Dear Friends and Family,
This week was just too awesome. I always keep optimistic and look on the bright side of things (almost always, that is), and I write like that in my letters, nevertheless, deep down inside, I have just been hungry to baptize. Starving, actually. I have been wearing out my companions by just walking and knocking and talking and walking, and knocking that last door at 8:55, just out of hope that it would amount to something before heading to bed. I’ve been working hard. Well, this week, we saw some serious results. :) And I have a really good feeling that my hunger will be satisfied very soon.
I will start off by saying that I saw on our weekly "President’s Newsletter" last Monday that someone was baptized in Urlandia the Saturday before Mother’s Day! Whether that baptism was Veleda or Elder Peterson's investigator that he left behind, that is still unclear. But, let’s hope it was Veleda. And let’s hope her family is coming up soon. And hope that Elder Petersons investigator gets baptized too.
Remember those two couples I said had potential? Gabriel & Andressa and the couple from 7 de Setembro? Well, Gabriel & Andressa are starting to fizzle out a bit, but the couple from 7 de Setembro (We finally figured out their names - Lúcio and Cassiane - I am so awful with names) is progressing very well. We returned there on Thursday, and Cassiane said that she really liked the pamphlet of the Restoration and that she was showing it to her kids, Sophia and Gabrielle. They really like the pictures. So we decided that the next time we visit, we will bring the Gospel Art Book I bought from the Campinas Temple (just in case I needed it). It has proved very useful. So they show some real potential.
Also, our ward has begun a "Missionary Calendar" - something that is just awesome and I highly recommend for the 1st ward. It works like this - a Priesthood member (Priest or higher) signs up to go out with the missionaries on every day except family night. It works awesome - no one is overloaded, and everyone experiences what mission work is like, insighting them to be more engaged in the work. AND we have lessons with members, something we really needed.
So our Ward Mission Leader kicked the whole thing off on Wednesday, and we went to a referral he gave us. It was splits that day. I was with our Zone Leader, Elder Eduardo Sousa. The names of the referrals are Rose and André. They accepted us well, and we taught a really good lesson. Well, that got our Ward Mission Leader excited, and we got some solid new investigators. Rose and Andre are actually so solid. I am very convinced that they are part of what the scriptures call the "Elect of God." Goodness, that’s a good family. We returned there on Friday, just Elder Farias and me, and we had another great discussion with the whole family, including the previously-absent but extremely-elect daughter of theirs, Bruna. She goes to a Christian school, and is very God-centered. She was very excited to hear about the Young Women's program. We will mark a baptismal date with them this week.
So I lied that our Ward Mission Leader kicked off the Missionary Calendar. Our Young Men’s President, Fernando kicked it off on Tuesday. So we went to a part-member family, where Tainã, a rapaz (young man) is a member. Our discussion was fantastic! So spiritual! It was one of those lessons where you could feel the spirit so powerfully that you could just stop the lesson and say "What are you feeling right now?... Yeah that’s the spirit." I love doing that! Tainãs’ parents aren’t married, so there’s a little work to do there, but this was a fantastic start.
Oh! Real quick, President’s Newsletter launched more info that yet again there was a baptism in Urlandia, so I’m quite certain Veleda has been baptized.
Good news doesn’t stop there. We picked up an old investigator named José, also on Wednesday with Elder Eduardo Sousa. He’s like one of those people that liked to just hear us, but not really keep his commitments to do stuff. Well, we talked with him very directly about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. People who know me know I can be pretty blunt. We were pretty blunt with him, to the point where I was worried that he would get a little ticked off. But, that was the way the Spirit told us to talk to him, and he told us to come back on Friday. So we did. It was like a good-cop bad-cop routine, almost. Cool thing is: HE READ the passage in 3 Nephi we left him! Yay! Other cool thing - He plays trombone! I got to talk to him about my band experience, and we bonded quite well. He even let me play his Bb Tuba he bought, and yes, mom, I cleaned the mouthpiece. I want to pick my trumpet back up when I get home - please don’t sell it. We sold the marching one, that’s just fine, just don’t sell Delilah. So there’s some serious potential with Jose, too.
Gosh this week was awesome! The good news doesn’t stop there, people. We also found a good Mom-daughter combo, Celí and Delaine, that we worked with... just a ton of new opportunities opened up. This week, we had a total of 12 new investigators, making a solid 32 over the last 3 weeks. I am a happy, busy missionary.
And one more thing, on Mothers Day, I felt good that we should make a cake for Irmã Isabel. She always is just so awesome to us, and helps us out (and feeds us) a lot. When I had a super bad cold, she took us in, gave us some tea (Berry tea and Maracujá teas - not against the Word of Wisdom Black or Green tea) and gave us dinner. Just on the spot. So we decided to give her a little thank you and made her a coconut cake. Well, turns out, we just learned that she had been suffering from pretty bad depression, and we made her day :)
I love being a missionary. It’s like the spirit is always guiding you to do things. And you don’t even realize it until after you’ve done the thing He tells you to do. So do good things. (David A Bednar talks really well about this principle in his talk, the 10 mark note.) I am super happy, especially after this week. The members are excited to help, and we have a ton of people they can help us with. It’s just a good Missionary Situation.
Bah, I’m so happy!
