More Pictures from Tiangua

Wesio, Me and Elder Ferreira de Silva

Lene and her family, me and my companion Elder Andrade

Visoca do Ceara (the edge of the city)

Me and my berrante (cow horn to call other cows) and a sweet hat that we bought today

Me playing a flute made of bamboo. I bought the flute but didn't have money for the hat.

8.8.11

Good Morning!

So... This week was ok. It started out really great. We had some great goals for this week and we started out real good. But on Wednesday my companion got sick and couldn´t breath very well and his whole body was just hurting. He says its cause he was used to the heat in his other area and then got here in ´cold´ Tianguá and caught bug. Wednesday night we went to the hospital and the doctor told him that he needs to rest his lungs and gave him a ton of medicine. So we only worked half a day on Wednesday, then he had to stay home on Thursday and Friday. Saturday he was just sick of staying home so we worked way hard on Saturday to make up for the lost time. I came home that night just exausted haha. It was good.

Our investigators right now aren´t too elect. I think most of them aren´t taking things very seriously. There is Ebert who was supposed to be baptized on Saturday who hid from us all week. (We were able to go to his house everyday by doing companion splits for an hour) But he was either sleeping or left his house. We finally talked to him on Saturday and he said that he isn´t feeling prepared to be baptized and so we helped him out to know what he needs to do to be prepared and set his date for baptism this coming week, but he needed to go to church one more time. So yesterday we called the member, Paulo, who gave us his name to help us out by bringing Ebert to church. Ebert and Anderson (a friend of Ebert and Paulos little brother) were at Paulo´s house, but when it was time for church I guess they ran away. I think they are thinkin that this is a game. So we are going to have to let them know that if they don´t really want this, then we aren´t going to waste our time. It makes me a little mad when stuff like this happens. But, I have learned to be patient.

Then there is Chagas. He is a really shy guy. He is 19 years old and he is from a city close by, but is living with his cousins for a while here in Tianguá. His cousins are members and he is interested and so we started to teach him last week. Its hard to teach him cause he doesn´t ask questions or talk at all and it is hard to know if he is understanding. But we invited him to church and his cousins said they would bring him. Then yesterday we showed up and talked to his cousin and she said that Chagas was embarrassed and didn´t want to come anymore. So we called him and he said that he didn´t want to come and that he would next week. We told him that we are going to go to his house to pick him up and walk with him, and he said OK. haha. So we walked there and back to the church and showed up an hour late, but at least he was there.

I think this week we are going to focus most of our time on finding new people to teach...

Today I played soccer with my district here. We played in a small room in the chruch that is big enough for just 2 on 2. It was me and Elder Sessions (from colorado) against my comp and Elder Cunha, both Brazilian. We won 7-4.. haha. I was happy that 2 americans beat 2 brazilians.

Dad, I haven´t ever thought of the race percentages here. Race isn´t a big thing down here cause everyone is a mix haha. There are white people (not very many) to blacks (also not very many). and with every skin tone inbetween. Race isn´t a very big deal here like in other parts of the world. I would imagine that in other parts of Brazil, like in the bigger cities, I could give percentages. But here everyone is a different shade... haha

Also, your hand looks nasty! haha. Did you go to a doctor? or is there nothing you can do except wait? haha that is crazy!

It sounds like your week is going to be fun. I bet you guys are happy to have Leslie with you for a bit. I can´t believe Bailey is so close to having her baby... And to have Leslie already 2 years old when I get home... its gonna be weird. Maybe Miranda can have one too before I get hoome if she gets married here in the next 2 months. haha.

Well, I hope you guys have a great week! I love you very much!

Love Isaac

8.1.11 Good Week with New Companion

Hey fam!

This was a good week! My companion and I get along really well and things are looking really good here. I am excited.

So the first part of the week was crazy. On Monday night we had to go to the bus station at 1 o´clock so Elder Sena and Elder Andrade could get their bus to São Luis. It turns out that the bus didn´t show up until 2:30 and we didn´t get back to our house until 3ish. But, it was way good to see those two off... haha. So we got a little sleep and then on Tuesday Elder Cunha´s companion showed up at 2 in the afternoon. His name is Elder Sessions from Longmont, Colorado. He is a good guy. I still don´t know him too well, but I will. But then that night my companion was supposed to show up at 1 a.m.. So we went to the bus station to wait but he never showed up. We waited until 230ish in the morning, and then called the Zone Leaders. They told us that he missed his bus and that he would show up at 5:30 in the morning! They apologized that they forgot to call us and tell us this little piece of info, but i was still a little mad.. haha. We got my companion in the morning and ever since it has been way good here.

We work really good. We didn´t amazing numbers or anything, but we are basically opening this area. We are trying to find new people to teach and it is going well so far.

