Welcome back to this week’s action packed email from your favorite LDS missionary Elder Gist.
Footsie?!
Not a very long story, but a strange one. During every meal, my district has been trying to split up and sit with Brazilians (thankfully, we are back up to good numbers now), and this time was no different. As I sat with a new group and started talking to the homie Elder Alvarez, I felt a strange sensation on my left foot. Thinking it was just something or someone’s foot brushing accidentally across it, I moved it back a couple of inches, not thinking anything. Continuing the conversation, I felt the strange sensation again, but this time I’m sure of what it is, it’s the girl across from me trying to play footsie. Obviously, I move my foot again. I don’t want to and, to be quite honest, don’t know how (in Portuguese) to call her out, so I don’t say anything and keep up the convo with my boy. At this point, I’m also thinking I might be going crazy too, but for the third time, this girl keeps trying to play footsie a quick look under the table confirms my suspicions. At this point, I KNOW it’s not an accident, and I give her the “You Better Quit” look and scoot my chair way back. She then shoots a quick smirk and gets up and leaves with her district. I haven’t seen her since 🙏.
Rango and Rangos Trip Skydiving
This is Rango, Rango was found in the laundry, and unfortunately, was very quickly released out to the wild. Fortunately, in his short interaction with the human race, Rango was touched by the compassion and genuineness of his interactions and returned the next day. The finest quarters were arranged for our newest guest, and “he” (I think, can’t confirm) was treated like a king, paraded around in his new domicile. Well, until he was flung from the 3rd-floor window by our instructor to “set him free.” (The only free thing he did was free fall) RIP Rango. (Can’t confirm this either, but I don’t think he made it.)
Português Bridges The Language Barrier With Africans
My favorite group of missionaries here is the Africans; they all have like $3,000 suits and crazy drip. They speak French, and arrived when I did. Initially, we weren’t able to talk, but as they’ve learned Portuguese, we’ve been able to converse. It’s super interesting to talk to someone in a different language that you are both learning, that’s not your native or theirs. Crazy seeing how Português has already started bridging the gap. One of the elders’ names is Elder Mbabu, and he’s like 6’2″, 230lbs, and built like Goliath. During a workshop with a couple of districts, everyone was freezing, and the instructor giving the lesson was about to go and turn off the air, but Mbabu yells “MUITO QUENTE” (which is being interpreted as “It’s burning up in here, don’t touch the thermostat”). Safe to say we all froze to death. (Everyone is afraid of Mbabu)
Zone Leader
As of this week (my last week), I have climbed the ranks to now be Zone Leader (LD). The Zone Leader does all the stuff and is over the whole zone, which is all the districts that are in it. Before you start thinking I’m a textbook definition of D&C 121:39 (“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion”), the “Zone” is literally just my district… nothing has changed. Our zone is getting switched to a Portuguese district when mine leaves. They have been running us dry until they finally felt comfortable enough to let the noob try the sticks. Muito Bom (Super awesome).
Cafeteria Calamity
Dropped all my food on the floor in the cafeteria, looked like a chum. First day of the week, and I’m still trying to recover from the mediocre week that just happened. I’m in the cafeteria, and I’m about to chow down. I had picked the perfect soft, fresh pão de queijo, and I took the last of the fresh ones. When I went to throw my sandwich in the griddle, I placed my tray on the ledge that I could’ve sworn I’d placed my tray on 50x, but this time it shrunk because the tray didn’t stay, and my loaded plate filled with all my hand-picked delicacies fell flat on the floor, and to make it worse, my plate completely shattered. When the very full cafeteria heard this, they all gasped, and the whole place just stared at me like I was a goon. (I’ve also never heard or seen this happen before) First timer here.
Rainy Days Just Wash Away The Poop
This week has been filled with rainy days, day and night, and to be honest, it gets old really quickly. But one thing the rain has done is wash away the bird poop on a specific set of benches outside the CTM. These benches were covered, and only the rain of three days and three nights was enough to wash the cocô 💩 away. Sometimes those storms in our life seem like they will never end, and day after day, the cloudy days and soggy shoes get old super quick, and all we can do is pray for some sun. In these moments, we don’t fully realize that before we could sit on those benches to enjoy the sun and not have our pants soiled, we needed a lot of rain to clean off the grime. And while we might have thought that it would have been better opportunity without the gloom, that was exactly what we needed to realize two things: how much life changes when we have the Son shining brightly in our lives, and how much we needed those benches to enjoy the Son in the first place. 2 Nephi 2:24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. 25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
Notable Events
– I leave in 5 days for Recife
-Next weeks email will have some banger storys (im gatekeeping)
-I am still at 205lbs
-Ket Munger left (Shoutout KCMO)
-Maybe just maybe im not as fluent as i think (forshadowing)