Wednesday, April 17--Sweat

Saw Brian Snelgrove this morning. I can't believe I haven't seen him for about two years. He looks good, skinny...but good. The other missionaries call him Peter Priesthood. "Pedro Sacerdocio." Well, sadly he's not my trainer.

My trainer is Elder Mendenhall from Alpine, Utah. (NOT the rich part of Alpine...which puts it somewhere outside of Alpine, in my opinion)

It was P-Day when I took off with E. Mendenhall. We dashed quickly to the busstop down the street from the mission office, and tried to load me, all my luggage, and about 10 other missionaries onto an already packed bus. Needless to say, it was a bit of a frantic few minutes, with impatient passengers getting upset, and venting their frustrations in ways I could understand only all too well, despite my lack of Portuguese proficiency.

Once we descended from the bus in a little neighborhood in Manaus called Manoa, we had to stop by one of the local shops to make some Xerox copies. There I am, lugging my Pathfinder luggage around, lost, completely helpless, wondering when and if I'll ever get accustomed to this, and I find myself staring at my arm. It hasn't been more than 4 minutes since I got off the bus, but sweat is pouring down my arm. I've never seen sweat bead up and slide off me like that. NEVER. Elder Mendenhall said "get used to it" and I wonder if I ever will...

Once I got things unpacked, I rested a little bit in my rickety top bunk in our rickety little apartment on Rua 7. Later in the afternoon, we ran (and by run, I mean Elder Mendenhall's legs are at least twice my length. Every step he takes, I have to take at least two) to the grocery store, bought some food (I had no idea what to get). And before I knew it, WHAM

It's time to "go to work." We talked to at least 10 people about the church. "WE" meaning HE talked to 10 people. I just hung around and said "oi," or "boa noite." It ws great though. We taught a simplified version of the 4th discussion to a ten-year-old named Bruno. He's getting baptized on Saturday.

Ever tried asking a kid about chastity in a broken language?

Me: "Bruno--you know about things with men and women?"

Bruno: "Yes...?"

Me: "Will you not do that until marriage?"

Bruno: "Yes...?"

Mendenhall: "Perfect!"

This is going to be different...