The Elder Brother Returns!

Love y'all

2nd John 1:12

 12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

Haha next to last Report..

Haha well I think I wont be emailing my last Pday just because We will be in a meeting for self sufficieny all day but I will next week! Haha I honestly dont have much to say.. We are knocking alot of doors because we dont have many solid investigators... Yeah and I had to go to Itararé (city on the border of Paraná and São Paulo) and dang they had a sweet cave there!! I took some sweet pics! I am trying to find some cool souvenirs but dang its SUPER hard!! hahah every time I pick somehting up and think if it will remind me of Brazil I just go brain dead and cant decide if I should buy it... I think it is more the fact that I have kind of turned into a mão de vaca which translated exactly would be cows hand but real meaning would be someone who doesnt like dropping money... hahah but I am finding some cool cheap stuff! This thursday we will be having our exit interviews with President. I am like I said rather nervous cause that will be it.... Its something you always know will happen but when it gets here you just kind of are like uhhhhhh........... carley remembers well probably! Well if you have anything you want me to buy yall please let me know by next week! do some research on braziliian stuff and if you find something cool I will look for it and get one. Love yall!!! man I cant wait to hear texas english!!!

3 Weeks...

Well this week was a crazy one... I had to run a mile and half sprinting to go to an investigators house who called us telling me he couldnt take life anymore... He hung up the phone call saying Im going to kill myself.... so you can imagine how fast I ran... Long story short everything worked out we took him to the church where they were having an Elders quorum activity and he called us after it was over telling us how much it helped... We were very relieved! Haha I had a very fun conversation with My comp telling him he has to stop saying things that are completley false.. I have gotten good at resolving problems without overreacting since being on the mission so he took it well and we are working on it together! hahah my last interview with president with be the 13th and man Im stinking nervous cause then its all getting real. I hasnt exactly hit me yet how close it is which is a good thing for sure but Im nervous cause I know thats going to be a tough interview to have! I should get all the packages and letters that have been sent recently here in a bit. The ZL's are going to sao paulo this week and Will come to itapeva next week, I will let yall know. We found a small favella here which is sweet looking and which I didnt think existed here! haha it is sweet! But Should be a good week!! LOVE YALL!!!

What a Baptism!

Well this week finally came the baptism of a couple we have been teaching for a few weeks. I played the role of Elder Matchmaker and married them on Thursday and we had their baptism on Saturday! Man was it an awesome baptism, one of the best on the mission thus far for sure. The man cried haha but the woman stayed strong during the service;) Dang it was a great baptism to have the last transfer. We hope to have 2 more at least. Itll take alot of work but we have got it in us. Haha by far this Comp is one of the funniest. I have heard more untrue statements in the last two weeks than I have heard in my entire life. Haha its like dwight shrute from the office when he says "fact" and then precedes to say something except my comp always says something totally false, so I have had the opportunity to ressurect one of my favorite words "False!!" haha he just is different but funny and he is liking the work here. We are starting to run to the church every morning and play soccer or basketball. It is pretty fun. Its a pretty good start to the day. Man I love some of the members here. We have alot of help here in the branch. Haha man I am always tired..... but its a good tired;) Well we´ll keep working hard here and yall do the same there! Love yall!!!

Travels

Well the biggest struggle with being 6 hours from the mission office is how much we have to spend to make trips to reach other Elders and catch buses paid for by the mission... Luckily we can get reimbursed for our travels but it takes a lot of time to get money back!! just for an example I handed in a reimbursement for 200 reais this week.... we drop a ton of money on travel!!! But hey at least its always a charter bus;) This week was a good one. My comp is pretty different. Kinda prideful cause of the whole portugal thing being in Brazil but considering I am finishing the mission I kinda of just call him out on it and he accepts the corrections. He has 19 months on the mission but has had some obedience problems so president has put him with me to help him turn his mission around and finish strong. He wants to put him as a Senior companion this next transfer so I am just going to work him back into shape. And speaking of in shape me and him have started running in the mornings... hahah i know i know with just 6 weeks left but hey better late then never huh?! I want to come home looking good;) I plan on working out pretty hard as well. These last 4 months I have been working out pretty well just been lacking the cardio! But dang was I sore after running the first time!!! it took me like 4 days to recover. Yesterday I was like dying... had a pretty bad fever and my throat was way inflamed, but the members here take good care of me and hooked me up with an herbal tea that helped soothe a bit. I just have a super sore throat today the fever passed I think. We should have a good week this week! Dang haha these members are sooo funny I dont know if every area is like this but everyone is always telling me "OH 5 weeks Elder!!" haha its super funny, a bit annoying, but super loving nonetheless. Dang well pray for me that I can lose some weight and more importantly help some people here in the area;) LOVE YALL!!!

Dying in Itapeva!

