Okay. Firstly just to start off with some good ol´ disappointment I gotta let you guys know I forgot my camera at our apartment, so no photos this week. (I am just as mad as you are) But next time I wont forget, stay tuned, there will be some sweet photos!
Also a heads up, the keyboard Im using is Portuguse so the layout is different, and I dont know where the apostrophe is and I guess I dont really care too haha. So if you see random weird letters or misspellings (because it doesnt have english spellcheck on) just dont mind them.
Anyways whoa I have a lot to write and virtually no time at all. Weve been busy. This will probably be poorly organized.
So we left the MTC at like 4 am on a bus, then on a train to the Salt lake Airport. From there, we flew to Cincinnati. While we were having a layover there, some Sister Missionaries from my district started teaching this guy for like an hour it was really cool... Then we flew to Paris. When we arrived there we had to go through security again and then international arrivals/customs. The line was super long and didnt move at all, so we actually missed our flight. It was great.
So, after a time of confusion and panic, we finally got help and called the mission travel office (after I lost 10€ in the payphone) and got rescheduled flights. Well, with this lovely deal we also got a 13 hour layover... It was horrible. The airport there was literally built like a greenhouse, and it was a hot muggy day. So, I nearly died basically (europeans dont do AC btw). So, after a long and torturous 13 hours, we got up and boarded our plane (which was conveniently delayed an extra 45 minutes). We finally landed in Lisbon at about midnight local time, and I had gotten vitrually no sleep in the 37 hours in which we had been travelling (thatºs right we kept track).
We were greeted by the mission president, President Talvares, his wife, and 4 Elders who were like his assistants or something. They drove us to the mission home, a pretty nice place where we promptly crashed. The next day (we were allowed to sleep in till 10am, what a treat right) we then got up, studied, and ate lunch with the President and his wife. We talked, and then had a couple random little meetings/discussions, then we were each individually assigned our companions and our areas.
(Drumroll please)
My companion is... Elder Marques! Hes brazilian, and doesnt speak english!! Woot! So yeah, I basically haven~t spoken english since arriving (my mission presidents dont know english either!) Its great, and will be great practicing my Português a friggin ton with him (already have). I got assigned to the Póvoa mission, and I have no idea where I am in the country its great!
So I rendezvouzed (butchered that one for sure) with him sometime in the afternoon on Thursday, and we took a couple trains for probably an hour or so, and walked probably 1.5 miles with my luggage. Elder Marques is also new to this area, so they call it a "whitewash" when missionaries are completely flushed and replaced in an area. So, our first week has been interesting, because I definitely dont know where to go and who to visit or what to do. Elder Marques also doesnt have a lot of information about the area, so we sometimes get a little hindered by our lack of knowledge.
But anyways, as soon as I put my luggage down in our little apartment (just him and I), we turned around and left for our chapel (which luckily isnt too far, probably 1/4 mile) and taught a lesson to a recent convert with some sister missionaries... so yeah right to it. I actually understood a lot of the lesson, and even spoke a little too! So im not compçletly useless! We then taught a little English class with him and another recent convert who came by later. It was cool, I helped out a little.
But yeah since that day weºve been super busy. A bit about Póvoa, its a ways outside Lisbon (i think), and its a couple neighborhoods about the size of probably Temecula, but with apartment buildings. Itºs not like packed to the teeth, things are a bit spread out. Its really hot, Im constantly sweating. Its a bit of a hilly area too, which doesnt make things fun.
Our day usually goes something like this, get up, eat, excersize, study, and we usually get out and about around noon (im simplifying a lot). Then, to proselyte, we usually pick people to visit, whether it be recent converts, former investigators, members, or less active members. We plan to visit these people, often times they are not home or busy, so then we just ring all the doorbells in that apartment on our way out. About half open it up, and about half of that half even listen to what we have to say, and then a small part of that portion actually (usually very hesitantly) accept a return appointment. The people are awfully polite here though.
So our area kinda has two halves, about with a gap between them of about a mile of just unused land... so lots and lots of walking, in the heat. There are lots and lots of africans here, people from Capo Verde (i hope thats right), Mozambique, and other places. Then, of course, lots of portuguese people too obviously.~
So my companions native tongue is portuguese, so, he does a lot of talking. He knows the "small talk" i guess in port., so sometimes I cant even seem to butt in to speak. Admittedly, I do have a chunk of nervousness about it, but I try. Ive definitely improved from the first day. I learn so much every day.
Okay I need to finish up, sorry about this email.. I wish I had more time and photos to attach, but I just got no time! (and no camera!) So, heres a little bullet list of things I wrote down to remember to share
-Portugal reminds me a ton of italy, and Im not having much trouble adjusting to the whole "Europe" thing, been there, done that.
-Port. names here are super weird, and becuase of that I often forget them
-We taught a guy named Casimiro, a fella who dubbed his cigarette as soon as we came in. He had been taught before in the past, but we taught him again, it was cool. He seemed pretty promising, but heºs going back to africa soon, so we cant keep teaching him. We asked him to pray at the end of the lesson, and he prayed for the Port. soccer team haha (they had a game at the time)
-We had a walk-in lesson with a guy named Daniel (i just contradicted myself with the names thing didnt i) but he was also pretty cool. His toddler son really liked the light-up feature on my watch. We have a return appointment with him.
-When port. has a soccer game, the world stops here. The other night, port. scored at 1030 pm and the whole city cheered and honked there horns and stuff. When it was over, I saw 5, I kid you not, 5 people in 5 different windows of an apartment building stick their heads out of their windows to discuss the game
-they love soccer btw
-We stopped by a soccer field to watch some members of ours play for an activity for a bit, and they had cannons for legs. they can kick hard like holy cow.
-Elder marques can cook really good, what a blessing really
-the bishop in church couldnt help mentioning the soccer game from the night before in his opening announcements for sacrament meeting
-church on sunday was good, about 40-50 members, good strong people
-Lots of people have pet birds, and just set there cages on their balconies, just letting them chirp away
-One of the first miracles Ive experienced here is that I only have 3 mosquito bites!!
-Everyone shakes hands here super weak. Itºs like shçaking a dead fish, dunno why.
Alright, basta, I cant take any longer. Photos and more next week.
Ciao,
Elder Ward
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