Week 4 in Volta Redonda

Hey Everybody!

I was really excited to open my email today, I have tons of stuff to read! I got an email from Dylan and that was really awesome to hear from him! Tell him he can keep emailing me even though I can't email him back. But I´ll send him letters as much as I can still. Tell him it´s the same thing for me here; I wish he could be here for some of the things that happen to me because I know that he would appreciate them as well. I can´t joke around with anybody as much as him, so it kind of stinks. I hope he is still doing good. I also loved that picture of Ashton, that was hilarious haha that guy. And it was really cool to see those pictures of Tanner and JJ and Spencer too on their missions. Awesome. I can´t believe that Spencer and JJ are going to be home in a few months, Crazy! That´s way sweet that Tanner is training now haha that´s pretty funny. Maybe someday I´ll be there as well. He´s almost been out a year as well, that is ridiculous! Time is just flying by like crazy! Where did April go? The months honestly feel like weeks, no joke.

Alright, I have the number that you can call this Sunday Mom and family. You will have to call me, I won´t be able to call you. You will have to call me from 4-6 my time, which means it would be from 1-3 your time, right during your church, go figure haha. Sorry about that, but that will just have to be :). But if that number doesn't work, you can call our cell phone as well, plan B.  You´ll have to find the area code for Brasil in order to call me because I´m sure there are more numbers in front of that. You could ask Sam, the guy in our ward, or just look it up on the internet I´m sure.

I have a ton of stuff to tell all of you this week, and this week I kept my planner with me and wrote them down as they happened so that I wouldn't forget. And oh yeah, my area here is Usina, in Volta Redonda. Forgot to mention that too. But anyway, I´m just going to write down these things as they happened so they will be really random, sorry. First of all, one of the Counselors of President Bezerra played for Flamengo and he played in the World Cup a while ago, so that was pretty awesome for sure. His son is playing for Flamengo right now. He visited us in Rio das Ostras at church on Sunday, but I forgot to mention it before. Also, could you guys ask Samuel for the recipes for Bolinhos and Açaí and also find out if they have açaí in the States for me? Cause I don´t think I'll last without it when I get back home. Alright, thanks. Tell Sam that I sent him a letter this last week and I don´t know why he hasn't gotten it yet, that´s weird. Haha he calls Dad Papai McDonalds, it´s funny. Tell him to also put up my address on my facebook so that people can write me or email me as well. Well, sadly enough, people here are crazy about Twilight here as well. Or as they say here, Crepusculo. It´s driving me nuts ainda! I also forgot to tell you about this nasty thing I saw at the bus station a couple weeks ago. So there´s this chubby boy without his shirt off and his stomach´s hanging over like a mile past his belt line, and his mom sticks her mouth and her face on his stomach and does that stomach blowing thing that you do to your baby, and I about throw up cause it´s nasty as heck, you know? haha it was pretty hilarious. I was like, alright, that´s nice. Thanks for sharing that with me. Oh man, and the funniest thing happened to us when we were on our way back to our apartment one night this week. This drunk guy comes up to us and wants to talk about the Gospel so we talk to him about it a little bit, and figure out that he is drunk. He keeps walking with us a little while, and then he tells me that my English is really bad, while we´re speaking in Português. Then he tells my companion how good his English is, and then I just start dying laughing and he keeps smiling at me. Then finally he´s like, I like this guy, and gives me this big old hug. hahaha it was so awesome, stinkin hilarious. Then Elder Glade is like, man, the only compliment I ever get on my mission is from some drunk guy and I wasn´t even speaking in English. haha it was sweet, he´s hilarious. We have had some funny times for sure. He keeps getting me in trouble though, because sometimes we start off our lessons singing hymns to people and he always seems to pick the hymns that have this note that is impossible to reach because it is so low, so then I´m trying not to crack up when we are trying to hit it. haha oh man, it´s bad. Needless to say, we've started to pick the hymn more wisely before we decide to sing anything. haha oh man, so funny.

 I've taken a poll with my age here, and the average age that everyone has said that I look like, is 23. It´s pretty great. I have also had about 4 people who thought I was Brasilian here so far, so that´s great too right? I have gotten a lot bigger here I think so far, but not fat-big. This is the closest to a six pack that I have had in my life haha. It must be because we have to exercise for a half hour everyday and my legs get bigger from walking up these hills all day long. So, we were going to do a service project on Saturday, and I was trying to put on my jeans and my shirt, and all the sudden they are really tiny. This was when I wish Dylan would have been there, because he would have died. The clothes were so small haha. Then I didn't want to wear my skate shoes that I brought and get them all messed up, so luckily, Elder Rezende left some running shoes here when he left and they fit me. But they were the goofiest looking shoes ever to wear with jeans. Elder Glade said that I looked like a dad, all I needed to do was tuck my shirt in haha. It was way funny, I should have taken a picture. I looked like a bumpkin.

They have holidays here every week, I swear. They just make up holidays to take the day off, it´s awesome. They had one this week, last week, and then we have mother´s day this weekend as well. Lucky them. Another funny story for you guys; we were at this lady´s house, Olga, teaching her another lesson. We were sitting on her porch on her little porch thing, and I sit down and realize it´s wet. I get up, and I realize that I sat in bird poo... I look up and there are bird cages hanging everywhere, so it only made sense. So, trying not to make a scene, I´m trying to clean it off my pants during the lesson, very sly-fully. I got most of it off, but it was pretty crazy. Another time I wish Dylan would have been there haha. Then later that night, I stepped in dog poo on the way back home. It was wonderful.

We were looking for this kid to go and teach him, and we were at the address that he gave us, and there were a bunch of different buzzers to ring, so we tried the first one, wasn´t it. And we just kept trying all of them, and Elder Glade was like, these are all probably the same person because that lady sounds pretty similar. She is probably freaking out in her house, wondering why we keep pushing these buttons haha. It probably sounds really lame; sounds really lame while I´m typing this, but it was really funny then. We've run into some really crazy people here that make me laugh. It´s great.

We have had some really amazing lessons this week as well though, we taught a guy about the Restoration and it was the first time that I have seen someone cry during the first vision. It was incredible. The Spirit was so strong and I am hoping that this guy, Marco, gets baptized really soon. We had 5 new investigators at church with us this week and they were all really cool. I hope that we can baptize them all this next week because they seem really interested in the Gospel. We have been so blessed by working and working every day. It is so cool to see how the Lord blesses us so much when we are obedient. This week started out with us having no one to teach, and it ended with having a lot of people to teach and bring to church. It was awesome!

Anyway, I loved all of your letters that you sent me this week and all of those pictures that you sent me. I still haven´t gotten the package yet, but hopefully I will at our Zone Conference next monday. I am excited to talk to all of you this Mother´s Day; that will be really awesome! I can´t wait. You guys can tell Dylan to come over so he can listen to if you guys want. It would be cool to talk to him as well. But I understand if you just want it to be a family thing. Either way, it will be really awesome! Remember to call at 1-3 your time, okay? Love you all. Love you Mom, HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY!!!!!! I will talk to you all this Sunday! Have a good week!!!!

Love, Elder McDonald