Well we all made it down okay, despite a few injuries to people and our cars, and had a fun week (except Alex who was at girl's camp). However, we picked the wrong week to go because the waves are usually much better than the ones we had and of course the swell picked up the day after we left. While we were there we met three men camping next to us, two from England and one from Australia. They were all in their late 20s and we were able to have them come to our site and eat with us a few times. They always offered to bring beer so we finally told them that we were Mormon so we didn't drink ever. Surprisingly none of them knew anything about our church and what we believed. We, the returned missionaries of the family mostly, just gave them a brief synopsis of our beliefs and what makes us different. At the end, one of them (Dave, a 1st mate on yachts) said that he was really glad to be able to hear about everything without us trying to shove it down his throat and make him believe it. He said that we were great ambassadors for the Mormon church. I think they were really glad to hear about some of our doctrines, and all three basically expressed that they were at a time in their lives where they were ready to find something to believe in as far as religion. My dad exchanged emails with all of them and we are going to try to do something with them as they will all be passing through San Diego in a month or so before heading to their respective homes. It was really neat.
We rushed home a few days earlier than we originally planned from vacation to make it back for Kasey's homecoming. He gave an amazing talk and spoke Portugese amazingly as well (Andrew served in Brazil and could verify that). He also was his normal self just like when he left, only the way he talks is a little different. Kasey talked about how he always thought that he was not very smart. This led to him feeling that he wasn't smart enough to learn another language when he went into the mission. He came to realize that he could do anything he wanted with the Lord's help if he worked hard enough. This realization only came at the year mark half-way through his mission when he still couldn't speak or understand the people. He knew that he was called to teach the people, something he hadn't done and couldn't do until he spoke the language. He opened his heart and sincerely wanted to love and teach the people, so he promised the Lord that he would not speak a single word more in English for the rest of the mission unless absolutely necessary. He forced himself to only speak Portugese to everyone and his companions even though he was bad at it, and after a little while he was finally able to talk to the people.
My mother-in-law is currently half-way through her mission in the Czech Republic and is still struggling with the language. I felt like Kasey's experience was so wonderful to share with her because her desire to teach the people is already so strong despite the language barrier. She also loves the people there immensely and has been able to do some amazing things like starting the visiting teaching program in the branch she is serving in. No one but the Lord knows exactly what He plans to use her for as she serves, but I know that she can still teach and master the language if her desire is strong and she commits to learning the same way Kasey did.
Well we all made it down okay, despite a few injuries to people and our cars, and had a fun week (except Alex who was at girl's camp). However, we picked the wrong week to go because the waves are usually much better than the ones we had and of course the swell picked up the day after we left. While we were there we met three men camping next to us, two from England and one from Australia. They were all in their late 20s and we were able to have them come to our site and eat with us a few times. They always offered to bring beer so we finally told them that we were Mormon so we didn't drink ever. Surprisingly none of them knew anything about our church and what we believed. We, the returned missionaries of the family mostly, just gave them a brief synopsis of our beliefs and what makes us different. At the end, one of them (Dave, a 1st mate on yachts) said that he was really glad to be able to hear about everything without us trying to shove it down his throat and make him believe it. He said that we were great ambassadors for the Mormon church. I think they were really glad to hear about some of our doctrines, and all three basically expressed that they were at a time in their lives where they were ready to find something to believe in as far as religion. My dad exchanged emails with all of them and we are going to try to do something with them as they will all be passing through San Diego in a month or so before heading to their respective homes. It was really neat.
We rushed home a few days earlier than we originally planned from vacation to make it back for Kasey's homecoming. He gave an amazing talk and spoke Portugese amazingly as well (Andrew served in Brazil and could verify that). He also was his normal self just like when he left, only the way he talks is a little different. Kasey talked about how he always thought that he was not very smart. This led to him feeling that he wasn't smart enough to learn another language when he went into the mission. He came to realize that he could do anything he wanted with the Lord's help if he worked hard enough. This realization only came at the year mark half-way through his mission when he still couldn't speak or understand the people. He knew that he was called to teach the people, something he hadn't done and couldn't do until he spoke the language. He opened his heart and sincerely wanted to love and teach the people, so he promised the Lord that he would not speak a single word more in English for the rest of the mission unless absolutely necessary. He forced himself to only speak Portugese to everyone and his companions even though he was bad at it, and after a little while he was finally able to talk to the people.
My mother-in-law is currently half-way through her mission in the Czech Republic and is still struggling with the language. I felt like Kasey's experience was so wonderful to share with her because her desire to teach the people is already so strong despite the language barrier. She also loves the people there immensely and has been able to do some amazing things like starting the visiting teaching program in the branch she is serving in. No one but the Lord knows exactly what He plans to use her for as she serves, but I know that she can still teach and master the language if her desire is strong and she commits to learning the same way Kasey did.
