Week Twenty - First Transfer!

The boys headed to Belem.

Tom and Elder Barton.

Tom and Elder De La Cruz (both Spongebob fans??!!)

Tom and Elder Taylor.

 Wow!  Can it actually be twenty weeks that Tom's been gone?!  Sounds like he had a good week, other than injuring himself.  And he gets transferred already - wow!  That seems like big news to me.  I miss him immensely, we all do and we got letters from him, that I think he wrote in the MTC, this past week that made us cry.  He has made friends in the MTC that he loves and will hopefully be in his life forever.  We are so proud of him and of how he is just taking everything in stride - that's my Tommy!   

Aló! Como voces estão? Bem? Eu tambem! Bacana! I´m glad to hear that this week was better for ya´s and you enjoyed it. My week was pretty good too. It had some ups and downs but i can say it was good. My companion´s birthday was on Wednesday. We went to a place that I forget the name of, but its kinda like a park that's got a really cool view over the river and some cool animals there too. I got about 100 cool pictures, mostly of animals and my companion, and a few of me. Also, 2 people invited us to their house for cake, and my companion received a camera from one of our recent converts! Wow, lucky guy! We also had two baptisms this week. One, was of a girl named Sara who lives with her cousins now, who are members, and another of a boy named Jonatas, whose family was inactive until we spoke to them about returning to the church and had an activity in their house with a bunch of members. They said that they will never stop going to church again. I also personally baptized someone for the first time. I messed up a little the first time so I had to do it twice, but tudo bem! As I said, I also had some down moments. One, I hit my head on a horizontal bar sticking out of the weird telephone booths they have here. That hurt... You have to watch your head and your feet at the same time here. There's a bunch of stuff sticking out of the sides of walls and the sidewalks are like... really bad, crooked teeth.... with lots of food stuck in it. Also, the fact that my companion was pretty much going to be transferred, without a doubt, and that I would stay here, stressed me out a little, because if he goes and I stay, I would pretty much have to be the senior missionary, at least until my new companion knows the area and everybody here, and I am not ready for that. But! I have goad/bad news! I´m being transferred! Isn´t that terrixciting?!1 I´ve got some mixed emotions about it right now. I really liked all the people here and this area, but I don´t have the same relationship with them that my companion had, and things probably wouldn´t be exactly the same if I stayed while he left. And starting in a new area with a new companion makes me a little nervous. But Elder Reis said he knows my new companion and he is really cool. So my new area is called... Castanheira, I think, and is about an hour and 30 minute drive from where I am now. So... the skyping thingy probably won´t happen, sorry :/ Also, I don´t think its a good idea to send a bunch of packages at the same time. All the mail goes to the zone leader of the area, and he brings it to the zone meeting that is held every week in the church building. So, having to walk back to the house with a bunch of packages, won´t be fun. I´m hoping that I don´t get a bunch of mail at the same time... so don´t send a bunch of mail at the same time... por favor! Muito obrigado! Anyways, I am the pictures today are with the members of my district. The first one is with Elder Barton, he´s from Utah, and he´s a cool guy. I might´ve said this in the letter I sent home, but on the last night of our stay in the MTC, when we all said goodbye, he cried... and he didn´t even cry when he said goodbye to his family. Strong relationship, we had, in the MTC... The next is with Elder De la Cruz. He´s from Washington, and he´s a Spongebob fanatic. We are smiling like that because on the last day of the MTC, another Elder was trying to get my picture, and I just said "what the heck..." and gave the biggest smile I could, (even though the day wasn´t great because of the awful proselyting experience elder Fox and I had that morning) and a few other Elders noticed... and it almost turned into a photo shoot.... Awkward! I hate photo shoots, they´re fresco! Anyways, Elder De la Cruz said he wanted a picture with me, with just the biggest smiles ever. I think in the next photo, Elder Taylor, from Utah also, wanted to do the same thing, but I didn´t get the memo. And the last photo is all of us, almost, that went to Belém. Okay, I will respond to your email rapidamente, now! The sister missionaries I have seen all where skirts that go a little below the knees, with short sleeve shirts... that's about the best description I can give. I don´t remember anyone named Wholston, but maybe if you give me his first name and the area he is serving I will remember. Also, its unfortunate to hear he was hit by a car. I hope he will be okay. I don´t expect the jazz to go anywhere, as usual, but thanks for the update. Good to hear about all the good times you are having. Also, Elder Shaw says he thinks he heard that Adele died. Care to shed some light on the matter? 

1)Has the weather still been the same - hot, humid and rainy? I wouldn´t want it any other way :) 

2)Do you think you can still Skype on Mother's Day? I am going to buy a web cam so we are ready! I will talk with my new companion about it after I am transferred tomorrow, but my guess is no. 

3)Do you need me to send you more snacks? Gold fish, pistachios, ....let me know what you want, although there's a couple of packages on their way that might take care of some of those things.... Nope, I am great here with what I´ve got, thanks though! 

4)Did you get any packages last week? Letters? The zone leader said he forgot the letter for me last week at their place, so I should get something this week. 

5)How are your white shirts looking? I hear they get kind of dingy looking after a while and I may need to send you some new ones or maybe you can buy them down there. Just let me know... I think my shirts are fine for now. They look a little brown in some spots but its not really noticeable. 

6)Are your allergies bothering you at all? If they are, do you need me to send some allergy pills? I have not had any problems with allergies here, thanks for asking though. 

Okay, that's all, out of time, gotta go. I love you all and can´t wait to hear fromsyas again next week. 

Tchau! Love Elder Williams