Dear Family, Friends and the few Brazilians I know who read this,
I am in Santa Rosa now, well sort of. I am actually back in São Luiz because of splits. My companion and my old companion have a meeting in Santa Maria and the new companion of my old companion and I are chilling in São Luiz until tomorrow when our companions will arrive back here and everything goes back to normal.
As Alyson put on the Blog, one of Brazil's biggest celebrates grew up in Santa Rosa. Her name is Xuxa, (shoe-sha). Her tale is a little strange and has some bad parts to it, for instance she was one of Brazil's biggest porn stars for awhile according to my companion, but now she is Barnie, The Wiggles, Seasame Street and Lamp Chop all rolled into one blond 40 something year old woman. Actually our apartment is acrossed the street from her childhood home. I walk by it everyday, also the city of Santa Rosa built this huge gate that has her picture and the phrase, "Xuxa A Rainha dos Baixinhos." Which translates to Xuxa the queen of the littleones. It is really kind of strange, but yeah.
My companion and I get along great, better than Elder Matos and I every did anyway. His name is Elder Enout. He is from São Paulo. He is really a good guy. I will send a picture eventually but I did bring my camera along with me so I am unable to upload pictures.
I really do not have a opinion of the City itself yet but the members are great. This week I received a gift. Now it is not anything that I wanted, but it was a welcoming present nonetheless. I discovered why they say when going to South America do not drink the water. I made that mistake. I drank the water in Santa Rosa which is not as clean as São Luiz. I either had the flu or disintary because I had a feever of a 102 or 39 depending what system you us, and I was pooping liquid hellfire from my rearend all week long. The members here once they hear that I was sick made me soup and I spent many hours laying on the couch of one family as they all took turns nursing me. Good times were had by all. I really loved their charity. But I think I jinxed myself because all the missionaries here received water bottles with flitters in it and I said I do need this the water here is clean, and I left it at our apartement the first day. One family asked about them and I said, oh I do not have any fear of the water here in Santa Rosa, to which they replied with a laugh and said you will. Ah... I do now.
That was my week. I know next week will be better.
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
Transfer Time
Dear family and friends,
It is finally arrived. I am being transferred away from São Luiz.
It has been a wonderful time here. I really love this place and hope to return there one day, but I am also very glad to leave and move on.
My new area is going to be Santa Rosa, which means Saint Rose. It is kinda close to here and in the same zone. My new companion is going to be Elder Enout, he is from São Paulo. I already know him a little bit and I think we will get alone much better than Elder Matos and I did.
I have to make this one short so I will talk to you guys in one week.
Love,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
Xuxa was born in the city. 
Santa Rosa is a town in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, located at latitude 27º52'15" and longitude 54º28'53" at a height of 277 meters above sea level. It has an area of 488.42 km². Its estimated population is 68,468 (2004).
Santa Rosa is heavily populated with German-Brazilian descendants and the majority of the citizens exhibit Germanic features such as blond hair and blue eyes. Gaúcho culture is very strong in the city. The Portuguese dialect and accent of the citizens in Santa Rosa borrows sounds and words from Spanish in consequence of the city's proximity to the Argentine border.
The city is the birthplace of the popular Brazilian celebrity Maria da Graça Meneghel known as Xuxa and Brazilian World Cup Winning Goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel.
It is finally arrived. I am being transferred away from São Luiz.
It has been a wonderful time here. I really love this place and hope to return there one day, but I am also very glad to leave and move on.
My new area is going to be Santa Rosa, which means Saint Rose. It is kinda close to here and in the same zone. My new companion is going to be Elder Enout, he is from São Paulo. I already know him a little bit and I think we will get alone much better than Elder Matos and I did.
I have to make this one short so I will talk to you guys in one week.
Love,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Disneyesque monument to Xuxa in downtown Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul.
