Into the Amazon

 Monday, April 29, 2024; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: I know I just sent an e-mail a few days ago so I'll be quick :) Things of importance: We had the baptism for Raimundo. He had already been attending seminary and playing soccer at the church for a while, and so it was awesome teaching him and helping him to get to know more about the gospel. He still has so much more to learn, but don't we all? But he is awesome. We had a lesson with a guy who knew a lot about different churches and religions. He was interested in learning more about The Church of Jesus Christ, and who better to talk with than us, the missionaries?    But It is nice to see someone interested in learning more, as there are countless people who don't know and aren't interested in knowing. That's ok, until you realize how important the gospel of Jesus Christ is. What it means, and the many questions it gives us answers to. But hey, agency, free will for all.  Today I and the other 3 missionaries here w

 Thursday, April 25, 2024; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: Olá a todos!  Esta semana, tivemos pday na quinta-feira. Fomos para o Templo de Manaus. Também eu vi Macacos em minha ala aqui, que fica dentra da cidade. Então... Uma semana boa! All the missionaries in Manaus went to the temple again; I don't yet have any photos. That's why p-day is late this week. This week it rained pretty hard-Literally every day. That, combined with my companion getting sick, led to us staying home for several days.  One of the days we passed through the big park next to our house. I had passed through another time, but this time was much better. We saw this huge fake tree, with enormous animal sculptures around and on top of it. It was so big I couldn't get a good photo. Then, two different times as we were walking, we stopped and watched some tiny monkeys swing through the trees. I got a video but it's such bad quality that I won't even try showing it to y'all. But the crazy part is th

 Monday, April 15, 2024; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: This week was decently normal. Not too much to write about. District council with other missionaries was super awesome to get help for some problems I was having. This week it rained most of the days. It rained a lot in the morning which was weird. I would have thought rain in the morning would motivate me to wake up, as it's not as hot or humid, but in the end it just made me want to sleep more We had a district pday, and I got destroyed in Uno by the other missionaries.  I don't remember if I told you all last week, but we received physical copies of the new Preach My Gospel book, which helps us better study to teach other people, as well as understanding our purpose as missionaries and representatives of Jesus Christ. Since getting the new books, my study has been magnified sooo much. I was starting to get lost in the best way to study the scriptures. How to really study and learn things, and not just read through the pages

 Monday, April 8, 2024; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: Olá pessoal, tudo bem com vocês? Esta semana passada foi boa, com duas conferências, serviço, devotional e uma surpresa! Last Monday all the missionaries in Manaus had a devotional with the Manaus Temple President, President Milder. He gave a superb devotional on Jesus Christ and his Atonement for us.  Other things that happened: -We had Zone Conference this week -Tried sushi for maybe the first time... yeah, I'm not a fish guy -Did a service project for an awesome family -Some awesome sunsets this week -Lots of rain too -General Conference was interrupted by a car playing music super loud in the street As my comp and I were walking along, I subconsciously saw IT. Right after my companion pointed it out, and then my brain finally realized what it was, and I literally jumped away from it. An Iguana. This one living though. It was probably 5 feet long, with its tale being super long and skinny.  This past weekend was General Conferenc

 Monday, April 1, 2024; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: This week was definitely a strange one. We had transfers, so for several days I had my old companion, Elder Griffin, and my new comp, Elder Rossi together.  Here the weather has been really rainy. The temperature fluctuates, but when it's not actually raining, the normal is around 30-35° Celsius (86-95°F), but also often has maybe 5 more degrees (c) in humidity. So today when I woke up it said it was 33°c (91°F), but it had the feeling of 38°C (100°F). That may hot or cool for y'all. Except that I'm missing the cold winter weather for the USA, and everyday all day is white-shirt-and-tie with slacks.... so, it's hot. And Manaus has very little wind/breeze.  On the other hand, Manaus does have lots of wildlife. And though my current area is more inside the city, this week I saw: -Two small crocodiles -A 3-foot snake -Some cool birds, including a parrot -A spider the size of my hand -A fenced-in forest next to a big avenue,