E. HILLSTEAD SPECIAL: JAKE THE DAD
Welllllcome back once again and oh me oh my do we have ourselves a treat of a week to discuss. Between now and last week SO much has gone down, holy cow been probably one of the longest weeks of the mission so far. Not even long because it dragged just cause so much happened it felt so huge.
THE JUNGLE CRUISE
Alright so ya like I said I kissed Paar goodbye and looked nowhere but the future of the new area Amapá. At the transfer, I found Elder Bradley and the BOTH of us had mad luggage cause he was also moving so we called an Uber and packed everything into this teeny car and headed to the boat docks at the Ver-O-Peso. Him and I were talking to the person driving about religion when all the sudden boom. Car gives up the ghost outta nowhere. Straight up just dies in the middle of the road, dope. The Elders hop out and push the car to another street for safety where we then got all the luggage out and called another Uber. Only thing is is that THIS Uber was even SMALLER so we literally had to fill the trunk and entire back seat with luggage, and that only left the shotgun to fit both me and Elder Bradley. I'll just summarize by saying it was def not the most comfortable experience for an Elder I'd known for like 15 minutes, but we were both laughing about it. Anyways we got to the ports and it was freakin chaos, like how the Ver-O-Peso always is, but this time we were lugging suitcases and boxes through the crowd. We buy boat tickets, head to the boat, and realize there's no room on the boat at all. So what'd we do? Put the suitcases and boxes on the roof of the boat and we had ourselves standing room at the back of the boat. So yeah pretty dang eventful start to the week, but I was mad amped to have some time in Barcarena and see some interior. It was way sick too, the way there I saw a bunch of greenery and trees, I felt like I was on that Jungle cruise ride at Disneyland, only the bad jokes were replaced with deafening motor noises (we were standing right above the gigantic motor in the back). Anyways though we arrived there in one piece and got to work.
THE BARCARENA EXPERIENCE
Okay so I actually quite enjoyed the 2ish day division in Pioneiro muito. We dropped our stuff at the house, and Elder Bradley had actually already been to Pioneiro for a good chunk of his mission and so we met some old friends and heard the sitch about the work. It was super cool too cause Elder Bradley was also going to train this transfer in a new area so it was cool to learn from his process of getting the area going. We talked with a bunch of members, asked a ton of questions, and followed every reference given like a treasure hunt, and by the time I dipped there was some pretty good stuff lined up. Pioneiro is a sick area and it'll be awesome if I can return one day and meet the ward again. Also it rained a freakin ton my second day there, like a TON ton. There were straight up rivers where the roads used to be, which not only made it tough to get around but also left us with a problem later at home. So yeah we get home that night, and as im taking my shoes off Elder Bradley opens the door and gasps. I go and see what's up and there's like a freakin LAKE on the ground. Okay lake is exaggerating, but still a layer of water where there shouldn't be water. Like you know how you usually step on the ground and it's dry? Yeah it was kinda like that but it was wet, just to paint a picture. Anyways though that was a mess that took a solid second to clear up, and poor Elder Bradley left his dang quad on the ground and so it got totally soaked. Definitely was a time but hey I enjoyed the time there thoroughly. I was there Tuesday-Thursday morning, at which point we hit the boat again and made our way back to Belém to meet the newly arrived missionaries and our soon to be sons.
