This week has been much
too stressfully busy. I feel I need to deviate even more from my blog and talk
about some of the more current matters in mind. I have less than half a year
left here at school and in my own home, with my family, in Woodruff. I haven’t
allowed myself to recognize this and I think it is about time I get down to
business in my life. Time is too short to sit back and watch. This truly is
going to be a hard departure and I feel that I am not yet ready for it.
I am preparing to
become a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will
be leaving for Brazil, Sao Paulo. I will be serving under President Turner and
his wife in the Sao Paulo south mission. This is going to be a life changing
experience for me and hopefully for the people I teach. I will learn Portuguese
in there MTC in Brazil for six weeks before I truly enter the field.
I
am leaving on the 17th, of July which is two days before my little
brother’s birthday. I am so very excited and plan to prepare as much as I can
before I leave. I have wonderful examples around me here at Holbrook of every
religion and plan to take what I can from my life so far and give it to those
in Brazil who are willing to listen.
This
land that I am leaving to has great weather year round and had around 2 million
people just in the city. The area around it, that I will be over, has around 20
million people. This city is the business capitol of Brazil and is full of
skyscrapers. The land that I am assigned too, borders the beach, which I am a
little sad about actually. As a missionary I am not allowed to go swimming ever
so I will have this big beautiful beach tempting me throughout two full years.
All
the same, I am extremely excited and am anxious to go already. Though I have
fears against the language of Portuguese, I feel that I will learn quickly and
be able to convey my thoughts correctly to the people.
With
school going on, I feel that it is far too difficult to make extensive study
apart of my daily life. I do however have Seminary and Mission Preparation class
to help me out. I am very grateful for all that seminary has done so far in my
life and appreciate the challenges that Mission Preparation class brings up for
me. I would appreciate it if any of you ever had a question regarding our
beliefs to bring it up. It never hurts to ask and in this case it would really
help. I would love the challenge it would bring and will eventually be dealing
with these same questions but IN PORTUGESE!!! So if you don’t mind I would love
to hear what you have to say.
Jacob,
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you know what you are doing after high school. Honestly, going to Brazil to teach others about what you are passionate about sounds so much more fun than going to college. I think we all need a break from school and in your case it sounds like time well spent. Although I hope after your mission you do plan to go back to school and further your education because, I believe, you are a smart person.
I have always had few questions about Mormonism, but I think Sam has answered them all. I wish you the best in learning Portuguese! You won’t do all that bad!
I still think it is crazy that we are old enough to go on missions. Even though I am going to a year of college before I go on my mission, I am also kind of scared like you, but I think that it will be a great adventure and that we will learn so much from it. I think Brazil is one of the coolest places to get called to go on a mission. My brother went to Brazil and served a mission just a little south of Sao Paulo in Porto Alegre and he enjoyed it thoroughly. My parents went down to pick him up and they talked about a restaurant in the Sao Paulo airport that had crazy good pizza just so you know. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
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