I want to stay in this area forever!

It´s so hot here! And green! It doesn´t feel close to Natal at all! But everyone (todo mundo) is excited for Natal! We don´t get to see the devocional... :C

I can´t send pictures until we find a safe place to do it. I really don´t want my camera wracked with viruses. 

I´m slowly saving up to send a páckage home, with stuff I don´t need, souvenirs, and gifts for the fam. Pictures will be included.

I haven´t got the package yet, but Elder Byers will check the Escritorio today. I did get Sister Nokes´ letter! I loved it! Give her a hug for me!

I just sent an email about Skype. It´s pretty urgent, so I hope you see it!

The work is hard, but fun! We are teaching Fabio and Vanuzia, a couple with three little kids. They are ready for baptism except that Fabio struggles with smoking and is showing little effort, and we need to marry them (always the issue). We are teaching Eleniuza and her familia. They are recent converts, but she´s struggling. We think they are attending a second church. We are teaching Brena and Gilmar, who also need to get married and she needs to quit coffee and he´s probably got other problems, but Brena really wants to get baptized, so I´m excited for her. Luckily, she and Gilmar do not live in the same house, so she can probably get baptized sooner than later. We are teaching Jucilene and her daughter, Yasmim, but we are having lots of problems. Jucilene is soooo close! We are teaching Cicero and Ana, a couple whose son, Luka, is a recent convert. We´re all hoping Luka can baptize his little brother, Juan. Cicero and Ana are super receptive, but he works on Sunday. EVERYONE works on Sunday.

So, we don´t have any rats here, but we do have HUGE baratas (cockroaches). They are about the size of my watch. Think of a normal sized no-bake cookie. Our apartment is really clean, so we think they come from this old ratty sofa on our balcony. It needs to be burned.

Saturday night (and Sunday morning) there was a party outside our apartment. I wish we could have called the police because they were drinking and playing extremely loud music (our beds were vibrating and shaking) ALL NIGHT LONG.  It didn´t stop until 5 in the morning! I remember because I was awake! It´s crazy!

Anyway, today is going to be super fun because we´re going to Longe-de-Real, basically a Dollar General, but EVERYTHING is R$1, or fifty cents for us. Sweeet!

Time is going really quickly and I don´t like it! I want to stay in this area forever!

Oh, and I gave a talk yesterday in church. Everyone loved it. More importantly, everyone understood it. Oh yeah.

And I have a recipe for you! It´s super awesome, from Irmão Madruga, in the Bispado (Bishopric). You´ll love it, it´s a type of cake/pudding thing!

Have a great week!

Seu filho para sempre,

Elder Richins