Hey Family! Where do I start? Lots of stuff happening this week.
Emergency Transfers went smooth for the most part. I met Elder Cordeiro at the
Cuiabá bus station. He was actually the trainer of one of Elder Spencer one of
the Elders that went to New York with us after the mtc. We waited at the station
for a while and we finally got on the bus and left at about 4:30 in the evening.
We had a full bus. Me and Elder Cordeiro talked for a while on the bus. We
connected pretty quick. He is 25 and is from Natal, Brazil. Natal means
Christmas. So he is from Christmas. I think thats cool. Basically from what I
have heard and seen he is probably one of the best missionaries in the mission.
So I feel deeply blessed to be able to stay with him for at least one transfer.
We got actual transfer calls last night and we will be staying together this
transfer which we were both relieved to hear. We live in a house with two other
missionaries as well, their names are Elder Chaves and Elder Menezes. Both
Brazilians from the North east of the country. So as of now I´m the only
American in the house and even more city of Sorriso! These guys are a bunch of
clowns! I love living with Brazilians! Its only been one week but my portuguese
has gotten way better. Its pretty hard living in a house of Americans and trying
to learn and speak alot of portuguese. But now its easy to just speak
portuguese. Elder Menezes has been her 4 and a half months and is being
transfered down south to Campo Grande. Elder Chaves will stay here cause he only
has 3 months in Sorriso and will receive a companion named Elder Lima who has
about a year and a half on the mission as well. He wont get here until tomorrow.
Ha I want to relate an experience that happened on the bus from Cuiabá to
Sorriso. So we kinda had a rowdy bus. There was this really stinky couple in
front of us and there was a half crazy dude up near the front and a couple of
dudes behind us that thought they were pretty funny. So we were getting close to
Sorriso maybe 2 hours away or so and me and Elder Cordeiro were half sleeping
cause the bus was kinda uncomfortable, it wasn't made for taller people. But we
kinda woke up out of our half sleep cause there was some dudes behind us yelling
pretty vulgar stuff. Alot of it was words that I hadn't heard before cause they
were pretty crude, but was I got from is is they were complaining cause it
smelled like poop on the bus. Except they were using alot stronger words. At
first we were like what the heck are they talking about? Then all of the sudden
we got with a wall of stink. Everyone on the bus was covering up their noses and
complaining. It was bad I wont lie, but I thought it was just coming from the
bathroom. We stopped at the bus station in Lucas which is one city away from
Sorriso. And everyone got off the bus. As we were getting off the bus we walked
by the seat where this half crazy dude was sitting. We knew he was crazy cause
he had said some pretty stupid stuff already to the workers on the bus. But so
listen to this we walked by where he had been sitting and I about threw up in my
mouth. It smelled like throw up and poop and dead rotting cow. And everyone else
had the same reaction too as they walked by. So we got off the bus and everyone
was pointing and laughing at this crazy dude that had been sitting in the seat,
a few people had their cameras out. But this guy was getting his luggage out
from under the bus and the worker helping him was gagging and trying to get the
guys stuff quick so he could get away from him. We were like twenty feet away
and we could smell this guy, it was something else. So when the guy had gotten
on the bus he was wearing a white shirt. And when he turned around after he got
off the bus the entire bottom of the back of his shirt was stained brown. It
looked like someone had thrown it in a fresh manure pile and then stomped on it.
