Week of..... Messes

This email will be short for 2 reasons:

1. I am typing this in an 'internet cafe' in the back of a gas station and don't want to stay here long.
2. Skype is in less than 2 weeks and I need to save content for that.

'What did you do this week?' 'How are your investigators?' 'Do you have fruits in America?'

The first two questions are what I mostly get in my emails, the third is a genuine question people here ask Americans....

The week was a bit of a mess, but we survived. We spent a lot of time organizing the branch's membership records (baptisms, priesthood, deaths, tithing etc), but we also had 3 activities this week. We did 2 movie nights and a family night with the 'ama sue proximo' game..... Oh man that game, someone loses every round and they have to dance in the circle. I lost twice, like a boss. Thankfully Hitch taught me how to dance. The members had a blast.

The last 3 days of the week we spent getting materails for making soccer goals and roofing supplies... We tried paying a crew to put in the ceiling in the other room.... They did not know what they were doing (fact) and we had to take it all down. Elder Da Rosa kindly asked them to leave and never come back, look at me 'AQUI BRASIL MANO' I took that as 'LETS DO IT'..... 3 days later we had cut all the wood (without a saw.... kitchen knife and hammer.....), placed the supports, cut/put up the main wood then painted it. THANKS DAD for teaching me how to be a manly man, that would have been super embracing to not know how to nail stuff or paint.

Last thing, before heading to zone conference I cut Elder Da Rosa's hair (its not worth getting AIDS from a road-side shack), then he started cutting my hair. Key word, started. He cut the sides, we went to find scissors to cut the top... No luck, we started talking to some members by the house and then after 10 minutes of small talk "Aren't you going to miss your train?!" NO.... It leaves in over and hour.... "No, here it leaves at 17:00, not 18:30"............. Me with a nice bowl cut then went running to the train station. We stepped onto the train and it left. Nice. We made it..... With half cut hair, but we made it. *I think there is a photo of said 'hair cut', if you find it, burn it.

Love you all,

Elder Howell

PS: SEE YOU ALL VERY SOON