Week 8

Oi!

How’s it going? Thank you so much for the Cheney's gift certificate. My district loves you Mom. They specifically wanted me to express their love for you and want you to know that you are the best and saved some of their lives. You have no idea how excited the district was when I told them we were gonna have a party! I can’t take a picture inside of Mr. Cheney's, but I’ll definitely take some with my district.

This week went pretty well. We went out proselyting in downtown São Paulo and it was awesome, except they only let us have 2 Livros de Mórmon (lame). Considering last time we gave out 8. But, it was all good. We just made sure the people we gave them to would actually read them and I had them promise me they would call the missionaries. It was fun. The first one we gave out was to a lady just walking down the street. I stopped her and just asked how she was and told her that we're missionaries and had a message for her. She looked semi-interested, so we continued. I just started asking her if she had a family (she hesitated for 1 second, which scared me. Because if she said no, then that would have been awkward...), but she said yes, and told me about her son. I asked if she loved her son. She looked a little taken back at first but then said, "Claro!" (meaning "of course!") Score. So then I asked her if she wanted to live with her son forever, after this life. She said yes and then I told her about how God loves us and wants us to live with our families forever, and he told us how we can. That lead into the Book of Mormon, and I promised her that she could live with her family and be happy forever. I gave her the Book of Mormon and asked if she would read it, then had her promise she would call the missionaries (who can speak better Portuguese than I can) and they could tell her more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was legit. I understood everything she was saying to me, and I genuinely think she will read it. It was so much fun!

The other guy we gave it too was pretty cool too. He passed us in the street (which are insanely busy) and he said "Good afternoon" to us. We replied in Portuguese and kind of kept walking. My companion and I both then just stopped and turned around, just in time to see him turn around too. So, we walked right up to him and just started talking. He spoke some English, and he told us how he learned, and how he likes Americans. Then we told him we are learning Portuguese and love Brasileros! We then just started saying where we were from and stuff, which led into why we are in Brasil. We ended up telling him about the church and the LgM and he almost read it on the spot. He told us that he loves to read and wants to learn more about Mormons, so we made him promise us to call the missionaries too! So legit!

Not all of our experiences were like these two though. We got shut down and preached to. That was exciting. It reminded me of the first time we went proselyting and some guy was telling us how he believes in Science! I’m not sure if I told you guys that or not, but it reminded me so much of Nacho Libre. But, it was way fun to just go out and talk to Brasileros and about the church.

I’m SO stoked to be in Manaus soon. Under a week left! I feel ready. It starts to get kind of hard in the CTM all the time. So many new missionaries are showing up. It's nuts. I’m glad I came when I did, because now it’s crazy, but still fun (I guess...not really...) Basketball is way fun. I’m going to miss that part. When you play basketball everyday you kind of get attached to it and it becomes the favorite part of the day.

Anyways, I’m trying to think what else is up. Umm...Sunday I took a nap! For like an hour! Not very long, but it felt so good. I hope I can take another one this Sunday, but since it’s our last Sunday here we have some extra meetings and stuff. I’m starting to get used to this sleep schedule though. Well mostly. We went to the temple today, so we got up at like 5:30, and I was out of it. But 6:30 isn’t too bad anymore (that sounds so weird to say)

Oh, before I forget. Shoutout to Shannon. Thank you for the news about Les Paul. I cried inside for a while. No joke.

Well, I'm trying to think what else is new. Nothing really. Just lots of class and practicing. My companion and I teach really well together, which is good, but our professors expect a lot out of us. But it’s fun.

Hope you guys are having fun on your trip. I’ll get pics to you guys soon, I promise. Maybe today if I can. Well, time is short so I’m going to go. So, love you guys, hope all is well. Looking forward to letters as always. Erynn you should probably change my address to the one in Manaus now though. I’m peacing out. So bye, love you guys!

-Elder Eric Stapley