Letter #22

Dear Family,

Oh, its good to be alive these days. We´re working hard down here, and not just tracting. Saturday we helped put a roof on a house and spent the day carrying 5 gallon buckets of concrete up ladders etc. Basically, I´m sore, sore, sore as can be and worn out and Brasilian-sun burnt, which is a little different than American sun burnt- it burns more. But the roof looks good and I enjoyed the exercise. And Tanner will be even Tanner for tomorrow.  Oh, and I cut my hair for you this morning, so we´re looking trim!

I have a new companion! Elder A., from Mendoza, Argentina. You may be wondering what´s that like? . . Well, if you´ll remember Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride, its something like that. Just imagine his voice saying, "My name is Elder A., you´re an answer to my prayer, prepare to be taught." Good times down here. But he´s cool and 9 months in, having just finished training a missionary from my group. He likes to sing Andrea Bocceliu renditions of the Lord´s Prayer and say "good" in ingles. And he´s willing to work which I think is one of the most important attributes as a missionary. Basically, it means that we are really hoping to baptize lots of special people in Tupã the next 6 weeks.

That said, Tupã is living up to its reputation right now as the hardest area in the mission. I was sailing along pretty smooth with Elder Parker and I think he was bearing the brunt of the Tupã burden and now it's my turn. With transfers, I now have more time in Tupã than any other missionary. But it has been and continues to be a refining fire, burning, literally, away all that´s not needed for the work. I´m coming out of this inferno with a fire of my own and I know if I don´t see the fruits now, then I will see them soon. It is harvest season in Brazil.

I saw an orange armadillo. It walked with a wonderful penguinic wobble and was just happy wandering on its way.

Also a very long-- think foot longish-- centipede under my desk, and a blind snake lost in the street. Helped him back to the grass.

The name of the game this week and the week to come is learning on the fly. I've learned a lot from Elder Parker, more than I realized but haven´t had to put it all into practice on my own. Now it's go time!

Tomorrow, I expect to call around 5 o´clock our time, using skype, so be ready in advance and stuff. I've never really done this so I´ll just let you all take the lead! And please excuse my English, because it certainly will be interesting. We have 4 countries in our house now with Brasil, Argentina, USA and Chile being represented. No one speaks English, so I take to relieving linguistical stress by singing in English. Just saying, my vocabulary is hymnical right now. (Elder Q. from Chile is fantastic and a cool guy.)

Well, that´s about it. It's my first Christmas eve at above 90 degrees, but rest assured, I will be drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies tonight!

Love,

Tanner