Com Amor,
Elder Wassom
Monday, May 18, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
A Lenda da Galão Vermelho
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015
I would like to share with you the legend of the red chicken. This is a well-known fable by all of the missionaries belonging to the Brazil, Santa Maria Mission. There was a city boy on a business trip in a small town. He asked the hotel clerk if there was anything fun to do in the town. She told him that the only thing there was to do in town was to attend the cockfight downtown. So, the man thanked her, and attended the fight. He showed up very unexperienced, as he had never attended a fight before. But he could see there was a white chicken and a red chicken being prepped for battle. Before hitting the betting booth, he decided to ask an experienced native for advice. He said, "excuse me sir, which chicken is the better chicken?" The man responded "The better chicken is, without doubt, the white chicken." So the city boy obliged, and decided to bet on the white chicken. The fight starts, and in seconds, the white chicken is just thrashed by the red one. Disappointed, the city boy looks up at the booth to view his advisor collecting prize money. So he said, "Hey, what’s your problem, man? You told me to bet on the white chicken!" The man responded "I said no such thing. You asked me which was the better chicken, and I responded correctly. The white chicken is a fantastic chicken. Well-behaved, cute, and very friendly. The red chicken is a FEIND!" Presidente Parrela likes to use this parable to describe us. At times, we need to be the red chicken. That is a sentence that, as Brian Regan would describe, I can’t believe I had to organize and aim at another member of our species. Anyways, so instead of telling people perhaps what they want to hear, at times, we have to tell them what they need to hear. Yes, we do need to be friendly, and work to build the confidence of the members. But we also need to put effectiveness over friendship, and, instead of seeking to be everyone’s favorite, be Ezekiel's "voice of warning."
So that’s that. Happy Mother’s Day to every mom out there! I sure had a fantastic one! I got to talk to my momma over skype! It was awesome. It’s always hard to hang up at the end, but we sure had a good chat.
This week was much better than my first two here in Ijuí. We had 10 more new investigators. The trick is, to turn these investigators into investigators that progress. That trick is GETTING THEM TO CHURCH…not quite happening yet. Sad, but we'll keep working on that. We are working really hard. Walking a lot. In Ijuí there are a lot of hills. Big ones. I’m getting my workout in, believe me. Cool thing is. It seems like the last 45 minutes when we're just exhausted and want to go to bed - those are the 45 minutes that we're having the most success. For example, both of our couples that show a lot of baptismal potential (Gabriel&Andressa, and The Couple on 7 de Setembro) were found between 8 and 9 at night, clapping doors.
As some of our pictures show - I say some pictures because the computer is way slow today, I have more - We had a little expedition last p-day. First, Sergio (recent re-activated member - same one that let us use his computer on Mother’s Day) wanted to take us to "Ijui springs" I was excited to go, thinking that it would be a pretty place for pictures, so I brought my camera along. However, we stopped at a bottled water factory, one that we couldn’t go inside. Sergio then directed us to a spicket outside the factory, and proudly said, "This is where people come to get good fresh water!" and we cupped our hands and tried some. It was good water, but it wasn’t worth driving 10 miles outside the city. Haha.
I was less excited about the second half of the expedition.
However my lowered expectations were elevated again when we stopped at a really cool cultural village. Every October, there’s a festival where all 12 of the "cultures" that comprise Rio Grande do Sul are presented. For example, there’s a Germany house, where there’s German dancing and German food. And there’s a Latvia house, where there’s lots of Latvian food, Latvian Dancing, and so forth. It was abandoned when we showed up, but it was still really cool.
Something else really cool - Aline and Clayton invited us over for an American Food dinner. Presented by yours truly, haha :) They asked me "give us something that we've never had before. So I made Navaho tacos :) They were really good. I had to improvise, though, because I talked with Aline in the afternoon to make preparations, and I can’t just say "hey can you have a bowl of homemade bread dough ready to fry up in a few hours?" So we used French toast instead of scones. It did the trick.
Hey. So I love you guys a whole lot. I’m super happy. My knowledge and burning testimony of the realness of Jesus and His Church grows every day. It's crazy. Until next week, people.
Com Amor,
Elder Mitchell Wassom
A pair of shoes...gone!
I would like to share with you the legend of the red chicken. This is a well-known fable by all of the missionaries belonging to the Brazil, Santa Maria Mission. There was a city boy on a business trip in a small town. He asked the hotel clerk if there was anything fun to do in the town. She told him that the only thing there was to do in town was to attend the cockfight downtown. So, the man thanked her, and attended the fight. He showed up very unexperienced, as he had never attended a fight before. But he could see there was a white chicken and a red chicken being prepped for battle. Before hitting the betting booth, he decided to ask an experienced native for advice. He said, "excuse me sir, which chicken is the better chicken?" The man responded "The better chicken is, without doubt, the white chicken." So the city boy obliged, and decided to bet on the white chicken. The fight starts, and in seconds, the white chicken is just thrashed by the red one. Disappointed, the city boy looks up at the booth to view his advisor collecting prize money. So he said, "Hey, what’s your problem, man? You told me to bet on the white chicken!" The man responded "I said no such thing. You asked me which was the better chicken, and I responded correctly. The white chicken is a fantastic chicken. Well-behaved, cute, and very friendly. The red chicken is a FEIND!" Presidente Parrela likes to use this parable to describe us. At times, we need to be the red chicken. That is a sentence that, as Brian Regan would describe, I can’t believe I had to organize and aim at another member of our species. Anyways, so instead of telling people perhaps what they want to hear, at times, we have to tell them what they need to hear. Yes, we do need to be friendly, and work to build the confidence of the members. But we also need to put effectiveness over friendship, and, instead of seeking to be everyone’s favorite, be Ezekiel's "voice of warning."
