Wow! I can't believe it's already been a month! Time has flown by!
Looking back on my first month as a missionary, I can clearly see that God truly loves his children, He has a plan for them, and that The Book of Mormon is the word of God just as the Bible is. I just got back from the beautiful São Paulo Temple. It was so wonderful to visit the house of the Lord and feel his love.
The food is still incredible. Last week, while we were walking around the MTC, I went to my first restaurant in Brazil, a French creperie! Today on our walk, we are going to hunt down some acaí and get a real Brazilian experience. Speaking of Brazilian food experiences, we recently were served the Brazilian dish feijoada in the cafeteria. Both of my companions hated it, but I thought it was really quite delicious! The only catch was the meat chunks were a hit or miss. Some of them were absolutely impossible to chew and some tasted just plain funky. I'm not sure I want to know what body parts I ate.
The schedule here is breakfast, four hour study block, lunch, four hour study block, dinner, four study block with a gym period. It seems like a lot but for some reason it's felt effortless to be here working this hard. Okay, effortless is the wrong word. The better word would probably be natural. It's felt really natural to be here serving God. I would also move to say that a lot of my effort isn't coming from me. God has quickened my work capacity, because this work is so important. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes everything. There is no greater gift.
Our last Brazilian roommates left for the field and we got new ones on Wednesday. One is a professional American Football (flag, I think) player in São Paulo and another is the number one chess player in São Paulo. Sometimes it's pretty surreal being out here as missionary. This day has forever been but a dream, but finally living it is truly a joy.
It's been truly a gift to have come as far as I have with the language. Ezekiel 3:5 has been a good reminder for me, as I've been slowly growing in my ability to speak Portuguese, that even though I am working hard, the Lord has been doing the real work.
Love,
Elder George
Looking back on my first month as a missionary, I can clearly see that God truly loves his children, He has a plan for them, and that The Book of Mormon is the word of God just as the Bible is. I just got back from the beautiful São Paulo Temple. It was so wonderful to visit the house of the Lord and feel his love.
The food is still incredible. Last week, while we were walking around the MTC, I went to my first restaurant in Brazil, a French creperie! Today on our walk, we are going to hunt down some acaí and get a real Brazilian experience. Speaking of Brazilian food experiences, we recently were served the Brazilian dish feijoada in the cafeteria. Both of my companions hated it, but I thought it was really quite delicious! The only catch was the meat chunks were a hit or miss. Some of them were absolutely impossible to chew and some tasted just plain funky. I'm not sure I want to know what body parts I ate.
The schedule here is breakfast, four hour study block, lunch, four hour study block, dinner, four study block with a gym period. It seems like a lot but for some reason it's felt effortless to be here working this hard. Okay, effortless is the wrong word. The better word would probably be natural. It's felt really natural to be here serving God. I would also move to say that a lot of my effort isn't coming from me. God has quickened my work capacity, because this work is so important. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes everything. There is no greater gift.
Our last Brazilian roommates left for the field and we got new ones on Wednesday. One is a professional American Football (flag, I think) player in São Paulo and another is the number one chess player in São Paulo. Sometimes it's pretty surreal being out here as missionary. This day has forever been but a dream, but finally living it is truly a joy.
It's been truly a gift to have come as far as I have with the language. Ezekiel 3:5 has been a good reminder for me, as I've been slowly growing in my ability to speak Portuguese, that even though I am working hard, the Lord has been doing the real work.
Love,
Elder George