Mother's Day

Carta Semanal:

Phew! Yet another week down. This one really flew by fast and the week ended even sweeter by getting to talk to family on Mother´s Day. I think it´s funny that often we end up talking about things that we´ve already talked about in the letters but actually getting to talk about them face to face. It´s also weird because when we talk on Skype I feel a lot more happy than I do homesick but on letters and emails, it´s the opposite. Kind of strange, huh?

This week, not a whole lot as always. We did a companionship exchange with the Zone Leaders so that they could interview a 17 year old teenager named João who´s a pretty cool kid, ready for baptism. I went with Elder Pasqualini, a Brazilian from São Paulo in his area and Elder Snyder, an American, stuck with Elder Macalupú in our area. Our exchange was good. Elder Pasqualini is rather quiet but talked with me here and there. We visited a lot of recent converts that day, so I mostly just stuck with him and another member that went with us that day and let them do a lot of the talking because it´s kind of weird and almost pointless getting to know a few people for just a day and leave. I also stayed the night at the Zone Leader´s homes as well. They have 4 elders total there but the house itself could house 6. It´s HUGE. They have an upstairs, backyard, like 4 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, all kinds of stuff. That night we also had pizza as well. So we all were eating pizza, sipping Coke and Guaraná, and just talking. It was me, Elder Pasqualini, an Elder Barbosa from Cape Verde, and an Elder Teles from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, which is a state full of European ancestry, so there´s a lot of fair skinned, clear eyed people from there, of which Elder Teles was one. I got the chance to get to know Elder Teles a little bit too while the other two elders were upstairs getting ready for bed. He has 5 months on the mission and played soccer a lot before he came here but quit a pretty good team from what I´ve heard to serve a mission. I considered that quite honorable, if you consider how religious people are here for soccer. I also think it´s weird to find missionaries that have less time than you. I guess it just means that time is passing by faster than you think. 

This week we´ve also been meeting with a less-active (Alison) and his ´´wife´´ (Kelçimara) who isn´t a member. They´re in their mid 20´s or so and they´re the family I told you about the other day who lost a daughter before she was born. Alison is super cool though and you can tell he has a strong testimony about the church but has a little bit of embarassment about returning to church to all of the people he knew and to have a little bit of shame about being less-active for so long. So elder macalupú and I are going to work on helping him ease about that a little. We had some pretty spiritual experiences teaching them about the Plan of Salvation with respect to their daughter and it was really awesome to hear some of their comments and concerns. I love it when we have people with questions and things to say. I think it´s just because we´re so used to people that aren´t even half interested in your message and never have anything to say.

Also, right after we got done talking on Skype, I cut my own hair again. I was beginning and Elder Macalupú asked if I wanted him to cut my hair and I accepted. So he pretty much cut my hair because my clippers needed to be aligned and we didn´t have the tools for the time being. So yeah, I didn´t take pictures because it came out pretty bad. The sides and the back of my hair are really short and the top of my head is a little bit longer, so now I have a Mackelmore style that´s even worse than the other time. 

I think everything else you guys already pretty much know from yesterday talking on Skype. If I remember anything that I missed yesterday or today, I´ll be sure to inform you guys next week. I´m getting a headache from sitting on the computer for these 2 hours or so, and my head is sore because at times, Elder Macalupú wasn´t as gentle cutting my hair XD Anyway, love you guys! Until the next week!

-Elder Skinner