July 28th, 2014

Hello everybody so this week was a very awesome week filled with a huggge miracle at the end!! Man it was awesome. I cant wait to tell you all about it. But first of all, Carson good luck at basebal camp, I think its so cool that you are doing it! Good luck! And yeah, I loved that picture of the three brothers at QT. I miss you all som much. But im busy, Im happy, so its all good!

So this week I was officially voted the American with the best Portuguese on the mission by the missionaries in the mission office. That was kinda cool... I want to keep on studying Portuguese after my mission too! So yeah.

SO this week was great. Absolutely great! On Tuesday we visited Karina, who is just awesome, but she is having a hard time taking care of her son Davi, which is stopping her from being able to visit the church. Its hard for her, because the dad of her son stopped talking to her when the baby was born... Its pretty tough, but we are trying our best to help her. She rocks, just keep her in your prayers!

Yesterday was just a day full of miracles. So we tried a new technique of finding people to teach, which is knocking on the doors and offering a prayer, and then when we go in, we explain our purpose, and say a prayer, and mark another visit, and it is working super well!!! This week, it was rainging and cold, which is noprmally hard to find people to teach on days like this, but we knocked on a door and did this with some young men. And then yesterday we went back and gave a full lesson with the whole family, and it was amazing! It is such a great family. They are so smart, and understnad everthing and Jean (one of the sons who is 11 years old) read the entire pamplet we left with him the first day we met them!

But somethign cool about this family is that they are pretty well in life (and normally richer people dont let us in) but the mom was really interested in our message because we talked alot about the family. Turns out that 2 weeks ago, her husband cheated on her and left the family for another woman. So the fact that our message blesses families was what she loved. I think if we had met her before that happened, she might not have let us in. It just shows that God sends us to those who are ready and who need help. It was very awesome. Their names are Maria Cleusa (the mom) Igor (son) Jean (son) and Ingrid (the daughter). They are so aweosme.

This wee was also zone conference in Porto Alegre, and I loved it so much. I love Presidente Castro, he is such a great man, and Sister Castro too. They are just such great examples of the kind of people I want to be one day.

But yeah, thats about it for me. I love you all so much. You are great, and I love you all. Thanks for the emails and letters that I get from you. I love you guys! I might send pictures later today... The place Im at today doesnt work. But yeah! I love you guys!

July 21st, 2014

Hello everybody so this week was a week of some difficulties and a great huge blessing. I guess I will just get startede! So we have been teaching Tainara, a young woman that was going to be baptized this Saturday. She just needed permission from her mom and so we went to talk to her mom about letting her be baptized. Her mom was kinda sayoing some thing that didnt make sense, and so I bore a very very firm testimony that if she wants her daughter to be protected from the world, she needs to let her be baptized. And so... she gave us permission!! It was so awesome! And so I was super happy, because I felt the spirit so so strong when I bore that testimony.

So the baptism was marked for this saturday, but then on Friday night we got a call. Tainaras mom didnt want her to be baptized anymore. Man that was tough, because I felt the Spirit so strong when I bore my testimony. And so we went and talked to her, but me and Elder Hiatt decided that it would be better not to baptize her, because if her mom is like this, constantly changing her mind, it would be better to wait until Tainara was a little older. It was hard, but yeah.

So that was rough. And because of that i feel like some of the members lost trust in us, but its okay because I know it is better this way. And yeah, this week we walked and walked and walked and my legs are so tired! My shoes are wearing down alot, and I think taht is part of why my legs are hurting so much, but I am gong to take them to a shop this week to fix them up better!

But nowwwww for the blessing!! So I think I already told about Karina, a young lady that we contacted on the road, that is so special. Well on Monday we talked to her and we asked if she had read the Book of Mormon, and she had. But not just the part we left marked, but almost all of 3rd Nephi! She said that she loves it, and says that she feels like she needs to read that book every day! She said that she sat down to read one day and was reading and reading, and she didnt even realize that she had been reading for two hours nonstop. WOW! So she was going to be baptized soon butttt, SHE HAD HER BABY this week! It was crazy because it was a month earlier then expected, but we went to see her on Saturday and it was just so awesome to see her as a mom, and like that way she cared for her son was just so sweet. She is awesome. She asked if we could bless her baby in the church in a few Sundays too!

So yeah she is great. Other then that nothing reallly new happened! It has been a good week, but I hope that this next week is better! SO yeah. I love you all and I hope you all are well! Youa re awesome thanks for the support! I love you!! I have pictures... but I cant send them from this computer... SO I will send themnext week! I love you all!