Wésio was baptized on Saturday. He was here in Tianguá for the week so we were able to teach him. He is from Brasilia and drives truck. His fiancé is a member and introduced him to the church a while ago. The sister missionaries taught him a little while they were here a while ago, and he goes to church here when he passes by becaues of his job. So we taught him everyday of the week everything that he needed to know. It helped a ton that he was already living the Gospel standards. He was truly prepared to be baptized. He and his fiancé will be married in December and then in a year from now they can go and be sealed together forever in the temple.

Not much else happened this week. Just finding people to teach and working hard.

Stake Conference is coming up here. It will be the last weekend in August. I think there will be a change in the Stake because Elder Goodoy of the Seventy is coming for the conference. i also think this ward is going to get a new bishop. Last week the entire stake presidency was here with all of the stake high council and they interviewed all the men in the ward. There has been a little apostacy goin on here... haha so I think there will be a change.

It is getting pretty hot here again. The rainy season is officially over. It hasn´t rained for about a month now. The people are saying it is just going to get hotter until December, then the rainy season starts again. i have been getting a little sunburned lately too. At least it cools down here at night and in the morning. but during the afternoon, it is getting hotter and hotter everyday.

i dont have much else to say... Thanks for the emails! I hope Dad´s foot starts to feel better! Why didn´t the first surergy work? The race you are preparing for sounds crazy..but fun.

Mom, my shoes are doing good. One pair has a hole in the bottom, but they still work good. And the other pair doesn´t have any problems. The insoles you sent fixed all the problems. i don´t need more for now.

I am doin great and I don´t need anything. I love you all very much and I hope your week goes great!

Love isaac

7.25.11 email chat

So today when I got Isaac's email I thought that I would send his pin number for his new bank card in hopes that he was still on the computer. Lo and behold he was still on and we were able to email back and forth for a few minutes. Here is some of the info that we exchanged.

Mom:I sent him is pin number, but I'm not going to post it on the blog:)
Isaac: thanks! I will write it down! it looks like we are on at the same time! I love ya!
Mom:I was hoping that we would be on at the same time... I love you more!
Isaac: Do you have any questions that I forgot to answer in my email??
Mom: You answered them all. Did you get the picture of Bailey? She is a cute pregnant girl.
Is this legal for you to email back and forth?
Isaac: Yes I got the picture of Bailey.. it is weird to see her pregnant. When is the baby due? i know in sept, but what day? And I think it is legall.... haha. The rules say you can email family members.. it doesn´t say how many times haha. (and elder smoot does it I know, so i think it is ok ;) )
Mom:Bailey is due the 30th of September. she is miserable in the philly heat and humidity. She vows never to be big pregnant again in the summer. At least as long as they are on the east coast. When will your new comp arrive? What happened to the other missionaries in your house. Did the crazy on get transferred?
Isaac: haha, poor bailey... I hope everything goes good for her though in these next two months. I will pray for her to not be so miserable. The crazy elder did get transferred!! i forgot to tell you that. He too will be going to são luis. An american will take his spot. it will be good to have an american in the house. My new comp will get here tomorrow sometime. i don´t remember what time so i will have to call the zone leaders again. but i am excited for the next transfer! I think it will be great!
Mom:I have loved emailing with you but I have to get my chores done and take a shower. I love you and I want you to be happy and healthy! Have a good rest of the day.
Isaac: I love you too! have a great week!

I could have gone on emailing him for a long time, but I knew he was coming close to his alloted time on the computer and I didn't want to tempt him to be disobedient. It sure was fun to know we were on the computer at the same time.

7.25.11 transfers

Hey family...

So everyone is worried about the transfer it sounds like, so to start off, I didn´t get transferred.... but my companion did. He will be going to São Luis tomorrow. My new companion will be Elder Ferreira da Silva. I got to know him in Parnaíba pretty well. He was in my district there. He is a good guy and will be an upgrade...haha. He is from Curitiba. He too was born into the church and has good family support. (from what I remember from Parnaíba.) The last time I saw him was Christmas time so I might not have everything straight. I will give you a little background on him next week.

This week was pretty good. Better than all the others anyway. We did a good job of working durning the week, and we didn´t stay in our house very much. So that was good. We also had interviews with President Dias and that was really good. I told him everything and he helped me out on what to do. He is a great guy. But because I told him everything, my companion was mad at me from Thursday until Sunday. But last night we had a talk and straightened things out. I guess I don´t need to worry about that anymore anyway because of the transfer.

Also is bigger news, Lene was finally baptized. She has been wanting to be baptized for about a month now, but it never worked out because her husband was always traveling. Then this week we found both of them in their house and Rafael (her husband) said that we should just do the baptism even if he can´t attend. So, we got things ready for the baptism on Saturday and it turns out that Rafael got back that night from traveling and was able to watch her be baptized. It was a good night for that family. Now they can all start preparing for the temple and the blessings it will bring to them.
So, I don´t really know what I can say about Brazil... It is hard to describe the terrain.. Where I am now is considered to be in the mountains, but really it is just hills compared to real mountains. There are just rolling hills of palm trees and thick, thick brush all around.
The weather is the exact same everyday. It the other cities in this mission, it is just HOT. The city that I am in now is a little cooler at night and in the morning. It gets pretty warm in the afternoon though, but there is a constant cool breeze that keeps me from gettin way hot like I would in the other cities I passed through.

