i really enjoyed the phone call last week too. it was good to hear your guys again for the first time in 4 months. it really made me feel better. it just goes to show that even though sometimes we all didnt get along, i still love you guys with all my heart.
I really do encourage feeding the missionaries. it really is the highlight of our day. its where we get all our good nutriants and member contacts are always prized. alot of times they lead to baptizms and development of strong members. So i encourage you guys to feed them more often and try to have at least one person in mind to give to the missionaries. even if u think the person may reject them, u never know. also we shouldnt have to track at all, if we were getting all our contacts from the members, missionary work would progress so much faster. Also, when u help the missionaries, the lord will bless you greatly. WE all can use all the blessings we can receive.
No baptizms yet, we have picked up a few investigators. some are from references we have received and they look promising. One i think is a pastor or something, and my comp had a bit of bible bashing the other day. Righteous bible bashing that is. We think he will get baptised, most likely next transfer, but he will. Craveiro even told him he will know the truthfulness of the gospel and be baptized. so that was an interesting event.
Also about thumbdrives, i heard the 8gb ones are really expensive here. hopefully i can go look for one today to comfirm that. so it may be better to send one, unless i find something better here.
(Kevin has also been advised to tell us that when we send larger packages to be careful not to declare more than $50.00 on the customs form...and to label the contents “missionary supplies”. Apparently, there are some dishonest postal workers who open packages - and some who are very picky about what you declare on the form. We haven’t had any trouble yet – but I have heard other mothers tell stories about US postal workers insisting you declare every single item in the package. That can get crazy if you are stuffing little things like lifesavers or gum to fill up space. Specific details also seem to encourage dishonesty across the border. There doesn’t seem to be any specific policies that are followed by all postal workers worldwide. The USPS website is the best source for info. I fill out and pay for the postage at the USPS website. Then all I have to do is hand it to a postal worker and we are good to go! Kevin has received all of our packages…so far……that we are aware of. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make Kevin’s first Christmas away from home memorable!)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Merry Christmas
Welcome to Elder Allen's Mission Blog!
We (Kevin's family) are going to be following Kevin's Mission through this blog format. Facebook was nice (and we will continue to use it), but hopefully, this blog will allow us to share a little more detail and some pictures that Kevin shares with us periodically.
We had a wonderful Christmas Day phone call with Kevin and we asked him a ton of questions! Here are some of them and his reply:
1 - How did you celebrate your first Christmas in Brazil?
Earlier in the week, he and his companion took a bus to Itabuna - a city outside of Vitoria da Conquista - for a special mission Zone Conference/Christmas Party. He met up with his first companion, Elder Morris, when they were both at the CTM in Sao Paulo. They had several meetings, one with Elder Zwick (from the Seventy) and lots of good food and conversation. He received most of the packages that we sent him.
On Christmas Eve he and his companion traveled to another part of the city to attend a Ward Christmas Party. They didn't arrive until 10:30 PM! They spent the night in the city, and he was able to visit with another American missionary - in English! He and his comp rode the bus back to their apartment and looked forward to our phone call that evening. Kevin also said that he loved the Christmas Tree Countdown Calendar and all the wonderful quotes and words of encouragement that friends and family sent to him. It sounds like he actually opened them one day at a time! (Thank you all for contributing your part to his Christmas Tree!)
2- How is the food?
"Lunch is the main meal of the day and we eat with the members of the ward each day. We have beans and rice everyday! The area that we live in right now is a little more affluent so we eat more pasta/casseroles, chicken, beef. There are a lot of cattle in the city...literally!! We always have fruit. I love the fruit - especially the pineapple, mango, watermelon and fresh juices." (He says he hasn't had the açai fruit yet! He also says he doesn't do any cooking. Apparently, his two native companions don't cook either. Breakfast consists of "cookies".....and he won't drink the milk. He doesn't trust it. He drinks a lot of water, fruit juices and soda.)
3- What is the weirdest food you've eaten?
" ..not many weird things....chicken heart on shish kabob....another elder ate some chicken feet, rat and turtle."
4 - What is your apartment like? Neighbors?
View from the apartment
Kitchen - clothes washer to left of fridge
"It's just a regular missionary apartment....with Easter yellow and purple walls...2 bedrooms!" He has "neighbors above us......a lady sings very loudly everyday!" (At the next transfer, the missionaries in this area will move into a new apartment. He doesn't know if he will be moving...however he will be getting a new companion as his current companion is at the end of his mission and will be going home (to Rio de Janerio). Kevin shared a few pictures of his apartment. He included a pic of his washer...says the machine does not agitate and they have to hang their laundry to dry.)
