Olá family and friends!
Olá a todos!
Another week has come and gone! I feel like I was just talking to you all - crazy.
The joke of the week was mentally preparing for a lot of Portuguese only to find out that our new instructors speak better English than our old ones haha. Not exactly what we were expecting, but I don't think we were ready as a district to commit to only Portuguese. Everything seems to be working out for the best!
Our new instructors are amazing! Very committed to serving us new missionaries and contagiously enthusiastic about the gospel. It's been a very fun week in class to say the least. I think they are exactly what I need before heading out into the field in two weeks.
One of our new instructors is a funny, little guy. He is crazy in all of the good ways and loves to talk. Our zoom sessions are recorded so he'll throw us in a breakout room whenever he wants to tell us about off-topic things. Anything and everything goes - well anything and everything that is still appropriate goes (a lot of mission stories). We had a few really good laughs this week. One of them came from this instructor telling us the importance of pronunciation. Let's just say the word bread (pão) is very close to something else
I am really enjoying this process of learning and growing. Portuguese is a beautiful language and my ability to express myself in Portuguese is really starting to come together. This week, I have seen the importance of mistakes. There is no better way to learn a new language than making mistakes!
Yesterday, we spent a chunk of the afternoon working on Facebook finding. The new way of finding people to teach online. Let's just say, it is definitely not my forte. I have never been a social media guy and this process of finding people online to talk to is kind of just random. My mom made a good point when saying it's not really any different than talking to strangers on the street; but at the same time, I'm a big people person and talking to strangers online is very foreign to me. However, I have heard really positive things about Facebook finding and I think this will be a good challenge for me - Ether 12:27.
Not too eventful of a week, but I continue to see evidence that I am where I'm supposed to be. The district continues to grow closer and I'm excited to learn more and push myself these last two weeks before heading to Florida! I am looking forward to taking part in this great work!
Eu sou muito grato pelo evangelho, nossos Pais Celestiais, e Jesus Cristo. Eu sou grato pelo Dom de Línguas e pela oportunidade que tenho de ensinar as pessoas no Brasil sobre Cristo.
I am very grateful for the gospel, our Heavenly Parents, and Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Gift of Tongues and the opportunity that I have to teach the people in Brazil about Christ.
I am praying for you all! I hope you are healthy and doing well! Have a wonderful week!
Love you all,
Elder Maruska