Manaus...Week 13!

Big Things Happening!!!

Well, so, I got transferred.... To a place not even in the same state as Manaus. I am currently in a town called Vilhena. And don´t ask me what state it is in because I have no idea. All I know is that I am southwest of manaus, in the middle of nowhere. Find a city called Porto Velho and then go even more south. So here is my transfer story. Get the call Sunday afternoon at 2 o clock. They tell me I will need to be at the office at 5. The same day. I got transfered on a Sunday. Craziest thing ever. So, got a ride from a member to the office, got my passport, and then headed off to the airport with 5 other missionaries. Got on the plane at 8:30. Landed at 9:30 and then went to the house of some missionaries there in Porto Velho. Stayed there until 2 AM. Then caught a bus to my area that I was on for 13 hours!!!!! We left at 2 in the morning and pulled in to my area at 3:40 or something like that! It was so long! And here is the best part. So there were 2 other elders on the bus with me, but they were going to another area. So they got off after 4 or 5 hours. And they said, just chill on the bus till I get to my area. And if I miss my area, here are some numbers to call. Good luck! So yea, I sat on a bus for 13 hours and most of the time I didn´t even know if I was heading towards my area. Luckily I made a friend on the bus who lives in this area so he was able to help me out. The bus ride is so long that we even stopped for a 30 minute lunch break. And I ate with the guy that was helping me. It was pretty sweet cause it was all Portuguese. And only after 3 months. So I´m feeling pretty good about myself, even if I am exhausted. 

And I´m sorry but I haven´t had time to take pictures. I literally stepped off the bus, got my bags, dropped them off in an apartment of some elders (which I´m gonna have to move again because it isn´t even our apartment, so more travel. Yay!), then walked here because the other 3 elders have been waiting for me so they could email their families. So nothing this week, but next week, I promise. 

But so let me now do a recap of the rest of the week. We had another baptism! A little 10 year old girl named Lilian. She is the younger sister of a recent convert, so hopefully she will stay strong. But so yea, then some teaching and some meetings and I´m super tired so I´m gonna go ahead and end this email cause I 

can´t stop thinking about sleep. 

So my tip of the week is make sure you get enough sleep. There is a reason there is a rule about going to bed at 10:30, and that is so your body is able to function during the day and you are not drop dead tired, because you have a work to do and it requires you to be at your best. So get some sleep, like I am going to here shortly. Love you mom!!!!!

Oh and I got my packages! And then rapidly packed them into my suitcase and checked them into the airport not even 1 hour after opening. Perfect timing? I think so!!! Haha

(Mom)  What an adventure

(Elder Link)  Oh trust me, I know!

(Mom)  Really excited for you though.....how cool...and scary...and cool. Ya doing o.k.?

(Elder Link) Yea, I'm fine.

  (So we looked it up and it's kind of like an island....He is about 50-75 miles from the border of Bolivia.  Vilhena is a city of about 70,000 people in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by jungle.)

So here is my rigging. There was water leaking from our roof for some reason and no way to stop it. So I just taped a bag to the ceiling to catch the water...Because it was directly over my bed....Dripping on me. Totally lame. But my rigging saves the day.  

This is my new favorite fruit. The mango. Just rip it open and eat right off the tree. Awesomeness. 

And it has taken over 30 minutes to load these photos....

So here is a member being crazy with his child. Pretty cool though and the kid loves it.

 But so here we have the girl who was baptized, Lilian, and then me and some other missionaries waiting in the airport on Sunday night

So this is all I got. More next week. Promise.