Week #46 "Anybody want a Peanut?"

Boom!

Yes, I know that my weekly quote is not a Disney movie, but I have decided to use it in honor of a funny experience this week. So my companion was acting really weird one day and he decided to run up to a wall, place his ear on said wall, and give me a funny look. Then, quite quickly he said " Amendoim!" which means "Peanut". I of course died laughing and quickly remembered The Princess Bride and Pirates of Caribbean. So, I taught him the quote, though he has no clue really how funny it is because he has never seen the movie.

Our week was extremely different. For the first time EVER on my mission, I had a no-work day. Yes, I stayed in my house all day doing nothing but reading, cleaning, and day-dreaming of baseball gloves, burgerville cheeseburgers, and Men's Choir Championships.

But wait, Elder Laws, you are a mildly good missionary, why would you do such a thing? I cannot even imagine you wasting the precious time you have in Brazil.

Woah, calm down there imaginary comment man. Let me explain myself.

For the first time on my mission, I stayed in the house because my companion was SICK. Yes. SICK in all CAPS. He had a fever of 102 degrees and was stuffed in his nose to the rafters. That meant he was required to rest and relax. Sleep and dream. I was required to preside, provide, and protect the lad. So what did I do? ( Sorry imaginary comment man, I stole your question.) I read scriptures. I read "Jesus the Christ". I read candy labels. I read my letters again. I listened to conference talks. I listened to rain. I listened to more rain. I listened to my phone when I called Elder Earl about his new companion. I listened to Elder Earl when the phone connected as well. I listened to rain while reading. ("People used to stare at each other all day. It was very boring." - disney quote) The day passed slowly. Anyways I realized that I like working here A LOT. I cannot stand not doing anything. Sure, when I am dead tired, I will accept a break, but doing nothing for the sake of nothing.... AHHHH!!! Anyways, I was very blessed that my companion was right as rain the next day and the work continued.

Side note: The blade lock on my Leatherman broke. Very Sad. Needless to say, my work on my baseball bat has been postponed until... well until forever collides into infinity and that somehow gives me a new Leatherman. But I still feel good in the fact that I can send it in to Leatherman and they will fix it for me!

SOOO, Yesterday I was helping an old man across the street. Actually, You might remember him from a few letters ago. Fozzie was trying to cross the street, but it was very busy. So he asked the nice missionaries to help. We complied and happily began to take him across. While Elder Costa was holding Fozzie, Elder Laws (me) noticed a big bus coming their way. I knew it would not notice the old man. So I decided to stand in front of the bus to tell it to stop. But the big, mean bus decided it did not want to stop. So, at the last second I jumped out of the way of the big bus, which then slammed on its brakes to avoid hitting Elder Costa and Fozzie. Luckily, no one was hurt. Elder Costa and I felt good for our service, though we were almost ran down by a bus. ( If you felt like this paragraph was written for a 4th grade level, you were right! GOLD STAR FOR YOU!)

Another side note: My companion likes to joke around and he's always telling me that I am going bald. "You're not Tom Cruise. You're Henry B. Eyering." - Elder Costa commenting on Elder Laws' wonderful mane. I am NOT going bald!

One of our investigators had a dream about the missionaries teaching her! Her name is Nilza. She commented to us that one of the Elders was Elder Costa but that I was not the other missionary. She said she saw a "Tall, whitish guy who was really skinny and sounded like he was from São Paulo." Now, for you to understand how cool that was for us to here I have to tell you another story. Elder Earl, the American from my district, is now training a new missionary. That makes us the only district in the whole mission where ALL companionship's are training. HUGE responsibility. Anyways, his new companion is Elder Machado. He is a "Tall, whitish guy who is really skinny and sounds like he is from São Paulo." CRAZY RIGHT? My investigator had a dream about a missionary who just got here and is not even the Elder who is teaching her right now?! I thought that was really weird and Awesome. May be a miracle!

We had a very successful week this week and I am so grateful for every moment. I am also so grateful that I will be here for the dedication of the Manaus Temple. The dates were released to the public this week. The temple will be dedicated on the 10th of June. I am SO EXCITED! This will be a truly unique and special experience for me, in that not every missionary gets to go to the temple on his mission, nor does he get to go to a temple dedication.

That's my week. I hope you enjoyed.
Eu vos amo.
Elder Asa Laws