Here are some pictures of Elder Heald taken before he left by his Aunt Rebecca:
Monday, August 25, 2014
First Letter from the Field
First let me say that the key board is kinda broken so excuse my typing. also the shift key is way hard and every word is in red because it is correcting it into Portuguese so...
Anyways, I just got to my area the day before yesterday so yesterday was my first full day of real life missionary work. We had several lessons and contacted several people. We actually have 8 baptisimal dates marked so we'll see how those turn our. I'm praying that they come through. church yesterday was interesting. im in magoanine which is in maputo and we have the stongest branch in the mission (around 250 attend church). the singing was so loud and boistrous it was crazy, I couldn't understand much and it was overall just super weird, but i loved it. there were 8 comfirmations or something like that so that was really cool.
I live in the largest house in the mission and there are 7 other elders in the house with me. my companion just got made into the district leader so we are moving into the biggest and best room in the house which is nice. his name is elder hatfield and he is a pretty cool guy. he is a hard worker and i think that he'll be a great trainer. elder ence is also in my house so it's nice having someone who i already know. Cooking, cleaning, showering, sleeping and everything else is super weird. The house isn't terrible but it is a real step down from anything i've ever experienced. we have a washer too btw.
magoanine is super sandy and dusty and our area is huge. we have to hitch hike to get over there which is aparently a normal thing in africa and then we walk through sand all the time. The people are so nice though and the lesson we have taught so far have been awesome. I have a hard time remembering names because they are so weird but i try. My portuguese is coming along well but understanding others when they talk is a real challenge.
we have to always be washing our hands, putting on hand sanitizer, taking our shoes off, cleaning and being really clean. it is a lot easier to focus and be diligent out in the field too which is nice. I don't have any pictures becaue we aren't allowed to carry our cameras around but ill try to get some pictures to send to you.
The people of mozambique are awesome. i love them. honestly, they are super super nice and accepting and i absolutely love the kids. they are so cute and will always say hi to you when you walk by as they are playing in the dirt or with a tire or some other archaic toy. the way they say hi is by saying (for pronunciation purposes) sho! and give you a thumbs up. It's super cute. they have a lot of cool handshakes and stuff too that i need to get down. They don't sell a lot of ingredients here so i can't make buscuits, unless you can substitute shortening out for butter or something?... idk
from tuesday until friday morning we were in the mission office just sleeping and taking naps and whatnot so it was really easy and actually kindof boring. so i wont talk a lot about that just because it was pretty stupid. elder christiansen nearly killed their pet turtle at the office though. we had to go to the us embassy and get some sort of document thing. the embassy, btw, is super small and wimpy, especially compared to the chinese one or something.
the houses in mozambique are all these little shacks. They have dirt or concrete floors and the most commical chairs and tables and stuff. the people here are super humble and nice though. president kretly described it as "they have little of what matters the least and a lot of what matters the most." President Kretly is awesome but i havent been able to talk to him much because he has been was sick after organizing and leading the first youth conference in mozambique.
Happy birthday mom! love you so much and I hope you have a good one! thanks for sending me a bunch of details of home! The more details the better.
P.S. i ate squid the other day, it was decent i guess haha.
Anyways, I just got to my area the day before yesterday so yesterday was my first full day of real life missionary work. We had several lessons and contacted several people. We actually have 8 baptisimal dates marked so we'll see how those turn our. I'm praying that they come through. church yesterday was interesting. im in magoanine which is in maputo and we have the stongest branch in the mission (around 250 attend church). the singing was so loud and boistrous it was crazy, I couldn't understand much and it was overall just super weird, but i loved it. there were 8 comfirmations or something like that so that was really cool.
I live in the largest house in the mission and there are 7 other elders in the house with me. my companion just got made into the district leader so we are moving into the biggest and best room in the house which is nice. his name is elder hatfield and he is a pretty cool guy. he is a hard worker and i think that he'll be a great trainer. elder ence is also in my house so it's nice having someone who i already know. Cooking, cleaning, showering, sleeping and everything else is super weird. The house isn't terrible but it is a real step down from anything i've ever experienced. we have a washer too btw.
magoanine is super sandy and dusty and our area is huge. we have to hitch hike to get over there which is aparently a normal thing in africa and then we walk through sand all the time. The people are so nice though and the lesson we have taught so far have been awesome. I have a hard time remembering names because they are so weird but i try. My portuguese is coming along well but understanding others when they talk is a real challenge.
we have to always be washing our hands, putting on hand sanitizer, taking our shoes off, cleaning and being really clean. it is a lot easier to focus and be diligent out in the field too which is nice. I don't have any pictures becaue we aren't allowed to carry our cameras around but ill try to get some pictures to send to you.