I'm not even exaggerating. He just grabbed his stuff and then ran into this shower
thing the the bus stop had and that was about the last we saw of him. I kinda
felt bad, the dude had messed his pants on the bus! That's pretty much anyones
worst nightmare. The bus had a decent bathroom and stuff already so I don't know
why he didn't use it. But long story shirt they had to bring in a whole new bus
cause the original bus stunk to bad for anyone to get back on. So they moved
everyones luggage to the new bus. The other guy never got back on, either he was
too embarrassed or that really was his stop that he needed to get off at. But as
we left we saw him out the window just chilling out on a bench. He was wearing
different clothes now. The rest of the way to Sorriso people on the bus just
kept talking trash about the guy. I felt bad but I couldn't lie it was kinda
funny and some of their comments I couldn't help but laughing. Ill tell you one
that was a little less crude than alot of the other things they were saying. The
guy behind me yelled "That jerk can fart in heck, but he won't ever fart in my
face!" Just junk like that. The rest of the trip was whatever we got to our home
a little after midnight. The trip had taking 3 hours longer than what it should
have. The other missionaries weren't their because they had a training meeting in
Cuabá but they left the keys outside the house for us, We already had the
address to the house so we just took a cab to the house. Its super close to the
Church here. Sorriso doesnt have a chapel yet. It usually only has about 40 or 50
people to church on Sunday. They already have land purchased to build a chapel
but they need to double to frequency to get one built. Right now they just have
a really big rented house. I will take a picture of it for you guys. But all of
tuesday we cleaned the house cause it was pretty dirty. Its a pretty small house
but it works fine for us. It only has one bathroom and shower which is pretty
tough with four missionaries. So the next day we had lunch and then after that
the other missionaries were like well see ya. And Elder Cordeiro and I went to
our area armed with our map and a couple of names of less actives to visit. So
that's what we have been doing this last week. We are going to try and help
reactivate as many people and families as we can, cause there are over 400
members on record here. Already we found 2 elects that are ready to be baptized.
We were looking for a members home so we knocked at a house and this young
couple came out and said that the other people had moved, but they started
asking us questions about our church and stuff, we said we had a message that
would explain it and so we went in and taught one of the coolest lessons that I
have been apart of so far. We taught the restoration and The Book of Mormon..
They accepted to be baptized. And the best part is they are actually legally
married. They don't have any kids yet, but we came back the next day and they had
read Alma 32 which we had left with them and the husband had gone on to read 33
and 34 the same day. And he read each more than once! He said the book is
awesome and he was able to explain what was in the chapters better than what I
know is in them! That's sweet! They were going to go to church yesterday but it
turns out they couldn't find the church, cause it is kinda tough to find
especially when you only have a bike. But they are excited! So that's what we did
this week taught less actives and found several potentials through them. Just
our working area is like 30 minutes from our home its a ways, we have to walk
alot here. Sorriso is sweet! Its really beautiful to me here, its actually not
that pretty but to me it is cause it looks and smells just like the Basin. This
is supposed to be the biggest agriculture city in Brazil, they grow a ton of corn
and soja here. Soja is soy and they use it alot here in Brazil. I will include a
few photos that I have taken of here. There are semi trucks everywhere and tons
of fields and tractors and everything, I keep thinking I'm in pleasant valley or
something. We have some really cool members here and I am already feeling at
home here even after one week. Elder Cordeiro is the man, we are both really
excited to work here. Also good news from Cáceres they had 4 baptisms last week,
and two of them were me and Elder Reeds investigators that we had been teaching.
I was really sad that I wasn't their to experience it with them, But I will see
if they can send me pictures. So things are looking good here I'm super excited
to be in a house of Brazilians and be here! Also I finished my first journal
today. The one that Corbin had given me. So I started on my new journal. Its
cool to see how different my handwriting is now than at the first of my mission.
I will include pictures of the difference. So the picture I included are men and
elder reed when we were saying our last goodbyes last week it has my bus in the
background, and also a picture of me and Elder Cordeiro here at the lanhouse.
Sorriso has this cool mall thing and that's where we are at right now. Also I
talked to Elder Reed and he is being transferred down south to Campo Grande in
the south and also Elder Paredes who I lived with is going south to Ponta Porã
which is the most coveted area in the mission, its right on the border of
Paraguay. So I guess the Elder that he was with for a week will take over that
area in Cáceres I wish them the best of luck. So that's about it for now I want to
leave a little time to download pictures to send to you guys. But I love you
guys and thanks for the letters, from Kaden and Jordan too that was cool. Vida é
muita boa agora. I look forward to emailing you next week and recount all the
new things that will have happened. Love you guys a ton!
-Elder Kennington
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