LETTER #8 . . . cold, rainy, a bit lonely, but mission life is good!
Hello all i miss you all tons!
It is soso cold here and rains all day long and even snows a little bit which is crazy!!
I forgot to say this in my last letter but i am supposed to start learning the Creole language when i hit 6 months because there are so many Haitians here and it is such a crazy language! I am struggling to learn a second language so even considering a third language seems scary (pray for me!!).
Chiloe is superduper pretty and i didn't give it enough credit in my first email but seriously I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here!!
I have come to find that the people here only listen to American music and its for the most part like heavy rap or super overplayed radio songs but regardless i am grateful because it gives my day background music!
This week was super cool and a super big learning week for me and i am so grateful! The mission has definitely at times been a huge patience and testimony builder and definitely i have had super hard and lonely times but i really am happy.
When learning a new language i have come to find that i need to be attentively listening to at least kind of understand the conversation and with my brain working so hard i get tired super easy so a lot of times in a member's house i will just be trying not to fall asleep and when they ask me a question I always resort back to saying siiiii and nodding my head haha.
One day this week i was kinda having a rough night and we went to a member's house named the Palacios and the family taught us a lesson on the restoration and for some reason, although i didn't know exactly what was taught i was so overcome with the spirit and they had me bare my testimony knowing well that i had no idea what we had just talked about. i just broke down crying and in my broken Spanish talking about how the lord does not speak through Spanish or english but through the spirit and idk why they started to cry because i'm not even sure if they understood my Spanish but it was a super big testimony builder and im so thankful.
Also whenever a member is sick they think the missionaries have extra blessings so we go house to house sometimes doing blessings for the sick and it's so cool because it doesn't matter if i do it in english because a blessing is a blessing no matter the language!
I'm trying my hardest to not gain weight and i eat tons of granola and fruit but the members all joke about fattening us up and i think they might kill me!!! We eat potatoes and chicken for almost every meal but the completos are super duper good and no matter the food i am so thanful because i know it cost a lot for them and took a lot of time!!
This church is so true and i try my hardest to stay positive. Remember to pray always and read the scriptures and see for yourself if this church is true and don't base anything you know of what you have learned from other people.
LOVE YOU ALL.
Elder Townsend
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| September 26th, 2018 |
It is soso cold here and rains all day long and even snows a little bit which is crazy!!
I forgot to say this in my last letter but i am supposed to start learning the Creole language when i hit 6 months because there are so many Haitians here and it is such a crazy language! I am struggling to learn a second language so even considering a third language seems scary (pray for me!!).
Chiloe is superduper pretty and i didn't give it enough credit in my first email but seriously I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here!!
I have come to find that the people here only listen to American music and its for the most part like heavy rap or super overplayed radio songs but regardless i am grateful because it gives my day background music!
This week was super cool and a super big learning week for me and i am so grateful! The mission has definitely at times been a huge patience and testimony builder and definitely i have had super hard and lonely times but i really am happy.
When learning a new language i have come to find that i need to be attentively listening to at least kind of understand the conversation and with my brain working so hard i get tired super easy so a lot of times in a member's house i will just be trying not to fall asleep and when they ask me a question I always resort back to saying siiiii and nodding my head haha.
One day this week i was kinda having a rough night and we went to a member's house named the Palacios and the family taught us a lesson on the restoration and for some reason, although i didn't know exactly what was taught i was so overcome with the spirit and they had me bare my testimony knowing well that i had no idea what we had just talked about. i just broke down crying and in my broken Spanish talking about how the lord does not speak through Spanish or english but through the spirit and idk why they started to cry because i'm not even sure if they understood my Spanish but it was a super big testimony builder and im so thankful.
Also whenever a member is sick they think the missionaries have extra blessings so we go house to house sometimes doing blessings for the sick and it's so cool because it doesn't matter if i do it in english because a blessing is a blessing no matter the language!
I'm trying my hardest to not gain weight and i eat tons of granola and fruit but the members all joke about fattening us up and i think they might kill me!!! We eat potatoes and chicken for almost every meal but the completos are super duper good and no matter the food i am so thanful because i know it cost a lot for them and took a lot of time!!
This church is so true and i try my hardest to stay positive. Remember to pray always and read the scriptures and see for yourself if this church is true and don't base anything you know of what you have learned from other people.
LOVE YOU ALL.
Elder Townsend
Excerpts from letter to family . . .
Dear family,
I will try to answer all your questions!! Yes there are a whole bunch of missionaries here in this area and we actually see them and talk to them often . . but none of them will speak english with me because they want me to learn faster!! It has been a super big test of my patience but i'm learning tons. You know i learn and live through stories and it's been soso hard because i haven't been able to understand or tell stories in 2 weeks. It can definitely be lonely and sometimes super hard but i am learning tons and try my hardest to stay positive through it all.
I have been thinking tons about you guys too and i pray for you all every single day!!!
I heard that packages get here in like 3ish weeks but can sit in the mission home for longer!! I have not heard anything about your package arriving but we will see!!
I invited a couple people to baptism this week which was super scary and cool and i forgot to put that in the group email.
That makes me happy to read about and to see all of those pictures of everyone! I can't believe how different Sarah's backyard looks . . that is so crazy!
Have the boys catch me up on all the sports next week! Anyways my comp is impatiently waiting so i need to go but i will spend more time writing you all next week.
I love you and keep praying and reading the scriptures! Sorry i'm not very good yet at the whole writing thing. The family all seems super busy! Tell all the fam i love em!!! Also i need all the families birthdays!
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