12 June 2011 - Pedras Area (Mom)

You don't have to do anything for my birthday. You already gave me my birthday present. Yeah trading goes down sometimes. [Mom sent him a t-shirt for him to trade with someone.] It's fine though. It is good to get food from America. Nobody tampered with the package. My companion got a package too so we had a package party and got fat. He got some skittles and reeses pieces. We snack on the sunflower seeds as we walk down the street. I was surprised that you sent a pot to cook in :)

It's good to teach because that way you get to learn a lot. I have learned a lot here. Not necessarily from the actual teaching part, though I do learn during my lessons, but from the studying part that I do everyday. A lot of stuff that I have heard and learned throughout my life has come up in my studies here. I'm always like 'Oh so that's where so and so got that idea from.' That mostly happens when I read Institute manuals and stuff. It's good to practice portuguese too. I have a year to do that though. I just hope to get rid of my accent and to be a master, but I'm well on my way!

[Mom mentioned some things she learned about parent-kid relationships as she was preparing for a lesson.] I was a perfect kid right ? ;)

One of the things I think that I need to work on is faith and my prayers. They are hard though. It's hard to gauge how well you are doing with both of them. The mission is an intense mind game you play everyday. You have to remember to do this and that, pray for this and that, teach this and that, show love, charity, faith, etc. You just have to remember to do a lot of stuff so that you can be a good missionary. That is really that hard part. I guess I just have to make it habit so I don't have to "remember."