6-17-08

Elder Jason Allred
Brazil São Paulo South Mission
Rua Dr Luiz da Rocha Miranda, 159
8 Andar, Parque Jabaquara
04344-010 - São Paulo - SP
Brazil

Subject: Snow, nope!

We´ll, I was older than Elder Risenmay for just over a week before he had his 20th birthday as well. Now we´re both old. We´re halfway up the hill.
We have transfers a week from today, and then the new president will get here the weekend after. A week or so ago when we had our interviews, President gave us each a blessing. President Teixeira gave us all a goodbye hug last week at the end of zone conference. During conference, he let us do a question and answer session, in which he would answer the questions not as President Teixeira, but as Elder Teixeira the General Authority. I didn´t get a question in because of course everyone had a question that they wanted to ask, so it was kind of a rush to get your hand up. Some of the questions were really good, and I learned quite a bit.

Too bad President Teixeira got demoted to "Elder" Teixeira. Maybe to make him feel better, Sister Teixeira will let him be senior companion for a little bit.

Looks like winter is just about to set in here in São Paulo. It´s been getting a little cold - about 15C (59F). I´ve gotten too used to the heat. I don´t think I´ll survive when I have to come back to Rexburg Weather. (If you wanted to send a sweater, I wouldn´t be opposed). Everyone here thinks that my companion and I are crazing walking around without jackets. In Rexburg, 60F is definately still t-shirt weather. The Brazilians act as if it´s the end of the world and bundle up in probably every article of clothing they own.
It´s amazing. People here seem to be magic. We leave the house on a perfectly clear, sunny day. On the street, we pass people who are likewise dressed for a sunny day. Then out of nowhere, it´ll start to rain, and then pour. These same people magically produce an umbrella that they didn´t have earlier. If the rain stops, we walk down the road, and these same people are no longer dragging around any umbrella (I always knew that womens´ purses could hold more than you think). They can also grow more clothing on demand, because if it turns chilly, they´ll always have a sweater or something that they didn´t have before.
Another weird phenomenom is that cold weather helps people prepare for baptism. We tell them that if they pray about the Book of Mormon, they´ll get a "warm" feeling, and they get all excited. And when it´s cold, they suddenly seem to think that modesty is a good idea.

Here in Brazil, we can´t call the members by "Brother" or "Sister" followed by their last name. Half the people have the last name of "da Silva" or "dos Santos". We have to say "Brother" or "Sister" followed by their first name. If we didn´t, it would always be like that one time when Bishop Teucher called on Brother Smith to say the closing prayer, and no one knew which Brother Smith he was talking about. Also,over half the women have the first name of Maria, so we have to use their middle name. And Aparecida takes at least a 30% lead over all other female middle names. My companion said he could just imagine if they had The Price is Right here in Brazil. "Maria Aparecida da Silva come on down!" There would probably be over 20 women in the audience thinking it was their turn.

This Friday, we´re going to take Jersey and Kelly (a couple we´re teaching) down to the marriage office to set up a marriage date. They need to get married before they can get baptized. When we first started teaching them, he told us that he didn´t see the importance of marraige. We then taught him the Law of Chastity. The Spirit was really strong, and now he and his wife are making the first steps toward their opportunity in just over a year to be sealed. If I´m still on the mission when they get that far I can go to the temple and watch! Well, that might be getting a little ahead of myself. They still need to get baptized.

--Elder Allred