Elder Loftus

March 21st, 2011

2011-04-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Everything here is going really good for me actually, well kinda. This week started out amazing for me and Elder Moake; we were just on a roll of finding new people to teach and we had so much spirit and desire with us to keep on working. On tuesday, I had to go with the Zone Leaders; Elder Moake ended up finding a bunch of new investigators that are good. One of them is this 12 year girl named Laura, we are teaching her whole family, but she is just awesome. She reads everything we give her and prays about it, she told us that she even dreamed about Joseph Smith. She wants to come to church but were not to sure about her parents so much. Another person we found is Geysa, she has a friend in the church and has already visited a bunch of times. But, her dad might be a problem. I guess that he is super Catholic, even though he never goes. Every other investigator that we have seems like they are all good and don't have any problems as of right now that we know of'; I sure hope it stays that way. The weather has returned to being super hot, but it's not as bad because it has been really windy these past couple of days. I have no idea what a Ninja does, all I know is that he goes on missions and protects people, haah. Hey have you heard anything about Colin Ainge? He is also was in Japan and I would like to kow if anything happened to him.
I just read the Parable of the Sower the other day and it is may second favorite parable in the Bible. It always makes you think about which one you are, and you you will continue to be that through out your whole life. Great lesson to think about.
Thank you all so much for everything that you do for me, and for all of the help. You all help to get me through this whole thing.

March 14th, 2011

2011-04-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that you went on another vacation whileIi am here in Brazil. That does sound exactly like Brian, gettin all got up in some business shpeal, haha. I do want to hear how the trip went and stuff, next week.
This last week i went to Londrina to get my visa renewed and while there I got to visit Nilda and Monique, that I baptized while in Londrina. It was so nice to be able to see them again and to know that they are still going strong. First to clarify, a Ninja Teacher is a guy who trains people to become Ninjas. Dead serious too, this guy is like a legit ninja. But the reference that he gave us last week didn't come to church this week . The ward is really cool. not many of them like to be friends with the missionaries, at least thats how me and Elder Moake feel. I do have quite a few friends in the ward though. Pretty much all of the youth here love me, because im just a little crazy and I try to become friends with them and it all works out. My District Leader responsibilities are going along good, but I really don't know how much I like being district leader because if something goes wrong in my district everyone gets on my back about it. It is a realyl good patience builder. Wr work with one other companionship, they are way cool, so that makes things a little bit easier on me. Elder Moake is great and yes, we are still friends.
So, its sucks to hear the Jazz just suck now, but its good to hear that the Braves are looking good for this next season. Lets just hope that they can stay healthy, haha.

Thanks for everything. I know that I have some funny requests from home, but does that really surprise you, haha.
I love you all and thank you for everything!!

March 8th, 2011

2011-04-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

Things are going great here today. we had the opportunity to go to Marilia and have another mission tour with Elder Asconoveita, who is a Seventy. It was way cool, both he and his wife talked about making covenents. They explained how we can use them on our missions. It was also a good time to get to see all of my mission friends who are still in São Paulo. Poor Elder Hodges, we are at almost 16 months into the mission and he still has never left the state of São Paulo. I, also got to see Elder Galdino and I will get to go with him to Londrina to renew my visa. Other than that the rest of the week was good, but a tad bit annoying. It started raining last monday and it hasn't stopped yet. Claudia still hasn't decided to get baptized, but is thinking about it a lot this past week. Also my first baptism that I had in Bauru, André, his ninja professor gave us another reference to another one of his students. This is awesome, because the only references of his that havent been baptized are the ones that are under 18 and that the parents wouldn't let them be baptized. Oh yeah, I got the Kara's chocolate heart and it was super good. Elder Moake also says thank you and liked it a lot. He ate it all on the first day! It is still so hard to get people to come to church. I wish that Brazis were like Americans, who when they say something they mean it. So many people tell you that they will come to church, that there is no doubt in there mind whatsoever. Then they have some lame excuse to why they didn't come. But we are still working hard and I have a lot of faith that we will see the blessing from our work!
Thanks for all of the love and support, I miss you all!!!

February 28th, 2011

2011-04-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

Life in Bauru is going great. Today we had transfers and the good news is that I will be staying at leastone more transfer with Elder Moake, which just makes both of us happy. I cant believe that the Jazz traded Dwill, that is just freaking crazy! Everything seems to be changing so much in the world of sports, and I feel so out of the loop. I didn't like your lil' p.s. about going to watch the Rockies, it just made me sad that I have to miss one more baseball season.

This week was a good week, because Daiane and Jessica were baptized!!! We were so happy to see them get baptized. It was cool because they really chose to be baptized because they got their answer, not because we had asked them so many times. When they both told us that they were finally going to get baptized, it was an amazing feeling. I didn't do any of the baptizing, Elder Moake and our ward mission leader did them. I did get to confirm them both which was I loved. Now were are working a lot with one more person in this family because she told our zone leader that she wants to be baptized, but is just wants to wait a little bit. So. we are going to help her out now too. The only thing is that we need to really start finding some new good investigators, please continue praying for us. After the baptism, we had a talent show and Elder Moake and I decided to to something. He got a guitar and played swing life away while I sang it. Everybody loved it. It was so cool. even though I was so nervous to do it. The Chinese we get isn't as good as Panda, but it's still way amazing.

I love you all so so much and you truly all mean so much to me. If it wasn't for all of the support you guys give me I dont know if I would have made it so far along. Thank you all for everything.

February 20th, 2011

2011-04-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Things for me are going really well. Elder Moake and I get along really well and work well together which makes things a lot nicer and easier. He was in the area before I got here, so that made things easier too. He was with Elder Staats who I was in the MTC with. Our investigators are coming along well. Daiane and Jessica are two younger girls who we have been working with for awhile. Because Daiane's and Jessica's sister got baptized, they have had a lot of desire to as well. But the only problem is that they kept giving us a lot of lame excuses for not wanting to get baptized, like they didn't want to be baptized on this upcoming Saturday ,because there was a meeting for the young womenand they wanted to go to that. And the young womens pres. told them it was perfect, they could be baptized afterwords. So, now that is what's going to happen, haha. Not going to lie to you guys, but this week was a very boring week. Nothing exciting happened, just the fact that Jessica and Daiane are going to get baptized, other than that it was a normal week. We are finding a lot of new investigators and we are teaching a lot of lessons, but we are just having a hard time getting them to come to church and have the amazing spiritual experience there as well. But that's what we are working on.

I liked the scripture that you sent me, I like it because everytime I read it makes me understand that no matter what we do the Lord's promises will be true. And sometimes we don't even notice that it is us making it happen
Couple things i would like you guys to send me: yellow cake mix with chocolate frosting andeEaster egg painting stuff. Thanks!
Sorry for the short email, but it just wasn't an exciting week.
I love you all so much!

February 14th, 2011

2011-04-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentines Day!!

First thing I want to talk about is, I cant believe that Jerry and Phil left the Jazz. Why in the world would Phil leave too? Whats going to happen to the Jazz now?

My week was pretty good one. Nothing like super special happened, but we just worked really well. This area is, yet again, the hardest area in the city I happened to be in. That is what every single person has told me, but we are working really hard and I do believe that we are going to change that saying around. We have a couple of really good investigators. I believe that I told you about Daiane, who wants all the attention. Well, we stopped giving it to her and focused on her two aunts. They are progressing a lot more than she is now and have a ton of interest in the gospel. Its going so well and it makes me happy to see them progress so much. This ward is the smallest of all the places i've been, the attendance rate is 55 and yes, it's a tad bit poorer than my last area. The members still feed us, but it's a lot of the same members during the month. Every thursday we go and get Chinese food, because there is a member who owns a Chinese restaurant and they feed us every thursday. Its so freaking good!

Elder Moake and I get along way good. We look kinda funny walking together and it's not just because of the height difference. We are always laughing and having fun, but at the same time always working hard. This week I learned something that I always forget about here in the mission, we need to focus on everybody in the house and not just the one that we think is progressing more. Our attention wanter Daiane told us that she doesn't want to be baptized so we focused on her aunts. Now, they are thinking a lot about baptism and it's just such a good thing. Another spiritual story this week, We went to this kids b-day party in the ward and he had some family there who weren't members. His mom asked us to give a message and I thought what should talk about. That day me and Elder Moake didn't bring our bibles with us. So, I was looking through the Book of Mormon, when Ether 12:27 came to my mind. I read it and after reading it one of the family members told me thank you for reading that for me I needed that a lot right now in my life. It was a very cool experince.

Funny story now! Coming home from that same birthday party, we grabbed the bus that normally goes close to our house. As we start going home it takes a turn that well, wasn't in the direction of our house. We ended up taking a 1 hour bus ride that only got us to a point that was still a 20 min walk to our house, haha. We felt really stupid when the bus driver asked us when we planned on getting off.

I can't believe that you guys got to eat dinner with Al Jefferson. What did you guys talk about with him? Where did you go to eat? Who all got to go with you?

I love you all so so much and I really liked that Stockton story.

February 6th, 2011

2011-03-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

My District

Bauru is going good, the only problem is that is rains here like every night. Elder Moake is awesome, but he does make me feel like a midget. He is 6'6"! Its kinda funny because he also remember that Malinda, his aunt, told him to look for me, too. He lived Kinda by Wal-mart but now he lives closer to the Wendys on State Street. He has been on his mission for 5 months. He did have some visa issues but he was like me and made it to Brazil before his MTC time was over.
My new area is really good. The people though are kinda not nice on letting us in, but they are totally willing to give there address everytime, haha. We live by ourselves and we live in a house this time. It's not that bad of a house, it has some interesting things but Ican live with them. Also, we live in a house behind a members house. It is this old lady named Rosa and she just loves the missionaries. We always get dinner from her, like almost every night. I do like the ward and they are all so willing to help us, which is very nice. Our investigators are doing really well. Andre was baptized on Saturday, I would be sending home a picture but I just noticed that I forgot my camera. But everything went really well with his baptism. Its easy to tell that he will be a strong member. Our American family is starting to become really interested in what we are teaching them. We have another girl who is 12, who is doing all of the church activities, like new beginnings. But she is a little afraid of being baptized. Those are the investigators we are working are hardest with because they are the closest to being baptized.
Being District Leader means that I am in charge of a group of missionaries. I have to lead in the meetings that we have each week and give a training lesson each week on something different. The missionaries in my district are really cool. I never wanted to be a District Leader, I would have been happy just as a senior comp the whole time, haha. But it's good.
Thanks so much for everything and yes, I'm doing really good and everything is going well for me.
P.S. Mom, news that maybe you already know, but Avenged Sevenfold has a new CD. This guy told me the other day because we were talking about music.