The people of mozambique are awesome. i love them. honestly, they are super super nice and accepting and i absolutely love the kids. they are so cute and will always say hi to you when you walk by as they are playing in the dirt or with a tire or some other archaic toy. the way they say hi is by saying (for pronunciation purposes) sho! and give you a thumbs up. It's super cute. they have a lot of cool handshakes and stuff too that i need to get down. They don't sell a lot of ingredients here so i can't make buscuits, unless you can substitute shortening out for butter or something?... idk
from tuesday until friday morning we were in the mission office just sleeping and taking naps and whatnot so it was really easy and actually kindof boring. so i wont talk a lot about that just because it was pretty stupid. elder christiansen nearly killed their pet turtle at the office though. we had to go to the us embassy and get some sort of document thing. the embassy, btw, is super small and wimpy, especially compared to the chinese one or something.
the houses in mozambique are all these little shacks. They have dirt or concrete floors and the most commical chairs and tables and stuff. the people here are super humble and nice though. president kretly described it as "they have little of what matters the least and a lot of what matters the most." President Kretly is awesome but i havent been able to talk to him much because he has been was sick after organizing and leading the first youth conference in mozambique.
Happy birthday mom! love you so much and I hope you have a good one! thanks for sending me a bunch of details of home! The more details the better.
P.S. i ate squid the other day, it was decent i guess haha.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Arrival
Just received this message from the mission office:
Here is your son just after his arrival at the mission home. They arrived on time, with all of their luggage. Safe, sound, and excited to serve the Lord in the Mission of Miracles!
Here is your son just after his arrival at the mission home. They arrived on time, with all of their luggage. Safe, sound, and excited to serve the Lord in the Mission of Miracles!
Monday, August 18, 2014
Mission Plaque
Here is a picture of the plaque that is displayed in our meeting house:
Notice the scripture!
What it says is "Alma 26:5 And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissensions among the brethren they became more numerous." - totally random.
At first we were horrified and thought that we had given the wrong scripture reference. After some checking we discovered that the above reference is actually MOSIAH 26:5. Alma 26:5 actually reads "Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted." - a much more missionary-oriented verse!
We think it is really funny that such a random verse is written on his plaque for all to see. A counselor in the Bishopric said that when he first saw it he thought Daniel must be a really deep thinker because he had no idea why he would pick such a verse.
Notice the scripture!
What it says is "Alma 26:5 And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissensions among the brethren they became more numerous." - totally random.
At first we were horrified and thought that we had given the wrong scripture reference. After some checking we discovered that the above reference is actually MOSIAH 26:5. Alma 26:5 actually reads "Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted." - a much more missionary-oriented verse!
We think it is really funny that such a random verse is written on his plaque for all to see. A counselor in the Bishopric said that when he first saw it he thought Daniel must be a really deep thinker because he had no idea why he would pick such a verse.
At the Airport
We needed to give Elder Heald a few things that we didn't have time to mail, so we met him at the airport. It was awesome to see him for one last time! Missionaries are permitted to call home during layovers, so we also got to talk to him later that day when he was in Chicago.
These are the only missionaries that got Visas in time!
One last glimpse!
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
MTC Life
I've never sent you a description of my schedule so I'll do that now:
6:30 - wake up
7:00 - study in classroom
7:45 - breakfast
8:30 - study in classroom (teacher)
12:30 - lunch
1:15 - study in classroom (teacher)
4:15 - Gym
5:30 - dinner
6:30 - personal study in classroom
7:30 - companionship study in classroom
8:30 - language study in classroom
9:30 - get ready for bed
10:00 - companionship study in residence
10:15 - personal study in residence
10:30 - lights out
It's a pretty grueling schedule but I'll survive and I have so far so it's all good
On Tuesdays and Sundays we have different schedules. Tuesday is P-day obviously so it's much easier. Sunday we have church and interviews with the branch president and such but it is my second favorite day. on both of those days we have a devotional after dinner at 7:00, today we should be getting an apostle to speak to us so I'm excited for that. on Wednesdays and Saturdays we also have a slightly changed schedule because in the morning we have service which is basically just cleaning something for like an hour instead of early morning study and part of classroom study at 8:30.
With love
Elder Heald
Letter to Mom
I most definitely get the least amount of mail of any of the elders in my zone.
I'll try to continue sending you pictures but honestly the MTC isn't the greatest and most exciting place in a picture sense. I am getting the final immunizations this Thursday so hopefully I don't pass out or get light headed or anything.
I didn't host missionaries last week but the next two weeks I'm on hosting duty so that will be fun, I'm really excited. You can choose who you pick up so I have friends coming in that I'll host during that two hour break during the middle of the day which is a wonderful thing, truly.
I leave on the 17th which I believe is a Sunday because my flight could be as long as 57 hours in total.
On Language questions and scripture study
Dad,
We are learning Mozambique Portuguese but our teacher went to Brazil so she struggles with it sometimes. Portugal Portuguese is more similar to Mozambique Portuguese than it is to Brazilian Portuguese. I have had some orientations on the diseases and I just got an email to be careful about ebola because they are sending western African missionaries over to eastern Africa because the outbreak is bad so they might be infected. I expect lots of poor people a great mission field to serve in with many baptisms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)