#69 Araras & a baptism!

Wow, sounds like you week was crazy! But fun too.

That's cool.

To be honest, I'm not remembering this week that well, went pretty fast too. I know that we went to Amanda's house literally every single day (except Saturday). That's a lot of days. But, it all paid off! She hopped in the water yesterday!

And she dragged me in too. I like it SO much more when members do it, but it's been about 9 months, so that's fair I guess...but it was fun. The meeting was cool, everyone was there, including seven other kids (her poor mom... she came with all of them). She and Franke were baptized one right after the other. It was really cool too, because Franke is 8 and Amanda is 11, so their leader is the same person (and Franke’s mom). I baptized Amanda and Fracimar (Franke's dad) baptized Franke.

Which was also really fun. Francimar has almost exactly one year in the church, and no one is used to doing all of the ordinances. I don't even know how many times we practiced baptizing with him. During priesthood meeting he kept asking me how to say the prayer, so I wrote it for him (for the second time :P)

But it was good. Everyone is happy I think.

And addicted to cookies.

Mwahahaha

(I asked if he makes cookies from scratch or if he prefers the mixes I send) Well. To be honest, the cookies from mix always come out better (or cake too, either way) and people go REALLY bonkers about those ones. But I've been making cookies from scratch for a while now (since Elder E and once in Sobradinho). People always get really sad when they ask for the recipe for the mix cookies and mix cakes though :P

And yeah, being a missionary in the middle of nowhere is really neat. Between about three RM, us, and the bishop, you basically have the glue that holds the ward together. It's really fun to see how people grow too. I was talking to a missionary that started in Miracema, and now came back to Tocantins to work in Porto Nacional, he taught their family. Francimar changed a LOT. He used to be super alcoholic. And now he's super Mormon!

Today we went back to Amanda's house again to eat lunch (YAY), play a little Uno, and watch John Tanner (awesome movie!). Following the movie, Marcelo (Amanda’s brother) asked when he can be baptized... so... yeah; we'll be working with him.

And Mayara came back (she was at her mom's house for about a month), and I'm expecting that she will be following her mom when she gets baptized (which also appears to be somewhat soon, depending only on them getting married).

AND... Elder P noticed that a member's granddaughter has been going for quite a while and also isn't baptized. . . SO, we have one more person to meet soon (today).

So in other words, we ran around like crazy all week, and I'm hoping to run around like crazy a little more.

To respond to questions, no. Not much cooler. There are some days that are normal (really really hot), some that are rainy (and less hot), and some that are both (super-mega-extra hot). But I'm still alive. I DID notice however that clothes are not drying as fast because of the humidity. . . good thing about the dry season.

Until ... soon!

Tchau!

Elder Funnell

#68 They were cuddling in blankets

Well, to tell the truth, I wasn't 100% sure about transfers until Wednesday. At any rate, the two of us stayed here (on Monday I only knew that neither of us went to Brasilia specifically)

But a bunch of other people just traded comps, and that's just weird. Oh, and there is now a new zone in the mission! 'Zona Ramos' (Branch Zone) It's weird too. It's composed of Unaí (Minas Gerais), Gurupi (Tocantins), and I think Formosa. Or somewhere like that. At any rate, it's the zone that is most disconnected to anywhere, and they threw all of those districts together. The LZs are 'travelling zone leaders’, they just wander from area to area (which makes sense since their zone is so spread out). And the Lzs are Elder W (used to be LZ here) and Elder E (YAY)

AAAAAAnd, Elder C left Palmas as well, leaving us without LZs.. So we have Elder A (who was LZ when I was in Taguatinga) and Elder G! And they know nothing about Palmas! Their first day here was funny.

Elder E is in Ramos. Meaning I won't be seeing him hardly at all.

BUT, Elder G is a professional at bugging me. I gotta get a video of him sometime that he sees me. He always acts the same way "ELDER FUNNULL!!!" and bear-hug/attacks me. This happens LITERALLY five times per day that I see him (and I only see him a maximum of four hours per day. . .

But he is, without any doubt... trunky. Not in the bad way, more the inevitable way. He is just MORE goofy than normal (which is tricky to do). But all seems well with him. He's already said that he'll be at the airport when I get home (invited or not), that he will kidnap me and take me to Oregon (willing or not), and that he will plan my wedding (?). But yeah. Like I said, a little crazy.

Weird info: Elder G is about to go home, his mission is almost done. The end of this transfer he's gone. WWOOOOWWW. Weird. I love him though, super cool. Oh yeah, did I tell you already that he does the whole "TELL ME YOU LOVE ME!" thing too? Well yeah, he does.

I think Sister W is getting close too, this one or the next.

It is uncommon for someone to leave Zona Palmas after less than 6 months, so you can get an idea about transfers there.

I don't even remember what I meant that particular time... These last few weeks Elder P and I have been trading back and forth feeling weird with this, that, and the other. In general however, nothing really bad. Just very annoying. And it isn't helped by walking around all over the place in the sun.

The most common stuff is just your body saying "I'm not feeling well so I'm going to make every muscle in your body hurt. HA!" But that's just fine. It's still possible to teach.

Baptisms... no. Still. Amanda went to Palmas two weeks ago, and there was no way to get everything ready for last week (and her mom ended up getting Dengue... doesn't help) SO, we will be marking for this week. Amanda is totally ready; we just have to get the interview done (which means that the LD has to come to Miracema HAHAHAHAHA)

Sounds like I'll be doing a trade with Elder G this week... Weird.

