Greetings from across the street from the CTM!
It is the new year! I'm fairly certain that no one in the CTM slept well last night due to the overabundance of fireworks. I got up to pee and when I was walking back to my room the entire floor shook under my feet as fireworks exploded everywhere outside. As I continued to trudge sleepily down the hall someone poked their head out of their room and yelled "Happy New Year!" This is the extent of my New Year's celebration.
Speaking of New Years, this past friday my district once again went out proselyting. This time we went to MASP (I think that's the acronym) which is basically the Times Square of São Paulo/Brazil. It was huge and awesome. They were setting up everything for the New Year's celebration. When they do that thing on NBC or whatever leading up to the dropping of the ball in Times Square where they show New Years in different countries/time zones, I'm fairly certain we were where they would broadcast in South America. Anyway, because of this and the normal flow/nature of this area it was very difficult to find people to talk to who weren't in a hurry or uninterested to hear what we had to say. We had a couple good experiences though. I actually walked by a guy sitting at a bus stop 3 times before I realized that I needed to talk to him. So I went and started talking to him and ended up sitting down for a spell, sharing a few scriptures with him and then giving him the Book of Mormon. My companion was talking to the woman sitting next to him, but he did not have as much success as I did at this particular contact. This is because the lady he was talking to was crazy. Her eyes were... crazy. She was talking and talking and I stood next to him and neither of us understood anything she was saying. I'm not sure that even if we spoke good Portuguese we would understand much. Because the guy sitting next to her was reading the Book of Mormon, we didn't want to appear rude by blowing this lady off, but she wouldn't stop to take a breath. I estimate that we spent about 8 minutes standing there, trying to find a way out. Finally I said "I'm sorry, we're in a hurry," and tried to leave. But, she kept talking. I said "really, we have to go," and we started to walk off. She didn't stop talking. I'm fairly certain that she was still talking after we had left.
Another time we contacted this lady, and she said she had heard of the church, and then she said "Are you guys lost?" which I interpreted differently and said "No, we believe in the bible! We also have the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ and was translated by a modern day prophet, Joseph Smith..." etc. What she actually meant was, are you trying to get directions from me. But she took the misunderstanding well, accepted a card and we carried on.
We actually met two people who had already received a Book of Mormon in the past and had stopped reading for whatever reason. Neither of them had prayed about it though, I told them that they should keep reading and that it was very important to pray about it. I think some good might come of that.
We also met a guy who appeared completely sane. Very down to earth/normal, listened to what we said and then told us about how Jesus appeared to him in August of 2003. We weren't sure what to say to that so we both just pretended not to understand and then wished him good luck and left.
I love proselyting! I wish we got to do it more than 3 times while we're here. It's so much fun, even though we don't understand much.
Last night, for whatever reason, our night teacher didn't show up and because everyone in our district was suffering from a pretty bad case of cabin fever, and sometimes tensions get a little high, my companion and I decided we needed to do something to relieve the stress. We played sardines through the entire CTM. It was amazing.
We have 3 weeks left here. Our time is rapidly approaching. It seems like yesterday that we got here though... it's weird.
It's great to get pictures from you guys. I have a few that I'll try and put up when I'm done typing this. It sounds like Christmas there was pretty fun. I definitely missed the eggs benedict. I think I had granola and yogurt for breakfast. In fact, I'm quite sure, since that's what I have for breakfast every day. I haven't gotten any of the handwritten letters yet, but it's good to know that there's something to look forward to.
Other than proselyting on friday, I'm afraid I don't have much more of interest to share. My volleyball skillz have improved dramatically as well as my basketball skillz. Mostly what I do is read the scriptures, read Jesus the Christ and study Portuguese. It's actually... good. I enjoy it, for the most part.
Lately it's been unseemingly hot. Our room last night was approaching 90 degrees. With bad humidity. It's actually reminiscent of some of the hottest nights in Maine... only... constantly. Every night. We only have heat like this for a few nights in the summer back home.
Alright, I love you all and thanks for writing and for the pictures. I'm looking forward to receiving your letters. Can't wait!