Santa Rosa is heavily populated with German-Brazilian descendants and the majority of the citizens exhibit Germanic features such as blond hair and blue eyes. Gaúcho culture is very strong in the city. The Portuguese dialect and accent of the citizens in Santa Rosa borrows sounds and words from Spanish in consequence of the city's proximity to the Argentine border.
The city is the birthplace of the popular Brazilian celebrity Maria da Graça Meneghel known as Xuxa and Brazilian World Cup Winning Goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel.
Happy New Year!!!
Dear Family, Friends, and althose who read the Blog,
Things here in São Luiz have been a little bit depressing. My companion and I have been working on finding all the inactive members of our branch, because our branch by February will become a Ward. But before that can happen we needed to find over 100 people to see if a) they were still living in São Luiz, b) if their address even existed c) if they had any interest in coming back or what. It turns out most are not. We found this couple who had been baptized many many years ago, and left the church and started frequenting another because even though they knew that our church is true, or at least they thought it was at the time they were baptized, it is far away and they started going to another because it is much closer to their house. We found many people with that attitude.
All is well otherwise. We are working hard, and we had a chance to relax and do little of nothing yesterday at Christmas Conference. It was good times. I got to relax from my work, and just hang out with my friends from the CTM. Although it was unfortunate that I forgot to re-apply sun screen on the back of my neck, and so now I have a really bad sunburn on my neck, but it will go away soon enough.
I was so glad to hear from my family on Christms. That was a pleasant treat. I got to relax and hear from people I love. There is little better than that.
Well I must get back to work. I do not know if the next time I write if I will be in a new city or with a new companion or if the status quo will be kept. All is possible it seems like.
Deus fique consegos até nós encontramos de novo.
Elder Caleb S. Carriere.
Things here in São Luiz have been a little bit depressing. My companion and I have been working on finding all the inactive members of our branch, because our branch by February will become a Ward. But before that can happen we needed to find over 100 people to see if a) they were still living in São Luiz, b) if their address even existed c) if they had any interest in coming back or what. It turns out most are not. We found this couple who had been baptized many many years ago, and left the church and started frequenting another because even though they knew that our church is true, or at least they thought it was at the time they were baptized, it is far away and they started going to another because it is much closer to their house. We found many people with that attitude.
All is well otherwise. We are working hard, and we had a chance to relax and do little of nothing yesterday at Christmas Conference. It was good times. I got to relax from my work, and just hang out with my friends from the CTM. Although it was unfortunate that I forgot to re-apply sun screen on the back of my neck, and so now I have a really bad sunburn on my neck, but it will go away soon enough.
I was so glad to hear from my family on Christms. That was a pleasant treat. I got to relax and hear from people I love. There is little better than that.
Well I must get back to work. I do not know if the next time I write if I will be in a new city or with a new companion or if the status quo will be kept. All is possible it seems like.
Deus fique consegos até nós encontramos de novo.
Elder Caleb S. Carriere.
Merry Christmas
Dear Family and Friends,
I am glad to here that everyone is getting ready and gearing up for Christmas. I have received all the packages that were sent to me, I think. I have the one from Mom and Dad, Aly and Kris, and Team Moore. I especially like the team Moore package. I did not know the Virgin Mary had a Rino Fork T-shirt. I really got a laugh out of that one.
Things here have not improved much, although they have slightly. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder last week and I was in a lot of pain, thank goodness for Ibuprofen. I am fine now, but if Alyson or Erynn have any tips about how to stretch the left side of my body that would be spectacular. We also had Zone Conference which was nice. I got to hang out with some of the people I came here with from the CTM. I really love those guys and we are all going through the same thing right now so it is nice to have the month support system.
Another good thing was we had a baptism on Sunday, and guess what I got to baptize someone in Portuguese. It was great although I nearly killed the girl. Her name is Bruna and she is 9 years old. My companion and I explained to her that it is a good idea to pintch your nose when being baptized. So when it came time to do the deed I put her hand in front of her face and she did nothing, and I figured she did care to, so I dipped her in the water and when she came out the expression of horror, and freight has dramatic. I felt bad, but after she coughed up some water took a deep breath and she smiled at me so it is all good.