January 30th, 2011

2011-03-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, yes I did end up getting transferred. I got transferred to the city Bauru, it's still in São Paulo. I'm with Elder Moake, he is kinda new on the mission and is from Orem. Crazy story for you, he went to Vineyard and wel,l he was actually in my kindergarten and 1st grade class. I didn't remember that at all but he did, it was crazy. Also, do you remember a girl named Erica Nielson, she would be my age and lives where we lived in Orem by Dallas Neath? He is friends with her. We have a lot of people that we both know. Also so some other crazy stuff has happened with this transfer. I became a District Leader. It's kind of difficult because now I have a lot more responsiblities. The only sad thing is I will have no clue what happens with all of my old investigators until I see Elder Van Orden and can ask him what happened. I just have to wait and see.
Bauru is pretty cool, it's not nearly has hot as Pres Prud and that is a good thing. It is a ward here, but not a very strong one. Our attendance yesterday was 55 which is really quite weak. We have some pretty good investigators. We have a kid named André who is going to be baptized on Saturday. We have taught him 4 times and he is just like perfect. He gave up coffee because a member told him if he did that he would get his answer and he did. So, pretty much just perfect. Also we found this family who lived in the states for 15 years and even had a son while there. When we go there we teach them in English and they came to church yesterday! Roberto, the dad, even cried during Sacrament meeting. That is who we have right now, but I can tell that this area will actually be a really good area, especially where we are working now. So, yeah, that is my big news for the week, that now I have to work even harder as a District Leader. Haha
Sorry my email is a lil lame, but everything here for me is good and I don't need anything. Thanks for all of the support. Jk, I need body wash and some deodorant, not a lot but a couple.

January 24th, 2011

2011-01-24T17:46:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-16T23:05:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-16T22:45:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

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!

December 13th, 2010

2010-12-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday Elder Araujo, from the seventies, is coming to the mission to speak at a conference. I am so excited because I will be going to Marilia and staying in the house in the area Palmital. I finally get to go back to my first area!! Hopefully, I will get to see some of the people from there.
Things with our investigators are like good and then bad and then good again. We found out that Guilherme's drinking problem is worse than we thought. He actually slept a day in the street this week and come home totally hammered. It is sad because he is only 19 and has had such a hard life. I think he really wants to change, but doesn't know how. Our other investigator, Juliana, is really cool. During the Plan of Salvation lesson, she just started crying. She told us that she did not know that she would actually be able to see her parents again. We are teaching a lady named Carol who is dating a less active member. She came to church last week with his family, even though he didn't come. We have taught her a couple of times, but it wasn't until yesterday that I noticed how truly interested she seems in the church.
I haven't been very good at writing letters, tell Grandma and the Lamb's thanks for the birthday packages and I will try to write a letter.
Elder Galdino said he got a Christmas package from you. But nothing for me yet. Haha. I still have hope I will get mine in time. Transfers are tomorrow and who knows what will happen. If I am still here I am going to the Branch Presidents house for Christmas and will have you call me there. But I could get transferred. I'll let you know next week.
Can't wait to talk to you! I love you all.

December 6th, 2010

2010-12-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Rainy Brazil

I am great here in Pres. Prud. Everything is going good and a few of our investigators are progressing a ton. We are still having trouble getting them to church. Yesterday, Guiherme couldn't come because he was helping his uncle build a house and Edna didn't come because she was feeling sick. Samara and her mom, Maria Helena came. It was Samara's 2nd time and Maria's 1st. Maria Helena liked Relief Society and the Gospel Principles class, but not really Sacrament Mtg because no one shouted "Glory" or "Hallelujah"! She is a very religious lady and a tad bit crazy. Also, this guy named Vino came. Him and his friend, Vanderson, past by the church and asked how they could find out more about the church. It just so happens that Vanderson's mom is a member. It is way cool. But it is hard to teach them because they work a lot and live far away. We will definitely figure out a way to teach them soon.
There is, also, a less active member who has stopped coming to church when he was denied the priesthood because he is a Mason. He is a 33rd degree Mason (which is the highest rank) and the Chief of Police. We are going to try and help him get back into the church.
Other than that this week wasn't great. We haven't been able to teach a lot because the weather is so crazy. It was on average 95 degrees and everyday this week it would downpour on us. There wasn't one day we didn't get rained on. It doesn't help the work, because no one wants to open the gate for us. They don;t want to get soaking wet.
Everything is going OK with Elder Alves. We do live in the same apartment, but I don;t have to be his comp. The thing that makes it the most difficult is he is such a hypocrite now. Everything he argued with me about and got mad at me for, he does now. Sometimes when I look at him I just want to hit him. I don't like the feeling that I get at all, hopefully it will get better.
There is one thing you could do for me, I would like some more socks. Mine have been magically disappearing.
Love you all.

November 29th, 2010

2010-12-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

Elder Ghormley is getting transferred!

I can't believe it has been so cold in Utah. Mom, I would give anything right now to be able to be somewhere it is cold. It is soooooo hot here.
Thanksgiving was really good. We had it with Bia and Guy. Guy is an American, so Bia made us a real Thanksgiving dinner. Except we had chicken instead of turkey (turkey is way to expensive). But we had real mashed potatoes with gravy, something that Brazil knows nothing about. And lasagna, which was the only weird part about it. You guys had 12 pies? Man, i wanted some chocolate pie on thanksgiving so bad. Haha. So the other day we were listening to Christmas music, but it just doesn't not feel like Christmas season when you are sweating like none other!
This week things were a lot better. The young man, Guilherme, is getting way interested and told us that he needs a church in his life. It seems like he is in a rough situation and I really want to help him find a way to better it. Also we are teaching a lady named Edna, who talks like none other. It is very hard to teach a lesson that isn't an hour long. But yesterday, we read 3 Nephi 11 with her and as we talked about the baptism part, she was like "I think that once I visit I will know better, but I think I want to be baptized and follow this church." I was like WHAT?!?!?!! It was so awesome; she is a way good person, she prays every night and is reading the Book of Mormon. I'm not sure if I will, but I truly hope I stay here one more transfer. Transfers end the 11th or 12th. I don't want to leave yet, because if I do I will not see these good people get baptized. Back to some investigators. So, Juliana we went back to talk to her again and she actually was taught by the missionaries 13 years ago. But now she has a lot more desire to understand. When we taught her the Book of Mormon she couldn't wait to start reading it. so that should be pretty good.
So, now some sad news of the week. We are having another emergency transfer. My new friend that I made out here, Elder Ghormley, is going to be transferred. It really sucks, because we have become such good friends. And his replacement does NOT make me happy. His replacement is....Elder Alves..., I was not happy to hear that name again. I guess we will see how that goes. At least he is not my companion, and
Elder Van Orden and I get along really well.
I love you all so, so much.

HUMP DAY

2010-11-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

Made it through my first year!!

Elder Ghormley and I made this shirt in honor of
all my companions.

You can't burn a shirt without a little lighter fluid.

Shirts make a way better fire than ties!

Year one officially finished!

November 14th, 2010

2010-11-27T20:40:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that my one year mark is here on Thursday. Today for P-day I am going to get my shirt ready for the burning. Haha
So, this week Vera and Gildo called me and said they don't want to change their religion. But they would still like us to come over and chit chat. That made me feel way sad and kind of mad, they both know that this is the true church but because they have been in theirs for so long, they won't make the change. This happened with 2 others people this week as well. Marcelo has started avoiding us again and his friend doesn't know what is going on with him. I am feeling frustrated, annoyed and sad. I don't know what else we can do for them. I know I need to remember that it is our responsibility to give them a chance to hear the gospel, but it is their responsibility to accept it.
On Sunday I was asked to give a talk about the important part members play in missionary work. I told them that we can't do everything by ourselves, we are just two Americans who don't speak the language perfectly and we need their help. The Branch President told me it was exactly what the members needed to hear.
I can't believe what the Jazz have been doing lately! They are just crazy!!!
Thanks for everything. I love you all.

November 7th, 2010

2010-11-21T17:41:00.000-08:00

So funny story, this morning I went to take a shower. Before I did, I thought to myself why is this annoying piece of paper here in the door that doesn't allow the door to shut correctly. I think I will take it out. I took it out and turned the handle a couple of times, everything was good. Then I shut the door and tried to open it and well, this time it wouldn't open. I yelled to Elder Ghormley to open it from the other side, that didn't work either. We spent the next hour (includes taking a shower) trying to open the door. In the end, we had to take the hinges off the door and the door off the wall. It was an interesting experience.
I have come to hate the weather in Brazil, because it is just stupid. One day we are dying of heat, then the next day it rains a freaking ton all day, then the next day it is super hot again and humid. It is no fun!
This week has been kind of difficult, a couple of days were just straight up bad. Tuesday was some sort of holiday. Nobody was home and if they were home, they were drunk. We didn't teach a single person that whole day. On Wednesday, Elder Ghormley's comp went to Londrina for a conference and so we worked in a threesome. It is always stressful to be in a threesome. We did work in a new area which could be really good, but it is a little bit far away. It should be a good idea to try and work there, though.
It sounds like you had a good testimony. Fast and testimony was good here, too. It is funny, I think we have a couple of members that only come to church on Fast Sunday to bear their testimonies. They are always those really interesting ones that you really don't understand. I was the last one to bear my testimony and I truly felt something different about this one. I felt like I gave my true testimony, not just the one everybody has and says. It was a cool experience, several members told me it was a good one.
I sent home a pic with my new pillowcase. Can you tell the YW thanks for me!
I love you all so, so much.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

I know, I have really hairy feet.

So first off, I believe that Brazil has never heard of Halloween in its life and that is just sad. I think this was the most I have thought about home in a long time, because I love the Halloween season. All of the scary movies that come out, including my favorite the last SAW movie. Which was one of the last movies I saw before I left. But I know this is where I need to be, so I will just keep on keeping on.

This week was a pretty decent week, nothing like super amazing happened. It was super freaking hot!! And not only that, it decide to rain on us the whole week. I don't like HOT, HUMID, RAINY weather. It is just not me at all.
Funny story...Remember the picture of my feet, where they were all super ugly and infected looking? Yeah, I found out I have athlete's foot. My the top part of my sandals that I wear in the shower would never get dried out and so the goo was making my feet infected. Remember how I hate flip flops? Well, I still hate them, but I had to by a pair to wear in the shower. I have had them about a week and my feet are getting better. I still don't like them, but they are cool glow-in-the-dark!

This week we have taught a ton of people that all seem to have potential, but we are still struggling with getting them to come to church. Marcelo didn't come to church yesterday and I don't know why!! We did have one investigator, Samara, come to church yesterday. But for some reason the branch president decided he wanted to talk to her, they had a like 25 minute talk on I have know idea what. Now, she isn't sure what to think about the church. We taught Vera and Gildo the WOW and they said they would totally try to follow it. They were even going to come to church today and then there kids came from Curbito for the weekend, so they couldn't come. Guilherme, the guy with the depressed mom, we challenged him to read the BofM. He said he thought it was way interesting and he would keep reading it. That would be totally sweet, but we will see how that goes.

