Porto Velho

Hey guys!

Today has been a pretty busy P-day. Last night, our entire zone slept at our zone leader's house. We woke up this morning and played some soccer (I'll proudly admit that I scored 3 or 4 goals on the Brazilians...) Then we had a churrasco! (Or Brazilian BBQ.) Tons of food. It actually turned out really good. That was fun. I'm tired now, though... Hey, I finally got my camera! Thanks!

So, it's funny that in his email, Dad said, "I hope you don't get sick or anything eating weird foods..." Well, let's just say that's pretty much what went down this week. I threw up most of Thursday and Friday. I'm pretty sure I ate something bad. That was pretty lame. On Friday, when I finally got to the point that I was able to make it to some of our commitments, we visited a sister in our ward. When I mentioned not feeling so great, she had my comp run out to her yard and cut down 4 coconuts. She had Elder Paredes cut them open and pour out the coconut water for me (it's called coconut milk in English). I guess it's supposed to help. It was the first time I tried coconut milk and I hope it's the last. I'd heard it's not too bad when it's cold on a really hot day, but I can't say I enjoyed the experience. I think I had more of a desire to be sick after I drank it than before. Then, she made some kind of herbal tea for me. I knew it wouldn't be so good when even Elder Paredes looked at me and gave a face of disgust. He then told me to drink it all in one go, if not, I'd never finish it. I can honetly say it was one of the worst things that I've had to drink. Rapaz. I didn't throw up after drinking the coconut milk and tea, but I wanted to....But now, I'm much better.


So, this week went pretty well. We are really going to town and trying to mark a lot of baptisms. We marked a family to get baptized next month, and should be marking another 3 or 4 baptisms soon. The work is going well. A lot of hard work. We had 12 investigators at church on Sunday. So, not too bad.

This week we watched the Joseph Smith movie that plays in Temple Square in Utah. We watched it with the family that plans to get married and baptized next month. They wanted some American food, so I made some cookies for them. That was pretty fun. I'm a fan of the movie and chocolate chip cookies....good stuff.

I'm trying to think what else went down this week....Yesterday, we had to leave our house at 10:15 in the morning to get to our appt at 12. That was exciting. Gotta love a large area...

We have interviews with the President tomorrow and zone conference on Friday. This transfer feels like it's passing by quickly. It ends March 23. But, I'm enjoying it for the most part. Elder Paredes and I get along, so that's good. He's a little crazy and really cool.

Well, I guess that's pretty much my week. Hope all is well with you. Until next week! Love you guys!

-Elder Eric Stapley

P.S. I've decided I'm not a fan of cow liver. When you're expecting normal meat and take a bite of cow liver, it's a gross experience... só isso então. Tcahu!

Porto Velho

Hey guys,

Erynn! Way to get into BYU!!! I'm way stoked. I knew that you'd get in. You need to get some good looking friends/roommates though, cuz we'll be there at the same time. Just saying.... But, that's kinda weird we'll be sophs at the same time....but anyway. Parabéns!

Things are a little different with Elder Parades, but it's cool I guess. He tells me everyday that I'm senior, which is fun. It's given me the chance to be able to work harder, the way that I want to. And, as a result, some of our numbers and lessons have been improving. So, I'm enjoying that aspect of the work. It gives me the opportunity to talk more. I mark appointments, start lessons, finish lessons, decide where we are going. It's been a blessing for me. Elder Paredes seems like a big "work hard, play hard" kinda guy. My only worry is how hard he wants to play. But, overall, I've been enjoying this transfer.

As far as baptisms go, we have a wedding/baptism that should go down in March. I'm really stoked for it. They're some of my favorite investigators on the mission. We are also working with another family of 4 (who all went to church on Sunday). So, we are working on their baptism and it looks like March should be a good month if all goes well.

So, this week I ate something new. Jacaré!! (alligator) We ate it for lunch on Monday. It's not the most tasty food ever, but I liked it. It's like the consistency of chicken but tastes like fish....kinda weird. But, I enjoyed it.

Speaking of alligators and eating, I'll give you guys a little glimpse of some tragic news over here in Rondônia... A 4 meter long alligator ate an 11 year old girl in the city of Porto Velho! They ended up catching and killing the gator.

We've planned a fishing trip for an up coming P-day. We can't enter the water or boats (our ward has a crazy fisher who goes to the middle of the river on fishing trips...) but someone in our ward knows a place where we can go fishing without getting in the water. I'll watch out for 4 meter long alligators.

It's Carnival now....lots of drunk people and loud music....So, it's been kinda interesting. But, luckily our area isn't that bad. I wouldn't want to be in some other parts of the city right now...

