24 November 2010

Elder Sardinha and I are having a great time here in Novo Mundo. There
are a few new people at church that I didn’t know one year ago, but
for the most part I knew everyone. It was great to see the looks on
people’s faces when we greeted them at church on Sunday. Most of them
seemed to be thinking, “Wait, haven’t you already been here before?”

Outside of finding new people to teach, Elder Sardinha and I have been
visiting a few of the people that I taught a year ago. From the looks
of things, a few of them may be ready for baptism this time around.

Lyn, the best thing you can do when you give a Book of Mormon to
someone is bear your testimony. Let her know what the book means to
you and why you’re giving it to her. Tell you you’re giving it because
it’s the best thing you could give. If I know you, it may end up being
kind of comedic, but I’m sure it will be spiritual. And most important
of all: follow up! After giving her the book, ask her every
once-in-a-while how her reading is going.

I didn’t quite understand what was wrong with the Simplified Hymnal;
maybe a picture would help. I’m grateful that you thought so highly if
the member here to order a new one, and I’m sure she would be, too.

Thanksgiving here will be a pretty normal day. Maybe I’ll buy a
roasted chicken again.

Elder Sardinha is a great companion. We work really hard together. I
hope we can keep up the excitement for the next five weeks.

Until next week,
Elder Floyd

17 November 2010

You won’t guess where I’m writing from: Novo Mundo! Transfers were
today, and I have been called back to my second area as a trainer. My
new companion is Elder Sardinha (pronounced: sar-jeen-ya) from
Brasília. He arrived in the mission field yesterday. After the initial
shock wore off, I was really very happy to come back to this area.
Last year, I made my Christmas phone call from this chapel, and it
looks like I’ll be doing it again this year. The members that I’ve
seen so far have all been very welcoming. They all look at me as if
something weren’t quite right, and then we have a little chat about
how things have changed in the last year. I guess there’s some
unfinished business for me to take care of here.

Elder Floyd’s Christmas List (Ordered by Priority):
A Christmas letter signed by families I know in the ward
Sunscreen
Intermediary hymnal (for a member)
Maple extract (for a member)
Peanut Butter M&M’s
Cheez-its
Cranberry sauce

The intermediary hymnal can come in English. She doesn’t have to sing
to it; she only has to play it. I think the sunscreen was from some
company that I though only made lotion. I can’t think of the name at
the moment.

Outside of the transfers, I’m not sure what else to report. I think
this is going to be an excellent transfer with Elder Sardinha. We have
lunch with a member right now, so we’ll have a lot of catching up to
do.

Until next week,
Elder Floyd

10 November 2010

I made root beer. I found that if you melt the sugar and then add it to carbonated water, it doesn’t take out too much gas. We had our zone barbeque today, and the Americans really liked the idea, so I made 6 liters of it. Very few Brazilians like root beer. I’ve heard from some of them before that it tastes like medicine. Today the Sisters said it tasted like toothpaste or mouthwash. Anyway, we liked it. Thanks for sending me the extract.

That reminds me of something else I want to add to my Christmas wish list (I hope it’s not getting too long): 1 more tube of that awesome sunscreen. It is getting hot around here. One more thing I just discovered: the link I put in my last email may not work. The sister asked for any intermediary hymnal, not a beginner’s one. I think that if you put “Hymns, Simplified Accompaniments” into the search bar, there should be no trouble.

Can I drink the water? Yes, but it is always better to drink filtered or mineral water because there is a slight (very slight) chance that you may get sick. I’ve heard that Curitiba has the best faucet water in Brazil.

There’s one more week in the transfer. I may be sending my email from another area next Wednesday.

It’s good to hear that everything is still going great for Dad at work. It sounds like blessing are not absent from your lives, and Vinnie coming back inside the house on command is a miracle blatant enough to convert any disbelieving soul. I’m counting the blessing I’m receiving here, too. They are many. I hope that I do not let them go unnoticed.

Until next week,
Elder Floyd

3 November 2010

Not many changes to report from last week. Transfers are now two weeks away, and the choir practice today was really good. Actually, there’s some good news to report about that: We now have two performances confirmed, one on the 8th and one on the 10th of December at the Estação Shopping Center. Now, drum roll please. . . . We might be singing for the governor of Paraná! The details still have to be worked out, but it looks like a brother from our area has worked his magic to get us to sing at the state government headquarters here in Curitiba. The event will be on television, and there will be a live internet stream for people to watch from anywhere in the world. Like I said, it is not yet official, but it’s almost there.

We had a great training from President Cordon and his assistants yesterday. It was a review of a couple of the new missionary trainings: The Doctrine of Christ – The Missionary Purpose and The Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion. We were reminded about listening to the small, subtle promptings of the Holy Ghost during our teaching (and during the day in general, too) to help our investigators become converted. I’ve decided that that is going to be one of the major themes of things I’ve learned on my mission: How to recognize (and respond to) the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Brother Cheney gave me some good tips for the last part of my mission. Let him know that I’ll do my best to implement them. I need to get a letter off to him, actually. I think he’s written to me three or more times without having received a response. Also, a question: Isn’t Sister Achiu getting home soon?

Love,
Elder Floyd

P.S. Things to add to my Christmas wish list: two families in the ward have asked for items that are impossible to get here, and they’re willing to pay for them: an intermediary hymnal (which can be found here) and a ½ liter to a liter of maple extract. I told them I would ask you for them. I thought of one more thing that I wanted to ask for, but I’ve forgotten now.