December 29th, 2014

Helllllllo erbody, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all have a happy new year this week! I missed you guys a ton this week,but really it was so great to be able to talk to you guys even though it was such a short amout of time! I cant wait to be able to tell you all of my mission stories, there are some funny ones.

Like yesterday something funny happened. In our apartment building, there live alot of pigeons. Alotttt of pigeons. So, the apartment complex put, a metal screen over the windows so the pigeons cant land on the window sill. Well, yesterday a pigeon managed to get inside the net (I have no idea howwwwwwww) but couldnt get out! So, we went to church thinking that while we were at church, he would find his way out.... we were wrong. We came back and he was there in the same exact spot on our window sill. We tried everythign to force him out, and nothing worked. SO... we ended up having to cut the screen, and scare the bird with an umbrela so he would leave. But instead of leaving the wondow sill through the hole in the screen.... he decided to attack the umbrela! Did you guys know that pigeons have a vicous pecking action? Because I sure didnt.... We eventually forced him out... and he went and tried to land on a window...... that didnteven have a window sill.... he struggled to hold on to that window, and kept slipping...But I think he forgot that he is a bird and can just fly away to a different place? I dont know. But I ended up giving him the name of Santa Claus... because while he was on our window sillhe decideed to leave us some presents... merry Christmas?

Haha we had a good week here working though, and we even saw a little miracle yesterday with an investigator. We have been working with her for a while, and we invited her to be baptized this Saturday, and she wasnt super sure if she wanted to or not, and me and Elder Alves left the lesson, feeling like she needed to have a personal spiritual experience so she could gain a testimony. Yesterday we went to her house and we asked her some questions about how she has felt about everything we have taught her, and she responded saying that she felt something inside her growing. Well, me and Elder Alves decided to read a part of Alma 32 with her that talks about the growing seed, and when she read that she got really emotional, and felt the spirit, and said she knew that the church was true. We are going to work with her to be baptized this week! I am super excited, her name is Pamela!

But yeah. I am super happy to be on the misison.I hope nobody got the impresison that I was dying to come home er something like that on Christmas, because actually this time on the mission has been the best time of my life, and it is sad that it willend. But I willwork my hardest until the end. But yeah! I love you all! Ill talk to you all next year!!! Tchau tchau!

Picture one is my Christmas morning and picture two is my Christmas eve with two families in the ward!

December 22nd, 2014

Hello everybody Merrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy Christmas here in a few days! I am so excited to be able to talk to you guys again! I miss you guys a ton. Um I still dont know for sure when I will call... Tomorrow around 2:30 or 3 my time I might call and test out the skype and then we can work out the details about when I will call on Christmas!

This was my first week in the Restinga in Porto Alegre and it was pretty great. The area looks like there is alot of potential, I am kinda sad that I wont be staying here for alot of time, because it seems like a great area to work. I am serving in the ward "Nilow Wulff" and it is very small, actually its the same size as Canguçu, with only 20 members active. There is alottttt of room for improvement!

The people here in Porto Alegre are alot diferent then the other cities that I have served in. In the other cities (especially Canguçu and Cachoeira) it seems like the people were so reswerved, but here in Porto Alegre everybody loves to talk and most of the people let us in to teach!

Um, lets see I dont knowwww the investigators too well to be able to writeee about them yet, but I think this week we may have a baptism of a girl named Paloma. She has been going to church for a long time, and just hasnt been baptized because her parents wont allow it, and she only has 16 years. We are going to fast and pray that they allow it and if they do, we will have a baptism this Sautday it should be cool!

Um and this week we had our Christmas conference and it was good, but nothing compares to a Christmas at home. I miss Christmas with the family, but its okay because I am just going to have to make the best of these last 5 weeks I have here on the mission! I am excited, lots of good things are going to happen in this period.

But I am happy, I am working hard, and love being a misisonary every single day. It seems like every day it only gets better!! Andddd Im pretty sure my Portuguese is like the best it will get, because when I got here in the ward, they asked me if I was Brazilian. Yeah, Im like six feet tall, blonde, green eyes, and they thought I was Brazilian... It made me happy haha....

But yeah, anways for those of you who are curious to see my apartment... dad.... haha its Rua Nilow Wulff 300 I think, bairro Restinga, Porto Alegre. I live in the apartments with a yellow stripe. Yup, buttttttttt até mais!

1. Me, Elder Marcato (ex comp) and Elder Mendes (ex comp)
2. Me, Elder Menezes (Brazil treiner) (examine our unique style of our hands...)
3. Me and Santa
4. Me Elder H. Silva, and Maicon (recém converso) at a pizza place before I left Cachoeira)
5. Us eating some pizza with Maicon and Andreza
6. Me and Lucas (recent convert from Cachoeira)

December 15th, 2014

Hellllllo good morning from Brasil! I hope you all are doing great! We had a greatttt week this week! So I am very excited to tell you all about it! Anyways first of all we found out about transfers this week... and sadly I will be transfered to Porto Alegre in the bairro Nilow Wulff! I will be companion do Elder Alves, who is from João Pessoa Brasil. I already know him and lived with him in Fragata last year, so it should be cool. I am a little sad to be leaving Cachoeria, because the work is going so well, and my companion was so cool. We are planning on having 3 baptisms this week, but sadly I wont be able to be here. But its okay, Im sure in Nilow Wulff there will be lotsssss of people waiting to hear our message.

