Week Twenty Two- Mother's Day Call Home

Kind of a short e-mail this week and he forgot his camera, so no pictures. We spoke to Tom for an hour on Sunday and he sounded great! He even asked me to send him some more pants, a size bigger! He thinks he has gained weight and said a couple pairs of pants he has are falling apart. That was good news for us. I think he is probably eating better than he did at home and all that walking and the workouts he gets trying to stand up on the moving buses has helped him gain some muscle! He is working hard and he said it was harder than anything he has ever done. I think I detect a tiny bit of home sickness in this e-mail, but I am sure that's totally normal. It was just great to hear his voice and we can't wait for the next call! It was an emotional day for all of us and extremely hard for us to end the call and say goodbye to him, again.  We are so proud of him, though, and that's what makes it all worth it!

Bom Dia! I hope everyone had a good week and a good Mother´s Day. I don´t have a whole lot to say this week, not a lot happened, and I already said a lot on the phone yesterday, so this e-mail will probably be a little shorter. And I forgot to bring my camera with me, so no pictures this week, sorry :( The week here was okay, kind of. We thought we were going to have some baptisms this week, but the investigators weren´t ready. There´s one person that we can only teach on weekends, but he went to sacrament meeting last week. We told him to pray and ask God if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church. A few days later, my companion calls him to see how he´s doing and if he feels he got an answer to his prayer. He told my companion he felt that this is the true church, and we just say "awesome!" A few days later my companion calls him again, asks if he is still praying and still feels the church is true, and he says God told him all churches are true (which is impossible) so that was a little frustrating. After he hung up, my companion told me his is "doido" which is kind of like idiot. Hah, he calls just about everyone doido, and I think he´s pretty easily annoyed. Anyways, Mother´s Day was okay... well talking to you at home was, the rest of the day was just kinda meh. Gave my first talk in Portuguese, walked a lot, taught 2 people, and talked to you guys. The missionary guide book says that Sundays and holidays are good days to teach because people are at home with their families, but I think here is the exception because everyone is away from home, partying and drinking, and that´s not a good environment to teach in. So, that annoyed my companion too. 

Some more things about the area: planes are constantly flying over us. I guess the airport isn´t too far from us, so planes that just got off the ground are always flying by, and I look up at almost every single one and just think to myself "I kinda wish I was on that plane." So that's a distraction. Also, my companion has some Christmas music that makes me want to come home, especially the song "I´ll be home for Christmas." Hrmmm, lots of distractions. But things are still good and I won´t be home until December of 2013... so get over it Elder Williams! sheesh! So you´re e-mail; thank you for the love and support, and it was fantastic to be able to talk to you by phone, I can´t wait to do it again, hopefully time flies by. My companion said that the time goes fast if you just don´t think about it, so I´ll try that. 

I forgot to get the address of my apartment, sorry :/ So far, though, there hasn´t been a day where lunch with a member fell, which is cool. Ah, the benefit of being Norte Americano. Thanks for the sewing tips, maybe I´ll try to sew the button back on one day. The birthday present was great, good choices on the ties, the candy and snacks were delicious, but the next time you send food, if you send beef jerky, can it be peppered instead of teriyaki (or however you spell it), I think I like that a little more. Cool news about Jeff, and I guess not so cool about Brad. :/ Hope you enjoy it or make lots of money, or both. Good Toby/Sherm story... And thank you for Elder Schoen´s address! 

Okay, as I said I forgot my camera today, sorry. I hope you all have a good, safe week. I will finish the letters to David and Mom today and try to send them, so you can expect them in a few weeks. Anyways, i love you all and miss you. Don´t worry about me too much because I am doing well, and I will give another update next week. 

Love, Elder Williams