Wk 17 - Just another day in Paradi... Parnaíba

USA Imports to Brazil?

Halloween Mustache - A little late...

Halloween Teeth for Thanksgiving?

Elder Smoot and Passarin

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Porto Das Barcas in Parnaiba

Rios in Parnaiba

Elder Smoot on a Bridge in Parnaiba

Parnaibian Horse Pasture

Area: Parnaiba, Brazil
Companion: Elder Passarin

Man mondays are so cool, but kinda intense! you have a lot to do and just one day until 6pm to do it!

Last monday i hardly even want to talk about. Ya it was fun, but we seriously went to a members house after 6 and did nothing. My comp played with his ipod and what not and ah man it is tough. I like the music and all, but not during the mission. But dont worry about me, i am in good contact with my district leader, so hopefully we can get this fixed.

Tuesday we had district meeting, which was way good, and i got my package! Thank you so much mom. It was the halloween package, as you can tell by the attached pics, which is good. we are 2 for 2 now! so hopefully this will keep up with the rest of the packages. And i received i think 5 letters. All that was going through my head was, Jackpot! haha that was a good day, even though 3 of them were from the CTM and back in sept and early oct. but at least they got here right? so that was pretty awesome.

Wednesday was a good-ish day. We were doing good and workin all day and then when it started to get dark we went to a members for a little bit and my comp went off again. Though that wasnt so fun, i am pretty sure we had a new record for time my comp wasnt angry! wohoo! we went for like a week this time haha. Gotta love the mission.

Thursday my american friend, Elder Robertson, and told me happy thanksgiving. That was pretty much the extent of my thanksgiving! So that was nice. Also thursday i had a really cool exerience to try and teach a lesson in english. We have an Italian guy that lives here that is really close to the church, but isnt a member. He has one doubt. He thinks we should be able to drink wine, and that only this is wrong about Joseph Smith and the revelation he had about it. He said if one thing is wrong, he cant believe the rest.. so its interesting. But we were going to teach his italian brother that was in town. He worked in Canada for like 4 months so he knows some english. So we were teaching in english, but about half way through we had to go eat lunch. After he told us he was really just interested to know about the church, not to be converted and that he doesnt believe in god or anything. He is more scientific haha so that was an experience. One thing i learned is that i am way better at teaching in portuguese then in english! i was honestly stuttering and having issues remembering everything in english! i never thought i would get to that point, but its true!

Friday we spent a lot of time at members houses, which was a little dissappointing. But after almost all day just talking to members, we had 2 really good lessons, which was nice. But man sometimes it is so hard to just sit and listen to my companion go up to the little kids and ask, ´who is cooler, me or him?´ and then go off about americans, even to our investigators... but you get used to it. so i wasnt too worked up. Then walking home, we kind of play this stupid game sometimes where he will start singing rock songs and i will start singing hymns and he will get louder and then it will be silent and i will hum hymns and ah man... its so funny!

Saturday we spent a lot of time talking to less actives and this whole week focusing on inviting people to church. So we were talking to some less actives and listening to why this happened. It was interesting to hear that one just heard something from people of a different church that the true church will only have the bible and no other book. So we spent time just showing her scriptures in the bible about the book of mormon. Really for me, if God exists, the Bible is true (as long as it is translated correctly of course), and if the Bible of true, the Book of Mormon is true. And if the Book of Mormon is true, Jesus is the Savior of the world, Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and restored the gospel of Jesus Christ, and all this leads to that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is TRUE. All of it just links and connects and it makes so much more sense now then it did before the mission. Anyway, so we helped her with her doubts. Then another had an issue that she had an accident, and only one member of the church came to see her, and it was this women in our ward. They wanted the president of the branch or something to come see her and make sure everything was ok. Anyway it was tough, but we see that we need to choose not to be offended. Most of the times things like this are unintentional. So good stuff.

