What’s up family! Transfer news! Good news! I am SO SO HAPPY to tell everyone that I’ll be staying in Marau with Elder Carvalho for one more transfer! I will be here at least till the end of June! Wow, I really can’t explain how excited I was when I got that info. Seriously.
This last Sunday we had an awesome Church meeting, with Tiago and Mônica, our awesome family, finally getting to Church for the first time, where they were well received and starting making friends and fitting right in. We had na awesome sacrament meeting, with each speaker giving meaningful, spiritual talks (including yours truly!), and a correlation meeting with the leadership of the branch that really sent some good signals about how the members are going to start working with us more in the future. I feel that Elder Carvalho and I have finally gotten the confidence of the members. But mostly, the members of this ward háve really worked their way into my heart, and Elder Carvalho and I have talked about how we would like to be better and aim higher, and we both said that we haven’t really felt like we’ve done what we needed to do here in Marau still. Something big is going to happen this next transfer. Elder Carvalho and I just have to up the energy and the dedication and have more faith that things will work out. I am excited!
On Saturday we had a really great ward activity (the first one in the 3 months I’ve been here) where we made an assembly line to make 30 full size pizzas. Every person had their own job, right down to the little kids spreading tomato sauce. It was fun to work for a little while, and then gorge ourselves on more pizza than we could possibly fit in our bellies. I liked it because we got one investigator there, and one inactive part-member family too. Very cool.
Here’s some funny small details that I’ve noticed here in Rio Grande do Sul. One funny thing is that there is an unwritten signal during lunch that you have finished eating. You have to make it so your fork and knife lay parallel on your plate. If you don’t do that, the host will ask you to eat more, and everyone will stay at the table until you finish. About three months ago I caught on, and my attitude of the fact that maybe Brazilians are TOO hospitable changed. They really didn’t want me to continue eating them out of house and home; they were just being polite because I didn’t lay my silverware correctly on the plate. Heh heh.
Another crazy thing, here in the south at least, is that everyone is absolutely crazy about Woody the Woodpecker, the old cartoon. Here they call him “Pika Pow”. I’m completely confused as to why he is so popular here. I’m not kidding: more than a handful of the families we teach here have kids who just stay glued to watching Woody the Woodpecker cartoons. And it’s not just kids; very often both parents are there watching and laughing at the cartoons. The complete DVD collection of Woody the Woodpecker is a coveted birthday present; advertised on the shelves of many stores. I thought that maybe people just liked it because other cartoons hadn’t been translated to Portuguese or something, but no: after 6 hours straight of woody, the more modern cartoons are shown late at night, when all the kids are asleep. I’m living in bizarro-world here. I asked my companion what the deal is, and Elder Carvalho just says, “It’s really really funny, don’t they have Pika Pow in the United States? You’ve got to watch it!” I cannot find a solution here. What seperates Woody from all of the other old cartoons? Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Looney Toons? They have those! But they are crazy about Woody only. If anyone has any ideas, please send them my way. Until now, I have somewhat given up analyzing the phenomenon.
So, it was so nice to get your e-mails today! I especially loved the business update/story from Dad. So exciting! One thing I’m glad I don’t have to do in mission life is cram like I did in school, staying up all night to finish a project or paper. Looks like the ability to cram can come in handy right Dad? Congrats for just going and doing it, gettin it done. Dad, I would love any other updates like that, if you send some in the future. Just to know a little bit of what the team is going through is cool.
Mom, it’s a rainy cloudy week this week too, looks like it’ll continue that way for a bit. It’s weird to think that my companions in the mini-mission, who had less time in the mission than I have now, are home, their two years completed, maybe even married by now. It seems just like yesterday that the mini-mission happened, that and our awesome week-long church history trip. But it’s been almost 2 years. So strange…
I’m jealous about the movies (but not too much), and it’s a weird sensation to have these big blockbuster films coming out that I don’t even know about. A new Robin Hood movie? A Prince of Persia movie that my mom knows about (and this is strange because Prince of Persia is a video game) ? But let it all come. It’s just going to add to our marathon week of media overflow that will happen when we get home. Let it come, let it come…
I am actually very open to BYU. Did we already talk about this on our phone call? For sure I want to apply to BYU when we get back, and it would be sweet to hop right in on a regular computer science course and just enjoy the constant talks by prophets and apostles. Again, it is so odd that this is normal there. Out here, the prophet and apostles are talked of like we talk of the Pope; a distant, unreachable figure. Lucky BYU students!
Hey, you guys could fly down here and we could try to drive back up to Cali! Forget about Darien’s Gap! We’ll just go at it with a machete and rent another car on the other side. Should be easy, right? :)
So Mom, did you really already plan out how our Brasil trip is going to be? Should be pretty epic, sure we’re able to do it? If we already were to travel from Brendon’s area to mine, we might as well check out everything between: Rio de Janueiro looks absolutely amazing, and there’s some sweet nature reserves in the Amazon right? Seems like we should split it into 3 different trips. Who knows… Love you so much my Mom! Thanks for the letter!
Lyns, love you so much. Almost to the end of school!!! Go for it! Again, loved the videos and seeing how good it looks like you’re doin. I gave your Facebook account to some people here, so be ready for Brasilian friend requests. That is your new responsibility, is to be our Facebook secretary. After the mish me and Brendon can collect the friends you’ve been guarding for us. Hehe. Love you so much my sweet sis. Have a good week!
Hey my sweet Kaitlin! You only have a month until your birthday! Are you so excited? It’s cool that your graduation will be on the same day. I want to see some pictures. I watched some of your videos again and I really liked them. Kaitlin, what are you doing every day. Anything funny or interesting? I love you so much and love to hear from you. Your letters are really great and you are a good writer. Good luck on the end of school! Summer will be really great! I love you Kate, hope you have a good week! Tchau!
Hey Brendon, congrats on finally leaving Maracanau! Your in the city and closer to the coast, is it any more cooler there? Are you working in the middle of the city? I’m still Junior, and I’m supposing you are too. We’re turning senior together, I think. Go for it on the scrolls, but I recommend doing one per week, instead of per month. It’s pretty easy to get tired of them and give up. I’m onto the second and it’s really helpin me out. I love you man!
Okay, I’m kind of rushing today, like everyday! I hope I can write a bit more a bit later, but we actually have a couple appointments today in the evening, so I don’t know if it’ll work out. I’ve still got photos and videos I’m holding back from you guys. There’ll be a big splash soon.
Love love love you guys! Tchau tchau!
Elder Con
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