Week #94: Picture Day!

 

Mixed Emotions? - 24 June 2011 

 

First off, today I remembered to bring the card reader, so lots of pix coming. Second, as a notice to all peoples who write me, please don´t keep reminding me about how much time I have left. I am very aware and would like to not be aware. Thanks. 3rd: love all you all tons!

 

Current Companion: Elder Eca - 20 June 2011

So,  the email finally opened up. We tried earlier and the myldsmail was down. Finally got in. So, let´s start from the beginning.


Bedroom - 29 June 2011

 

Elder Tenney's hammock - 29 June 2011



More of the house - 29 June 2011



Stairs in new house - 29 June 2011



Washer - 29 June 2011



New mission president came last week. Elder Eça and I saw him early on Friday because we were dropping wedding papers off at staff and he invited us to come have a morning devotional with him and the secretaries. He is very excited and animated. It was weird not seeing Pres. Jayme there.

Wedding - 28 June 2011

Wedding Decor - 28 June 2011

Friday night, the staff building caught on fire. The missionary apartment up top had a wiring problem and burned about 1/4 of the upstairs to nothing but ash. Everybody is all right, but the secretaries lost there duds. We are all donating to help them out. Nothing of the mission office was destroyed either - just their personals.



Ward Party - 01 July 2011



Pinata @ Ward Party - 01 July 2011

Afterwards, we had an activity Friday night in the ward and we got tons of references! I love when this happens! It was like a cowboy dance party thing that happened in the ward in PV before I left. There was a giant wooden pole that was there for people to climb. It's a daring test like climbing up the açai trees in the Amazon forest. I tried it out and made it to the top in my missionary stuff. Pretty good work, Elder Tenney. Thank you.

 

With President and Sister Klein - 04 July 2011

 

24 June 2011



03 July 2011



Afterwards, on Monday, there was a Manaus conference and everyone got to meet President and take pictures with him and whatnot. As it was Fourth of July, I brought my American Flag with me, and Elder Larsen from my group asked him if we could sing the National Anthem and I whipped out the flag real fast. It was quite hilarious, and Pres said "yes". So at the end we sang gloriously the Star Spangled Banner song and it was amazing.

Elder Tenney @ Indian Cemetery - 02 July 2011

Indian Cemetery - 02 July 2011

Elder Eca @ Indian Cemetery - 02 July 2011

Rotary in Brazil - 06 July 2011

 

Autographed? - 04 July 2011

 

On Tuesday, (yesterday), there was zone leader conference. A lot of changes are happening here in the mission. The one I think will affect you the most is that...

P-DAY IS CHANGING TO MONDAY!

I hope you take note of the notice which I placed in the note this section that says...



P-DAY IS CHANGING TO MONDAY!



Thank you. So, this is my last Wednesday email, but I´m back sending the next one off in a few days.



Visiting Elder Johnson (in yellow) 15 June 2011  



Goalie - 06 July 2011



P-Day Soccer - 06 July 2011

 

Elder Tenney's Feet after Soccer - 06 July 2011

We played soccer today and I was goalie for my team, again. I like it better. I´m getting pretty good at the whole dive for the ball and drop kick it low and far technique thing. It was sure fun. I will say this, though- I miss playing tennis so much!



Missionary Supplies - 01 July 2011

We are starting to get some quality references these days and we end up not having enough time in the day to go meet everyone. Elder Eça has a tendency to wander to the same places every day to do friendly visits, but I am starting to get to know the area better now and we get more done these days. Well, in all, I hope you are all having a most glorious day, and may your French toast be super tasty. Whoops, sorry.  FREEDOM toast.
 

Happy 21st B-Day, Elder Tenney (coming up on 15 July 2011!)

Love you all tons! I´ll start sending pix!

-Elder Tenney

Week #93: "10"

To: You

From: Elder Tenney

Title: How to Slay a Dragon

In the year 1328, there was a fearsome dragon who roamed about the land, eating the peasantry and stealing what little gold they did have. As would have it, there was a mystical sword that slays dragons, and as all fairy tale legends go, only one person is chosen by the sword to wield it. That poor bloke happened to be Sir Whippersnippers. In short, he went to slay the dragon and got eaten. The dragon later died of smallpox because Sir Whippersnippers never took a bath in his life.

What does this story have to do with me? Nothing. I was just bored and didn´t know what to write. So this week we both got sick around Friday and we both still have a bit of the sniffles, but we are getting better. I´m eating chicken noodle soup and what-not, so yes, I'm on the mend. So is Eça. We marked a baptismal date with one of Marcileia´s cousins. Cool beans. We basically showed up and the first words out of her mouth were "I want to be baptized." As you wish! In all, we are going good. Pres. Klein's airplane touches down in the airport at noon today, and Pres. Jayme leaves for the US at 3-ish. I am going to miss them a whole lot. I guess that´s the highlight for the week. Marking a date. Happy Birthday Livers! Tell Ike to use his hands to open the door instead of his head. Happy DragonSlaying!

