The Laundry Miracle!

Hello everyone!

I think we saw a miracle this week! Elder and Hull and I washed all our clothes last Thursday, and when we were transferring all our whites to the dryer, we found one of my BLACK INK PENS that I had forgotten in a shirt pocket. It was scary. It didn't leak at all, and all of our white clothes are thankfully safe haha! The pen got a bunch of water in it, but it still works and I kept on using it. Crazy stuff!

Week two has flown by! I thought the first week was fast, but this week was way faster. Because our schedule is close to exactly the same each day, every day blurs together, and I can hardly remember anything that happened since I emailed last. I looked through my journal to jog my memory haha.

Portuguese is improving! During our lessons, over half of what I say is unscripted, and I can get the general idea of what Brazilians are saying when they speak super fast. I learn new words every day, and I can see progress, which is encouraging! At this point, it's hard to believe I will be fluent in a matter of months from now, but I know that through Christ all things are possible. I know that through the Holy Spirit's gift of tongues, I will be able to communicate effectively the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to those who need to hear it. And everyone needs to hear it.

Being district leader is an experience! At first I was unsure the position was right for me, but now I know it is. Our district is pretty cool. There's Elder Hull (my companion) and Elder Nelson from Texas, Elder Stafford from Washington state, Sister Bunderson from St. Louis, and Sister D'anjoiu from Quebec (she speaks English and French which is way cool haha), and me. We're all different, so it was a little hard to get used to each other at first, but now we know each other well and are great friends. So, just when we're getting along well and becoming used to everything, six more missionaries from the MTC in Provo who got their visas are coming to join us. It'll be crazy haha, but I'm sure it'll be fun.

The highlight of this week was President Swensen's devotional talk on goals and obedience! It was exactly what I needed to hear, exactly what I had been studying in personal study, and exactly what I was trying to teach the district. It was powerful and inspiring, and I learned a lot!

Overall, this week really was a blur! It feels like all I do is wake up and go to bed because everything in between flies by. I'm excited for the four more weeks I have here, and hope all of you are doing excellently!

-Elder Anderson