Anyways first of all, about the baptism of Vangli! It was one of the baptisms that I felt the spirit the strongest! We sung "the spirit of God" and he told me that he just had a great feeling while singing that hymn! Then, I had the oportunity to baptise him and it was great. After he was baptised he gave me a hug and I could tell he was feeling the Spirit. And then on Sunday when he recieved the Gift of the Holy Ghost, he was just smiling and I could tell he was feeling it. It is such a great experience. I love being a missionary, there is so many blessings that we have recieved. Thankfully, everybody that I baptized here is strong in the church, and have strong testimonys, and I am just so happy that the Lord is using me to bless the lives of these people.

I am pretty happy about my time here in Cachoeira. When I arrived, it was a pretty weak branch with 40 people more or less. But yesterday, my last sunday, with all the new members, and investigators, and reactivated members that we brought to church there were 70 people. Really it was a huge miracle.

Daniela and Junior went to church yesterday and are super strong, and Danilea is so excited to be baptized, but she is just waiting on the wedding paperwork. Sadly they told us yesterday that because of an emergancy they are moving to Porto Alegre this week, which means we wont have the oporutunity to teach them. They said they will find the misisonaries in Porto Alegre, and when she is ready to be baptized she will call me and Elder H. Silva so we can be at the baptism!

Funny story... I was walking on the sidewalk this week, and a member drove by and honked his horn. I looked up to wave at him... and when I looked up, I fell into a sewer drain!!! Luckily there was no sewage at the moment, but it was pretty funny!

But yeah, today starts my last transfer of the misison. Crazy right? Yup its crazy. But I am working hard until the end! I love you all! Have a great week!

The first picture is of Vangli, and the last one is of Felipe, from the other week!

December 8th, 2014

Hello everybody, it is so great to hear from you guys.First of all I need to apologize for the spelling errors in this email, today is a holiday inBrasil and there is only one internet placeopen in the whole city, and turns out the computers are pretty sketchy...

But I hope you all had a great week, my week here was pretty good. We really have been working a ton here in Cachoeira, and its interesting that the Lord always blesses us, just not always in the way that we expect. One example is Felipe! We had been working so much to find people to teach, and then out of nowhere, we met him at his aunts house who is a member! He was all ready to be batpized, its just that nobody had invited him to be baptized! He was baptized on Friday, and it was great! I would send pics, but because of the sketchyness of the computr I amworried that my pendrive will get a virus... But the baptism was great, and Daniela, our investigator from Fortaleza was there and she loved it! She will be batptized soontoo, she is getting the paperwork ready for her marriage, and then she can be baptized!

Vangli is also doing very well, he went to church yesterday, and is ready to be baptized this week! He is facing alotof opposition, but he is facing it with faith and he is determined to be baptized. It will be a great experience, Vangli is such a cool person.

The Lord is really blessing us here, and I dont take these blessings for granted. I know that its not because of me that theseblessings are coming, but its all from the Lord. Its just great to be able to recieve all these blessings. I really love the people I teach. And, I am happy. Very happy.

Sorry the email isnt longer... I cant take this dumbkeyboard anymore! But I hope you have a greatweek!I love you all!

December 1st, 2014

Hello everybody, gooooood morning here from Brasil! I hope you had a very great Thanksgiving, and hope you all remembered how thankful I am for all of you! This week on Thanksgiving I was in Porto Alegre for a conference of Zone Leaders, and then the day after was a misison tour with Elder Moroni Torgan of the seventy! We decdided to get Thanksgiving lunch at a restauraunt in the center of Porto Alegre, nothing too fancy, but it was good. Instead of Turkey I ate a bunch of carne:)

So anyways how the misison tour works is that every once in a while, a general authority goes to the mision to evaluate the work that is happening and how it can improve, and so on Thursday we had a conference with all the Zone leaders on the mission, and we had a meeting with him. I am so grateful for leaders that are so inspired and give so much to the Lord. Really that conference made me think alot about my work, and what I can do to improve. Its crazy that the more I improve, the more I realize how many weaknesses I have!

Then on Friday we had a confrence with Elder Torgan, and about half of the other misisonaries here in the mission, and it was really great. He talked alot about revelation and how we need to have personal revelation for our misison and for our own lives. He explained how we cn recongize revelation and it was a great expereicen that I am never going to forget.

And then we got back here to Cachoeira Friday night, and we were so excited to be able to work this week, and we were so full of faith that we would be able to find people that are ready to be baptized this next week. We ended up talking to a member Rosiara and she told us that her nephew who has nine years wanted to be baptized, and has gone to church a bunch of times! I actually already knew him (his name is Felipe) but I htought he was a member! So we talked to Felipe, his mom, and he wants to be batpized thios week! It will be super special!