So that’s that. Happy Mother’s Day to every mom out there! I sure had a fantastic one! I got to talk to my momma over skype! It was awesome. It’s always hard to hang up at the end, but we sure had a good chat.
This week was much better than my first two here in Ijuí. We had 10 more new investigators. The trick is, to turn these investigators into investigators that progress. That trick is GETTING THEM TO CHURCH…not quite happening yet. Sad, but we'll keep working on that. We are working really hard. Walking a lot. In Ijuí there are a lot of hills. Big ones. I’m getting my workout in, believe me. Cool thing is. It seems like the last 45 minutes when we're just exhausted and want to go to bed - those are the 45 minutes that we're having the most success. For example, both of our couples that show a lot of baptismal potential (Gabriel&Andressa, and The Couple on 7 de Setembro) were found between 8 and 9 at night, clapping doors.
As some of our pictures show - I say some pictures because the computer is way slow today, I have more - We had a little expedition last p-day. First, Sergio (recent re-activated member - same one that let us use his computer on Mother’s Day) wanted to take us to "Ijui springs" I was excited to go, thinking that it would be a pretty place for pictures, so I brought my camera along. However, we stopped at a bottled water factory, one that we couldn’t go inside. Sergio then directed us to a spicket outside the factory, and proudly said, "This is where people come to get good fresh water!" and we cupped our hands and tried some. It was good water, but it wasn’t worth driving 10 miles outside the city. Haha.
I was less excited about the second half of the expedition.
However my lowered expectations were elevated again when we stopped at a really cool cultural village. Every October, there’s a festival where all 12 of the "cultures" that comprise Rio Grande do Sul are presented. For example, there’s a Germany house, where there’s German dancing and German food. And there’s a Latvia house, where there’s lots of Latvian food, Latvian Dancing, and so forth. It was abandoned when we showed up, but it was still really cool.
Something else really cool - Aline and Clayton invited us over for an American Food dinner. Presented by yours truly, haha :) They asked me "give us something that we've never had before. So I made Navaho tacos :) They were really good. I had to improvise, though, because I talked with Aline in the afternoon to make preparations, and I can’t just say "hey can you have a bowl of homemade bread dough ready to fry up in a few hours?" So we used French toast instead of scones. It did the trick.
Hey. So I love you guys a whole lot. I’m super happy. My knowledge and burning testimony of the realness of Jesus and His Church grows every day. It's crazy. Until next week, people.
Com Amor,
Elder Mitchell Wassom
A pair of shoes...gone!
Monday, May 4, 2015
Can’t wait till Sunday!
SO as you can imagine, I can’t wait till Sunday to skype with my family. Unfortunately, there are still no baptisms from Urlandia. I’m starting to worry that perhaps Veledas desire to be baptized left with us missionaries. I got the Les Mis playbill. To be honest, it was greatly appreciated, but it did tug at my heartstrings that I wasn’t there. It did, however, provide me with some info in reading the cast bios. Such as – Coop’s heading to UNT, Emmalee’s heading to OBU, and other cool stuff like that. I AM going to be skyping in at 7 Brasil time. Sergio, a recent - reactivated member is letting us use his house. Shout out to Blake, congrats, Bro. Keep on troddin through the PCAT study. Fun things that happened this week: I had COBBLER for the first time in a while. I gave the recipe to Aline, and Aline surprised us with the finished product. I love IJUI :) SO we did a service project at a farm lá (out) in the outskirts of town. It went great. The recipients are the parents of Geoberto and Suni, two recently activated youth. The parents always despised the church and especially the missionaries, but with our offer to help , we were happily accepted and they opened up to us. It was super cool. As with super cool stuff, naturally, I forgot to bring my camera. We'll have to go back to take pictures of the pet peacocks! I also learned that when you whistle at a turkey, it gobbles at you. They also gave us fresh tangerines from the garden and homemade bolachas (cookies)!
SO voice lessons. On this one, I will quote the wonderful Ms. Logan. "Set your standards really low, and you’ll never disappoint yourself." But, I think maybe it went well, maybe they had fun, and maybe there’ll be investigators next time. Bishop came in and sort of saved the lesson. Until he walked in, no one opened up, and they were all really timid. Timid-ness is not a good thing in the performing arts. But bishop pretty much said "Alright, this is how a MAN does it." and he sung, nothing holding back. He is actually pretty good. I was impressed. From then on, people opened up more.
On Tuesday, we had our Zone Conference in our neighbor city, Cruz Alta. It went well, but I must admit, our ZL training was pretty awful. But I just have to trust that that was a one-time deal, and I will have to continue trusting our leaders.
