Just a Half Week and Quite Sick

So it's been kind of a mellow half week. We've been working a lot with Mireli and Mikaele. They're really close to baptism. They would be baptized tomorrow but they didn't go to church yesterday because Mikaele is trying to give up coffee and she's having withdrawals. But they're going to be baptized this upcoming Sunday. I did learn something funny about Brazilian culture: instead of kissing on the cheek, they sniff people here. Yesterday was alright. We didn't have any investigators at church. And then, after church I got hit with a 24-hour cold pretty bad. My nose was just a snot-faucet and I looked drunk because my eyes were so red. I went and rested inside for 2 hours but we had people to see, so I went back out and we worked for the rest of the night. I slept early and I'm feeling bunches better today. I should be making cookies later today, so that's gonna be really fun, we shall see how they turn out.

Until the next week, love ya!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Sorry for the Delay Everyone

So, Monday was a Brazilian holiday, apparently, so all the places we could use the internet were closed. And then on Tuesday, we had a zone conference, so we had no time to email. So that brings us to today, where I actually am emailing. The past week, I took 137557 steps or 82.53 Km. I've got some funny things that I saw last week: A dog with a real puppy cut, about 1/4 inch on top, but had maybe 5 inches of fur hanging down; a shirt that said "the circle of life" but had a triangle on it; and an old man wearing a shirt that said, "gangster adventure". We had a pretty good week. Kleber got baptized on Sunday, which was awesome! But he's still having problems with smoking. We also met two very nice girls who are very interested in the gospel, Mirele and Mikaile. They've already been to church and we've been teaching them quite a lot this past week. We've been stuggling to find new people though, either we're teaching, or there's nobody on the streets. Like I said, we had a big zone meeting yesterday, which was alright. One guy, that I really liked, talked about what we want people to say about us after our mission, like if we met them later, what would we want to hear. And it made me kind of happy, because I'm pretty sure everyone I meet will say that I was an awesome guy and really funny. So that was pretty cool. There's lots of hills here. Oh! but our house I think is the greatest because not only is it huge and really nice but the members we live with always make us food and are super awesome. Also, we never have to take the bus to get anywhere, so we save a lot of money. However, we did take the bus once last week. We were late to one appointment and we were on the other side of our area, so we decided to take the bus to get there faster. However, we accidentally took the wrong bus. We went to another stake on accident. Then the bus went to the bus parking lot and stopped there. So we had to get off. It was about 8 PM and we had no idea where we were or how to get home. Fortunately, the bus drivers were really nice and put us on another bus and we finally got to where we wanted to go. So we vowed to never take the bus again because it turned a 15 minute walk into a hour and a half bus ride. It was a long night. To end, I finally have pictures, wooo hooo!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Crazy Birthday Parties Are Crazy

Before I start, 109231 steps or 65.53 km. So, I finally got into my house, which is quite nice. It's about 3 times as big as my last house and I don't have to sleep in a bunk bed. The members here are great. We have really good lunch every day. I'm kind of in the rich ward. Everyone has super fancy houses and everything. The area itself is very commercial, which makes it harder to do missionary work. Everyone lives outside of our area. My companion is Elder Sprouse. He's from Utah. He has the same time on the mission as me, only he spent all of it in Brazil. The area is kind of hard but the members are super willing to help. So, on Saturday, the bishop invited us all to the baptism and birthday party of his son to meet all the members. It was nuts. There was sooo much food and soo many people there at the church. I even helped set up a trampoline (full-sized) in the church. They went all out. I had a lot of fun and we made a good impression on the members, I think. It rained all this last week, which sucked, but it was a fun half a week.

Love ya all!

-Elder Michael Carlson

I'm in Campina Grande, in Campina Grande

99329 steps with 59.59 KMs. I have nearly no time left, sorry. I have 22 emails in my inbox, which was very nice. Thanks all of you. I forgot my camera but I do have pictures to send. I got transferred today. To the area Campina Grande. I'm still junior companion. I still haven't met my companion. I got a package this past week and I made cookies with some Reese's Pieces that were inside. They were very good cookies. I saw a shirt this past week. A little old woman was wearing it and it said, "partying is good for you!" I thought it was pretty good. We had a barbeque on our roof as a goodbye party for Elder Georgianna. Oh, we also had 3 baptisms this past Sunday. All at the same time. It was all kind of last minute but it was all very good. I'll send pictures on Monday. Promise. I thank my Grandparents and parents for all their letters, which are all very appreciated. There were some from June 11. That was pretty crazy. Blast from the past. I was the envy of every missionary at the meeting, with my 9 letters and a box. I must leave now.

Until Monday!
Love,

-Elder Michael Carlson