What is up my favorite people in the whole wide world!!!!
Life here in Santo André is awesome. I love it here. I love everywhere I go haha. So this week has been exciting, getting to know the area and all the people as well.
Tuesday
Today we had permission to use the computers so we could email our family about last week. It was good to talk with them and tell them what’s going on. We also went and got food because we didn’t have any in the house. That always happens during transfers. Today was the first full day in my new area and it was pretty cool. We passed by a bunch of people to get to know them and the area. We passed a person named Paula and we had actually marked her for baptism yesterday. She is so elect, but at the same time kind of crazy. We taught her the first lesson and it went great, she always has really good question for us and she is just awesome. She is really excited to be baptized. She is about 40-50 years old, but my first full day here was awesome.
Wednesday
This morning we passed by a man nick-named Chico and he owns a skate shop here. He has known the missionaries for a long time. We talked and I got to know him. He also speaks English. He has a girlfriend that lives here and she is from California so he learned English from her. We talked a lot about skateboarding and California. We "clicked" just like that. We also invited him to church. He has never gone to church before and so we invited him to go and he said "I will try my best" so we will see. Later that day we passed by a lot of people and spent time getting to know more of the area. We passed by Paula again and taught her the word of wisdom and she took it really well. She smokes, drinks, and drinks coffee as well. She said that she would no longer do these things and that she would start the next day. Wow she is awesome. I can see here being baptized on Aug 2nd.
Thursday
We had our district meeting today instead of Tuesday because our district leader is training and had to wait at the office for his new elder to arrive. We do our meetings by Skype because they live 3-hrs away from us. We did the same thing when I was in Beja so it was cool. Today we went on a bus to one of our other areas; we have about 5 areas to cover. We went to Sines and it is on the coast of Portugal so there is a huge beach and I got lots of pictures there haha. It was pretty sick. We passed by a lot of other people and it was good. Then we returned and passed by Paula and taught her the 2nd lesson. She loved it and was so excited to hear from us. We also asked if we could through away her cigarettes that she had and she said yes so we threw them out, it was awesome.
Friday
We had weekly planning and it was so much better than my other area. We actually did what we needed to do. It felt so good to actually plan. My new companion is a big blessing in my life. I am so grateful for him. Today we to another one of our areas called Santiago do Cacém and it was pretty cool. We passed by a lot of people and talked with people in the road. Actually when we were starting to head back to the bus a man parked next to us and he said "man you guys are everywhere". It turns out his wife is a member and he is not. So they know the elders. He asked if he could give his info to us and we were like "Ya you can" (as we look at each other with big smiles). It was pretty cool.
Saturday
This morning we made Rusnell cookies for a party we were going to have with the branch. While we were making them we got a text saying that the party got moved to next week. So, we just had a lot of Rusnell cookies to eat and give away. Elder Katipunan says "They are best cookies EVER!!!" Hear that dad? More people like our cookies! Later we passed by Paula and she wasn’t there. Then we got a reference from the church and we called her. She said that she wants a copy of the Bok of Mormon and wants lessons from the missionaries so we told her who we were and that we could pass by sometime next week. She was excited and said yes. So we will see about her next week.
Sunday
Today was my first Sunday here and it was great. We basically do everything here. Both of us teach classes and conduct. I also was gave a talk. One of us will bless the sacrament and the other will help pass. Sometimes we will even be the person who will conduct sacrament meeting which is pretty cool. For my talk I decided to talk about attributes of Christ. It went really well and I did a good job. When I sat back down next to the Branch President he whispered to me and said that it was a fantastic talk and that it was what some people need to hear. Then after church we helped the Branch President with the tithing. I my last email I said we were councilors but basically we are just "assistants" because if we were councilors we would have to be set apart. So we are basically his helpers. He lives about 30 min out of our area.
So my week has been awesome and I love it here. I am doing so much better and I am having so much fun with my new elder. We are best friends!!! He says hi to everyone and he told me to say "Elder Rusnell is the most hard working missionary here on the mission" That is from Elder Katipunan. He is so awesome I love him. Well, things area great here, I hope everything is going good back home. I love you all. Stay good and be happy!