As far as the camera goes, I'm pretty sure I'll get it today. The LZs (Zone leaders) went to Manaus and are coming back today. I hope they have it.

Let's see....hope you guys enjoy your break! Hope all is well, and I'll talk to you next week. Love you guys!

-Elder Eric C. Stapley

Porto Velho

Hey guys,

Transfers went down and I'm still here in Porto Velho. Elder De Jesus went back to Manaus and my new companion is Elder Paredes (Elder Walls). He's Brazilian and has been serving a year and 7 months on the mish. He showed up last night and seems friendly.



New companion


We now how one more companionship living in our house. Last week their contract ended and we moved them into our house. It's a little crammed, but the other elders are cool. One of them is brand new, an American, who was in the Provo MTC for 13 weeks while waiting for a visa.

Elder De Jesus and I had some ups and downs, but by the time transfers came around, we'd become good friends. I wanted to stay with him one more transfer. It seems that when you really grow to love your companion or your ward, that transfers go down....but that's life.
When we found out that Elder De Jesus was going to be transferred, we visited a lot of our baptisms and members. We also took some sweet pics. I'll send you guys some.

Yesterday I got letters! It's been a while. I got 10. Thanks to all you faithful letter writers out there. One of my favorites was a letter from Manaus. It was from Kamila, a young woman that Elder Christensen and I baptized back in Lagoa Verde. It caught me by surprise and I really enjoyed the letter. Sometimes the mish can be frustrating. There have been nights where I just lay in bed and wonder if I'm really making a difference. If these people will even remember me in 10 years. But, in the letter, Kamila thanked me for all that I did for her and said that I was an essential part in not only her baptism, but also in her being an active member of the church. Rapaz. It was really touching to get that letter and it made me realize that even when the mish is hard, it's hot, and I feel like nothing is going right, that because of some of my efforts, somebody's life was changed. That letter was one of the favorites I've gotten.

She reminded me of a story that I don't think I shared with you guys. If I did, sorry, I'll share it again. I even consider it to be a miracle of the mission. To review, Kamila was from some crazy church, and after a long time of teaching and deep doctinal discussions (with the occassional good spirited Bible-bash...) she finally decided she wanted to be baptized. Her mom was from some other crazy church in Manaus, and wasn't going to let her get baptized. It seemed after trying to convince her mom for some time, everybody was starting to give up. One night we went to visit Kamila and she was pretty upset. She thought her mom would never allow her to be baptized. I then reached for my scriptures, opened up to 1 Nephi 3:7, and (looking back, with my horrible Portuguese) I read the scripture, testified and promised that the Lord would provide a way for her to be baptized. Within 2 days, her mom allowed her to be baptized and a few weeks later I was transferred. I almost forgot about that story, but in her letter, Kamila thanked me for sharing that scripture and said it was the perfect scripture for the perfect moment. I consider it to only be inspiration. But, sei lá. When I feel like nothing is going right, it feels great to be able to read that even one little experience- months ago-
is still remembered by someone that I had the privilege and honor to teach and baptize. It's times like that, that make the mission all worth it for me.

Eric as Clark Kent

But anyways, hope you guys have a great week. I'll send some pics. Love you guys e tchau

-Elder Eric C. Stapley

Porto Velho

Hey guys!

This was a pretty good week. It's hotter than heck still and the sun is really strong, but that's just life I guess. We had a baptism on Sunday. It went well. Sunday was actually pretty cool. A man that we baptized recently, Marcizo, blessed the sacrament for the first time. We taught the principles of the gospel class and it was a lot of fun. All of our investigators and recent converts really participated and we had a good time.

One of our other recent converts, Dionízio, kinda surprised me. We'd marked to teach him last Saturday night. We didn't know what to teach because we'd already taught him all the lessons. At the last minute, we decided to give him a Book of Mormon to give to somebody else. We practiced with him and he accepted the invitation. On Wedneday, we met with him again and when we asked about the Book, he said, "I didn't want to give the Book to just anyobdy...." I figured he didn't give it away. But then he went on to say how he'd thought about it all week and prayed about it. He ended up talking to one of his friends at work. This friend wants to stop drinking. Dionízio told the friend that he'd recently stopped drinking and made some changes in his life. He then told him about the Book of Mormon, bore his testimony, got his address, and marked us a visit with him this week. What a stud! It was a pretty fullfilling thing to see as a missionary.

We did a service project this week and helped a lady clean up the front part of her yard. It was a huge mess and full of trash. When I was picking up trash, a tarantula almost climbed up my hand. I've decided that I hate tarantulas. They are so ugly and hairy....yeah....too bad I haven't gotten the camera yet or I would've taken a pic.

