Elder Angus here on another great addition of the wandering missionary. So, I'm finally out into the field! It's kind of crazy down here but one thing is for sure, this place seems more like america than Brazil. If the people here spoke English, you wouldn't tell the difference. So, I am now in my first area. The interesting part, though, is that it also happens to be a new area. What I've been told is that the town of Ivoti has never had missionaries before, and that they've held a special fast in order to receive them. :D Que coisa boa! There are only about twenty members in the branch here, but they are all really strong members and about half of them speak descent English. You'd think that would help me, but in reality, my entire life right now is in Portuguese. At times I, I even think of a Portuguese word first, label it as English, then speak the English equivalent as Portuguese. X( But the good thing is that although my language system is a complete wreck right now, I can still teach.
So, since this area is entirely new, we're doing a lot of contacting people. We've been "knocking on doors" (which is actually clapping at gates) and making a lot of street contacts so we can find people to teach. The funny thing is that nobody here knows who missionaries are, so you'll be standing on a street and see hundreds of people stare or take double takes at you with confusion in their eyes. I don't blame them though. Usually its not normal to be walking around on a hot day with a shirt on here, let alone pants and shoes as well. We also just got a new house to stay in, so we literally have nothing in the house but two mattresses, two lawn chairs, a bathroom + shower, and a sink (which we barely finished installing this morning). But its all a fun experience.
There is one family I really like so far. We encounterd a man, Michael, on the street and he said we could visit him. When we went to visit him though, he wasn't there. However, his Mom and sister were, and when we taught them the first lesson, I could see on their faces that they liked it and they wanted to learn more. My mom has been worried about her talk this week and has been desperately asking me to say why I chose to leave on a mission. The awnser is this, that I love to see other people when they are happy. The gospel we have to teach is a powerful tool that brings families closer, and people closer to Heavenly Father. This naturally brings people, like me, great happiness in their lives, a happiness you can see in their smiles and their behavior. This is something priceless, and something that brings me great joy as well.
Good Luck on your talk Mom and thanks everyone for your love and support. Iforgot to bring my photos and info with me today, so expect them next week. Just know that there are no gaurantees the current mission adress will work, unless you're using the one that goes to the post office box. Love you all, and stay sweet!
Elder Angus
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