Com muito amor,
Elder Rusnell
Life here in Santo André is awesome. I love it here. I love everywhere I go haha. So this week has been exciting, getting to know the area and all the people as well.
Tuesday
Today we had permission to use the computers so we could email our family about last week. It was good to talk with them and tell them what’s going on. We also went and got food because we didn’t have any in the house. That always happens during transfers. Today was the first full day in my new area and it was pretty cool. We passed by a bunch of people to get to know them and the area. We passed a person named Paula and we had actually marked her for baptism yesterday. She is so elect, but at the same time kind of crazy. We taught her the first lesson and it went great, she always has really good question for us and she is just awesome. She is really excited to be baptized. She is about 40-50 years old, but my first full day here was awesome.
Wednesday
This morning we passed by a man nick-named Chico and he owns a skate shop here. He has known the missionaries for a long time. We talked and I got to know him. He also speaks English. He has a girlfriend that lives here and she is from California so he learned English from her. We talked a lot about skateboarding and California. We "clicked" just like that. We also invited him to church. He has never gone to church before and so we invited him to go and he said "I will try my best" so we will see. Later that day we passed by a lot of people and spent time getting to know more of the area. We passed by Paula again and taught her the word of wisdom and she took it really well. She smokes, drinks, and drinks coffee as well. She said that she would no longer do these things and that she would start the next day. Wow she is awesome. I can see here being baptized on Aug 2nd.
Thursday
We had our district meeting today instead of Tuesday because our district leader is training and had to wait at the office for his new elder to arrive. We do our meetings by Skype because they live 3-hrs away from us. We did the same thing when I was in Beja so it was cool. Today we went on a bus to one of our other areas; we have about 5 areas to cover. We went to Sines and it is on the coast of Portugal so there is a huge beach and I got lots of pictures there haha. It was pretty sick. We passed by a lot of other people and it was good. Then we returned and passed by Paula and taught her the 2nd lesson. She loved it and was so excited to hear from us. We also asked if we could through away her cigarettes that she had and she said yes so we threw them out, it was awesome.
Friday
We had weekly planning and it was so much better than my other area. We actually did what we needed to do. It felt so good to actually plan. My new companion is a big blessing in my life. I am so grateful for him. Today we to another one of our areas called Santiago do Cacém and it was pretty cool. We passed by a lot of people and talked with people in the road. Actually when we were starting to head back to the bus a man parked next to us and he said "man you guys are everywhere". It turns out his wife is a member and he is not. So they know the elders. He asked if he could give his info to us and we were like "Ya you can" (as we look at each other with big smiles). It was pretty cool.
Saturday
This morning we made Rusnell cookies for a party we were going to have with the branch. While we were making them we got a text saying that the party got moved to next week. So, we just had a lot of Rusnell cookies to eat and give away. Elder Katipunan says "They are best cookies EVER!!!" Hear that dad? More people like our cookies! Later we passed by Paula and she wasn’t there. Then we got a reference from the church and we called her. She said that she wants a copy of the Bok of Mormon and wants lessons from the missionaries so we told her who we were and that we could pass by sometime next week. She was excited and said yes. So we will see about her next week.
Sunday
Today was my first Sunday here and it was great. We basically do everything here. Both of us teach classes and conduct. I also was gave a talk. One of us will bless the sacrament and the other will help pass. Sometimes we will even be the person who will conduct sacrament meeting which is pretty cool. For my talk I decided to talk about attributes of Christ. It went really well and I did a good job. When I sat back down next to the Branch President he whispered to me and said that it was a fantastic talk and that it was what some people need to hear. Then after church we helped the Branch President with the tithing. I my last email I said we were councilors but basically we are just "assistants" because if we were councilors we would have to be set apart. So we are basically his helpers. He lives about 30 min out of our area.
So my week has been awesome and I love it here. I am doing so much better and I am having so much fun with my new elder. We are best friends!!! He says hi to everyone and he told me to say "Elder Rusnell is the most hard working missionary here on the mission" That is from Elder Katipunan. He is so awesome I love him. Well, things area great here, I hope everything is going good back home. I love you all. Stay good and be happy!
Com muito amor,
Elder Rusnell