This week I've been attacked on all sides by American culture. It's kind of been making me trunky (with longings of home), but generally it's not a problem when I'm immersed in the work. We visited a less-active guy here who popped in a DVD of Whitney Houston before I could object - and I had to tell him to stop. It's weird, because it's the exact type of stuff that Dad listens to (and...yeah, I liked it. Unfortunately.). Whitney Houston died relatively recently, didn't she? I can't remember. Never paid attention to stuff like that.

There's also other things like teaching English slang, and English-only hymns to fellow missionaries and the youth here. A Bolivian Elder here was playing Ring Out, Wild Bells, and I reaaaally wanted to run to the church to play it and just sulk for a little while. I've decided I like the role of being that one guy you can depend on to play the piano - tomorrow I'll be assisting with a special musical number for the Zone Conference. Woo! I think I might send a copy of the music home - perhaps expect a letter soon?

This week has had a lot of "mole" (MOHL-ee) investigators get left behind. "Mole" is an adjective in Portuguese that literally means "soft" or "flaccid", and can be used to mean "lazy" - it's used by all of the missionaries here to indicate somebody that has a lack of interest and/or is not completing commitments despite your best efforts. I always feel sad when somebody decides to reject our message just because they "don't feel like it"...but the missionary's an interesting creature. We always feel so happy when somebody actually says "Hey, I read what you gave me - I thought it was interesting, I felt different!" Perhaps it's just because missionary life is very simple, but I always feel so very cool when somebody investigating actually does what we ask of them - new investigators are, unfortunately, a passing commodity that is easy to get. Just knock doors here, and within 20-30 minutes somebody will let you in.

I feel like I'm learning a lot about being a teacher, and not a lecturer - I'm not simply repeating doctrine now, like I did when I arrived in the mission field, but we are truly just guiding a discussion towards the commitments that will help somebody feel the Spirit. E. Acevedo's getting over the barrier of practice too, though I think I need to let him talk more and let him develop. It's weird to realize that my missionary faculties have changed that much in the last 8-ish months. I'm getting close to a year already?! Bwuaah! Where's all this time I had going?

Well, I think I've sufficiently emptied my head for this week. I'm always maintaining a list of stuff I want to communicate to you guys - somehow I manage to blend it into something relatively coherent when I start to type. How was your learning experience as missionaries, Mom and Dad? I never noticed how you guys used missionary skills in the home - during FHE, for instance, when you were teaching us about a specific concept or commandment, I'm noticing your lessons had many of the same qualities as the ones I'm giving now, and that I see in other companionships. Can you imagine being a convert, and trying to teach your kids all this without having the best understanding yourself? **shudders**

Anyway. I'm off! I love you guys tanto. ;)

Teu filho amoroso -Erich