Branch drama, a Fight over Airplanes, and Mayonnaise (lots of mayonnaise)

Hey Mom!

I'm sorry; I tried to send pictures today but this computer won't let me. :(  I only have a few new pictures anyway. I´ll try to send them next week.

The name of the city Xanxerê is pronounced "Shahn-sher-ey." All x's are pronounced with an "sh" sound in Portuguese.

It's getting pretty hot here now and we walk a lot--BLEH. I miss snow, ha ha!

Not much to report on here. We've been teaching a few investigators and we're going to be visiting a lot of less active members. This area has enough members in it to have two wards, but only about 20 people come to church each Sunday; that's why it's only a branch.  There's a lot of childish drama between members and that's the main reason people don't come to church. 

Fill in the blank with childish drama

So we've got a lot of work to do here! 

Yesterday the candidate Dilma Rousseff won the election for president.  To celebrate, all the people in Xanxerê decided to blare music and car horns all at the same time. It was very noisy last night.

Dilma Rousseff

Fun fact: Brazilians believe that a Brazilian named Alberto Santos-Dumont invented the airplane. I had forgotten that someone had told me that until yesterday during our lunch appointment. 

Our Ward mission leader was telling us stuff about Brazil and very proudly informed us that the airplane was invented here.  When we said "Oh, that´s interesting!" (knowing that the Wright brothers actually invented it) he was surprised and asked us if we had heard about it before.

I very tactfully replied, "Americans don't know much about Brazil."

 

My companion, who is from North Carolina (where the Wright brothers invented the airplane) said that he's gotten into heated arguments with Brazilians on this subject.

[If you want to read about the early Brazilian aviator Santos-Dumont, here's a link: http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/10/brazil.santosdumont.reut/ ]

 

Did I ever tell you that Brazilians in this state cook just like you do? It´s true--every lunch I have in people's homes is like what you make for dinner! (Aside from beans on rice.) 

I don't like how they prepare salad, though. They don't cut up the lettuce and they soak the whole thing in vinegar. But everything else they make is really good! 

They have American style fast food here, too. Their word for burger is "xis" (pronounced "sheez" as in "sheezburger").

Xis salada

 

They also really like mayonnaise. They like it too much. They put it on their pizza (!) and they put so much of it in their potato salads that they just call potato salad "Mayonnaise." 

Brazilian potato salad, or "Mayonnaise" 

Pizza topped with Mayo!

   

Sorry to hear about Dad's stiff neck! That bites. Sounds like you both still had fun at the ballroom show!

Love you Mom! :) Thanks for writing me. I'll try again to send pictures next week.

Elder Duffin

[All photos this week courtesy of Google Images]

Thoughts on Adversity, Cleaning Closets, and Chicken-Fried Steak

Hey Mom!

Sounds like you all had a busy week. Cleaning is soooo much fun--I feel for you. The mission has taught me how to keep things pretty organized.  I´m really happy about that because I did not have that skill before the mission! Ha ha!

When you said "Dad is still recovering from cleaning the slider" I thought you meant cleaning the actual sliding door of the closet--like wiping it down with Windex, instead of cleaning out the inside. That would've been pretty lazy of him!  Ha ha!  [This is in response to my exciting account of how we've been cleaning out closets here.]

I liked Catriel´s comment on adversities in our lives. [Catriel recently commented that writing about major life struggles is difficult when you're a white kid from a middle class family in Washington.] That´s exactly what I thought when I was doing college applications!

And you and Dad have given Catriel and me amazingly awesome happy childhoods. There's no "relativity" there.  Seeing other people's lives out on the mission has only confirmed that to me. Especially seeing the lives of some people in Houston--just awful. We have it a lot better than everyone on the planet and the majority of it definitely is not related to finances. 

So thanks for being literally the BEST PARENTS EVER. I am serious about that. 

 

Not much has been going on down here this week. We had GREAT weather all week though! Overcast and almost chilly!!!!  We had a couple of lightning storms too--which was cool.

 

 

The mission has made me loathe heat and consequently the sun as well. :P So I´ll actually enjoy the weather back home now! Ha ha!

 

I´m in the same district as Sister Haight, [a sister missionary he trained with at the MTC] so that´s pretty cool! I surprised her at my first district meeting here. 

Picture from his time at the Provo MTC.  One of these young ladies in the center is Sister Haight.

I´m afraid nothing really exciting has been happening down here. Lunch is always good though. I've been eating these chicken steak things for dinner when I get back to the apartment each night. They´re just like the chicken nuggets you used to get for us when we were little; so that´s a bit of nostalgia I get to enjoy here--ha ha!

