Week Seventy Three - Happy Birthday Tom!

This week, Tom will turn 21 years old!  It's his second birthday away from home and it better be the last!  We are so proud of him and each week can see how he is growing and maturing.  We will be thinking of him on Wednesday and hoping he has a great day!

Tom and Elder Mendes at Brenda's baptism.

 

Hi Family!

        Nossa! you got your hands on an iguana! (I think) Egua I´m jealous. I´ve already seen some iguanas here in Santarém but they were up in the trees. I´ll get my hands on one of them one day before I go! The sisters that share the area with us here found an iguana in their house this past week. They thought it was a snake because they could only see it´s tail and it was wrapped around a piece of wood like a snake wraps itself around things. But I`m really short on time, I was looking at past e-mails with past pictures for nostalgia purposes. Wow time passes fast. My week was okay. We had another baptism. Brenda, Evalyn´s (the girl baptized last week) sister. And this past Sunday was the first time I did the confirmation. Wow, I waited a long time to do that, and it went a little rough. I don´t feel so inspired by the spirit to say things at the moment. But I´ll be sure to try again and hopefully the inspiration comes and the fear goes away. Anyways.... We had pizza one night with our recent convert and her family and 2 other girls in the ward... nossa! girls just cleave to my previous companion. But with a new companion it should be different. My companion´s name is Elder Mendes, he´s from Hortlandia, which is a neighboring city of campinas in the state of São Paulo. He´s pretty cool. He´s big and black and likes to joke around a lot and doesn´t like silence, so if no one is saying anything, he tries to get me talking.... but it must be a challenge...

Q&A
Is your new companion from Brazil and are you getting along with him, OK? Yes, he´s very kind and funny and likes to talk a lot.

Did you ever break in that new pair of shoes or are you wearing your old shoes still?  I read a mom's e-mail that said her son bought some Brazilian army boots and is wearing those - funny! She said he had worn out three pair of shoes, after 18 months there. No, I`m not using those new shoes much. I got my nicer shoes fixed, I`m thinking about throwing out my original boots (já era) and if I have to I´ll buy some others, because the ones I already bought are still really uncomfortable.

How has the weather been there?  A lot of rain or is it the dry season, now? SNOW! no jk (in my dreams), but it usually rains in the morning and stops at lunch.

Any birthday present purchases, yet?  Don't forget! I´ll buy some stuff.... I don´t know when, but before I come home, that´s for sure.... But I already have an awesome idea of what to buy here in Santarém (sun baked fish that looks like a statue! NOSSA!)

Pic this week. Brenda´s Baptism, her sister and my new companion.

 Love Elder R. Williams