SO here in Rio Grande do Sul, there’s two soccer teams: Grêmio and Inter. It’s like BYU and Utah. Big rivalry, Well, they played yesterday, and Inter won. The only way I know that, is as we were walking, a bunch of bottle rockets (the loud ones) went off, then people started driving around with Inter banners and honking like crazy. Despite the distractions, we did have a really good lesson with Michel and Teresinha. Michel (pronounced like Michelle, only he’s a guy. I think it’s supposed to be the Portuguese equivalent of MITCHELL, but I never admit that to anyone, because I refuse to be known as Michelle) was a contact that we made in the street, and we returned there yesterday. The father seemed really unenthused that we were there. However, Michel and his mom, Teresinha listened attentively as we talked about the restoration of the gospel. At the end, she asked if we could "do a prayer" for her to get over her cold. SO we then asked if we could do a Priesthood blessing, and she obliged. So that was neat.
Com Amor,
Elder Mitchell Wassom
Here’s some pics. Among them include the recipes, voice lessons, and a selfie with our bishop that looks like young Grandpa Madsen. Tell me if you agree.
SO voice lessons. On this one, I will quote the wonderful Ms. Logan. "Set your standards really low, and you’ll never disappoint yourself." But, I think maybe it went well, maybe they had fun, and maybe there’ll be investigators next time. Bishop came in and sort of saved the lesson. Until he walked in, no one opened up, and they were all really timid. Timid-ness is not a good thing in the performing arts. But bishop pretty much said "Alright, this is how a MAN does it." and he sung, nothing holding back. He is actually pretty good. I was impressed. From then on, people opened up more.
On Tuesday, we had our Zone Conference in our neighbor city, Cruz Alta. It went well, but I must admit, our ZL training was pretty awful. But I just have to trust that that was a one-time deal, and I will have to continue trusting our leaders.
SO here in Rio Grande do Sul, there’s two soccer teams: Grêmio and Inter. It’s like BYU and Utah. Big rivalry, Well, they played yesterday, and Inter won. The only way I know that, is as we were walking, a bunch of bottle rockets (the loud ones) went off, then people started driving around with Inter banners and honking like crazy. Despite the distractions, we did have a really good lesson with Michel and Teresinha. Michel (pronounced like Michelle, only he’s a guy. I think it’s supposed to be the Portuguese equivalent of MITCHELL, but I never admit that to anyone, because I refuse to be known as Michelle) was a contact that we made in the street, and we returned there yesterday. The father seemed really unenthused that we were there. However, Michel and his mom, Teresinha listened attentively as we talked about the restoration of the gospel. At the end, she asked if we could "do a prayer" for her to get over her cold. SO we then asked if we could do a Priesthood blessing, and she obliged. So that was neat.
Com Amor,
Elder Mitchell Wassom
Here’s some pics. Among them include the recipes, voice lessons, and a selfie with our bishop that looks like young Grandpa Madsen. Tell me if you agree.
Monday, April 27, 2015
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.
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Some other random?? pics:
The sign says: "Here we meet, Hunters, Fishermen, and other liars"; "I was born to fish, but forced to work"
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.
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Some other random?? pics:
The sign says: "Here we meet, Hunters, Fishermen, and other liars"; "I was born to fish, but forced to work"
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Surprise!
April 20, 2015
So here’s a surprise that ought to break the boring streak of my letters. You know how I said I was pretty certain I would be killing off Elder Soares da Silva? Surprise! We're both getting transferred! With problems arising in American Visas again (gotta love government), the mission is finding itself more and more short-staffed on missionaries. The world, in and of itself is always short-staffed. There’s always a need for more worthy and prepared missionaries. Nevertheless, in Brasil, it’s gettin scarce. Therefore, Presidente doesn’t have more of a choice than to close down the least productive spots in the mission. And, Urlândia B is one of those spots. So. Our already-enormous area is being added on to the already-enormous Urlândia A, and being cared for by Elder Ferreira Santos and Elder Chain (Elder Jordan Peterson is also getting transferred). I don’t know Elder Chain, but Elder Ferreira Santos has been made very well aware of the people to care for and how to care for them. I felt like a Dad, sending my daughter on her first date. "Care for these people with your life, they’re good people. You have your work cut out for you. Please visit them. Teach them. Love them. Invite them..." and so on.
Veleda is planned for this Saturday, and Júlia for the 9th of May. Other investigators show some serious potential as well. But personally, I had no baptisms here. As much of a bummer as this can be to a missionary, I remember Elder Neil L. Anderson's words: "You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed." Elder Soares da Silva and I put in some really good work here 100% of the time. I know it won’t amount to nothing. In fact, that’s a promise in Preach My Gospel. So, it’s my time to leave to let the Lord work through other elders here.
But as to where am I headed, I am headed to Ijuí, Distrito Centro. Finally a city that’s easy to spell. It was a drag spelling out Urlândia, and especially Uruguaiana. But, in respect to this: I will actually be companions with Elder Farias! He's a great guy, and probably the easiest to mess around with. So I’ll have a good time with him. Oddly enough, he was in my first district out in the field. He was in Porto B in Uruguaiana, so Elder Molina and I worked a lot with him and Elder Vernon. I have already sent photos including him.
As for my Easter package, I will check one final time in the mail after sending this letter. I hope it’s there. If not, well, that’s sad. But don’t worry about it. Missionary Life.
Dad, you wrote about the ward fast that the First Ward did, and explained how it went. Believe it or not, that was at least 7 months ago, because I was there. I was a co-participant, with my family. Can you believe that? Doesn’t seem like that long ago. But, I am in fact approaching 7 months out here.
Dad. This is your occasional reminder. Study up your Portuguese.
