Where did all my friends go?
I have no idea what happened. One day I was chilling with my Brazilian friends, and the next thing I knew, they were gone. The Brazilians only stay here for two weeks, and now I’ve lost three groups of friends. The CTM is at half capacity now, and we only had around 20 people who came in. My hall is empty, and there’s no one to talk to during meals anymore :(.
Tokyo Drift
A little about the part of the city I’m in… it’s the hood. Late at night (10:38), I was awakened by the sound of gunshots, and then some screaming. Mom, don’t worry, I heard the squeal of tires three seconds later. Those noises weren’t shots; they were the backfire of several tricked out Porsches doing some drifting around the CTM. Since the first time I heard these guys, I’ve heard them about eight times. Must be nice to not have to worry about cops.
Let’s get real
This week has been a grind. As I settled into a routine, got comfortable with the friends I had, and felt comfortable with my Portuguese, that’s when it got the hardest to keep pushing and putting in the effort. As my friends have left and classes are now all in Portuguese, it’s gotten easier to catch myself getting lazy with my studies, not being as diligent about talking to people outside my district, following the rules, etc. Things like Portuguese that felt easy early on have gotten harder as conversation topics have changed and as I’ve reached the next uphill part of my language journey.
As I reach my final week here in the next couple of days, I’ll have even more work, even more language, and even fewer friends. As this stress creeps in, I find peace and comfort in the things that ground me: the gospel of Jesus Christ and my testimony that, no matter the difficulty, I know that God is preparing a path for me. I can testify from experience that these difficult things are just the gate to the experiences that will change your life. I know this because I’ve lived it over and over and over. What I’ve learned is that faith in God’s plan and putting in the work thay faith demands will take you farther than diligence and a perfect plan alone can.
I invite you all to turn to the gospel of Jesus Christ when things get hard and push through. I’ll leave you guys with Ether 12:41: “And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.”
Notable Events:
– My weight is now 205 (let’s shoot for 215).
– Ryann Steenblik pulled up (Shoutout KC).
– Even more people have gotten injured in volleyball and basketball, totaling around 20, I think.
– I got one of the cleanest haircuts of my life for the price of one tie from a Brazilian.
– I haven’t seen the bus driver since 😅”
More fire pics in the google photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cnvNHFLuWEPTfcKj7