Then the next week we are planning on having another bap´tism of a young man named Vangli. He is super cool, he is 21, and has been wanting to be baptized for a while, but things keep on coming up that are getting in the way of the baptism. We are going to have to work hard to make sure he can be baptized this coming week!

There is so much cool stuff happening here in Cachoeira do Sul! Its great here in this city. I lovvvvve being a misisonary! But for my last trasnfer I think President is going to transfer me from here sadly. The trasnfer is in two weeks, and its sad because I dont want to change my comp, but if I stayed in the same area we would both end our misison at the same time, and two new misisonaries would have to come into this area and yeah... it wouldnt be so great for the work. So, I proabably will leave the area on the 16th.

But yeah. I hope you all had a great week, I love you all so much! Happy first of Dezember!!!!!!

November 24th, 2014

Hello everybody I hope you all are well! I miss you guys a ton, and am very excited to be able to talk to you in a few weeks for Christmas! It should be very cool!

This week was a great week of work here in Cachoeira! We are really trying our best to work hard, and sometimes to our dissapointment, the results dont always come how they are planned, but at least we are happy as we are working! That is a great blessing, when we work we are happy.

Yesterday was stake conference, (actually district conference because here doesnt have a stake) and it was great! It was actuall funny because the first speaker was a Peruvian, the second was Japonese, the thirdand forth were American, the fifth was Uruguayan, and the last speaker was the only Brazilian that spoke! It was funny. President Castro spoke and it was really super great. In one of the sessions they asked Maicon, our recent convert, to bear his testimony, and it was the strongest thing ever. EVERYBODY in the conference was commenting about his testimony afterwards, really it was such a special moment for me.

I dont remember if I told you about the family of Luziane, but its a family that we have been teachig for a few weeks that is going to church and learning so much. What is really amazing is how fast the people learn after going to church. It seems like they learn and accept everything so much easier after going to church! I am very excited for them, it looks like their family will be baptized in a few weeks!

Also a miracle happeded last week that I didnt include in my email. A long time ago we were teaching a guy named Vangli, who is super cool, but never went to church and never stopped smoking, and so we didnt visit him for a long time. Last week we got a phone call late at night that he stopped smoking and wanted to be baptized! And, it was a direct answer to a fast that we did! It was such a special blessing! So he has a baptismal date for Dezember 5th! I am super excited!

But yeah, so there are a bunch of blessings here in Cachoeira. I love it. I am excited for Thanksgiving, even though I probably wont eat turkey... I will be in Porto Alegre Thursday and Friday for a specail conference with the 70 of the area Brasil Elder Moroni Torgan! I am excited, it should be really cool!

Anyways I love you all! Attached is a picture of me eating churrasco with Daniela and Junior from last week that I frogot to send! I love you all!

November 17th, 2014

Hello everybody I hope you all had a great week! tHis week was atually a great week, and I am ver happy to be hear in CAchoeira for a few more weeks! Elder h. silva is still my companion, and I am super happy about it because he is a super super great comp.

This week we had a cool experience! A few actually! BUt first, remember when we went to the hospital for my pneumonia? tHe doctor that helped us that day was super cool and we happened to pass by his house a few days ago to teach him. TUrns out he is really really humble guy. HE is super rich, his family established the lUtheran church here in CAchoeira, but he accpeted our lesson. And turns out that he met the missionaries a long time ago in pOrto Alegre, and they gave him a book of Mormon, which he read all the way through. aNd he really believes that it is true! it was so awesome. HE even accepted a baptismal date! JUst think, he had every excuse to say why he couldnt accept it and why he shouldnt join another church, but he accpeted our invitation to experiment! THat is going to make all the difference for him!

Also we have that couple, Junior and Daniela, that are doing super well.DAnila read the book of mormon, and recieved an answer that it really is true, and she wants to be baptised! The only problem is that they need to be legally married first, but they both want to so I am not worried about that! i am very excited for them! They made us churrasco this weekend, and it was super fun. tHey are just great great people.

BUt yeah those were the highlights of this week, there werent too many highlights, but it was a good week. I love you all so much! i am happy and working hard. i miss you guess! jUst a few more weeks for me to be able to talk to you guys! pretty cool huh! aNd then just 10 more weeks to see you guys in person! BUt yeah! ANyways,sorry for the errors... the keyboard isnt the best that i am using... i love you all!

November 10th, 2014

Hey everybody so this week was just a really great week. Wow. I loveeee this area there are so many miracles that are happeneing. Some really cool stuff happened! First of all, today was transfer day, but I will stay here with Elder H. Silva in Cachoeira! I am super excited, we are seeing some big miracles here. And my comp is one of my favorites, so it should be cool! Im happy.

Also, Im not sick anymore, I got better, actually it was a huge blessing that we found out before it got worse, because I got it treated and only lost 2 days of work. But this week I worked all week and felt fine, so there are no worries there!

Anyways first order of business! The baptism of João Pedro, and Elaine!! Wow it was so special. I love them so much. It was such a great experience because they were two people that when we met them, they said they had very little faith in Christ, and didn´t believe very much. And for the first few months they didnt believe. What made all the difference is that they were willing to try. Even though they didnt believe, they read the book of Mormon. Even though they didnt believe, they prayed. Even though they didnt believe, they kept the word of Wisdom. And then, AFTER the trial of their faith, they were blessed with a testimony, and that made all the difference. Its exactly what it says in Alma 32!

