Terra Nova

Hey guys,

So, we'll start by getting rid of the worldly stuff first... USA!!!!!!!!!!!! First in our group! It's P-day, so I ended up watching the game with some other missionaries. We played soccer this morning and then watched the game. I was pretty nervous. I had already accepted defeat, but- Donovan...what a man. That guy keeps our team alive. Goal with 91 minutes of game time? If I was in the US, I'd totally buy a jersey with his name on the back. The blue one is legit... World Cup is going strong here. More and more roads are being painted and the game was intense this week. Why does the world cup only happen every 4 years.. Go USA! And Brazil....of course....

So, Brazil's game was at 2:30 on Sunday. Guess what time I have church..? 3:00 So, we had a total of 1 investigator at church! My leaders were actually proud of me for getting one there! During sacrament meeting you could tell when Brazil scored because the city erupts in fireworks and yelling. Not a lot of people went to church....but, we ended up having a confirmation, which was good.

Saturday, we had a baptism of a young woman who had been referred. She's gone to seminary a few times and to church. The baptism was really well attended, with lots of youth...which was good. I baptized her. I forgot my camera at home today or I'd send you guys some pics.

On Monday we had Zone Conference. It went well and it was nice to see a lot of old friends. Since the missionaries from the interior (little cities....) of Manaus come in for Zone Conference, today I played some soccer with the missionaries in Maues. One of them is a good friend of mine. He told me the family of Shannon's comp (who live in Maues...) asked him to find me and to get a picture so that he can show them who I am....Maybe one day I'll head over there and meet them. But that was kinda cool....

So, as far as the packages go. Today I got one from Grandma. Thanks! But, I still haven't gotten the two from you guys. It takes a while I guess. But, I'm sure within the next few weeks they'll be here....

Other than that, life is going well. We still have a wedding marked for next month, and are working with some good people. Today I'm planning on setting the baptism date of a young family, who are already married!! I was so happy to find that out. They have a lot of questions about baptism and stuff. I'm hoping that today we can get some more baptism dates...

Elder Wolfe is coming along with the language and we are becoming better and better friends. But, I can understand some of Shannon's difficulties with the language. It helped me to have an American trainer that could teach. Elder Wolfe will soon be speaking really well. He's got some good potential. He's also getting rid of his southern accent at the same time

So, Friday I'll have been on the mish for one year now. Time goes by so fast. I honestly still feel like I left yesterday. In 11 months and 2 weeks I'll be home! So crazy....But I'm hoping to have a even better year than I did last one. It's interesting to see how I've changed and seeing the differences the mish is making in my life. Good stuff. It goes by too fast. Here in no time I'll be home...

But yeah. Hope all is well with you. Have a great week. (Happy Birthday Brynn!)
Love you,

-Elder Eric C. Stapley