Loves,

eLdEr TeNnEy

Week #92: Internet Slow in Caveman Area

Dear peoples at home,

This week was pretty good. The chapel is a rented building here. New chapel bigger than our stake center will be done in August. No piano here. The area is huge. It used to have 4 missionaries here. Hope it opens up some more. Lots of missionaries coming in. Groups of 16, 19, 17, next one 20. The mission is finally growing as I'm leaving. My comp is "maluco". That means he is crazy. I like him. I have about the same time on the mission as he does {as a} member of the church. I'm teaching him English, too. He has a great attitude and we are getting along well. 

21 June 2011

"Going Away" Conference with Pres and Sister Jayme
(Elder Tenney is in the 3rd row, right behind President Jayme!)

We had a going away conference with President Jayme. I will miss him a lot. I find myself surrounded by my old comps at these meetings. It's pretty cool. OH! I just remembered. Fabio, one of the men I baptized forever ago, is now the Elders Quorum President in Castanheira! I'm so happy for him. Suelen had a baby girl last month, too. It makes the whole mission feel worth it. They are waiting for the Manaus temple to open next year. I talked to a certain sister Hammaker the other day. She gave me Ty´s address out in Spokane. I think I´ll try writing him a letter here in a bit. Today we were going to play football (real football) on the beach next to the temple, but our bus was hit by a car this morning. I took a pic but it's not loading. The car tried turning left on the inside of the bus which was also turning left. He scraped up right under the window where we were at. Basically destroyed our pday. So we went to the city center and looked around. I found out that Elder Fox passed in this area a long time ago. Pretty cool. Well, hope you all are having a most excellent time, being happy, playing nice, eating your veggies, smile!

Loves,

Elder Tenneysan

Week #91: One Ring to Rule them all...

Dear Family and members of the Fellowship of the Ring,

The quest to save Middle Earth is going well. I just barely took a long voyage back to Mordor in the heat and stuff, so I´m going to be battling here on the front lines again. In case you´re not understanding me very well, yes, I got transferred back to Manaus. It was actually really sad to leave the Shire (Porto Velho). I don´t know why, but I wanted to stay there some more. It was really good to see a ward with a functioning leadership. Our ward mission leader, Samwise Gamgee (Fernando Grabner), was one of the best ones that I had up to now. If we needed anything, he was there. The bishop was super friendly and doing a lot, and basically all the leaders did their job well. But, now I´m here again, back in Manaus. So, my area is way out on the northern tip of manaus, on the opposite side of the city from where all my other areas are. It is called Nova Cidade. For the first time I have a companion with less than a year on the mission. His name is Elder Josimar Eça from Camamu, Bahia. He is a descendant of Portuguese and African people. He is in his second transfer right now. My flight didn´t come in from Porto Velho until 1 AM and I hardly slept at all Monday night. Last night I just died and went to sleep when the time came. We went around and met some of the ward members yesterday. One of the investigators here is the uncle of Marcileia, who happens to be the first person I baptized on the mission with Elder Gannon! Small world. This area is a bit smaller than my last one, so maybe I´ll get back the weight I lost in Porto Velho. For the first time I have an air conditioner unit in my house, so maybe I´ll get some quality sleep now. Elder Eça´s last companion finished the mission up this last transfer, so I´m kind of starting from scratch here if you know what I mean. There are lots of missionaries coming into the mission. Last transfer had 15ish come in, this one 16, and the next they are planning for 20 more to come. Sounds like things are starting to pick up now. Wish I could be here to see the mission filled up again. President Jayme is still here until the end of the month it sounds like. They do the trade somewhere around the 30th, and they will both be here for just 2 hours together and then Pres. and Sister Jayme get the airplane home. Well, I´m super-de-duper-100% excited to go out into this area now. To boldly go where probably lots of other missionaries have gone before and pick the fruits from the seeds they sowed. It doesn't matter where you have been, it is where you are now and the direction in which you are heading. The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that we are the pilots. Well, hope you all have a splendiforous week and make the most of it. I know I will. Loves and bear hugs.

Elder Gandalf the Grey. (Tenney)

Week #90: 3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Dear People,

Another week gone by so fast. Same difficulties as usual. It´s weird how after being in the same area for a while the routines start to become monotonous. I am thankful for transfers. I love my areas, but I don´t think staying in one for large amounts of time is such a great thing. Oh, by the way, transfers are this week.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE LAN HOUSES!!!!!!!!!!!! THE COMPUTERS ALWAYS FREEZE AND I LOSE MY ENTIRE LETTER!!!!!!!!! I CLICKED SEND FOR A GIANT LETTER AND IT FROZE AND I LOST ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

Yes, I am doing fine. I'm as calm as a daisy and peaceful as a butterfly. On the outside at least. Inside I'm wreathing with rage and destruction and craziness. Well, I´ll just list the stuff now. Taiane is back. Baby had pneumonia and infection afterwards, but will be baptized this week. Pres. Jayme finishing up the battle. Don´t know what's going to happen this week, if everyone goes to manaus for mission conference or what. That´s basically it. Sorry for the ruined letter. Love you all tons.

ET

{Three months from today....!!!}