Transfer

January 6, 2014

So we had transfers this week.  I left the Vale do Jatoba and headed
to my new area called Ribeirão das Neves.  The name translates to "Big
Creek of Snow." I think that’s funny because I’m positive this place
has never had snow and never will.  The area is awesome.  The members
here really like to work!  So far, almost all of our lessons have been
with a member.  My new companion is Elder Clark.  He's from Mapleton,
Utah.  It’s a town his ancestors founded right outside of Provo.  This
is his last transfer of the mission, and he will be heading home in
February.  Elder Clark is seriously an awesome missionary.  He teaches
so well!  Our investigators probably are the most prepared people that
I’ve met on the mission.  I have a lot to learn in these few weeks that
he’s still here.

One of our investigators is a 13 year old boy named Rodrigo.  He likes
soccer, flying kites, junk food, and learning about the restored
gospel of Jesus Christ.  He’s seriously awesome!  I don’t know if any of
you have seen the pamphlets that missionaries hand out to people, but
they are usually ten pages long with lots of pictures and questions in
the back that people can answer.  The questions aren’t super easy, but
Rodrigo has read every pamphlet and filled out all the questions!  He’s
not baptized yet, but he is the kid that wakes up the other members
his age and brings them to church!  I think he will be a general
authority... He hasn’t had an easy life though.  Both of his parents
are in jail, his three brothers sell drugs in Rio de Janeiro.  Rodrigo
is a smart kid and wants to have a better life than most of his
family.

Right now the cool thing to do in Minas Gereis is fly kites.  The kids
make them out of dry bamboo and trash bags.  The kite skills of these
kids is very impressive.  The kites only have one string, but they can
make them go right, left, up, and down...I don’t understand the science
behind it all.  The coolest thing is they have kite wars.  If your
string cuts the other kite's string, you win.  The string they use is
special for battles.  They dip the string in a mixture of water, glue,
and broken shards of glass and then pronto...you have a deadly weapon.
It’s nuts and super illegal!

Happy Birthday Chris!  18 years old! That’s awesome dude.  Keep up the good work.

I love you guys,

Elder Marsh