Terra Nova

Hey guys,

Well this was a hectic week. Lots of running around with weddings and baptisms and getting everything ready. But, luckily everything went well. The weddings were on Saturday and they were great. We ended up having both of them at the same time.

The brides and grooms looked great, there was a lot of cake and pop, and a lot of nonmembers and members went. It turned out really successful. I loved the weddings. Everything went really well.

On Sunday we had the 4 baptisms. Elder Wolfe baptized one of the grooms, I baptized the 2 brides, and a member baptized the other groom. It went really well. Elder Wolfe baptized a large man, bigger than he is. He said he had to force him under the water, but he did really well. I was really happy with the baptism, and the service was well attended.

Elder Wolfe is coming along. He’s learning the language. It can be kind of hard to teach Portuguese. Switching languages all the time can be kind of confusing. I even started speaking to a Brazilian in English and he just gave me a weird look. That was embarrassing...but, Elder Wolfe is already learning a lot which is good.

Today we played soccer with the other elders in our district. It just wouldn’t be P-day without soccer. Only problem is the rainy season is starting to go away and summer is coming back....We still get some rain, but it’s starting to get really hot again.

Yesterday I made 11 months on the mish. Not like I’m counting or anything. But that means here in a year and 2 weeks I'll be back home (due to the visas). Time goes by really fast. I still feel like it was yesterday that I was learning to speak the language and showed up from the MTC...

We now have church in the new chapel, which is way nice. I think it was the first time I didn’t have to clean bugs out of the baptismal font before a baptism.

So, what went down with Argentina and the Sounders...Megan? I’m way stoked for the world cup...

I’m trying to think what else went down this week. Really just a lot of running around getting ready for all the weddings and stuff. I’m really proud of the people that were baptized though. Especially one of the families, Fernando and Alcione. They are so cool. And are really embracing the gospel. It was a privilege to be able to teach them.

Last week, Elder Wolfe had an interview with Pres, just to make sure he was doing alright. I guess in the interview Pres told Elder Wolfe that he has faith that I can make this the highest family baptizing area in the mish. No pressure or anything. Talk about responsibility...So, hopefully I can find some more good families.....

Anyway, hope that everything is going well with at home. I’m glad Shannon’s trainer is from Manaus. If she gets this accent though, everyone will make fun of her there. It’s like an outback accent to them...I wish she had an American trainer but oh well. She’ll learn a lot. But yeah. Have a great week and I'll talk to you guys next P-day. Love you!

-Elder Eric Stapley