Oct 28, 2013 Hello to all from BRAZIL

Oi todo mundo!

What is going on everyone, hello from BRAZIL!!!!!!!! I still cant believe that I am in a completely different country right now, and brazil for that matter (oh, i should preface this with the fact that I am using a brazilian keyboard that is jank, so some spellings will be off. Don't hate, appreciate). This is probably the craziest thing i have ever done in y life, but I am having to rely more on the Lord than ever before. Ill explain more about that in a bit, for now I need to recap the past 2 weeks. 

Leaving Nebraska was one of the hardest things ever. I never thought it would be too. I got so attached to the people there and I felt such a love for them. I think the fact that most of them were farmers or had lived in Nebraska for all of their lives made them a very humble people and willing to listen, even if it was just a door approach. They were all kind and courteous and some of the best people i have ever met in my life live in that state. Nebraska will forever be a special and almost sacred place for me. 

All right, so now we get to Brazil. The first thing i want to say is, oh my living gracious what in the world am i doing here. okay, now that that is out of my system (I felt this way for about 5 days), there are some very different cultural observations i want to make. First of all, the people are super laid back, like nothing bothers them really. even if it is something super wrong, they could really not even care less. this is evident in the way they drive. Brazilians drive ridiculous! there are no lane lines, and it is totally okay to go 20 over (or under) the speed limit, and you can if you just so happen to feel like it cross over 3 lanes (if you can call them that) to turn onto another street, or rua. It is totally normal for motorbikes to drive between cars and it happens all the time. It is also totally normal to see 2 cars driving on a one lane road with the drivers talking to each other. Horses and dogs roam the streets, and people just throw their trash where they want. That being said, it is super dirty. Mosquitos are everywhere, and I think I counted 17 bites on my skin this morning.

We walk all the time. I don't even think i can explain how hard this is. Even for someone who is fit and walks fast, brazilians walk faster and they do it all in flip-flops. Yet somehow when we walk I'm able to keep a smile on my face. our area is huge and some days when we cant take a bus we have to walk the whole thing, which means we walk about 10-12 miles a day. 

The language is a royal pain. I thought I was going to be able to adjust decently well, but yea that didn't happen. It is very difficult o communicate and at times it can be very very frustrating. My companions name is Elder J. Sanchez, and he knows absolutely no english, so you can imagine how hard it is to communicate even with him. 

The work in our area is very slow. Not very many people here want to listen to our message and we are not really teaching anyone. This, combined with the fact that it is hard to speak and understand makes it very stressful. But, the lord always provides a way. In all the things the lord can help us and give us the strength to overcome. the past 2 days have been particularly stressful. For starters we had a huge rainstorm come through. it flooded streets for a time because the sewer lines are terrible. and well, we were out walking so we were soaked from head to toe. Yesterday was church and I understood jack squat. Members would ask me questions, and when i didn't understand they would get frustrated and walk away. all this being said, I received some great help from the Lord. In spite of all this terrible events taking place right now, I still managed to be optimistic. Walking in the rain I started to sing count your many blessings and I instantly felt the spirit and knew that heavenly Father was mindful of me. He knows all of us and he will not let us travel through tribulation alone! He has called me to this mission all the way in Brazil for who know why, and as such he will help me because it is his work. As President Monson says, who the lord calls, the Lord qualifies. Every missionary in the world was called of God, and he will not abandon his servants. During my study this morning i continued to receive what i know to be inspired revelation that helped me know what to do and that the Lord knows my struggle. I remembered the story of Gordon B. Hinkley when he was a missionary, and even he felt he couldn't do it it and wanted to give up. He then said his father wrote him and said, forget yourself and go to work. what a great hing to do. As King Benjamin says in the Book of Mormon when you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your god. I also remembered a quote from somewhere that says, as a man thinketh so is he. That is so true! You reap what you sow, and if you sow seeds of despain and grumbling you will get that and see that in your life. When you count your blessings you see that god is merciful and you live optimistically. Living with a smile just makes you feel better, so live smiling on. I also remembered the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, when he was struggling with he missionary work. he said he wanted God to take away his weakness, but our wise Savior and Advocate said, my grace is sufficient for thee. that is the key. The grace of Christ strengthens us and allows us to overcome our weakness. He doesn't take the away from us, but rather he allows us to endure through them so we can learn how to rely on him for strength and exercise faith in him.

Well, this is all I can say for now. Keep smiling on everyone, and live life with optimism and hope for the dawn of a new day!

Tchau tchau!

Elder Dimmick