I really can't think of anything else to write. We've got a few people we're teaching; still working on finding more. We walk a lot. Such is the life of a missionary.  My Portuguese is coming along well, too.

Love you Mom! Thanks for writing me! Glad you´re all doing well.  Tell everyone I say hi!

Elder Duffin

Birthdays, Beards, and More Food Talk

Hey Mom!

Sounds like you had a fun weekend in California! I forgot how much of a desert it is there, ha ha. It´s starting to get hot here too; which is really weird because it´s October. Inverted summers.

I´m jealous of the ice cream bar you went to! The ice cream here in Brazil isn't the real stuff; it's like frozen whipped cream. You can get real ice cream, but it´s pretty expensive.

Speaking of food, the little french fries they sprinkle on their food are called Batata Palha.

 

Batata Palha

The dirt drink is Chimarrão. They serve it hot. I tried Cha mate and it´s a little better, if you put sugar or something in it. They drink Chimarrão out of a cool little gourd-goblet with a special metal straw; I´m going to buy one and bring it back with me when I come home. :)

 

Chimarrão

Drinking Chimarrão

 

 Thanks for mailing the package! I will get it next month at zone conference.

Not much to say about what´s going on here. We´re just trying to catch the investigators the sisters left us when they´re home. We walk a lot, which is nice. 

 

 

The city is huge so walking to where investigators are takes up a lot of time during the day.  But we found two new people to teach yesterday, so things are picking up.

Glad to hear Jon´s back home!

I just remembered a story that my last companion in Texas told me.  I asked him what was the weirdest thing that's happened to him on his mission.  He told me about this one investigator. He said he was teaching her about the presidents of the church and had a gospel art book with pictures of all of them. 

When the investigator saw the pictures, she said "Oh I´d marry Brigham Young no matter HOW many wives he already had! His beard is so jagged!" Made me laugh!

I enjoyed seeing the pictures you sent! The one that Dad took of the lunar eclipse and Mt Rainier is amazing! When I get home I´m going to make that into a poster.

Oh, and happy BIRTHDAY, Mom. I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate it with you and don't have enough time to get a card to you. Glad you had fun though!

 

 

Thanks for being so great to me, Mom! I really appreciate all you do and I'm grateful for the things you've taught me! (I budget my money better than any of the other missionaries I've seen) and I'm looking forward to honing my writing skills with you when I get back! 

I'm still bitter about Kumon, but I appreciate your good intentions! ;P  

 

I owe you everything! Thanks for your prayers and support! 

Love you Mom! And Happy Birthday!!! Para bens para Você! 

 

I´ll talk to you next week!

Elder Duffin

A Transfer to Xanxerê and Conference Talkback

Hey Mom!

I am doing great! Two days ago my companion and I got transferred to a city called Xanxerê. We are going to be here at least till the end of the transfer.  (I cannot seem to switch this keyboard into English, so it is impossible for me to type apostrophes -- drat.) 

 

 

View of Xanxerê, courtesy of Google Images

 

The sister missionaries who were here before us left a huge teaching pool, so we will be busy! Which is good because I feel best when I have things to do. :)

 

[Just kidding.  This is what came up when I tried to find an image of people in a teaching pool.]

 

I was a little homesick last week. I have not had any problems adjusting to Brazil though; it is not too different from the states at all--other than the dirt drink, ha ha. I will buy some and bring it back home so you can try it. ;)  

 

[Elder Duffin's reaction to the herbal drink Brazilians enjoy]

 

I think it was just being out on the mission for so long. I am doing much better now! I have found that when I am preoccupied with teaching people I feel better.  My Portuguese is coming along well, too.

I am in a branch right now. We watched conference in the tiniest church building I have ever been in. For conference they have live people who translate into Portuguese on the spot, like the English translator you guys heard for the talks in other languages. I watched conference in the clerk's office in English. 

I liked Uchtdorf's talk about deep space telescopes and Bednar's talk about his little boy treating the scrape on his younger brothers arm--ha ha ha. 

 

 

I like the pictures you sent, Dad! Catriel looks very grown up. It is weird thinking that she will be graduated by the time I get home.  Jon sent me an email.  Glad to hear he will be back in the UK soon.

Running out of time--gotta go!

Love you Mom! Thanks for writing me. Tell everyone I say hi and to be safe in their travels.

Talk to you next week!

Elder Duffin