Into the Amazon

Monday, July 31, 2023; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: Hey y'all! More beans and rice and spaghetti every day this week :) This week my new district had a district meeting with all of us, 8 Elders. It was great to talk about problems we are having in our areas and give advice to others. Then my district had a district pday, where we played Monopoly and got lunch. We ended Monopoly early for time, but it's important to note that of the 6 of us playing, I was one of two people likely to win. ;) We had Zone conference this week. It was awesome! Practices (role plays) during it included talking to people in the streets near the church building we had zone conference in (with a temporary different companion!), followed by some master practice and instruction on simple breakfast things like eggs and fruit smoothies. I used that practice a little during the week.  I found out when you cook couscous you can just stick pretty much anything in it as it's cooking so that it isn't plain,

 Monday, July 24, 2023; Jorge Texeira, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: Hey all of you! Como você(s) esta?  This week has been a ride. Last Monday we had transfers, but I stayed with the same companion in the same area.  We went shopping last Monday too, and because I didn't get transferred, I bought a decent amount of food and stuff to use over the next 6 weeks.  This week all the young missionaries who are leaders attended a meeting to talk about and set a few new mission specific rules with the new mission president. I am not currently a leader, but my companion is so we switched with another dupla of Elders for the day. Then Thursday my companion and I were unexpectedly called to meet with our mission president. He told us we would have another transfer. And it was all my fault . He basically said that with my current companion I wasn't growing as much as he wanted me to, and decided to transfer me to another companion, new area. It's interesting because it happened just a few

 Monday, July 17, 2023; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: A little bit of Manaus Brazil Culture is that people love to fly kites. It's amazing to watch kites super high in the air and note the control people have over them. However,' my favorite part is seeing tons of kite skeletons stuck on the power lines. Many times, I see people flying their kites in and out and around power lines and for me that's just super dangerous for the kites. But seeing an awesome sunset with cool air and kites speckling the air is just beautiful. This week I had a division with Elder Jensen, also from the USA. He has 1 year and 7 months in Manaus. It was nice to talk to him some, as well as get some wisdom from him. This week we had a District meeting online, so I got to see this District once before transfers. My District had a trio of Elder, two duplas of Elders, and a dupla of Sisters. Then Thursday all the missionaries in Manaus got to go to the Manaus Temple again. This was my third time, and I ch

 Monday, July 10, 2023; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: Oi como vocês esta? This week was definitely different for me.  I had a division this week with a Peruvian Elder, Elder Suyon. He has only a few weeks here in Brazil, so it was interesting being the senior companion for a Day, with more time on the mission than him. My companion Elder Araujo and I had some good lessons with people this week. Honestly probably the start of our most productive week together so far.  We had a District meeting in person. It was decent. But just as the District meeting was close to ending, my companion and I got a phone call. There was some kind of problem with another missionary in another area, so I was getting transferred to help them out. It's a little weird because the whole mission has transfers in one week. So, I may get transferred again in a week, or my new companion might get transferred. But we will see. We hurried home, and I had a few hours to pack. Which is ok but I have too much stuff so i

 Monday, July 3, 2023; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: Olá!  Last week was our Mission President's last week, so the mission ended up going to MUSA again. A museum of the Amazon. MUSA was definitely better the second time, knowing what to expect and look for. Last week I had a division where I spent a day in another area with a different companion. I have done two divisions before, but this one was different because this time it was with an American, Elder Page. That meant I got to talk with him in English a ton (and Portuguese ;). I have had other opportunities to talk to Americans but usually it's in a larger group setting or has Brazilians too. It was good to talk some about differences in Brazil culture and our struggle to learn Portuguese. At one point I also saw a tree with some kind of fruit and 3 parrots in it, which is cool. I also got açaí with Elder Page. Then this week for preparation day we are having my first District P-day, where basically my companion and I met up wit