The German

Ladies and Gentleman,

I would like to apologize for my sad excuse for a letter last week. The internet went down and we were a little rushed. This week I will try to do better. But before I dive into the minute details of my life I would first just like to give a general lay out of my day, and a fun how to guide.

Elder Healy´s Normal Schedule:
5:50 Hit Snooze Button
5:55 Try to roll out of bed and then realize we made bunk beds last week. Find shoes.
6:00 Run to gym
6:05 Workout
7:00 Stop workout
7:05 Run home
7:10 Make a protein shake and drink it, eat some eggs, and make a fruit shake and put it in the freezer.
7:15 Do pushups and reaffirm that the ARMY is not for you. Try to use the bathroom. Someone is taking a shower.
7:20 Complain that our roommates take too long of showers
7:30 Personal grooming and change into missionary clothes. Use white tie for study because its zip-up.
8:00 Pray and begin study of the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel.
9:00 Break while we wait for Zone Conference Call. Retrieve fruit shake and pour a bowl of cereal. Consume previously mentioned items.
9:10 Attempt to hear the Companionship of the Day sing and pray.
9:15 Discuss what we have learned from our personal study and read the Missionary Manual.
9:20 Read and discuss the topic of the week.
10:00 Practice a lesson and give feedback. This usually results in self frustration followed by progress :)
11:00 Language study/pack food for later snacking/review plans
12:00 Eat Lunch
1:00 Share Message
1:30 Head to Bus Stop
2:00 Arrive at destination and go to appointments, contact as prompted, teach lessons, and essentially try our best to spread the gospel to the people of our Area.
5:30 Snack break. Often involves the purchase of pastries.
9:00 Realize that we are supposed to be home and rush to finish contacts for the day.
9:15 arrive home and begin planning.
9:45 Change to normal clothes, relax, make un-funny missionary jokes, and try to clean up the house again. There are A LOT of dirty Tupperware and we just got leftover furniture from another house that is covered in dust.
10:15 Brush teeth, scrub face, and try to write in journal.
10:30 Pray, talk, and go to bed.

Repeat 700 more times :)

I just wanted to write about something that I have devoted some thought too. My friend Rachel said that she thought I was going to gain about 20 lbs on my mission do to how well the members feed us and my own lack of self control when it comes to sweets. So I decided to write this guide on how to eat lunch in a reasonable time, and not overstuff yourself.

Preparation:
You should never eat a large breakfast before going to lunch. You will just feel sick and they worked really hard to cook for you. You should eat early in the morning so that you have an appetite when you go to lunch.
Right before going inside, however, take a swig of your water bottle to prevent thirst during the meal.

Game Plan:
Explain to the member at the beginning that you have a commitment and so can’t stay all day.
Offer to help with preparation to provide assistance and get people to the table faster.
Cordially ask if there will be dessert. You can better plan this way.
When plating, make a thin bed of rice rather than clumping it. This makes it appear as if you have more.
Your first plate should be small. More small plates are better than one big one because it looks as if you have eaten more.
Get lots of salad. It’s healthy and it makes you and the members feel good.
Spend a lot of time cutting meat. This shows that you are interested in getting every morsel.
Don’t ever let your plate get empty. This will automatically prompt a ´´Eat more´´ comment.
Talk and learn about the member. This is more enjoyable, you eat less, and everyone feels the spirit better.
Fill your glass with soda. Drink slowly to half way. Don’t drink anymore until end of meal.
Scrape plate clean when you see everyone else has finished.
Try a little of everything. It is all good, and shows that you care.
Remind them that you have a timeline.
Use your discretion about dessert.

That´s all I got. I just thought it was interesting to think about because I really don’t want to change from a wrestler to the sumo variety :)

So what do you do on your P-days?
This P-Day we just played soccer with some kids from the ward and I learned that I have very little hand-foot coordination. But, I am pretty good at goalie which is good. Last P-Day we ate ribs with the wards awesome first counselor and watched the R.M. (Return Missionary) I feel as if this is meant to be an instructional video about the do´s and don’ts of a missionary´s homecoming. It was pretty funny. On P-Day we also buy our groceries, sleep, clean, and read. Super exciting I know.

Do you ever cook yourself?
I boil eggs, I fry eggs, I scramble eggs, I make toast, I make shakes, I make chocolate milk, I make cereal, I make ramen, I watch Elder Iverson make chicken stew. So yeah, I am pretty much a master chef.

What do you miss most from the U.S.?
You guys mainly. I miss you guys a lot. And candy and pie. But this Brazilian food is really good so I am too torn up about that.

Do you get to go to the temple in your mission?
Yes, but only if I am in one of the three zones near the temple. They get to go once every three months.

What's your favorite food/meal in Brazil?
I really like the Brazilian sausage they have here. It’s spicy and wonderful. I also really like the tarts they have here. And I like the barbeques they have here. I also like the rice. I like a lot of things.


Did you get the cards we sent?
Yes, thank you soo much! I love hearing from you, and I am going to try and write more hand written letters. You guys are great.

How was your week?
Wonderful. We taught a lot of lessons contacted a bunch of people and are currently preparing about six people for baptism which is great. I feel so much better now that I am finally getting a handle on the language and people understand me. We did a split this week in which we I worked with a Brazilian missionary and I complimented me and said how I had improved from the first time I had given my testimony. I felt so good when he did that. One funny thing that happened during the split is that I was called ´´German´´ like a bazillion times. I guess it’s because of the blond hair and blue eyes. Also, we have had to cut a couple investigators because they were being a little snakey. (A ´´Snake´´ is a female you tries to tempt a missionary to do wrong). After being called German, people call me pretty I think because of my blues eyes. It’s really kind of awkward. We just met with some of our investigators that we are preparing for marriage, and they were so happy when we met with them. Their change and progress was so apparent it is hard to describe. It was really a testament to me of how the gospel blesses life. I am going to sign out now. Good week and good luck.

Come on really,
Elder Healy