More Updates...

So yeah, things are plodding along here. This is the last week of the transfer, so we´ll see how things are shaken up next week eh?

I did get the package you sent to the other house, the sisters brought me a slip saying it was waiting at the post office, so I sent another elder to go pick it up for me. YAY! so I have the missionary quote book, the how to be a gentleman book, the weird spinning stick thing, the oil container, and the bar of chocolate..WOO!!! well... I don´t have the chocolate anymore, I ate it all by myself on the bus headed to Uberlandia....best bus-ride ever. So thank you, thank you again for the package.

The other preparation day all the missionaries here went to the church to hang out and eat and play games. Me, Elder Smith, Elder Erickson, and some other Brazilian kid sat down to play War (it´s pretty much just Risk, but with missiles, and less rules) and guess who won?? two times in a row even. ME!! woooo! So I´m pretty much the champion of risk around these parts.

Anyways, last week we had a conference with Elder Godoy, which was way fun. He reminded me of Mr. Bean. So we spent two days up there, ate ice cream :D and then headed back, I dunno what it is but I seem to take notes about everything these days. It´s a good habit, but I don´t remember when it started.

So yesterday was fast Sunday, I dunno if I mentioned this before, but when we fast down here, it starts after lunch on Saturday, until lunch on Sunday. And it is the most suffering experience ever. All the heat and no food does not make for a happy time. Especially when you´re the only one in the companionship fasting.... and your companion asks to borrow money so he can drink guaraná in your face.....sheesh. yeah, it´s hard.

I dunno how they manage it though, we receive around 105 Reais every 2 or so weeks, and yet there´s still missionaries (my companion included) who end up with nothing at the end of the two weeks. How is that possible? My problem is not being able to spend the money fast enough, so I have a reserve fund slowly growing at home. Some people need to learn how to manage their monies better. So young, so naive

Haha, one thing that´s funny though, is that EVERYONE here thinks that the USA is just a frozen wasteland. *You´re from America right? wow, America is a really cold place, always has snow all year, right?* So I have to remind them that Florida and Arizona make part of the US of A.
Stop watching your soap operas and watch the discovery channel! haha, cuz really, everybody and their dog here is completely addicted to the soap operas here, every house we pass by we can hear the music for them, or the announcements of them ending or starting. how sad....all day every day they just sit around watching soap operas....

The other day we were walking down the street, and a car pulled up next to us. The guy inside leaned out the window and asked to shake our hands. So we did, and he just kept saying *thank you, thank you, for all you do, thank you for your work....* and so on. He didn´t mention anything specific, just that we were great people, and he´s so thankful that his city has people like us here. I´ve never seen him before, and he wasn´t a member. But he held onto my hand for quite a while, then finally drove off again... so I felt pretty good afterwards.

Yesterday after church we went to help the members visit all the inactive, and less-active members and give them invitations to the ward conference coming up. So we went on divisions, I went with a kid named Carlo. That kid is pretty darn cool, we didn´t have many people to visit, so we just did contacts in the street and talked. His family is leaving this month to Miami, and then to Italy after a while. So he´s gonna have to learn English while he´s there, and then Spanish cuz he´s studying it in school there, and then Italian.... good luck to him. haha. His Dad also looks exactly like James Bond, except just a little bit fatter. So that was a pretty fun time, to work with a younger kid and do some missionary work, he gave me his email, and I gave him my xbox live name so we can keep in contact after the mission.

Congratulations to Josh on making the BYU team. Pretty darn sweet. Those were good times, along with going to the BYU football games... man I miss those. So BYU is going it alone next year eh? And Utah is going to the Pac-10 I hear, things are shaking up quite a bit.

It´s funny though, I´ve written longer journal entries during my time with Elder Xavier, than I did during the transfers when I was having fun... and it´s cuz all my entries here are filled with thoughts, self-discovery moments, and times when I just sat down to think and wrote down all the new things I´d found out about myself, who I want to be, and what I want to do....it was interesting to read back through those. Definitely not a fun time... but I certainly learned a lot about myself.

So that´s about it for this week, I´ve eaten quite a bit of top ramen these last few days. I guess the last missionaries here didn´t do a good job of making friends with the members, cuz they´re always *forgetting* about lunch, so we have to eat at home... but I´m buying a lot more fruit and milk these days to stay healthy, so no worries. (and I´m wise with my money, so I can actually buy the food I need) And the last time I checked I weigh 89.9 kilos... I dunno how many pounds that is, I just know it´s less than I was before. :P

I love you all, Miss you all
Thank you for all the advice and news and everything

Love you, miss you, Thinking about ya´ll (not too much though, that would be bad)

Welcome to our Family Time
Welcome to our Happy-to-be time
This is our festival
Y'know the best of all?
You´re here to share it all!
-Brother Bear, and Disneyland-opening song