January 24th, 2011

Pres Prud is good.  It has been freaking hot this last week with a few very big rainstorms.  Some days it will rain all day and other days no.  Some days we will wake up and it is raining.  We walk to church in the rain, pick up our investigators in the rain. and then after church it stops raining and is 105 degrees the rest of the day.  (This is what happened to us yesterday.)

Teaching things are going good.  Juliana, we are set to baptize her on Saturday.  On Friday we taught her about priesthood blessings.  She said she would think about it and pray about it.  Yesterday she asked us to give her a blessing and it was such a wonderful experience.  I had the opportunity to give the blessing and during it the spirit was so so so strong.  I have so much faith in Juliana, I feel so strong she will be able to beat this addiction that she has.

Carol is doing great also.  She is dating a less active member, but his kids family is way strong in the church.  She has been coming to church with them for a very long time, but hasn't felt ready to be baptized.  She has been progressing a ton.  We challenged her to be baptized on Saturday and she accepted our challenge!

We are, also, teaching a lady named Madalena.  She is the step mom of a kid who just left on his mission.  She is way cool,  she just needs to stop drinking coffee and get married.  Also, we found Daira on Saturday and she came to church with us on Sunday.  She has a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation, which is very, very good.

Yes, Mom, I am really safe here in Pres Prud.  I have never felt afraid or been in a situation that was bad for me.  The Brazillions really have a lot of respect for us as missionaries.  They are very kind.

Thank you for everything. I am truly so grateful for opportunity I have been given to be here in Brazil.

January 17, 2011



Esterla, Marcio, Carol, Luiz, Madalena, Juliana, Camila, Elder Van Orden and Me



We have not been affected by the flooding, most of the rain has been on the coast and not inland.  So, we haven't had to worry yet.  The last two days have been over 110 degrees, so yeah, I'm dying of heat.  Haha
This week was really good.  We had a Family Home Evening with Juliana and Carol and it was way good.  Sister Madalena gave a solid message about obedience to the commandments.  The next day we did the pre-baptism interview with Juliana. We found out that she has a problem with smoking and she has been afraid to tell us.  She told us she had been smoking 20 cigarettes a day and now was down to ten, she has really been trying to quit on her own.  We told her we were here to help her.  On Friday she could only smoke 5, Saturday 4, Sunday 3, today 2 and tomorrow will be her last one ever.  She has been doing great!!!  It is awesome, I truly feel like she will stop smoking for the rest of her life!  She has a testimony of everything.  With Carol we just need to help her feel that she is ready and help her recognize her answer from Heavenly Father that this is the true church of Jesus Christ here on the earth.  We are still working hard and trying to find new investigators.
Transfers are next week and this is the first time since I got to Pres Prud that I don't want to be transferred.  I feel like my work here is not done yet, I am hoping I will be able to stay.  I have never felt like this before transfers.  Hopefully, we can accomplish a lot this week before transfers.  I know things will work out right and the Lord will put me where I need to be.
Everything with me and Elder Van Orden is good, nothing to much between us.  Elder Alves still gets on my nerves, but I am just letting him be and not letting it affect me.
I love you all.  Thanks for all the help and support.

January 10th, 2011

I am doing good and everything is dandy  here in Pres Prud.  This week was a pretty fun week.  On Monday, we taught Carol again and it went very well.  Afterwards we made french toast with Peanut Butter and Maple Syrup.  The family loved it.  Everything with Juliana is going somewhat good.  Her goal is to be baptized, but she has something holding her back and she doesn't want to tell us about it.  We are going to keep working with her because she is so ready and we just need her to let us help her with what is holding her back.  We are having a family night on Tuesday and she is coming with us.  I think it will be good for her to make some more friends in the ward and just have some fun with some good people.  This will probably be my last transfer here.  I hope we can get them committed to be baptized before I go, because I feel like they are so ready.
I kind of have an EMO haircut right now.  We found a place to get our haircut. It is a beauty school and it only cost like 50 cents in US money.  But sometimes it is a little uneven.  Haha

I finally got my last two Christmas packages.  The air hockey game is awesome.  I love the ties, I have so many ties now!