So, this is the last P-day of this transfer. I can't really decide what I want to happen. Before, I just wanted to be transferred back to Manaus. But, I guess I'm starting to like it here more and (next transfer) we've marked a wedding/baptism for a really cool couple. The lady has been wanting to get baptized for a while, but her husband never wanted anything to do with the church. He used to mess with the missionaries and run away from them. But now, after a long time, he wants to get baptized and learn more about the church. It's cool to see the difference in him. He went from pretending he wasn't home when the missionaries came by, to making us a huge tambaci (fish) feast last night. So, I kinda want to stick around to see their wedding. They're having some problems with wedding documents, but it looks like they'll be married in a few weeks....so, we'll see....

We had a pretty spiritual and powerful experience. A while back, we baptized a 76 year old man whose daughter is a very firm member of our ward. At first, I didn't feel really comfortable teaching him, thinking he didn't understand all the things we taught. But, after hearing stories of him refusing coffee and cigarettes when people offered, we decided that he really was able to be baptized. His health has been diminishing and the only family member that takes care of him- is his daughter that's in our ward. It's pretty draining for her and sometimes reminds me of you guys and Nana. But, Manoel (the 76 year old) hasn't missed a week of church since his baptism. We stopped by to visit them on Monday and could tell it had been a really rough day with Manoel's poor health. So, last second, we decided to talk about the Atonement with them. We shared some scriptures and bore testimony of the Atonement. The Spirit was really, really strong. When my comp got done bearing his testimony, he passed over to me to let me bear mine. I don't know what happened, but the Spirit just hit. I could barely talk. When I got the first few words out, I started to cry....which has never happened to me during a lesson or member visit. I just looked up at the others and saw everyone else crying too. I was able to bear my testimony though about the Savior and His love and Atonement. When we finished, we gave a blessing to Irmão Manoel. His daughter asked me to give the blessing. It was a really interesting experience for me. It wasn't the first that I've given, but it was just....interesting. As I was giving the blessing, I felt the impression that he didn't have much longer to live. When I finished the blessing, we were saying goodbye and Irmão Manoel started to cry. I'm not sure when he is going to leave this earth, but I just know that I got the impression that it's soon...I'm not sure how soon, or what will happen, but it was a really interesting and powerful experience to me. I know my testimony of the Savior and His Atonement is stronger now.

But anyway, that was pretty much this week. Maybe next week I'll email you from some other place. It's not likely, but it's possible. Hope that you have a great week! Love you guys!

-Elder Eric Stapley

Porto Velho

Hey guys

This week went pretty well for the most part. It had it's ups and downs. Our baptism fell through on Sunday. The lady didn't make it to church. We visited her on Monday and it turns out she got sick and had to go to the hospital. Since nobody has phones (or credits to call people....) she wasn't able to call us and was pretty upset about it. We rescheduled for this Sunday and I'm hoping and praying that everything goes well.

We had zone conference this week. I can honestly say I look forward to zone conference. President, the assisstants and Sister gave some trainings. We had a great lunch and had interviews with President. I let him know that I want to work harder than I am right now and we had a nice little chat. He's a good guy. So zone conference was very fun. The only problem was that the assistants forgot our mail in Manaus! It's a good thing I like the guys- or I would've gotten really mad at them. (And... they are a lot bigger than me.) One is a hard core cowboy and the other is 6'4" and from Rio. (They, obviously, haven't lived in an area where you only get mail once every 6 weeks!)

The assistants have decided that I am officially Elder Christensen's "son". Sister was training us about having a reserve fund as a missionary and asked me to read something about how we need to have a reserve of R$50. But, I accidentally read R$5. When everybody corrected me, I said (with a strong Manaus accent) "eu sou pobre eu" (or "I'm poor"). Everybody started laughing and afterwards the assisstants told me I sounded just like Christensen. I guess that's a good thing considering he had a really good accent...I guess my accent is improving. But, I'm still working on it.

On Saturday we helped a sister in our ward paint her house....exciting. It actually went by pretty fast and was a nice break from the usual day-to-day activities. We walked to her house in street clothes. Talk about weird. It was a 20 min walk and felt so cool to go down the street in shorts and a t-shirt and tennis shoes. I kinda miss it actually. Just one year and 5 months to go....

One day, all of our appts fell through after we walked to the edge of our area. We were decently close to the forest. We found some pretty gnarly spots in our area. Too bad I still don't have my camera or I would've taken some sweet pics. I might have to borrow a camera 'cuz it was cool. We didn't go into the rainforest itself, but got pretty close. This week I'll try to take some pics for you guys....we'll see how it goes

So, today, our zone is going to Subway for lunch! I'm stoked. Except, it's so expensive...but, oh well. So good!

