Letter From September 19, 2012

This week was a good and a sad week at the same time.   It was sad because me and my comp had a really tight relationship and it was sad to see him go.  He is gonna get with his parents tomorrow.  I will see him on Monday so that should be pretty cool.  He left one of his bags here at that house, so he will have to come and pick it up.  This morning we had to get up at 3 :30 to go to the bus station for him to go to the mission home.   That was a sad last hug as comps.   We only spent 6 weeks together, but we made a huge friendship.  My new comp, and most likely my last, is Elder Rinaldi.  He is from Sao Paulo.  He seems like a really cool guy.  I don't know much about him yet, except that he speaks really goood English and he has a pic of him and his family in the Word of Wisdom pamphlet that we use to teach  people (ha ha).  But, I'll be able to tell a little bit more here in a couple of days.  And, at the same time it was a good week.   We did end up having all 3 baptisms on Saturday and they were all confirmed on Sunday which was cool.   We had a young man who was baptized that he was super prepared to be baptized.  The Lord had been preparing  him for a while.  Pretty much all we had to do was invite him.  He is already visiting the members and pretty much home teaching already which is super cool.  And then we baptized 2 young ladies.  They are daughters of a member couple who are really cool.  They come from really humble circumstances.  The couple were baptized about 5 years ago and then had ended up falling away from the Church but we found them and got them to come back.   And it was super cool to see their Dad be able to baptize them.  It was so special and it was just an awesome feeling.  

But, I've got to go.   I'll be here again in a couple of days with more details.  Have a great week!!

Letter From September 10th, 2012

This week was super busy.  On Monday night, we had to go to the other Elder's house about an hour away from here to spend the night with them because on Tuesday morning we had to get up at 4 am to take a van to go to Joao Pessoa which is about 3 hours from here.  We went and had Zone Council there and ate with Pres. and Sister Hall and I got to see a lot of the Elders from my group which was cool.  Then we came back and got home a little late.  I think it was about 7 pm before we got home and I was just beat from traveling so much.  Then on Thursday we had Zone Conference which was about an hour away from here and we had to get  up a little bit earlier to do that as well.  So, a lot of this week was spent in meetings and traveling and all that fun stuff.

 

Yesterday we had Ward Council and when I got there they asked me if I could talk in sacrament meeting .  I got to speak for about 12 minutes which was cool.  I'm pretty sure that nobody was paying attention, but that is pretty normal here (ha ha).   I talked on Mosiah 25.

 

Yes - this is my comps last week, so we are gonna make it good!!  We should have 3 baptisms this Saturday, so we are super excited.   And yes, you will have to wait to hear from me next week until Wednesday.  It will be a little bit later since I'll have to wait for my new comp at the bus staion and for all of the Elders of our zone to get here.  Have a great week!!  Next week I'll have a little bit more to talk about.

Letter From September 3rd, 2012

Finally I'm sending some pictures.  The first is of my shoe.  As you can see here in Brazil we walk quite a bit (ha ha).  The next is of the lady and her son that we baptized last week. The last picture is of my comps b-day a couple of weeks ago when we threw a surprise party for him at our house. 

One thing that I thought would be cool that I have been looking for is a blue and white hammock for you guys to put in the house.  So, I'll keep my eyes open for that.  That way you can put a little bit of Brazilian taste in the house. Plus, hammocks here are pretty cheap.  I bought one the other day that was 60 reais, so that's only like 30 dollars which I think is pretty cheap for the size of the hammock. Today in our house we are going to put some hooks in the walls so that I can sleep in my hammock like I used to in my other areas.  Here the houses are made of brick, so it's a little bit harder to do stuff like that. We are going to have to chisel holes in the wall, then put the hook in, and then fill it all in with cement. So, that's going to be most of our pday today (ha ha)!  

This week went well.  I had another division with a different Elder this week and spent the day with him which was cool. Their house is super small - it's crazy.  We have an awesome family that we are teaching that they started the marriage papers, so they are going to get married next month.  We are super excited for that!!  We had quite a few people at Church yesterday which is good.   We are workin' our tails off here trying to find and teach new people and do everything that we have got to do. This week will be pretty crazy.  We have got a couple of meetings that we have to go to this week, so I'm pretty sure this week will fly by.  We also have Zone Conferences this week on Thursday ,so that will be cool to see some old friends and get trained by President.  This conference will be our whole state that  will go, so there is gonna be quite a few missionaries.  But, that's about it.  The work is going on and we are working our hardest to save souls here in this blazing sun.  It's funny because everyone - literally EVERYONE - always comments on how my face is red (ha ha).  I don't know if it's getting worse (my redness) or if they are just not used to it, but I always just tell people it's a family thing and that I was born this way.  

But hey - have a great week.  I only have one more email before transfers which is crazy.  These days are flyin' by.   Until next week. . . 

Letter From August 27th, 2012

This week went well.  On Tuesday we went on a division with some other Elders.  I got to go to their area and work for a day there.  The cool thing was it was an Elder who I had already known a little bit and we had even passed in the same area together.   So, it was cool to talk to him.   I wanted to send pics to you guys, but this computer isn't letting me.  

 

One sweet thing that we did this week was we learned how to make what is called coxinhas.   There is a member in our Ward who seriously makes the best coxinhas in Brazil!!  They are so delicious!!  We were just going to go there to buy something to eat and then he just invited us in to help him make them.  So, he taught us all the steps and stuff and how to do it.  It was awesome, so today we are going to try to make it oursleves at home.  We will see how that goes.   Coxinhas is like a dough thing that you can put meat or chicken inside of it and then you roll it in bread crumbs and then fry it.  It is SOOO good!!  I'll have to make it for you guys when i get home now that i know how to do it (ha ha). 