Until next week-
-Elder Sisco
It is the new year! I'm fairly certain that no one in the CTM slept well last night due to the overabundance of fireworks. I got up to pee and when I was walking back to my room the entire floor shook under my feet as fireworks exploded everywhere outside. As I continued to trudge sleepily down the hall someone poked their head out of their room and yelled "Happy New Year!" This is the extent of my New Year's celebration.
Speaking of New Years, this past friday my district once again went out proselyting. This time we went to MASP (I think that's the acronym) which is basically the Times Square of São Paulo/Brazil. It was huge and awesome. They were setting up everything for the New Year's celebration. When they do that thing on NBC or whatever leading up to the dropping of the ball in Times Square where they show New Years in different countries/time zones, I'm fairly certain we were where they would broadcast in South America. Anyway, because of this and the normal flow/nature of this area it was very difficult to find people to talk to who weren't in a hurry or uninterested to hear what we had to say. We had a couple good experiences though. I actually walked by a guy sitting at a bus stop 3 times before I realized that I needed to talk to him. So I went and started talking to him and ended up sitting down for a spell, sharing a few scriptures with him and then giving him the Book of Mormon. My companion was talking to the woman sitting next to him, but he did not have as much success as I did at this particular contact. This is because the lady he was talking to was crazy. Her eyes were... crazy. She was talking and talking and I stood next to him and neither of us understood anything she was saying. I'm not sure that even if we spoke good Portuguese we would understand much. Because the guy sitting next to her was reading the Book of Mormon, we didn't want to appear rude by blowing this lady off, but she wouldn't stop to take a breath. I estimate that we spent about 8 minutes standing there, trying to find a way out. Finally I said "I'm sorry, we're in a hurry," and tried to leave. But, she kept talking. I said "really, we have to go," and we started to walk off. She didn't stop talking. I'm fairly certain that she was still talking after we had left.
Another time we contacted this lady, and she said she had heard of the church, and then she said "Are you guys lost?" which I interpreted differently and said "No, we believe in the bible! We also have the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ and was translated by a modern day prophet, Joseph Smith..." etc. What she actually meant was, are you trying to get directions from me. But she took the misunderstanding well, accepted a card and we carried on.
We actually met two people who had already received a Book of Mormon in the past and had stopped reading for whatever reason. Neither of them had prayed about it though, I told them that they should keep reading and that it was very important to pray about it. I think some good might come of that.
We also met a guy who appeared completely sane. Very down to earth/normal, listened to what we said and then told us about how Jesus appeared to him in August of 2003. We weren't sure what to say to that so we both just pretended not to understand and then wished him good luck and left.
I love proselyting! I wish we got to do it more than 3 times while we're here. It's so much fun, even though we don't understand much.
Last night, for whatever reason, our night teacher didn't show up and because everyone in our district was suffering from a pretty bad case of cabin fever, and sometimes tensions get a little high, my companion and I decided we needed to do something to relieve the stress. We played sardines through the entire CTM. It was amazing.
We have 3 weeks left here. Our time is rapidly approaching. It seems like yesterday that we got here though... it's weird.
It's great to get pictures from you guys. I have a few that I'll try and put up when I'm done typing this. It sounds like Christmas there was pretty fun. I definitely missed the eggs benedict. I think I had granola and yogurt for breakfast. In fact, I'm quite sure, since that's what I have for breakfast every day. I haven't gotten any of the handwritten letters yet, but it's good to know that there's something to look forward to.
Other than proselyting on friday, I'm afraid I don't have much more of interest to share. My volleyball skillz have improved dramatically as well as my basketball skillz. Mostly what I do is read the scriptures, read Jesus the Christ and study Portuguese. It's actually... good. I enjoy it, for the most part.
Lately it's been unseemingly hot. Our room last night was approaching 90 degrees. With bad humidity. It's actually reminiscent of some of the hottest nights in Maine... only... constantly. Every night. We only have heat like this for a few nights in the summer back home.
Alright, I love you all and thanks for writing and for the pictures. I'm looking forward to receiving your letters. Can't wait!
Until next week-
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