So I guess I was able to get a little email time in today!
I'm in Teresina right now because we had a conference with the Area President
(or something like that haha). It was amazing.. at least for the parts I could
understand haha. We spent 8ish hours traveling yesterday by bus to get here.
We've got until I think 10:30 pm to do whatever (because that's when our bus
leaves).
About the Skype and Christmas situation... I have ZERO idea about what's going
to happen and it's so frustrating. I'm for sure going to figure it all out this
week and then I'll be able to tell you next Monday (Christmas Eve).
So it turns out I've got one of the better areas in the Teresina Mission. It's
also one of the hotter areas (right behind Teresina). We've got cleaner water
here (I'm still not going to take my chances and drinking it) in Sobral. Today
at the conference, people were telling me that they were jealous of my area
haha. Being here in Teresina, I miss Sobral because it is soo miserably hot
here!!
About the missionary work... We haven't baptized anyone yet, but we're getting
close :) We met this lady because she was sitting outside of her house one day
and during the conversation she just starting crying really hard and she kept
telling us that her life is really difficult right now. We set up another date
to return, but she wasn't there. And ever since we've been stopping by about
every day to see if we could chat for a little and she's either gone or her
husband tells us to leave without letting her know that we came. I think on
Saturday, we FINALLY were able to catch her while she was home and teach her.
Right after the lesson, we invited her to be baptized and she accepted. It was
really crazy seeing someone accept a baptismal invitation right after the first
lesson. We're trying to get her baptized sometime in January.
We've got another kid (just turned eight) that we're teaching and we're
planning on baptizing him at the end of December. His family is only family
members with no one holding the priesthood, so that's why we've been teaching
him. It's been super exciting!!!
We also have this husband and wife we've been teaching that seem pretty golden and
they've been progressing really well! We were finally able to invite them to
come to church, but we forgot we weren't going to be there because we were
going to be in Teresina. We had to quickly run by and ask if a member could
come pick them up and take them to church. We were praying yesterday that
everything went well and they enjoyed it.
I really love the members here. We've been fed really well and they've been
helpful with helping us out with random stuff.
So I've heard from a bunch of different people that I'm with an amazing
companion. And it's definitely true. He's been very helpful and very good at
teaching the lessons. I'm still struggling with the language and so sometimes
I'll sit the entire lesson and not say anything (even though I'm trying so hard
to think of a good question or comment). But my companion has been really good
at letting me bare my testimony and making me read some scriptures if needed.
Craziness... Literally as we were walking out the door to go to the bus station
for Teresina, we were locking the door behind us and the frickin key broke and
half of it was stuck in the lock. We were able to get the little piece out, but
we couldn't lock the door. Being already a little late, we were running around
the house, grabbing anything valuable, and locking it in a suitcase that had a
padlock on it. We were kind of freaking out because our room would be
completely open to anyone. Lucky our apartment building has a gate on the front
to keep out any creepers, but still... We had to say a quick prayer right
before we left. We made it to the bus station with only a minute to spare haha.
About me and my body... I haven't gotten sick yet which is awesome for being an
American and for the first time being out in the field, but it's bound to happen
soon. I do have the squirts though about every morning in case you're wondering
;) The only problem with my feet is that the arch support has been sliding
forward in my shoe a little, so there's been a little gap between the back of
the arch support and the heel part of the shoe. I've been getting some weird
rubbing there, but it's starting to caulis up and been fine. I was using the
mole skin which helped!
And for my weight.. I don't think a whole lot has changed. I'm pretty sure I've
gained a little, but not a whole lot. I've been the only guy in my apartment to
work out every morning using an elastic band and basic pushups and sit-ups. So
I'm kinda proud of that.
My time is running thin, so I gotta bounce! I sent a letter through MissionTies
so I hope you got it!! I'll definitely let you know about the Skype thing this
next Monday. If for some reason something doesn't work out, just be on Skype
all day long and make sure the computer stays awake.
I love you sooo much Mom! I think about you guys every day!!
Elder Steed