 

We did have a couple of baptisms yesterday.  We had a young lady and her 8 year old son who were baptized.   It was super cool.  She was an elect lady.  Whatever we asked her to do, she just did it.   She is really a special lady.  But, that's about it for this week.   Have a great week!!  

Letter from August 20th, 2012

Things here are going good.  I'm starting to get a little bit more used to the area and the members and all.  This is probably the best ward that I have been in so far.  I think yesterday we had 136 people in our sacrament meeting which is great.  But, I still have a lot more to get used and a short time to do it.   I only have 4 more week lefts in this transfer.  The good thing is I know for sure that I'm going to stay here and that I will get a new comp next transfer.  My comp's name is Elder Woolley and  as you can see by the name, he is also an American.  He  is from Salt Lake City.  This is his last transfer, so now he only has a month left. So, he is a little trunky, but he is still working really hard so that's not much of a problem.  He said that his parents are going to come and pick him up, so I should get to meet them as well.  But he is really a cool kid.  He reminds me of cousin Josh (ha ha). 

 

But I'm hoping this week that we should have a couple of baptisms here. We had a lot of people that went to church which was nice, so that's gonna help us out a lot.  It was nice to get to talk to you guys for a little while on Tuesday even though it was only for a couple of minutes.  Also on Tuesday, we had a leadership training meeting.  It was nice and I saw some old friends and learned a lot of good stuff.  I have a lot of things that I need to get better at (ha ha).   On Tuesday night it was my comps birthday, so we threw a surprise party for him. The other elders who live with us set it all up.  We had pizza, cake, chips, and soda - it was awesome!!  It was funny because we went the whole day without saying anything to him.  We didn't say happy birthday or anything to him, so I'm sure he was a little dissapointed.   But then we got home that night and sang happy birthday to him and everything and it was really cool.

 

If you want to send a package to me that's fine - you can send whatever you want.   But, I had an idea.  Instead of sending me a package you can send me some money instead, because there are some things here that I will only get to eat while I'm here, and there are some things that I want to buy here so that I can bring them home with me.  I want to bring home some hammocks and some stuff that they only have here.  I'm gonna bring home some food for you guys to try like cuscuz which is delicious and some other stuff.   It's pretty much for sure that I'm going to finish my mission here, so I'm already gonna start buying things to bring home and souvenirs and stuff like that.  So, let me know what you think about that.

 

But, that's about it for me.  I'll let you know how things go this week with baptisms and all.  It was actually a good thing that I didn't watch the funeral because the same time that the funeral was going on, we did a street contact with a young lady and invited her to go to church with us.  AND to our surprise, she actually went and after the meetings we marked her baptism for next month!!  Love you so much and until next week:)

Letter from August 8th, 2012

So . . . I did end up getting transferred.  My comp was called to be a trainer in our area, so I ended up getting transferred to the other state capital.  My comp will be Elder Wooley.  This is his last transfer, so I'm pretty sure this will end up being my last area as well and I'll only have one more comp after him, but we´ll see.  I'm going to miss my old comp, Elder Leite.  He was a great guy and we got along super well.  It was really tough to say goodbye to all of the members and people that we helped and got to know there.  There was a sweet old lady who really is a mean old lady.  I'll send you a pic and you'll be able to see she is holding a huge knife in her hand.  She sleeps with 2 knives under her bed to defend her children.  But, when I told her that I was going to leave, she just broke out in tears and that was just super hard for me.  But, the Lord has His hands in all things, so I'm sure there is a reason for this.   

But other than that, things are going quite well.  I'm pretty sad to hear all the news and things that are going on with Grandpa Tenney.  I really want to see him again, and know that I will someday, but I think it just won't be in this life.  What are a couple of years compared to eternity!  In this mission, I have gained a much stronger testimony of the gospel and the plan of salvation.  I have talked to many people from different churches, but no other church is compared to us in the plan of salvation.   We are the ONLY church that preaches about the priesthood authority and how this can bind our families together.  Grandpa was a very righteous man and for sure will be able to rest well after he passes to the other side.   Sometimes during the day to day I forget a little bit of how blessed I am to have such an awesome family like I do.  I think sometimes of what I did to deserve such an awesome and beautiful family.  But, I've got to go - I love you so much and you have a great week. 

 

Letter from July 23rd, 2012

Well Hello!! As you can see by the pics here, we had a baptism!!!  We baptized this young man on Saturday.  The other 2 young men are his brothers who were baptized 3 weeks ago. And, the young lady in the pic is his little sister who will be baptized this Saturday. They are from a super humble family, but we have a made a huge freindship with them and we love visiting them and their family. Things are going good here.  We have been having success with these kids, but this area is still super difficult.  But, we are working our hardest to find someone who wants to hear about the gospel.

Transfers will be the 8th of August.  So, we have about 2 more weeks.  Hey if you can, send me some pics of the new truck and the new house.  I would like to see where I'm gonna be going to when I get back.   That will be super weird not going home to the house that I pretty much spent my whole life in. But that's about it for me here.  Other than that, things are pretty much the same here.  I do miss the Elder that lived with us that was transferd.  I liked him alot. The new Elder doesn't talk too much and just keeps to himself. I found a recipe book in our house this week and made some things. I made pancakes, french toast, and german pancakes, syrup, cookies, and brownies. It was nice to get a little taste of home, even though it wasn't nearly as good.  But other than that, things are good.  I have really had a huge personal growth in this area, and even though it's super tough here, I'm still super happy with everything. The gospel is just a great blessing in our lives!  Until next week -