October 17, 2011

So I got my visa! I found out on Thursday and I leave on Wednesday, still havent found out the flight plans yet but at least I know I am going down there. Just hope the little bit of Portuguese will get me by for awhile. Some highlights to this week are that I have been fed a ton, I want to say 12 times this week, maybe more so not complaints there. The people of Paducah have really taken care of me. Its been great to be here. Oh I had the opportunity to listen to elder Christofferson of the qourum of the 12 speak which was great and he spoke about many subjects b/c it was a q and a at the end but just his presence and the spirit he carried was really strong. He did say that often times we dont listen enough in our prayers which really stood out to me. Cant complain about hearing from an apostle, it was great because he is such a smart man but yet relies a lot on the spirit and loves to tell jokes and is witty, which I appreciated. I also went tracting for the first time, it was alright nice to get out and walk, but literally everyone we already talked to already had a church which I am not surprised. So we never did end up finding the Brazilians in that supposed area but oh well. Then we did some contacting in the "city" and found one that might be interested, the nice part of being in the bible belt is that everyone already has some religious foundation and some knowledge. Oh and I cant leave out the "greenie" meal the chapmans made for me. I dont feel that or new or like a greenie but I guess I am. So we had green mash potatoes, green rolls, green kool-aid, green bean casserole and a roast which was good. Oh and a pistachio (green) cheesecake, and she is a great cook. So it was fantastic. We have also been teaching a lady named Teri, which has been going well. She has a baptist backgound but believes everything she says but still hasnt managed to pray about the book of mormon, but I have enjoyed teaching her and honestly have learned a lot. Well thats about it for this week. Its been great to be here in Paducah but am excited to go to Brazil. Thank you all for your love and support

Love,

elder Ryan McCord