GRANDFATHER, FATHER & SON
SO there we are in Belém, now met up with the squad of other missionaries who were gonna train too, anxiously waiting for any news. The same old situation 8 months ago, but now the role reversed. President called us upstairs, and gave us trainers a small practice, but it was basically more like a pep talk. Our group of trainers was me, Elder Bingham and Elder Doman (my goats who also arrived with me) and Elder Bradley and Elder Scott. Along with 2 other sisters. So 7 missionaries in total. President Ribolla basically said yo you guys got this, the Lord trusts you with the assignment, if you have any questions just look to the Lord as an example and everything'll work out. Not even gonna lie, fire advice that's all he really needed to drop for the training experience to go well. Anyways though we sit ourselves in a line and excitedly the greenies file into the room. Only thing is that there were approximately ZERO Americans this transfer, so I knew no matter what I was either gonna improve my Portuguese or I was gonna be learning Spanish. Anyways this one Elder walks in, a bit shorter than me, crazy yolked with glasses and curly hair, and I literally had the conscious thought of "this guy looks like a chiller." Not even kidding bro, when they were matching up the sons to the dad's I was already certain I was getting bro. When it was his turn he stood up, and I was literally ready to jump outta my seat I was so excited, then they said it was ME AS HIS DAD and bro it's a good thing I was ready cause I LEPT out of my seat bro. We hugged and cheered and it was so lit, and then bro heard we were going to Macapá and he was losing it. So there we are! My son's name is Elder Klinger, he is in fact a Brazilian, he's from Cururiba, he speaks crazy good English and even better Portuguese (if you'd believe) and he's got crazy will to work hard and to seize the mission. From the moment our names were announced, the ground shook as a power companionship was formed for the ages. Elder McLane was there too cause he's Mr. Executivo Secretário so he gave his grandson a warm welcome to the mission too. It was such a sick time and we were ready to hit it.
MACAPÁ HERE WE COME
Aight so we spent the rest of the day in Belém, spent the night at the legendary CDC (which has an absurd amount of Elder Seal propaganda) and Friday morning we left to make our flights. First time I'd really ever been in the saddle but Elder Klinger's already Brazilian and so it wasn't like it was a bumbling gringo like I was, so he was supporting me through the whole process and it was a team effort. We made our flights, got to the Macapá crib, and started the work effort. While Elder Klinger was unpacking, I was scratching my head looking at our Preach My Gospel app and deciding where to even begin with opening the area. I got in contact with some of the folk from the ward, agended some visits, and decided the best way to start the work is just to start going and go from there. Getting to know the area's been really cool, we first went to a swampy neighborhood where all the houses are on stilts and the sidewalks are bridges which was pretty interesting. It was also cool to be able to be doing everything for the first time together as father and son, it def created a special relationship both for us and with the area, and I know this next transfer we boutta pour a lot of care into taking care of the area. Another highlight is that later in the week we met some of the leaders in the ward, as well as the Bishop (crazy goated), and they were all SO helpful. Gave us a tonna good information and references about who we can go visit, and make it super clear that we're a team, working together. Super super amped about the area, amped to be training and to have this opportunity, and in general amped about the future. I know these next couple of weeks are gonna be a big grind but I feel like the Lord is genuine by my side during all of this. Even though I could totally feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulders during the transfer and the first couple days, I knew the Lord called me to where I am to do what I'm doing because he trusts me to do what's gotta be done. I know this transfer I'll learn a lot more about what it means to follow Christ's example, and it'll be a massive growing experience. These next couple of months are gonna be a huge adventure, and I know it'll be a great time.
Okay thank you so much for reading until now, real quick I'll close with some other highlights from the week
OTHER GOODIES
️ While waiting for the newbies, me and Elder Bingham did a sneaky goated trickshot with a piece of his belt that he cut off. Had to be there to see it 
️ There was a member in Barcarena who talked to us about skinwalkers for 45 minutes straight which was uplifting ️ First day here we talked to a lady working an Açaí stand about whether or not it's good here (everyone hypes up Macapá Açaí) and homegirl straight up just gave us a liter of Açaí for FREE to try 
️ There's parts of our area that are super close to a River which is super pretty and we also get a good breeze sometimes ️ Our house is literally an hour away from our church building but our house is super nice so 
️ We found a neighborhood of indigineous Brazilian natives and some of them speak more native language than Portuguese. So the other day we were talking to a fam who wasn't really able to respond super well, and another lady from the neighborhood pulled up and they started talking in their native tongue and me and Elder Klinger were literally just sitting there like 
️ Fatty shoutout to my day 1 goats Elder Schudde and Elder Emett you guys are the absolute best 
Peace out everyone!
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