So the batpism was great, I baptized Elaine, and Elder H. Silva baptized João Pedro. Very cool. The Lord is really blessing us here. I understand that these miracles are not happening because of me, but really the Lord is helping us here in the little city.

This week a cool little experience happened! So we have this richer part of our area that we dont work in normally because there is nobody home in the afternoon, because everyone is at work, but this week we decided to give it a shot. The first day we ended up walking in the sun for like 4 hours without going inside one house, but we were able to get some adresses to visit. But then a few days after we tried to visit the people that we met on the first day, and nobody let us in again. SO then we tried one more time on Saturaday because we just knew that somebody would let us in! So we tried again. Then on the last door, finally somebody was home and let us in! And turns out, the dad of the family is a member of the church that is less active because he worked alot and slowly left the church, but still has a testimony. The mom, is from Fortaleza (a city in the north of Brasil) and they were talking this week about finding a church to follow. The dad had mentioned our church, and then a few days later we arrived! Very cool! The mom, Daniela, never heard from the misisonaries, and loved our visit. And she is so humble and will definately get an answer. It was a great experience.

Anyways I love being a missionary. I love being here. I love my misison. It will officially end on the 28th of January. Its crazy, but I am excited too.

Congrats on the deer, it looks like you guiys had lots of fun on the hunt! I hope everybody at home is happy! I love you all! Have a great week!

November 3rd, 2014

Hello everybody so all I can really say is that here in Cachoeira we are being so blessed and God is really hearing our prayers. Miracles are happening every single day, it is so amazing. I am so happy here in Cachoeira. I dont want to leave! We talked to President and he said that I will probably stay here until Dezember, so it should be good:)

So one big thing that happened this week is that I got pneumonia! Tuesday I was feeling super tired, and then Wednesday, I was super tired, with a fever, and coughing a bunch, and so on Thursday we went to the Hopsital and they gave me an Xray of my lungs and sadi I have penumonia. But it is smal, and just in one lung, and hasnt spread, so Ill be alright! I dont feel toooooo sick. They gave me a bunch of medicine to take, and Ill get better soon. It was kinda funny because we went to the hosiptal and they sat me down and gave me some medicine right in my vein, and it WAS THE WORST!!!! It hurt sooo much! But after I felt better, and I havent had a fever since they gave me that medicine. I just hate shots.

But anyways now for the miracles. So this last week we did a family night with Elaine and João Pedro, and also Tiago (the one that I told you about last week) and we decided to talk about the Holy Ghost and we shared a video called "patterns of light" by Elder Bednar. The video talks about how we can recognize revelation, something that has been really hard for João Pedro and Elaine. They have been investigating the church and going to church every Sunday for the last 3 months, but they havent felt that spiritual confirmation. Anyways we shared that video and asked them afterwards how they were feeling, and in that moment Elaine said something interesting.... "I would like to be baptized" Wow!!! It was amazing, and such a great experience. We went and talked to her yesterday, and she would like to be batpized THIS SATURDAY!!! Its is such a huge blessing! Something changed in her, and she felt the Holy Ghost confirm that these things are true! It was so special. So her and her son, João Pedro, will be baptized on Saturday!

So that was great. Anyways Tiago, was at that family night too, and he had a baptismal date for last Saturday, and he wasnt feeling super prepared, but that night that we shared the video the Spirit was super strong. And when Elaine shared that she would like to be baptized he said, "before I wasnt sure if these things were true, but now I know they are. I would like to be baptized this Saturday!" And so he was! We baptized him on Saturday and it was really great.

Really, the Lord is hearing our prayers. I think the biggest miracles of all was that we prayed and fasted espificically that João Pedro and Elaine would feel the Holy Ghost and that they woul tell us that they wanted to be batpized. We asked exactly for this, and it happened exactly as we asked. It was a great miracle.

But yeah, other than that the week wasnt too crazy, I stayed at home a few days because of the sickness, and I realized it stinks so much to stay at home. On Halloween I trued making jello worms with straws... but it didnt work, it was an epic failure. But tis okay!

I loved seeing your costumes and everything, I hope you had a great Holiday! Just a little more and I will be able to celebrate holidays with you! I love you all so much, I hope you ahve a great week!!

October 27th, 2014

E aí pessoal, passou mais uma semana ótima! This week was great! Wow I cant believe its already PDay again, the wek just flys by doesnt it!

Anyways this week was super busy and my legs are deaddd! Partially because my shoes are ruined.... Im pretty sure this is like my 5th pair... its just Brasilian shoes were not made for missionaries! This Tuesday we ended up going to Caçapava do Sul, a city that is about 2 hours away from Cachoeira. We went to do divisions witht the district leader that works in Caçapava. It was pretty cool, but every time I do divisions I feel like I am away from home, and then when I go to my area again I feel like I am back home.

