26 October 2009

21 Octobro 2009

Dear Family,
I hope you haven't interpreted the lack of an email from me as a slack on my part. A search through the General conference archives left me with very little time to write emails. I did, however, read everything that was sent to me, and because both emails were rather long, I had plenty to read!

It was good to hear that Amanda has gotten settled out in Orcutt. It was also good to hear about everything else that's going on around there. Sounds like Vinny need that obedience training still.

As far as senior companion goes, I can't believe they sent you a letter! I remember learning back in Provo that we shouldn't write home about such things to avoid causing pride in our parents, and here the mission is doing it behind my back. It's actually kind of funny, really. Just because I'm a senior companion now doesn't necessarily mean that I will be put with a junior companion, but it means that it is now a possibility.

Still no baptisms for the month of October, but I'm optimistic. We've had to make some hard decisions regarding long-time investigators, but I know the lord will lead us to his elect.

As usual I am thinking of you all; not to the interrupting of the work, but you are still on my mind. I love you very much, and I hope the Lord continues to bless you in all aspects of your life.

Until next week,
Elder Daniel Floyd

14 October 2009

I’m glad to hear that you received the photo CD. I will take more pictures of the area. There is only one picture of my apartment in Guarapuava, and it was taken at night as I was leaving the area. The photo of apartment number “1313” houses another companionship; I just thought that some people would enjoy a little Munsters humor. Remind me in a year and a half to recount a story about a Fiat dealership in Gurapuava.

My latest miracle, huh? Makes it sound like you bought a few of those at the 99¢ Store, too! No, really, I would have to say that my latest miracle happened yesterday. We had six lessons planned for the day, with two planned to be taught with a member present because we had splits marked for the nighttime. At about 1:30 we received a call from a sister in the ward informing us that her thirteen-year-old son was still waiting at the chapel to go teach with us. Elder Gonçalves had talked with him on Sunday but has not confirmed any plans. So, anyway, we made our way quickly to the chapel and taught two lessons with him.

At this point I was thinking, “Yeah, now we’re going to have four lessons with a member present at the end of the day!” However, when the time for the nighttime split drew nigh, we received a call from the members that were supposed to do the split with us. Some kind of emergency came up, and they couldn’t make it. At the end of the day, we were left with only five lessons taught, but we had our two taught with a member present. The Lord, through the eyes of eternity which He holds, prepared a way for us the reach our goal even before we had a problem. And you know something, I didn’t even think of it as a miracle until now. I guess I’ve seen a lot more miracles than I give myself credit for.

We still don’t know what’s going on with the camera. The brother that took it to find a better price has yet to report back to us.

My shoes are fine, and no, my pants are not falling off. In fact, I’ve run into a problem here: more available food and less required walking. I’m getting fat again! Don’t worry; I’m looking into changing my diet.

I said I’d share a little thought about Allan and Camile and also about General Conference. My little miracle story has left me without any time, but I’ll prepare them later today, and if you don’t receive them through MissionTies, you can expect them in my next email. Also, I sent a letter to Brother Cheney through MissionTies. Can you confirm that he got it?

Until next week,
Elder Daniel Floyd

7 October 2009

However, I did get my Priesthood lineage printed out, and that’s pretty cool to have. Corrieos is no longer on strike, but they’ve got so much stuff backed up because of the strike that they are currently only delivering bills and other “important” documents, or so I hear (I don’t watch the news, you know).

Thank you, thank you Lyn for the spaghetti sauce recipe. I know I’ll be making some this week. I never thought I’d miss American spaghetti.

GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS AWESOME! I don’t think anyone watching will ever forget the testimony given by Elder Holland. I felt like going out and hitting some hard-hearted people with the Book of Mormon, but as you can imagine, I didn’t do that.

I just thought I’d inform you that we’ve found a great young married couple: Allan and Camile. I’ll explain their little story the next time I write.

Still no news on the camera. We’ve given it to a member to look for some cheaper prices in another area of town.

I was going to share a thought from General Conference, too, but the text is not yet online. You can be expecting that one next week, too.

As always, I hope and pray that everything is well with you all. I hope Amanda’s doing great at home and that Jennifer’s okay in Texas with the boys.

