Ivoti

Week #90

In response to Mom's email:

I'm in a branch. There are some strong members and some that are inactive.

Everybody speaks Portuguese here. There is a lot of German ancestry. That doesn't mean they are German (this is in response to Mom's question if he would be able to use some of his German there.) Many do speak German as well, but everybody reads and speaks and writes Portuguese. If I were to enter a little further from the coast, I would probably hear German in the streets. Here is too close to the big cities.

I really don't think of anything to say this week and I've already used almost all the time I have. (His English is now sounding like his second language.)

This week was difficult. It rained a lot and the nobody's in the city even when the weather is good. When it rains, people are non existent. We walked a lot and had few experiences. The whole city takes about an hour to cross. It's very small. This would be one of those chapters of the Book of Mormon when they cover five years in one verse.

We have already realized that going to the people here doesn't work very well. We need something that can bring the people to us. Family History might help. (Mom had mentioned an interest in family history as a possible teaching opportunity if the area is strongly traditionally German).

Almost everything here reminds me of Vermont. It is very green. Osório was also very green. Vera Cruz as well. If there isn't a city, there is green.

Guten Tag!

Week #89

I'm in Ivoti! It's a small city of about 25,000 people, most of them German descent. Many even learned German before they learned Portuguese and still speak with an accent. There are even people that have the German flag in front of their house.

I'm here with Elder Andrade. He's from Paraíba which is very far to the northeast of Brazil. Almost the other end of the continent. He's been on his mission for almost five months. This is his second area.

We arrived in Ivoti together. I believe that the missionary term for this in English is "shotgunned" or "whitewashed." Figuring out a new area alone is a great experience, but I'm not sure that it's something I want to do again. Ivoti is a relatively rich city with very few businesses, so we spent a lot of time walking this week trying to find where the people are. Everybody works in Novo Hamburgo, which is another area, so, during the week, nobody is home and at night everybody is jogging or walking, so they still aren't at home to be taught. Our only chance of meeting people is on the weekend.

I think Ivoti is the highest concentration of wealth that I've had to work with. It's a rich, German-descent community with very few people. It's hard finding people that want to listen.

Actually, finding people that want to listen has always been difficult, but usually it's because people already have a commitment to their own church. Here, people have a religion just to say they have one. Most of the people we meet don't even believe what their church teaches and couldn't care less about learning divine truth. It's a sad situation.

Now for the good things. The house we have is great. There is lots of wind here, so the heat is bearable. I learned how to fix an electric showerhead. There's a bakery that makes a wonderful "cuca" or, in German, "Streuselkuchen". It's a type of cake that is a lot better than cake that can be filled with just about anything from fruit, cream, chocolate, nuts, and a type of creamy milk product called requeijão. It really doesn't matter what you fill it with, it's always good. Brazilians are great when it comes to adapting foreign foods and getting creative with them. 

Ivoti also has lots of hills. In one week, my belly already shrunk. I was getting fat in Matias Velho.

Here are some pictures and then I have to go. 

Everything that isn't a street looks like this.

Same thing. 

The view from the end of the city.

Until next week.

Elder Dickson

I Was Born Under a Wandering Star

Week #88

You'll never guess, so I'll just say it. After two weeks in Matias Velho and getting to know very few people, I'm being transferred again. This time I'll be a District Leader and I don't even know where.

I'll just repack my bags.

Until the next place. Sorry this email is so short.

Elder Dickson 

Transferred Again!

Week #87

I think I might have been reassigned as a permanent member of the Canoas Zone. Between Rio Branco, Canoas Centro, and now Matias Velho, I've worked in almost every bairro in the city and all of the areas that don't belong to Sisters. We joke that I am part of the Brazil Canoas Mission.

I don't think I'll unpack my suitcases anymore either. It seems like president is using every opportunity to move me around. I only unpack what I absolutely need to use. Eight shirts, one suit, three pairs of pants, 8 pairs of socks, shoes and my scriptures. Everything else just makes more work when the next transfer comes. I recommend taking only one suitcase to the mission field. It's all you really need.

Here's the photo of Kevin I was transferred, but I stayed really close, so I'll be able to visit and keep track of him and his family. 

This week I got to know many families here in Matias Velho. Elder Quinteros already served here, so he's introducing me to everybody that he baptized and all the members. I haven't eaten so much in a very long time. I think I'll get fat here again.

Saturday we had a ward talent show. It worked out really well. Elder Quinteros and I sang with young man from the ward. I didn't record it, but somebody did. I just need to find out who. (When my mother reads that last sentence she'll tell me all about the importance of remembering special things and then she'll tell me to track down a copy and send it to her. After that she'll tell a member of the ward to send the video to her anyway. I know my mom.)

We will baptize Dana this Saturday. Elder Quinteros was teaching her before he came to Canoas Centro and she is very well prepared. The answers that she has received to her prayers are the most miraculous I have had an investigator receive. There are certainly many more incredible experiences to come this week as we teach her. 

Until next week.

Elder Dickson