Oi Familia Week 28

July 22, 2013

Week 28

Oi Familia!!!!!

It's always so good to hear from you all! Glad that you are having a great summer! That is fun that Dad gets to help with the rafting trip again! And Mom I'm glad that your primary choristing all was good! 

Mission life is still great here in Sal! Sister Barros is the best and things are going well! This week Sister Barros taught us how to make couscous! I LOVE couscous! It is not the weird little round pasta couscous like we have in America. It's kind of like corn bread. But WAY better! Then after we made couscous, we taught her how to make chocolate chip cookies! I think that was a pretty fair trade for everyone! :) We also had an activity with the Relief Society this week. We had a short spiritual thought, and then taught them all how to make cookies! Haha it was fun. And I just love the members here! 

To answer some of your questions:

Are you still teaching piano?

Not really. Sometimes just a little bit on Sundays. But not on a weekly basis any more.

Is the church much different than here?

Yes and no. Of course it is still the same church and so most are the same. But it is real small here in Espargos. That is probably the biggest difference. Like Relief Society on sunday usually only has maybe 10 women at the most. And our chapel isn't actually a chapel. It's a little house building that has been turned into a church. But even though it is small it is the best! I love our little branch and I can definitely see a special light in them. It makes me happy that I get to be a part of helping them grow here!

Do you do anything extra at church? 

I think since the church is so small here, they rely on the missionaries quite a bit more than usual. Like we don't have additional callings or anything (as in teaching a class or something like that) but they definitely look to us first whenever the members or less actives are in need of support or help or anything.

Do you ever take youth with you to teach?

All the time!! I love our youth! We try to have a member with us in every lesson, and most of our members are youth and young adults. 

Are you still teaching on the street?

Not so much these days. Most of our lessons have just been in people's houses. But every now and then we do!

How is training?

It is awesome!! I love Sister Barros! She is going to be a really amazing missionary! It is a little exciting some times because she still is so new and is still getting used to the lessons and everything, but it is great! And I am pretty sure I am learning more from her than she is learning from me! 

How is the language? 

It is coming! It's not anywhere near perfect, but I can almost always understand the Portuguese and say just about whatever I want to! And having a native companion definitely helps! And these months have definitely taught me that language is not important when it comes to the gospel and teaching by the spirit. The other day, we had a lesson with one of our investigators. We had a member helping us, who is probably one of the hardest people for me to understand. He talks suuuper fast in very thick creole. We asked him to bear his testimony at the end of the lesson, and I could really only understand little bits and pieces. But the spirit was just SO strong! Probably one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard! And I didn't even know most of what he was saying! It helped me to understand how lots of my investigators must feel. Because even though my Portuguese is getting to be so much better, lots of my investigators don't even speak Portuguese! But as long as the spirit is the teacher, that does not matter. It is always such a testimony to me that these things really are true. The church is true! I love love love being a missionary! :)

I love you all lots! 

Love,

Sister Turley :)