Funny thing about Brazillians. As a general rule, they do not have good microphone etiquette. In Sacrament Meeting, they like to stick their face up 1/2-inch away from the mic, and talk loudly. And the bishopric doesn’t even turn the mic down. It just is a loud talk. Sad day for a jazzer. Mic check 12, ABCDEFG, 6 down, please. Boyd Jazz 2013 should get that reference.
I will be taking an early bus tomorrow at 7 am headed northward to Ijuí, with Elder Jordan Peterson, who will, oddly enough, continue being my Lider de Distrito. I know practically nothing about Ijuí, so I will have to inform you next week. I just know they have a hot springs, but that is useless info to a missionary.
But until then, I love you all.
Com Amor,
Elder Wassom
Visiting my friends in Urlandia before being transferred to Ijui
So here’s a surprise that ought to break the boring streak of my letters. You know how I said I was pretty certain I would be killing off Elder Soares da Silva? Surprise! We're both getting transferred! With problems arising in American Visas again (gotta love government), the mission is finding itself more and more short-staffed on missionaries. The world, in and of itself is always short-staffed. There’s always a need for more worthy and prepared missionaries. Nevertheless, in Brasil, it’s gettin scarce. Therefore, Presidente doesn’t have more of a choice than to close down the least productive spots in the mission. And, Urlândia B is one of those spots. So. Our already-enormous area is being added on to the already-enormous Urlândia A, and being cared for by Elder Ferreira Santos and Elder Chain (Elder Jordan Peterson is also getting transferred). I don’t know Elder Chain, but Elder Ferreira Santos has been made very well aware of the people to care for and how to care for them. I felt like a Dad, sending my daughter on her first date. "Care for these people with your life, they’re good people. You have your work cut out for you. Please visit them. Teach them. Love them. Invite them..." and so on.
Veleda is planned for this Saturday, and Júlia for the 9th of May. Other investigators show some serious potential as well. But personally, I had no baptisms here. As much of a bummer as this can be to a missionary, I remember Elder Neil L. Anderson's words: "You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed." Elder Soares da Silva and I put in some really good work here 100% of the time. I know it won’t amount to nothing. In fact, that’s a promise in Preach My Gospel. So, it’s my time to leave to let the Lord work through other elders here.
But as to where am I headed, I am headed to Ijuí, Distrito Centro. Finally a city that’s easy to spell. It was a drag spelling out Urlândia, and especially Uruguaiana. But, in respect to this: I will actually be companions with Elder Farias! He's a great guy, and probably the easiest to mess around with. So I’ll have a good time with him. Oddly enough, he was in my first district out in the field. He was in Porto B in Uruguaiana, so Elder Molina and I worked a lot with him and Elder Vernon. I have already sent photos including him.
As for my Easter package, I will check one final time in the mail after sending this letter. I hope it’s there. If not, well, that’s sad. But don’t worry about it. Missionary Life.
Dad, you wrote about the ward fast that the First Ward did, and explained how it went. Believe it or not, that was at least 7 months ago, because I was there. I was a co-participant, with my family. Can you believe that? Doesn’t seem like that long ago. But, I am in fact approaching 7 months out here.
Dad. This is your occasional reminder. Study up your Portuguese.
Funny thing about Brazillians. As a general rule, they do not have good microphone etiquette. In Sacrament Meeting, they like to stick their face up 1/2-inch away from the mic, and talk loudly. And the bishopric doesn’t even turn the mic down. It just is a loud talk. Sad day for a jazzer. Mic check 12, ABCDEFG, 6 down, please. Boyd Jazz 2013 should get that reference.
I will be taking an early bus tomorrow at 7 am headed northward to Ijuí, with Elder Jordan Peterson, who will, oddly enough, continue being my Lider de Distrito. I know practically nothing about Ijuí, so I will have to inform you next week. I just know they have a hot springs, but that is useless info to a missionary.
But until then, I love you all.
Com Amor,
Elder Wassom
Visiting my friends in Urlandia before being transferred to Ijui
Monday, April 13, 2015
Another Good Week
SO there's me and Elder Peirce
A pic of me, Elder Smith, and Elder Lang (from the ctm) (Elder Lang is actually SMILING, haha! theyre both doing really well out here.)
A pic of a family night with Veleda, her daughter (on the couch, not smiling - don't know why they don't like to smile for photos, they had a great time), ELaine, (recent re-activated YW - back left) and Fabiano/Fabiane e fam (everyone else)
Me and Elder Peterson eating ice cream - I really miss Blue Bell
I am horrible at creative email titles.
Dear Family and Friends,
As I am sure you all know, especially those from my choir, I like to teach and talk in similes, metaphors, parables and other comparisons. So I will start this letter off right, E. Wassom style -
The mission is like a Jolly Rancher. It’s hard, but really good and I like it.
On Tuesday, we had our multi-zone conference in Centro-Santa Maria. It was really good, and Presidente Parrella talked a lot on what everyone needs to focus more on - and that is NEW investigators. He described that the more people that we have in our teaching pool, naturally, the more lessons we will have, the more investigators at Sacrament Meeting, the more baptismal dates marked + maintained, and, consequently, more baptisms. That is one of the ABCs of missionary happiness. Almoços, Batismos, e Cartas (lunches, baptisms, and letters). So that was a confirming feeling, knowing that Elder Soares da Silva and I have been focusing on the correct things to get this (Wonderful) Urlandia missionarily jump-started.
