Ainda Alive

11/27/2008

Hey everyone,
  WARNING: Do not spray Deet on black pants...trust me.  Especially while in the 

hot sun.
  So about Brasil, its awesome.  One thing i will say tho is that i don´t tihnk you 

can get a traffic ticket down here.  In fact i´m pretty sure if you get hit as a 

pedestrian your the one who recieves a ticket.  Riding in a taxi here surpases 

anything Sienfelt had to say about taxi´s in New York.  Wow i´m pretty sure my 

life expectancy dropped a few dozen points just getting into one of those, as 

well as just walking one the same streets as them.  Another fun one, we all seen 

Harry Potter, some of us have even read them *cough cough*  Well i´m am quite 

sure i just rode the night bus.  Its not my first time on a bus here, and not 

even close to my last, but its a thrill everytime.  I remember the first time 

my first week here when i thought ``Eh i´ve ridden subways and such a thousand 

times i donpt need to hold on to anything i got this``  MISTAKE (scrubs) Im 

standing in line to pay one moment and the next i´m nearly on someones lap. 

We easily squeezed through spaces not even the Night Bus could have gotten 

through traveling roughly at Mach 2.  Needless to say Brazlian or American 

when you hear a bus coming in the streets everyone immediatly dives for a 

side walk.
  This week was pretty evenful socially with other missionaries.  Sadly i 

feel i miss alot of spiritual moment because of my languege deffiset.  But we 

did have another baptism at our building this week for a Kid who was turning 8. 

I knew him from all the soccer i´d played with him and kartchner did the baptism.

Afterwards me and my companion had some appointments to attend to, but the plan 

was to order burgers and meet up at Kartchner´s after that (Holmes and his comp 

were present again too) And so we did.  I was just expecting some low key brazy 

burger.  WHat i ended up with was immidiate heart burn and the feeling that i 

wasn´t gunna be able to move off that couch like stack of matresses.  I remember 

Elder A. Olson writting home about something he had in South AFrica that you can 

only have 4 times a year or you´ll die, well i´, pretty sure this is the brazy 

equivalent.  It was a ´lanches´with grilled chicken sausage and steak pieces 

(like nickel sized) and chopped up onions and peppers as well mixed in there. 

Then it had like 3 scrambeled eggs fried on top.  All on a bun that seemed to 

have been soaked in delicious greese.  You ate the entire thing with something 

they call carrot sauce (as it translates) on every bite.  It was one of the most 

deliciously horrible things i´ve ever had.
  I got some kind of Brazilian Poison Ivy this week i tihnk.  It started on my 

right ear at ZC then moved to my right wrist other wrist and then other ear. 

All this would have been pretty incradibly frustrating but luckly there´s this 

amazing Person neamed Emily H who gave my some anti-itch cream (w/ Zybrol or 

something, man that stuffs gotta be a steriod) this summer and for some random 

reason i brought it down here.  The stuff zapped it pretty quick tho i still 

hav a little bit lingering.
  Sunday me and my companion went out early again to try and collect all the 

people we had tracted into this week.  We ended up bring 4 to church tho only 

2 made it to Principled of the Gospel.  One of them is a 17 years old boy who 

seems to have quite the interest in the gospel.  Also while at the church this 

week a man walked you and had a few questions about our church.  WE were with 

our ward mission leader, who is a very fun 23 year old man, and we ended up 

giving him an entire tour of the church.  He sounded very commited to coming to 

church on sunday tho he lives a little out of the way.  We´ll see what happens..
  I´m writting you today btw and not yesterday because we got caught up with a 

member family after lunch on our pday and never got a chance to use the internet.

But in summary yesterday was awesome. Actually it all kinda started the day 

before when i was told E whitehead his comp and of course kartchner and guerra 

were coming over that night for a (you guessed it) pancake party!  I´m pretty 

sure half way into making the pancakes, before everyone got there, my companion 

for some reason thought they weren´t coming and so he gave alot of pancakes away 

to the memebers that live above us.  But sure enough about 10 minutes latter 

their were 4 elders out side our gate all clutching a pillow.  (i don´t have 

a clue how my companion heard them clapping btw, that is a mystery to me)  We 

all ate about 5 of so giant pancakes when we only had room for maybe 1.  This 

intire time i was wondering were the heck everyone was going to sleep in a 

house of only 2 beds but it worked out as everyone was ok with just using a 

sidewayz matress for their back and the floor for pretty much everything else. 

(all floors here are tile btw, i don~t plan on seeing carpet for 2 years) 

(also, all church buildings are nicer here, lol, the new ones that is.  I´m 

pretty sure the one ZC was held in was origanly supose to be a temple, the 

ouside has gorgeous marble and theres even an elevator!)  In result i didn´t 

get the best nights sleep ever and i dont think my comp ever went to sleep cause 

he was talking rapid portuguese to whiteheads comp all night.  Both of them 

both woke up at the crack of dawn to to go play futebol somewhere too.  The 

rest of us woke at a much more normal hour (fpr a missionary) and went up to 

our building to play volleyball with some other ppl from our zone.  It wsas fun 

except the brazilians won every game BECAUSE THE SAVE EACH GROUNDED BALL BY 

DIGGING IT OUT WITH THEIR FEET!!! makes me sick.  But it was a ton of fun and i 

got a ton of sun.  After that we met just about every missionary in Maceió at a 

churrascaria.  And that was exseptional!  It def compared to Bacana Brazil in 

it buffet tho i think Bacana might have a few more meat choice, excepting chicken 

heart which is alright (a little to chewy)  Regardless it was certainly a lot 

less expensiving only amouting to about 8 amercan dollares i believe (im not 

sure on the exact exchange rate currently)  We left there expecting to jump on 

a bus home, but what ended up happening was an hour long search for were our 

certain bus stopped...beacuse aparently our bus only stops at a bustop on the 

other side of town lol.  Kartchner said it was nearly immpossible to ever 

understand the buses here so i´ve decided just to expect that seeing as how 

the don´t even have route maps.  It was Sis Beynons birthday and so we called 

and sung to her while on the bus (she is amazing)  Next is where me and my 

companion got caught up at a recent converts house.  SOme how i got caught in 

a version of uno i still don´t fully understand but i did come in second once.  
  That night, while people in south africa were making preperations for 2010, 

the brazilians casually kicked my trash in futebol.  I´m not entirely sure how 

i got worse but it was pretty apparent, maybe i need to stretch more...  I will 

have you know that i did score again...on saturday....against the..little...

kids...
  Ammon is the coolest missionary ever.  Its interesting that you seem to think 

the same mom.  I think Alma 17-26? (is that right) could potentially be my 

favorite part of the Book of Mormon.  I nearly cried, no joke, as i read about 

the anti nephi lehi´s giving there lives for the church.  How great a work that 

one could have such great faith in there Lord to do such a thing.  And if it 

weren´t for ammon it couldn~t have happened cause he got all those other 

brothers out of jail, as a side note.  It wonderful to see how his missionary 

work didn´t stop there.  When he returned to the nephits he continued his work 

and even went down to those worshipping on the ramiumptam.  I ithnk we should 

all follow his example in always being missionaries.
  Well i canpt tihnk of much else.  Grand ma will be happy to know i´m scratching 

my head alot here as to retain my hair and prevent baldness.  Gotta keep the 

pores lose, right grand ma?  I´m glad to know Mrs Kia is gdoing well, and high 

five to those who helped north get fourth in swim confrernce.  
 
I love You All 
Falou!
E Neuberger