Sunday, despite all of our efforts to invite everyone to church, we had one less active come. Which was good, but its pretty frustrating when 30 people we invited said they would be there, but all is well. So one thing i learned this day, and all of it was from the advice i got last week. My comp started arguing with me again sunday morning. He said that he had this lds music here, which was just some women singer. I told him that he thinks everything is SUD, or LDS music, which was bad on my part, but i was a little fed up. Anyway he was like, if its good music, its church music... and on and on. So he was all ticked off again, and i could tell that i kinda helped it this time, even though i was still ok. So the advice from last week was humble yourself. I am far from humble and it probably isnt humble to share this with you, but its good advice that i want to spread. He was mad, and i knew if we went to church like this, it would be horrible and nothing good would come from it. And even though everything in me just wanted to punch him in the face, i just thought about everything from last week, humble yourself, and just thought about what i need to do. So i went up to him and asked him to forgive me, even though i thought i was right and he was just being a little pouty girl, i did it. At first he just said excuse me and tried to walk on by, but then he finally accepted after i said it a few times. It made the day so much better and he was a lot happier. Just this little thing, two words (forgive me?), changed my day from a disaster, into a day that i can teach the gospel.

Today we spent all morning cleaning the house and sweeping and what not. The house is clean now, but the wind honestly just blows it all back into the yard and what not, but all is well.

One thing ive learned is that you really cant think of the whole two years of the mission. I really get disappointed when i think about how its going to be so long and what not. I really have just been taking one day at a time and enjoying it a lot more. So live today, and stop worrying about the future. just go and make the best of everyday.

Some days i really see the good come out of my companion and he really has a good heart, i just dont see it too often. So dont think wrong of him because of all the things i say. Besides he may come visit someday im pretty sure. Im doin my best just to see the best in everyone.

I have talked a lot with my comp and the Brasilians about Christmas here. It is pretty different! They all on Christmas eve will get together with their family and have a party basically. Most are with their families and its with cousins and all, and they have tables with food and they just listen to music and party until midnight. At midnight they exchange gifts... so if you need more info just hit me up!

And the videos worked for the most part! i loved watching them. But i did not get to see videos of - Ruger, Steve, Dad, Mom. so if you could send those again please! Steve´s basement is sweet and then some! Looks like the game was going good and it was good to see everyone!

My District leader is Elder Gessel. He is a stud! And he had been the same since i got here.
The distric leader, elder gessel, covers Parnaiba branch 3. The branch 3 is a lot of area so the Zone Leaders cover the same area. And the district leader and the zone leaders live in the same house. The zone leaders are Elder Daniel (Ashton) and Elder Cook.

Well go make it a great week! and i will do my best to have one as well. Thanks for everything!

Elder Smoot

Elder Smoot & Elder Passarin

"And yes i rode the scooter. A member came over on P day and hung out with us, and he let me ride it. Its clutch and everything i just rode it up the street and back. Pretty sweet nah?"

Wk 16 - Parnaiba take 2

Area: Parnaiba, Brazil

Companion: Elder Passarin

Well guess what?! im still here in Parnaíba with Elder Passarin. So let me explain just how this last week went down....

Monday we went to eat out with a member and things just went downhill. We were a good 40 min walk from our house when it hit 9 o clock. Turns out we didnt get to our house till about 10 30 and i just felt horrible. I was with my comp and elder melo still and anyway it was a rough night.

Tuesday morning we got a call from the mission President about exchanges. We heard that we are picking up an American at 8pm for elder melo. So turns out we got elder Roberts that was elder blackhams comp. So he is now with us. This day was kind of a long day and we didnt get much done.

Wednesday my comp was up and down and all over again. It was a crazy day and i couldnt help but think that this is going to be a long transfer. But that night i was just thinking that maybe im here for a reason and i need to help him. So i pretty much straight up talked to him and asked what was his deal. Why he was always mad and happy and anyway i just straightened things out with him.

Thursday things improved a ton. With the Christmas decorations starting to appear, i think it helps a little because we are getting into the Christmas spirit. I talked to him again about how we can stay happy and so now things are a lot better.

