Hello my family!!!

First of all I will clarify the questions! Yes Ricardo was baptized weeks ago, but still had family problems! I sent pictures and everything!! He is the dark skinned boy in the pictures! When I say the school, I mean the Colegio Castelo Branco where we have sacrament meeting! And no Im not sick anymore, I got better, but I was sick for like two weeks. And in those pictures we were at the beach Laranjal on P-Day. Dont worry, we got permission from President Castro to go on Pday. We could only go during the winter because nobody else was there!

Haha sorry for the confusion!! I have trouble writing my emails if you ahvent noticed, Im not much of a writer! Anyways! So Ricardo is doing much better now! He had some family problems, but for right now, all is good. He said that at the end of the year he will move to Porto Alegre to live with his uncle. I think it will be much better for him there! 

So this week we had interviews with President Castro! I love interviews with President! I always feel so good afterwards! And so this week I really tried to work extra hard and really help people with what I teach! Sometimes as misisonaries we get in the routine of the same lessons for every person, but I really tried to teach specifically to what the people need (because now I can speak haha!) It feels so good to teach this way, I feel the spirit alot stronger! 

So we found a couple Niara and Aurici the last week, and they are really awesome! The only problem is that Aurici is almost deaf and so its hard to teach him becaause we have to yell! We really have to rely on the Book of Mormon with him because he can read and doesnt need to hear! 

But this week she prayed to know if the Book of Mormon and the church is true. And so she prayed, and after went outside to hang the close on the closeline, and she looked at the stars. She just looked at the stars and felt a feeling so strong in her heart. She thought, "Is it really possible that I have an answer so quickly?" But when she was telling us about this experience she had teary eyes and I know that she recieved an answer! The spirit was so strong when she was telling the experience! She is progressing and is super awesome! She reminds me alot of Grandma Hoopes actually! She is super sweet!

But yeah! This week I really tried to hard to do what the Lord asked of me and to follow all of the promptimgs of the spirit! This week I decided I wanted to read the Bible completely, and my testimony is getting so strong of the church! I just know it is true! I want the whole world to know it like I know it! So im going to do my part to help others to know it!

I love you all and hope you have a great week! If you wanted... for christmas I think I will need new shoes and pants... but you dont need to if you dont want to!!! I love you all so much! Tell scouty I say congrats for that gross bird she caught hahaha I died laughing when I saw that picture!

Tchau!!

Olá amigos, como estão?!

Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great week! I hope you all are doing well! Mom your cake for maddox looked absolutely amazing!!!!!!!! Wow im so impressed!!! Connor and Carson, Im very jealous that you guys got to go to the all you can eat section!! I miss baseball games! But enjoy your hot dogs and whatnot because there is an all you can eat churrasco restaurant close to my house for 7 dollars. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! 

Anyways, I should stop talking about churrasco and talk more about how I got to MEAT my companion this week!!!! HAHAHAHA!! No seriously. Ha so his name is Elder Galdino and he is from Curitiba! He is a super hard worker and we are getting along great! I miss Elder Menezes becasuse we became super good friends but at least I got a good companion! Ive been blessed with good companions and Im really lucky!

So the area we kinda had to find a new teaching pool, but we found some really awesome people! So first of all we found a lady named Niara that is super awesome and super nice! We taught her the first lesson and after she gave us a mid afternoon snack which was super nice haha. But she went to church yesterday and loved it! Its awesome that the spirit can be so strong even in a school! I was a little bit worried that she wouldnt like it because yesterday we had an incident with a stray dog that decided he wanted to participate in sacrament meeting too. Haha he ran in and I tried to catch him and get him out but he was pretty quick... 

Also Ricardo is doing alot better. So the law in Brasil is pretty weak, and I dont know how but his stepdad is roaming the streets again. He must be awaiting trial er something. So in December Ricardo is going to move with his uncle in Porto Alegre. I think it will be good for him because the church is strong there and he can escape these problems! But he passed the sacrament for the first time yesterday and it was awesome! He had a shirt and a tie and everything. A member of the group asked him if he was a new Elder in the ward at  first and then recognized him! But I think that made him feel really good!

