Into the Amazon

 Tuesday, November 26, 2024; Floresta Ward, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil: Ooopa olá a todos. Vocês estão bem? Espero que vocês estão prontos para comer muito nessa semana . Aqui tô vendo mais árvores de natal , então, sim, podemos escutar para música de Natal. Antes E depois de quinta-feira . Hey y'all, how's life? I hope you all have had an awesome week!  This week has been pretty good, or at least my attitude about it was pretty good . I'm writing this email a day later than normal because our p-day was changed this week. We got to go to the Zoo and it's not open on Mondays. So, we went with the other missionaries here in Rio Branco to the zoo. It isn't the biggest zoo, but it was super-cool. The zoo has several types of monkeys, parrots, Eagles? (Or something like them), deer, A Toucan, Boa constrictors, and Alligators. But the best part wasn't even the animals in the cages/enclosures. It was several monkeys. One which was sneaking into another animal's open-...

 Monday, November 18, 2024; Floresta Ward, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil: Ola gente! Como vocês estão? Na minha semana tivemos Conferencia de Zona e Conferencia da Estaca! Foram boas, aprendi bastante!  This week started out pretty slow but turned out pretty good with some conferences.  We had some days filled with miracles, and others filled with rain .  We returned to a street where I saw a goat in someone's yard [but didn't see it anymore]. Upon asking the owner's son, he replied that they had killed the goat. Rip. The gas tank from someone on our street started leaking, so they threw it outside and warned everyone to stay away till it was empty.  A bunch of Brazilians have asked us about our thoughts on USA politics... yeah both I don't know half of anything, and I can't/won't talk politics on the mission. This past week or two, I tried two Fanta brand sodas, flavored Caju, and Bettlejuice/Mystery flavor. Idk if other parts of Brazil have or will have the Fanta C...

 Monday, November 11, 2024; Floresta Ward, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil: Olá, bem vindos a todos! Espero que sua semana foi top demais e que vocês vão ter mais uma semana cheia de alegria! This past week has been good, bad, and everything in between. Being that it's the rainy season, that is awesome for the climate but isn't so great when you want to talk to lots of people. Brazilians here like to hole up in the house and not come out when it rains. So, during the rainy days and moments, everyone is either at work, at school, or hidden inside.  But anyways... some other things also happened.  -We saw a goat this week! -Lots more bugs outside, including mosquitos, flies, beetles, and more We had an awesome family night in the Bishop's house. He invited some other people from his neighborhood, and it went great. I used some Classic family night strategies from my family's past experiences. Things like a mini-scavenger hunt around the house. It was super fun, and everyone enjo...

 Monday, November 4, 2024; Floresta Ward, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil: This week was pretty good!  Just like life, it didn't seem as good as it was until I finished it and looked back at it.  It rained a decent amount. One day, it rained in the morning. After lunch, it was mostly clear, so I thought the rain had stopped. 15 minutes of walking and the sky burst open. Even with a raincoat I was soaked. Finally, we took cover in a covered soccer court. But it got kind of cold so that was nice. I ate fresh mangos and pineapple. Love how sweet the pineapple is here.  A bunch of bugs started swarming the walls and doors of the chapel and my current apartment building. Apparently now is the season to get sick from mosquitos. Lots of walking. Lots of difficulties. But it's that one moment, that one lesson, that one person that makes it all worth it. There is this guy we started teaching, and we are trying to help him quit smoking. He wants to stop but needs help. And just seein...