The crazies of Curitiba

Olá, tempo é moito apertado mas vamos lá.  [Hello, time is very tight but here it comes]

Story of the week, got a nightmare when we didn't need one. We have this wonderful married couple in our area that we haven't visited since the transfer! And they are so ready to listen!!! So we went to their house yesterday, reminded them of the first lesson and now we can practically predict the baptism. So probably we'll mark the date next week, or next lesson whichever comes first as we have some activities in the ward that will certainly eat some time up. The cool thing is the wife has a great ability to read and retain, the husband has a gift of understanding! They're perfect for each other!

1st Championship of Ugly Ties

A Note from Brazil

Então, olá e bom dia! Hoje temos nuvem de mais e é pocino frio. [So , hello and good morning! Today we have more cloud and is pocino (a little?) cold.]

Truth is that we have a lot of members here that are great for helping out the missionaries. We got bus-fair this week from the Relief society, we almost always have lunch in the houses of members, and my personal favorite is the random honking that means "Hey Elders, wave at one of the hundreds of cars you can't see into and smile!" And we also get these awesome little rolls here every week from a sister in the ward... helpful for dejejum [breakfast]. 

The lessons this week are got tougher, more or less because I'm starting to understand more of the problems these people have. And, well, Elder Matos is super new to the area and with the investigators I've already met he sits somewhat quietly while I try to start the lesson. With the less active members he sometimes tries to slip in a phrase I haven't learned yet to make fun of me. He's figured out now that I understand more than I can verbalize. HA! finally remember that word! So we got a reference from a cartãozinho [cards] we give out and dropped off a DVD (Encontrando fé em Cristo) [Finding Faith in Christ] and taught the first lesson a few days later.   

Elder Joel A. Smith

My Life and Times Here in Brasil

E ai e [And then]!!!

So I'm finally understanding enough of the language to speak and teach these people here without the annoying "and what my companion said …" routine of my companion. So I'm glad that he's with me to help me out, but sometimes it's really hard to have a tiny vocabulary and an even smaller window of words I can actually pronounce!

The week has been great, and I'm still learning a lot everyday about the language but I'm really trying hard to just teach simply for now. I have a lot of fun experiences but I think I'll share one that missionaries take for granted here in Brasil. Walking in the streets of one or our Vilas we "knocked" a house and found out that one of the Irmãs [sisters] in our ward is actually really integrated with the people in the area, too. While we taught [the woman], she kept asking questions like "what does that word mean" and "Who's the prophet today." We got really excited about this, but then the next time we tried to pass by the house she was busy with a family reunion, which, by the way, is every Sunday here, in case you didn't know. You who are in Brasil already know... Or at least I'd think you would have encountered some families like that already. But one good thing about the whole family reunion thing is that you can talk and invite them to a member’s house for "Family night," and they'll be more than happy to accept.

So I've sent off two companions in the same number of transfers. Horrible things, I'm kind of sad my companions aren't sticking around long enough to watch the fruits of their labors. But what can you do? President Fernandes is pretty straight forward with us on transfers: go and do as the Lord commands.  ATÉ PRÓXIMO [UP NEXT]!!!

Elders Lima and Smith - last visit with Thamires

With new companion, Elder Matos