Feb 2, 09

(Mel)
This week was crazy full of things. Well, I had my first baptism...Valeria. It was beautiful. She was confirmed on Sunday too. Whew. That was so fast. I don’t know how people do it. Anyway...it was very cool and a real blessing to be a part of someone’s conversion process. She received several confirmations from prayers...it was very cool. I think I told you about Taciana before. She is a woman that we have been teaching the entire transfer. She was taught by Sis Bueno and Sis Jacobs last transfer. Anyway...she´s been in Sao Paulo for two weeks and she just got back and we went to visit her and she told us that she had a dream while she was there that she was baptized and now she wants to get baptized. We marked her for the 17th of February (I think that’s the day). Anyway...I was pretty excited about that because I have spent a lot of time with her and I really love her and want the best for her...which would be to get baptized. I´m glad she finally made that decision to be baptized. I don’t know if I´ll be here or not...cause transfers are on Wednesday. Can you believe I´ve already been in Recife for an entire transfer? CRAZY. My Portuguese hasdefinitely improved, but I still don’t understand everything. It still causes contention sometimes with my companion. She doesn’t have a lot of patience with me...or maybe she does and I´m just really hard to deal with. Ha-ha. I think she’s kind of trunky. She only has 2 transfers left and she is very concerned with herself right now and concerned with what is going to happen when she gets home. It’s very frustrating at times because I just want to bury myself in the work...and I end up getting sucked into doing things she wants to do like buying a dress for a wedding the same week she gets back...yeah. It’s frustrating when we make plans and then we don’t do them. You know me; I always have to know what’s going to happen before it happens. I´m not very spontaneous. I guess that’s something I need to learn here cause many times plans fall through or some things take longer than expected. Well, Friday...some members from the ward threw me a party. It was so nice of them. They made a cake and everything. It was beautiful. People here are so nice. Then Saturday...after the baptism when we returned to our house, Sis Garai and Sis Furriel (the sisters we live with) came running inside saying they had to use the bathroom when in reality they were getting eggs. They cracked an egg on my head and then sis Bueno threw flour all over me. Yeah, apparently this is a tradition for birthdays here. I don’t know what the deal is because who wants an egg on their head on their birthday? Yeah, no one. It was really gross. I don’t think I will tell anyone when my birthday is next year. Ha-ha. Man...I don’t know why anyone would want that on their birthday. They didn’t even make me a cake or anything! Just the egg on my head. They did tape balloons on my desk and bed though with messages written on them...I guess that was nice. Ha-ha
I haven’t received your packages yet but I haven’t been to the mission office in a while so it could be waiting there. We will check today. I sure hope it’s not lost. So...I am not asking for another package because I know it’s expensive...but if you send another package in the future...doesn’t matter how far in the future... I can’t feel ugly all the time so I´ve still be wearing makeup. So...eyeliner, mascara, that mineral powder stuff...that would be nice to have more of. Peanut butter is definitely good, they don’t sell it here...and any cake or brownie mixes. Oh, and I have a question...sis Garai told us that we can’t sing sacrament hymns in our house because their sacrament hymns. Is that a rule somewhere that I´ve never heard of? We sing every day before our comp. study and one day I wanted to sing Oh My Father. She said we aren’t allowed. What’s up with that? We can’t think about the atonement during a normal day or what? I thought that was really bizarre. The people here are definitely different than in the states. As a matter of fact...at the baptism...the only people that were there were us, the ward mission leader, Valeria and the family that she is friends with that introduced her to the church. Another lady that lives in the same apt complex came late, but no one else showed up. Not the bishop. Not the relief society president, no one. What the heck is that? I was very disappointed in that actually because I really think she needs more support from the ward. Hopefully that changes soon.