July 14th, 2014

Hello everybody so I hope you are all doing well! I miss you guys so much, but it is great being here in Cachoeira! So my companion is Elder Hiatt as you know, and to answer some questions hat you had: Yes it is very different being with an American than a Brazilian! Is it weird that I kinda adapted to the Brasilian culture without realizing it? Its like I had kinda a culture shock when I became his companion, its just weird that its my native culture that shocks me! I like dont even know how to explain it, but its different! He is great and love him and it is so great working together, its just kinda funny I thought. In our house we generally speak Portuguese. He likes to speak English alot, but I try not to, just because it is actually way easier for me to speak Portuguese then English.

But yeah. Anyways about my week! This week we actually didn hav alot of time to do our normal work because we went to Porto Alegre for our Leadership counsel on the mission. So Tuesday we went and we didnt get back here until Thursday afternoon! It was so great. Its like a meeting wih all the Zone leaders of the mission, and Sister Castro gives a training, then President Castro, and then the assistants! Ans so it was really good and the spirit was very stong. I am just very happy to be in the service of the Lord. I have no doubts that this is the true Gospel, and am greatful for this in my life.

About the work! We are teaching a young woman named Tainara, who is a friend of another young woman who was baptized a few months ago! She has been going to church for like the last 5 Sundasys in a row and really wants to be baptized, its just her mom isnt super excited about the idea. We are going to talk to her this week and I am pretty sure that it will work out, and so she will brobably be baptized on Saturday which will be super cool!

Also we are teachign three big families, and all three are super interested. I still dont knwo them all super well, because we have only visited them a few times since I have been here but, I am excited because they are really golden!! Also, I heard that Maria Tereza, one of the woman I was teaching in Canguçu will be baptized soon, and also Lafaete, who I was teaching in Canguçu! Man I am just so happy the Lord is blessing us so much! I am so happy to be in the service of the Lord.

But yeah, I know that the church is true. Its great. It really is. I have been thinking back about all my misison time and it is amazing to see all the miracle that have happened since I have been here, and all the lives that have changed, including mine. I am so grateful for my misison. But yeah, I love you all so much. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

the first is an awesome family in Canguçu called the Gama family! Its them that we called home from on Mothers day

The second is donna Alice, that is a member super funny here in Cachoeira that made dinner for us!
The third is us sneaking in to Presidents office in Porto Alegre...
The fourth is my buddies Elder Lydikson and ELder Mendes that I saw in Porto Alegre!
The last is me chillin in the misison office!!

July 7th, 2014

Hello everybody, so this week was a very awesome week!!!! Sadly the Brazilian soccor star Neymar broke his back and so all of the Brasilians are all sad... poor guy! But yeah, I am actually kinda esxcited for the World Cup to end because it is so hard to work with everybody watching the games and whatnot! So yeah. This week was my first week in the great city of Cachoeira do Sul! It is such a cool city, like seriously, it is so awesome! Here it isnt a stake and there sint a ward, but it is a district of branches! So here in the city there are 3 branches and there is a branch in Caçapava do Sul, and all the branches form a district. But my branch here is super strong and pretty much a ward, and there is a chapel and everything. Its great and the members are helping so so so much!!!! And actually the district is pretty close to becoming a stake, and so if we baptize or reactiviate 3 men who can hold the Melquisedeque preiesthood, it will become a stake. So its like super close.

My companion is Elder Hiatt who is super cool.... but from Mountain View... so yeah. Haha no, he is such a great worker and pretty cool, and he even said he might of played Connor in Volleyball one time. Its cool because we know like the same places and everything, and its so funny that he is related to the Turks!! But yeah.

Our area is super huge and so we walk alottttttttt but its awesome. But there is alot of good things happening here. One of the things that happened was my first day here we started talking to a Lady named Karina! She was so awesome like from the start and so on Saturday we went to her house to start to teach her, and wow.... she is so so so ready to be taught. Like right now is her time! So we started teaching and she explained that on that day when we met her, she felt so much peace, after just talking to us. And then when we visited her on Saturday she said she felt it again, and she told us she wants to be baptized, it was exaclty what she was wanting to hear. She is great. And she lives in a poor neighboorhood, that has some neighboors that love blasting music in their car, and we got their and asked that they would leave in a prayer so we could teach without that distraction and they drove off!!! Way cool!!!

And one other cool thing taht happened is that yesterday we went to a family´s house that the kids were baptized last week, and we went there and when we went in, the Dad was having an asthma attack!!!!! So real quick we gave him a priesthood blessing.... and he stopped, imediately. Wow. The church is so true... So cool right? He said, "you guys showed up right on time" which are like the greatest words to hear as a missionary... Yeah it was great.

But yeah, that was my week, I love you all so much, and hope you all are well! This week I am going to spend almost all the time in Porto Alegre because we have a special Zone leader meeting in POA com Presidente Castro. It should be way cool. And lets see if Brasil wins this week!! But thats it for now!!! I love you!!!

