Amazon Expo and the Week of Changes

A visit to the Expo, 7 foot long fish, and what transfers are like for our Elder.

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Glynis here: We had a great chat with Jacob this week. He was excited to share his experiences at the Amazon Expo with us. We asked if he had been able to try any of the native food, but he told us it was too "sketchy" so he and his companion decided to stick with their staples: chicken nuggets, rice and fried eggs. I asked if that's all he was eating and he said that occasionally they made French toast. He really misses his pensionista! When we asked if he thought he would get another one when he transfers out of the office, he didn't think so. President Parker is not a fan of the pensionistas, and is looking into getting rid of them. I'm not sure if that will pan out, as that is something that the economy really depends on. We'll see! At least we know Jacob will survive in college as long as he can get his hands on chicken nuggets, rice, eggs and bread!

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¡Buenos días mi querida familia y amigos!

So, last Saturday was awesome! My companion and I went to the Amazon Expo (Expo Amazónica). It was basically a time when people from all the little towns throughout the jungle came into the city, and there was a big fair. It was really cool! There was a lot of food and a cool little market to buy stuff. There were also a lot of Paiche. You guys should look them up! Basically it´s a 7 foot long fish that lives in the Amazon river. There were a ton of them on display and they were so cool.

This week was long and a little hard, but we were able to work. This was the first week of the transfer so that means for the office, there was a ton of stuff for me to do for my assignment. First, on Monday was the day all the missionaries who finished went home. So we went to the airport with them and sent them home. The next day (Tuesday) was transfer day, which basically means my life was a mess in the office, while I had to rush to make sure everyone knew what they were doing and get to the airport for their flights. People were constantly coming into the office to meet their new companions and go to their areas and we made like a million airport trips to pick up missionaries from other cities in the mission. Overall, super crazy but we made it out alive.

The next day (Wednesday) was when the new missionaries came, and we were in the mission home with them helping out wherever we were needed, and giving trainings. Then my favorite part… we had to send the suitcases the next day. So, everyone who had a flight (42 missionaries) can only bring one suitcase and we send the second one to them a few days later. (The planes are too small to send all the luggage with the missionaries.) We somehow made it to the airport with SO MANY suitcases! We wrapped them all in plastic and sent them all out to the various cities in the mission. That alone took most of the day, but the good news is that transfer week is over and I am a lot calmer now. It was a pretty crazy week.

We did go out into the area a little bit, but we didn't have any lessons. Mostly we spent our time looking for new people and setting up appointments for next week.

Well, I love you all! Have a great week!

-Elder Neves