Oh, Conner wanted to know more about Elder Soares da Silva. He’s cool, I like working with him, just really really quiet, and we don’t talk as often. He’s from Sao Paulo, (all 3 of my companions in the field are from Sao Paulo), in a small town close to Campinas. He loves the scriptures, and he wants to be an architect. He has 22+1/2 months out on the mission, and it looks like I will be "killing" him, or, I will be his companion when he goes home at the end of next transfer.
Elder Peirce and I completely killed it up there, singing Go forth with faith. It was so good. But unfortunately, it was not recorded. I will try to record it tomorrow in district meeting.
Also, Presidente Parrella shared with us a funny story. Here in Brasil, there is a law that if you don’t have the money to pay the registry to get married, you can write up an exemption and get married for free. Apparently, some registry (I think that’s the word - its cartório in portuguese) personnel were giving the missionaries a hard time about this one time. So the missionaries called up Presidente. To describe Presidente, he is much like Ms. Logan. (just way less energetic) He is a great wonderful person, and fun to be around. But when he’s angry, he is to be FEARED. He is also a lawyer. So they put him on the line with the registry. The discussion was more or less as thus: (English?)
"Hello?"
"Hi, sir. So these guys have..."
"I’m sorry, ma’am. They’re not 'guys', they’re representatives of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And these representatives have called saying that there is some confusion in the registry’s department about law 600-BB which states that a couple may plea exempt from payment of a marriage if they have not the means, is this the case?"
"Well, see, sir, there is no way for the department to know..."
"know WHAT, I might ask?"
"...if the household is capable of exemption."
"And is there a law stating that you must know?"
"...um..."
"Because there IS a law stating that you MUST give exemption to those who have not the means. I will be courteous. If you must know, and there is no law stating that you must, but if you must know, you have 15 minutes to find a way to know before I call up my friend, the local judge in Porto Alegre."
"..."
"Your time started 15 seconds ago"
"... ...that will not be necessary, sir. I'll get the papers all set to go for these guys, OK?"
"They’re not "guys", They’re Representatives of Jesus Christ, ma’am. And I will expect they are treated as such."
"Yes sir. Right away, sir. Sorry, sir. Everything will be taken care of."
"Thank you. Have a great day."
Haha I love that story. Also, there was something that sparked my interest. We were informed that we will have a new couple missionary in our Mission - the Spendloves. I’m not sure if these are the same Spendloves as the Spendloves that we know, but I thought I’d let you know in case you have means to find out if they are in fact.
I have continued my cooking endeavors, and have learned not to make carrot crepes in a non-non-stick pan. That resulted in me getting frustrated, and using the pan as an atlatl (catapult) to launch the batter as far as it could fly over our fence.
Something funny about Brasil – it’s cool have t-shirts written in English, but 60 percent of the time its horrible grammar. Makes me wonder about our t-shirts in French and stuff.
And an update on the work - sorry I’m out of time, but I will just say it’s going way better. We re-marked with Veleda for the 25th, and started working with her daughter. Captain Alexandre is going really well, we can tell he has a huge potential. The members are getting more involved, passing a few referrals. AND, we found a "golden" whole family in Vila Urlandia, Edivã, Geoda, and their kids, Edimilson, Edieuson, and Jeiza.
I love this work, and I love you all.
Com Amor,
Elder Wassom
A pic of me, Elder Smith, and Elder Lang (from the ctm) (Elder Lang is actually SMILING, haha! theyre both doing really well out here.)
A pic of a family night with Veleda, her daughter (on the couch, not smiling - don't know why they don't like to smile for photos, they had a great time), ELaine, (recent re-activated YW - back left) and Fabiano/Fabiane e fam (everyone else)
Me and Elder Peterson eating ice cream - I really miss Blue Bell
I am horrible at creative email titles.
Dear Family and Friends,
As I am sure you all know, especially those from my choir, I like to teach and talk in similes, metaphors, parables and other comparisons. So I will start this letter off right, E. Wassom style -
The mission is like a Jolly Rancher. It’s hard, but really good and I like it.
On Tuesday, we had our multi-zone conference in Centro-Santa Maria. It was really good, and Presidente Parrella talked a lot on what everyone needs to focus more on - and that is NEW investigators. He described that the more people that we have in our teaching pool, naturally, the more lessons we will have, the more investigators at Sacrament Meeting, the more baptismal dates marked + maintained, and, consequently, more baptisms. That is one of the ABCs of missionary happiness. Almoços, Batismos, e Cartas (lunches, baptisms, and letters). So that was a confirming feeling, knowing that Elder Soares da Silva and I have been focusing on the correct things to get this (Wonderful) Urlandia missionarily jump-started.
Oh, Conner wanted to know more about Elder Soares da Silva. He’s cool, I like working with him, just really really quiet, and we don’t talk as often. He’s from Sao Paulo, (all 3 of my companions in the field are from Sao Paulo), in a small town close to Campinas. He loves the scriptures, and he wants to be an architect. He has 22+1/2 months out on the mission, and it looks like I will be "killing" him, or, I will be his companion when he goes home at the end of next transfer.
Elder Peirce and I completely killed it up there, singing Go forth with faith. It was so good. But unfortunately, it was not recorded. I will try to record it tomorrow in district meeting.
