I experienced eating chicken foot for the first time.... it tasted like chicken, but the texture was super odd (it's not meat, it's just skin I think) and I couldn't get over the supremely uncomfortable and indesguisable fact that I was eating nothing less than the foot of a chicken..... I couldn't do it. After 2 bites I tagged out. Luckily the investigators who made it weren't offended, just supremely amused.
This week was just great. About 2 months ago, Elder Rodrigues told Maria, an investigator, that he wanted to see her stop smoking before he left this area... well, when we showed up last week one day, she said "you can leave now, I've quit. For good." and she really did! Super cool. Raimunda, a great lady we've been teaching for a little bit now is finally taking steps to stop smoking, which is huge because at the beginning she didn't actually take any initiative. According to an Irmã in the ward she hasn't really smiled since her mom passed away a few years back, but since we've been teaching her, she gives us the biggest grin when we show up... the Gospel really is amazing.
Elder Rodrigues and I have found our groove as companions. We teach super well together, we've been studying well together, we've had times of laughter and of disappointment, but our unity is at its best right now...
...so naturally its time for change.
We got the transfer call yesterday. Since Elder Rodrigues has already been here for 6 months, it wasn't a surprise to hear "Elder Rodrigues vai sair (will be transferred)." But when our district leader said "Elder Merrill vai treinar (will be training a new missionary)", I waited for him to say just kidding, it was a joke. But he didn't say that; he hung up. I walked around the apartment for like 15 minutes saying "sério...... sério............. seeeeeeerio...." (*note: for all unfamiliar with how "training" and such works, a new missionary in the field is trained for their first 2 transfers (12 weeks).) I know Elder Rodrigues started training me when he only had 3 months in the mission, but he speaks Portuguese fluently! The Lord must have a lot of trust in me, because I sure don't feel ready to train! I feel like I barely got here and barely just started speaking Portuguese. Though I've improved a LOT, I still have moments where I totally miss what someone says to me and definitely struggle to express myself. I know I'll be doing LOTS of praying in this next week (not too different, since I already have to pray a lot to just get through some days). I'm excited, but I'm also scared out of my socks a lil' bit. So yup. We'll find out how it's going next week.
I love you all sooooo much, have a great week!
Elder Merrill
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| Some Jello dad would be proud of... purple and braces! |
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The Sisters in my Zone gave Elder Bush and I some maple syrup, so I attempted making pancakes.... they were a little flat, but still edible
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