August 31, 2010

Olá!

Yeah we for sure will have to come back here when you come pick me up! I have to tell you about Saturday and you probably can Google it but on Saturday was Noite Branca...HOLY SMOKES!!! It is the BIGGEST party in all of southern Portugal. It translates to the white night and EVERYONE comes from nearby cities and places to this party. The whole city turns into a concert...and everyone wears white! We joked around that they were all ready for baptism and we were going to baptize in the fountain in the middle of the city! It was nuts! We didn’t get to see very much of it but when we were walking home at like 9:00 we saw parts of it! Then we went on the roof and we listened and took pictures and stuff! I have some cool pictures that i will figure out how to send home soon! But the party was so loud no one slept very well and church the next day was funny because all the members were so tired!! We tried to knock doors after church and it was so dead!! there was no one on the streets and no one answered doors...except a lady with the biggest dog I have ever seen!! It was no joke like 4 feet at the shoulders!! It was HUGE!!!!

I can understand English accents really well still and I am starting to understand Portuguese accents a little more but it is still super hard to understand and I just don’t know enough words really. But you are right it will come!! Except for every time that it’s my turn to do a door contact the people don’t answer...i did a whole 5 story building and NO ONE answered!! I am like bad luck!!

Umm I still haven´t found anything i really hate...umm I had bacalhão which is a weird fish that is hard to say in Portuguese and it was not bad at all...it just tasted like normal fish. I got offered snails but she was joking cause she didn’t really have any...I said I would try them!!

Yeah there are a few things that would gross you out really bad but really it isn’t bad at all!! I don’t use a pillow most the time anyways because it is really hot!

Our mission president is really cool and he is super loving! I think he is coming down this next weekend so we will see what he says about our area...I love it!! We haven´t for sure decided where we are going to go but possibly to a castle or something cause beaches are scary in the summer cause....yeah no one likes clothes here...we get some weird looks when we walk around!

I bought a sick new tie for .50 euros. I will sent pictures or maybe send it home cause i want to save it for when i get back cause it really is so awesome and hideous at the same time!!

Well we have a problem....a good problem but a problem still. EVERYONE IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!! I had my first one on Saturday!!! We have another one planned for Wednesday!! But then we don´t have progressing investigators...we are getting them all baptized! My first baptism was cool though we had not been able to get a hold of this lady (Andreia) very often so we went to her parent’s house. she is like 28 and has one child but she lives out in the middle of nowhere so we couldn’t go to her house to teach her but we were talking with her cousin in her parents’ house and she came in and said basically I want to get baptized this weekend....it was on FRIDAY! so we were like uhh okay do you know all this.......and gave her the questions.....she answered them all correct and so we called the District Leader (Elder Rich) who lives with us and he came over and interviewed her and she passed again and so we got it all planned out and she was baptized on Saturday and given the holy ghost yesterday!! It was super fast and we didn’t really even do anything!!

The baptism we have planned is another one similar to that one. We taught Karla once and she said she had problems with modestly and with keeping the Sabbath day holy but wanted to be baptized...we didn’t know how to help her with modestly so we told her to pray about it and that the Lord will answer her. The Lord did answer her prayers and yesterday at church she came up to us and was like I want to be baptized this next week. so we took her into a room and talked to her about which day...she didn’t know so we all said a prayer about it and we said "Do you want it Saturday or Sunday?" then she asked "does it have to be a weekend? I want to be baptized on Wednesday" so we were like nope it doesn´t we will get it all set up! So we have another one planned for Wednesday because we have to go back over the lessons and make sure she knows everything and have the interview but she is ready!!

Our only prospective investigator that will be left after Wednesday...and she isn’t really progressing. we were knocking doors and we knocked one and this 17 year old girl answered and she talked to us for a little and said we could come back...well we have gone back twice and taught her but we still are so confused...she seems like she has everything going for her...she can get whatever she wants, she lives in a pretty nice house, she has lots of friends, she has everything and we can´t figure out why she is letting us...2 missionaries talk to her...I wouldn´t let two random people teach me that knocked on my door if I was her...so every time Elder Braithwaite and I have some extra time waiting for someone or something one of us says "WHY?" and we both laugh and think about it...we can´t figure it out...we hope to talk to her tomorrow and sort of ask her why but we will see.

Oh I also forgot to tell Dad that I found a hunting store!!! my comp who is in his 6th transfer and elder rich who is in like 12-13 both were super surprised cause they don’t have hunting stores here. It is the first one either of them have ever heard of! We were contacting and knocking an area and we came around a corner and saw deer and pigs stuffed on the wall of this place and immediately my comp and i look at each other and my comp says "we have 3 minutes" so we sprint inside and looked at all their stuff and it looks like hog hunting is the main hunting they do here. Hog and bird like pheasant, grouse, dove. They had a pretty wide selection of guns as well...I was impressed! They had a Beretta px4 storm!!! I was back at home and in heaven for those three minutes as we walked around the store!! It was great! (We are going to buy nerf guns today for our apartment)

Tell Kelsey congrats! Let me know where Victor goes!! Tell Aaron to get his butt in gear!!!

Besides sending the pills....send lots of good American candy! Like stuff 4 elders can eat. Most things we can just buy here so i don´t know what to tell you to send me yet exactly...oh a family picture that has EVERYONE in it and yeah just more pictures! That is about all for now!!

I love you tons and tons!! Thank you!!

Elder Bushnell

PS. As far as letters go I get them like every 3 weeks at zone conferences and interviews if you send them to the mission home so try sending one to the address I gave you and we will see if it gets to me sooner!! I should get some on September 11 if you get them sent quickly because president is coming down on that day!

Here it is again:

Rua Ramalho Ortigao
BL B2 Dto
Loulé
8100-618 Loulé

Here is my scripture for you: Jacob 6:12 :)