[We finally got Elder Bean’s long awaited “blog” letters! The more recent posts have been excerpts from his family letters. So...the dates are going to be out of order, going back in time just a bit, while we get caught up. Here’s Elder Bean’s blog letter dated Nov 26, 2012 ]
Oh, meu bondade – Where to begin? We’ll get to the juicy stuff in a bit. First, the week was good; I love the members; my accent is so bad people don’t understand me; I saw a picture of Brother and Sister Woodruff in the house of my ward mission leader Irmao Oppe whose son served in their mission (that was really cool); There’s a lady in my ward who looks like a Brazilian version of Grandma K J; I made my first phone call in Portugues, and foi horrivel (it was horrible)!; People here don’t flush their toilet paper, they throw it away (interesting fact of the day); and... I die with happiness every time I hear American music (this week it was Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson—I heard it on the street)!
I got letters this week! Yeah!! Thanks to Mom, Sister O. (from my CTM 36-B District), Elders C. S. and P. (former CTM roommates), Elder Matthew W., Stephanie T., and Maren Y. THANK YOU!!
So now, some short stories: Obviously the field is a lot more walking than your body is used to, and they say that pain is just weakness leaving your body, right? Well, the weakness in my body is pouring out like a water hydrant! Whoo. J Sometimes I feel like shouting in my best Gollum/Smeagol voice: It burns! It burns! Baha. Yeah, my legs and feet hurt a lot now-a-days. But a really great blessing: many times in a day I think to myself, Oh, Elder Bean, you’re gonna have to ask Elder Petersen if we could take a break, cause you can’t keep going. But ...I never have to. By some miracle, even though I think I’ll have to stop, I never need to. Just endure the pain and take another step. And right now, all I can see is Brady W shouting, ENDURANCE!!! J Thanks, Brady.
Another short story: Sometimes when Elder Petersen and I are late, we decide to run to our next lesson. This is very funny, because I’m sure we look like complete locos as we fly down the streets of Oscasco, our ties flapping, shirts untucking, bags bouncing, and sweat pouring! But I always like it, kinda feel like I’m willing to look like a fool for the Lord. Baha. Anywho, we attract a lot more attention. Entao, maybe it’s a good thing...? J
Oh, one last story! Baha. You aren’t going to believe what happened. So one day, after teaching a crazy lady, visiting sick menos-ativos, and recommitting a woman to keep the Sabbath day holy, we were entering our apartment, 9:30pm, and as I was unlocking the door our key broke! With half in the lock, half in my hand, and the door still locked. BAHAHA! I looked up in disbelief and said, Elder! Oh meu bondade!!! Entao, we had to be driven to the house of our zone leaders, sleep on filthy mattresses (we didn’t even sleep much), then in the morning, head to our district meeting: no shave, no shower, no clean clothes, no food. Yeah. During our meeting I tried to not talk too close to people, cause obviously we didn’t brush our teeth, too. Ha. After the D.M., it started raining...super hard. Like huge drops. And finally... really cold. And guess whose umbrella was locked inside their house? Uh huh. This story just gets funnier by the minute. So, by the time we got to our lunch appointment (which couldn’t have been farther away) we were soaked, dirty, and hungry. Absolutely pathetic. J But despite all this, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! SO MUCH!!* Oh, man, the mission is such a confirmation that life is good, because every horrible thing can happen, and you and your companion are still smiling, singing Singing in the Rain,and talking about how great the mission is. Muito legal. Oh, we also had a mold/leak problem we discovered when we finally entered our apartment. Pois e. J Ate aproximo semana.
Com amor,
Elder David Bean
* and with the help of a nice locksmith, we got into our apartment around 3pm . J
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