I am otherwise fine and in good spirits. I love hearing from you guys, and I look forward to hearing from you on Friday.
Deus fique contigo até nós encontramos novament.
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb Carriere
"Ruin De Mais"
Dear Family, Friends, and the 3 Brazilians who read my blog,
Things are going well here, although this past week was as my companion put it, "ruin de mais" or in lousy translated English, sucked. We accomplished very little. We became as it is known in Brazilian Mormon culture, fubecas, or lazy. That word is only in the Church down here, it is like saying Jack Mormon or something like that.
It was not due to inherent laziness on the part of my companion and I, but more on the fault of a series of unfortunate events. It was a bad week. First off I ate something that did not agree with me and I have had many trips to the restroom, to put it in a non-vulger way. Then also, I cannot explain why, but I keep waking up at 4:30 in the morning and I cannot for the life of me fall back asleep; so I have been really, really tired as of late. Thank goodness it is P-Day so I can take a nap. Then my companion for the last month or so before he became my companion has developed a bad knee, which decided that this week it will really start acting up. So normally we would be able to walk a distance in 15 or 20 minutes now takes almost an hour. Then two nights ago our cell phone which he needs to gather numbers and relay them to our zone leaders broke.
Not to steal the title of those books, but this last week had a lot of unfortunate events.
Oh also, the girl that we were going to baptized needs more time now so hopefully we will baptize here this week. Fingers crossed.
On good new, I received two packages this week. The first of which was from Mom and Dad. Thank you both I need those pants greatly. They fit wonderfully. The other package was from Alyson. Sorry to say Aly if you where trying to keep what was in the package a secret I already now. Not because I have opened it, but because of the shipping manifest on the front of the package. So if it is not going to break your heart, I would like to open it soon, because I can really use the photos. If there is one thing Brazilians love it is photos and photos of ones family is better. So let me know if it is possible for me to break my promise.
Sorry Amy I have not received your package yet, but I hope to this week. I have Zone Conference where generally I will receive mail, and other things. Then the week after that is Christmas Conference where the entire mission will ascend upon Santa Maria and do something really haven't the slightest idea of what will happen save lots of photos.
Well I really do not have more to say than good luck. I love you all and I am looking forward to talking to you guys on Christmas. I only have an hour to talk and my companion is a bit of a Peter Priesthood kind of guy, who I guess would have no qualms hanging up the phone for me if I went over the limit, so keep that in mind. I think the plan of action is that we are going to go to the Chapel and use the phone there. It is more private that way, so next week I will have more instructions about the phone call.
I love you guys and I hope you are doing well,
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere.
Things are going well here, although this past week was as my companion put it, "ruin de mais" or in lousy translated English, sucked. We accomplished very little. We became as it is known in Brazilian Mormon culture, fubecas, or lazy. That word is only in the Church down here, it is like saying Jack Mormon or something like that.
It was not due to inherent laziness on the part of my companion and I, but more on the fault of a series of unfortunate events. It was a bad week. First off I ate something that did not agree with me and I have had many trips to the restroom, to put it in a non-vulger way. Then also, I cannot explain why, but I keep waking up at 4:30 in the morning and I cannot for the life of me fall back asleep; so I have been really, really tired as of late. Thank goodness it is P-Day so I can take a nap. Then my companion for the last month or so before he became my companion has developed a bad knee, which decided that this week it will really start acting up. So normally we would be able to walk a distance in 15 or 20 minutes now takes almost an hour. Then two nights ago our cell phone which he needs to gather numbers and relay them to our zone leaders broke.
Not to steal the title of those books, but this last week had a lot of unfortunate events.
Oh also, the girl that we were going to baptized needs more time now so hopefully we will baptize here this week. Fingers crossed.
