It's a good thing we don't have Portuguese class tomorrow because my brain is officially full. We added another 249 cognates today, which is actually pretty good, because it means our vocabulary is that much bigger. But it's also mindblowing. And when you add the books of the Bible that we are trying to memorize (Mateus to Tito) and the verses (Joao 14:6) it's quite a bit for people who knew how to say, well, nothing at the beginning of th week. But I think we're all starting to feel a little better about it.
Personal Evangelism has been absolutely awesome. I feel so empowered to do Bible studies. Stan and Ron Freitas have given us so many good ideas and have taught us so much this week. The hardest part will be asking people to study. But at the end of the day, I know what we have to give is so much more important than what other people think about us. That's why we're here!

I am completely and utterly EXHAUSTED!!! We have now had two “full schedule” days. Personal Evangelism class starts at 8:30 and runs until 12:30. Following a lunch break, we have Portuguese for 1 & 1/2 hours. Personal evangelism is a great class. We’re working through a study that we can use to teach people from the beginning. But Portuguese…oh Portuguese….that is something else! I now know the first several books of the New Testament and about 200 cognates (words that are just like the English but are pronounced differently). Also, I know about 100 vocabulary words that we all learned last night, thinking we were doing the homework (really, it should have only been about 30 words, but it never hurts to know more vocab than necessary!) The class, though in some ways mind-numbing, is also very interesting as Dr. Brown teaches us a lot about Brazilian culture. He wants us to start practicing now, which makes sense, so if we greet any of you with a kiss, you’ll understand why!

One random note- it’s Travis’ birthday today! Happy 30th Travis!

We had our opening retreat this weekend. We spent Thursday afternoon through Sunday afternoon at Camp Butman, about 30 miles away. It was absolutely incredible. We spent some time in meetings, talking about expectations for the internship and other important things, but we also had a great deal of free time to hang out with each other. We spent Friday and Saturday mornings on a ropes course. It was awesome for building feelings of a team. I’d done several of the elements in other situations, but it wasn’t the same. There wasn’t the same sense of permanence- we NEEDED to bond as a team because we are going to be together for a LONG LONG time. And nothing, nothing can equal the feeling we got when the last person (Keith) made it over the 12-ft. wall. At that moment, we were truly a team. I hope we find ways to keep that feeling as we get back to the task of training.