16 May 2016

Oi familia!

I hope you all are doing well. I am so sorry and sad to hear the news about Becca. It is so unfortunate and difficult to comprehend something like this, especially when it is so unexpected. My love goes out to their family and I will keep them in my prayers. I am so grateful for our knowledge of the resurrection. I know that the only thing that can give us strength is faith in the Savior and trust in God´s plan, because while we don´t understand everything,He does. 

The work here is going well, we found an elect investigator named Rita who is the sweetest lady and was really ready to recieve the gospel. She studies deeply what we teach her and loves to pray. She talked to her fmily about baptism and said that they all support it. She came to church on Sunday and all of the members welcomed her really well. If things continue this way, she will be baptized just before the end of this transfer. Speaking of which, there are only 2 weeks left of this transfer! i can´t believe it, it is going by so fast. I am loving my mission so much and am learning so much every day!

I don´t know why, but I didn´t take any pictures this week. Dad, i tried a different bank and the card worked. Thank you. Have a great week everyone! :)

9 May 2016

It was fun to talk with you guys yesterday, the time went by really fast. There is not much more to say today, but let me know if any of you have more questions I did not answer or anything. It was a lot harder than I expected to speak english, it felt very strange at first. I can´t wait to see how it will be on Christmas...

Like I said, this week we had divisions in Cruz Alta which went well. There is a picture of me, my companion and the Sister Leader Trainers. There is also a picture of me celebrating my 3 month mark on the 3rd of May, I guess you could say it was my ``golden´´ month-averssary (3 on the 3rd). It is also the season of bergamotas which is a fruit i think like a tangerine. But almost every member gave us a sack of them from their yeard and so there is a picture of me and all of the fruit people gave us. We made a lot of juice.

One lesson I learned this week is finding joy in small things and laughing at little things. This really helps when you have new difficult situations to have a good attitude and really always be happy. 

Have a good week everyone! Eu amo vocês

2 May 2016

OI familia I don´t have much time to write today because the internet is slow, but we are allowed to arrange with a family here to use their computer to call home on mothers day via skype. The problem is I don´t know what time it will  be. And I have no instructions for skype... I think we are 1 or 2 hours ahead not sure, but it will for sure be after 12:00 pm here. Sorry about that, I hope it all works out, be ready! Maybe if skype does not work I will be able to talk on the phone.

Remember how last week I said it would cool down this week? Well it did! This week was really cold it was a bit of a shock. Picture included of me dressed for personal study in the cold. 

But this week was great and we were able to find some people exactly when they needed help whether a family memebr died or they had a severe health problem and we were able to help them and it just shows how the spirit leads us to those who are in need

25 April 2016

Bom dia!

What a week! The work is going well here, this week we found a lot of new investigators with great potential, particularly young people are the most interested and we are going to have a family night this week and get them all to come. The members in our ward are great too and help a lot with missionary work. Portuguese is going well and continuing to improve. Last night was the craziest lightning storm I have ever seen. There were constant huge flashes of lighting for hours it was like a firework show. It was a little freaky but really pretty and it poured so hard we were in the street and got drenched. Then it continued all throughout the night. I think it is supposed to start cooling down here in the next few weeks too. Mom, Dad and Daniel, your trip sounds and looks awesome! I´m glad you guys could do that and hope it was fun. Thanks for sending some pictures. I enjoy recieving pictures from you all. Congrats Nathan and Amy!! I am so surprised that it is another girl but that is awesome! I hope the name Sarah is included as an option in the name selection process :) I hope everyone is doing well. On mothers day i will be able to skype! I´ll try to send more details next week, but make sure you have skype accessible. Tchau boa semana

18 April 2016

Oi familia! Matthew: PARABENS!! Feliz anneversario! I hope it is a good one. So we found out about transfers and Sister Moraes and I are both going to stay in santa Rosa!! We are so surpirsed, but so happy. I love this area. And I am getting to know the members and area a little better now. We did not have a baptism like I hoped, but there is a lot of potential here and we are going to work hard. This week I ate some pizza that had chicken heart on it. Chicken heart is really popular here and it tasted pretty good. I really liked reading this week in Morni chpater 7 especially about charity. When everything seems to be going wrong, remember that ``Charity Never Faileth´´. That is a promise in the scriptures that I know is true. Your trip next week sounds great I hope you guys have fun! Eu amo vocês!

Tchau

11 April 2016

Oi familia. This week was my companion´s 20th birthday so we celebrated on p-day (photos included) We also did a family night and bought a cake and candles for her and I took a picture with just the 2 because it was my 2 months. One of our investigators is a 10 year old girl and she really wants to get baptized, but her father won´t let her, so that was sad. But we found an ``eleita´´ on tuesday, a 17 year old named Cristian who was so ready to hear the gospel and he is probably going to be baptized this sunday! We also found a few other great families this week to teach.  It was really hot again this week, we saw the tempurature one time and it was the equivalent of 107 degrees fereinheit so who knows if it was hotter at other times. And it is atumn here! A little scared for next summer. Next week are transfers and either me or my companion will probably be transfered which will be sad to say goodbye. I´m also a little scared if I stay here and she leaves because I still don´t know the area and the members and everything very well... We shall see! A scripture i thought about this week was Mosiah 2:17, remember that God answers people´s prayers through the service of others. Amo vocês tchau!

4 April 2016

Ola familia! I just started writing this letter in portuguese and then realized it was not english and started over, so i guess that is progress. Portuguese is getting a lot better, but this is the first week i think my english is getting worse, so i apologize. yesterday was my 2 month mark! earlier this week i had my first divisions with the sister leader trainors in Cruz Alta. It was a 3 hour bus ride and then we spent the night and I got to see my friend from the CTM so that was good. My ward is small and the people are really nice. It is funny, in relief society all the women sing an octave lower than we are used to and it sounded like priesthood class from outside the door. 

I got to watch general conference (only in portuguese) and it was amazing! Except the power went out during the saturday afternoon session for a while. Apparently there is something about a new section in D&C?? can someone please explain this to me (in englsih please)? The new temple in Belem Brasil is close to where my companion is from and she was really excited. I liked how simple the talks were and how a lot of them focused on the gospel basics that missionaries teach every day, it is always important to re-learn the basics of the gospel. Mom, my favorite talk was also Elder Hollands, I especially liked how he said to never let satan make you think that you can´t progress and improve. Only he can´t progress and he wants to make everyone miserable like unto himself. I also liked how he said that God loves US with all HIS heart, might, mind, and strength. It is comforting to know that no matter what, no matter how many times you mess up, God will always love us unconditionally. We can´t do anything that will make Him not love us anymore. I also really liked Paul V. Johnson´s talk about how all of our infirmaties, physical, and emotional, are already cured. Because of Christ, we will be resurrected with perfect bodies, with all certainty. Mom, i got your package, thank you so much! there was no fee to pick it up. Love you all, tchau!