"...we are going to a park to try to find monkeys and play soccer..."

Well, the members have stepped in and made a difference! This one girl named Milena brought three friends to church on Sunday. They all liked it, and all want to meet with us, so we are going to jump on that ASAP!
Then there is Lourdes, who was baptized two weeks ago. She has gone on the offensive in getting her children to go to church, and yesterday there were 7 Lamanites at church. Most surely her three of-age daughters will be baptized on the 30th.
Also there is this old dude whose wife and daughter are members. He has been an investigator for several years, and has read the Book of Mormon about 4 times. He was in São Paulo for the last three months because his son has been dying for a long time. He finally passed away last Saturday. So he was at church and we went to his house to share a message of comfort with the family. I talked about the experience with Barb, how Dad maintains happiness and hope because he knows about the plan of Salvation. It was a really good message, and they responded really well. Maybe the time has finally come for him to progress and get to the temple.
Even with the unexpected success, there were a few disappointments. Our dude Washington once again didn't show up. He really has no excuse: it was sunny, and we visited him on Friday to remind him.
Also there is Josi, who we have been teaching for a long time. She said the only thing that would prevent her from going to church would be rain. It was very sunny and still she didn't go. So we really can't keep teaching these people for very much longer, despite the immense interest they show when we visit.
This was a pretty normal week. I bought a futsal ball with the money you guys gave me, and the whole district had a great time playing on Wednesday. Today we are going to a park to try to find monkeys and play soccer as well.
It has been nice having a ball in the house, my skills are a little bit better than when I left, and I am stronger, but also fatter, so that will have to change a little bit before I play for RSL hahaha.
We had a meeting on Sunday with the leadership of our zone and the assistants, so I got to kick it with Jim a little bit and talk about the good old days.
How is school for everyone? Everyone stoked for Halloween? Basically Halloween doesn't exist here, nor Thanksgiving (obviously), but they have a lot of other meaningless holidays, like Childrens day, Teachers day, and other stuff. I believe that Brazil is the country that has most holidays.
How is the situation with Barb? And how is Tim? And Mom's wrist? Those are basically the only problems I remember, aside from Spencer's car. Let me know how things are. My P-Day is now on Monday, so I will always be here on Mondays to try to answer your questions.

Love you all. The Church is 100% true, represent it well.

Joseph

"But look how they treat us
Make us believers
We fight their battles
Then they deceive us
Tried to control us
They couldn't hold us
Cause we just move forward
Like Buffalo Soldiers"