Until next week,

30 September 2009

The first thing I must do is repent and clear up some confusion. When I wrote “tomato sauce” in the last email I sent, I was thinking “spaghetti sauce”. That’s what I’m planning on making. There is definitely no need to send cans of spaghetti sauce through the mail, and it is unlikely that they would arrive here in one piece.

Speaking of the mail, the employees of Corrieos, the Brazilian postal service, have been on strike for some time and have just started getting back to work, which means that letters I sent and letters that were sent to me will probably arrive a little bit later than usual. Yes, the photo CD is on its way.

Also, I have my dentist appointment today. I forgot to withdraw the money I needed at the bank, so I’ll be taking it out tomorrow to reimburse the money I will be using now. Also on the subject of money, there is something a little less pleasant that I need to explain: This last Monday at our district meeting we decided to take some last-meeting photos. We all lined up our cameras and they did their thing. When I pulled my camera off the table, Elder Gonçalves’ camera and the tripod it was on went tumbling to the floor. NO, IT DID NOT BREAK, but a part around the lens either broke and fell out, and now it kind of whobbles around a little. As I was the one to pull my camera off, I have taken full responsibility. We’ve gone around looking for repair shops, but so far we have only found one, and it looks like there it will cost about R$120 (120 reais). We are still looking for other estimates. You probably know what I am going to ask, so I’ll just leave it up to you now. Personally, I think that the tripod leg was placed inside my camera’s wrist strap and fell for this reason when I snatched up my camera, but as I can’t go back in time and take another look, right now I am 100% responsible.

On a happier note, Chaun and Keven were baptized this last Saturday and Sunday, respectively! We’re still preparing Thiago and some other investigators. Elder Gonçalves was not transferred to another area, so he now begins his fourth transfer here in Novo Mundo.

I have gotten over my sickness and am back to work better than ever. I’m happy to hear about seminary and the garage sale, too.

General Conference is next week (as if you didn’t know!), and I am really, really excited. I hope that you're excited, too. How lucky we are to hear from living apostles and prophets every six months. I’ll keep you updated on the status of the work here. The cold has returned for now, and it has been raining a lot.

Until next week,
Elder Daniel Floyd

23 September 2009

First off, here’s my physical address (finally!) so that I can receive mail directly in-home:

Elder Daniel Wells Floyd
Brazil Curitiba Mission
R. Luis Lepoldo Landal #1055
Novo Mundo
Curitiba-PR
81050-120 BRAZIL

My email, unfortunately, will be short again. I’m not getting stingy; I’m getting sick again. I have a fever, but I’m not sure how many degrees. I’ll check when I get home. Yes, President Araújo knows. I told him during the transfer interview we had after visiting the temple. Wow, you have got to get a hold of this place. A lot of small temples only come with a starting room and a Celestial Room, but the Brazil Curitiba Temple has a starting room, a Terrestrial Room, and a Celestial Room.

Things are going good as far as baptisms are concerned. We are preparing three for this weekend (1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday). It’s only half of the goal we had for September: 6. But it’s still pretty good. Chauan (Shy-wahn), Keven, and Thiago (Chee-ah-go) are great! They’ll all make a great addition to the young men’s program here.

On another front, please let Brother Cheney know that I’m sorry that I didn’t get the letter he requested to him. I’ve been working on it since the MTC. If he still wants it, I’ll try to send it soon.

Other than that, thanks for permission to use your hard-earned money on something that is my fault. I have a feeling that my teeth are going to haunt me yet in my life.

Also, a request: could you please send a good tomato sauce recipe? The tomato sauce (molho de tomato) here is a lot different! It’s more salty than sweet and tangy. It would also be a great help if you could send it through MissionTies because it costs R$0.20 to print or copy and black and white page here!

That’s about it for now. If you have questions, please write them. I know that life doesn’t change much in one week, but it’s still great ti gear from everybody. I received a letter from the Ridgeways a while back; I’ll try to get something out. That reminds me, I’ll be sending out the picture CD tomorrow. Also, I’ll try to get a response out to Don’s email.

Until next week,
Elder Daniel Floyd

P.S. "O gripe" translates to "the flu" in English.