Today is transfers and it looks like I will be staying with my comp for at least one more transfer. I hope I stay here through Thanksgiving because I totally marked our lunch with a lady named Bia. She lived in the US for 20 years and has an American husband, so that would be an awesome lunch I think. But, yeah, that was my exciting week.

I can't believe the Jazz lost to the Suns. Elder Ghormley is from Arizona and he is giving me crap now.

I don't have much time left because I was kind of lazy today and now my time is running out. But I love you all so so so much and I miss you all so much.

October 25th, 2010

2010-10-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hello! Mom, thanks for the advice about not getting caught up in the numbers. I have learned that that is really hard to do in our mission. Elder Ghormely and I have actually stayed up many nights talking about this. A lot of missionaries here don't care if afterwords the person goes inactive or not, they just want the number of baptisms to go higher. I truly care about these people. I hate seeing other people give up on them so easily. I am trying my hardest to find a way that I can shoe these people that what they are feeling while we teach them is the Holy Ghost telling them it is the truth. Thanks for the help, mom.
This week my comp and I just worked our butts off!! We had quite a good week, but still can;t find someone that is like perfect. After every first lesson, we ask the person how they feel about baptism and if they would like to set a date as a goal to work towards. We didn't have one person that would set a goal, I think that was the annoying part about this week. We did teach a lot of people that seem to have a lot of potential. We taught Fabio and he said he couldn't believe Joseph Smith was a prophet because he had like 20 wives. So, we explained the situation about that and then taught him the Book of Mormon. I think it could help him out a ton. We also found a mother and son. The mom has been really depressed, but she said that she felt something different from the first time we talked to her. We are still teaching Vera and Gildo (the slipper people) they are way cool, but they work on Saturdays and Sundays and can't come to church. Gildo's brother passed away this week. We were able to reteach him the Plan of Salvation and that he would be able to see his brother again. It really helped him out a ton. We are teaching this crazy lady, Marialena, she is just wacky. But she does everything we ask her, minus going to church. She wants someone to go with her, hopefully next week we can work that out.
We are teaching this kid, Guilherme. He is the best friend of the branch presidents son who is on a mission and I had met him in the CTM. Guilherme is way cool. He is really a thinker and isn't sure about God. We asked him to pray about our message. He said that he did, but he didn't really think he had asked in faith. We taught him a good lesson and I think he understood the importance about asking with a true desire to know the truth.
At church I was super sad because none of our investigators decided to come. But then, out of nowhere, Marcelo showed up. I was so excited, my comp was just confused as I was trying to explain to him in half English/half Portuguese that Marcelo has shown up. It had been about 4 weeks since the last time he came. I was super nervous because I had to teach the Gospel Principles class and the lesson was my "favorite subject", the Law of Chastity. A friend of Marcelo's was there and he is a returned missionary, he helped Marcelo understand, It went really well.
The weather here is totally bipolar. It will be super hot during the day, then all of the sudden it starts raining and then goes back to super hot. It is just making me mad.
Me and my comp are getting along good when it comes to like being friends and stuff. It is nice to have someone that can relate to American stuff. I did learn that he likes to watch lil kid cartoons and he understands a lot of my random Sponge Bob quotes. Also, he watches How I Met Your Mother, that just made things so good. Haha
I can't believe Bryson's comp won't let them eat at the members homes. The is truly the greatest thing. When you get to know the members you gain trust in them and they gain trust in you. A lot of the members don't help the missionaries because they don't think they can trust them to teach people they know. I think that is why we eat at their house's, to develop a relationship and find out if they have any friends that they would like us to visit.
Thank you so much for everything, I love you all so, so much.

October 18th, 2010

2010-10-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hello, I am doing great here in Pres Prud. Things with our investigators are going about the same, they are all super, super flaky and I just don't know how I can change that. It is strange to get a new comp in the middle of a transfer, you are not quite prepared for it. My new comp is good. His name is Elder Van Orden, he is from St. George and seems pretty cool. He speaks the language pretty good for his second transfer, so that is good. this week was just rough because I had to take on a whole new list of responsibilities and well, it just wasn';t a great week. We did a ton of walking and contacting people, but we don't have a strong area that we can go to everyday. I worry about my comp a little. Sometimes he seems like he doesn't really care about the people, he just wants to baptize and make sure he has high numbers. I noticed this while we were doing contacts ans talking to people. He wasn't interested in returning to that persons house if they didn't seem like the perfect contact. Maybe that's why he got transferred here, to learn a little more patients in this harder area.

We had interviews with Pres. Tavares on Saturday. That went very well. He told me that he has a lot of confidence in me and thinks that I am a great missionary. That made me feel happy. I also gave my first baptismal interview and I was nervous. I didn't help that he didn't pass because of certain things that he did in his life, but yeah.

I have no idea what has happened with Marcello and Vivian, both of them have like vanished. Elder Van Orden wants to just cut them, but I am not ready to do that. They both have so much potential.

I received my package. I was so excited for the Heyward jersey, it is awesome. The shoes are also wonderful. I took a picture of them next to my old ones, it is really quite hilarious.

October 12th, 2010

2010-10-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

Everything in Pres Prud is good, I am getting a new companion tomorrow. This morning we received a phone to tell us we were having an emergency transfer today. Elder Almeida was transferred to Foz. My new comp is getting here tomorrow morning, his name is Elder Van Orden. I am a little nervous because he is an American and this is his second transfer. It looks like I may have to do most of the talking. But I am super excited for this experience that I have been given now.
This past week was quite interesting. We had so many strong investigators that, well, just don't want to go to church. It is kind of nerve wracking when that happens, you don't know how much more you can do for them if they won't come to church. That Vivian that we taught was so strong, but in the end she didn't want to come to church, so it has made things very difficult. She even told us that she know the church was true, she knew the second we gave her a Book of Mormon. I need to find a way to help her. Marcello has liked disappeared. He has always been hard to teach because he works a ton. But now he has a girl friend and we haven't talked to him in a couple weeks. Vera and Gildo (the slipper lady) are also having a hard time coming to church. Things have been hard for a while and Pres. Tavares has talked about closing the area is things don't pick up. It is hard because we have so many good contacts, who know they have been taught the truth, but they don;t want to do their part. We really need to step up the work here.
My day with Elder Galdino was way good. He helped me out a ton. He did get his package from you and was really happy and excited about it.
No!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe the Braves are out of the playoffs. oh well, next year. Now I have to root for SF and Texas.
I can't believe that I am having my 1st Halloween out of the house, but it's all good.
Big news: My P-Day is now Monday. Tell everyone.
I love you guys so, so much!

October 6th, 2010

2010-10-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

This week was way amazing for me, I had so many good experiences. First would be conference weekend. I loved a lot of the talks. I think the one that helped me the most was President Uchtdorf's talk about needing to slow down our lives. It truly helped me, he said the four most important relationships in our lives are with God, our families, our fellowmen, and ourselves. Ourselves, this one was the one that hit me. I am one of those people that argues with myself about things, I can bring myself down by not being positive or expecting too much of myself. This talk helped me to understand how I can help myself become better and happier.

Elder Galdino got here last night and will be here until Thursday. I get to spend the day with him on Thursday, which should be awesome. He has been my favorite and best companion. He is definitely one of my best friends now.

This week was good. We were in a trio until Saturday, which really is just annoying, because we have to work two areas. On Monday Elder Almeida and I changed how we are going to work the area. This area has been very difficult for a while, for that reason we have changed how we are going to work so that we can receive the blessings from our Heavenly Father. I think that we already have. Monday, we walked a butt load to a referral that was brought to us from a different city. This guy named Bonatto and he asked us how did we know his name. But, he was really accepting and friendly with us. He loved the message we brought, he was all like come on Saturday so you can teach my wife about this too. It was a good experience and I think it will be a blessing for us. The other blessing we received really changed my thought process about my mission and life. We went to a referral, Vivian, but the address did not exist. The member who gave it to us said there most be something wrong, because Vivian was so interested in hearing about the gospel. We went back and planned on knocking every door until we found her. Funny part of the story, we were on the wrong street the whole time. But, we found her house and taught her the first lesson. Elder Almeida taught the first part and I taught about Joseph Smith. As I was teaching the spirit was so strong, stronger than I have ever felt in my entire life. As I explained about the first vision, she just said "Wow." I knew in that moment that she felt the spirit, that this was something that she wants in her life. I truly know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. That He called a 14 year old boy, Joseph Smith, to restore His gospel on the earth. I am so thankful, really, for this opportunity I have been given. I know for sure that this is where I should be and that I have been called of God to be here.

Haha, I can't believe BYU lost to Utah State. Why is it that the year I'm not that there in the states is the year that BYU is totally sucking and the Utes are dominating? But it's all good.

I love you so much. I am so thankful for everything that was given to me in my life and for this wonderful experience that I have been living right now.

September 30th, 2010

2010-10-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

I am doing just great. This week was pretty good, nothing special happened. The Mt Dew did not have as much carbonation as it normally does, but it was so good. I have already drank all of them. Haha.
So, I guess Elder Alves has been causing a lot of problems with his companions. He was put with Elder Franco and they only lasted four days together.
Yes, I did forget my planner again, sorry. But I will do my best to remember what happened this week. It finally rained in a Pres Prud. It hadn't rained for like 4 months, so it was truly needed by the people here. But it didn't just rained, it freakin' poured. I don't know if I have ever seen rain like that before.
On Thursday we were able to teach our new family; Vladamir, Luciane, Bia and Clara. They are a way awesome family and are really interested in the gospel. Their son is a foreign exchange student in Manti, Utah and is going to church with the family he is living with. They couldn't come to church with us because they already had an appointment, but hopefully they should be coming to conference. Which would be sweet!! The lady who makes the slippers is a very interesting lady. It is hard to know if she really wants to learn about the gospel, or just wants someone to sit and talk with. Marcelo is doing way good, but it is hard to teach him because he is super busy. he didn't come to church this Sunday because he works at the mall and they had a huge sale on Sunday. But after the sale was over he still wanted to come, it shows that he still wants to progress more in the gospel, which is awesome.
The last couple of weeks we have been in a trio. Elder Ghormley's comp had to go to a conference, so we have been stuck with him. It is difficult working two areas. Elder Miller got transferred last week, which sucked because I liked him a lot. But the new kid is Elder Fernandes is in our apartment now. He was in my first district in my first area, which is awesome.
That is cool that Bryson is in France, keep me updated on how he is doing out there.
I love you guys so, so, so much!

