Canela

Here is Jonathan's latest letter (and his first from the field!). Sorry it's late - I've been sick. It appears that his P-Day has changed to Tuesday, so send emails his way before then if possible. He will appreciate it. :)

Dear Family,

How is everyone doing? I am sure you all heard that I am now in the Mission Field. I arrived here last Tuesday and was transferred that day to a small city known as Canela. Canela means Cinnamon in Portuguese. The work is really progressing here. They are dedicating a new chapel for the branch this Sunday and we have 6 baptisms set for that date: five new member baptisms and one member baptism. It’s exciting.

Anyways, last Monday (the 18th) I went into the clinic with a couple of other American missionaries to get our Hepatitis A booster shots. We left around 1pm and got back at 5pm. When we arrived the front desk attendant told me that Irmão Paulo would like to see me. I thought maybe I was in trouble for something seeing as he sometimes takes care of these types of things, but when I arrived in his office he told me I would be leaving for the mission field the next morning. I was pretty shocked and excited. I grabbed some dinner at the cafeteria and then went upstairs to pack since I would have to get up at 4 the next morning. I had already missed all of the departure meetings that day, which was nice because I heard from all the other elders that were leaving and that had left in weeks previous how boring they were.

The next morning I got up at 4 and met all the other departing elders at the front gate. We ate a quick sack breakfast consisting of 2 dry ham and cheese sandwiches, a cup of grape juice, a banana, and a candy bar. Then we all hopped into the taxi and headed for the airport. When I saw 'we all' I mean all of the missionaries headed to the Porto Alegre Norte Mission (4 Brazilians and 1 American that had arrived the week previous). I didn’t really know the other American well because he wasn’t there for long and he wasn’t in my district. Anyways once we got the airport we waited for about an hour and half to check our bags and board the plane. The plane was 3 seats x 3 seats and had about 40 people on it (about ¼ full). So we all went toward the back and each grabbed a row to ourselves. It was pretty cool. The flight was really fast, about an hour and a half. When we landed President Pavan was waiting there with his assistants. We got in his Toyota Hi-Lux and headed to the mission home. The mission home was really nice. So nice that we all got to put on little white cloth booties over our shoes so we didn’t dirty the carpet. We got briefed there a little about the procedures in finance and health and the President talked to us about obedience. Then we all ate a nice lunch together prepared by the Maid, were told our new companions and headed off to the bus station.

At the bus station was about 60 Elders, and all of their luggage, meeting up with their new companions and then heading out to their areas. I met one of my companions, Elder Green, there. He has 2 transfers left and lives in Washington. I was put in a trio because President Pavan wasn’t expecting me either. We waited at the bus station until almost everyone was gone and then our bus arrived. It was a 5 star executive coach - nice, but not as nice as it sounds. The bus took 2 and a half hours including 2 other stops to get to Canela. In Canela we met up with Elder Barker. He is the other missionary completing our trio and is from Orem, Utah. He is starting his 3rd transfer and is a greeny also. His Portuguese is decent enough to get around which gives me hope knowing that after 2 short transfers I will be able to speak half decently. Elders Green’s Portuguese is really perfect. This is Elder Barker's 2nd transfer in the Canela area so he knows the area well and has shown us around this past week. We have been teaching a lot and preparing 5 investigators who will be baptized this Sunday for baptism. The new chapel is really beautiful. It’s 2 stories tall.

Canela is one of the most beautiful and rich cities in the mission. It’s a tourist city. My companion Elder Barker told me that it has the 2nd best chocolate in the world right next to Swiss chocolate. I don’t know if I believe him though. Maybe you could do some research online. The temperature has been between 60 and 80 here everyday the past week. It’s really nice. It doesn’t ever get very hot in the state of Rio Grande do Sul which is nice. In the winter months it doesn’t get cold either. It passes below 0 maybe once or twice the whole year. Anyways, 2 weeks ago on Wednesday I got those 3 letters you guys sent through Mission Ties. You can keep sending them to the CTM because the CTM will forward all the letters to the mission here. I got Bryn’s 5th letter as well. I never received any packages from Chuck or the ward or anyone for that matter. Maybe you guys have one coming to the mission field here. I hope you have my address. Send all the letters to the mission home and I will get them during transfers or zone conferences. Anyways I have to go now. Thanks for all the emails. I will talk with you all next week. I love you all. Tchau!

P.S. Every Brazil Mission has only 2 cars. One for the President and one for his wife. Wish Grandma a happy birthday for me please!