The Mama here,

Elder Wartena decided to have fun with us all this week and post parts of his email in Portuguese.  Kinda fun.  Try an online translator to help you understand.  If I can, I'll post the translation myself.  Perhaps the older Spanish speaking brother would help out here.  We'll see.

Enjoy the email.

Minha maé,
Então, eu acho que você precisa aprender português…então, eu não vou
escrever em englais mais, tá bom?

Então, entá semana foi muito diferente…nós tivemos muitos novos
missionarios na missão e eu e Elder Coombs andamos com eles desde
sexta-feira até quarta. A coisa boa que isso fez foi que tivemos 50
contatos qualificados.

Estou a chatiar? hehe...eu gosto de brincar contigo. Tá bom, vou
voltar para a lingua que tu intendes.

Fun little thing we did thing week was walking with the new
missionaries, and my goodness, my Portuguese really sucked when I
left the MTC. All the new missionaries, I feel, came here just a
little more prepared than I, perhaps. I guess I could just be hard on
myself, but I do think I could have been more like Elder Stubbs and
just talk regardless of the fact that I don´t really speak good
Portuguese more while I was in T3. Oh, well, I am just excited that
the mission gets to have such good missionaries come in to help with
this great and mighty work.

Fun thing number two that I got to do...and to answer a question...is
that the first Sister missionaries to ever serve in Mozambique(Sister
Smith and Sister Muhangueno) needed to have someone do the 12 week
program with them. The assistants were going to do it but their crazy
schedule got in the way for three days and they couldn't make it...so,
the two other Elders near the church(which is where the Sisters stay)
got called on to help. So, Elder Coombs and I have been helping them
do the practices and the trainings in the 12 week program. It is
interesting. 

I think the sisters will really help here in Maputo. They
can get in contact with families by a means that we cannot. They teach
woman and families, whereas we teach men and families, so they can
knock on a door in the middle of the day and start a lesson with the
wife. We, when we knock doors, often find a woman or only children,
and due to the rule that we cannot enter houses with only a woman
present, we cannot teach them. So, when the sisters teach the wife
they can come back later when the husband is present and start on the
whole family. The issue we run into is just finding men at home-the
Sisters have a way around that that is not at the Elders' desposial.
Also, to praise the womanly name, they have a different way than men.
Anyway, this wasn't to say that for us men missionary work is unfair
but rather to say I am excited that the sisters will be able to help
move the mission along in different ways than before.

Odd thing on the subject of eating: I have accidentally had a
vegitarian week. I just didn't eat meat. I had oats for breakfast, egg
or peanut butter sandwich for lunch(or top ramen), and an apple and/or
something else small(small dinners, nothing special) for dinner. I ate
well but I just didn't take the time to cook up my chicken I bought.
Meat is just expensive and takes a while to prepare. Odd little fact I
saw I accidentally did this week and only realized it today.

Hm...not sure what really to write today. I bought some capalana(some
of that fabric like the two I sent home in transfer one with Elder
Thacker- SERIOUS QUESTION/ANSWER ME: What did you do with that
anyway?) last week. Elder Coombs is trying to get some stuff together
to take home because he didn't get any his whole mission. Me? Why am I
buying again? Well, I am in Maputo and I can store the stuff I buy
here in my extra bag until next year if and when I get tranfered back
north. So, I might as well save time and hassle for my last transfer
while I am here and get a little bit put together-kinda what I did
when I was in T3 and Elder Thacker was buying that stuff.

So, good news and bad news: the good news is that I may get my package
today(the assistants are getting 16 packages from the post office as I
type) the bad news is I may not get my package. We'll see. Hope mine
is with the 16.

So a branch member made me feel old on the mission and young at the
same time Sunday. She asked me how long I had been in Mozambique. I
sat there and figured it in my mind-7 months in country, 9 months as a
missionary. Well, she then told someone else how long I had left-a
year and 3 months. I thought a number of things-A. I shouldn't be
thinking about how long I have left, I'll get trunky. B. In 3 months
it'll be hump day. A. I am still pretty dang new here. So, lesson
learned: Don't even care about time on the mission. Don't think about
it, don't keep track of it, (for heaven's sake don't make a calendar
or whatnot-stupid, and completely against the missionary purpose) for
your time is going and it will at its own pace. All that the
missionary should think is about the day he is currently living and
who he can bless with the gospel THAT day. Honestly, time left or time
spent should be the last thing on the missionary's mind.

So, I love the news from home. Elder Coombs made a comment about how
his neices and nephews are so much more different than when he left
and it made me think about my brothers and how they are changing and
how I will even have a sister-in-law when I get home. Gosh, I left and
Jo was six, I'll get back and he'll be almost 9. Nuts. I don't think
calling him booger will make him very happy then. Oh, by the way-hey
booger.

Well, this email sucked. Honestly what can I say? We've walked a lot
this week. um, oh, new family, they are really nice(prayed together
about Joseph Smith after the first lesson and started reading the Book
of Mormon we gave them before we explained what is was) and I hope thy
progress more. Oh, we taught a man from the congo that speaks French,
English, Portuguese, Swahili, and another I cannot pronounce nor
remember. He is IN LOVE with the Bible. We taught him the
Restoration and the Book of Mormon, so we'll see how he accepts it. Also, we still

have to meet his wife.

Well, I'm out. So, I love ya'll, time is short so is this email, don't
think I don't love you this week just doesn't have much to write
about.

Tchau,
Elder Christopher Wartena

PS. Portuguese joke: O que é que a peixe faz? Nada.
hahahahahahahahaha!!! Eu sou bem engracado! Também, eu não sei como
escrever "funny" em Português. Engracado, ingracado, engrecado,
não sei. Pergunte googletranslate.

He is doing well.  Sounds very good in fact.  Please pray asking Heaven to help that package get to our boy.  He asks for so little--it has his favorite deodorant inside with some candy.  Happy are we to see his confidence in speaking this new language increasing.  I just love this journey.  So much to be thankful for today.

Hope you all have a great day.

Signing off for now,

The Mama