Brazil Salvador South Mission
March 2017-March 2019

Monday, June 26, 2017

3 months

First off, sorry for no email last week, I forgot!!
but, this week was good. it was a little difficult because it was São João here. it's a huge party, so everybody was either traveling or partying. it was a hard week for teaching lessons. but it was good. 
this week, a drunk lady looked at me and said one day she wants to marry a gringo like me. it was interesting.
the people here are awesome. all the kids ask me to speak English or do magic. I just talk really fast in English and they're always so amazed. everybody here knows 3 phrases in English: ´´good night´´ ´´good morning´´ and ´´what is namey´´
okay, something a little more spiritual. this week, we taught one of our investigators the word of wisdom. she committed to living it and will stop drinking coffee. she is amazing, and she has a baptism date for the 15th of July. she is amazing. 
the people here are so awesome. we always get invited to eat cake or drink juice, or they just give us stuff. they're so nice, I absolutely love them.

so São João is a holiday to celebrate the death of John the Baptist. but nobody knows that haha. but pretty much there are a bunch of bonfires in the street, palm tree leaves everywhere, people lighting off fireworks 24/7. and not cool fireworks, just bombs, that blow up super loud. they have barbecues and parties. a lot of loud music. it's the mini version of carnival, which is around Christmas time I think. 
well, I don't have too much else, I hope you all have an amazing week!!!

Pictures of the hand from last week...he said that he burned his hand on some oil while cooking some pastels.  This week he said that he was healing well.





Trying his hand at frying pastels again!!  :)


Parker and Elder HiltonNascimento.


PIZZA!!!






Monday, June 12, 2017

First Baptism

This week was really good! I'm loving it here. it is amazing! okay, ill start with the baptism! Josemir. He is amazing, we are the third set of missionaries to teach him.he has always been solid, just never been able to go to church. he had to work Sunday mornings, so for 2 weeks, we went to our ward, ran to lunch really quick, then went and picked him up, and got a ride to another ward a little farther away in Federeçâo. he is awesome. he had a desire to be baptized, and he is so happy with his decision. this church truly is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. 
the hardest thing that happened was losing investigators.it'ss always sad when we take a name off our list! but I know were planting seeds, that hopefully one day something will change! 
something funny-yesterday, this drunk lady called us over to her and her family, and she was talking gibberish, and her family was behind her calling her crazy. but she was awesome haha. she told me she knows English, so I spoke english to her, and she looked confused, so I asked her if she understood and she said she doesnt know english. And the entire time, she was holding my hand really tight and wouldnt let me pull away hahah. but we gave them all pass along cards and were explaining our message. we have an appointment with her this week, that she may or may not rememebr about, but she promissed me a bunch of juivce and cake! haha so hopefully thatworks out! 

the best thing i ate, was yesterday. it was 2 types of lasagna. I don't know how to explçain it but it was divine. irmã dalva made it, she's in our ward, but she also cooks for the mission! so at zone conference or stuff at the mission president's house, she cooks! she is amazing, and a blessing to have in our ward! 
I pretty much like all the food here! this week we made pastels(kinda like an empanada) and we got a bunch of tapioca from this place elder high goes to a lot. the worker loves elder high! tapioca is one of my favorite things here, they put like beef, bacon, brisket and cheese, and other stuff in it. you can also put fruit in it. whatever you want. it's amazing. we make it in the apartment sometimes!
the food here is amazing. I love love love the food here! 
well, I don't have a whole lot else, I hope you all have a great week! 



You knew it wouldn't take Parker long to find a machete...LOL!!  He said that another elder bought them to cut coconuts and left them in the apartment.



FIRST BAPTISM!!!






Parker's district messing around...they sure have fun together!







Monday, June 5, 2017

Week 12

This week was great! we for sure have one baptism this Saturday!
so this week was another week of rain. when it doesn't rain its just hot. after 2 years, my legs will be pretty jacked, from walking all these hills. so this week, we bought coconuts and drank coconut water. it was pretty cool, and its super cheap. perks of living by the beach! we were able to teach a lot of lessons this week and meet a lot of cool people! we've got several solid investigators, and a bunch that need a lot of work. i'm loving it out here though! 
we had 2 barbeques this week! its called a churrasco! its soooo good! and i got some cool pictures of the favela from the top of this dude house! i love this area and the people here! nothing to exciting happened this week. 
i just wanna bear a quick testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is so true. i challenge you all to find out for yourself! have an amazing week! 

Parker's apartment



View from the patio


This is the view of the favela that Parker works in every day from a rooftop.  The tall buildings in the background are apartment buildings where the more wealthy people live.  I'm struck by the contrast.




Parker's typical breakfast, toast with margarine, and tapioca with coconut and sweetened condensed milk


From my letter:

Hey! sounds like a crazy week!! i cannot believe Aliza is a senior!! so crazy
It rained every day this week again, i think the rainy season lasts until august maybe, im not totally sure
the best thing that happened this week, was church. we went to two wards. our ward, and then we had to take Josemir, the man who is being baptized this saturday, to Federação because they have a later ward, and he works during the morning. it was just an amazing meeting, and he is so ready to be baptized. so to answer your next question, yes, we have 1 baptism for sure, and another one is still in the air. so possibly 2, but for sure one. 
The hardest thing that happened, was saturday. it was a rough day. We went to a members house for a churrasco (shoo-ha-sko) or a barbeque. they hadn't started cooking yet, so we were playing ping pong. we had to leave before they cooked the food, because we had to go to our lunch appointment in the other area. it was sooo hot. and it took us 50 minutes to get there. we were drenched in sweat. the meal was good though. so after, we went to the bank, got our money, and went home real quick to use the bathroom. i was sitting next to the fan, and i stood up to get water. i knocked the fan over, (it doest have the cover on the front) and i reached to do stop it from falling, and the blade smacked my thumb on the nail, and it cut it open under my nail. its all good now, its getting better, but its bruised and it hurts haha. but i cleaned it out with hydrogen peroxide, and i'm keeping it covered. it'll be okay, but its just an inconveinence. so after that, we went back to the churrasco, but it was over by then, but they had a party after, so we got to eat some snacks, and this thing called coxinha. its really good, its like meat and cheese, and its fried. it looks like a tear drop. and we played ping pong for a bit. we had an appointment, so we left, and started to work. the next 4 or 5 appointments fell through. it was just a really bad day. but it happens sometimes. we ended up teaching 4 lessons. which isn't bad, but it could've been better. 
something funny- i don't know if its really funny, but i call all of the kids here, my son. lie when i see them ill say ´´oi meu filho!´´ or `tchau meu filho´´ they all laugh, and the parents think its funny hahaha
yeah we found some new people! so the way we work is we always have an appointment scheduled with each of our investigators. and in the spots that are open, we try to fill it with references or street contacts. we just walk to appointments, and talk to people as we go along, filling our schedule for the next week. we never go tracting on a street or knock door to door. but we always have lots of people to teach. elder high was saying one week, me and Gomes had the highest number of lessons taught in a week in the mission for that week!