September 22, 2010

2010-10-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

I think this is the first time transfer day snuck up on me. I am staying in Pres Prud with Elder Almeida. I forgot my planner at the house, I will do my best to remember what happened this last week.
So, we having been teaching this guy named Marcelo. Everyone lesson we have with with is super freaking spiritual. I think he will be baptized before the next transfer. I hope he doesn't end up with some problems with the Law of Chastity. That is often a problem. We found this married couple, Gildo and Vera. It just so happens Vera makes slippers, she made me two awesome pairs. They are a great family, we will see how it goes with them. We have only taught them one time, so we don't know much about them yet. Saturday we went out and did contacts in the street with some of the members. We only had three people show up, not a big success. On Sunday we had lunch at the District Pres.'s house, the 2nd counselor was there, also. I had to give the message. I was a bit nervous, but it was good. Monday was the day I took everyone out to eat at a churrascaria. It was some good stuff, except for the price at the end. Haha It cost me about 222 reais, but it was a nice and wonderful thing to so.
It is hard to feel like a Brazilian, because everyone always reminds me I am an American. I have started dreaming in Portuguese some of the time.

I love you all so much.

September 14th, 2010

2010-09-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

So, I had a good week. Minus the fact that I have to wait until next Wednesday to get my packages, but I'm hoping it's worth the wait. I can't believe that I am 20, the funny thing is, everyone 20 was the only age they actually felt different, but for me I still feel the same. Haha It was not only my birthday, but also Pres Prud's birthday. I was just a big party here.
This week I don't have anything too exciting to talk about, this will be like a normal email. Haha The coolest thing we did this week was on Saturday. We had a Mini-MTC with all the young-ens in our branch. It was a really good experience. We taught them a good way to contact people on the street and how they can talk to anyone about the gospel. We went out to the square in the center and talked with people. It went really well and they seemed to really like it, which was good.

The spiritual thing of the week is Marcelo. He is one of our investigators who is just awesome. I had to teach him the lesson on the WOW and he just accepted it like it was nothing. It was awesome, he will definitely be baptized.
Sorry this letter is a little bit lame, I am so tired and not in the mood to be writing a letter. This morning we went and played soccer. All I have to say is I thought basketball had the biggest whiners, but I was wrong. It is definitely soccer. Today everyone was complaining about something except for the two Americans who had never played soccer in their entire lives.
But that was my week, not to exciting...but it was good.
I love you all.

September 8, 2010

2010-09-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

This Week:

Wednesday: Last p-day was really boring, everyone was just super tired. After we emailed, everybody just went back home and slept. Haha We were able to teach Antonio the other day, but he is so like not caring anymore. I think that we are going to have to cut him.

Thursday: Was a really awesome day. We taught two lessons, that were both super spiritual. The first was with Valeria, she is the daughter of a recent convert. She was telling us about her life and how she just wants to change. She is getting on the right path, her only problem is getting her to come to church. Afterwords we taught Marcelo, he is a friend of a guy in the branch. He told us his life experience and how he hasn't truly felt happy in a long time until now. He knows he will be baptized, he just needs to feel 100% prepared. After teaching him we went and played volleyball with the ward. I totally dominate at volleyball I have decided. It's awesome.

Friday: We walked a ton this day, but it was a good day. We taught Maria Eugena. She is the mom of our 2nd counselor, she is way cool but a little flaky at times. After teaching her we went back to the church. We were suppose to have some people there to teach, but they didn't come. So instead we just went and played soccer with everybody. My team was suppose to be the weakest team, but we did the best. I played goalie which made everyone laugh at first. They didn't think an American could play goalie. Well, all I have to say is I proved them wrong. Haha

Saturday: This was our day that we found the perfect family!! Married 17 years, 2 kids. Lesson goes perfect, they say they want to be baptized and everything. But we try to go back afterwards and they aren't home, try again another day and still aren't home. It sucks because the spirit was so strong in the lesson with them. I hope we find them again soon.

Sunday: I need to talk about lunch. We had lunch at our Branch President's house, it was super cool. I don't think I have laughed so hard in a long time. He has a 12 year old daughter named Bia. She was just talking, talking the whole time. She reminded me of a girl version of Colin, haha. I don't know how to explain exactly what she said. But she was way funny.

Monday: This was the day my comp got really irritated. I'm not sure why, I think it has to do with the flakiness of our investigators. So I am just trying to let him chillax a little. But at night we had a FHE and I gave a lesson about baptism using strawberry juice and this stuff you use to wash clothes (don't know the name in English). But it was really cool because the clothes washer stuff makes the juice turn clear. It explains the importance of baptism really well.

**I guess Colton was not familiar with Clorox before he got to Brazil.

Tuesday: Yesterday all 6 missionaries worked in the same area. I worked with Elder Ribero, who is pretty much the fastest talker in the world!!! It was hard for me to understand him, but we went to visit some of his investigators and it went quite well. That night we had a Brazilian BBQ, Churrasco. We had some good beef, chicken, sausage and good old chicken hearts. It reminded me of Tucano's with out the pineapple.

Mom, golfing is never fun unless Brian gets mad and throws a club or two. At least he let you drive the golf cart, just don't let him push you out.

Hey, I promised all the elders in my district that on September 20th I would take them to the best barbecue place in Pres Prud. Can you make sure I have money to cover that. I can't believe you have sent me 10 packages since I have been in Brazil. I feel so loved, I think you should go for the record.

I love you all so so so much.

Presidente Prudente Talent Show

2010-09-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

Elder Miller and I doing our awesome dance!!

Download Video

**If you want to watch this video, click Download Video and it will open a new window. Click Download FLV.

September 1, 2010

2010-09-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

Presidente Prudente is just amazing, I really like this city and the people here. Everyone is super friendly. Elder Galdino doesn't have a fiance any more. She sent him a Dear John, but at the same time it's not a Dear John, it's just weird. But Elder Galdino made a goal with me. Now it is his top priority that in January 2012 he is going to come to Utah and live with me. Sweet, huh? He is still trying to learn English, so I told him to email you, So help him out for me.
My branch here is a big one. There are about 90 active members, so I do not have a calling. Last Sunday the 2nd counselor told me I was going to have to give a talk, I was really nervous, but he was just kidding. He is a way cool guy. Would you send me a cool oil vile to give him for when he does blessings? I am loving it here in Brazil and yes, I too have noticed that sometimes I word things weird in English. But that is because my Portuguese is good.
This week:

Wednesday: Last P-day, after we emailed we went and played volleyball for 3 hours!!! It was way freaking fun. I liked it a lot more than soccer that's for sure.

Friday: So, during the day we truly did absolutely nothing, but that night was when the fun stuff came in. Our branch had a talent show and they wanted the elders to do something. The 6 of us were trying to think of what we could possibly do, when Elder Miller said "Let's do a dance." We started making it up and no one would do it with us. So me and Elder Miller did it by ourselves and it was just awesome. Everyone told us we were the best act of the night. I will try and send home the video.

Saturday: We went and did some service for our branch president. We took a tree out of the ground and shoveled a ton of rocks into a dumpster. While we were shoveling the rocks we heard a big thump and then a dog whimper. As we looked to see what happened, we saw a dog get hit by the back tires. The dog was dead on impact and there was blood everywhere. It was like an oh my gosh thing and a super cool thing at the same time, haha. I tore up my hands with the shovel, but it was good stuff. That night we had a baptism. Helio's wife is a member and he decided to be baptized. It was really cool and you can just tell he will be a strong member of the church.

Sunday: Sunday day was a normal Sunday, but a surprising thing did happen. The young boy we have been teaching came to sacrament meeting!! But afterwards we weren't able to find him, so we haven't been able to teach him. He was progressing really well, hopefully we can get things worked out with him.

Monday: Let's see, Monday I want to talk about lunch. We had lunch with a member who lived in the states for 20 years, she moved back to be closer to her mom. Her husband has lived here for 4 years and still doesn't speak any Portuguese and he isn't a member of the church. The whole lunch we spoke English (the other American Elders were with us.) At the end we gave them a message in English, it was really cool. It is hard to talk gospel stuff in English now.
Tuesday: Yesterday was a good day. I had two really different experiences. The first one is kind of funny. We were teaching this guy about the Book of Mormon. When we went to give it to him he wanted us to slide it into his hand. Then he had us grab it with our right hands and say a prayer for it. It was kind of interesting. Second thing was a more spiritual thing. We were teaching Thays, a recent convert. She had had a super hard day and work just went completely wrong for her. We talked to her about adversity and as we were talking about it I remembered a scripture, D&D 121:7. After sharing this with her, she told me it was exactly what she needed to hear and she said it helped her a ton. It was super cool.
That was my week.
Sorry I don't have much to say about your updates, but I have something really important that I need to do to help a friend.
I love you all so, so much.

August 25, 2010

2010-08-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry Mom, I know I am not a good person at writing letters. Just wait until you read my journal... haha, it's exactly the same way. You know that I am not a talkative person and because of this I don't give very many details. I know this, OK and it probably isn't going to change. Everything here is good for me. When I first got here, our washing machine didn't work. (But a nice member washed my garments for me.) Sister Tavares got us a new one and we got it this week, so I have clean clothes again. We are in a branch here, which is different because it is very small. The members don't feed us as often, they will usually just give us money. We will either buy bread, turkey and cheese for sandwiches or we go to a place that for 5 reais you can get a plate of rice, beans and some type of meat. I still don't like the milk here. I pretty much don't drink it unless I have some chocolate powder to make chocolate milk with, then it makes it OK. We hardly ever cook. I think the only things I have made are macaroni and cheese and one of my comps wanted me to make him french toast. I think right now I am losing weight again, I am trying to stay around 175 lbs. The shower system in our apartment is pretty good. It pretty much just electrocutes the water to make it hot. I haven't suffered a shock since my first area, so that is good.

I like my companion a ton. He is cool because he acts like I am the senior, he lets me take control of the lessons when we teach. He treats me like his equal and not like he always has to be in charge.

I, also, live with Elder Miller from Houston, TX. He has been out 1 yr. and 6 mo., he was the secretary when I got to Brazil. And Elder Ghormley from Mesa, AZ., He has been out 1 year. They are both cool, sometimes elder Ghormley is a little full of himself, but it's all good. Last Pday was super fun. for the first time on my mission I got to go bowling!! It was just a great experience. And on Friday we played soccer with the branch. Everyone was laughing at how bad I sucked. But my team stayed in the longest, so I didn't care, haha.

I told you about Antonio, the 15 year old we have been teaching. Things were going great, but since Saturday he has been avoiding us. It is really hard for us, he was progressing way good and now we've got nothing. I don't know what happened with him. We are teaching two guys who are twins, Luca and Marcelo. They have been coming to play soccer at the church for like 5 years but never came to a Sunday meeting until recently. I taught them for the first time yesterday, it was way cool and super spiritual. One of the investigators Elder Almieda started teaching before I got here, told us he is ready to be baptized. So we should be having a baptism on Saturday if everything goes good. My branch is way cool and super helpful and they love doing visits with us. They are great.