But yeah other then that nothing much happened. We met alot of people but its so hard to get people to do simple things like read and pray. I think alot of Naaman how he was told to heal his leprosy all he had to do was bathe in the river Jordan 7 times. But he didnt want to do it because it was so easy and he didnt have faith it would work. I feel like alot of people are the same way. They refuse to do it because its so easy. But really if you read and pray, believing that you will recieve an answer, you will know that its true! 

But yeah so that was my week! I love you all so much! Thanks for the support that you give me!

 

 

Montanha Russa

Well well well this week was awesome and some very cool things happened, miracles actually!!! But was also a montanha russa, or roller coaster for all you non brazilians hahaha. So this week we had planned to baptize Arlete and Vilmar and they were so excited! But on Monday Arlete said she didnt want to be baptized this week. So we talked and resolved her concerns... and she wanted to be baptized again! Then on Tuesday we talked to her, and she didnt want to be baptized again! But this time she didnt change her mind! Every day we talked to them but they didnt change their mind! It was a little sad becasue Vilmar really wanted to be baptized but Arlete didnt want him to be baptized without her. But, she kept on saying that she knows its true, that everything is true, but she wanted to wait to be baptized. But they already waited for more then a year! So, they are moving to Florianopolis for a few months and so I probably wont see them again. Its really sad, but we did all that we could. We grew to be such good friends and so its sad to see them go.

ANYWAYS, now for the miracles! So Ricardo is doing much better thatnks to all the prayers, and here is why. The other day we had an appointment with him and we went to his house, but his mom said that he never came home from school because him and the stepdad got in a fight in the morning. so we called him and he said that he climed a mountain that is in our area to hide from his stepdad. So we went to find him and we saw two policeman on motorcycles desceding the mountain with Ricardo. We talked to them and turns out they found Ricardo and learned about the situation. The crazy thing is, Ricardo didnt call the cops, they just found him. On a mountain! Crazy! Anyways the cops went to the house, fought witht he stepdad and locked him away. They found out he had already been in jail for two homicides, had 3 false identites, drugs, a revolver, and the thing that every gangster has... a ninja sword. So he his gone for good. And Ricardo knew it was a miracle and he has been much better since then. 

Another awesome miracle. Last tuesday we had a district meeting in Pelotas so we were chilling there, and when it was over we went to catch the bus. Butttt we missed it. So we were chillin for an hour waiting for the bus, and this lady walks up to us and asked if we were the mormon missonaries. we said yeah and started talking to her and she said, "Im a member of the church for a long long time, and I was married in the São Paulo temple, but my husband and I divorced and I stopped going to church. But I really want to come back to church. How can I?" MIRACLE! Its so crazy that in a huge city she found us to come back to church! And guess where she lives?! Across the street for the school where we have our meetings!!!!!!!!:) She went yesterday to chruch and loved it! What a miracle! Her name is Nadirlandi!

So those were the big highlights of the week! Really cool huh! Oh also, we found a frog in the bathroom the other night. He was awesome! And today we found out about transfers and tomorrow I will get a new companion Elder Gaudino, who was Elder Menezes´s companion in the MTC! Pretty cool beans if you ask me! So yeah! Im going to miss Elder Menezes but yeah!

 

Anyways I love you all so much! I hope you are all well! I love you all so much!!! Have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A primavera está vindo!!!!

Hello my family!!! I am so happy to hear from you all! This week has been really great! Man I love being a missionary. But first! Connor Ms Grogan is crazy. Talk to Erica about her... haha... but thats so cool you are going to Italy, and so cool that you interact with the missionaries! The members make such a difference in the missionary work! Carson! I hope your back is okay!!! Thats pretty scary stuff right there! And I heard you are crushing the ball! Keep up the good work! They actually reorganized the stake presdency of the Pelotas stake, but I serve in Pelotas North! But yeah! And mom, I dont really need much for Christmas! If I do need anything Ill let you know!