Friday was a good day and we were still getting along, even though we are very different people, we have the same purpose here in the mission. Our investigators i thought were progressing and we had a couple of good talks with Lucas and another Irlanda. ( i will explain about them in a bit) So with things getting better, my comp decided that we should have a fake fight to mess with Elder Roberts. Ended up being an epic fail, but whatever it was pretty funny.

Saturdays here are pretty empty. Everyone goes to the beach and all the stores close at noon. On sat, sundays, and holidays, the streets are empty. Everyone is either in the house sleeping or at the beach. So it was another good day with my comp and we had some good lessons. That night we watched the Restoration movie and it seriously was so strong. It is cool that no matter how many times i watch a movie or hear that story, it hits me hard and with the same spirit every time. And we watched this movie with Ciro and Vanessa who came to church last week with a member in our ward that just invited them. We talked to them and they just want a new life they said. This gospel is perfect for that! i was honestly super excited. Turns out he had work the next day and so they werent at church, but i hope they progress.

Sunday we went to go pick up Lucas again. This time he was up and all, but he was babysitting his little brother is what he said. So that will be pretty tough to keep going with him... but i have hope that he will change. So in my opinion, something i heard in the MTC, is that if we arent following our own mission rules, or keeping our commitment to follow the rules, how can we expect our investigators to keep their commitments. So hopefully i can continue to follow the rules and help my comp a little more. To be honest, i have just kind of been his friend and tried not to go against him in anything, but i will try this next week to help him follow the rules a little more. I really feel that he changes when we have the spirit super strong with us, and he even mentioned it to me a couple of times this week that he was feeling the spirit and it was nice. So lets do that all the time! Anyway we had a couple of italians in church though which are friends of a member. They are super cool and one speaks english. So we are going to go visit them this week. My comp absolutely loves italy so he was super happy to talk with them. That afternoon my comp wasnt feeling good so we went to the house to rest for a while.

So things are getting better with the companion and i think that is interesting. I really think it is important to humble yourself and this is from some advice that i got from Wesley moss this week was pretty sweet. It helps so much to hear these pointers and stuff. I honestly dont know if ill be really good friends with my comp after the mission, but i do need to get along with him now. So i will focus on my faults and try to do all that i can do and thats all i can do.

I am still missin the snow! and i sing ´Im dreamin of a white christmas´ to myself quite a bit. haha. But all is well.

Thanks for all the prayers and advice! i feel so strengthened, especially this past week with all of the prayers and the advice i read today. I will definitely use it!

I know i have one package that is at the other Parnaiba house for the past week, so i will get that tomorow at district meeting! wohoo!! Thanks mom love ya!

SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO JENNIFER STACEY! WOHOO PARTY ON! GOOD LUCK!

So now all that changed in our house is we got the new american elder in our house. I really like to talk with him about things, but i have to be careful because my companion gets jealous or something when i talk to other people.

Love you all and have a great day! HAPPY THANKSGIVING

ELDER SMOOT

Wk 15 - Ola

Parnaiba at Night

Bridge in Parnaiba

Elder Smoot contemplating life

Elder Smoot on P-Day

Near the River in Parnaiba

Area: Parnaiba
Companion: Elder Passarin

So ill just give the brief summary of the week and then on to other things.

Last monday night we were at a members hows (house) and problems started again with my companion. He started saying some stuff and i just mentioned to him that i didnt like it and he started complaining to the members about me. I asked him what was the problem and how i can change and he didnt know why he was mad, i just bug him, is what he said.. so it was a rough night, but as you can tell, i pulled through.

Tuesday our mission president was in town and had training that morning for all the leaders. So i went with Elder Logan and Elder Melo to my area to teach for a few hours. So just something kind of crazy that happened, but probably dont share this with his mom or anyone, but elder logan had a mix up with a motorcycle and got bumped. It was crazy! i watched the whole thing but he was dodging one and the other slammed on the breaks and just tapped him. It was pretty intense! But he was fine and landed on his feet, but the motorcycle went down. Anyway we had a couple of good lessons that night and found a new investigator named Lucas. He is 16 and is pretty smart and is religious. He thinks the stuff we teach is true, but still doesnt know. He said he would go to church on sunday, but didnt. Going to church is still the big problem right now and why we havent had a lot of success here.