Thank you for everything, I love you all so much!! Oh, and I heard I have two packages at the mission office!

***I love that Colton's letters sound like he is thinking in Portuguese and translating to English.

August 19th, 2010

2010-08-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm at 9 months, everything is flying by so fast! It is so good to be in Pres Prud, my new comp is way cool. We are very similar in a lot of things like music and such, so it gives us something to talk about. He is from Sao Paulo. His whole family are members, they joined the church about 10 years ago. But Elder Almeida says he did have a little bit of a rebellious period, he is 25 years old. My new area is really good. It is not very hilly, so that is good. The only problem is that a lot of times the members just give us money for lunch, instead of having us over. My companion says it is really easy to lose weight here. It is about 15-20 degrees hotter here than in Londrina. But it feels like summer in Utah because it is not as humid and rainy as other areas. I live in a pretty big apartment, we live with two other elders who are both American.

We are teaching a few new people. we are teaching a 15 year old kid named Antonio, he is way cool and progressing so much. But it is just hard to get him excited to visit the church. We also found a family of three who have been looking for a new church. We just need to help them feel the spirit and know that this is the true church.

Wow, they are going to put Colin at tight end and linebacker. I always thought you had to be big to play those positions. Haha, I guess he is tall.

Mom, that is cool that you met up with your old friends. I hope Bryson, Jacoby and my other friends are like that.

Yes, you should totally send Elder Galdino a package. That would make him so happy!

Thank you Mom and family for everything that you do for me and for all of your support. I truly don't think I could have made it these past 9 months if it wasn't for you guys!

August 11th, 2010

2010-08-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

So, today I was transferred. I am now in Presidente Prudente, my new companion is Elder Almeida. He seems like a really cool guy and I am so happy to have a new companion. My comp. has been in this area six months, so he knows the area and the members really well. So. that should be good. My interview with President Taveres went really well. I tried to explain what was going on with Elder Alves, but I didn't want to just complain about everything he was doing wrong. I know that he was totally trashing me in his interview, but I did not want to go down to his level. I am just happy to be in a new area, with a new companion and a chance to get back to working hard. But I don't know anything about this area yet.

The other day I was really missing Colin. We were at a home and they had a little boy who was playing the PS2. He was having a really hard time with the game he was playing. So I was giving him some pointers to help him out. I wasn't playing I was just talking to him about it. Elder Alves, of course, got mad at me and told me I was breaking the rules. I told him I wasn't playing, just helping. He told me there wasn't a difference. I don't know I was just trying to bond with the little boy, but oh well.

Cool mission news: Elder Galdino is the new AP. He is so awesome, I know he will do a great job.

Your trip sounds like a lot of fun, even if all you saw were Palaces and Cathedrals.

I got one package today. Why did you send me a pillow? Haha Thanks!

I can't believe Trace is going into the MTC i week before I hit my 9 month mark. I still think he should have gone in with me, that would have been so cool. But at least he gets to wear a skirt! Haha

I am so excited to be in this new area. I will tell you more about it next week and hopefully have some pictures.

Love you all so so much.

August 4th, 2010

2010-08-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

This week we helped some members paint their house. They have been remodeling and needed help with the painting, it was some fun stuff. I think this was the first time I have ever painted walls. I was pretty good at it.

Things with my companion have gotten a little better, but at the same time not really. We aren't fighting as much, but we do not agree on how to teach people. For some reason he likes to teach The Law of Chastity on the second visit, sometimes the first visit. I feel like we should start with The Plan of Salvation and The Restoration. When they have felt the spirit and have a testimony of these things, they understand why having a family would be so important and then it is much easier for them to understand The Law of Chastity. We have lost a lot of really good investigators because of this. But he has his mind set on it and he will not change. Sometimes it is very frustrating.
It has rained a lot lately. On Monday it decided to rain a butt load. I got poured on once before lunch and the two more times after lunch. It was crazy and I didn't have an umbrella, mine broke in Marilia and I haven't ever replaced it. Haha
Tomorrow I have my first interview with President Tavares, that should be good.
Love you all.

July 28th, 2010

2010-08-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

This week was not a very good week, I really don't think I can handle my companion much longer. Yesterday we had a pretty good yelling match. We had an appointment at 7:00 and I was getting ready to go and start heading to our appointment. My companion says, "No, follow me." I ask "Why? We have an appt at 7." He told me not to worry about it and just follow him. I said I wouldn't follow him unless I knew what we were doing. This went on for a few minutes. So, I just stopped and told him I wasn't going any further until he told me why, we had an appt to be at. Then he yelled, "OBEY ME OR I WILL CALL THE PRESIDENT." I told him to go ahead and call the president. So, he talked to President Taveres and then I did. Things haven't really changed. I have tried so hard to get along with him, but he pushed me to my limit. I am really hoping one of us will be transferred.

Thank Grandpa for the newspaper articles. I love getting them and getting updated on things even if it is a little late.

I can't believe both the Bryson's will enter the MTC today!! It is crazy. Sometimes I wish I had waited and had a little more time to have hung out with my friends. But I know that I wasn't suppose to do that. I need to be here right now, because there is someone here for me to find and help. I try my hardest everyday. I am proud of where I am and what I have accomplished up to this point in my journey. I know that we truly receive so many blessing form the Lord when we look for them. The Lord will never let someone not like there choice of serving, I know this for a fact.

I love you all so much. Thank you for everything.

July 22, 2010

2010-07-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

Me, I am wonderful. But at the same time I do not like my companion much. He is super annoying and everyday he has something new to tell me that I am doing wrong. It is irritating, but I have a good spirit and am trying not to let it bother me. I was so happy about out baptisms. It is such a great feeling to see the changes in these people's lives as they improve them for the better. Yeah, Monique's baptism dress was a little bit different, and also it was see through, which was awkward for me when I baptized her.

We had an activity in our ward and everyone came dressed as their celebrity look alike. One guy came as Obama, it was funny. He really looked like him.

The guy the secretaries baptized did bring some people to church with him. We started teaching his brother, but now I am not teaching him because I have my new companion, who is lame, and won't let me visit my recent converts. But I think this guys bro will be baptized, which is good to see! This week wasn't a really good one either. If you can't tell my companion frustrates me, so I just leave him in peace to do his thing. I do think it is affecting our teaching progress. I know that I am doing what I need to do, and I am not going to drop down to his level just because he wants me to. I am not getting discouraged when things don't go as planned, I just remember to keep my head up and the Lord will put someone in our path who we can help and who also can help us. Everything is going good for me, so yeah.

President Tavares is great. President Leal was really a numbers guy and had a lot of random rules. The new pres. is working to get all the schedules and rules to fit with the guidelines in Preach My Gospel. He really wants to work hard and expects us all to work hard. He is easy to talk to and really tries to help when things aren't going correctly.

I guess my birthday day is coming up. I don't really need anything, some different ties would be cool (I like ones that are bright solid colors), and that toothpaste that I like. And MT DEW , Elder Carter got that for his birthday, so I would like it too.

Thanks for everything, I love you all.

July 14th, 2010

2010-07-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

My week has been good, Last week was like super amazing, because everything went perfectly with the baptism of Nilda and Monique. Nilda is missing the part of the bone in her thigh that connects to her hip. So she can walk and stand a little. Elder Villela baptized Nilda. But I stood in the water with them, just in case something went wrong and he needed help lifting her back up. After Nilda was done, I baptized Monique and everything went perfectly!

I did finally receive my new comp, #11 if you count all of my MTC comps. His name is Elder Alves, he is OK but kind of strange and awkward to talk to and stuff, but I think that it will be pretty good. It is good to be out of the office, what a boring job. When I was there all I did was put baptism records into the computer and stuff Elder Carter didn't want to do.

Yesterday was a difficult day for me, It was my first day back out in the field in several weeks. We spent all day walking around and clapping at gates(here you don't knock on doors, you clap at the gate.) We clapped at about 80 gates, and of those 80 about 65 answered, and of those 65 only 1 let us teach a lesson and 7 gave us info to come back another day. It was just a long and tiring day of walking around and doing a lot of nothing. I am hoping when we go back to those 7 people, they will be accepting of the gospel. I guess we will just have to wait and see how that goes.

Koufos for Al Jefferson, that is a fantastic trade. Jefferson is one of the best power forwards in the league, he was just on the wrong team. Way to go McCann! Always good when it is a Braves player being the hero.

I'm glad everything worked out with Bryson's call, it would be horrible if he couldn't leave until September.

It is crazy how fast the time keeps flying out here. 8 months already, only 16 more to go! I'm sending a few more pics. I love you all so much.

July 8th, 2010

2010-07-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Everything is going great. Last week was very frustrating, I had to work with a different companion every night after spending 8 hours in the hospital. There wasn't alot to do in the hospital, we watched a lot of soccer. We did teach some of the nurses when they had a little extra time. We just taught them simple stuff like the Book of Mormon, but it was pretty cool. On Friday Elder Pumphrey went home to Ohio to have surgery. He has 11 months left on his mission, so he is hoping he can come back. Now I am comp-less and am just stuck with the secretaries until the pres. finds something to do with me. I hope he does soon, because I don't really like being stuck in the office all day doing alot of dumb things.

My new president and his family (2 sons; one 16, the other 14) got here last Wednesday. He is a great guy! On Friday when Elder Pumphrey went home I spent the whole day with Sister Taveres, and she is awesome too. I think it should be good, having them the rest of my mission.

This week has been pretty good since Friday. The secretaries interviewed one of their investigators on Friday and he said that he wasn't ready to be baptized. On Saturday he called us up and was like "Hey, I want to be baptized today. I know it is what needs to happen, so lets do it." That was at 7:00 at night and at 8:30 we had the font full and baptized him. It was a cool experience and I know that he will be strong on the church. He wants to bring 7 people with him to church next Sunday, it's awesome. On Wednesday we had another baptism for a different investigator pf the secs, it went perfect. And now today we are going to baptize Nilda and Monique. It is so freakin' wonderful to see them finally baptized, I am so happy for them.

It is crazy to hear about everything happening in the NBA. I miss baseball a ton. Last night we had an activity at church and we played a trivia game. One of the questions was "How many baseball players are on the field at one time?" Not one person knew the answer, it was sad.

Thanks for everything you do. Hey, you should tell people to write me letter. I want letters from other people, you know. Haha

I love you so much

Preparing for a Baptism

2010-07-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for a baptism is a little different in Brazil:

First we have to get all of the "uninvited guests" out of the font,

and then we have to fill the font!

