´´gente boa´´

Carta Semanal:

Man, what an interesting week. It started off relatively normal until Thursday came along and the Assistants to the President had to resolve some disputes between the other companionship. I won´t get into too many details but basically there was a lack of communication between Elders Graça and Elder Varela. I´ve heard the stories from both sides of what happened and to be honest, I don´t really know who to believe nor am I going to take sides. They´re both good guys which is what makes me sad and I don´t like to hear them speak negatively about the other. So now, Elder Costa e Silva and Elder Varela are companions and I´m with Graça in his area. I just hope this sort of dispute doesn´t affect our performance nor the Spirit that we have with us as missionaries and at the house. So far nothing has happened but they don´t even really look at each other now. It´s a shame. They´re both from the same country too, but anyway.. sad situation. If you want my opinion on the matter, I´m really liking the exchange.

Elder Graça has been patient with me. He thinks I´m ´´gente boa´´ and we were happy when we found out we were going to be finishing the transfer together. It´s pretty awesome talking with him. He doesn´t speak English so this has been helping my Portuguese substantially.  I understand basically 85-90% or so of what he says and we like to joke around. Once this transfer ends, he´ll be starting his last transfer and he likes to make a point about it. In our area, a LOT of planes pass by in the sky daily. Sometimes when one passes overhead, he elbows me and says, ´´Está vendo aquele avião? daqui numa mes, vai ser mais baixo!´´ Hahaha, the dude´s such a clown. Sometimes, I like to respond ´´Pra mim, não tô vendo nada.´´ because I still have a lot of time to go! In reality though, i´m blown away with how fast time has flown by. 5/24 months down. Almost half-way to half-way there! The days truly fly by like nothing when you have good companions. Not going to lie, I´m feeling really nervous about how the transfer is going to go. I´ve practically made 7 de abril my home away from home and I really don´t want to leave. what gives me comfort though is knowing that it´ll be the same thing in my next area too.

Last P-day, we hung out with Christine and Ezeakiel and looks like we´ll be doing the same today as well. This time, we plan on spending some time in Pelourinho and do some sightseeing because they´ll be leaving real soon for home. It really is sad to see such good friends go. I love them a bunch and can´t wait to see them back in the US once I return.

I also cut my own hair last P-day as well. When I cut it, it didn´t end too terribly but I basically used Elder Costa e Silva´s clippers to shave my head down pretty far. I learned a lot of what I need to do next time though, so I´ve been thinking of buying a little haircut kit here to continue practicing and saving money. I also looked up recipees last time and managed to make pancakes and german pancakes from scratch. They turned out remarkably well when you take into account that we don´t have measuring cups here. I always laughed at that saying that missionaries manage to do so much with so little, hahaha. Anyway, that´s all I really got for this week.

Até mais, gente!

-Élder Skinner