First, a bit on the baptism.
So we had Rosinaldo's and Josinaldo's baptism this week. My companion was ever so nice to me by informing me WHILE we were walking to the chapel for the baptism that I was going to have to give a talk for the baptism because he forgot to ask someone to do it. Oh thank you so much companion! Once again well done.
So we got there, took some pics, then sat down and I stumbled through a what must surely had to have been a nearly incoherent speech about baptism. So then after I made a fool of myself we dunked those two brazis!
It was awesome actually and they loved it. I baptized Rosinaldo and Almeida baptized Josinaldo, and then on Sunday I confirmed Josinaldo and he confirmed Rosinaldo.
Yeah I don't think I have been so nervous in my life. Imagine 180 expectant eyes looking at you as you have to do something that is already a little bit hard in your first language...but then is amplified by like 8000 when you have to do it in a language that you are still learning.
Needless to say that had I needed to pee I most certainly would have right there in my suit. Who knows what I said in the blessing but I got the whole receive the holy ghost part right so I think we are good. Both Rosinaldo and Josinaldo were extremely happy nonetheless so I was really excited about that.
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Unlike the usual Mr. Chenney's, I am hailing from a LAN house in the pretty sweet city of Sorocaba. I was transferred today.
I found out on Monday night that I was going to be transferred. I was pretty excited about it...mainly because I wanted a...companion exchange...but also because I had been in my area for a while. So I was pretty excited to find out I was going to be transferred, even though I had no idea where I was going to go and didn't know until this morning when I arrived at the chapel next to the São Paulo Temple.
So I was excited to get transferred but Tuesday night I had to go around to all my investigators and recent converts houses to say bye to them...which was harder than I thought it was going to be. I very nearly cried several times but you all can keep calm because your boy held it in! But really, it was tough.
Gilmara, my first baptism, gave me a letter and told me to read it that night. She wrote about how glad she was to have met me and how she'll never forget me. I felt the same way. I didn't realize how attached I had become to them.
So anyway, this morning I showed up at the chapel and got to see some more of my friends from the CTM which was pretty cool. Then I learned that I was going to be transferred here to Sorocaba which is about 2 hours by bus west from the center of São Paulo. There are 6 of the 14 zones in the mission that are around here and I had heard a lot of good things about this place, so I am pretty excited to be here.
It is so much more QUIET here. I never realized how loud it was all the time in the Capital (city of São Paulo).
Sorocaba is pretty small for these parts and has 600,000 people...compared to the 18 million of São Paulo. It's also really strong in the church and has 4 stakes here. May not sound like tons to you Utah folk but it's kind of a big deal around these parts.
Side note: it's hilarious to see the Brazilian elders' faces when I tell them that there was one companionship of missionaries for 9 stakes back at my home. Some really just don't even believe it because here each ward has AT LEAST 2 missionaries and sometimes up to 6.My new companion is named Elder...Lemos. I think. I can't see his nametag from here...and I have only got about 3 hours with him as of now...so give me a break! He is from the dirty Amazon and has been on the mission for a year and 9 months! It's possible that I might kill him (be his companion at the end of his mission). We'll see though. He is pretty shy, isn't a leader of any sort on the mission, wears sunglasses everytime we are ever on the street (or even inside sometimes...), and I get the feeling he doesn't like Americans. Once again...hooray! Man. Can't you throw me a bone President? Please!
A shining beacon of hope in my new area is our house. It's freakin sweet. It has 2 floors (nearly unheard of here for the missionary houses) two bathrooms, a huge desk, and best of all 2 couches! Ah yeah. Serious. It's awesome. It's like a fifth the size of most houses at home but I am stoked out of my mind to have it here.
Well, anyway, the area looks really calm and peaceful, which will be a good change I think. Lot more relaxed. We will see though, I'll send more information about it when I know more next week.
Later!
-Elder Parsons
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