This week we talked to Tiago about his baptism that would have been on Friday, but he wasnt feeling ready, and his mom wasnt superrrr happy about it, so we talked to them and marked it or this coming Saturday! It should be pretty cool!

This week as you can tell in the title of this email was the batism of Maicon and Andresa! It was such a great experience! They are super firm and have a huge testimony. Seeing them baptised was just such a spiritual experience. Elder H Silva batpized Maican and I bapized Andresa, and it was so great. There were a bunch of members at the baptism! And Maicon and Andresa are just funny outgoing people and already ahve a bunch of frienships in the branch!

But yeah, So this week was great, and I am happy. I am amazed that the time is passing so fast. Its crazy to think about school and whatnot. And I am excited to see everybody again. I still dont know for sure my release date, but it is that week of the 27th I just dont know if it is Monday Tuesday or Wedensday. But its one of those days!

But yeah, I love you all! Have a wonderful week!!!!

Picture of the baptism and the other one is a family night that we did with a family in the branch!

October 20th, 2014

Hey everyone, so this week passed so fast, I guess that time fls when you are having fun right? It was great. Its good to hear from everybody I miss you all so much, but soon I will be able to talk to you! Christmas is coming up pretty quick, its pretty crazy! This whole year has gone by fast! But yeah!

So last Monday we did a family night with Maicon and Andresa, and a couple of members and it waqs really cool because they are integrating really well with the members here! I am so excited for their baptism whcih will be this Friday! They are so ready and so cool, and super funny too. Man, its great to be able to baptize family that will be able to go to the temple someday. I love being a misisonary.

But also we are teaching Tiago, a guy that has 16 years. He is the brother of a member already, but he was never baptized. We have been teaching him for a while, but he hasnt been super firm, because he is hard to find at home. But, recently we have been able to teach him a bunch, and he will also be baptized on Friday! He is funny, and is alot like me, he likes to paint and draw, and is goofy. Haha, but I am also so happy for his baptizm that will happen this Friday!

Luis and Lizara are awesome, and firm, and every day that passes they are becoming stronger! I love them, they are great, and soon are going to go to the temple! I am very excited for them!

I am happy. It seems like the harder I work, the faster the time goes, which make me sad because I want the time to pass slower. I love the mission, I dont want it to end yet, because we are just having a great time here. I love Brasil, and I love being able to serve the Lord.

I love all of you and I hoppe you have a great week! Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts for me! I lvoe you all. Sorry that I dont have pictures, I left my camera at home accidently... But next week i WILL have some!

October 13th, 2014

Hey everybody! From the looks of things, it looks like everybody has had a great week! Family, Europe looks like such a cool place! I am happy that you all were able to go and have fun and whatnot. I hope you guys are having fun! I am having fun here too just so ya know.... Haha seriously its great here in Cachoeira! I am loving the work here.

My companion is such a hard worker and he is funny and he is a great guy. I am very happy to work with him. He is very cool. It seems like the time is just flying by with him, its crazy to think that the transfer is already half over. Man the time si flying y here.

This week we went to Porto Alegre for our leadership counsel and we were able to go to the temple again! Such a great experience! I absoluetly love the temple! It always has the best spirit and I just love it. It like inside there, nothing of the outside world matters, its very cool:)

And anyways we got back to Cachoeira on Wedensday and worked and worked and worked! We are working with Andresa and Maicon, that AWESOME family that we are teaching and they are doing great. They are going to be baptized not this Saturday, but the Saturday after! I cant wait, I am like counting down the days haha! Theya re such a great family, and I am so excited to see them be baptized because it will be such a huge blessing for their family! Then they will be able to go to the temple too and it will be great!

Yesterday at church Lizara bore her testimony and it made me so happy. She looked at me from the pulpit and said, "I am so grateful for the Elderes finding our family" and it was just the best feeling in the world. I love being a misisonary.

But yeah, life is good here in Cachoeira, lots of work. There is so much happening htat its impossible to inculde everything here, but basically, life is good! I love you all!! Have a great week!

October 6th, 2014

So this week was a great week and we worked a ton! I loved the general conference talks! I especially loved Carlos A. Godoy, because instead of having to listen to a translator we lisened to him! It was really awesome! And the talk was great. I loved when he talked about if we were worthy to recieve the blessing promissed in our Patriarchal Blessings. My testimony about the prophets is always strengthened when I listen to general conference! It was great.

This week was a ton of work and we have a bunch of people that are progressing to be baptized. There is one family that I love so much that are doing so well, and actually a miracle happened. I made a journal of my prayers, and what I do is that I write in this journal what I asked for in my prayers, and then we God answers my prayers, i write how he answered by the part where I asked. And so last week I prayed that this family, Maicon and Andresa recieved an answer to their prayers about the church when they visited the church! And so yeah, they went to church last Sunday and they didnt say much, but when we visited them his week they told us what had happened. Andresa wqas feeling really sick and had a realllly sore throat, and wasnt even able to eat. She was also nervous about going to church, because she ha had some bad experiences with other churches, and so she prayed that God would show her if the church was true, because she didnt want to go in vain. And she told us that after church she didnt have anymore problems with her throat, and that she knew it was an answer from God. It was sooooo special!

