Well, the Christmas
season has officially started here. We
sang “Joy to the World” in sacrament meeting today! They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here. So I guess it’s ok to get an early start on
singing the Christmas hymns. We can
never get enough of them! And there are
never enough Sundays to get them all in.
But it is still hard to believe that the season is upon us or at least
almost upon us. We hear of all the
snow and cold that you are having and it’s easy to think of Christmas. Then we look at our tropical setting and it
is more difficult to believe. Life is
interesting for us!
Like usual, the week
took a different direction than we had planned.
It seems like we did a lot with missionaries and for missionaries and because
of missionaries this week. But that is
part of the work we do as missionaries too.
And we enjoy it!
Monday was the day
missionaries received the official word of their transfers. It was interesting to us to receive their
calls informing us of their news. We
were happy though to hear that we would only lose two of them though. Elder Soares and Elder D. Alves (both of
Brazil) will be leaving Cachoeira. And
we are sad about that. Both of these
Elders always have big smiles and we love them and will miss them. Everyone else will stay. In addition, Sister Harrick (California) will
be the new companion of Sister Costa.
Elder Freeman (Missouri) will replace Elder D Alves as the new companion
of Elder Lopes. And Elder Gorham (a
greenie from California) is the new companion to Elder Buhler (Texas). That puts us North Americans in the
majority! Eight of us are from the U.S.;
three from Brazil; and one from Cape Verde, South Africa.
On Monday, the Sisters
came to our apartment for lunch, computers, and to make chocolate chip
cookies. We just had a simple lunch of
sandwiches, chips, watermelon, etc. It
was easy for a hot summer-like day.
Then Tuesday was the
official transfer day, the day of travel.
We received a call inviting us to the bus depot to say good-bye to the
two Elders leaving. We will miss
them. It pulls at the heart strings to
stand and watch the bus pull out with them.
Hopefully, we will get to see them at Zone Conferences sometimes. We spent the day out visiting and got in about
dark, just before a rain storm. Shortly after, we had a nice surprise. Elder Buhler and Elder Lopes, his companion
for the day until his new companion arrived later that night, called. They were downstairs with a couple of
milkshakes for us. What a thoughtful,
nice surprise! As they had been out
walking in the rain, they were dripping wet.
We offered umbrellas to them, but they declined. They are still trying to earn those pretty
wives by letting a lot of rain fall on them. We really enjoy Elder Buhler and
his enthusiasm for everything, even the rain! We really enjoy all of these
missionaries. It is fun to watch the new
ones especially.
Wednesday was District
Meeting. We were anxious to meet all of
the new missionaries. It was another
rainy morning. Just as we started out,
umbrellas in hand, we ran into Elder Buhler and his new companion, Elder Gorham
(from California). Once again, they were
walking in the rain with no umbrellas.
We enjoyed the meeting. The new
missionaries will be great. The dinner
appointment for Elder Buhler and Elder Gorham had fallen through for the
day. Elder Buhler was anxious to have
his companion get off to a great start on his mission and here in Cachoeira. So he asked if we would have lunch with
them. As usual for special occasions, we
went to Per Tutti, our favorite place in Cachoeira. It’s quite an adjustment for new
missionaries. Poor Elder Gorham! He
could hardly keep his eyes open when we met with the Marina branch for Branch
Council on Thursday evening. He had an
overload of a new language combined with lots of walking, time change, etc! Hard work and little sleep! His eyes just kept falling shut! But he got better as the week went
along! They are just hard-working
missionaries!
We did get to meet with
Elivelton and Bruna this week which was such a pleasure for us. It is so nice to see them searching the
scriptures and anxious to learn. We just
went over the first missionary lesson about the restoration of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. They want to hear all of
the lessons again. They asked questions
and participated. It was just a nice
visit! We talked about how the gospel
can strengthen families. What a great
way for them to start out a marriage.
They are still planning on being married next month. We are excited for them. They are a really nice couple.
During the week, we
also had a nice visit again with Isaura, a member who hasn’t been to church for
a lot of years. She greeted us warmly,
especially when we started talking about grandkids, and invited us back. She remembered that we don’t drink coffee,
but wants us to come back for cake and “cevada”, (caffeine-free Postum). A few days later, we ran into her on the
street and had another short visit. She
told us that she has been thinking about us a lot and is anxious for another
visit. We also thought that we would
invite her to the District Conference next Sunday. The Uniao branch is planning on sending
around a bus to take people to the Cachoiera chapel for the conference. We hope to get Isaura to go with us on the
bus.
The weather was great
the latter part of the week. We walked a
lot and spent some of our time trying to spread the word about the Baile
(Dance) on Saturday in the Uniao branch.
