Ijuí!‏

Dear Family and Friends,
I’ve got fotos, I just can’t seem to get them onto the dadgum computer here. So, I’ll just start writing. Anyways, important info.

Elder Mitchell Wassom
Caixa Postal 1031
Ijuí - RS
CEP: 98700-000

Muito importante isso. :) (This is very important)

So sorry about not getting the recording of Elder Pierce and I off to y’all. I just forgot to record it. Plus the file would be too big to send off anyways. But… The past is past, I guess. Whoops :\
So Mom - just so I have it, for Family nights and stuff - Fudge recipe. I would enjoy it a bit. Not too much, but just on occasion and to brag to Americans.
Did Les Mis make nationals? Never heard.
First off, I LOVE Ijuí! It’s AWESOME! I can tell these next few transfers are going to be awesome. Elder Farias is awesome. To describe him, he’s about 5'3", got a cross bite, and has a thick NorthEastern accent. He is from Belém, Pará, making him my first companion from anywhere other than São Paulo. To deschcribe the acschent that theesch people from the northeascht have, I think I made my point. He was a telemarketer before the mission. Poor guy.
So imagine... Rio Grande do Sul is shaped more or less like a baseball diamond. Uruguaiana is right at the left field foul pole. Santa Maria is at second base (The base itself, not the position) And Ijuí is right where the center-fielder is standing when the outfield fields a right-handed batter. A good one. So in short, it’s further to the north, a little to the West.
It’s starting to get cold in Ijuí. We're waking up right around 50 degrees here. So not dreadful, but sweater weather. Fun Fact - Mom, remember that long-sleeve I took with me that was too tight on me, but I said I could wear it under another t-shirt? Yeah, I’m using that as a sweater now.
We started off the week with a pretty small teaching group, so we focused on using the past investigators in our area book to make that grow. We had success. Now, we have 10 new investigators in addition to our ones we already had.
But speaking of the ones we already had. There’s Bruna and Eduarda, moças (young ladies) of 14 and 16, respectively. They are daughters of Tati, a lady that was baptized last Saturday, and sisters of Bruno, a rapaz (young man) that was baptized a few months ago. Baptizing them would complete their whole family in the church. And they’re scheduled for the 9th. Yay!
Keli is a moça, wants to be baptized, but her Grandma is not letting her. We're gonna take the Bishop over to Grandma's soon.
Aline is an "eternal investigator" (meaning, has been an investigator since the Commencement of the Reign of Judges among the people of Nephi, but hasn’t been baptized yet). She is AWESOME! She basically is a Mormon already, she just fears that her baptism would be a separation between her and her husband, as he is an atheist. However, recently, he has started to believe in God. So we're working with him so we can baptize them both.
Marilei is a great lady. Believes in everything, but she is unemployed, and she resorted to moving back in with her ex-husband as a way to sustain her family. We are helping her find a job so she can move out and be baptized.
Paulo is the father of two youth in the Ward. He too, is anxious to be baptized, but his "wife" is against the church, and doesn’t want to actually marry him. So there’s that situation. Very similar to Dorival in Uruguaiana.
To answer what happened to Alcívio in Uruguaiana (sorry to delay the response), he moved back to Alegrete. We sent the missionaries there, and heard nothing since. I bet he’s baptized.
And I found out Veleda wasn’t baptized yet... but I’m confident she will be soon.
So I found a way to get the Brasilians to remember and somewhat pronounce my name... I just tell them it’s just like "O aço", which means "steel." So, it’s not exactly Wassom, but hey I don’t mind all the people here calling me a man of steel.
Also, Elder Fariasch hash had schevral American companionsh that didn’t understand him very well, so he is well accustomed to repeating himself. I understand him fine. Nevertheless, there is the situation that "okay" and "O que?" (what?) sound identical. So for instance, when he says "Let’s go to bairro gloria" and I say "Okay", he repeats himself. So I have learned to, instead of respond with "okay", respond with "Affirmative, Ghost Rider." Problem averted.
Portuguese update - at this point, I am just learning really random, obscure words such as "slingshot," "to besiege," and "to auction." For this, I haven’t included a "useless Portuguese word of the week" in a while, because they’re all almost useless. Nevertheless, I’ve got one for y’all. Chafurdar - To wallow, or roll around in the mud.
OOH! So you know how I teach English lessons down here? Well, the Bishop came up with an idea that should’ve been a no-brainer but that I hadn’t thought of yet. VOICE LESSONS! Our Bishop is too awesome. Starting Sunday at 4pm, I will be teaching group voice lessons. This was proposed in Bishop’s Council Meeting yesterday, and I’m super excited. I already met a guy, Eduardo, (past investigator) that is super excited to get started. It’s something new, creative, and it brings people inside the chapel. Foolproof! I am so happy here.
I have a burning testimony of the Restoration of the Church of Christ. The work is progressing super quickly. I am loving life, and losing myself in the work. Of such a form, that I am absolutely awestruck that I’m making 7 months out here this week. It’s ridiculous how fast time is going. It’s already time to talk to y’all again via Skype! I’m not too worried like I was in Uruguaiana, because people here have computers and such. But next week, I should have details and schedules about our call. Super excited to be here and super excited to talk to y’all.
Até Mais,
Com amor,
Elder Mitchell Wassom

Ah, yes! Subway!


haha, hey! so my pants... Im not gonna lie, they could easily be made into Gaucho Bombachas. Everything is huge on me. Especially my suit. Which is why, (I'm glad you reminded me) Elder Favero is asking me to trade suits with him. I didn't tell him yes, because trading something so expensive is something I wanted to talk to you about, before making a rash decision. But both our suits are in good condition. His is too small on him, and mine is really big. I'm more or less a buck seventy. 78 kilograms, do the math. I will try his on to see how it fits, and think things over.

Some other random?? pics:
The sign says: "Here we meet, Hunters, Fishermen, and other liars"; "I was born to fish, but forced to work"