July 1, 2010

2010-07-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

This week was going really great until the weekend came. On Saturday we were scheduled to baptize Nilda (our investigator in the wheel chair), that morning she calls us and tells us she can't want to be baptized today. So we started freaking out and then went to her home to talk with her. What happened was Nilda had got in an argument with her daughter, Monique, and she felt like she couldn't be baptized because of that. We talked for a while and Nilda realized that she did want to be baptized, she had just been upset. Everything was all set and we were ready to go, but when we got to the church the water in the baptismal font was ice cold. Nilda has a lot of health problem, so there was no way she could get in that freezing water. My comp and I were like, "Crap, what is this all about?" Nilda said it was OK, we could do it tomorrow (Sunday) and it would be great. After all of this happened, Monique (Nilda's daughter) asked us if she could be baptized on Sunday also. We told "Yes, of course you can." Now we are happy again. Sunday we go to church; Nilda and Monique are there, the water is warm, everything is going great. The ward mission leader asks if he can talk to Nilda. They go into a room to talk and Nilda leaves the room on tears and says she is never coming back to church again. We have no idea what has happened. After talking to Nilda we find out the ward mission leader told her that he didn't think she was ready and that she could not be baptized. I couldn't believe it, the mission leader did not have the right to tell her this. Nilda is so spiritual and so ready to be baptized. So, the baptism did not happen, There was a lot of rage and everyone was so upset. Since then we have had the chance to talk with Nilda, she still has a testimony and wants to be baptized. But she feels like she needs to forgive Alex (the ward mission leader) before she will be ready. Hopefully this will all get resolved quickly. Yeah, it was just crazy, hectic and so sad.

We did have another transfer and yes, I did get a new companion. His name is Elder Pumphrey and he is in the hospital. He has a herniated disk and the doctors say that he definitely needs surgery. He will most likely go home to the States to have the surgery done, I will just be with him until he leaves. Right now I have been staying at the hospital with him until about 4 or 6, and then I go out and work with one of the other elders. I don't know who my companion will be when he leaves for the States, it's going to be interesting.

This area is very different than Marilia. There we worked with a lot of part member families and inactives. The aren't any part member families in our ward here and the inactives do not like us at all, so most of our contacts are just cold calls.

I do feel very close to the Lord and my testimony keeps getting stronger and stronger. I am so glad I chose to serve, This is something I needed in my life to help me grow up and become the person that I want to be.

I love you all so much!!!

New Mission President

2010-07-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Article in the LDS Church News:

Eduardo Lucio Mendes Tavares, 41, and Fatima Scarante Tavares, two children, Brazil Londrina Mission; Mangabeira Ward, Feira de Santana Brazil Kalilandia Stake. Brother Tavares is a bishop and a former stake president, counselor in a bishopric, stake Young Men president and missionary in the Brazil Sao Paulo North Mission. Institute director, Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. Born in Vicosa, Mg, Brazil, to Moacir Rodrigues and Maria Ines Mendes Tavares.

Sister Tavares is the ward Young Women president and a former stake Young Women president, seminary teacher, ward Relief Society president and stake family history center director. Born in Curitiba, Brazil, to Bento Antonio Victor Scarante and Tereza Helena Tavares.

June 23, 2010

2010-06-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

I am FANTASTIC. Everything for me is truly wonderful, it is going way good. I have noticed that lately I have been having full on conversations with people and they are like real conversations, not just me trying to listen and figure out what they are saying. Which is way cool!! Londrina is a really big city, the part we work is in the downtown area. It is hard to get references because when we contact people in the street they don't live in the area. They just work downtown, or are there shopping or something. It kind of sucks, because we have made some good contacts but then have to refer them the missionaries in the area which they live. It is hard to teach here because no one is home until after 5. So we walk a lot and talk to lots of different people. There is one street in our area that has a lot of hookers and stuff, so we try to avoid that street.

The members are getting a lot nicer, but they don't try as hard to make friends with the missionaries. We don't feel like we can just stop and visit them to see how everything is going like we could in Marilia, but it's all good.

We are going to have another transfer this week and then the new pres. comes on the 30th. So I could get another new companion, haha that would be funny. I have had so many. We had our last zone conference with Pres. Leal, he taught us about the atonement. It was really good. It will be sad to see him and his wife leave, but I am excited for the new president.

I can't believe Colin is 11 already, I still think that he is 8 for some reason. Tell him FELIZ ANIVERSARIO for me!! I am happy to hear he is doing so well in baseball and swimming, keep it up Colin. I miss watching baseball a ton, but I miss playing even more.

I love you all so much and miss you!!
(Only 17 more months, haha)

Zone Conference

2010-06-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

This past week was really good. We had our last zone conference with President Leal. It seems so weird that he is leaving next week. He taught us about the atonement and it was a great conference. And I got to see some of my favorite missionaries.

Elder Yuma

Elder C. Santos

Elder Franco

Elder De Souza

and Sister Hall.

June 15, 2010

2010-06-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Everything truly is wonderful. I don't have the flu anymore, the tamiflu must have worked. The other two elders I live with are: Elder Carter, an American and Elder Villela, a Brazilian. They are nice, but they are way strict. They don't like to just have fun in the house, they are kind of party poopers. We have been able to watch the World Cup, we have watched Brazil and the USA. During the Brazil games everything closes down and everyone watches the game, so there is no way we could teach. No one would even let us in their house.

Thank you for the package. My weight has stayed pretty steady since I have been in the field. Except when I get a package that is full of sweets and stuff that makes me want to snack. Thanks for the Peanut Butter, there is a lady that uses it to make us Bom Bom. It tastes like homemade Reese's, they are way good. I don't know if I can make the cake because we don't have a pan or measuring cups, but we will try to figure out a way.

The language is actually quite good. My comp doesn't speak any English, just a few phrases people have taught him. He tells me that I speak very well, he thinks I will be a trainer next transfer. I would like to be a trainer, but I am not sure I am ready for that yet. I still am not totally confident in the language. We have found anyone new to teach, but we are working on it.

But this week has been good. Nilda and Monique will be baptized on June 26th. We are so happy they have finally made this decision. They are so great. It will be an interesting baptism, because the mom is missing part of the bone on her leg and she is in a wheelchair. So I think my comp and I will both have to be in the water during the baptism. But it will be good, I know it!!

Way to go Colin, that's the way to hit the ball!!! Just remember to keep that confidence in yourself, keep up the good work and stay strong. Oh yeah, that reminds, will you send me a baseball? I really want to have one with me. THANKS!!

I love you all so much.

June 9th, 2010

2010-06-13T14:27:00.001-07:00

Everything here in Brazil is OK. I think I am coming down with the flu, I have had a sore throat, headache, body aches. I found some Tamiflu in my suitcase and started taking it, hopefully it will work quickly. All I feel like doing right now is going home and going back to bed.

I am still living in the same place as I was before, Elder Franco and I live with the two secretaries. It is nice because they bring my mail to me, so I get it the same day. It is kind of hard because they used to just have the secretaries here, so there wasn't as much work proselyting. The members here are trying to get used to feeding us, when it was just the secretaries they would normally just give them money for lunch. Sometimes it is really good, but sometimes they forget about us. After lunch we give the family a lesson. I use a lot of the scriptures you have emailed in my lessons. Londrina is a really nice city, very modern for Brazil. It is nice because we have access to everything we need and everything is easy to find. But it is a bad area because the people here don't really need anything and they are kind of prideful, so it is hard to teach lessons.

We are still teaching Nilda and Monique, they are way cool. Nilda told us that she is going to decide on a day to be baptized and she would tell us today, so I am very excited. We think Monique will decide to be baptized the same day as her mom, so that makes us happy!! We are teaching a couple, Fernando and Bia. We are trying to help them get married and then be baptized. But Fernando smokes and he is having a hard time giving that up. We are really trying to work with them. I can't believe how many people I have already met who want to be baptized but can't quit smoking. I don't think I ever realized how addictive smoking really is.

Mom, I guess what I am still buying, even in Brazil? CD's! They are Brazilian artists, it's pretty sweet. I can't listen to them, but I have heard some of the music in homes and places we are at. so I am going to have a lot of music to add to my Ipod when I get home.

YEAH Braves!!!! I hope they continue to be good, that is awesome.

Tell Colin to keep working hard at baseball and swimming, the harder he works the better he will get. I miss Tulo a ton. That is cool that he loves the water, Pebbles hated it. Everyone here has a dog and I am always playing with them

Thank you all for the continued love and support, It really means a whole lot to me!

June 2nd, 2010

2010-06-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Everything in Londrina is wonderful. I got my new comp today, Elder Franco, he is way cool. He has been in the office with the secretaries because of an injury in his calf. Nut now he is with me and we are living in the same house he has been living in. Elder Franco is from Manaus. He only has 5 months left in the mission, so he is a lil bit trunky. But his is way cool and things should be good with him.

The ward here is pretty good. The lady that reminds me of Sister Ockey has a daughter that just returned from a mission in Utah. She actually served for a while in the St. George Temple, so that was cool. it will be exciting to get a new mission president in a few weeks, it will be interesting to see how the whole switch will work out. But I hear that he is a really great guy and everyone who knows him loves him. So this is good.

The weather is just perfect for me, it is about 65 degrees everyday and I love it! It is not very humid right now either, but I know it will be again in the summer. I have been lucky, My cities have been really nice compared to others. elder Flake (my Provo MTC comp) is in Foz do Igacu, it is so rural there. He is right next to the waterfalls, but he can't go visit them.

This area is different that Marilia. it is harder to find people to teach. So sorry not a lot this week, we didn't do to much but walk and walk.

Love you lots

May 25, 2010

2010-05-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Everything in Brazil is fantastic!! Thank you for the updates on everything, I love hearing them. I can't believe the bass player of Slipknot died, what is this?!?

That is cool that cool got his webelos badge. Mom, you love scouts, I know it. are you going to get your second Eagle with Colin too? Haha

My new area is way cool, but it is really difficult because there are a lot of apartment buildings and stuff. My comp and I have been working in the field, I got transferred to this area because they want one dupla (companionship) to work in the office and the other will be in the streets all day. I am in the second one. On my first day here Pres. Leal said that he had a challenge for me. Because of the new mission pres. coming in July, we are having an emergency transfer on June 1st. President Leal told me my comp. is definitely going to be transferred because he has been in this area 10 months. President Leal told me I had until June 1st to learn the area. Very challenging! My comp is OK, he is a super nerd and really hard to talk to. We have nothing in common, but we are only together another week. My new home is a really nice apartment, I am living in style right now. Haha. Our house is about a 10 minute walk from the office, that is so nice because I can get my mail the day it arrives. The ward here is OK. It is a really rich area and the ward members are a little stuck up. On Sunday none of them really talked to me and if they did it was after my comp said, "Why don't you ask him?" But it should get better. There is one lady who is super nice, she reminds me a lot of Sister Ockey.

