I have two awesome journal entries that I really want to
share with y'all today. But sadly, I left my journal in my quarter. And so
instead of getting the real deal, you'll be getting an abridgment.
Anyway, story number one is called:
The Epic of the Elder and the Stain
It goes like this....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once upon a time, an innocent elder was enjoying Pday. The
day was bright and sunny, and he was wearing a brilliantly pure white shirt.
Suddenly, a Wild Stain appeared! Two dark, thick, greasy black stripes ran down
his sleeve!
Naturally, the elder waited until he was thoroughly rested
before taking on such an enemy (and had subsequently finished his Pday). But
then he engaged in battle. He scrubbed and soaped and wetted and rinsed the stain,
with little avail. In a frustrated truce, the Elder doused the stain in a
bucket of water where it murked. Twice more that day, and thrice the next, the
Elder returned to the bucket of murking. Each time he attacked the stain with
the same vigor and fury, and each time a truce was drawn. With subsequent
battles, the elder grew weaker and wetter.
Knowing his boundaries, the Elder sought reinforcements.
Help came in the form of a trusty monster. Three times, the Elder cast the
stain into the belly of the washing machine. Thrice, the stain tumbled out,
weaker but resilient.
But another enemy was at work. The pressing need of
scarcity. The Elder was out of shirts to wear. And so a final compromise was
reached, the final borders drawn. The stain kept what was his, and the Elder
wore the shirt.
The Elder knew that this wouldn't be his final battle, but
he didn't expect his next encounter to occur so soon.
For the very next morning, the Elder awoke to a new foe. The
unwinding tie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second story isn't really a story. It's just a little line or two. It starts like this:
Today, we found out what was in the beans....
I don't think I need to elaborate on that anymore, but if
you're curious, let me know.
This week, I've been reading the Book of Mormon in
Português. I came across a verse that's old, but I really liked it. In O Livro
de Mormón, 1 Nephi 3:7 translates to say: God doesn't order the children of men
to do things without preparing a way for his orders to be followed.
I like this version better than the English. The difference
is that God doesn't just prepare a way for men to accomplish tasks. He prepares
ways for us to follow his laws. This means that every law from God is
followable. That there is no circumstance when we will be unable to keep the
commandments. I liked that.
This week was crazy with new people. Over 40 new Americans
came in. That doubled the number of English speakers here at the training
center. Lots of them came from Provo, so they're in various districts and weeks
across the board. But still, considering that 3 came in my week and that was a
lot for the time, 40 is HUGE. It seems like everyone here speaks English now.
It's really different.
So last P-day, I bought a tie. That doesn't seem like much
of a big deal, but it's probably the coolest tie I've ever worn in my life.
I'll try to send a picture of it next week when I will finally (hopefully) be
able to upload pictures to send. Anyway, it's cool, because here in Brazil, the
most expensive ties cost 15 reais, which is $7.50.
On Thursday, we went to the police station. It was cool. The
station is HUGE. Like 8 or 9 stories and packed. We had to register with the
police with our visas and stuff so we got all sorts of fingerprinting done.
They scanned my whole hand, each individual finger, sets of fingers, my elbow,
my forehead, my tongue... well not really, but they did scan each of my fingers
3 times. The good news is that I passed, so now I probably won't get evicted.
For a year. Because in a year, I have to get my visa renewed.
Because Americans have to renew visas, there were other Americans
that have been serving in Brazil for a while at the police station. It was cool
to talk to them about their missions and stuff. Some of them have been out
since before all the changes in missions, so they were in the MTC for 9 weeks
instead of 6. They expressed their excitement and wonder at the changes in the
work.
Also, they had lots of questions about technology. They were
pretty behind in technology. I wonder what will change while I'm gone. I
imagine I'll return to an America where everyone is wearing google glass.
On Monday or Tuesday night, we were treated to an awesome
fireworks show. Elder Crowther (who shares the room with Elder Sanders, his
companion Elder Taylor, and I) and I heard a noise outside the window. We
leaned out and saw this really bright rocket-like thing climbing high in the
sky. While we watched (and our companions joined us) the rocket shot out 8 or
nine trails of sparks, which in turn split into more trails. Finally, the head
of each trail exploded into awesome fireworks. It was really cool.
Since this is my last week in the CTM, please don't send me
mail here anymore. You can send mail to my mission home address, which I trust
my mother (cough cough) will fill in right here -------->
Elder Tanner Jasperson
Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission
Av. Visconde de Macaé, 245
Cristo Redentor
91350-290 Porto Alegre - RS
Brazil
[actually inserted by Dad!]
Até logo!
Elder Jasperson
No comments:
Post a Comment