But this week was really good! It was Independence day on Saturday for them and so in Capão there was a huge street party, and so we tried to find people to teach but nobody was home! Haha so not really much you can do there.. but we met this guy named Alan months ago, but he never had time for us to teach him. But we always saw him on the street and talked to him. Anyways on Saturday he was walking and we talked to him and invited him to church, and he went on Sunday! So cool! Its definately the biggest struggle for us, is helping people go to church because everybody says they will, and hardly anybody does!

So yeah that was cool and we will be teaching him pretty soon! Also this week we had a family night with Arlete and Vilmar, and made cookies, substituting the ingredients for gospel this that we need like faith and repentance! They like it a ton, and we talked and talked, and they will be baptized this week for sure! Arlete finally is more excited about being baptized! Vilmar has wanted to be baptized for a long time but Arlete had doubts, but almost miraculously she became excited for the baptism! So Im really excited becasue they will recieve soooo many blessings from the baptism! I love when we get to baptize people becasue I know how much it will help them! Thats all I want for the people here!

But yeah also, if you can keep Ricardo in your prayers. There is a church here that preaches straight up stuff about us that isnt true at all. But Ricardos uncle goes to that church, and this Sunday Ricardo went with his uncle there because he was staying with his uncle for a little bit, and he is pretty confused. Me and Elder Menezes are famous in Capão, becasue since we arrived more and more churches are talking about us.

But yeah so we are famous, but keep Ricardo in your prayers!

But other then that my week has been good! I will send a few pictures here but I hope you all are well!

EU SOU BAGUAL!!!!

Ó Brasil!

Olá minha família! Hello everybody, I hope you are all well! This week has been really good! I love hearing from you! Dad thats exciting about the garden! Good luck! It should be really cool! And yeah! Haha anyways, so this week, I got sick... again! Its hard to not get sick here becasue the temperature changes so much so fast! Like yesterday it was really warm, but today is cloudy and freezing! So yeah! A little difficult, but its all good!

Anyways so this week was really good! The mission has so many ups and downs, but it is still an amazing experience! But anyways the group is doing good! I think in a little bit of time we can have a branch here, but its up to the members! They need to be firm if the want a branch here, becasue the bishop doesnt want to open a branch if it is just going to close. He has all the papers ready to open the branch, but he is waiting to see some initiative from the members!

So yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and we brought a man named Luiz with us to church! We met him when we were looking for an adress that turned out to be false, but he is way awesome! Yesterday was his first day at church and he bore his testimony! It was really cool! He is awesome! Im really excited to teach him, he seems like a really great guy!

So we heard that this area is full of cruzeiras, a type of snake really poisonous, and I thought about pit vipers... I think maybe that snake we saw wasss a pit viper... ill be more careful next time! Haha i also caught a frog this week! Naturally, I put him in Elder Wilkinsons bed! Hahaha, so that was funny!

About Arlete and Vilmar! They are doing great! Vilmar really wants to be baptized, but Arlete is still having doubts! We are helping them the best we can, and I think they will be baptized soon! We really want them to be baptized, not for numbers or anything like that, but becasue we want them to feel the happiness that we have becasue of the gospel. I read a talk today taht said the spirit wont testify of what you say if you have false4 motives, or if Im trying to baptize for my own glory, I wont have the spirit with me. I really care so much about the people I teach!

Dad and Connor! I was thinking, now that there are Elders in the ward, you should try to visit people with them! There is a huge differnce when the members teach with the missionariers! I think you both would love doing it! Its alot of fun!

But yeah thats just about it for right now! Thanks for eveything! I havent recieved the packeage yet but I think I will this week! I love you and miss you all, but I know Im doing the work of the Lord! I love you all! Have a great week!