelchair- Benedito, who we met on the street. He has a great attitude, and it is so exciting to see him progress. He also referred us to his friend, who has cancer- Moacir. We had a very spiritual first lesson with him. He goes in for surgery this week, so we won’t be teaching him for awhile…but, he is awesome. And we are teaching a woman, Virginia, who walked an hour by herself to get to church yesterday! We were so excited! So things are going great here!
One last thought, Moacir, who has cancer, asked me this week a question that made me think…He asked, “Are you afraid?” And quickly I found myself replying “I have no fear, because I have the knowledge of the Gospel.” How awesome that with this faith there is no room for fear to exist! Yay for this knowledge…Ok, I am off! I love you all!
Love,
Sister Melanie Monroe
6:00 Up and stretch. My legs are always sore- I say this not to complain, but just to say I have to honestly never been this sore in my life. I am certainly getting a good workout each day! Yay for this “exercise”or err…stretch time J
6:30 Shower and get ready, which consists of well, brushing and braiding my hair. It’s too hot to do much else to get ready.
7:15 Breakfast. My latest food kick has been a half of a papaya and a banana for breakfast! Yeah for lots and lots of yummy fruit…I really eat a ridiculous amount of papaya, banana, pineapple, tangerines and strawberries! Yummy!
7:45 Read the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, and pray that someday I will understand all the words…or verses at least!
8:00 Personal study. This time flies by! I love this chance to read the Book of Mormon and Preach my Gospel. My brother made a comment about Preach my Gospel that I just love- I think I will just quote him here: “It is the cliff notes to the scriptures. Imagine a book that taught how to find happiness and peace, how to understand our eternal origin and destiny, what we must do in this life to obtain those blessings, how to receive answers to prayer, how to develop faith and become more like the Savior.” Yep, it’s nice to have a brother who always puts things perfectly. Booyah. I love this time and it passes quickly.
9:00 Comp study – This is always a lot of fun! I just love talking to Sister McAllister! First off, she understands my Portuguese and she is so patient. She is teaching me so much in how to be a good missionary.
10:00 This is suppose to be time for language study…but we normally end up leaving early to walk to some part of the city for an appointment.
10:00 – 12:00 Proselyting, walking, and teaching. We try to talk to everyone that will listen.
12:00 Lunch, normally at a ward members casa. This is always rice and beans, a little meat, and lettuce or tomatoes or zucchini, and sometimes pasta. You know what is super good? Rice, beans and a banana! Yummy! Ha-ha, Brazilians really do eat a ton of rice and beans, but it’s pretty good! I like it!
1:30- 9:00 Proselyting, and more walking, and teaching. We normally walk straight up for at least three hours a day- there are far off neighborhoods- and luckily for us we are teaching someone in each big neighborhood, and so I get excited to walk to these places even though most of them are a good 30 to 40 minute walk.
9:00 We return home, I eat a whole pineapple J or make a banana smoothie/shake, we plan the next day, and shower!
10:30 In bed! Wahoo! I am always exhausted J
Well there you have an average day. In the week, there are always exceptions, but that’s what makes it exciting. I continue to love this city – Mom, you asked what it is like – I don’t know what pictures you saw of Porto Feireira on the internet, and there are some beautiful spots in the city – like the river, and the big Catholic cathedral. But the majority of the city reminds me a lot of Tijuana. All of the houses are pretty close together- there are a few occasional rich houses, but mostly it’s just really poor. I have yet to see carpet, but I can’t complain. I am pretty sure as far as Brazil goes, we live in a really, really nice part. We are in the richest state of Brazil, and I am a sister. They don’t put sisters in bad parts J and don’t worry Mom, we do try to avoid walking through bad parts of town- but sometimes it can’t be helped.
Anyways- as far as a few highlights of the week- we are teaching a man in a wheelchair- Benedito, who we met on the street. He has a great attitude, and it is so exciting to see him progress. He also referred us to his friend, who has cancer- Moacir. We had a very spiritual first lesson with him. He goes in for surgery this week, so we won’t be teaching him for awhile…but, he is awesome. And we are teaching a woman, Virginia, who walked an hour by herself to get to church yesterday! We were so excited! So things are going great here!
One last thought, Moacir, who has cancer, asked me this week a question that made me think…He asked, “Are you afraid?” And quickly I found myself replying “I have no fear, because I have the knowledge of the Gospel.” How awesome that with this faith there is no room for fear to exist! Yay for this knowledge…Ok, I am off! I love you all!
Love,
Sister Melanie Monroe
posted by Bev at 11:37 AM
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