Week 92 - 18 June 2012 Hot Showers!

Hey Fam! I don’t have much time here today, but I’d like to inform you on some stuff that happened this week as I came here to my new area in Vila dos Cabanos. This  is a really cool place, full of jungle and lots of cool stuff. It is a super calm town, which I  love. While we were walking this week, I saw wild toucan for the first time on my mission! Haha  It was sweet. We also had the chance to go to the woods to teach some families there that haven’t heard of the gospel yet. 

In the trails here, you always see rivers and crazy fruits and mega sized ants and all that cool stuff hahah. But one thing I know for sure is that I’m superrrr tired. This week seemed like it took forever. I don’t know if it was just the trip over and the transfer, but I’m sure gonna rest a lot today to get my forces back. Also, one thing that was super cool is that here in the missionaries house, they have an electric shower. So I took the first hot shower in almost 2 years! I hate cold water and was dying to get home to take a hot shower again, haha so that’s one really good thing about being here.

The branch here is really strong and soon will be turned into 2 wards. The chapel is also the nicest chapel in the state probably. It’s three stories and super nice. I actually gave a talk yesterday to introduce myself to the branch haha.  I’m glad I’m in such a nice and cool area for the last part of my mission. I think I’ll like it here.

So that’s about it. I am short on time. But I’ll send lots of pictures today :)

Love you lots!

Elder Andrus

Week 91 - 11 June 2012 Going to Barcarena

Olá! A lot of things happened this week. My other companion decided to go home early. He went home last Friday. It actually took a lot of time away from proselyting cuz we had to go to the mission office twice through the week. Then we had to work out the problem about with whom I would stay until the end of the transfer... haha. But anyway, Elder V. is my new comp. Actually, we’ll only be together until tomorrow cuz we were both transferred! I was transferred to a place called Vila dos Cabanos in a city called Barcarena, and my new companion will be Elder W. - my first (and last) American companion! Haha. This will definitely be my last area and my last comp...wow  That’s weird to think about.  I’ve heard that Vila dos Cabanos is really cool. There are a lot of rivers and stuff, and we take a boat to get there! There is also the biggest chapel in this region. I've heard it's 3 stories high. I’m excited to see it.

So I don’t know if you guys heard, but the Manaus Temple was dedicated on Sunday! We were able to watch the dedication and the ceremonies and everything! It was a really cool experience. President Uchtdorf was delegated to go with Elder Cook. Also the Celebration was pretty fun to watch on Saturday night.

Well, there was a lot of stress this week, but hopefully this next week will be better. Also, a sister here lost my camera with my memory card yesterday, so I don’t have many pics to send. But I have a few from the goodbyes to the people we’re teaching here.

Love you guys!

Élder Andrus

Week 90 - 4 June 2012 New Companion

Olá! So I’ve got a bunch of cool new things that happened this week to tell you guys! On Tuesday, we had two baptisms. One baptism was the little boy I mentioned last week. The service was packed (which is very unusual), and it was a super spiritual experience. Even though it was suuuper hot due to the amount of people there, the spirit was still really strong. Everyone cried like crazy because G. was finally being baptized. Even he couldn't stop crying.  As for the other baptism, he is a really good man, but has trouble understanding things. In the end we all prayed about it, and he was baptized. It all went smoothly. But the coooolest thing happened with him at church on Sunday. He went to church for the first time with a nice pair of pants. After he received the Holy Ghost, he went up to the front to bear his testimony for fast and testimony meeting. He bore one of the most simple and strongest testimonies I've heard from a brand new convert. He said everything right and even ended his testimony perfectly. That probably doesn't sound like such a big deal, but man it was to me. It made me so happy inside and so glad to have continued teaching him.

Also, on Wednesday, we had a Talent Show in the ward. We’ve been planning it for about a month now, and it actually turned out super well! The members loved it, and the performances were sweet! Even Elder C. and I played the song “Wonderwall” on the guitar. Haha  I played the guitar, and we sang. We didn’t practice much, but it was fun playing guitar again for the first time in two years haha.

As for the situation here, Elder C’s parents came and picked him up on Saturday. I met them and everything too. Haha it was cool. And now my new comp is Elder L. until the end of the transfer (next week). He’s from Paraguay and only has one month on the mission. He doesn’t speak much Portuguese, so it’s pretty hard to understand him haha. But it’s nice cuz I get to learn Spanish with him too! He’s really cool, but he has difficulties. I’m trying to help him a lot, but I don’t know what more I can do. I’ll only be with him one more week, but I’ll try my best. He even calls me his "Dad" here on the mission since I’m  training him too haha.

Oh, and today we had a zone service project/activity at a member’s house today. There was a barbeque and everything. It was actually pretty fun haha. Well, my time is up. 

Love you guys!

Élder Andrus