Letter from June 4th, 2012

That was a dog that bit my finger, and it swelled up like that and bled a little bit (ha ha). Also, I forgot to tell you that last week I was walking home with the pacakage that I got, and it started to rain and all.  Ever since then, it's been raining like every day here.  So, YES - I use the new umbrella like everyday.  It's so nice. 

 

On Thursday we had Elder Mazzagardi of the Seventy here with us to give us a training. It was super cool. He taught us a bunch of cool stuff. He is super intelligent and knows the scriptures very well, so that was super cool.  It will be fun when I get home to share all of the cool things that I learned.   It was also good to see old friends and comps and to get the mail. Yeah, it has been pretty rough in my area lately.  It is because in the past there used to be 6 Elders in this area.  So, 99% of the people we talk to have already talked with the missionaries and don't want anything to do with the Church.  But, the Lord has His hand in everything.  And Gods plan is perfect.  So, there has got to be some sort of reason why I'm here.   All I need to do is find out what that reason is.  We have been working with a lot of less active people here and we had a couple of less actives at Church yesterday which was cool.  Next Sunday we won't have sacrament meeting because the Manaus Temple is being dedicated so that will be awesome!!  Also, I have already lost a little bit of weight in this new area. When I got here in Brazil, I was weighing about 180.  Now I'm around like 165.  I'm trying to get rid of the little gut that i have (ha ha).   But hey, love ya tons and have a great week!! 

Letter from May 28th, 2012

The weeks here lately have been passing by pretty slow. We have been having some difficulties in this area lately. When I got here, there were no investigators, and the members haven't been helping at all with referrals. So, we have to do all of the work by ourselves. So, pretty much we just knock on doors and do contacts all day.  I went one year without knocking on one door, but here it's the only way that we can work.

 

Our meetings on Sunday are hillarious.  I have been seeing just about everything here. Yesterday after sacrament meeting I saw 2 little primary kids who were putting the sacrament away. The bishop here just yells at the pulpit like a pastor from some evangelist church and doesn't really talk about anything (ha ha).   I'll have a lot of stories to tell when I get home.

 

Tuesday we had a meeting and they gave us our mail finally.  I got the package from Amanda and from Grandma. I am so happy right now!!  I have only been eating cereal lately and junk food.  The only thing that I still haven't gotten lately was any letters.  But if you can, tell Amanda thanks. I don't know if I'll have time.  I  asked President about the whole going home early thing to get ready for school, and he still hasn't answered me yet.  So maybe I'll have to call him and ask him specifically.  I have been praying about this lately and all - about college and everything. Pretty much I think that whatever Pres. Hall decides is what should be done. And if I get accepted to BYU, that is where I want to go. So, those are my thoughts as of now. 

 

Here are some pics - hope you enjoy them.    Love you so much.  Have a GREAT week!!  

Letter from April 23rd, 2012

 

Thankfully this week I have been feeling a lot better. My nose has still been running a little bit lately, but my fever and throat have gotten a lot better. I took some medicine that seemed to help quite a bit, but I'm not gonna lie - it was miserable there for a couple of days.

 

This week was pretty chill.  Not much news to talk about.  We have just been trying to find new people to teach , and it hasn't been workng out very well.  But, we're gonna keep working our hardest to try to get some new people going to Church.  Meetings yesterday went well and all.  We ended up having to teach some kids in Primary.  That was just straight crazy!  They gave us a lot of work, but by the end of the class they were asking us to teach them next week as well (ha ha).  They seemed to like our class quite a bit.  Maybe it's due to the fact that we played Book of Mormon hangman (ha ha).

 

You asked how many times I've read the BofM on my mission.  Let's see - I have read it I think 3 or 4 times in the mish, but only one time in Portuguese.   I recently started again in Portuguese and I'm in Mosiah right now.  So, I'm hoping to read it a few more times before I get home.   There is a great spirit and power from reading the Book of Mormon everyday. That should be your goal as a family. Well, that's about it for this week.  I hope you have a great week.  Love you so much!!