Quick story- I've been dreaming in Portuguese for a while now, (actually I think some strange mix of Portuguese and English). I guess this week I was sleep talking in Portuguese. My comp told me the next morning that I was saying things in Portuguese. A little embarassing, but also, pretty cool. boa sorte....mas, só isso então. Até mais. tchau

That's tight Chandler is going to Tawain! I'm stoked! If you see him, tell him good luck and congrats for me. Way cool.

I talked with President this week about visas. It sounds like they are picking up and going a little faster now. But, still a little slow. Have fun in the temple with Shan. Encourage her to go a lot. I wish I would've gone more, especially because we don't have one here....at least her mission has a temple...

Anyway, have a good week. tchau

Elder Eric Stapley

Porto Velho, Rondonia

Hey guys!

Well, it's P-day again. We just got done playing basketball and soccer with our zone. It was a fun time. I can't wait to play sports again where it's not burning hot every second.

We have a potential baptism this week. It's a lady that has a testimony of everything, but doesn't always go to church. Even active ward members don't go because of rain. Maybe it's just because I grew up in Seattle, but you wouldn't think rain is THAT big of a deal. But, I'm praying everything goes well with this baptism. It feels like it's been a while since we've had one. I guess about 3 weeks ago...

On Sunday, our stake went on a bus trip to the temple and got back Sunday night. Our lunch got put on the bus. So, we were left without lunch. So, we got together with the other elder's (who's lunch left, too) and threw together all the food we had. Our lunch consisted of noodles, popcorn, and the brownies that you sent me, and Kool-Aid. Solid lunch. It made for a pretty fun time and some members fed us throughout the day. It didn't turn out too bad and the brownies definately turned out well!

I got a little sunburned this week. Freaking sun. Our area is massive! We got a reference of someone that lives on the far edge of our area. It was the first time that Elder de Jesus and I had headed out that far. It was a 2 hour walk, and when we arrived....he wasn't home! But, we left a note inviting him to church. He actually came on Sunday. He had class or work or something, but it was cool that he came by (in the rain...) just to say that he wouldn't make it. He will come next Sunday for sure. So, looks like there could be some potential there. Cool guy...

Monday I went on a division with Elder Olsen, an American from Utah, who is heading home in about 3 weeks. It was fun. We worked hard. His area is pretty cool. We went to some houses that look like they're completely surrounded by rainforest. Kinda cool...

This week we have zone conference! I haven't gotten my camera yet, but it might come with the assistants from Manaus. If they have room....but I'm stoked. Zone conference always makes for a good time. And... it means letters! Hopefully I'll get some....

To respond to your concerns, yes, I'm doing fine. Sometimes I get a little frustrated with the area, but overall, I'm enjoying it here. I'm growing to like my ward and the people here. Hope you guys have a good week, and talk to you next week. Tchao!

-Elder Eric Stapley

Porto Velho

It's P-day again! Overall, we had a pretty good week. It's definitely the rainy season... It rains every day and is still hotter than inferno. But, it's all good! Every once in a while it reminds me of home, except a lot hotter...

So, yesterday I went on a division again. It was with an American who's been serving about 8 months. We had a pretty good time. Except lunch...I heard lunch was going to be fish. I was pretty excited. When we got there, I realized it wasn't a fish that I'd eaten before. I honestly thought it was a piranha. It was ugly (hideous actually...) and had massive teeth. My comp and I just looked at each other, then we ate it. It tasted pretty good, but it's spine and bones were tiny. (Usually we only get tambaci here. It's a bigger fish, tastes good, and has some pretty fat bones.) So, I was eating pretty slowly, but I still ended up swallowing a fish bone. I didn't say anything- didn't want to freak everyone out- and just kinda kept eating. It finally went down. I was worried for a second. Bigger fish are so much better. But, I'm still alive.

The other interesting thing about the division, I was the better Portuguese speaker for the day. That doesn't happen too often. It was kinda fun. It gave me the chance to talk more and see what it's like to be the senior. I gotta admit, I enjoyed it. I'd like to turn senior next transfer, but don't know if that will happen. President leaves everyone as juniors a long time. It's not uncommon to have missionaries with 9-10 months still as juniors. We'll see though...

This week was pretty normal. Elder De Jesus and I get along for the most part and we're pretty good friends.

I made chocolate chip cookies this week with another American. It's fun to make them with Brazilian companions, they don't eat much. They say the sugar isn't good for them and they aren't used to it. I'm fine with that. We use something like brown sugar, but different, so the cookies weren't exactly like at home, but they were pretty good.

Have a great week, love you guys, e Tchao!

-Elder Eric Stapley