April 23, 2012

Up above a part of Alphaville!  Look at all those big houses!

 Bispo of Salto De Pirapora

Elder Santana & I

(PS: a few of his other pictures did not come through right ...) 

So, I have huge news for you guys. A huge shock happened ... I couldn't believe it. Ha. I was transferred. So as for my old area, I don't know anything about how it is sadly. And as for the temple, I will get to go this next coming week. Yay! Because, I was transferred to the capital again, where we get to go every 3 months. I'm super excited. As for the worse than cops part, a less active member told us we are worse than cops. He said that if cops show up at his house, he could "prove" that he doesn't owe anything, but when we show up, "Oh boy", he said, "I sure owe a whole lot to God". Ha. It was pretty funny. But now time for the real reason of the shock, I am in the richest part of Brazil, opening the area after a whitewash (when they take out both missionaries and put two new ones in) with another first-time zone leader. Holy cow. The place is called Alphaville. It is super rich, like a small america. I am with Elder Santana. He is from a city close to Porto Alegre. My first day here, we had lunch at Pizza Hut. And after buying groceries, we got lost for a little bit wandering around with our food. It is quite an adventure here in Alphville. We have three Seventies that live in our ward, a few returned mission presidents, and basically, everyone is super experienced. We even have three American families in our ward. Its pretty much all gated communities, which makes the work a little difficult, but we're working. This area reminds me of my first area a little bit, and I know that the Lord will help us. There are several people here that go to the states, and even a few that go to BYU, and some are there right now. That's crazy eh? Who'd thunk. Ha. But I wanted to pass a scripture on to you guys this week in Alma 20, but I totally forgot the verse (Maybe 12?). It talks about how truly the Lord sent his Prophets among us, and we are truly blessed to have them. Jesus Christ Suffered for all of us. We can have joy in this life if we accept and life the Gospel. I love you guys, and have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman