The Science of Language Mastery

Week #8

What a week. We had a lot of wonderful experiences and some not so wonderful ones. First, I got to teach a Brazilian family in Portuguese! They speak English very well too, so Elder Yarman can still participate, but I certainly get to do most of the talking. The Pypers are a wonderful member family who told us they had some Brazilian neighbors just move in and because Brother Pyper served his mission in Brazil and Sister Pyper in Chile, they decided they would invite the new neighbors over for dinner. Then they found out I was going to Brazil and thought of the perfect way to introduce us. They told the family (the Britos) that there was a missionary in their ward who could use some practice speaking/teaching in Portuguese and asked if they would mind being guinea pigs. We taught about half of the Restoration and are going back to the Pyper's home tomorrow to finish it. 

According to natives, my Portuguese is very good for only two months of speaking. Mrs. Brito actually starting talking to me in Portuguese without realizing I might not understand everything she said. After I asked her to slow down a bit, she told me that I spoke well enough that she felt comfortable speaking normally. That was my moment of boasting, so I guess I should tie it into the Gospel somehow. The Gift of Tongues is real. I'm taking it as a sign that I'm doing something right by being out here. By the way, if you think Isaiah is tough, try it in a foreign language. I should finish up 1 Nephi tonight and I expect it will take me well over an hour to get through each chapter of 2 Nephi. I'm also at Isaiah in the Old Testament, so I should be an expert at the end of the month.  

Things slowed down a little bit this week. We've had a difficult time keeping any appointments from falling through and haven't spoken to Nina in several days. Her daughter, Rachel, has even started avoiding us. We still see her driving around town, but when she used to wave, now she speeds up and won't look at us. I do have an awesome story about that though.

On Friday, nothing was working. Every appointment and even our backup plans just didn't work out. It was the last hour of the day and the last thing we wanted to do was tract, so we went to a small pond in near Nina's house and took some time to look through our Area Book and pray. After some time of study and even talking to a few people around the pond (no results there), we both felt very strongly that we should try to visit Nina's home. I have very rarely been so sure of something, so we went there and knocked on the door a couple times. There was no answer. A bit confused, we started going back to the car and just as we were walking down the driveway, Rachel pulls around the corner. When she saw us, she actually sped up and did not park. Earlier that day she had said some unrepeatable words to us, so I'm sure she was much less than happy to see us there. For her to come home during those few minutes we were at the door is too much of a coincidence. We don't know what the purpose was yet, but the Lord certainly works in mysterious ways. I'm excited to see what He has in store for Nina's family and what other experiences I'll have for these next two years. 

Today does mark two months of my mission and also Mom's birthday, so it's kind of special. Happy birthday Mom! And happy birthday to Emma tomorrow! I hope you enjoy the temple. It does not feel like two months. I think I already have a good idea of how quickly these next 22 will fly by. Maybe 2 years really isn't all that big a sacrifice after all. 

Thanks for your prayers and support.

See you all in 1.83333 years! 

Elder Dickson