Oi Familia!

Well I understand more about the Visa issues and I will work on preparing another one. I will do everything I can to have my Visa come in. As you know my mission here in Fresno is a "Temporary Re-assignment" meaning my call is still to Brazil. I will do everything that I need to do in order to obtain a Visa and if it doesnt come then I will know I did everything in my power and it was in the Lord's Hands. So I will get the FBI stuff figured out this week. Stay tuned on that.  (Insert Courtney's note: Dallas had received in early May 2013, and, being the on-the-ball person that he is, he took care of his FBI clearance/fingerprinting/background check immediately so he could include it with his Visa application. Who would have thought that it would take more than a year from the time he got his FBI clearance to get his Visa processed by the Brazilian consulate? Poor kid. Keep him in your prayers, he obviously really desires to serve in Brazil, since that's where he was called by the Prophet. Yet, he is pouring his heart into the work in CA, and still studying Portuguese an hour daily.)

As for this week! Great Week! We had a ton of success this week! We had 6 member presents (that means 6 members of their ward were present for a lesson) this week and found 7 new investigators! It was kinda crazy because at the beginning of the week we didnt have a whole lot of people to teach and we were getting rather frustrated.. But we kept working and have really been focusing on ATM's, (I don't know what that stands for) which is awesome because by Friday we had found 4 new investigators through members! It truly was an awesome week and one that gets me excited for future weeks! I am growing in love for this area! The members here are sooo awesome! I am grateful everyday for the opportunity I have to be serving here in California. I have learned sooo much from serving here and am soo proud to be a missionary! Yesterday marked the 8 month mark... 1/3 of my mission is gone.. So sad!! Just more incentive to work harder;) I love you all and am grateful for all you do for me! Tem um bom Semana!!

​Another Visa waiter who i have gotten close with. he has been out over 9 months! brazil is crazy for not wanting these two handsome elders;) Estou Brincando!! (I am Joking)

​ Heaven on Earth.. It is the best place ever..

ELDER Ave!! I told you i would find it!!

A member has the outhouse from Shrek!! how cool is that!! it works and everything!!

Mormons and Dodgeball.

May 21 Update

So it has been an awesome yet hard week as well.. Today was nice because we got to go to the temple! It was awesome to get to have my spirit strengthened. Afterwards we got to go to Doghouse grill which was awesome! Tough news though that i just read... I got an email saying that i have to redo my FBI  clearance... another 12 weeks before my visa is even looked at again. I guess I will just start over? Honestly that is really tough to read after I kinda told myself that I would commit myself to working on my Portuguese in preparation for Brazil.. Its hard but I will talk to president about it tomorrow.  We are doing good in our companionship and hope to have two baptisms in June. I love you all sooo much!! Today is our preparation day and I am not going to get to read any of your emails because I'm super short on time so on Monday i will be able to email all of you in depth!

LOVE YOU!!

Feliz Dia Dos Mais! (Happy Mother's Day!)

Dang it was awesome to talk to yall! Man i will be totally honest... my gut was churning all day in anticipation of talking to yall.. But it was nice to finally sit down and get talking! It was a great source of comfort and peace. I will always be grateful for the moments i have talking with all yall! This week has been another pretty under the radar week except for obviously the skype call! We have set a date with our investigator named A for June 23 so please pray for him!

Thank you all for the love and support you provide me and all the other missionaries around the world! This week I have been reading from 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon about when Christ comes and visits the Americas (chps 11-28). I absolutely LOVE these chapters. Christ's doctrine that he teaches the Nephites is the same doctrine found in the New Testament. We can see that Christ established ONE church and set forth ONE doctrine that we should follow (Ephesians 4:5) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true and correct church on the earth today. Other churches can have truths in them but there is one church and one faith that Christ himself established- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Be proud to be a member of this church because it is through this church and our faith in our Savior Jesus Christ that we can live again with our Heavenly Father!

LOVE YOU ALL!! Tem um bom Semana! Have a good week!

Mother's Day

So this week has been... I honestly cant even remember! It was just one of those weeks where nothing really happened. We did an exchange and I went with my District leader's companion. His name is Elder Anderson and he is CRAZY.. Haha he literally was talking every single second of the exchange. I will say though that he is a ton of fun. He has what we like to call a "butt part" meaning he parts his hair right down the middle of his head haha! I love him. We didn't really have any success this week in the area. Kinda bland but overall it was a good week!

I am learning to not let little things bother me anymore. Good lesson to learn Huh! I have been studying 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon and have found great revelation as i have studied. The pride cylce that the nephites go through is something i am trying to relate to myself! Especially in Missionary work. when things start going good i get prideful and eventually my area begins to suffer which humbles me! I am trying to stay humble though! I am grateful for the lessons I have learned being out here! It will be awesome talking to yall on Mothers day! I will get your info probably through a member contacting you! so be ready to respond! it will probably be later in the day like 5 ish or maybe earlier depending on our schedule and what elder vonk wants to do! Love you!!