September 2009 - September 2011

The Journey from Beginning to End

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Week #53: The Mauazinho Blues

GET DOWN- IT´S GOING TO BLOW!
by: Elder Tenney

There once was a missionary named Elder Tenney,
who had to reopen another area.
His companion´s name is Elder Arruda,
and they had no idea why they were in the area.
 They called President Jayme,
Asking all about the area.
President Jayme was led by the spirit,
to reopen Mauazinho, and wasn´t sure why.
Last Saturday, at 5 in the morning,
Elder Tenney was peacefully sleeping.
But Elder Arruda, who had been in Rondonia (Which has waaaaaaaaaaay too much dust and dirt in the air)
Was rolling in pain and agony.
Elder Tenney woke up,
"Você tá bem?" he asked. (You ok?)
"Nãoooooooooooooooooo," he replied. (no)
So they went to the hospital.
On the way there, Arruda described the pain,
as pain in the lower left side and down,
And Elder Tenney, having seen this before said,
"Poor soul, you have KIDNEY STONES."
End

Yes, I guessed right, Elder Arruda has kidney stones. This week was kind of destroyed by hospital visits and such. President Jayme wasn´t sure why this area would be reopened, but this area is really close to the Hospital Adventista de Manaus. If Elder Arruda hadn´t been transferred out of Rondonia, where there is little to no medical installations, he probably would have been a goner. It´s a curse of this area, though. There have been no baptisms for the last 7 months due to medical problems of the elders that passed through here, such as a broken knee, dengue (a disease), fighting, heart problems, kidney stones, and such. I twisted my ankle yesterday, but that ain´t nothing big. Hurts to walk, though.

Right now I am on a division with Elder Canann. He is from Texas. Elder Arruda went to the hospital with Elder Sabino. This week would have been a bit productive, but Elder Arruda decided to put braces on his teeth this week, too, so we have been going to the dentist and orthodontist. He should have all the procedures done by Monday.

But, through all this stuff that´s going on, we have a couple baptisms marked for this transfer. Both are of young men, 17/18 years old, (the 17-year-old will have his 18th bday in November) and they can get one year in as members and then serve missions! Yay!
 
Suelen & Fabio @ baptism: 26 February 2010...now expecting their second child!

This last Sunday, Fabio and Suelen came to visit me here in Mauazinho from Castanheira! They are still going strong in the church, and their little daughter Geovana turned 6 in June! Oh, and Suelen is pregnant. Gonna be a happy little family growing up in the church. :)
 
Eduardo & returned sister missionary on 26 February 2010...now engaged!

Eduardo (from Castanheira that I baptised) is going to get married soon to a returned sister missionary. It´s so awesome to see these people staying strong in the church and moving forward with their lives!

Knocking doors is one of the worst things in the world for a missionary. Knocking doors means you have given up on meeting the elects in the road, and worse, given up on the members in the ward to give references. . . . we might start knocking doors. :p  My shoes are good. Just send a few pairs of socks. I started using a pair of pants the other day for the first time. I still have a couple pairs I haven't used yet. Shirts are still white. I wash my whites with bleach, so everything stays somewhat nicer looking. I think the shoes will last the mission. (This was in response to questions by mom:)

One more thing! I´m an illegal alien!! My visa expired on September 17, 2010. I have no documents with me to show that I am here legally. I think they already took care of renewing my visa, but I am not sure. We´ll see how this goes. The only thing  I can´t do right now is get on an airplane, so I am going to be in Manaus for a while.

Love you all! Have a splendiforous week!

-Elder Tenney

A BIG WELCOME HOME ON SEPTEMBER 22ND TO ELDER TENNEY'S GOOD FRIENDS: ELDER TEREN CHRISTENSEN (NEW HAMPSHIRE - MANCHESTER MISSION) AND ELDER TYSON CHRISTENSEN (NEW YORK - ROCHESTER MISSION) WHO HAVE SERVED & RETURNED WITH HONOR!!! WE LOVE YOU! The 10*e's