Tuesday, July 1, 2014

June 25, 2014 - Transfers, a new but familiar area, new companion and a new calling

first sorry i forgot to tell you that we have transfers so email is today- wednesday. 
second SURPRISE i was transferred. do you want to guess where? you will never get it right.  i am back here in guarabira, my first area. i am senior comp to elder munoz who i lived with in itapororoca in the four-man apartment. i guess that prez noguiera said "elder wilson will be senior comp. but he needs an area that he knows to start his time as senior comp." sooooooo yeah....guarabira. im actually not quite sure how i feel about this. i keep going back and forth about whether i'm happy to be back or not. 

whats a little funny, is that i may be in the same city and i know it in that regard but i will be working in completely different parts of the city...parts that i don't know. it should be interesting. please keep the prayers coming. odds are that i will need them. they do strengthen me.

so also quirky is the fact that my district leader here is elder simonson. my former comp. i just cant get away from what is familiar. also with this transfer i am now have seniority in the zone. it means absolutely nothing but its kind of fun to say. 

anyway this past week was pretty good. the best moment was when i learned that -Vanini- a women i taught during my first stay in guarabira was baptized last Sunday. its just a great feeling to know that the seeds i planted during my first 2 transfers here, budded, grew, and gave fruit. it will be even better when i see here Sunday during church.  also something i just thought of, it will be awesome to see the people that i baptized here in guarabira, continuing to go to church, progress and do what is right.  

the world cup here is in full swing. Brazil won against Cameroon 4-1. its so funny after the 0-0 tie with mexico everyone predicted imminent failure for this years cup team. now after the win everyone is predicting success. oh the hearts of the people are fickle. but its so cool here during the games. everything shuts down. and everyone watches the games. many businesses have signs that say ``due to the game we will be shutting down at 1 o´clock. the games are normally at 5, they have 4 hours of tailgating. and when Brazil scores a goal, its loud and loco, to put it mildly. im not criticizing at all. i love it, i think that its awesome, and i am screaming along with everyone else.

happy são joão - this is a holiday that they only have here in NE brazil, and a small part of rio. i'm not sure its really a holiday since all that i saw happen was people get a day off work, get drunk, and eat lots of corn/corn products. whatever...i like corn and the food people gave us tasted good. 

also something good about guarabira--our apartment has water. always. It is amazing how much I appreciate having water after not having it.  What a blessing. I am excited. 

anyway my comp, elder munoz, is a chilean. he has 4-5 months left on a mission. He is a little annoying but he works hard (which is great), and is happy to be a missionary. he wants to do things right. i think that we will have success together.

i wonder how the members will react to me returning here. i think that they will like it. i should already have their confidence because i already served here and they know me and know that i love them and the work, and now that i speak a little bit of Portuguese, i should be able to gain even more trust so we can work together better. Without us working together, the work is much harder. 

the pic is of my comp. its not his best look, he is normally smiling actually, i just surprised him by taking a pic when he wasn't ready/ paying attention. i hope that yall are well and enjoying the best that summer break has to offer. here's an interesting thought. summer break is just 2 transfers and a little bit. wow is it weird that i am thinking of time in terms of transfers? 

this Saturday could be a little challenging because Brazil will play Chile. and my Chilean comp is probably the only person in all of guarabira rooting for chile. we will see how that goes. i am well, thanks for the prayers, the church is true

love brett