"He is a great elder!"
(On splits with District Leader Elder Chambers)
Dear Family, Friends, Loved Ones, and Ranger,
I include Ranger because he´s the only dog in the world that I love right now, the rest all seem to bark at me. What a week! I´m not sure when weeks begin around here or when they end but the last several days have been DOOZIES. Speaking to all and any returned missionaries who have had to open a new house, perhaps in another country, perhaps you will understand the inherent difficulties of trying to manage everything.
Reader Alert: Beware. What follows is not necessarily good or smiley, though perhaps faith building. In fact you may be tempted to cry for a certain missionary in Brazil, but don´t. These are just facts and this letter would be really small this week if I didn't include all the facts. . . Remember, Always Think humorously.
So, we moved to our new house quite abruptly, on the hope that within a day or two at the most we would receive all the luxuries of modern life: washing machines, refrigerators, stoves, beds, dressers, tables and chairs, etc. But they didn't come. To be truthful they still haven´t come. But we do have four mattresses on the floor, with our suitcases and everything else we moved post-haste. It looks far too similar to a stereo-typical drug runner house, or that of an illegal smuggler. We DO have two fans which is wonderful and we did buy a shower and the toilet does work, so that´s all good... But, the frustrating thing has been that it disturbs our work, because on a whim we receive a call that so and so company is coming by to drop off more unassembled desks or something and if we´re not at the house in 5 minutes they´re leaving and not coming back for 2 weeks. So we run, oh do we run, across the city to catch them before they leave...and they´re not there... Or, we receive a call that we can't leave the house until so and so person shows up to put everything together and we wait and we wait and we wait... and they don´t show up. Take my advice and buy pre-assembled.
Still, we took matters into our hands today and hopefully by the time I finish this letter and walk back home all will be well and we can settle in. Needless to say our numbers this week, reflecting how much of our work has been teaching, and finding were pretty low. And as I write I´m sitting in my last decently clean shirt, in long sleeves: ) But I´m happy, and that´s not sarcastic. Would you like to know why? Lest I forget the highlight of our move, I've never laughed so hard. Short two mattresses Elder Parker and I returned to the old house and snagged two old, very old, ones, then began the hilarious journey back to our new house, about a mile, down one hill and up another. Imagine two mattresses on the heads of American missionaries, who are jogging down the street laughing and desperately trying to make it to the casa before 9:30. We greeted everyone with a hardy bom noite! especially the Pentecostal preacher accosting people outside his church, trying to get them to enter. His double take was dangerous. Laughter rolled freely down the hill with us at the hilarity of our situation, beds held over our head.
Yesterday I had my first baptism!!! It was a doozy too, to tell the truth. We found her (75+ years of age and Catholic) while knocking on the door of another man whom we had taught the day before. She was staring at us, I suppose a little curious and perhaps a little senile. But we crossed the street to inquire over her neighbor (whom we last encountered this week with a beer in his hand) and then proceeded to invite her to church and to meet with the missionaries. This was Saturday. She was waiting in her door for us Sunday morning and thoroughly enjoyed church. She talked about feeling warm and welcome, and happy. Better yet, the first time we went to teach her, about the restoration, we were about to invite her to be baptized but before we could she stopped us and said she only had one question: What could she do to be baptized in our church? Nossa!! She beat us to the punch!. She may look old but she is on top of things, and read all our material thoroughly, accepted all our invitations, threw away her coffee, and bought items for the Relief Society activity this last Saturday. We taught her three times this week, interviewed her Saturday, and baptized her yesterday. This daughter of our Heavenly Father, in some way, has been prepared perfectly for the gospel. She is already more active and participative than most of our active members. She related to us that the reason that she was looking at us curiously that night, why she had stopped in front of our door, was that we were glowing. There was light around us, as if we were illuminated, she said. When we approached her about going to church she said she could not say no. She said, mais ou menos, in Portuguese. "Though I have been a Catholic all my life, I felt that this church was right, in the bottom of my heart, a wonderful warm feeling, a goodness." These are the moments we live for, that we sleep on the floor for, eat rice and beans for, walk miles for and smell like African baboons for. "If ye bring save it were one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with them in the kingdom of my father."
The baptism was interesting too, as she was very old. I got to baptize her and was perhaps more excited than her. But we hardly expected what happened. She wouldn't bend back standing up, or kneeling down, or legs splayed out in different directions, or when sitting. Nossa! Finally when she was practically sitting all the way under the water already and I was literally holding her from going under we got it. But it was QUITE the experience, me trying to convey all these instructions, not knowing the words for "please kneel" in Portuguese, or any other instructions, looking wildly for help from my companion. Confusion was rife, and I think any less converted of a convert would have walked away and been done with the church but she was very good about it, and really understood just how important what we were trying to do. She will be a wonderful member of the church here in Tupã and a blessing to the ward.
I had a very cool experience last week I didn't share. I received Aunt Becky´s letter and Kaleb´s and she mentioned how she was sure that Kaleb would love a letter just for him. Well, two days before I received the letters, on preparation day, I had thought about who I was going to write letters to, and didn't have much time to write many, but I really felt that I should write to Kaleb. So I did and sent it the day before I got Aunt Becky´s letter. The Lord works in mysterious and small and marvelous ways. Look for His hand in your life and you´ll be surprised how often he guides our life every day.
Q & A: I found upon examination that I can send pictures, but in all our mess of stuff I couldn't find my cord to send pictures today so I´ll get on that next week: ) Yes that is my house that you found. Kind of weird but really cool. We feel really far away from home, but obviously not too far ; ) To email, we go to what is called a LAN House where you pay for internet. No idea where the name comes from. I do print off your letters now, in really small print so it costs less; ) Having asked around, I have determined that my first 4 weeks in the mission field have been anything but normal and no less traumatic for the battle seasoned warriors we have here. I only say this because I have yet to have a normal p-day, in fact they are increasing in strangeness and busy-ness, but I hope for a relaxing one soon, perhaps next week. . .On a normal p-day, activities include laundry, email, shopping for food, cleaning the house, and writing letters. A lot of elders like to sleep too, but I´m all about the letters. I have not cooked at all. At all. I´m trying to think of one, oh yes, I made popcorn once, but that´s it. So little time here! I think I answered them all. . .
Well, President Tavares has put together the Avengers Missionary Squad here in Tupã, to turn the whole district around, as it is really having problems. So we´re here to solve them! I feel honored to be part of this group. Elder Parker calls me the Juggernaut because when we were walking yesterday I didn't see a telephone booth and nearly uprooted the whole thing, oops! We had 40 members in the ward, when there are almost 1000 in the city. Lots of work. Count on the Towers of Power, Parker and that other Elder, (Schen, schwen, swan. . . that one, to take care of it. . . Just don´t expect them to smell downy fresh. Pray for a washing machine! {:- D
Your Truly-Removed-from-the-World Elder and Son,
Tanner
His companion's version of the same incident:
"...she was telling the member about meeting us and she said that she saw two young men knocking the door across the street and that she came out to see them. I called to them that he wasn't home but they kept knocking, so I sat there and watched them. because while I was watching them knock the door, they were shining. I saw a light illuminating from them. and when they came to talk to me, I saw that they had a light that was illuminating from them so when they invited me to go to church, I had to agree. She said, " I wanted to be a member of this church before they talked to me, because of the light that left from them and the way that made me feel." They were like two angels across the street and now I have two angels in my home with me.
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