Cidade Jardim

My first area is in Cidade Jardim in Teresina. Some streets are dirt roads, others are very roughly done cobble stone roads, cobble stone, and asphalt. The streets are shared with horses and wagons, dogs, chickens, cats, and pigs. It´s in the low 30´s Celsius everyday and it´s usually been raining in the evening. So, the seasons here are hot and hotter. Right now it´s in the hot/kind of wet season. I´ve tried some new fruits that are kind of exclusive to being close to the Amazon. Which I am not that close to but, much closer than São Paulo was. One is called Pitomba and the other is called Cajá.

Around Easter time there is a tradition in Brasil to give Ovos de Pascão (eggs of Easter) with are chocolate eggs. Some have surprises inside. It´s exciting. My mission President (Presidente Dias) and his wife gave us all eggs. It was delicious and there was a toy inside. I miss speaking English, but Português is coming along. At least I´ve been told that I don´t have an accent, but it´s very obvious that I don´t know the language very well. People are very nice here, even though they laugh at me because I don´t understand hardly anything. But if I´m paying attention I can kind of get the gist of what they are saying.

My new companion Elder Souza is great. We were at the CTM together, he´s Brazilian. I have been feeling homesick lately, but I´ve found when I´m teaching people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I am happy and I remember why I´m here. It´s truly an interesting phenomenon. I love sharing the Gospel, it´s really the only thing that keeps me going and keeps me from being too homesick. My dear friends, talk to the missionaries in your area and you also can know why I am so happy and why I am here. I apologize for not sharing something so precious with you before, and if I have, look into it more. My life is blessed everyday because of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know He lives and I know that His church has been restored and is on the earth today. We have a living prophet today who speaks with God and in whom God reveals His secrets just as in times of old (Amos 3:7). I love you all so much. I´ll write more next week.

Love,
Elder Samuel H. Chiba