Cool... Another week gone.
This week was a little weird. Pday was the transfer. All the missionaries were in the big chapel in Recife that has 4 floors. During the transfer the APs (Assistants to the President) call your name and tell you who your companion is, usually another Elder in the room. I had already knew I was going to train the night before because of the Zone Leaders, so when I was told I would train, I wasn't surprised. Everyone cheers and pats you on the back and cheers and everything moves on. All the trainers go to each others houses because for the time being, nobody has their real companion yet. I went to this Elder's house in my zone, stayed the night and went back to the same chapel in Recife in the afternoon. All the trainers were there and we all waited for the greenies (new Elders) to show up. They all walked in and everyone was already deciding in their heads who they wanted to train and who they didn't want to train... just by appearance. Haha, first impressions... it went just like a regular transfer. They call your name and tell you who you're training. I was like 3rd and got my kid, greeted him, and sat him with me. You can just tell that these elders are just nervous as heck. Everyone got their comps and started going to their areas. The bus is the first impression of the mission, not a very good one if you don't already live in a place where there are tons of packed buses driving around like maniacs, and a bunch of weird smells! Everyone just throws their trash in the rivers here so whenever you pass a river it smells like a dump. Goood times. I tried to do the best I could to make sure my Flho(trainee) wasn't feeling weird or uncomfortable, because I remember how that first night was for me. THE WORST ONE ONE OF MY LIFE. haha. This kid is from about the cleanest place in Brasil, Curitiba. Just culture shock a little bit for him, just like it was for me. Those first couple of days were just teaching him how to teach the first lesson and taking him around town to introduce him. Let me describe him for ya. As tall as me, super skinny, big eyes, and Harry Potter hair. haha. He told my he has adhd and it definitely shows. He speaks so fast it's not even funny, so he'll get through a lesson topic in like 30 seconds and the investigator is like... what? We just gotta slow him down a bit. He's kinda like the energizer bunny. He always wants to know what's going on. My main thing I'm having to teach him right now is just for him to calm down and take it easy and really just not worry so much about every little thing or else he will go crazy. I know because that's how I was. I worried about everythinggggg, just gotta take the mission one step at a time and just focus on your next thing. He always sites the handbook and has a ton of questions. It's normal. Felipe got a new companion too. He received another Borges (his other comps name was Borges.) This new Borges likes a clean house. When I got home from the trainer transfer the whole house was clean. Then this morning I woke up, went to talk to Felipe in his room, came back and he was cleaning my room for me. I didn't even have to pay him! I just walked away and let him do his thing. He's like one of those vacuum robots, just cleaning anything that isn't clean already. I like him.
Let's talk about the miracle baptism. We were talking to this 10 year old member and he said his family was all non members and they had already been to church. I was like, lets go! We went and talked to this family. It's like 4 separate houses with a bunch of families and a staircase in between the houses. Everyone just gathers on the stairs and talks. That's kind of how Brasil works, everyone just sits around and talks on curbs, in front of stores, stairs.. anywhere there's a place to sit. We just started talking to this family and taught them the first lesson. It was super easy and they were pretty excited. When you're teaching families you can usually tell which ones are the ones who are going to progress. Some are always more ready than others to receive the gospel. When we were talking, we found out that this one little girl had been going to church with the cousin for a long time and had always wanted to be baptized. We taught her and baptized her. Her mom was fine with it and came to the baptism and church the next day. She said she liked it so we'll go back this week and teach her.
SUNDAY...Sunday was the best day of my life, you know why. O dia das mães! (Mother's Day) I got to talk to my family on Skype and see them live for the first time in 6 months! It was highly anticipated this week and was well worth it. I spoke with both sets of Grandparents and my immediate family and my Aunt Janelle and her family. It was super special. I feel like I could have sat there and talked all day, but it's not really allowed. I don't know if i feel homesicker right now or just the same because I think as a missionary you're always at least a little home sick. Man...I talked to my family! I bought a webcam the day before just for Mother's Day. I liked sharing my experiences and hearing all about life in the big GA.
This week was weird with the transfer but we've managed to pull through it and get a baptism. That makes 7 weeks straight of baptizing! Wild. The Lord is truly blessing us for our work. Love you family. I loved talking to you and seeing all your faces and hearing your voices. Happy Mother's Day again! I'm sending the Nativity tomorrow, so hopefully it makes it in one piece. It'll be a late Mother's Day present.
Love ,
Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll
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