(Cindy)
Okay I'll try to get to all of these. Remember when I told you that you might have to teach the leaders. This may be one of those times. The retention in the church is very bad right now after baptisms. The GA's have even spoken about members’ fellowshipping new converts. This may be a time that you have a talk with the bishop about that. Do you want me to send you some church talks about that?
You might want to ask your mission pres about singing. It might be a mission thing. If not then maybe you could explain that in America it is okay to think and sing about the atonement outside of sacrament. It may just be a rule there. It’s like some bishops here won't let you sing non-hymn songs in a sacrament program. Just check the rules and try to be compassionate about their customs, because it just might be something they just don't do.
Also. I will send makeup. I was actually thinking about that the other day. Oh and peanut butter? I've been telling everyone that you don't like peanut butter what’s up with that?

(Mel)
Where did you get a silly idea like that? Me? Not like peanut butter? Heck yes I like peanut butter. Sure...at home I don’t really eat it a whole lot. Every once in a while... but when you don’t have it and you don’t have access to it...that’s another story. My bishop just got back from a trip to Bountiful and they bought peanut butter there and brought it here. We were at their house last week and I saw it sitting on the counter and I wanted some SO bad, but no...I didn’t ask and they didn’t offer. :(

(Cindy)
You have told me over and over that because you ate so many peanut butter sandwiches in elementary school that you didn't really like it. Whatever! :)

(Mel)
Um...I think you have gone crazy. I have never said that...nor have I said that I don’t like peanut butter. Aunt Molly sent me peanut butter in her Christmas package...I devoured it. I shared it with my district too. We ate it with the Oreos you sent. It was delicious.

(Cindy)
Oh whatever I think you have Alzheimer’s. :)

(Mel)
No way...you’re the one with Alzheimer’s. You make up stories about me all the time. I think you actually had some other kid that you didn’t tell me about. I´m pretty sure that’s it.
I miss yáll a lot. I talked to Sister Bueno about this because I miss you every day. I don’t know how to stop missing you. She said she doesn’t know how to help me because she doesn’t miss her family. I don’t know how she cannot miss her family...really. Well, hopefully my next comp will be more interested in working and then I can just forget about myself and not think about yáll so much and then I won’t miss you so much. I don’t know...It’s not like I´m thinking about you guys all the time, but I do think about you quite often and anytime something happens, good or bad, I always think about what I´m going to write to you about on P-day.

(Cindy)
I wrote you a letter that is probably sitting at the mission home but I wanted you to know that I sat here last week waiting for you to get on line. I was afraid to take a shower for fear of missing you. The Internet backed up or something. I didn't get any of your emails until after you had already signed off. I was so upset I cried.

(Mel)
Aww...I´m sorry. I don’t know what happened. The internet was really slow here, maybe that was it. I don’t know. I was pretty sad too....but I cry pretty much every p-day when I read your emails or write you. I don’t know why...it just happens. My comp probably thinks I´m unstable.
Oh...I wrote to Katie Ellis and I don’t know if she got it or not....but can you find out. Is she engaged yet or what’s going on with her? And I wrote to Ryan Bruce too. What’s going on with him? I haven’t heard anything.

(Cindy)
Well hopefully your next comp won't be so trunky. That might help. Oh I was telling the elders about your situation in the city. One of the elders told me that wherever is brother served (I can’t remember where) they had the same problem with the doormen. They ended up preaching to the doormen. I thought that was pretty cool

(Mel)
We leave pass-along cards with the doormen practically everywhere we go but none of them live in our area so it’s a little difficult that way. Eh well...life goes on. I wonder if I´ll get transferred or not. The second or third week I was here, in my interview, Pres Emerick said something about me getting an American comp next but he could have changed his mind by now. I don’t know. I kind of hope to get an American cause she can explain things to me that I don’t understand instead of me always being in the dark and not being able to explain myself.
I think we might be leaving soon but I wanted to tell you that I love you so much. I sent dad a package on the 13th and they said 15 days and then I sent you one on the 20th...but that one will take a month. I went the cheaper route...sorry. Nothing big, but hopefully you will like the stuff.

Melissa sent David a t-shirt. Apparently they had a king once. Well on this shirt is a picture of their king but they have turned him into a goat. Melissa said that it reminded her of the “Emperors New Groove”.
Also the shirt is a size L but apparently L’s in Brazil are more like M’s here so it looks like a muscle shirt on David. So…I guess I get a new T-shirt. HA!