5- Transportation?
"We cannot ride bikes....the traffic is too busy. We walk everywhere we go."
Reservoir
We were walking to a members home
and came up to a chasm in the road...
6- Shelly wanted to know about the bugs:
"I have seen 2-3 inch spiders, baby scorpions and lots of ants."
7- How is the language coming?
"The language is entirely phonetic: i=ee, e=eh, r=h, verbs are difficult to figure out." (It is the verbs that make it hard for him to communicate with the people. He says he is coming along. He also says that it is easier to read Portuguese even with a dictionary. He accepted his Mission President's challenge to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. He read it in portuguese!)
8 - What do you do on P-day?
"Email family and friends, laundry, read, help the sister missionaries, shop and relax. One time I played soccer with my district for about 5 hours and got extremely sunburned!"
Coffin shopping...??? Havin' some fun....!!!
We (Kevin's family) are going to be following Kevin's Mission through this blog format. Facebook was nice (and we will continue to use it), but hopefully, this blog will allow us to share a little more detail and some pictures that Kevin shares with us periodically.
We had a wonderful Christmas Day phone call with Kevin and we asked him a ton of questions! Here are some of them and his reply:
1 - How did you celebrate your first Christmas in Brazil?
Earlier in the week, he and his companion took a bus to Itabuna - a city outside of Vitoria da Conquista - for a special mission Zone Conference/Christmas Party. He met up with his first companion, Elder Morris, when they were both at the CTM in Sao Paulo. They had several meetings, one with Elder Zwick (from the Seventy) and lots of good food and conversation. He received most of the packages that we sent him.
On Christmas Eve he and his companion traveled to another part of the city to attend a Ward Christmas Party. They didn't arrive until 10:30 PM! They spent the night in the city, and he was able to visit with another American missionary - in English! He and his comp rode the bus back to their apartment and looked forward to our phone call that evening. Kevin also said that he loved the Christmas Tree Countdown Calendar and all the wonderful quotes and words of encouragement that friends and family sent to him. It sounds like he actually opened them one day at a time! (Thank you all for contributing your part to his Christmas Tree!)
2- How is the food?
"Lunch is the main meal of the day and we eat with the members of the ward each day. We have beans and rice everyday! The area that we live in right now is a little more affluent so we eat more pasta/casseroles, chicken, beef. There are a lot of cattle in the city...literally!! We always have fruit. I love the fruit - especially the pineapple, mango, watermelon and fresh juices." (He says he hasn't had the açai fruit yet! He also says he doesn't do any cooking. Apparently, his two native companions don't cook either. Breakfast consists of "cookies".....and he won't drink the milk. He doesn't trust it. He drinks a lot of water, fruit juices and soda.)
3- What is the weirdest food you've eaten?
" ..not many weird things....chicken heart on shish kabob....another elder ate some chicken feet, rat and turtle."
4 - What is your apartment like? Neighbors?
View from the apartment
Kitchen - clothes washer to left of fridge
"It's just a regular missionary apartment....with Easter yellow and purple walls...2 bedrooms!" He has "neighbors above us......a lady sings very loudly everyday!" (At the next transfer, the missionaries in this area will move into a new apartment. He doesn't know if he will be moving...however he will be getting a new companion as his current companion is at the end of his mission and will be going home (to Rio de Janerio). Kevin shared a few pictures of his apartment. He included a pic of his washer...says the machine does not agitate and they have to hang their laundry to dry.)
5- Transportation?
"We cannot ride bikes....the traffic is too busy. We walk everywhere we go."
Reservoir
We were walking to a members home
and came up to a chasm in the road...
6- Shelly wanted to know about the bugs:
"I have seen 2-3 inch spiders, baby scorpions and lots of ants."
7- How is the language coming?
"The language is entirely phonetic: i=ee, e=eh, r=h, verbs are difficult to figure out." (It is the verbs that make it hard for him to communicate with the people. He says he is coming along. He also says that it is easier to read Portuguese even with a dictionary. He accepted his Mission President's challenge to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. He read it in portuguese!)
8 - What do you do on P-day?
"Email family and friends, laundry, read, help the sister missionaries, shop and relax. One time I played soccer with my district for about 5 hours and got extremely sunburned!"
Coffin shopping...??? Havin' some fun....!!!
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