Maybe Next Week...

Maybe next week...we'll have water. The past few days they decided the entire city of Manaus just doesn't need water, so they essentially cut it off. That means no showers, no washing hands, and no shaving. It's absolutely disgusting since this happens to be one of the hottest, most humid areas in the world. Nonetheless, we have plenty of the important things like drinking water, and best of all, the store next to our house just started importing chocolate soy milk...it's a modern-day miracle!

Monday was my birthday party. I haven't had one like this since I was probably 8. It was Garfield themed with the colors of blue and orange as accents. People showed up one after another until a good 25 people were packed into the little house. They even made a huge cake, which was awesome yet very interesting. I think Marianice, the lady who threw the party, bought fuses for an explosive rather than candles because they lasted about 10 seconds and burned a nice hole into the cake...sparkling all the way down.

Other than that, another neat thing that happened this week was the baptisms of Elbenisa and Pâmela, the wife and step-daughter of James. It was pretty cool seeing the whole family together on Sunday now that they are all members. They have already asked the Bishop if they can feed us, so we'll be eating lunch at their house in less than three weeks.

The weather here has been pretty unusual. Rather than the rainy season like everyone was warning about, there hasn't been a cloud in the sky lately, which is really rare given the fact that we are in the middle of the Amazon and it usually rains at 2 p.m. everyday.

An unfortunate circumstance we find ourselves in as missionaries is the fact that our area is relatively small and we have knocked every street with the exception of one, which we will have completed by the end of this week. After that, it appears referrals will be the bulk of our missionary work, which will make our work even harder. Another problem we seem to be facing here is that some of the other churches are getting a little out of hand. A local Baptist preacher instructed his congregation to always keep a pot of boiling water on the stove just in case the missionaries decide to stop by. They were told to toss it on us (the missionaries) should we arrive at their door. Fortunately, I don't think people are that ignorant to waste gas heating up a pot of water for the rare chance we might clap their door. Nonetheless, the only real response we have received from his followers is that they shut their door and close their windows if they spot us walking down their street.

All in all, it was a decent week. The pictures are from the recent baptism and my party...I'm sure you can figure out which is which. Thanks for all the support.

Um abraço,
Elder Taylor Mackay