On good new, I received two packages this week. The first of which was from Mom and Dad. Thank you both I need those pants greatly. They fit wonderfully. The other package was from Alyson. Sorry to say Aly if you where trying to keep what was in the package a secret I already now. Not because I have opened it, but because of the shipping manifest on the front of the package. So if it is not going to break your heart, I would like to open it soon, because I can really use the photos. If there is one thing Brazilians love it is photos and photos of ones family is better. So let me know if it is possible for me to break my promise.
Sorry Amy I have not received your package yet, but I hope to this week. I have Zone Conference where generally I will receive mail, and other things. Then the week after that is Christmas Conference where the entire mission will ascend upon Santa Maria and do something really haven't the slightest idea of what will happen save lots of photos.
Well I really do not have more to say than good luck. I love you all and I am looking forward to talking to you guys on Christmas. I only have an hour to talk and my companion is a bit of a Peter Priesthood kind of guy, who I guess would have no qualms hanging up the phone for me if I went over the limit, so keep that in mind. I think the plan of action is that we are going to go to the Chapel and use the phone there. It is more private that way, so next week I will have more instructions about the phone call.
I love you guys and I hope you are doing well,
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere.
2 Baptisms and one to go...
Dear Family and Friends,
So I was dumb and deleted the first message that I wrote you all so I am going to make this one shorter for I do not have the time to make it another long one.
Things here are doing great. Christmas has come early for me. We had two baptisms on Sunday. They are Janete and Jonas. They are mother and son. Their father is a member and a return missionary, he preformed the baptism. It was awesome.
We also have another baptism coming up on Saturday. I am excited for that one as well. Her name is Charmene. We will baptize her on Saturday and then she will be confirmed a member not on that following Sunday but the next for that Sunday is District Conference. This place does not have a stake yet so it is a District and my mission president will give a talk which ought to be cool.
I have pictures, but as my companion has informed me I am not supposed to use photobucket which is no good because I dread uploading photos via myldsmail.net. I would rather have my head bashed in. So I will be sending my SD card to Alyson or Seth soon to upload my pictures.
I had more to say, but I no longer have the time to do it. Sorry to say.
I love you all and hope you are doing well.
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
So I was dumb and deleted the first message that I wrote you all so I am going to make this one shorter for I do not have the time to make it another long one.
Things here are doing great. Christmas has come early for me. We had two baptisms on Sunday. They are Janete and Jonas. They are mother and son. Their father is a member and a return missionary, he preformed the baptism. It was awesome.
We also have another baptism coming up on Saturday. I am excited for that one as well. Her name is Charmene. We will baptize her on Saturday and then she will be confirmed a member not on that following Sunday but the next for that Sunday is District Conference. This place does not have a stake yet so it is a District and my mission president will give a talk which ought to be cool.
I have pictures, but as my companion has informed me I am not supposed to use photobucket which is no good because I dread uploading photos via myldsmail.net. I would rather have my head bashed in. So I will be sending my SD card to Alyson or Seth soon to upload my pictures.
I had more to say, but I no longer have the time to do it. Sorry to say.
I love you all and hope you are doing well.
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
I am alive and well!
Dear family and friends,
Sorry I have to make this one short and sweet. I am alive and well. I am teaching more than I did in my last transfer. Transfers happen every 6 weeks. To answer Seth's question I do not know just a fried egg.
My new companion and I get alone fine. His name is Elder Matos and he is from northern most part of brazil, I have forgotten the name.
I am well, and I will talk to you all later. on the phone maybe.
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
Sorry I have to make this one short and sweet. I am alive and well. I am teaching more than I did in my last transfer. Transfers happen every 6 weeks. To answer Seth's question I do not know just a fried egg.
My new companion and I get alone fine. His name is Elder Matos and he is from northern most part of brazil, I have forgotten the name.
I am well, and I will talk to you all later. on the phone maybe.
Com Amor,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
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