Wednesday we had zone conference which was awesome. Our mission president knows a ton about the gospel. He really helps us a lot as missionaries. We had some really good food and some good lessons from president and sister Dias and then they left and we went to work. And by the way i did not receive my package. I think there is an issue because there is people in the office only two days a week, so they could be in the mail center in Teresina, im not really sure. anyway, I sent my bag with Pres and did hear from Andrew that he received it. (the president was going to Sobral (Elder Blackham´s area) after he had zone conference with us. So you should see that hopefully right before Christmas! And we found a place here selling Guarana Jesus so i had somemore on Wednesday and it was pretty good. Its like red cream soda, but with a kick! its pretty good.

Thursday i was really tired and was pretty rough. I was just tired of everything, walking all day, my companion, and it was just a hard day. But without hard days we wouldnt have good days right? so we did have a few good contacts but man it was a long day.

Friday i had a split with Elder Gessel this time. He seriously showed me how missionary work is done and then some! The trick to the mission is really to get lost in the work. Elder Gessel was a great teacher and we just went from appointment to appointment and man the day went by pretty fast. I seriously felt so much better and that i accomplished something big and it was just one day. It was so nice to have everyone following the rules and to be with someone who was right there with me.

Saturday i came out just talking to everyone after being with Elder Gessel. But when we got to lunch, my companion said that the split with the americans changed me and he didnt like it. So things went way downhill from there and he did not want to talk to me or want anything to do with me. It was a pretty hard day. You really just gotta keep going though and trust its for the best.

Sunday morning my comp was still mad from Saturday. All through church and everything he wouldnt look at me and just said to me in english, you can sit next to me, but dont talk to me. So that was a long day of church. He will talk to everyone like everything is fine and normal, except me. This transfer has taken a lot of patience, but i dont know if we are seperating still. So anyway at lunch we sat down for a little and they turned on the movie Charly. I seriously dont know what is with the rules anymore. Anyway after watching the movie my comp loved me again, because it is pretty sad, and anyway things got better. That night we were talking to a member and he said he noticed at church that something was wrong. Man this is not our purpose here! we need to be helping the members not them helping us! its so hard.... but i will pull through so dont worry!

Today Elder Magno left, and he was the best missionary in our house. His two years are up and so it was cool to see someone leaving. We have Elder melo, his comp, with us today because we havent heard anything about transfers still... hopefully we´ll hear tonight.

I havent had anymore problems with headaches this week. I think im getting used to the heat a little more and drinking more helps a ton!
So we do have quite a few investigators, but to be honest noone really sticks out to me right now. I feel like everyone we are teaching beleives that it is true, they are just too lazy to do anything about it. We walked about 1 mile to go pick up Lucas for church just to have his mom tell us he was sleeping. That was a long walk back in the heat! The others i think understand the message and beleive its true, but again, are too lazy to go to church and do anything about it!
As far as animals go, i havent seen too much. When i was at the other house for splits, there was a trantulla, however you spell that, there so that was exciting. I guess they get them quite a bit. I really just see lizards and ants and sometimes frogs here. And horses and donkeys that just kind of roam the streets.

So there is a ton of different fruit here. And everyday we get some different type of juice everyday at lunch. So most of the fruits i have tasted aren´t amazing, but im sure there are some out there that are better. The juices are really good. In the house i just eat apples and bananas to be honest. And the bananas are different here... i like the ones where we live better haha.

Well cant think of much else to say. I know you would like the heat about now! But to be honest it gets pretty dang old after having it everyday with no rain and no change in weather at all! so enjoy the snow! That was way cool to hear that jade made the team! keep up the good work my man! And i hear he´s still growing... Im growing too! just the wrong way :P Well good luck with life, with scouts, with sports, with high school and everything. Love you all!

