Week 17--Week 8 from Sao Gabriel

I received quite a surprise on Saturday, November 29, 2008, when I opened up my email to find an email from Elder Burnham in Brasil! My joy turned to a furrow when I read that his wallet had fallen from his pocket and was subsequently stolen! He chased down the bus, but it refused to stop for him. When it finally stopped, the wallet was gone--along with his identifying papers.
Luckily, on Monday, we received a more calming email. He is unfazed by the ordeal--of course.

Here is an excerpt from his email which he entitled "95 Degree Rainstorms":

"So, yesterday was crazy because during the day it was extremely hot and as we were walking home a crazy rainstorm came out of nowhere and we got soaked (no umbrellas) and the streets became rivers of water up to our ankles. It was terrible and fun at the same time.

So, we worked very hard this week and the walking did not lessen. It seems as though we always set appointments a half-hour walk away from one another. I try to plan well. We still haven't been able to meet with Camila. Other than that we had a great week, teaching a lot of lessons and finding many new people, some of them seemingly prepared to have received us and our message. One is a couple with a 18 month-old son with locomotive paralysis. It is a sad story and the mother was in tears, but we were able to teach her about his perfection before The Father and will return to teach the plan this week. We also found a girl who had been taught by other missionaries and she is golden. The second time we met with her she brought her sister's family and the lesson was great as we explained the importance of prophets and apostles and the same Church that Christ established. We will return this week with the Book of Mormon and how they can know about the prophetic calling of Joseph. There were many others too, and I am excited for the prospects of December and January."

Regarding his wallet, he stated: "I can deal with no money. The problem is I do not have any ID with me, and I may have to go to Santa Maria to get a new protocol (i.e. fingerprints and stuff)."

I am so excited for his Christmas call--23 days and counting . . .