February 27, 2017 - Ribeirão das Neves

I see a Belo Horizonte

And for the First time I will be serving there.

The transfer calls came in last night and I will be moving to a new area with a new companion. It should be interesting as my new companion will be my first from America. I will still be district leader. Tomorrow I will know my new companion. I talked with him once when I went to the mission office to pick up Elder Andrade. My new companion just finished training. Also, my new area is called Guarani. It will be my first time serving in Belo Horizonte and probably my last area.

This week we had one day where we ate at home and I took advantage of the opportunity to make homemade chicken noodle soup. It turned out well and I don´t think I messed up too bad. But, Grandma still makes it better than I can.

This week was really a week of ups and down. When almost everything was going against our plans a miracle happened. An investigator that we have been working with for about 3 months came to church. We had almost stopped teaching her and she came through. It just reminded me that we should never give up on anyone. God has a plan and a timetable. Generally, the timetable of God is different than ours and at times he is trying our faith and testing our desires. When you love the people, they will respond to the call and come unto Christ.

random:

* I tried a new food called acarajé - traditional Brazilian fritters made with black-eyed peas served with caruru, sauteed shrimp and chilli sauce.

abraço

Elder Quain

Trying acarajé.​

 Elder Andrade

Can you see the Chapel?

 Making noodles

Finished product.

February 20, 2017 - Ribeirão das Neves

I see a belo horizonte

This week we did something amazing. We drank root beer in Brasil. Thanks to the extract that my parents sent me we were able to bring a little bit of America to Brasil, and to celebrate we bought hamburgers. Next time we might buy ice cream to make root beer floats.

The week went well. I got to do another interview for a baptism. I´ve actually done quite a few and it is interesting that whenever I do one for the Sisters they give me a warning that he talks way to much or that he is super timid, but any time that I do an interview they are always calm and open.

This week we had the Senior couple, Elder and Sister Perropato, come and visit our ward and give talks. Fun fact, Elder Perropato is from the same ward as Didi Rasmussen. We were just talking about that and decided that its a small world after all. Afterward, they went to a brasilian BBQ with us and they went to look at our house. Luckily, we passed the test, but they told us that our house is tiny and should only be for one companionship, not two. We might be changing houses, but who knows.

Random thing: everyone ends a cellphone conversation with abraço, or hug.

Well, that was my week in a nutshell. Hope everyone is doing well.

Abraço

Elder Quain

 with Elder and Sister Perropato

 Trying root beer for the first time!

 Making root beer

Me and Root Beer(He is the most interesting man in the world)​

The effects of the Brazilian sun

February 13, 2017 - Ribeirão das Neves

I see a Belo Horizonte

Well this week was rather full and luckily I have a lot more to write about than pizza and rain.

To start out we had a split this week with the LZs in Pampulha. We woke up early to catch the bus and go there. I was with Elder Searle from my group. It was fun to catch up and we had a lot of time to talk as we walked a lot. We were trying to find the place where you do your documentation to get married(cartório). One guy said it was two more blocks, the next said one km and when we got there we decided to take a bus to get back. We also taught an English class, which I am actually really bad at because at times I can´t remember if some things are correct or not.

We came back, had a normal day and the next day we went to a Mission tour with Elder Basset. He is part of the area presidency of Brasil. He asked me where I was from and he actually knew where Vacaville was. Apparently he had served as area seventy there and knew our stake president. He gave a talk to us about charity and  giving service because we want to, not because we have to.

Luckily, I listened to the talk and took notes as I was asked to give a talk as Sacrament meeting started. I ended up using a lot of the same scriptures and trying to transmit the same idea to my ward.

After church we were making a lot of contacts and almost everybody was commenting on my eyes. After one guy had commented about my eyes he turned to my companion and said, I like your teeth. We got a good laugh out of that.

I hope that everyone is doing well. Love you all.

Elder Quain

(he's in the background - but he's there! :))

February 6, 2017 - Ribeirão das Neves

I see a belo horizonte,

This week we bought pizza. That might not seem like a big thing to you, but the last time that I bought and ate pizza at home I was in my first area, so it has been about a year. But, when you have two Americans living together you have to buy pizza. I should be able to eat pizza this coming week too.

We also did a split this week. I was with Elder Bishop and it was good to work with him. While we were walking it started to rain and it continued until it had filled up the entire street and part of the sidewalks. Luckily, we were close to a snack shop so we stopped to eat a pizza pastel (you can see the theme).

The rain cleared up and we were able to work until the next day when Elder Andrade and I tried to do a visit. As we were walking up a hill it started to rain again. We found refuge under a partially constructed house and we waited until the rain stopped.

The rain just didn´t want to stop and it rained all through church, before and after. I was just left thinking, Sunday morning rain is falling.

Elder Quain

Me & Elder Bishop