Elder Smoot

Wk 14 - What's up??

Tanner posing on a Donkey powered trailer.

Another Donkey photo (No, I won't use the biblical term for this animal).

Elder Smoot doing another Backflip

Tanner and his District in the Sao Paulo MTC.

Elder Smoot and Elder Stewart in the Brazil MTC. Elder Stewart was scheduled to fly out with Elder Smoot, but Visa Delays kept him at the Provo MTC for a while. They finally meet in Brazil.

The Track at the Brazil MTC in Sao Paulo

Area: Parnaiba

Companion: Elder Passarin

IM AN UNCLE!! its so weird to see pictures. It just feels like my mind wont let me beleive it really happened and so everything feels like a dream now! So ill give you the low down about the week real fast and what happened.

Last monday we did the normal and on our way home from the grocery store we say a member and went to go say hi. So we ended up talking for like ten minutes, and she had some friends with her. They were kind of off in the background and they are all about 16ish 17ish i think, and anyways when we were leaving we said bye and shook all their hands and i got to this one girl and she wouldnt let go. It was soooo awkward. But seriously she held on for 30 seconds and then i had to use my other hand to get her to let go. Man i really dont like it but its happened a couple of times and i just dont know what to do! So anyway my comp just kinda let things happen becuase he was mad at the time. Then we got home and played with a spare mattress we had for the rest of Pday. we would surf across the floor on it and just have a little fun in the house.

Tuesday we had the normal district meeting, then went to lunch at a members. It was a lot of fun and i got to play with the guitar they had. That night we went with a couple of guys in the ward to another members house and studied the bible and pretty much how you can bible bash and win. i was pretty much confused the whole time but my comp loves it. So that was actually kind of cool because the guy that was kind of leading the discussion has almost been every religion out there and so he knew it very well.

Wednesday i received my mission tie letters that you thought would be in the mission home when i got there (sure glad we didnt do that!). Those were from conference time... so even though they were old, it was nice to read. For lunch we had lunch at a member named Bruno´s house and he asked me what music i liked... later that day he gave me a CD haha pretty cool. Guess ill see how that is in a couple years. And this night was pretty frustrating because a big group of girls we were teaching all turned down baptism... it was hard for them becuase all their family is in Maranhão and are all catholic so they were here for school and it was too hard for them to change while they were gone.

Thursday i dont remember exactly what happened, but things were going good and then our last house we were at, my comp just lost it again and told me not to talk to him and whatever. I dont know why, but i was just smiling and lovin being there that day, even though my comp lost it... So ya that was an eventful day.

Friday we had splits and i went over with Elder Logan (Beach). We had a good time and man it made me thankful for my area. His has these sandy roads and we dont have any like that and it was even a little bit more poor of an area i think. So the day went on and then elder logan realized that he was missing the cell phone. We started walking back out to the area we were in earlier, which is about 45min walking, and i just said a quick prayer in my head, and seriously within 30 min, the member we were with earlier comes up with the phone. He said he just kept calling and someone finally picked up. I still dont know where it was. So the lesson here is that prayers are answered. Sometimes i think, was that the prayer i said in my head or was it going to happen anyway? I realized its important we recognize the lords hand in all things, so my prayer was answered. And the whole day i spent with Americans! that was pretty cool for a change.

Saturday I came home from my split, because we spend the night at the other house, and i was super happy to be back in my area, and my comp was like way excited to have me back too. We had a really good day and i just was happy, and it makes a big difference in your day. That night there was a couple in our ward getting married so we went and got some cake after and stuff so that was nice.

Sunday was a pretty good day, even though it was fast sunday. I had the opportunity to bless the sacrament and i even bore my testimony! it was kind of hard, but it wasnt bad. I just feel like i dont have a lot of vocabulary right now. I can speak alright, i just feel like im saying the same thing over and over again. The same phrases ya know? but all is well, at least it gets me by.

