I took a few notes. Here's what Elder Duffin had to say:
There was about fifteen minutes of technical difficulties where he could hear and see us, but we only had visual. He typed a little, but mostly fussed with the laptop he was on. Finally, the microphone kicked in and we could visit easily.
We asked him to speak in Portuguese for us, which he did at length. I think he was just telling us what he'd done all day. The member whose house he was at wandered in from time to time and chatted with him in Portuguese. We learned that Merry Christmas in Portuguese is "Feliz Natal." Ben-Daniel's language skills sounded great to us!
He is now training a new missionary named Elder Stahn from Idaho. He said Elder Stahn only waited one month for his visa (quite different from his own year-long wait). He will be in the Xanxerê area for another month or so while he shows the new elder the ropes.
He looked mildly sunburned. He said the Portuguese phrase for this is "I took some sun." He does a lot of walking. They are in the middle of their summer, but it wasn't too hot out.
He talked a little bit about the area and what it's like. He said it reminds him a lot of Southern Oregon in some ways. Lots of dragon flies and millions of frogs. "Though, I've never seen a live one," he commented. (Apparently frogs are frequent road kill.) He talked about seeing many hummingbirds. They are called beija-flor, which means "flower-kisser." He also talked about the blackberries that grow on trees.
Xanxerê is a small city surrounded by a more rural area. It is pronounced "Shan-sher-ray" which sounds really pretty, but means "Snake-hole." He and his companion are the only missionaries in the whole city. He says most people they meet work in construction or at restaurants, but there are quite a few small farms on the city outskirts. He was skyping us from a chicken farm owned by one of the local members.
He's told us before that most people he meets have never met any Americans. They mostly assume he and his companion are Germans. Not a lot of people speak English. Interestingly, the people who speak the best English are the younger folk who play video games. He said gamers speak much better English than the formal English teachers he's met.
He likes being in a more scenic area and said that Florianopolis (the capital city of the state of Santa Catarina) is very beautiful. Locals call it "Floripa." He's hoping to serve in that area before he comes home.
He talked a little bit about the missionary work in Xanxerê. They are on foot and mostly call on referrals from members--no door-knocking. He commented a little on people's reactions. He said in the states, people have the attitude, "There is only one true church and it is mine!" Then, if they took the lessons and converted, their attitude was still, "There is one true church and it is mine!" In his area, the attitude is, "All churches are true" and they go to all of them. Apparently retention of members is an issue. He likes staffing missionary displays in the local parks and talking to interested people there.
It's not super easy for him to get mail. The safest place for him to receive mail is at the mission office in Florianopolis. The mission president meets with them once every six weeks or so and brings them their mail. Out of four packages we've sent, only two have reached him so far. The most recent one he received was from Grandma and Grandpa Duffin. I sent him a birthday card in mid-November, but it looks like he won't get that till mid-January. He said he doesn't mind getting things late as long as they eventually arrive!
We had a nice, long visit with him and are grateful he's happy and doing well. If anyone feels like writing him, he loves getting mail! His address is:
Elder Ben-Daniel Duffin
Missao Brasil Florianopolis
Rua Feliciano Nunes Pires #42
Centro-Florianopolis, SC
CEP: 88015-220
Brasil
For a regular envelope, you can use the Global Forever stamp, available at your friendly, local post office