Aldeota, Brazil Week 13

Oi! How was everyone´s week? I hope all is going well for everyone. My week was good. Of course, since it was the first week of the transfer it was a very busy week in the mission office doing a lot of things for the new missionaries and updating everything for this transfer. Tuesday was by far the best day because we welcomed in 17 new missionaries. Welcoming the new missionaries in our mission is definitely my favorite thing that I get to do as Executive Secretary. President and Sister Souza picked up Elder Muniz and me and the Assistants Tuesday morning and we all headed to the airport. It was absolutely POURING that morning. It was crazy! It didn´t last too long but it was like every road had turned into a river here in Fortaleza. President and Sister Souza said they had never seen it rain like this for the 2 and a half years they have been here. I thought it was pretty fun!

But anyways we waited at the airport for awhile waiting for the 10 missionaries from the MTC in São Paulo. President bought us some chocolates while we were waiting and they were super good. After awhile they came out and Elder Muniz and I went in the van with them to the Mission Home where we had lunch. That´s another reason I love the day when the new missionaries come because we have tacos at the Mission Home and they are SUPER good!! After lunch we headed to the Mission Office and gave trainings, President had interviews, and then they all met their trainers and Elder Muniz and I loaded them all up in taxis and they all left. Then we waited in the Mission Office for a little bit waiting for the second group (7 visa waiters from the United States). They finished up dinner at the Mission Home and came over. It was great to welcome them. I love welcoming the visa waiters because I know exactly how they feel. It seems like that was me just a few days ago. It was especially great to see my companion from the MTC, Elder Shelton. I gave him a big hug and welcomed him to Fortaleza! We talked for awhile and got to catch up a little bit. He is super excited to finally be here! He was serving in Colorado waiting for his visa forever. We gave training again, and I tried to explain how fun visiting the Federal Police was going to be but Elder Muniz and the Assistants informed them otherwise. haha oh well, at least I tried. So I will be visiting the Federal Police with all 7 of them in the coming weeks. They all met their companions and we loaded them up in taxis and they all went to their new areas. Since we got 43 new missionaries last transfer,  welcoming in 17 seemed a little less hectic and I really enjoyed the day!

Most of the rest of the week we spent in the office because there is so much to do the first week of the transfer. One cool experience I had this week was on Friday when Elder Vallo and I went and visited a potential new house for missionaries. It was about 30 minutes away on Friday afternoon and there was a lot of traffic. The house was good and the people that lived there gave us some brownies and ice cream. They are members that are moving so it was nice to meet them. But what was cool is that Elder Vallo called for a taxi and a few minutes later they called him and said the taxi was outside. So we left the apartment complex but there was no taxi. We were waiting and waiting forever and Elder Vallo was calling but they weren´t picking up. We waited here for about 45 minutes and then randomly this car pulls up and they roll down the windows and it was some members from our ward! They gave us a ride back to the mission office, just in time for me to finish some things up that needed to be done before 6PM Friday. It was a small little miracle!

Saturday Elder Muniz and I visited Michele and had a good lesson with her at a member´s house. She told us she probably won´t get married until August. We also visited Bruno and we had a great visit with him! He has been struggling a little bit and we had a great lesson about the importance of daily prayer and scripture study. After the lesson we offered a prayer and he stood up to give us hugs and he said, "Milagre! Cada vez vocês visitam eu sinto melhor" (In English, Miracle! Each time you visit me I feel better").  It was a great experience and we are excited to continue to work with him and help him.

We have 9 missionaries in Ala Aldeota now, 5 Elders and 4 Sisters. During Sacrament Meeting on Sunday we all sang "Hark all ye Nations". We sang one verse in Portuguese, one verse in Spanish (we have 3 missionaries that speak Spanish), and one verse in English. It was really cool.

Well that´s about it for my week. I hope all continues to go well for each one. I feel your continued prayers! Have a great week!

Until next week.

Love,

Elder Helvey

 Elder Vallo and I enjoyed a nice warm brownie with ice cream with our two new friends. haha they were so funny. They are the twin boys of a member and they were excited to have us there for sure.

The entrance of the Mission Office!