Week Twenty Eight - Reunion and Crocodile Legs

A port on the Amazon River.

The Amazon.

Sea of plants.

The city of Belem.

Hello, Family and Friends that I love!

 

      Glad to hear all is well with everyone at home. This week was pretty good. We didn´t have a baptism but I think we´ll have one this week. Today, we had a little reunion, the last one of President Campos. I think all of the missionaries, with exception of 2 zones of the mission, were there. I did see Elder Shaw, Elder Kaufman, and Elder De la Cruz, but unfortunately Elder Fox and Hoch were not there. But for some reason my companion just wanted to leave when it ended so I didn´t get to talk much. I did talk to Elder De la Cruz, and he´s doing good. He says he can see that I´ve gotten bigger. He also said that he was going to train a new missionary but went home before he even arrived to the mission field, so he´s companions with Elder Harris, who stayed in the same house with me in my first area. Elder De la Cruz showed me some pictures of his. He´s held a parrot and a monkey in his hands, can you say jealous?, and he bought a machete with a special... sheath, i think its called... I can say jealous this time, you don´t have to. So, yeah, he´s got lots of cool experiences already. So yeah, Elder Shaw and Kaufman are still training, and I can only hope things are going well for them, because I didn´t get much of a chance to talk to them.

        And the rest of the week is drawing a blank right now, again. I think I´ll start writing what happens during the day in my planner, all the cool stuff that I should remember and share. So I guess that was my week. Oh, man, there was one day, we were waiting for the bus, I had an apple with me that I finished and I threw the core into some tall grass. My companion talks to me a little about it, says missionaries should be the best example because someone is always watching them, and the next day he throws a banana peel into the grass... It probably shouldn´t but that kind of ticked me off a little... But yeah...

        So in response to your e-mail, I don´t think it was allergies last time, I think I was a little sick from having the fan blow in my face all night. But I´m good now, so don´t worry about sending another package right now. Also, you don´t need to send snacks. I´m fine without them, and I´m not having any problems eating in the houses of members or finding something to eat in our house. The crocodile leg... yes they eat crocodiles, and monkeys too. I might eat a crocodile if its offered but I´ll never eat a monkey. Never, ever. And the man with the crocodile leg said he hunted it. Haha, I was hoping to take a picture of me giving the crocodile arm a hand shake, with the other end out of the picture so it looks like I´m making friends with a crocodile, but I don´t take my camera with me anywhere... :/.... and talk about frustrations with investigators, we´re teaching 2 sisters and during the week they say they´ll go to church this week, Saturday arrives, they say they´ll think about it, Sunday comes and they don´t show  up... grrrr... EM!!! How was your first day at the big girl´s job?! Oh whoah that's cool! Bacana! HAHAHA! teenagers... HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE STEVE!!! Enjoy your new calling Dad, should be an easy one, né? Enjoy your senior trip David.

        Okay, pictures... hmm pictures today are just of that cool place I went to on the day of my companions birthday. 2 views of the river, a sea of plants, and a view of the city.

Q&A
1)What is the training you talked about in your e mail?  The training you said you hoped you didn't have to do until you had been out a year? Training new missionaries, the ones that just left the MTC. Yeah I don´t want to do that yet.

2)How are you feeling? I´m feeling fantastotimo!

3)How are your shoes holding up?  Do you wear both pairs?  Are your everyday pair wearing out, yet? I only wear the walking pair. They´re good still. My left shoe is wearing down a little faster for some reason. I think I might only drag my left foot. weird.

4)Did you get any packages this past week or your visa card? I did get a package, the one from you. Muito Obrigado!

5)Are a lot of the Brazilian people small?  The people in the pictures you sent looked tiny! Yeah, everyone is pretty small here. I´m pretty much a giant to them.... pretty much... almost.... maybe not, but I am bigger than 99% of the people I meet.

7)Is there anything you are going to need in the next couple of months, so I can mail it now? nothing I can think of right now, but thank you very much.

6)Em wants to know what's with the thumbs up in every picture?  Is it a secret signal that we don't know about? :) It means... I´m happy and I´m otimo and you don´t need to worry about a thing... it also means i´m a little chee-z... *snicker**snicker**snicker**hershey**snicker*

Okay, that´s all for this week. I love you and miss you all. Have a good week, tchau!