Merry December, from Elder Morgan!  I´ll admit, I´m a little homesick for the cold December weather of home, seeing as we´re about to head into summer down here.  But that doesn´t change the fact that the work is good and we´re having lots of fun!

To start off, it rained A TON this past week.  Like, a ton.  The first time we camped out under a gas station for an hour or so just waiting for it to pass because it was coming down in sheets.  Elder Guamangallo and I have a knack for carrying around our umbrellas all day on the days it DOESN´T rain, and then not bringing them the days it does.  We´re not very good at predicting the weather apparently, haha.

(Me waiting in the rain)

(This shows you how crazy the rain is here)

We also had our zone conference this week, which was fun.  It´s always great to hear from the Mission President.  President Del Guerso is a great guy and his words were very inspiring.  He talked about how we shouldn´t judge others becaue everyone is at a different moment of spirituality in their lives, and even though we may be at a high point there might be others that are at a low.  It definitely made me think.  We also got to watch the Pixar short, "One Man Band," which is hilarious.

Also at zone conference I got to see some of my old friends.  I´ve included pictures of Sister Culp and I, both trying to do sporty things.  As you can see, we don´t know a lot about sports.

The Portuguese is coming along well and I rarely feel totally lost anymore, but by some weird stroke of luck all of my church leaders have the WEIRDEST accents.  My bishop, ward mission leader, and mission president all sound like they came from Mars, not Brazil.  It´s always fun in coordination meetings, especially because our ward mission leader likes to speak English with me, but quite frankly I can´t tell what language he´s speaking at all.  "What, Irmão Adão?  Are you speaking English or Portuguese?"  Good times, good times.

During lunches with our ward members, Elder W. Rodriguez constantly introduces my companion as a Peruvian, even though he´s from Ecuador.  Not sure what that´s about, but I think it´s pretty dang funny.

My nickname of "Captain" from California has continued in Brazil, only this time I´m "Cápitan America."  It´s pretty sick.  I got this nickname mostly because I like to give the other elders a hard time by pointing at random objects such as cups, floors, pencils, or the sky, and saying, "You know who invented that?  An American."

Okay, weird story of the week.  While contacting a potential investigator a woman that we didn´t recognize came out of the neighboring house.  We asked her about her neighbor and she gave us some information.  She then saw our nametags and asked if we were men of God.  When we told her that we most certainly were she hugged me, kissed me on the cheek, and then did the same to my companion, all while we stood as stiff as a board.  She then began weeping, put a cross keychain in my shirt pocket, and went back inside, praising God.  Not sure what that was about, but hopefully it helped her.

Things about Brazil:

- Stroganaff is, like, the king of all meals here in Brazil.  Everyone loves it, and I must admit that it´s pretty dang good.

- Brazilians think that McDonald´s is LEGIT.  Like, straight up fancy.  It´s considered high class.

- Snow is fascinating to Brazilians.  My roommates were legitimately shocked when I told them that, yes, I had indeed seen snow in my life.

That´s about it for me.  Thanks!

Your friend,

Elder Carter David Morgan

- Beijo e braco