Also, Presidente Parrella shared with us a funny story. Here in Brasil, there is a law that if you don’t have the money to pay the registry to get married, you can write up an exemption and get married for free. Apparently, some registry (I think that’s the word - its cartório in portuguese) personnel were giving the missionaries a hard time about this one time. So the missionaries called up Presidente. To describe Presidente, he is much like Ms. Logan. (just way less energetic) He is a great wonderful person, and fun to be around. But when he’s angry, he is to be FEARED. He is also a lawyer. So they put him on the line with the registry. The discussion was more or less as thus: (English?)
"Hello?"
"Hi, sir. So these guys have..."
"I’m sorry, ma’am. They’re not 'guys', they’re representatives of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And these representatives have called saying that there is some confusion in the registry’s department about law 600-BB which states that a couple may plea exempt from payment of a marriage if they have not the means, is this the case?"
"Well, see, sir, there is no way for the department to know..."
"know WHAT, I might ask?"
"...if the household is capable of exemption."
"And is there a law stating that you must know?"
"...um..."
"Because there IS a law stating that you MUST give exemption to those who have not the means. I will be courteous. If you must know, and there is no law stating that you must, but if you must know, you have 15 minutes to find a way to know before I call up my friend, the local judge in Porto Alegre."
"..."
"Your time started 15 seconds ago"
"... ...that will not be necessary, sir. I'll get the papers all set to go for these guys, OK?"
"They’re not "guys", They’re Representatives of Jesus Christ, ma’am. And I will expect they are treated as such."
"Yes sir. Right away, sir. Sorry, sir. Everything will be taken care of."
"Thank you. Have a great day."
Haha I love that story. Also, there was something that sparked my interest. We were informed that we will have a new couple missionary in our Mission - the Spendloves. I’m not sure if these are the same Spendloves as the Spendloves that we know, but I thought I’d let you know in case you have means to find out if they are in fact.
I have continued my cooking endeavors, and have learned not to make carrot crepes in a non-non-stick pan. That resulted in me getting frustrated, and using the pan as an atlatl (catapult) to launch the batter as far as it could fly over our fence.
Something funny about Brasil – it’s cool have t-shirts written in English, but 60 percent of the time its horrible grammar. Makes me wonder about our t-shirts in French and stuff.
And an update on the work - sorry I’m out of time, but I will just say it’s going way better. We re-marked with Veleda for the 25th, and started working with her daughter. Captain Alexandre is going really well, we can tell he has a huge potential. The members are getting more involved, passing a few referrals. AND, we found a "golden" whole family in Vila Urlandia, Edivã, Geoda, and their kids, Edimilson, Edieuson, and Jeiza.
I love this work, and I love you all.
Com Amor,
Elder Wassom
Monday, April 6, 2015
Lap 2.
On Wednesday, I finished lap 1 of the great missionary race here in Brasil. Dad keeps asking if I burnt a tie as part of the missionary rituals. The answer is no. Those who know me even a little bit should know that I wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of a tie burning in front of my eyes, let alone one of mine. Nevertheless, as a way to better commemorate my part of this 'ritual', I decided to give a tie away to someone too poor to have one. That seemed far more appropriate :)
First off, YAY! Rob’s doing better! IM SO HAPPY! I’ve been praying really hard for him.
So. This week was a lot better. Things got worked out really well with Veleda. Her baptism is scheduled for Saturday, but there is a high chance that it will be moved to next Saturday for cause of preparedness. Nevertheless, we are happy that all the issues got worked out :) She seemed to really enjoy conference; I’m anxious to see everything she thinks now.
We also found some good investigators. Their names are Alexandre, Junior, and Iracy. All of them have FAMILIES! :) We first encountered Junior while clappin doors in Tomazette. He greeted us very warmly. He has a wife Graziane, and two twin daughters Ana and Maria at age 7. They seem very promising. Alexandre was a man we found in Antônio Reis, again, clappin doors. Actually, his gate has one of the old fashioned cool little brass bells to ring instead of clapping. That was a big influence in my decision to try that door, haha. The bell was too cool to resist. We tried a few times, but he was always busy. Well, he finally let us in, and again, accepted us warmly. We started, you know, asking about his job, family, religious background and what not. He said he was in the Police/Military (not sure if I told you, but the police IS the military here). So when we were teaching him about the importance of Priesthood Authority, we decided to compare it to authority in the Military. My companion asked, "So what’s your rank in the military?" He said "Captain." We paused for a bit. Not sure how it works in USA, but here, being a captain pretty much means he’s in charge of everyone here in Santa Maria and its surrounding towns. So yeah, we're teaching the Military captain right now. Also, we found Iracy and her daughters. They’re really cool. Her daughters are of the type that, if converted, could be really good tools in activating the young men in the ward. This is good.
Also, Call out to the YSA choir at General Conference. They were really good. This one was impressive. Other things about conference - it was INCREDIBLE! Loved it! L Tom Perry, Jeffery R Holland, Deiter F Uchtdorf, and the french guy were my favorites. Ba, tchê. Foi muito bom, mesmo. I also got to sit by Elders Lang and Smith from the CTM. They’re cool cats. I will run into them and take a pic (with matching ties) with them tomorrow at the multi-zone conference.
