August of next year, before the leaves disappear

August 2, 2010

I can't believe it's August already.

So I'm in a LAN house at a giant bus station in scenic São Carlos, Brasil (with an "s") with a bunch of other missionaries. One of our chapels is close by, so we all came down to play soccer together. Big surprise: I still suck at soccer. It was fun, though.

This week went pretty well. My companion and I are still working our butts off. We're still teaching the first lesson to a TON of people, almost all of them being married couples or at least adults, in their houses, sometimes with members. We still haven't found any investigators who really want to progress. But wotevah.

Actually, we had a pretty strange experience this week. We came into contact with a family who lives in some government-funded apartments a few weeks ago. We had been looking for a less active member when we were led to this apartment. We met a woman named (take a guess) Maria, we went into her house and said a prayer, and we marked a follow-up appointment where we could teach everyone. We went back a while later and taught the first lesson. Maria's husband, Natalino, was a bit of a character. He'd talk really loud and interrupt us at times and just had an aggressive air about him. We challenged them to read and pray.

The next time we went there, we showed up a little late, so we didn't have time to teach them. But they said they had read and prayed and everything.

So we go back this week. We asked Natalino how the reading went. And he kind of exploded. He freaked out because the Book of Mormon doesn't say anything about the god of riches and wealth. He said he has searched in multiple churches to try to find out how he can get rich, and he still hasn't had any luck. I thought he was joking, so I didn't really respond seriously to his questions. But we started teaching the Plan of Salvation, and it became clear that he was being serious. We couldn't even make it past our life on earth before he insisted again about the god of riches. And he brought up Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Catholicism, Mary statues, all of that) when we were talking about Adam and Eve. We were kind of at a loss for words.

My companion just decided to have each of us kneel right there and pray, asking if the Book of Mormon is true. My comp prayed. And then I did. And then Natalino asked God for riches and wealth, which is what he truly desires. Dude's nuts, guys.

So that story took way too long to tell. I guess it's just because I don't have much else to say this week.

Actually, I thought I received a package this week because the mission secretary called and said that the postal service had taken another one of my packages, and that I'd have to pay to get it out. So I went through all the hassles of taking money out of the bank and giving it to someone who was going to Ribeirão Preto, only to find out in the end that the package was actually addressed to a different elder. I guess my name popped into the secretary's head when he found out about the package, so he thought it was for me. Buuuuuut it wasn't. Oh well.

This email has turned out really underwhelming for all of us, so I'll end it with a little treat. Everyone who reads this should go on Youtube right now and look up some Brazilian music. Restart (you say it kind of like "Heh-starch") is all the rage these days with the scenesters. They have a song called "Recomeçar," which, oddly enough, means "restart" in Portuguese, that you guys need to hear. And there's another super-scenester band called Cine that has a song called "Garota Radical" ("Radical Girl") that you also have to check out. Emo pop + auto-tune! Give me a break, gente!

Anyway, I'm doing great. I love all of you and hope you're doing well. The Church is true!

booga