And then Maicon said he knew the book of Mormon is true because he can feel the unity in their family increase as they read the book of Mormon. They feel like God is talking to thm when they read. Theyyyy are awesommeeeee!!! I love them so much!

Luis and LIzara are doing great, the church is developing new ways to help stregthen recent converts, and they are progressing really well. I am excited to see what becomes of them, I think Luis will be a great leader someday!

But yeah, so I am loving it here in Brasil, life is good. I am working hard, I am keeping the rules, everything is great. Right know I am in Porto Alegre, and we are going to have our counsel tomorrow and we are going o the templetoo! I am really excited! It will be great! I love you all, it looks like you ahd a ton of fun in Switzerland. I am jealous haha! But yeah, I love you all, have a geat week!

September 29th, 2014

Hello everyone so this week was very very veryyyyyyy great!!!! SO my new companion is awesome, Elder H. Silva, and is such a hard worker!! He is from São Paulo and is becoming a zone leader now and so I am teaching him how everything works. Its great! But I am just a very happy camper for a few reasons!

First of all, I love being a missionary.

Secondly, we had 8 investigators that went to church yesterday, and that are progressing reallllly quickly! It was the best sight to see everybody at church, it just made me so happy to see so many people that we growing their testimony!

And thirdly we had the baptism of Luis and LIzara this week! It was just so great!!!! At this baptism there were alot more members and so it was great, and they were just so happy. They chose me to baptise them both, and it was just so happy. A lizara was so happy that after the baptism just stood there smiling in the font for a minute or so, and probably would have stayed longer but Luis was waiting to be baptised too! And Luis was just so happy afterwards and man... its just such a great feeling!!

We have like three families that we are teaching, and all of them are progressing and showing interest, and reading the book of Mormon, and that just makes e so happy because I know that they will be so happy becasue of this path. 

The only sad thing was that Karina said she was going to have to take some time to think about things... and so we probably wont be teaching her anymore. I was pretty sad, she was great, but she has her agency, and so its alright.

But yeah so about you guys! Connor, it looks like you are having a ton of fun in high school!Carson keep being a stud, and send Estefani´s letter soon so I can give it to her! I love all you guys and hope you ahve a wonderful week!!

September 22nd, 2014

everybody so this last week was really gratifying and great and wonderful. For a few reasons, but I will tell you in a second. First of all there is the big news that Elder Hiatt was transfered and will go to Pelotas sadly. He was a great comp, Im going to miss him. My new companion will be Elder H. Silva, and I dont know him very well, but I know that he is from São Paulo! So tomorrow I am going to Porto Alegre and I will meet him!

So this week was really great. On Friday Lucas was baptized!!! It was so great, he has 13 years, and is just such a great kid. I love him. He walks to church every Sunday with a member that lives close to him, and he has been going to church solid for the last 3 months! The service was on Friday night, and sadly just 3 members came and Lucas´mom and aunt, but even so, it was just a great experience. He picked me to baptize him, and he was jsut so happy! I was so happy that day too! When we were walking to the church to start filling up the baptismal font, he was outside his house playing soccor, and he told us that it was going to be the best day of his life, and it was jsut great. I had an old watch that I bought at a flea market, and I got his name engraved on the back, and gave it to him as a present and he loveeeeed it. He is such a humble great kid and man I love him.

Sadly Karina told us yesterday that she cant keep meeting with us, because her mom doenst like us... so I was pretty sad. Her mom says that she supports Karinas baptism to us, but behind our back she fights with Karina about it, even though Karina is already 19, she doesnt want to cause a fight in the family, which is true. She said that when she moves out she will find the misisonaries and go to church again. But I am going this Wednesday to talk to her mom one last time just to see if a miracle happens.

And Luis and LIzara are great. They have alot of family problems, but are really excited for their baptism this week! It wil be this Saturday and I am so excited! They are great people, and I know taht this gospel will bless their family and give them strength!

As for me, I, am happy. I am one happy camper here in Cachoeira. There are alot of good thigns happeneing here. I love being a missionary.

Also we went to the Zoo and saw some cool birds this week! Haha and there are some pics from Gaúcho day! Love you all!

September 15th, 2014

Hello everybody I hpe you are all doing alright and staying dry in all that rain! Dad that video of the rain is nuts... but I thought it was so funny that Connor was Kayaking... thats such a Connor thing... funny! This week was actually really good (as always) but I have just been so tired! We decided to start running again for the first time in a while, and so on Friday we ran like 4 miles, and I was so sore the rest of the week! Also I bought a journal to write down what I say in my prayers to show how much God really answers my prayers and it is really cool, it is great to see the Lord involved in my life.

The transfer is almost ending and it is crazyyyy! Elder Hiatt will probably be transfered and it will be sad becasue we get along great. The time is just flying by, and the end of the mision is in sight, which is such a weird feeling. Its like a sad/happy feeling at the same time. All of you who have served misisons probably know this feeling well...