June 30th, 2014

So everybody first of all I got to say... VAI BRASIL!!!!!!! Haha this week everybody went nuts because of the game and it was fun to see everybody so excited. As usual we didnt get to watch the game but its okay, Im used to it! This week it has oficially rained nonstop, and I dont like it! Its so cold! And our house got a leak... good thing I am leaving Canguçu! I am going to an area called Cachoeira tomorrow to be.... a ZONE LEADER! Yeah it was pretty unexpected because Im not even a DL but, I am very excited! My companion will be Elder Hiatt and he is from... MESA ARIZONA! It should be really cool! But to tell the truth I am very sad to leave Canguçu... Yesterday the branch President asked me to say a few things in sacrament meeting, and I almsot cried because I love this little branch so much. Its the truth. But... its life right?

Anyways, this week was really really awesome, and alot of small, but special blessings came. One of them (actually not a small blessing at all, a huge blessing!) is a lady that we started teaching name Maria Tereza. She is a sweet older lady that was a referal from a member. Her daughter passed away a few weeks ago, and the shock was so big for Maria that she fainted, and has had some health problems since. But she has such an open heart. We taught her the restoration, and that same night she prayed and she recieved an answer that same day. She knows its true. And what is amazing is that every time we go back she looks happier and happier. Its theseeee feelings and moments that make all the hard times worth it. She is so special and sweet, I am sad to leave!

Also remember that family of Ivanisa and Iloni? Well this week we went to their house and shared a lesson and whatnot, but one of these blessings was that Ivanisa offered to say the closing prayer. Like ever since we ahve started teaching her, she has had some huge difficulties, and never wanted to pray, and the fact that she offered means that she has made progress since the beginning, and seriously taht feeling when she was offereing her first prayer, was just the sweetest feeling in the world. Seriously it was one of the best moments on the mission to see her, who had so many problems, progressing little by little. I loved it. I loved it.

Haha something funny that happened is that after one of the lessons with them, they gave us somethign that looked a little bit like sausauge. They called it home made paté... And I have never eaten anything so cruel in my life before.... They killed the pig that it was made of, and the paté was liver, skin, snout, foot, and other stuff, all inside of a thick gross intestine.... and served cold. Wow.... I just ate one bite, but Elder Moraes couldnt even manage that... he put it in his mouth and threw up... hahahaha I laughed at him alot... It was funny!

But anyways I love you all so much, I hope you are all okay and happy! I loved the pictures and those Brasil shirts are great! And the only thing I am needing needing... maybe a jounal? I am like 10 more pages in mine and it is running out! They dont make cool jornals here in Brasil. But yeah thats pretty much it! I am going to miss Canguçu! It has been my favortie place until now!

June 23rd, 2014

Olá todo mundo! So hello my family this week went by so fast, and sadly we didnt have alot of time to do normal proselyting. This tuesday was a Brasil game so we had to stay home, Thursday we spent all day cleaning the chapel, and Saturday too we spent all day reforming the church. So we had just a few day to work. But other then that it was a good week, and I am loving this chance I have to be a missionary.

But we are teaching a familiy that I dont know if I have told you about them. Its a family that consists of Ivanisa, Iloni, and their children Laércio and Lafaete, and Lafaete´s girlfriend Josiara. They are a family that is very humble and they dont have alot. Their life has been pretty rough because of some bad choices in the past, and Ivanisa, the mom, suffers alot of psychological damage, because of some thigns that happened in the past. The first time we went there , there was a really horrible feeling in that home, but every time we go there it just feels better and better and they look happier and happier. I really believe that this gospel has the power to bless the lives of anybody. Laércio and Lafeate and Josiara are visiting the church regularly and loving it, and willl probably be baptized soon, but because the transfers are on July 1st, I dont know if I will be here to see it. But they are very awesome. It is just wonderful to see their family change as they accept the gospel. Iloni and Ivanisa are accepting it, but have so many difficulties, but slowly they are seeing more blessings too! I love it.

Luis is doing really great, loving the church, and learning a ton. The branch president is thinking about calling him as a counselour in the future. He is great, and one thing I love about him is that he is never afriad to talk about the gospel with others. Evfen before his baptism, he talked with everyyyyybody about the church, he is awesome! Danilo and Milene also are wonderful and I love them so much. We are helping them to have a goal to go to the temple to be sealed next year, which will be amazing! It might be one of the things that I want the most is them going to the temple to be sealed forever!

But other then that, htats pretty much it! The United States is actually playing well this year! But whenever I say the United States is going to win, eveybody just laughs in my face... But yeah. I love you guys! Have a great week! Happy anniversary grandma and grandpa!!! Im glad you all had a great time!! VAI AMERICA!!!!