February 27, 2008

If you could, dot your emails with current events, I like to know what's going on. I also heard the patriots lost the super bowl. I think you never told me that, so I just assumed they won, being 18-0.
As far as food goes, my weight fluctuates daily, I haven't eaten anything yet today except a bowl of cereal, so I'm starving. We're going to eat right after this. but I'm getting better about standing up for myself and not cramming it in. But actually sometimes it's so good that I have to. And then they bring dessert. And you never know if there's going to be dessert, so it's like a guessing game. And I don't want to ask, "hey, um, is there going to be dessert or should I just fill up on the beans and rice?" But yeah, I'm doing exercises and everything that I should be to avoid diseases and such, so I trust that the Lord will take card of the rest.
I just recently (this week) started making lassies (I don't know how to spell that but I think you know what I mean. The Indian drink? I think Lassie is the dog. I don't how to spell the drink) I think I can make them better than you guys here because we have fresh mangoes. And good bananas. And coconut yogurt, and basically that Cerres juice that mom buys that I love, but cheap. Sort of. And honey. So we have everything, and a blender, and I think I'm going to start doing those a lot more often. I heard yogurt is fattening though. I've started worrying about eating fattening things. I'm worried that I'm worrying about that.
Yesterday I stayed home all day because Elder Wilson got very sick. We think it was dehydration (don't worry, Mom, that's not going to happen to me. I drink plenty of water.); he was vomiting and diarrhea-ing all day. So I took a nap, studied some scripture, studied some Jesus the Christ and played our landlord's guitar ALL DAY. Then today he stayed home again, but we did a division with the ZLs and our district and another district in the zone all hiked up this mountain and at the very top is the oldest Catholic chapel in Sete Lagoas. I sent you a postcard of it last week, now I've actually been there. Also there's a giant cross at the top that lights up at night and looks over the city... a neon cross. Awesome. I took lots of pictures, up until my camera died. Unfortunately it died before we did the cool stuff, so you won't be getting very cool pictures. Maybe after the mission if I'm still in touch with any of these people they can send me ones they took. but we went down to this waterfall, and then descended basically into the jungle and went all over exploring and found caves and all kinds of cool things. So I spent most of the day hiking; it was super fun.
On Sunday we had a combined activity with our ward and another ward that meets in the chapel where we watched the Joseph Smith movie on the giant screen. Our landlord is one of the coolest Brazilians I've met yet, he's amazing, and he said he's been looking for the "caminho certo" or right path to take that will lead him to God. So we invited him to come see this movie. It was great, he loved it and he's coming to church on Sunday and he's already reading the Book of Mormon and during the movie like, after the first vision part he leans over and asks "so, you guys have meetings here every Sunday morning?" "yep." and then after it talks about the Book of Mormon he leans over and says "so, is that this book right here?" *points to hymnal* "No, that's hymns, we'll get one for you." "I'd like that." He also wants a copy of the movie. Before it started I told Elder Wilson "in about an hour, Alvi Mastor is going to have a testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet." And it was true!
Next week is transfers- my training will be complete! I'm nervous, mostly because I'm probably going to get a Brazilian companion and we're going to get another companionship in our ward and they'll all live in our house and if Wilson gets transfered out of our area or zone completely instead of just moving over to one of the elders that's moving in with us, I'll be the only one in our house that knows the area. And I don't know the area very well. It's a rush this week to try and learn as much as I can. I don't know if I made this clear or not, but they're dividing our area and we're going to get another companionship in our ward and in our house. Right now it's just us 2.
We have this investigator that we were teaching, but all of a sudden one day, in the middle of a lesson (everything was going great...) she decides that our equilibrium is off and that she doesn't want us to come back anymore. She says she's still going to go to church, and she does, but that she's also going to the Catholic church and to some evangelical church. So on Saturday during our baptism she comes into the church in running gear (spandex body suit, headband, etc.) all sweaty and goes into one of the classrooms in the back. Elder Wilson and I left and went to see what she was doing and she was opening up hymnbooks and putting them on a table, in no particular order that we know of. Just opening, placing, grabbing another, placing. And when we asked if we could help her with anything or if she wanted to come watch the baptism she got startled, said no and left very loudly. She was basically yelling "no, no that's okay thank you" as she walked down the hall and out the door. Then this Sunday, she went to the other elders ward (same chapel, different meeting times) and they said during the sacrament she was just walking up and down the rows, standing, sitting, walking. And then when church ended we saw her walk out with a hymnbook! She stole from the church! So weird....
Well I don't know what else to write. I think I covered everything interesting that has happened.
-Elder Sisco