Anyways there is some great stuff happeining here in the area! First of all, this week we might have 2 baptisms!!!! The baptism of Karina, and the baptism of Lucas!! So it was awesome because Lucas is so ready to be baptized, but his mom wasnt letting him, and his big sister, that takes care of him alot. But I have been praying so so so so much for him, and then yesterday we talked to his mom... and she sad he can! So we are going to try to do his baptism this friday, because Saturday is a huge holiday (Gaucho independence day). So I am way way excited for him! Yesterday we were waiting outside his house, and when he came out to tell us that he could, he just gave us a big hug!!! It was the best!!!

And then Karina had her baptismal interview last Friday and passes and so everything was ready for her baptism, but then her mom started getting upset that we were visiting her!!! Karina is 19 and so she doesnt neeeed her moms permission, but we didnt feel good about teaching her and baptising her with her mom mad at us. So last night we went and talked to her mom, and I think everything is alright, and so I think we will baptize her this week too if everything works out!

And THEN!!!!! Luis and Lizara will be baptized 27th of September! We had to move back the date a little because Luis didnt get to go to church, but yesterday he came and we were so happy! There are such a great family and I think everything will work out! Anddddd Júlio, their son, is improving alot with his addiction, and is slowly but surely finding his savior. Its the best to see that happening!

I love being a misisonary, its hard sometimes, but the good moements make up for everytihing. I just love being out here, there is nothing better then serving the Lord. I am so grateful to be a servant of the Lord, and that he has allowed me to be her. I am very glad I came.

This Saturday is Gaucho independence day (even though they losttttt their independence like 5 years after the war of independence) and so that means CHURRASCO!!!! I am pretty excited, it should be great!!!

I love you and miss you all, have a great week!

The first one is Lucas, the second one is Luis, and the last one is my in front of a sign that says it is prohibited to put trash there... and of course there is a ton of trash under then sign. I thought it was funny. Hahaha but I love you guys!

September 8th, 2014

Hey everyone so this week was another great week. The weeks are going by so so fast I cant actually believe that its monday again and that I am emailing you all again. This week was great, seriously just great. Like I said we went to the Porto Alegre temple on Tuesday and it was one of the beswt experiences I have had in relations to the Spirit. I loved it so much, it really helped me remember the convenants that I have made withthe Lord, and I did a self evaluation to see if I was really fufilling all of the promises I made. It was a great experience!

We ended up getting back to Cachoeira do Sul on Wednesday morning, and we went to work!!! We have so many people who are just progressing so fast! Lizara is one of those people! She is really doing the best she can to find the Lord in her life. Turns out Luis has a little bit of worries about church that we didnt know about before, but that Lizara told us about yesterday. But nothing too big, we are going to help him:) Wanna know something cool? Their son Julio, who has some problems with some heavy drugs, is really trying to change his life!! He went to chruch yesterday, andddd institute on saturday night!! I was so happy! He is really trying to change his life! Its kinda hard to see him, because I can tell when he is feeling the urge to use drugs... BUt he is trying so hard. I talked to the branch President here to see if thee was anything that the church could do to help with treatment er something. I reallly hope we can do something!

Karina is starting to have some doubts sadly. Its sad because I think that somebody is telling her lies about the church and is influencing her. I think that she will be able to overcome the doubts, but I just get sad when people try to influence others for the bad so that they dont do somethgin good with their life. I know its exactly what she needs, and she just needs to accept!

Funny thing, I touched an electric fence this week on accident. My umbrella was flying away actually and I grabbed it but it was touching an electric fence, and when I touched the umbrella it shocked me! It was funny. It hurt, but not too bad:)

I am good, and working hard. I am alwaysss soooo tireddddd, but its just a part of the work! I dont mind! I have gotten used to being tired all the time!

Carson, I am so so so proud of you buddy. That takes some real courage, and I am so proud of you. You rock man.

Anyways I love you all I hope you enjoy the fotos!! The lady with the baby is Lizara!

September 1st, 2014

Hello everybody so I am very happy to be talking to you again:) This was an awesome week and we are seeing A TON of progress here in Cachoeira! But actually right now I am in Porto Alegre and it is great. I like this city alot!! Tomorrow we have our leaership counsel but something cool is that we called President and asked if we could go to the temple, and tomorrow night me and Elder Hiatt are going to go!!! So I am super excited, I have been missing the temple a ton!!!! I am so excited!

I am glad you have all had a good week! I miss you guys a ton. This week some big things happened. First of all, KARINA WENT TO CHURCH YESTERDAY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! Mna, I just got so so happy when she finally went to church!!! She loved it and I am pretty sure she will kepp on coming, and I jsut got so happy. She is doing great and soon very soon she will be baptized!

Also Luis and Lizara are doing great. They would have gone to church yesterday but... their son uses crack and overdosed Saturday night.... it was pretty rough, they had to stay in the hopsital with him. But we hope that it is a blessing in desguise because hopefully now he can get the treatment that he needs to stop uses drugs. Drugs are such a scary thing. But Luis and Lizara are just awesome and solid, and great people, and they will be baptized on the 19th of september. I really hope everything works out, please keep their family in your prayers.

