Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Ohio Tomorrow!

Comfy P-day, with Elder Acevedo and Elder Baird



Dear Family and Friends,

I feel so comfy right now. I'm wearing my favorite 49ers shirt, sweat pants I found...don't worry I washed them, and my vans. One day a week to wear regular street clothes may seem crazy but when that day comes around it seems like the best day ever. I don't think I have ever been so happy to just chill out in sweat pants...yup no never.
 
As you may have heard, my visa has not arrived and I will be serving for who knows how long in the Columbus, Ohio mission. I am sooo pumped and I know that there are people there for me to teach and interact with. I know that the Lord has prepared them and hopefully I will be able to find them. The Field is White and Ready to Harvest. I know it. I will go where I am needed and I will be what the Lord needs me to be. I am so excited. I also had the chance to teach in English about 10 times to one of our teachers since he wasn't a Portuguese speaker and served his mission in Tonga. It was a serious blessing to be able to get those foundations of teaching in my native language. I am so grateful I was able to teach enough and get a partial hang of it since I will solely be speaking English In Ohio. We do get an extra hour for study time in the field since I am a visa waiter, so that will be nice. I don't think I will be able to improve my Portuguese since I wont be hearing any of it there but I hope to keep it from diminishing.. By the way, listening to my other teacher speak in Tongan was super cool. Tongan is one of the coolest languages I have ever heard. Every time I heard him speak Tongan I could only think of Finding Nemo. mountwannahakaloogee.

So this last Sunday I got released from being Zone Leader and it has been nice to not have a bunch of meetings scattered throughout the week. I was actually able to read my scriptures for a solid amount of time on the Sunday I was released. It was a serious blessing. I also finished The Book of Mormon (again) while I have been here. It is so true. I don't know what my life would be like without it. I know that it was written for everyone across the world during these times. I know that it is the world of God and that it is another Testament of Jesus Christ. It doesn't replace the Bible, but it adds on to confirm the truth of the Bible. I love it so much. There are new things I find every single time I read it. It brings me so much joy, happiness, comfort and hope every time. Every time it manifests to me that Jesus is the Christ and he is our Savior. I know that is true and I cannot deny it. I invite all of you to read The Book of Mormon even if it is just a little part because I know that even the smallest parts of The Book of Mormon can bring so much happiness and clarity to your life. ughhh... man I love it so much hahaha. :-)

One of the Zone Leaders' jobs is to check people out when they receive their visas or when their time at the MTC is up. We have received so much candy from departing missionaries.. I'll be honest, I have received so many treats from all you wonderful people and missionaries leaving. It is a pot luck every night in our dorm hall. Elder Hunter's mom makes delicious homemade salsa and we have that every night on the ironing board along with all of the other foods that have arrived in care packages or from missionaries who have left us for the field. Elder Baird's 19th birthday was this past week and we had a sweet party in honor of our re-assignments, Elder Baird's Birthday,  and Elder Shaw's one month anniversary with his girlfriend. :-) She supplied the Martinellis so we had to give her some credit. I'll include some pictures. 

party in the hall



O Homen que só fala esperaça. This essentially translates to the Man that only speaks/gives/passes hope. So since our English speaking teacher left to visit his grandparents in Washington we have had a couple of awesome substitutes. Irmão Pinho was this man who only spoke of hope. Seriously, this brother was so awesome! He was a native Brasileiro so naturally we all asked him questions like, "Is there anything other than rice and beans?" he said no, because everyone is obsessed with it down there and loves it. They feed beans to little babies. It's like they are forced to eat rice and beans from when they are little. As the questions continued we found out he served in our same mission. CURITIBA! He was so excited when he heard that and he started to tell us everything about it. I learned so much more about the language and about the culture. They have so many hand signals for just about everything. You were right mom. There are some funny ones that I will show you when we skype for Mother's day or Christmas. 

Skyping Brasileiros-- The MTC is trying out a whole new learning style as more and more missionaries pour into these great buildings. They let our district be the guinea pigs and let us skype native Brazillians! We had the great opportunity to skype one of Sister Ririe's (our main teacher) companions when she served in the Campinhas mission. It was so great to see how strong the saints are down there and to have the opportunity to share with them a message on faith, all in Portuguese. I was able to share my favorite scripture, Ether 12:27 and talk about how it has changed my life for the good. I love that whole entire chapter. I also encourage everyone reading this to read Ether chapter 12. I love how Moroni gives us hope by telling us that our weaknesses can become strengths if we humble ourselves before the Lord. I love how the scripture really breaks it down how if we are humble and meek the Lord's grace is sufficient to turn our weakness into strengths. It is such a confidence booster. 

Someone tell me how my team is doing.  I miss Baseball a little bit, just a little.
 
Funny things I do to remind me of home:
 
I press my left fingers on my  right fingernails so I don't loose my guitar callouses.
I sing as much as possible.
And do funny accents for missionaries who are down in the doldrums. The Russian accent was just unleashed two days ago. I had completely forgotten about it.
Oh and quoting Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller, and Lord of the Rings.
 
Speaking of rings I got a sweet CTR ring that spins from one of the free boxes. Fun fact for the day. I've really wanted one for a while. 

Alright, well it seems like my time is up. Next time you hear from me I will be in the great state of Ohio only 7-9 hours away from home. It is kinda weird to think about  but I know that is where I am supposed to be until I get my visa.

I love everyone of you and hope to hear more about your lives in letters:-) Peace out and stay sweet.
 
Love,
 
Elder Forsyth
 
p.s. totally not related but I felt I should share. A bunch of guys in my zone played beach volleyball during gym with rolled up jeans in honor of Top Gun. That is all.
View of Provo Temple

1 comment:

  1. Enjoy Ohio! SOOOO CLOSE to home! Your Mom was SPECTACULAR today at her Philly Recital! WOW!

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