We are teaching this mom (Nilda) and daughter (Monique), who are way cool. Nilda is in a wheelchair, she is really spiritual and knows that everything is true but isn't ready to be baptized yet. So we are just waiting for her to tell us she is ready, she comes to church every Sunday and does everything she is suppose to do. But we will just have to wait and see. We also taught Jose'. He is a UFC fighter and could've easily killed us. He came to church last Sunday and loved it. The only problem is that today he is leaving for the city of Bele'm and won't return for at least 3 months. We are hoping he can find the missionaries there and get baptized. That is what he told us he wants to do. Also, I went on a split with one of the secretaries who is an American, we taught this guy, Ricardo. He lived in London for 6 years and speaks fluent English. He asked us to teach him in English. We did, but it was to hard to go back to English.

We found this church here called "Jesus Christ Man." It is a church where the leader thinks he is the resurrected Jesus and everybody was saved after he died on the cross, so it doesn't matter what you do here on earth because you have already been saved. It was way dumb. They use the number 666, they say it is the number of wisdom. Haha

What can I do to protect my head and hair? I need to know this stuff.

I love you all so much, I hope this letter was long enough for you.

May 19, 2010

2010-05-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have hit my six month mark, it really does go by fast. If it is true what they say about the first 6 months being slow and then it starts going fast, it should be really, really crazy. This week has been really good. We have still been teaching Natalia and Elder Galdino and I found two new families that are great. One is a family of four and the other a family of six. They are awesome and it has been really cool teaching them. But then yesterday came and I found out I was being transferred. President Leal was here on Friday and he told us there were only two people in our area being transferred. I just happen to be one of those two. I kind of expected it because I had been here 3 transfers. I am now in Londrina, downtown Londrina and it is way cool. The city is very beautiful. But I have to spend a lot of time in the mission office because my new companion, Elder Cavalheiro, is the ex-secretary and he has to help the secretary until he is good to go. I could have another new companion in two weeks when they do emergency transfers, but it's all good. I miss my comp and roomies, they were great and they loved the music on my ipod, but hopefully everything will keep going well.

Funny story: Last Thursday we had an activity at the church called Titanic, and it was sweet! We gave everyone fake money and they could buy popcorn, cake and soda or they could use their money for life jackets, whistles and life boats. The idea was to show if you are ready for life's trials. We played "My Heart Will Go On" while everyone was shopping. Then all the lights went out and the music turned off and Elder Galdino yelled, "Iceberg!" We decided to add an extra touch and we threw water balloons. I was way funny, the bishop was mad for a minute. But then he told us it was a nice effect and he was happy.

Hopefully next week we will be out of the office and teaching.

I love you all so much, ate' proximo semana!

6 Months! The Official Tie Burning Ceremony

2010-05-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

It is customary in the mission field to celebrate your landmarks by burning something.
Reaching your 6 month mark is traditionally observed by the burning of a tie.(Preferably a boring one, that you don't wear to often.)
Lighting the tie in the house and carrying it out to the patio, seems like a safe, responsible way to carry out the ceremony.
The bigger the fire, the better.
The ceremony is not complete until the tie is completely obliterated.
Six down, eighteen to go!

May 4, 2010

2010-05-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

Everything here is going great. We had another baptism last Saturday for Yasmim, daughter of Silvia. It went way good. We don't do a lot of tracting, because we get a lot of referrals. people here don't knock on doors, they have gates in front of their houses and you just clap at the gate. Sometimes we get invited in and other times they yell at us from the window, which is always quite interesting. We talk to alot of people on the street and get alot of referrals that way.

This transfer ends in 2 weeks and everyone thinks I will be transferred. It will be hard if I do. I love the area and the ward. My comp is awesome, he is like my best friend and we get along perfect. And he makes the best pineapple, just like Tucano's. We have one member in our ward, Adao, he is way cool. He loves to make lunch for the missionaries, but it is really a sacrifice for him because he is really poor. But every month he makes us lunch and it is always perfect. He is an amazing man with so much faith.

That is cool that you are reading Jesus The Christ. I read it my first transfer with Elder Silva. He liked to take naps, so I would read while he napped. It was an amazing book, I probably should read it again.

Funny Story:

Ever since our house almost got broken into Elder Barros has been super paranoid. So, this week, me and Galdino pretended to fob our house. we took and hid a bunch of stuff in the house. We took all Elder Barros' stuff, including all the photos of his fiance. Barros and his comp came home while we were at our baptism and Barros was freaking out. When we got home he was going crazy. But then he found his photos and said "Oh, what a good thief, he brought back my pictures. Thank You!!!" After that we had to tell it was us, it was classic.

That is cool the Nickole is pregnant, tell her congratulations for me. I received the package with my raincoat and the acoustic music. thank you, I love it. I also, finally got the letters from the Valentines Party, they brought a smile to my face.

I love you all and can't wait until Sunday!

April 28, 2010

2010-05-01T19:32:00.001-07:00

Things have been really good this week. Our baptism last Saturday went great. I didn't mess up on Raphael's name, so I was happy about that. We had to cut one of our families; they want to be baptized, but they don't want to come to church. We have been working and working with them, they can feel the spirit and know this is the true church. But we finally had to tell them, "You know where the church is, when you want it you know where to go." Hopefully they will figure it out. Sunday was an "interesting" day for me. My companion and I had to sing in Sacrament meeting. We sang Be Still My Soul, my comp sang the first verse in Portuguese, I sang the second verse in English and we sang the last verse together in Portuguese. Everyone told us it was beautiful, but it was so scary. Another thing that was so scary was I gave my first confirmation. I confirmed Silvia. I was so nervous for that, but it went really good. You could really feel the spirit.

Our new home is good, but really small for 4 missionaries. We only have one bathroom, so getting ready takes forever. For laundry we only have a washing machine, we have to hang up our clothes to dry them. It's pretty easy, I haven't ruined anything yet.

That is cool that Colin did good at the track meet. His time for the 100m is a really good time for his age. I totally guessed Bryson would go to France, that is awesome!! I guess sometimes people do get what they want, haha. I miss my puppy so much. At our lunch on Sunday the people had the cutest little dog and I loved playing with him, but it always makes me miss lil' Tulo.

Thanks for all your love and support. I love you ALL!

MTC Friends!

2010-04-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

These Elders were all in my first district in the Provo MTC; Elder Hodges was my first companion and when he got his visa and left for Brazil, I was put in a threesome with Elder Shaw. We are all in the same area right now and were able to hook up at zone conference a few weeks ago. It was great to see them and talk to someone who spoke English.

Milkshakes!

2010-04-28T13:46:00.001-07:00

My companion and I like milkshakes. There is a milkshake shop that we visit frequently. They had a drawing at Easter for this basket. Every time you spent 5 real (about $2.75) your name was entered in the drawing. Elder Galdino and I had a lot of papers in the drawing. And you guessed it... I won!

April 21, 2010

2010-04-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

This past week was really good! My comp and I had our first baptism together and my second overall. Her name is Silvia, she is the one who drank the nasty cigarette tea. It was a great experience. She has told everyone how great it was and how she wishes she could be baptized again to feel that same feeling! I love it and know she will be such a strong member. We are still doing a lot of work with those two families and working to get them ready to be baptized. We should be baptising one person this Saturday. He is the son of a member and he was like my first investigator. He asked me to baptize him. It really shocked me because I thought he would choose his dad. His name is really hard to pronounce, I need to practice it a lot: Jose Rafael de Jesus Teixeira Quachio, haha. Luciana and Fabiana should also be baptized this Sunday, it is great to see them progress so much. we are working with another investigator who is really, really smart! But this gets in his way sometimes, he wants to be baptized but he thinks that he isn't prepared yet. I think because he is so smart, it is hard for him to depend on the spirit. But he is progressing and I think he will be baptized soon. This should be a really good week and I am so excited!

The pink tie I had on I had on in the pictures was actually my companions, but I just received my package and so now I have my pink tie!! (Thanks) Thanks for the peanut butter and the ctr ring ( it fit my friend perfect). Elder Galdino was so excited about the BYU shirt you sent him. It came just in time for his birthday and was the best present he received this year.

It is no surprise about Boozer being lame and hurt. But I hope they continue to do good. I need my Jazz to good, because I have about a billion things that are Jazz stuff.

I love you all so much!!

April 14, 2010

2010-04-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

Everything is perfect here, minus the fact that we had to move and things were crazy. I guess the house we are living in was broken into a couple of times before I got here. A couple of nights someone tried to break into our house while we were sleeping. We all heard them trying to get in the front door and the window, it was a tad bit scary. So, yesterday we had to move into a new house. The new house is nicer, but a lot smaller for 4 people. It only has one bathroom which at the moment is broken. So, I haven't showered yet today, I feel disgusting!! Moving really sucked. The moving people didn't take care of any of our stuff, now all of our dressers and closets are partially broken. And we didn't get to do much this week because getting moved took up so much of our time.

Our families are doing good, we should have some baptisms this week. Great news, one of the ladies we made the "cigarette tea" for has stopped smoking. Which is awesome!!!

Yes mom, I get enough to eat. I still don't really like the rice, but if I smother it with beans it's not bad. All I really eat is lunch because there isn't really food here that you can just snack on. The worst part is I don't like the milk at all, so I can't have cereal in the morning and usually don't eat. But it's good for me. I am losing weight, but I am never starving. sometimes people think I am the "rich American" but it doesn't bother me at all, I just laugh at it.

That is awesome about Trace. Samoa would be a cool place to serve a mission.

Thanks for sending the raincoat I think I will need it. I loved the Hershey track meet! Tell Colin I'm rooting for him and to give it his all. I can't wait to talk to you all on mother's day.

I love you all and miss you.

April 7, 2010

2010-04-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Everything here in Brazil is great! It is starting to get a little bit cold, but I'm used to it and actually I like it a lot more. Easter was good, we didn't do anything special, except go to conference. I was able to watch it in English and thought it was an amazing conference. I loved all the talks. My favorite was Elder Holland's, it really hit me hard. My Portuguese is getting a lot better, but I am not fluent yet. I am able to have better conversations with people than I was before, which I really like.

Yesterday was transfer day, and everyone was telling me that I would be leaving. I didn't want to leave because I love my area and my comp. My companion is so helpful and just a great guy. But nobody in my house left!! I am still with all three of the same people.

This past week has been pretty good. Elder Galdino and I have been spending most of our time teaching the two families that are getting ready to be baptized. Two of the people have a smoking problem, they want to quit but haven't been able to. My companion told them that he knows of a tea that after drinking it 99 out of 100 people will stop smoking. So we made it for them, all the tea is is water and 5 cigarettes, yes cigarettes! They drank it and almost puked, but it helped them understand what they are putting into their bodies when they smoke. Neither has smoked for 3 days, it is so awesome. I am so happy because I will get to see them baptized. The other family is good, they just need to go to church a few more time and then they will be baptized, we hope on April 18th.

