Monday, August 24, 2009

012/092 090824 Miracles: Beans and Rice, and NO Gag Reflex!


Picture: Rio de Janeiro from Helicoptero

Hi all!

This past week was good! Especially since I ate a plate of beans and rice and finally didn´t want to gag. I even wanted more. I now know I´ll be able to survive my mission! ;)

Ahhh . . . so there is one view of my area that I need to take a picture from. I am going back to that spot soon, and hopefully it´ll be sunny. You will alll be jealous when you see it, hehe.

This past week was good. I did a division with my district leader. That was interesting. This coming week (tomorrow more precisely) is going to be interesting though. My district leader is going to do a division with my companion, so I´ll be with his companion. This companion came to Rio with me and was in my district at the MTC (for family, he is the guy that was on my paperwork for the flight to Brazil). So basically, he knows the same amount of Portugese as I do. This will be interesting. But it´ll be ok. I´m not fluent, but I can speak with Brazilians.

Our Father has enabled me to learn a lot this past week. It is amazing how intricate His plan for us is. Really, I am beginning to believe that after this life when we realize everything God did for us in our lives, each second of our lives will become precious monuments to the love of our God. Literally each second. There is so much that has happened that if things were changed at all I would have missed out on so much. And even our trials are blessings from God. Ask Paul (the old apostle). Its amazing what I have been blessed with.

Well, time always calling. I hope things are going well for everyone. I really do.

Bom Dia,

Elder Eyring

Friday, August 21, 2009

011/093 090817 Filled with the Spirit!


Picture: MTC District

Hi,

So, I´ve officially decided, the people here in Brazil believe that when they feed the missionaries the amount of blessings they receive is directly correlated to the amount the missionaries eat. For one meal, I was already trying to explain that I was exploding, then the lady of the house came and dumped some chicken on my plate. Now, I know my Portugese isn´t perfect, BUT, I know I didn´t ask for more. I know enough Portugese to know whats going on! Lol. Then after this, she filled my glass with more Guarana, then gave me some sweet potato, and probably gave me something else to eat as well. I think I´m going to come home some fat blob! Even with all the walking I´m doing! lol

So, one good sign with my Portugese. The church likes missionaries that don´t know how to speak english to learn how to speak English, so, my companion and I made a compromize that we were going to speak only English after we got back to the apartment and planned. So, when we did this, I found myself not being able to speak only English! I was saying a load of things in Portugese and then feeling guilty because I wasn´t speaking English! Lol. Oh, and it made me feel kinda of good too, that when I was talking slowly my companion looked at me and said you are speaking fast! Slow down! I think said each word slowly, distinctly, and almost fell asleep mid sentence, and this was his speed. The Brazilians have the same problem too! Sorry . . . that was just a little exciting.

Things here are really good. God has really provided for me. I am finding that I am truly beginning to love the people here. Each street contact that decides they don´t want to listen is a little twinge of pain, because I want the people to receive this great happiness. But each success . . . . oh, I can´t even begin to describe the joy.

And yeah, if anyone is wondering if the church can use missionaries, the answer is yes. Its amazing how much strength missionaries can give to a ward and the people. Really, its amazing how much God can bless people through the tool of a missionary.

Well, I hope everyone has a good week!

Bom Dia,

Elder Eyring

Oh, Brazilians love piano. If anyone is reading this, who is going to go on a mission in the future, learn to play the piano. It will be an incredible blessing for you and those you serve!

Monday, August 10, 2009

010/094 090810 Rio is SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!


Picture: The tourist area of Rio de Janeiro

So much to talk about!

So, I´m in Rio. It is beautiful! So beautiful! It was a cloudy miserable day when I arrived, and was still the most beautiful city I´ve ever seen. The airport (or one of them) is on the sea´s edge, so the plane looked like it was going to go into water when it landed. Right before we landed a boat went under us, it was awesome!

So, buses here are crazy. There are tons and tons and tons of them, and when you get on they start moving before you pay (they don´t have time to stop for long). So much is incredibly fast paced here.

My area isn´t downtown Rio, but off to the side. My zone is in the same zone as mission headquarters. I sadly don´t have ocean. OH!, so, Cristo, O Redentor, that giant statue in Rio, from the pictures you would think from below it would be a prominent thing that towers above the city. Nope. It's insane! The mountain it's on goes from sea level to what looks like a mile high instantly. So the statue is tiny on top (well, it looks like that). That was crazy! But yes, my area. So, to get to where we are teaching from our apartment is an hour walk. And it's up hill. And the roads are bad. I never knew that it would be so incredibly useful to have had experience with hiking! It's good for me though! Seriously, I´m starting to look so good! ;) Then we went into another area yesterday, and this one is up and over a small mountain. The favelas are crazy. They would be so illegal in America . . . . All of our teaching is in them. Our bishop does construction with them. They are basically a whole bunch of small houses right next to each other. With the electrical wires being tapped . . . . It's crazy. From one Electrical post you have possibly literally 1000 wires coming off. So insane!

So, I´m sure you are wondering how the language is coming. It´s almost has been a week in the field. When I first got there it was so intimidating because I realized how little I can talk about and how hard it is to understand. A lot of times people will say words I know, but they say it in a way so I don´t understand. That is frustrating. But it's getting better. My companion is a Brazilian that knows minimal English, and so I decided my goal is to just try and talk to him constantly. He probably half thinks I´m a freak because I try to talk about everything. But it's so helpful. I already can talk about a lot of things (very slowly though), and I´m using advanced grammar somewhat naturally (well, advanced to a learner at least, especially for English speakers). I must admit it's terrible when my companion during a lesson turns to me and says, talk about this. The first thing I was told to talk about was the law of chastity. Yeah. That was not nice, lol.

Food. So, I thought I would have a problem eating the food. God has blessed me immensely, and I can eat anything. But, the problem I´m having is that I am considered rude if I don´t eat a TON of food. I mean 2 plates filled to the brim with Rice and beans, and then on top of that meat and potatoes and some other stuff. I can´t eat that! And so Brazilians think I don´t like their food. I love the food, and I´m hungry, but I just can´t eat that much! Well, I´m learning how to eat loads, but, really, this is probably just like the language. I´ll learn.

Oh, and so everyone knows, I can´t email you and you can´t email me. And I only get mail once every 6 weeks. So PLEASE write me, but if I don´t respond to something you write, that's why. I´ll still write you, but yeah, it won´t be about what you are writing me until up to 8 weeks later.

I´m out of time, so till next week.

Bom Dia,

Elder Eyring

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

009/095 090805 Missonary in Transit


Picture: "A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil." Wikipedia

Elder Eyring transferred from the MTC to mission field on Tuesday August 4, 2009. We did not receive an e-mail from him this week. His preparation day in the MTC was Wednesday. His preparation day in the mission field is Monday.