When we couldn’t find people home, we left notes. We always like to have
special events to invite people to.
Sister Oliveira (Brazil)
and Sister Foutz (Colorado) are now companions.
They were out walking and Sister Oliveira fell (or almost fell) and hurt
her leg. They called Sister Castro for
advice and then called us. We met Elder
Buhler and Elder Gorham at their place and gave her a blessing. It appeared that she had pulled a
muscle. We all advised her to stay off
of her leg for a bit and apply ice and to see the doc if it didn’t
improve. They were also out of groceries
and had no money. So we re-stocked them
with a few essentials. By the next day,
her leg hadn’t improved (possibly because she was still walking on it). It is hard to keep missionaries down! To be safe, we thought she should see a
doctor. So on Saturday, it was off with
them to see a doc! We started at the
HCB, the hospital. They would only let
one person in with Sister Oliveira. So
Elder and I waited in the parking lot outside.
It looked like it would be about an eight-hour wait, so they advised her
to go to a nearby “Health Post”. We went
with them and were all pleasantly surprised to see a member from their branch
working there. She got in after a fairly
short wait. Sure enough, she had a
pulled muscle. The advice was the same….stay
off the leg for a bit, apply ice at first, heat later. (The Sisters had already made up rice bags,
like the ones we have). Elder Hoopes and
Elder H. Silva met them at the Post also, as we had to leave to help with
English classes. So the Sisters had a
lot of support! Now if she will just
stay off of her leg for a bit. She did come to the Baile for a bit and then to
church on Sunday. But, hopefully, she is
off of it enough to heal.
Speaking of Elder
Hoopes and Elder H. Silva, they have had their water turned off as someone
didn’t get the water bill paid. They
made some calls, but even after payment, it won’t be turned back on until
Tuesday of next week. So they are
without water! They showered the first
day at the apartment of Elder Buhler/Gorham.
But the shower there has no hot water again. So they have been coming to our apartment to
shower. Inconvenient for them. But they have great attitudes. Looks like Elder has another service project
coming up this next week to fix a shower again for Elder Buhler and
Gorham.
We also visited with
Jose again. As usual, it was a good
visit. We talked about prayer and sang
“Secret Prayer”. He even joined in. He likes to call Elder, “Mister Elder”. There is a sweet Sister in the Uniao branch,
who insists on calling Elder, “Presidente”.
Even when we try to correct her, she just grins mischievously and calls
him “Presidente” again. So we have given
up correcting her. It has become kind of
a joke with her. We missed Artur this
week as he had to help his brother on some project. We had a short, but good visit with Idalia
and her family. We also saw Roseangela. Her baby is due this week!
Saturday was a holiday
in Brazil, Republic Proclamation Day.
Lots of places were closed. It
affected attendance at English class. But Idalia’s son, Artur, was there for
the first time. He is pretty good with
his English already. So it was a good
time. Afterwards, we introduced Elder
Buhler and Elder Gorham to the game, “Escravos de Jo”. Artur,
who is about 12 or so already knew how to play it. It was a fun time! Elder Buhler has the best laugh!
Friday and Saturday
was also the “Festival of Summer” in Fenarroz.
It was a kind of fair with vendors selling clothes, food, and everything
imaginable. They had displays of old
cars, bands playing etc. We attended. We found the closest thing to a U.S.
hamburger that we have had here. We
watched a band perform. We visited with
some members and non-members there. It
was a good time.
Saturday night was the
Baile (dance) called “Fantasia”.
Presidente Samuel of the Uniao branch always does things up in a big
way. The youth really love these Bailes. They dress up. Adults and whole families dress up as
well. Presidente Samuel had done the
decorations. (He does that kind of thing
for a living.) Attendance was good. There were quite a few nonmembers and
inactives. Dances may be a dying thing
in the stakes of the church in the U.S.
But they are alive and well here in Brazil. Everybody dances, from the young to the
old! It is so fun to see! Once again, the young missionaries can’t
dance. But they came for a bit to watch
and to talk with people. But Elder and I
are allowed to participate. Lucky
us! We took a lot of pics. We were just so impressed!
The week has been a
little different than usual. We have had
lots of interaction with the young missionaries. It’s been a busy, but interesting week. The weather has been just gorgeous! We have had to have our air-conditioner
going, but it really has been beautiful!
The adventure goes on!
It really is hard to
imagine the winter you are experiencing.
Wish we could share some of our heat with you. But at least, it should feel like Christmas
is coming for you. So enjoy! Be
safe! Stay firm in the Gospel! That surely is the way to happiness! We love you lots!
Eu te amo!
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