Today i am a little bit later because my comp wanted to go to the grocery store this morning and then eat at this government owned lunch place that only costs 1 real. It wasnt super good, but it was alright. So now we are emailing and what not.

Thanks so much for the pics of my nephew! he be lookin good like i thought! Congrats Talia and Austin! I am excited to see him in 2012. Good stuff. And i did read some of Taylors letters. It sounds so similar to mine its crazy! And man sometimes the mission seems like its flying, and other times its so slow! but whatever it is, im here till the end.

Well its been real,

Elder Uncle Tanner Smoot

Wk 13 - Photos

The chapel in Parnaiba-

Only a 30 second walk down the

street from their apartment

Crab Anyone?

A truck with really big speakers!

Tanner said he took this pic so he can show Mason when they

get back that he needs to make some improvements ;)

Porto das Barcas- port of the boats

Can missionaries have pets?!

No Skateboarding Tanner!

Wk 13 - Life in Parnaiba

Area: Parnaiba

Companion: Elder Passarin

So im not sure what kind of format you want... so ill keep doing this until you tell me otherwise. Tudo bem? legal.

MON: Last mon... the norm. Email, develop photos, send letters, grocery shop, relax for an hour... not a whole lot else to do here!

TUES: We had District meeting in the morning, and i was asked to give a 10 min thought about teaching... So i was actually suprised that i could do that in a different language! wahoo i think its actually coming. So during the day, the heat and the sun and the language all got to me and i kind of had a headache for a while, but as you can tell, i pulled through.

WED: So we were walking to what i would guess is the richest house in our ward, in a neighborhood far from our house which i didnt know existed, and on our way found this surf store. So i wanted to check it out real fast, and it had surf boards, oakley glasses and t shirts, kite surfing and other stuff. And so all of this was imported from the united states and was super expensive. but i talked with them about snowboarding and wakeboarding because they dont have either here, but they knew both. he had a video of wakeboarding on though because his cousin sent it to him or something. anyway i got some stickers and other cool stuff so that was sweet. also on the way, i found a halfpipe in the middle of a 4 lane road, so that was cool two. pretty sure i attached a picture.. then lunch was lasagna and was really good at this nice house. while we were there i noticed they had an energy converter on the window, so i asked them about it, and they just gave it to me! so this was a good day. anyway later on i got a headache and my comp was mad again and it was crazy how up and down one day can be!

THURS: First thing that was a miracle is we got our fans fixed. All this time, me and my companion have been sharing a fan and ive been sweating all night, and everyone knows that we have two broken fans in the closet, except me. so when the president came a week ago, i asked about it and he was suprised we just didnt fix them. so anyway now i can sleep really good and even with my sheet! its awesome. also there are some things that happen each day that are just strange. like sometimes we´ll have drunk guys come up and grab my arm and talk to me and i cant tell if they are mad or happy and then they will put their head on your arm and what not.. its just strange. and today i had this girl that im pretty sure was under influence of something, but she came up and grab my arm. so you kinda get used to it and just keep walking. also a guy came walking up to us, and then i looked up and he was white. i dont know why, but seeing americans here is like golden for me! so his name is jason and he served here a few years back and what not so i talked with him and he was at church and what not on sunday too. he is from provo and was in brazil for work, so that was cool to talk to someone from utah.

FRI: We went to the Portas das barcas today, which just means port of the boats btw, and there was some of our investigators there giving school project presentations. this is some sort of health school or something. so there we saw our investigators and i also met another american that was in town... who is here seeing the family of his wife. funny story actually. i guess he served here and baptised her. came back after the mission and married her... but dont worrry about me cause that isnt going to happen. so i also felt like the portuguese was coming because i could talk to the americans pretty clearly in portuguese and they were nice and helping me, so it was good. i also found the picture of Dads name this night. i found ALAN written a few places which was cool so i took a picture.