I am doing great. I love being a zone leader, even though its kinda hard, especially when the zone is going through some difficulties. But Im trying to do the best that I can and help out all the missionaries here.

Um other that that, not too many new things happened this week. Today we went out and ate lunch with President Castro, and that was fun!!! But yeah... Sorry this letter was kinda lame, its kinda just like the same old same old here, but soon, we will start to see some wonderful stuff happening!! I am very ewxcited, I just need to be patient!!

But yeah, I love you all!! Have a great week! Sadly, I dont have my adaptor with me, I forgot it in Cacheoira so I cant send pics this week I am sorry... But next week I will! Amo vocês!

August 25th, 2014

Hello everyone, so this week was a great week with alot of work. Alot. I am sooo exhausted thank goodness its PDay! I love reading your emails!! Mom, that is so awesome about that family that came to church, and I love how happy you got when you saw them there! Thats what is cool about when the members get involved in the missionary work, that the missionaries and the members get happy because of it!

I am doing great. I am not sick anymore thankfully! I am loving Brasil more and more every day. Haha this week when we were walking down the road we saw a starfruit tree!!! I got so excited and so we ate a ton of starfruit and took a bunch home! I get so happy to find strange fruits as I am walking.

So we have so many people that are progressing here that it is just so awesome! First of all, Luis and Lizara are doing great! We did a family night with them this week and I made Tacos which they loved (who wouldnt love a good taco right?) They both were going to go to church yesterday, but at 8:30 in the morning Luis´s work called him in, and so he didnt go, but Lizara went and she loved it!

A Karina said that she would go this week... but her neighboors decided to blast music all night, and her newborn baby couldnt sleep... so she wasnt able to go yesterday! She is so so special I just want her to go so bad because she will love it! This week we decided to plant "seeds of faith" with her and so it was fun. She is so ready to be baptized, she told us this week she has a strong testimony of everything we teach, she just needs to go to church!!

We are also teaching a young man named Lucas who is thirteen, and he is just aweosme! He wakes himself up every sunday and walks to church with a member that lives by him every sunday! He has gone like the last six sundays! He is great, but his mom isnt really letting him get baptised, even though she is a member less active. But he is just awesome, and we did the seed of faith with him too!

I am really learning about the grace of the Lord recently, because sometimes I feel like, even though I am trying my best, it isnt enough, But then I remember that the grace of the Lord makes up the rest, as long as I am doing my best, and it makes me feel better. I just love being a misisonary. The Lord must really be a patient person, because I make so many mistakes, but he still trusts me to be his missionary.

Oh and yesterday I officailly tasted the grossest thing on my misison so far. FISH EYE. Yeah so they make some fish soup, and insetad of just cutting off the head, they put the wholllle fish in there. And they told me "you are supposed to eat the head, its the best part!" And so they were all happy eating fish brains and tongue and everything, and they gave me an eye to try.... nasty. Never. Again.

The first two is me with starfruit! The third one is me with a banana tree. number 4 is us with Karina! And number 5 is Lucas!! I love you all, enjoy the pics!

August 18th, 2014

Hello everybody I hope you are all doing well! I miss everybody so much! Taco looks like he has got so much hair, that is so random.... finally he has become a man!!! Haha I miss that pooch. I miss you all so much! I am doing well. The weather decided to be crazy this week and was freezing cold, and then hot, and then cold, and then super hot, and so my body couldnt resist!!! And I got sick on Friday. It was actually the first day on the mission I had to stay home because I was sick. It was kinda rough, but luckily now I am all good! Elder Hiatt gave me a blessing and I was able to work the rest of the week! I love that guy. We actually get along very well!

So I have been pretty stressed out recently, and like Im tryign not to be its just hard! Because I am just so involved in the lives of so many people, and what I say can change the lives of people for the good or the bad, and so I have been pretty stressed out, because alottt of our investgators just have alot of problems! But me personally, I am okay! I am extremely happy here with my comp, and he work here is going great, even though we have faced alot of rejection, I am happy because I know what I am doing is right! I love being a missionary. Actually the fact the I have such little time left kinda stresses me out too. But Im good I just need a chill pill and some good ice cream!

Haha então! Yesterday morning was kinda fun.; We decided that we would run around and go talk to all of our investigators to remind them about church yesterday morning, and so we literally ran across the whole city in our white shirts and ties visiting everybody telling htem to go to churhc. I am pretty sure I ran like 3 or 4 miles! Haha it was cool!

As for our investigators, we have alot that are progresing super well. Karina (the one that had a baby about a month ago) said she will go to church for sure next week!!!! I am so excited because she will lovvvve it. She already has a strong testimony, and just needs to go to church, and then she will be baptized! Luis and Lizara are also super well, but their son that uses drugs is a huge burden for them, and we are trying to help him too the best we can! And Maricleusa too, the one whose husband left her, she has a testimony too, and is progressing great.

I miss you all so much and hope you are well! Keep being the great family that you are! Youguys are the best! Oh and this is what bananas look like when they come off a tree, and this is me on an old bold on the river shore! Pretty cool huh! And this is me with a pet parrot that a member had! And the last one is Bruce, our pet bat.