This past week has been pretty cool, indeed these past few weeks. I know I wasn't able to send you too much last time, but the work is still the same. The people here are super cool, because everyone will talk to you. It would be even cooler if I could actually understand what they are saying, but that will come with time, I am sure. Anyways, my Portuguese is coming a long pretty well. The Potuguese that they taught me at the CTM is really not enough to be able to communicate effectively, so I've had to relearn a lot of things. Also, the Portuguese is different! And unlike Spanish, there aren't as many conjugations, but the people talk so fast and with so short of words. Another thing that I have learned about different languages, at least with Portuguese, is that you just can't phrase things the same way you would in English. There are some phrases which do work, but most everything is worded differently. Its really hard to explain, but this is something I've only recently learned. As I continue to strengthen my Portuguese, I will be able to communicate this better.
So, this past week, we did a lot. We found a lot of people who were interested, and there are a lot of receptive people. We also taught a lot of people, and that was pretty crazy. One of the days, we had a super tight schedule because there were 4 families to teach and many others to visit (Menos ativos e inativos). And because we had all these people to teach, we walked a ton. Needless to say, I have blisters and whatnot. Also, my shoes are basically trashed. The soles are pretty much ruined, and because one of my shoes had that gell-insert sole, that completely broke off and moves around. I'll have to glue it or something. Oh well. But, like I was saying, we taught a lot of people and they were all located in different areas of the city here in Sumare. Also, there are two sets of missionaries here for Sumare (Elders) and basically the area is split into two parts. Elder Holder and I have Sumare ''A'' which covers half of the city and everything outside on that side. We teach a lot of families who live outside of the city. There is a family who lives in a Favela named ''3 Pontes'' and a family who lives in a community a ways out in a place called '''J.D. Paulistano''.
Like I said in the previous letter, our Ward is really active and there are a ton of activites. Every other day, kids from all over the city come to play futebol and there's an activity every Thursday which includes a special message, a brincadeira (game), and a lanche (snack). Also, every Saturday, the Ward holds free classes to learn Spanish, English, study Mathematics, and Informáticas. We were given a referral of a family that went there, and they glady accepted us and they are now one of our best pesquisadores.
Anyways, I have a some sad news to report- I was doing something with my camera the other day, and I unknowingly deleted ALL of my pictures!! Aggghhh. Now I have nothing but the picture that I sent to you guys in the last email. I have taken a couple pictures here, but now there is nothing from the CTM. I'm really upset about that, but then at the same time, not really. A lot of my companions took the same pictures, so I can get pictures from them. In the meanwhile, I only have new pictures I took. Which, those aren't even good either. Just of what it looks like down here. I don't know if the two pictures I attached will send, but I have my fingers crossed.
Well, that's basically it for this week. Oh! Last week, we did have a Mutli-Zona for three zones here- Sumare, Americana, and Hortolandia. President Canuto came down with all the APs, and other assistants and we got some training and orientation. I also got to meet up with two others from my district at the CTM. That was pretty cool.
I look forward to hearing more from you guys,
Love,
Elder Collins
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