A Return to Abaetetuba

4-24-2013

Hey family,

I have been really busy with stuff here.

But I have a good story for you all.  Last week I got back from Santarém and had a really short p-day that really was not a p-day, because I had to finish a lot of work here in the office.  After that I talked to Pres. Scisci and made plans to go to Abaetetuba for the dedication of the chapel there.  So the next day I traveled to Abaetetuba with President  Scisci and Sister Scisci (that is the second time I have gone by ferry to Abaetetuba with the Pres. and his wife -- once I went with Pres. Campos when I arrived in the mission and the trip last week).  It was a nice trip.  I got to see a lot of people I baptized.  I also got to baptize a man that I had taught more than a year ago.  He found the missionaries a few weeks ago and he started going to church.  I got to do the baptismal interview and he chose me right before the baptism to baptize him!  I didn't have clothes but it all worked out.  Luckily I was wearing mesh garments so I dried fast.  The dedication was nice and I loved visiting.  Apparently I'm well known there and everyone liked calling me Clarky Kent.  The Brasilian accent is funny.   It’s like “Clarky Kainche” it sounds like they say “quente” which means “hot.”  It´s pretty funny.  I think the best part was seeing that a lot of the people I baptized are going to church and then one of the young women even went to the temple this week.  A lot of family members of these members have also been baptized, so that was really sweet.

 I think that I saw almost all of them.  There were just three that I could not find.  I know that I should use more details but I'm a little stressed out and tired because of the constant traveling.  My companion, Elder M., went to visit one of his old areas with some other elders and so I have been pretty alone here...  Well, you know, not alone because I have been with other missionaries, but being without a normal companion has been a bit sad.  

I think that my companion is a bit ticked off at me.  The day before I left for Abaetetuba we had a dinner for a missionary that was leaving the mission and afterwards, during the interview of that elder, I had to wait for him to finish the interview with Elder.  Sister Scisci put us to work putting the dishes in the dish washer while she left to run an errand.  I did most of the work with the dishes while Elder M. went to sleep on the couch of the Pres.  I ended up washing all the dishes alone, but I felt good about it because I didn’t have anything else I could do and for the moment washing the dishes was, well,  what I had to do to Magnify my calling : )    

Google picture, not actual dishes.

The next day I called Pres. Scisci to talk to him a little about how the mission was in terms of baptisms,  and Sister Scisci answered the phone and said thank you for the work I had done with the dishes, she said, “Thanks for doing all the dishes while Elder M. slept.”  (Apparently she came back for a moment and saw my comp sleeping and me working.  She is pretty stealthy because I did not hear her).  Then the next day she saw Elder M. she chewed him out in front of me.  That put me in a tough spot because what I did made him look bad.  Luckily the encounter was when we were loading up the car to leave for Abaetetuba so he had a few days away from me to cool down.

P.S. The internet fell and I wasn’t able to send the message earlier.

4-27-2013

So Elder M. finished his mission and is in São Paulo right now.  And I am here in the office working on the transfer with the secretaries.  I don’t have a new companion and will only get one on Monday I think.  So this week end will be really crazy, especially because I have never done a transfer before.  But like Mom always says, keep calm because it will all get done... well she said something like that when I had a lot of big school work and stuff.  

Love you all!!!