Yep, I finally got here in Maracaju! I had a bus ride all night and then I got to Campo Grande and took another bus to Dourados (where my comp was waiting with 2 other missionaries). We stayed in Dourados for a day and had our District Meeting the next day, then got in Maracaju. The biggest difference that Mato Grosso do Sul (the southern state of the mission) has from Mato Grosso (where Cuiabá is the capital) is that it´s COLD here. While on the bus, I could literally see the landscape changing. The trees are more foresty like northern AZ here. Apparently it´s winter, but hasn´t gotten to the coldest part. I´m excited. I sleep with a big blanket and I don´t wake up sweaty in the morning! I´m using a borrowed jacket in our apartment, but I´m gonna buy my own soon.
Maracaju is a sweet little city. It´s a lot bigger than I thought it was and it´s actually really clean here. The houses are nicer and every street has asphalt! It´s definately the richest area that I´ve been in. At about 6 at night, it gets dark and cold. It´s like Mesa in December winter, but maybe a little colder. There are no mosquitos here and the water is safe to drink from the faucet. YES! I love this place. I don´t have to carry a hankerchief around to wipe sweat off of my face. I usually don´t even sweat very much during the day.
The branch is pretty small, but is getting back on it´s feet. Last transfer, the frequency started off at 30 and got up to 50ish. Yesterday, there were 51 people at church. The branch is waking itself up though. They are starting to have meetings and we´re going to do an activity this Saturday to help out. But the members that go to Church all seem really cool. Everyone seems to have testimonies and is more involved as members than I´ve seen in some places. They´ve got a chapel here, too with 2 stories! I need to take a picture and send it to you.
When we got here on Wednesday, our baptism for Sunday fell through. But, the Lord is definately preparing his children to accept our message! There is 12 year old young man called Marcus that went to Church 2 weeks ago, but the missionaries were having a hard time finding him at home. We found out that he stays at his grandma´s house during the weekdays, so we went there on Thursday and he accepted to get baptized on Sunday! Talk about prepared! This kid is awesome. His dad and majority of the family (it´s a BIG family) are members but are almost all less-active. His great grandma is super strong in the church though and is always there. So, she and Marcus´ dad, Gilson, came to the baptism on Sunday. I´m hoping that Gilson will come back to Church because now he has an "excuse" to accompany his son. He´s a really cool guy, too, that supports and helps Marcus 100%!
Then, we had lots of people at Church, too. Irison and Fabiane came to Church (member´s friends) but it´s a complicated situation. They live together, because Fabiane´s mom is crazy and drinks. But... Irison is 16 and Fabiane is 13! They can´t even get married legally!! Crazy situation. But, 2 girls from the branch brought their boyfriends to Church. Felipe has a date for next Sunday, and Johnn is more complicated. His parents are leaders of some strange New Jerusalem church and he plans on getting married with Lidiane (member). He just turned 18, so now he can get baptized, but his girlfriend´s grandma (which is like her mom) said that they can´t married unless he´s baptized. He´s a really shy guy and she´s kind of freaked him out, so we went and taught him yesterday while the grandma stayed inside, hahaha. I´m not sure when, but I know that he´ll get baptized.
Wow, this is getting long. My comp is Elder Furtado! He´s super smart and talks really delicate and formal. Imagine a Brazilian speaking Portuguese with a British accent. I love him! He´s really obedient and dedicated and we work well together. Plus, he says lots of nerdy things all of the time, which makes my day. More on him next week! Happy June to everyone! Have some fun in the sun!
Brazilian Fact: Brazilians think that all Americans are fat and eat hamburgers everyday!
Pics: Our District (except that 2 other elders weren´t there) and Marcus´ Baptism
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