Week 66 Letter

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Famlee!

Friends, Washingtonians, countrymen; lend me your ears! 

I come to bury the office life, not prolong it;

The evil that men do in the premortal life lives after them, while the good is oft forgotten in the veil (hence my presence here in the office). 

So let it be with me.

Hahahaha, sorry... for those who are a little confused, that was my attempt at a Mark Anthony-ish start to my letter. Maybe it’s just best that you look up his original speech. Mrs. Seipp from 11th grade would be proud to know that I still remember most of that speech =)

Well, I am still here in the office, but progress is being made with the ankle. Physical therapy is my least favorite thing in the world. It is very similar to what I imagine a medieval torture session to be... That and it seems like my physical therapy lady must have a double life as a UFC or MMA fighter because she seems to know the most crazy techniques to twist and pry my ankle to really make it hurt... I am always so relieved when I see her grab this weird lotion because that means I am at the end and she is going to give me a much less painful (yet not completely painless) ankle and calf massage. 

I am still going on planning all of President's interviews with every missionary in Portugal, but we are making process. I still get nervous every time my phone rings on an interview day because I am paranoid that something might have gone horribly wrong with the interviews. So far so good though. I haven't heard much from President Fluckiger, but Sister Fluckiger sure made me feel good yesterday about how things were going =) Perfect balance of a mission president couple I tell ya. 

Today was the first in weeks that we had an hour to do something fun for Pday. Elder Moeller and I set up the ping pong table in the chapel, and started a friendly game of ping pong. It ended in ping pong warfare where we just dumped the entire pack of Chinese-store ping pong balls out and started smacking all of them at one another in a crazy frenzy of battle. It was very stress relieving. 

As far as the work outside of the office goes, we haven't done a ton, but the Lord is blessing us for our efforts. We are working with both a woman named Elsa and a woman named Sara who are both making progress. Elsa needs to stop smoking, but is willing and determined. Sara needs to make the decision to be baptized. We appreciate any prayer offered asking for them to have help.

I can't believe school has already started for you kids! Sorry about that... hahaha, you will all have a great time, I'm sure. 

I received some devastating news this last week. The branch president in Bragança has passed away. My old companion is the one who found him. He was only about 50 years old, and they are investigating the cause of death. There isn't any fowl play expected, I think it might have been a heart attack. I really hope it wasn't anything self-inflicted. He was a great friend, and a good man. He was learning to be a good branch president too. He doesn't have any family that I know of, and he considered me a brother of sorts. I pray that he keeps progressing on the other side. The members in Bragança are a little shell shocked, but they will go on strong. They have a good new branch president.

Well, I hate to end on that note, so I will try not to. Cameron, I heard about your progress on the mission papers! I can't believe you could have a call here in 3 weeks! Man, I am so stoked for you! You are the man! Keep up the good work, and prepare yourself spiritually as much as you can. Go out with the missionaries as much as possible, and start learning with them. That way you can be a real blessing to your trainer here in a few months and make his job a lot easier =) You'll be so awesome.

I love you all, and wish the best for you all this week!

Hugs, kisses, and fist bumps,

Elder Lee

The funny quote this week comes from my physical therapist. This is an excerpt form a debate we were having while she was inflicting a good deal of pain on me...

Her- You said you did this playing football?

Me- Yeah

Her- They don't play a lot of football in America?

Me- No, it’s more American football there. Here in Portugal it is all football.

Her- Yeah, that's true.

Me- I mean, everybody here cares about football. Men, women, children, everybody. Everybody has a team, everybody knows about it. Everybody.

Her- Not necessarily. Me for example, I don’t care about it or follow it. 

*She recognizes the jersey I’m wearing is from a team called Sporting*

Her- You're a Sporting fan?

Me-Yes

Her- That's too bad. Benfica (a different team) is the best.

Me- I rest my case...

Her- Well, what? Benfica was the champion last year

Me (just thinking this time) - This is way too easy...