Week 4: Ties Now, Crowns Later

Anyway, if you don't speak Google Translate, this week has been both exciting, but also pretty tiring. We're kind of in the hump right now. The meal lines and people cutting in them is getting incredibly tiring, the productiveness of our classes is often based on the least engaged person in it. I definitely am grateful because there are members of my district that are having a much harder time adjusting than I am. While it may be difficult when they refuse to be engaged, I try to be patient with them whenever possible, because it's most important that they are able to make it through whatever they are going through--homesickness or anything else--and be able to do the Lord's work I know they want to do.

My district will be here for 6 weeks total to learn our language, which I think is just the right length. English speaking missionaries are usually at the MTC for 2 weeks, which feels very short, while missionaries learning a more difficult lanugage like Japanese are at the MTC for 9 weeks, which is just crazy. It may feel like to many of us that we won't be in the field for forever, but I know we'll find ourselves needing to speak Portuguese in Brazilian airports so much sooner than we realize.

Tie Economy -- For any of you Benet folks out there, the missionary attire for elders is basically the Benet uniform--dress pants, white shirt, and tie. And because of this, ties are almost a status symbol. A nice floral or knitted tie is equivalent to a 24k gold necklace here, and like gold, ties have become a tradable commodity. Most nights in our dorm, up to a dozen elders come up to our floor, raising their tie racks and advertising their wears. And there is nothing more satisfying than a good trade. A few nights ago, I went out holding two of my basic striped, gray ties--low value for sure. While attempting to trade them, someone pointed out to me that he liked one of them. I offered to trade it for one of his floral ties, a ridiculous trade, and he accepted! It was a steal. I didn't like the tie much myself, but immediately after, other people began complimenting the floral tie, and I started trading with it, right in front of the guy I bought it from, lol! It's a lot of fun, and pretty harmless.

The Frenchies -- A couple weeks ago, we got a new trio in our room, a trio of "Frenchies" we call them because they're learning French and will be serving in the Ivory Coast of Africa. We taught them plenty of Portuguese at first, but now that they've started immersion in their classes, they're leaking French into our room, which is not cool! Portuguêse é melhor.

Sacrament Meeting Choir -- This past week, Sister Dutton in my district arranged a choir performance on Sunday that I helped with! We sang It Is Well with My Soul, an absolute banger. I just love singing and being able to share it with others, and the few from our district that joined were also super good! We had fun trying to figure out how we make music sound better somehow--fun resolutions, dynamics, and playing with the number of parts in verses.

Temple Trip v3 -- They make sure we get lots of opportunities to see the temple while at the MTC. This week, we did sealings, which I had never done before! For it, we are proxy-sealed for families of people who have died so that they can receive the blessings of the ordinance, i.e. eternal families! It's a pretty cool concept, and for one of them, we had a family of eight children and two parents being sealed together at once! It was a little difficult for the person speaking the ordinance to keep the twenty names involved straight, lol. 

Mais Portuguese -- We're continuing to do immersion in all of our classes! I've been writing down every word I don't know in my notebook then writing the important ones on my notecards. I'm hoping to have used all of my 1000 notecards by the end of the MTC! But, it's still difficult to keep up. Portuguese native speakers are just so dang fast at speaking, especially compared to our teachers, who are being kind and who learned Portuguese on their missions themselves. 

Last week, we lost one of our teachers, Irmão Tanner. We lost him to an irmã! (The Portuguese word for sister.) He got married and went on his honeymoon so we got a substitute teacher, Irmão Andersen. She's been great this last week, but she had to leave too. So, along came our Friday class. This class happened to be at the same time as BYU's first football game, and many of our district members were a little antsy about it because our dorm room has an unprecedented view of the field, only about a mile away. And, no teacher came. We just sat around talking and waiting, until the elders proved themselves to be dedicated. Rather than just leaving early as they might've wanted to, we all grabbed our chairs and wheeled them over to a neighboring district's classroom who was also learning Portuguese. Then, of course right after we fit everyone in the classroom, our sub arrived and we returned. But hilariously, he did not seem to care at all about our class. He had been called in to teach when the MTC heard we had no teacher, and he was not prepared. He showed us around his mission on Google Maps and taught us about the sport of kite fighting in Brazil. 

However, at the end of class, our sub actually gave an incredibly inspiring message. It was about how we may miss some things from our lives now--our music, hobbies, etc--but we will be able to return to them after the mission. But, we will never be able to return to the two years of our mission, so we should take absolute advantage of it while we're in it. My main worry about my mission is that I will have to go home early, that I'll get a stomach bug or something that will force me to end my mission early or transfer back to the US. This is because I want so bad to serve it all! I want to learn about, serve, and teach about the Lord every day in Brazil, and I know I will have to push to do it all. But, I know if I do, Christ will help me to grow.

Favorite hymn -- My favorite hymn comes from a concert we had in the bathroom. I was sitting in bed one night, and I was feeling a little down; I felt like I needed some companionship, to do something I enjoyed with others, which can be hard to do here when much of what I enjoy with others can't be found here. But, I heard singing. I entered the large common bathroom, and in it, two elders were singing Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy. I love that hymn so much, and know all the words from listening to my recording of BYU Women's Chorus performing it (shoutout to a certain member!), so I had to join in. It was beautiful. The next however, suggested by a random elder that joined in, was my true favorite of the week--A Poor Wayfaring Stranger. I loved that one already, but after singing it that night, I was hooked for the rest of the week, humming and singing it to myself whenever possible. 

If you want to hear it, it's not in the hymn book, so I recommend listening to the BYU Combined Choir's recording of it on their album, The Road Home. You should be able to find it on YouTube or whatever else. I would add a link but I am currently on my phone which has YouTube blocked, rip.

The third verse, especially in this recording is the most significant for me:

I want to wear a crown of glory

When I get home to that good land.

I want to shout salvation’s story

In concert with the blood-washed band.

I’m going there to see my Savior,

To sing his praise forevermore.

I’m just a’going over Jordan

I’m just a’going over home.

Being a missionary can often feel like being a poor, wayfaring stranger, but I remember the promise given by this verse and by our goofy substitute teacher on Friday, that we have so much waiting for us upon our return and that our time here is only preparing us for it. 

That's all I have for this week. Thank you to all of those who responded to my last email. If you want to email me, please do! And I will try my absolute best to respond on the next Monday.

Tchau tchau,

Elder Haroldsen

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