SAT: So this morning i woke up just feeling bad. i think i must have eaten something bad the day before, but i just had an upset stomach and everything. So i drank some soda and got going for the day and it turned out alright. later that day, we taught a family of seventh day adventists and they were trying to convert us or something it was pretty fun.

SUN: So we had church as normal, and one interesting thing. at the end of the sacrament meeting, which is last, we have classes first, we wait for someone to stand up and then everyone else can stand up. i think it is only here in parnaiba becuase it is strange for my comp too haha. but whatever. and the building has a chapel with moveable benches, and some classrooms and i think 3 offices. so its not bad size. So we also went to one of our investigators houses and they were having a little party with friends and family. so they gave us some cake and this little girl just loved us. I told her i was american and she asked if she could hug me and thought that i knew justin beiber and stuff it was crazy.

so i will get to your questions in just a second. i need to send this email real fast to make sure everything gets through. it was fun to hear about halloween! they really dont celebrate anything here, so it was a normal day here in brazil for halloween..

1- I havent received the halloween or other packages yet. this because everything we receive, packages letters, etc. we dont get until we have a transfer or a conference with someone bringing us our things. I think its pretty dumb, but everything sits in the office until then. they dont forward our mail.

2- my shirts are fine! i dont need any more sent out, so dont worry about sending more.

3- i cant think of anything else i need, but i will let you know if i need anything.

4- i havent completely adjusted to everything yet, but the heat is definitely getting easier. when the american came last week, he was sweating a ton! and i wasnt sweating at all... so i hope im adjusting a little! and i can sleep at night... mostly becuase of the fan, but i notice im not sweating as much.

5- shoes are holding up.. i like my eccos a lot more then my mission shoes. i think i got mission shoes a size to big and should have got the deluxe. but both are holding up great!

6- parnaiba is one of the best areas as far as conveniences go. so we have a little washer and we hang our clothes up to dry.

7- my comp is hanging in there. he is so up and down. one second he loves me, the next he is really mad, wont walk on the same side of the street as me and what not.. im hangin in though!

ok to explain the first baptism real fast... felipe is the son of a less active mother. so we went to visit her and found him. she still doesnt go to church, but felipe goes everytime we have someone pick him up. he sits next to me in sacrament and colors. and he was confirmed this past sunday... everything is different here. but ya so we found him and he is 9yrs old and started teaching. we finished all the lessons in two weeks and he was baptized.

1) So i was the only american that left the same time as 6 brazilians from the ctm. there were a couple of americans a couple weeks before me and elder stewart a couple weeks after me. so there are quite a few... most everyone i meet is still in their first year, but there are a bunch past that now. my comp is 9 almost 10 months in the mission. and the other elder in our house leaves after this transfer.

2) so there are 4 missionaries in my house. there are 4 americans in another house together, and 2 missionaries living alone and i dont know where. all are within a 30-40 min walk... so ive only been there once when i arrived and we went there today to drop off my bag to take to elder blackham.

3) my house is like less than a block from the church. its super close and about a 30 second walk. the number is 1201 i beleive and it is on the road or Rua: correia de morais or something like that. same street as the church.

4) i have no idea what direction from the church, but i think we are south... from the map i have... which doesnt have a compass.

5) i think i talked about the church in the letter... its a chapel, with a hallway and classrooms and a couple offices.

oh and one last thing. that picture of the truck with the speaker in the back. how i was saying, tons of cars have massive speakers! thought i´d take a pic and show Mason when we get back that he needs to make some improvements ;)

(*Alan asked Tanner a question about investigators and how the area was)

so when i got here we had no investigators, it was like a fresh start. so we just talk to random people sitting out front of there house and start teaching. some of them have talked to missionaries before, but a lot havent. and we talk to maybe 3 people that my comp talked to before, but hardly anyone. the big problem right now with people is going to church. they really dont have a way to travel, so we even have a couple vans that pick people up and bring them to church... so people just dont go to church! or we would have a lot of baptisms because they say they know its true, they are just to lazy to go to church.