P-Day and a New Friend

A view from the central garden area of the CTM. I lived on the Fourth Floor, to the left.


8 Weeks from today! I'm out in eight weeks!!! Muito Bem! Eu so muito Animado! Nope...wait. Sorry. That means I still have 8 more weeks in the CTM. I think I'm going nuts in here! Eu sou loco!

Really, it's not so bad, I guess. One of my great friends here is Elder Hardy. He's the stud of the 4th Floor. Big, tall, redheaded kid from Fresno, CA. He's awesome--great big obnoxious sense of humore, he's nice to us "greenies" (he's been out two weeks longer than us, and therefore knows his way around this building and surrounding neighborhood), and he knows when to be serious. Every night he patrols the halls looking to give hugs and a quick "Boa Noite" to everybody within reach. Hope I get a few companions like him when I depart from this Great and Spacious Building...

My first P-Day was...interesting. I had to take care of Elder Clark's wants. He had already written all of his letters by 12:00, so we stayed out for all but an hour...looking for, what else, "sweet tags!" We are like oil and water, Elder Clark and I. Hope I can get through these next eight weeks without doing something drastic...

The Sao Paulo Temple was a neat experience. It's been around since the 70s, and was one of the first temples constructed in South America. Should get some photos developed in the next few days. Every time I go to the temple, I learn something new and understand more. That's how we truly learn. We expand our circle of understanding to encompass more. It gets harder to do each time, but as the knowledge we have moves farther from the edge, it comes closer to our minds. The trick is to always expand. Don't loiter in one circle and stagnate.

This whole experience isn't getting any eaiser...it's just getting on. Hopefully this is where the Lord tests my patience, and when I get to Manaus, I will have already been tried. I know that's wishful thinking. I don't know where Elder Clark's heart is. He tries to work hard, but I don't know why. One minute he tries to be Spiritual, the other--crude as only a guy from Kanab can be, I guess. He doesn't cuss or anything, he's just vulgar sometimes. If I'm supposed to learn from this companionship, I don't know how or what it will be. But so far, I've learned what I don't like in a companion.

Heard a good devotional from a local General Authority and his wife--Presidente Amorim. He converted over 30 years ago. He said that we would be "The Best Missionaries" to the people we baptized. I hope I can be the "Best Missionary" for the Lord's intentions. I'm trying my hardest.

I guess that's all I can do.