January 3rd, 2011

Hello.  I am doing great.  New Years was kind of lame for us.  We had to be home before 9pm.  So we, all the missionaries in my house, went up to the roof and played UNO until midnight waiting for the huge firework celebration that they have here in Brazil every year.
We made the brownies that you sent with Juliana and they were amazing!  And we put up the awesome pink Christmas tree and hung the snowflake lights in our apartment.  The Tech Decks are very cool and keeping me entertained.  My companion got a sweet tie for Christmas, it was a SF Giants tie.  I would like an ATL Braves tie.  Haha
Last P-Day we played Brazilian Football (Soccer.)  Elder Galdino thinks I get a little intense.  But I just play goalie, so I don't have the opportunity to do something stupid to another missionary.  Haha
Juliana is progressing like none other.  On Saturday we left her some scriptures about baptism to read.  We didn't tell her they were about baptism, just that she needed to read them and think about them during testimony meeting.  And she totally did!!  Hopefully she will be baptized here really soon, that would make me super happy!  We are going back to her house to teach her on Tuesday and I think it is going to go great.
That was my week.  Really other than that, we are just trying really hard to find some more people that want to hear the gospel and are ready to progress.
Thank you so much for everything, I love you all so much.

December 29th, 2010

It was great to talk to you on Christmas!!  I hope you weren't freaking out about not getting an email on Monday.  What happened was, we had a P-Day in Marilia with Pres. Tavares.  So, I did not have a chance to email, but we were given the opportunity to email today.
I did finally get 3 packages from you and one from Sis. Reay.  I got the one with the Christmas tree and the ones with the cake mixes and the peanut butter and maple syrup. 

Sunday was a good day, we only had one investigator at church, Carol.  Juliana didn't come because she ended up having to go to the hospital.  Last night though, we went and taught her about the Law of Chastity and it was like the best lesson I have taught on my whole mission.  The spirit was so strong and we truly felt she will follow it.  Our only problem is, she thinks because of this she will never find someone to marry and will be single her whole life.  I told her if she was faithful and kept the law, God would help her and would put someone in her path for her.  It was really an amazing and spiritual lesson!

Sorry that I don't have much to say, it wasn't that long ago we last talked.  Haha

Feliz Ano Novo!!

December 20th, 2010

Elder Dean, Elder Staats, Elder Hodges, Me and Sister Beach
MTC District 

The Solanges Family

My Palmital Dad

My Marilia Moms

I am doing great here in Brazil, This past week was a good one for me.  We went to Marilia and stayed there for two days, which was awesome because I got to visit with people from Palmital.  I was able to get a few pictures of my favorite people.  The conference with Elder Araujo was way good and helped me out a ton.  He talked on how we can build our faith.  It was a very spiritual meeting and it was great to be there.  While in Marilia I was able to see Elders Hodges, Dean and Staats again.  I hadn't seen Elder Dean since I left the MTC, so that was cool.  I also got to see Sister Beach, which was nice as well.  I didn't get transferred, nobody in Pres Prud was transferred this time.  But because one of the AP's was really smart, none of the missionaries in Pres Prud will be getting any type of package or letter for Christmas.  We will have to wait until someone goes to Londrina. 
Things are actually going quite well with our investigators.  Some are more receptive than others.  Yesterday we had seven investigators come to church!!  We had this kid and his stepmom and stepsister.  This lady named Iracir, she brought 3 of her grandchildren and Juliana.  Iracir we found on Friday and she came to church and loved it!  I think the person I was most happy to see at church was Juliana.  We have been teaching her for a few weeks and she is really progressing.  I hope so much she will continue on this path.  The other Elders are having a baptism, we are hoping Juliana can come to the baptism and see how she feels during it.  It should be some good stuff!  Yesterday I had to give a talk on the fly, they forgot to ask anyone to give talks.  It was a little hard, but I think it went well.
I love you all and can't wait to talk to you on Saturday!