Letter #23

Dearest Family,

I have to admit about being pretty down on Christmas here as a whole-- what with the first sight being the multiple drunks sprawled on the sidewalk and the seemingly wonderful excuse for everyone to not follow Christ during this celebration of his birth--But, the small amount of time I was able to talk to you, made it all wonderful, and brought the Christmas spirit to me stronger, I think, than I've ever felt it. It was a wonderful Christmas and I feel very grateful.

Well, this last week or two have been pretty hard but they turned what looked like a linear learning curve into an exponential one. I've got a lot of English bottled up inside of me, and no where to let it go, what with one Chilean, one Argentinian and one Brasilian... So this morning I sat down said a prayer, and ate some Ghiradelli chocolate because it helps. And it did: ) I think the Lord´s turned up the refining fire here in Tupã a bit, but, as we know, this is good. . . So look for an increasingly happy letter here sometime soon.

Good news: We confirmed our two recently baptized members and left them last night feeling a small part of the joy and love that permeates the gospel. This is good. We spent a thoroughly arduous week looking for new people to teach and seem to have discovered a few very ripe and ready to harvest people, and one family. This is good. I haven´t gotten your package yet, which means that sometime soon I´m going to get a piece of joy in the mail. Oh, this is very good. Plus I splurged on some quality olive oil to finish off the home baked loaf of bread and this was very, very, oh heavenly and existentially G-O-O-D. My new backpack continues to defy expectations, my focus burns in me like my matching sunburn, and I'm hungry for baptisms. All in all, life is good.

We're entering the rainy season of Brasil and it frequently pours once or twice a day but for the most part I´m staying very dry-ish. And the clouds (nuvems) provide welcome relief from the scorching (abrasador) sun of Tupã. We started to read the Book of Mormon as a mission, and on my own I decided to read it in 3 languages simultaneously: Portuguese, English and Spanish (which is much easier after having learned Spanish). We're hitting the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi and I´m loving it. Great are the Words of Isaiah. Since I've got a neat little calendar to help me keep track of my reading I thought I´d send it along to you and we can all feast together: )

A thought from chapter 10 of 2nd Nephi: Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

Sometimes life's hard, but in the end, the choice is simple; ) So, always cheer up and choose eternal life! I love you , you are an example to me in all things, and a reminder of the blessings that I can promise to the people that I teach.

   

Love,

Tanner