20 April 2015

You could braid Matts hair? Thats different for sure.  I´m not too suprised that he wanted to go to school like that though:)  Wow, Prom has already happened?  Its seems to be getting earlier and earlier every year! It looks like sam had a good time though.  Its weird to think about Prom, so long ago.  Its be a little while. I haven´t gotten any official word about when I go home.  I thought that I would have gotten some official notice or phone call by now, but it looks like it might be a little while more.  We´ll see. I am pretty positive that it will be the 1st of July when my flight touches down in Indianapolis, just no travel itinerary or flight information has been arranged yet.  I´ve heard that they don´t send it towards the end of your mission, like 2-3 weeks beforehand.  I don´t know.  It´ll get here when it gets here.

  This week was fun.  Monday we traveled to Manaus to get Elder Jesus (yes his name is Elder Jesus) and come on back to Manacapuru.  That took up most of the day, lots of time on the bus just traveling.  But it was good. Got back here, emailed home and then let him unpack his bags. Tuesday was district meeting which was good.   It was normal, nothing extraordinary.  Tuesday was a lot of showing the area to Elder Jesus and introducing him to members and investigators.  Wednesday we got to go to the Temple which was super cool.  We had to wake up at 4:15 am to catch the 5:30 bus to Manaus.  The bus ride was super nice.  It was cool to go riding through the Amazon rainforest watching the sun come up.  Kodac moments. Got to Manaus and got on another bus to get to the temple about an hour early.  The trip took a lot less time than we thought. But it was still cool to be at the temple early and just walk around the grounds.  The session was nice, and afterward we got lunch and got on other buses to get back at about 5:30.  Total traveling time: 5.5 hours on buses.  Fun times.  Got back home and were able to do a few visits.  Thursday was normal, nothing super special happened. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were normal.  English and piano class were cool.  I´m teaching both of them now that Elder Sanderson left the area and Elder Jesus doesn´t know how to speak English.  Its fun though.  I´ve been teaching about treble and bass clef.  Its weird to teach something that is so natural for me, like asking which note is this? For me its super simple, but for them its a lot more complicated.  All of our investigators are doing good. Elismara is progressing well and she is excited for her baptism! When found a few new families to teach this week and we are super excited to teach them! They are receiving the lessons well! Joelle and Fabio got confirmed last week and are still super excited about church! Our area is getting interesting.  During this time of the year, the Solomon river floods its banks and floods part of the city, which includes part of our area (but not our house!) The picture that I attached is us on a bridge that when the river is normal, it about 9-10 feet off the ground just to give an idea. 

 I hope that you all have a great week this week! I miss you all! Have an awesome week!

 Love

Elder Battraw