I need you to send me a new razor. There is a man in the ward that loves American things, so I traded him my razor and a tube of toothpaste for a machete!! I now own a really big knife, it is awesome! But I need a razor.

Yes!!! Go Braves!!! I miss not bring able to watch or hear anything about baseball, or basketball for that matter. I'll I hear about is soccer, soccer, soccer. I don't really like it, so thanks for the updates.

Next week I will send some pics, I forgot my camera today. I love you all so much!

March 30, 2010

2010-04-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Everything is going great. Things are going well with the two families we are teaching, hopefully we will be baptizing them the end of April. President Leal came to our area to do interviews this week and it went great. He is a great man. He brought me a package with 10 lbs. of treats! Thanks.

Saturday we had one of the young men, Julio (17), in the ward come with us to teach. He did a really good job, he is going to be a great missionary someday. The day was good, we taught alot of people but none were interested in having us come back. We also got rained on a ton, which sucked.

It was a good Sunday, one of our families came to church. Not only that, they picked us up to go with them, it was crazy. That night we had a special evening for the ward members. We watched the movie Charly and my companion gave a great lesson on the plan of salvation. It was cool and everybody cried, haha.

We had another young man, Fernando (15), from the ward come with us on Monday to teach. He did a good job, but he was really shy. We went to the house of a member who has been having migraines. We gave her a blessing and sang a hymn. This was the first blessing Fernando had ever witnessed, the spirit was really strong. It was cool

Tuesday I was on a split with Elder Frenades. It was a rough day, we went to all of the houses we had referrals for and about 7 of the 10 houses didn't even exist. We walked a ton and it was so hot. It was a very trying day.

I love you all and thanks for all you do.

3-23-2010

2010-03-27T13:14:00.001-07:00

This past week has been really great. We found two families who are so strong in spirit. They know what we are teaching is true and it is so cool to be able to see that. This Sunday we are all going to walk to church from their house, the walk is about an hour and a half!! This is something that is unheard of, mt companion can't believe they are willing to walk that far. There is a 10 year old boy, Juhlio, and he asked if I would baptize him in English. That would be so cool to be here baptizing someone in English. I think that his family will definitely be baptized.

That is crazy about the earthquake in Chile, I am glad Cody Christensen is OK. We get to see the news once in a while, but not very often. The only sports we ever hear about is soccer, soccer, and more soccer. So I really appreciate the Jazz updates.

I love you all and thanks for all the scriptures, they are helpful.

Life in Marilia

2010-03-21T18:48:00.001-07:00

My Companion, Elder Galdino

Down time at the apartment
My church in Marilia

Brazilian Spider

Bob, our pet gecko

3-17-2010

2010-03-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, I have gotten a little behind...

3-2-2010
Today is my P-Day because it is also transfer day. Some things have changed in my area, it has been split into two areas, so now I am living with 3 elders. They are all Brazilian who do not speak English, but I think it will help me out a ton with learning the language. My new companion, Elder Galdino, is pretty cool. He is kinda nervous because he was just made the district leader and he has only been here for 8 months. I can understand his Portuguese really well which is nice. I don't really know much about him since I just met him today.

Last Wednesday was my first baptism. It was such a cool experience. But I worry she won't stay strong in the church, I hope that she will though.

Two other things. There is a member who is way cool, who asked me if you could send some peanut butter for him. So, could you do that for me? And another member who is 18 loves my CTR ring. Is there any way you we could get him one?

Brian - To explain the stove: we actually have two because they closed an area and all the extra stuff is at our house. So our stove is inside the house, but we don't ever really use it.

Thank you for all the support. I love and miss you all.

3-9-2010:

I am doing good. It can tell you guys are having a lot of fun in Hawaii right now. I can't wait to go again when I get back. You have no idea how much I miss Panda Express, I want it so bad. No one here has even heard of it. Mom, I can't believe you cried when you dropped off Tulo at the Kennel. HaHa, I always thought you were a dog person but you would just never admit it.

Elder Galdino is really cool, he makes us work way harder than Elder Silva did. It is kind of interesting because he has a fiance who is serving in the Santa Maria, Brazil Mission. I tried to think about me serving a mission and having a fiance, that is just to weird. Living with 3 Brazilians who do not speak English can be a little frustrating, but my language skills have gotten so much better just this past week! I have lost about 5 more pounds and my pants fall off without a belt. I haven't received any mail yet but we should be getting some today, so I am pretty excited.

This week I had a really cool experience; there is a girl we have been teaching whose mom is a member, her name is Tauane and she is super shy. While we were teaching her my comp. was talking to her about her shyness. I felt prompted to tell her that I was really shy, but I knew I was here to help people know that the church is true. Afterwards, my comp. told me how strong he felt the spirit at that moment. It was cool and made me way happy!

3-17-2010:

It sounds like you had an awesome trip and lots of fun. I want to see some whales. Wow, Tulo is getting pretty big. Are you going to get another puppy so he can have a friend? I think Brian wants one.

I like my new companion a lot, he has helped me out a ton and is so much better than my old comp. The 2 other elders living with us are Elder Dos Santos and Elder Barros. Elder Barros is brand new in the field and he likes to talk alot. He reminds me of Colin when he talks and talks, and stutters when he can't get it out fast enough.My comp makes me talk to people, but he does most of the talking. We are in a hard area, we teach alot of first discussions, but when we go back to teach again they are not home. We have been doing alot of reactivating members and that is going really well. We have one investigator, Guiherme. He is the boyfriend of a member and we are hoping to baptize him on Saturday.

It is really green here. The city we are in has all types of people; poor, average, above average. We teach alot of poorer people. The food is good, it is a guarantee that we will have rice and beans, then some kind of meat which is way good. My favorite is this beef and potato thing that people make.

I did receive my package and I really like my watch. Everyone asks, "Is that a watch? How does it work?" It's pretty funny. Oh and will you send me my pink tie, the one from Cass' wedding and my favorite green purple silver one. It's OK to wear them.

I love you all so much!!!

2-24-2010 Update

2010-02-26T17:04:00.001-08:00

Things that have happened this week:

Friday: Went on a split with Elder Geraldo de Santo. We do splits a lot, I'm not really sure why. We didn't switch until late in the day. We did a pre-baptism interview with an investigator, Elaine. She was suppose to get baptized on Saturday, but she got hit in the face, so she is going to wait until Wednesday.

Saturday: Met back up with Elder Silva, my companion. We went to the church to help with the primary program. It was good, there was a lot of laughing but I didn't really understand why. Elder Silva goes home next week, he is way trunky and kind of lazy. So, we usually just walk around a lot. Later that night two elders in our area came over. One of the elders is going home in 6 months, so we burned a pair of pants to celebrate.

Monday: I was on another companion switch with Elder Peart, I was in his area. We went to the home of a new convert and just talked with her for awhile. That night we met back up with our companions and had family night at Lucene's, a member from my ward. She is way cool, but very crazy. We had Elaine come too.

Tuesday: Only two of all our appointments fell through. We went and talked to Elaine about her baptism which is today. Then we went and talked to Maria Luica and her daughter, Tauane. Maria Luica is a recent convert and Tauane might get baptized today. It is very exciting.

I have already met tons of missionaries, but the ones I have actually gotten to know because of splits are: Elders Gerlado de Santos, Peart, Fernandes, Timothy, and Finato. My whole district from Provo finally arrived here, I was happy about that. The weather here is hot, like super hot. I feel gross everyday. The members in the ward are very nice to me and very helpful in helping me learn Portuguese. I get a new companion either this week or next.

Wow, it sound like the Jazz are on a roll, but I can't believe they traded Ronnie B, he was one of my favorites. I'm glad Colin liked Bball this year, has he gotten any taller? Tell Grandma Happy Birthday for me!!! Other than people, the thing I miss the most is my Ipod.

Things I would like you to send me: Body Wash, Peanut Butter M&M's

I love you all and miss you so much.

January 27, 2010 Update

2010-01-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

My living conditions are pretty good in Marilia. In my apartment there are tons and tons of ants everywhere, but I have only seen one cockroach. I just found out that we are moving sometime in the next week or so, crazy stuff here. We do have a ward here, but I am not sure how many members there are. we don't get many referrals, but we contact tons of people. I don't ever have to cook. We normally just have bread and juice for breakfast and then for lunch a member will either make food for us or give us money for food. They don't really eat dinner here, we usually just have a snack of some kind. All we eat is rice and beans with some kind of meat and they eat every bit of the meat, fat and everything. and, yes, the food has agreed with me. I have not gotten sick. We walk a ton, but it is good. sometimes when we are far away from our house we will ride a bus back, which is a very crazy experience. the people here drive like maniacs! I haven't put any weight on and I think I am losing, but I am not exactly sure because we don't have a scale. My shoes are good and very comfortable. My knees and feet kill me everyday, but I will survive it. My companion is really a great guy, he is really funny. He is from Sao Paulo. with the language right now I hate it. All I can say is yes, no ok, and where I am from. It has been really frustrating for me, but I'm doing ok.

Life here for me is good and rough at the same time. I am not the most social of people and out here you need to be very social, so that is the hardest thing for me.

Mom: About my hair. It was 3:30am when I woke up that day for that picture, I didn't care too much about my hair. Ha, ha

I love you all and miss you so much!

January 18, 2010

2010-01-22T19:41:00.000-08:00

So I just arrived in Londrina yesterday morning at about 7. I flew in with Elder Hodges (my comp from the Provo MTC) and 2 brazis. It was way cool, we met and had lunch over at the mission presidents house. It was very good. I found out who my trainer was there and which area I would be in, but I didn't come out to my area until today. Last night I stayed with two other elders who were leaving the next day. It was way cool , we went and taught this family about the 10 commandments. My companions said that I would just read a couple of scriptures and bear my testimony at the end, but then one of the daughters asked them if I could explain the next commandment about coveting. It was so, so, so hard. I guess I did a good job because they said they understood me. It was really hard to go to sleep, they had me put a mattress on the floor and sleep there. It was way hard because the place we were staying was in bad shape and there were bugs everywhere. I think I had like 4 cockroaches around me somewhere. It was very different from what I am used to, but my new home is a lot better. Thus morning I came out to my area, which is Marila. It is way pretty here and my dad (that is what you call your trainers I guess; ha,ha) is way cool! His name is Elder Silva and I am going to kill him (that means this is his last transfer.) He can speak English pretty good, but it is cool because he will ask me a question in English and I will answer in Portuguese. It is very helpful and he says that I can speak the language really well, which is a big boost for me!

So, yeah, everything is great. I love you all and miss you so much!