First off, we went to the church building and played futebol (again), except I didn´t play. I sat and attempted to learn ``Come, Come Ye Saints´´ on the piano while Elder Paxman wrote letters. He´s determined to send mail every week. That sounds expensive to me. And writing letters is REALLY hard for some reason. After that we cooked some food in our house and now we´re headed out to teach.
As for our investigators, we had 6 investigators at church this week. We brought 4 with us, and 2 others came either with a friend or on their own. It was fast and testimony meeting, and since we had investigators there, I felt like I really needed to bear mine. It was short and I know I made a bunch of grammatical mistakes, but I think they understood. The lady we brought, brought her three sons with her, and one (even though it was his first time in the LDS church ever) decided to bear his testimony, and I´m pretty sure I heard him say he feels like our church is true. That was really cool.
Okay, so one day, during a split with an Elder that doesn´t speak English, this hobo with nasty tribal tattoos and stuff came up to us and started talking specifically to me. He didn´t realize I don´t speak very well, because he started to get frustrated and said the same thing over and over and over. I realize now he was saying ``You´re an American, I live on the street, give me some change for coffee.´´ We walked off, and tried to give him the slip, but about 3 minutes later I felt someone hit my backpack. I turned around and saw him again, but he was more angry this time. Then he started to try and cut us off by walking ahead and stopping. We just kept weaving around him. Then my companion said ´´Oh, I think we need something from this store,´´ adn walked in. I followed, but before I got in, the guy grabbed my arm. I pulled it back away, and went inside. Then he started yelling the same thing again and again. I still didn´t understand, so my companion at the time gave him some change and told him to leave. I feel like it could have gone better. I´ve been looking for him whenever we pass by that area.
There was one night we were walking to an appointment, and we walked passed this 15-year-old girls. They seemed particularly excited about something, so I smiled and gave a little wave to humor them. After they passed my companion said ``They´re you´re snakes´´ or in other words, the girls that like missionaries because they´re cute. I asked what he meant and he said that one was saying ``He´s so cute, just like the guy from High School Musical.´´ I´ll just take it as a compliment even though I don´t like those movies.
Oh, by the way, I´m giving a talk on Sunday. I guess the bishop here thinks I´m ready. In the MTC we had to prepare a talk every Sunday even if we weren´t speaking. Which remindsme that my branch presidency wanted me to give you their email for you to forward it to them... I left the address in my room in my old planner. Next week.
So, there are a bunch of people who resell things on the sidewalks at night. It´s illegal. One night I saw a cop car drive by, and every packed up and acted casual, but as soon as he was gone, everything was back out on the sidewalk for sale. I thought it was kinda funny, but sad.
That same day the hobo grabbed my arm, we never once rode the bus, so I got home completely exhausted. We had to have walked like 8 miles, I swear. Anyway, when we got back, I had clean laundry to take care of, dishes to do, and some other cleaning. I think I´m getting an idea of what being a parent is going to be like.
The food here is still good. I still like the rice and beans. I keep wanting to ask someone for recipes, but I haven´t remembered. I still have 2 years. I think it would be sweet to come home and cook real Brasilian food for everyone.
There´s this bird here that sounds like a kitten stuck in a tree. Thought I´d share that.
The other night, we went to visit an investigator (duh, that´s what missionaries do), but her mom was completely drunk and she came up to me and gave me a huge hug and gave me a 7-second kiss on the cheek. It was real awkward. Afterward she apologized and I said it´s fine just don´t do it again basically, then she apologized like 5 more times. I always home she´s not drunk when we visit now.
I get lots of compliments on my Português from the other Elders. It´s not good enough for me, but keep up the prayers. It´s apparent someone´s saying some for me.
Also, we just heard from our neighboring Elders that there´s a Sister Robinson in the CTM here from our stake in Washington. She apparently knows Elder Paxman and I, but we have no idea who that could be. Any ideas.
And to finish it off, here´s a dream I had for Kortney to read about:
So, I had just traveled the world collecting the two haves to the beatle from Aladdin. I was in the desert and I put the pieces together just like Jafar. The cave appeared and I entered, but since it was modern time, the cave was full of modern riches and was a nice big hallway and stuff. I suddenly remembered Abu, the monkey, and quickly turned around and told him not to touch anything until the end. I didn´t see him after that. I also had no idea what was at the end. As I got to the end I came across a huge door. Suddenly I had a flash back to a picture from my explorer grandpa´s journal, kind of like Atlantis or Indiana Jones, and realized I had to face my worste fear on the other side of the door. As I opened the door, I suddenly entered my worste fear: apparently it´s surfing at night, while trying to shoot terrorists who are also surfing. Also there are sharks. At one point I fell of my board and started to drown, but was suddenly standing in a suvenier shop. This was the big surprise at the end of the Cave of Wonders. So, naturally, I bought some candy and went to McDonalds with Stephanie, except she was a Sister Missionary, and I realized this halfway through my ice cream cone and we were alone, and that´s against missionary rules, so I had to leave. I felt really bad because it was Stephanie, but she understood. The End.
Oh, also, I have lots of dreams about being home, but I´m still a missionary and have to follow rules and I need to get back and finish my mission. They´re awful. A lot of missionaries here seem to have them. Did you have any like this when you were on a mission dad?
Anyway, that´s my week. The dream was last night. Enjoy your first day of school... or whatever.
Elder Candland
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