Week Thirty Six - Call From Klayton!

Zone Conference, August 2012.

Tom's "pets".

I had kind of an exciting experience preceding this e-mail from Tom.  Last Thursday, my cell phone started ringing while I had someone in my office, so I ignored it and figured if it was important they would leave a message.  When I didn't answer, they called two more times!  I finally picked up my phone and there was a very strange phone number on it.  When I showed it to my co-worker, she said that looks like an international number - so I immediately panicked and answered it.  Much to my surprise, it was Tom's friend, Klayton, that he has written about so many times in his e-mails.  I was so surprised, I couldn't even think of anything to ask!  He told me Tom was a great guy and a great missionary.  He said he was doing really well and was healthy and even getting fat!  I thanked him profusely for taking such good care of my son and for treating him so well.  I told him to tell Tom I loved him and thanked him for calling to let us know how Tom was doing.  I was on cloud nine the rest of the day!  It was just so much fun to talk to someone who gets to spend time with my son and it really made me want to go to Brazil and meet the people who have touched Tom's life as well as letting him touch theirs.  Awesome day and a big thanks to my buddy Gina for pointing out the obvious to me - if she hadn't have been there, I may not have answered that call!

Oihoihoihoihoi! Bacana Demais!!!

            How´s everyone doing? good? me2. This past week wasn´t the best. We taught very little, we have difficulty finding new people, we didn´t have a baptism, and probably the thing that upset me the most: 0 investigators went to church. Ugh, so many people say "yeah I´ll go" but they don´t go!!! GAAAAH! Oh well, it´s a new week now. I found a dog that acts just like Toby, the way he moves and torts his body. It was very funny to see. Talk to me TOBY!!! Tuesday, we had a zone conference, which was cool. President Scisci is cool, and speaks very well and very calmly. I saw Elder Fox, De la Cruz, and Kaufman there, and after talking to Elder Fox again and listening to him speak, I quickly realized that I needed that time away from him, but it was cool to be able to talk to him only in Portuguese. The only thing that's changed about him is the language he speaks.... and maybe his hair cut. He looked like he was ready to join the army. Lunch at Klayton´s was funny. Out of the blue he asks me "what´s your mom´s number?" and I´m like ".....wut?...." I was really hesitant to give your number to him, but its just like..... whatev..... I just hope his not calling you still. Hey wasn´t that funny when he said "your son is getting fat"? Yeah, it kind of was. I never thought I´d hear anyone say that about me. I saw my first companion in the field last Saturday, Elder Reis, and the first thing he says, in English, is "you are fat!" Hah, that´s a little embarrassing. But.... whatev.... so yeah that was my week.

               It´s cool to hear that David´s friends are preparing for missions. Some advice to David, write down what you remember from your blessings. You don´t need to with the patriarchal, but with the others you should. I don´t remember anything from my blessings, which I regret, because in my journal it has space for all that stuff, which will have to stay blank.... which sucks.... Thanks for the advice on the talk-writing, Dad. My companion had to give a talk on the spot yesterday, but he did very well. He didn´t have anything prepared, just went up in front, followed the spirit and didn´t remember anything after that. I hope one day I can do that. I´m glad to hear the hike was good, and the pictures are awesome. Most of you don´t even look recognizable. I thought Landon was Tim Glenn, a not so good friend of mine (not because we fought or anything, only because I never talked to him), which was funny. David... you look a bit stupid in that pic of just you and dad... are you okay? I think summer break just about killed ya. good thing you´re going back to school.... haha jk David.... don´t hurt me! Ahhhh!

Q&A
Does Klayton have a family - a wife, kids?  How old is he?  He sounded really nice on the phone and it really made me want to come pick you up so we can meet some of the nice people you have made friends with! Klayton is about 30, he has a wife, but no kids. I heard they can only adopt which is unfortunate. He´s cool.

Were you at Klayton's when he called? yes I was

What kind of pizza did you have and do they really have Pizza Huts down there? They do have pizza hut here, but it was closed for lunch, because everyone here only eats rice, beans, and meat for lunch. So we had pizza from a grocery store here but it was still good. We had pepperoni, garlic cheese, and ham with eggs pizza... I think.

Have you seen Elder Fox, lately?  Is he still somewhere up the river? yes I have, and yes he is still up the river, but he came down for the zone conference.

How often do you get together with all the other missionaries in your area or zone?  Do you see most of the guys you were in the MTC with?  Every Wednesday we have zone meeting. Elder Kaufman is the only other from my district in the MTC that is in my zone. I still need to see Elder Hoch! Where are you buddy?!

Pics: the zone conference and our pet collection.... our dead... pet... collection.... Can we keep them?! Holy moly the fangs on that spider are wicked! You should´ve seen it climbing up the wall after drowning it in bug spray.... wicked!

So yeah, thats my week. I love you all. Have a great week and be safe, I want to see everyone where I left them, 16 months from now. 

Tchau                               Tchau

       Tchau....           Tchau          Tchau!

                      Tchau