Oh, and it rained ALL WEEK. Sort of. Baby rain followed by sun. Or just cloudy all day (THE BEST!!!). And for the majority of the week, I was without an umbrella. Decided to die in the first little rain that came. 'Little' meaning the type of rain that you walk into for three seconds and walk out totally soaked, with the water 'falling' horizontally.

(It was about 10 degrees cooler there last week than previous weeks) I am feeling the difference, everyone was 'really cold' this week (some people cuddling up in blankets if you believe it...) I thought it was significantly less hot. But still hot. I enjoyed walking in the rain though, that was nice. Just isn't nice when you walk in the rain and still sweat...

I've been keeping Elder P up to date on purses and coupons. He finds it very entertaining. Me too :P (I sell Miche and use coupons… )

This week was simple. Just a bunch of normal lessons, some really cool ones with Amanda and her mom, plenty of water (on my head), an almost certain baptism this week, with her mom being a very probable baptism soon. Oh, and the random lady that called us from the street to give her a blessing. Very weird situation that she's in. I hope she figures out the right option...

But, I'll let you read this BEFORE we lose power again. . .

So, until later,

Tchau!

Elder Funnell

#67 We. Were. Poor.

Well.... Sounds like transfers in Palmas are really weird, everyone gets bumbled around, but hardly anyone leave the zone. . . so unlike Brasilia. In some cases, two people can simply trade companions. Weird weird weird.

But yeah, I'll get back to that in a second.

First event of the week started last week. . . We. Were. Poor. Very poor.

Christmas and bills killed our 'mesadas' very quickly. I told Elder P that I would have to say this story to you guys. It IS in fact true... but only sort of:

"Two unfortunate young men, missionaries to be specific, were in the stupidly hot sun of Tocantins, walking (or melting, whichever) with the greatest tiredness known to all mankind, and an equal level of hunger. These poor adventurers went to the nearest (and only) store, to see what they could eat. They put all of the money that they had together... and it resulted in. . . . R$4. . . Then, one said sadly to the other, "Elder . . . we promised to buy Almery chocolate. . ." and so they bought a (tiny) chocolate bar and. . . continued walking."

I know, I'm not much of a story writer, BUT... I promised I would write it :P

In truth, we both had personal money all week (the mission money didn't fall until four days late), but we didn't want to pull any more out. AND in this particular instance, we were in the "High City" or in other words, VERY far from home.

Interesting note: That chocolate was for a pastel. In Miracema, chocolate pastels don't exist. And so, now it's called the Pastel P. :)

But it was entertaining being without money (particularly when you receive food at whatever member's house you pass by). 

I will tell you the simple truth mom. . . IT'S REALLY REALLY FUNNY THAT YOU WILL TEACH COUPONING!!!

Now I just have to figure out how to explain to Elder P what that means...

Transfers in a mission. Depends. Here, if you are Brasilian, I think you have 17, American is 16. The newer guys that are only going to the CTM for 6 weeks, I have no idea.

I just remember always that I have 16, because at this current rate (of three per area) I will have five areas, plus one transfer (hence why I wanted to stay in Recanto for one more. . .)

But it can be 17 depending on the place and how long the missionary is in the CTM.

(Preparing his next box and wondering if he wanted a tie for St. Patrick’s Day) Green tie? I don't have any of those. Works for me. I'm happy for any/all ties. Minus crazy ties and pink/red ones.

Sitting around talking with other missionaries (or cool members) always leads to cool stories/ opinions/ perspectives/ whatever. Sitting at a computer doesn't work as well... Just be careful, I'm learning how to talk a LOT on the mission :P Not that that was too much of a problem with people I knew...

Anyways, cool news this week: This week was slow and hard and painful and bothersome. But I liked it anyway. We taught almost nobody, almost nobody is in Miracema for the holidays, Amanda didn't get baptized due to her ALSO being in Palmas for the week, Josilene isn't even TRYING to stop drinking coffee, and I think might be avoiding us, Alex (other investigator, 19 years old) was only going to seminary to flirt on a member that is out of town until February (and is 14), it was stupidly hot again for most of the week, I've had a weird sickness/ allergy/ don't-even-know-what this week, and I haven’t even seen another missionary in over two weeks.

But, in the end all was fine. We taught Amanda's family, and they are simply golden. Her dad’s an almost never at home, but he is a mechanic, and knows the bishop (who is a mechanic). Maria Aparacida (wow, boring Brasilian name) is Amanda's mom, daughter of a member (with 13 years in the church), just had a brother pass away recently, has no religion, and has GREAT interest in learning more about the gospel. She already knows a bunch of members that live nearby (which is weird, considering there are very few), and she is totally willing to get married and learn more. The only thing she didn't say that makes missionaries excited was "when can I jump in the water?"

But it was really cool teaching her. The best part though, is that we took the bishop there this Saturday. That would be the first time in over 7 months that the bishop hasn't went out with the missionaries. Whoo!

That lesson made the rest of the stupid week worth it :)

Dunno if I said this before, but when you have a bunch of so-so lessons, you feel normal. When you have a lesson where your investigator decided to flunk... you feel crumby. When you have an awesome lesson, you are filled with more energy than you can hold.

If I said it before, I guess I said it again.

But anyway, that literally was the only thing cool that happened this week. So, I think I'll leave it at that.

So, good week to you all!

Until next week!

Tchau

Elder Funnell