Here in the Northeast of Brazil, the people aren´t very educated. Education is growing though. I think I read that public schools are fairly new (started about 100 years ago). But the public schools don´t offer that great of an education. The people that are a little more wealthy pay for their kids to go to private schools where the teachers are more qualified and there they get a better education. The older people didn´t have these opprotunities and so it isn´t very uncommon to find people that don´t know how to read or write. But I don´t want it to sound like everyone is this way... especially in the rest of Brazil. The missionaries from the south part of the country make it sound like the northeast is a completely different country compared to where they live.

The work they do here is normal work.. there are all types of jobs here. I don´t really ever talk to those who are in the medical or more wealthy professions because they usually are working and then go home to their big houses and stay inside. The people that I talk to work more with driving a bus, or working as a mechanic or someother blue-collar job. These people seem to be a LOT more humble and open to what we have to say.

The food is great. It is white rice, beans, and spaghetti noodles for almost every lunch. There is usually a vegatable salad or some lettuce and tomatoes to eat too. The most common type of meat I eat is chicken and cow. (The cow meat is really tough). Sometimes people make us fish too. I ate a lot more fish when I was closer to the ocean.

Other things that are different... transportation is different. People ride bicycles a lot more down here. Also motocycles are pretty popular. Sometimes you will see 4 or 5 people on one motorcylce. The record that I have seen is a family of 6 on one moto haha. There are cars as well, but they are really really basic cars. Nothing fancy. A luxery car down here is a new Toyota. The rich people drive those. The most common car is a Volkswagon Gol. Another way of transportaion is on a cart pulled by a donkey.. haha. I see a lot of people take that option. And to get from city to city, people take a bus... or if the cities are closer (like Tianguá to Sobral) people will take a van-bus type thing. It is smaller and fits about 30ish people maximum.

Well, I got your package. It came with president when he came here. Thank you so much!!! It had everything in there that you said. I am wondering what the pin number for the ATM card is.. I remember you told me it changed, but I don´t remember what you said it is. So, if you could, tell me please.

I love you all!!! Especially you, Mom and Dad! Oh and happy anniversary to Paige and Brent this week!! Congrats! (I am still waiting for an email or anything from you two... haha) I love you!!

Love Isaac

7.18.11

Querido Família,

This week was a little bit better. We worked a little bit more and I think things might pick up... who knows haha. There is only one more week of this transfer so we will see.

President called us on Thursday night to talk to my companion and the district leader. He told them to do an exchange. He told them to leave at 10 in the morning and to not go home until 9 at night and to give a report in their emails about what happened. I think that was a smart move. They at least worked in my area for the whole day. They didn´t find anyone new to teach because apparently all the contacts they did were with weird people haha. But I thought that was a good idea from President.

Then on Sunday, members brought 5 people to church. 2 girls didnt want anything to do with us and always turned their backs when we tried to talk or introduce other members to them. But another guy brought his friend with him. His name is Ebert. He is 14 years old. He liked church and after church and lunch, we went to his house to teach him about the restoration. It was a good lesson. It was good to teach again... haha. But it was good. He didn´t seem too interested in the first part of the lesson, but when I started to talk about Joseph Smith, he perked right up. It is always cool to teach the Restoration of the Gospel because EVERY time the Spirit just rushes in when we talk about Joseph Smith and the first vison. I think Ebert liked the story of Joseph because they have the same age and he could relate with the same questions and doubts. But anyway, we gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he will read and pray about it. He is a really good kid.

Yeah, so we do P-day a little differently here. Usually we wake up and play soccer at 8ish and then go back home and take showers and sit around. I clean my room and organize things around the house. Then we will usually go eat something for lunch and make something in the house and then take naps or do whatever in the house. My companion likes to use the internet more toward 4-5 oclock. I am fine with that. Today we didn´t play soccer, and we felt like using the internet earlier today.

Mom, my companion is from São Paulo. He has 1 year and 5 months more or less on the mission.


It sounds like your summer is going great. I was glad to see that picture of the sunset there. I was thinking that the sunsets here are just as pretty as the ones in Idaho, but I am wrong. I will try to send a picture of a sunset from Tiangua.

Mom, I think the package should get to me this week. President is doing a loop around the mission interviewing all the missionaries and he is coming here on Friday. So I should get it then if he doesnt forget to bring mail.

What are Paige and Brent up to lately? I havent heard anything from them for a long time. I guess they are still alive because I saw Brent in the picture you sent haha.

I love you all very very much! You are the best family. Thanks for the support and prayers!

Love Isaac

7.11.11 Square Dance

Elder Cunha and me (standing) Helema (membro sitting on left) and my companion Elder Andrade (sitting on right). This is our CD cover.

Th place where they square dance.

Me in a straw hat

Square Dancing costumes