Yes, I am singing in that. I am singing with Elder Pierce. Hes... really good. 1st chair all-state tenor 1 of North Carolina, and he spent a year in BYUs opera program before coming here to Brazil. In the mission Santa Maria, there were the beloved "three tenors" that Presidente Parrella named. Him, Me (I’m more-so tenor now than I was, but still not a tenor) (but I’ll take it) and a guy that went home. So now the two tenors are together, in the SAME DISTRICT. District meetings are really fun for cause of this. I will film if I can, mom.
Last thing real quick. So I sent some fotos of some food. I always cooked well. I have never cooked ramen on my mission. I think Sister Parrella would kill me if I did. Nevertheless, I was cleaning our cupboard, and I found a little folder full of recipes from Sister Parrella herself. This sent me on a cooking-mania here in Santa Maria. They’re really good. All really healthy. Most really simple. Among the ones I’ve tried includes: Collard green potato soup (as seen in foto),
Sautéed bananas (awesome!) Chayote omelet (Chayote joins cauliflower in the "completely useless vegetable" club, but this recipe taught me the trick to really good fluffy omelets like the restaurants). I will be making a black bean soup today. I’m excited; I always liked cooking. There’s only one that I wasn’t a huge fan of, and that’s the microwavable cake. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good, you know?
But, I’m happy. It was a good week. And I moved up in my missionary rank from "Novinho" to "novo." At a year, I become "expirienciado" and at 18 months, I’m "vovô."
Love you guys. tty next week.
Com Amor,
Elder Wassom.
So the blurry one is me and my COMPANION so yall can identify him. A few others include me and the city, and I am learning to cook better. The soup was good. The... uhm... microwavable oatmeal cake-in-a-mug was about as good as it looks.
First off, YAY! Rob’s doing better! IM SO HAPPY! I’ve been praying really hard for him.
So. This week was a lot better. Things got worked out really well with Veleda. Her baptism is scheduled for Saturday, but there is a high chance that it will be moved to next Saturday for cause of preparedness. Nevertheless, we are happy that all the issues got worked out :) She seemed to really enjoy conference; I’m anxious to see everything she thinks now.
We also found some good investigators. Their names are Alexandre, Junior, and Iracy. All of them have FAMILIES! :) We first encountered Junior while clappin doors in Tomazette. He greeted us very warmly. He has a wife Graziane, and two twin daughters Ana and Maria at age 7. They seem very promising. Alexandre was a man we found in Antônio Reis, again, clappin doors. Actually, his gate has one of the old fashioned cool little brass bells to ring instead of clapping. That was a big influence in my decision to try that door, haha. The bell was too cool to resist. We tried a few times, but he was always busy. Well, he finally let us in, and again, accepted us warmly. We started, you know, asking about his job, family, religious background and what not. He said he was in the Police/Military (not sure if I told you, but the police IS the military here). So when we were teaching him about the importance of Priesthood Authority, we decided to compare it to authority in the Military. My companion asked, "So what’s your rank in the military?" He said "Captain." We paused for a bit. Not sure how it works in USA, but here, being a captain pretty much means he’s in charge of everyone here in Santa Maria and its surrounding towns. So yeah, we're teaching the Military captain right now. Also, we found Iracy and her daughters. They’re really cool. Her daughters are of the type that, if converted, could be really good tools in activating the young men in the ward. This is good.
Also, Call out to the YSA choir at General Conference. They were really good. This one was impressive. Other things about conference - it was INCREDIBLE! Loved it! L Tom Perry, Jeffery R Holland, Deiter F Uchtdorf, and the french guy were my favorites. Ba, tchê. Foi muito bom, mesmo. I also got to sit by Elders Lang and Smith from the CTM. They’re cool cats. I will run into them and take a pic (with matching ties) with them tomorrow at the multi-zone conference.
Yes, I am singing in that. I am singing with Elder Pierce. Hes... really good. 1st chair all-state tenor 1 of North Carolina, and he spent a year in BYUs opera program before coming here to Brazil. In the mission Santa Maria, there were the beloved "three tenors" that Presidente Parrella named. Him, Me (I’m more-so tenor now than I was, but still not a tenor) (but I’ll take it) and a guy that went home. So now the two tenors are together, in the SAME DISTRICT. District meetings are really fun for cause of this. I will film if I can, mom.
Last thing real quick. So I sent some fotos of some food. I always cooked well. I have never cooked ramen on my mission. I think Sister Parrella would kill me if I did. Nevertheless, I was cleaning our cupboard, and I found a little folder full of recipes from Sister Parrella herself. This sent me on a cooking-mania here in Santa Maria. They’re really good. All really healthy. Most really simple. Among the ones I’ve tried includes: Collard green potato soup (as seen in foto),
Sautéed bananas (awesome!) Chayote omelet (Chayote joins cauliflower in the "completely useless vegetable" club, but this recipe taught me the trick to really good fluffy omelets like the restaurants). I will be making a black bean soup today. I’m excited; I always liked cooking. There’s only one that I wasn’t a huge fan of, and that’s the microwavable cake. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good, you know?
But, I’m happy. It was a good week. And I moved up in my missionary rank from "Novinho" to "novo." At a year, I become "expirienciado" and at 18 months, I’m "vovô."
Love you guys. tty next week.
Com Amor,
Elder Wassom.
So the blurry one is me and my COMPANION so yall can identify him. A few others include me and the city, and I am learning to cook better. The soup was good. The... uhm... microwavable oatmeal cake-in-a-mug was about as good as it looks.
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