Well the last transfer call came in and President decided to change things up a bit. I dont know if I ever mentioned that our zone consisted of 3 companionships and we are way removed from everything. So finally president consoladated our zone and a neighboring zone of just 5 to make a normal zone haha. I will stay here in Itapeva and my comp will head out to a nieghboring area and stay in the zone. I will just be the District leader of our once was zone. haha it will be exactly the same thing just less meetings;) I will be getting a portuguese from Portugal. I will work hard with him for these last 6 weeks of the mission. There is still alot to do here! Itll be nice finishing here with some of these members! We have a baptism marked for this week for a couple we have been teaching for some time. They were just needing to get married! We have it marked for this week! Im super pumped for this transfer. We are going to kill it. Fabiano still was drinking so we are going to have to keep working with him. Keep praying for me and my comp Elder Melendez! itll be a great last transfer!! Love you all!!!

Happy 4th of July!

Well the week had a bit of a improvement. We found a few more people to work with but we are still waiting for this drought of Baptism to leave haha we were in a meeting in the gospel principles room is and the drain for the baptismal font turned on making a super loud noise. We turned it off but my comp made the joke that the font is anxious for a baptism and I have to agree! pray that we can baptize a man named Fabiano this week! The 4th was awesome. We had a member make a churrasco (barbecue) for us. Man I love Brazilians! I have had some great memories here. Transfers calls come this Sunday. I kinda want to finish somewhere else and NOT as an ZL... I am going broke... dang sooo much stuff to pay for. But whatever happens I will gladly accept considering it will be the last one! dang time is starting to go by pretty quickly. Just calls for more work. My comp and I get along fine, about what you´d expect with completely different backgrounds and passions. But we are good friends so all is well in Zion. We get to go to the temple tomorrow in Campinas it might be my last time before coming home! Itll be great! lot to learn. I hope you all have a great week!! Love Yall!!!

June 29: Hmmm

Well I can say this week was a hard one. Those who have served missions remember those weeks where nothing seems to go right and this past week was this exactly. Everytime we tried to get something going or everytime someone showed potential something would happen.. My companion and I are rather frustrated. We have been talking alot lately trying to figure out what needs to be done differently to help us baptize, and we are still at a dead end. We are being exactly obedient, talking to everyone we can and inviting everyone to baptism but nothing worked. We are going to add to this our own fasts and prayers and leave it all up to the Lord. I can feel the strength coming from your prayers. Please keep them coming. Please pray for a miracle. I dont like feeling down on the mission but when you arent seeing the miracles you expect to see it can be rather saddening. We will continue to work ourselves until the end. Love you all! Have a great week!

Saving some souls while ruining his own soles.

June 22: Good Week

Well not much happened this week to notable to pass along to yall. I am trying to lose some weight. I want to come back at least decent;) Not to say that I have gotten fat but just that I want to come back looking good. I might need one more little package with a few things the biggest being one more can of murrays hair gel haha. and a good long sleeve white shirt that I can wear home. 16 and 1/2 neck and 34/35 sleeves. I will need to buy a new suit here to come home because after months of use here in brazil with stains and holes this one just wont make it home together;) We are marrying a couple here and are going to work with them to have their baptism for this saturday. It hasnt really gotten better with the branch president but at least our WML is totally on board with us! Its a great area here and I wouldnt mind finishing the mission here but at the same time I would love to finish the mission in one last area. But we will see what happens! Keep praying for me! Im trying to literally kill myself out here. I´ll send pictures next week of my pair of shoes I bought 3 months ago! I am going to get them re-soled this week;) but yeah trunky is weakness but as we now weaknesses can be made into strengths;) Pray for me and for my area!!! LOVE YALL!!!

The favela we found

Our zone with the visiting member of the 70 and our mission president

Looking GQ

June 15: Opa

 Well this week wasnt as great as the last ones. Lets just say I have had my fair share of arguments this week with the leadership in our branch here. Basically in a nut shell they are having problems with the baptisms we are having. Us and President Farnes are having to team up to get them on board with the idea of more baptisms. They are not used to having recent converts to have to take care of... lets just say none of my Recent Converts have received a visit or even know who there home or visiting teachers are.. Its been a mess. Just life lessons you learn on the mission on how to deal with people that take different approaches. There idea is that we are responsible for taking care of these converts... We keep telling them we wont be here forever.. But I feel like it is getting a little better. Our Ward Mission Leader is AWESOME!! he is killing it here with us! I got to do a division with one of my old companions and that was fun! We also had a 70 come and give a training. He is brand new. His name is Elder Cero Schmeil. It was good the only problem is that we ended up getting home at 1 in the morning. It was in sorocaba a 5 hour drive.. We are working hard here still. I just hope we can see more miracles here! keep praying for us!! LOVE YALL!!

June 8: Milagres

milagres means miracles for those who didnt understand;) Yeah the miracle being we were able to baptize this weekend! Its a story that I will tell after the mission. ;) lets just say it was a miracle for now;) My new comp is awesome. He is super serious but as I have said before I have become very used to it after having a few of the other comps I have had. It is kinda funny to me now. He is great though. Super focused on baptism. We are working hard. He goes home in November so we are really pushing each other! You know to be honest it hasnt really hit me yet that the time is winding down. I keep forgetting and then members will always say something about me going home soon. Its kinda nice. I have been almost more focused now than earlier in the mission. I hope it stays this way;) We are going to have a 70 here this week to talk to all of us. a mission tour of sorts. I have been really wanting to go to the temple lately its been like 3 months! hahah I know carley had to wait like 2 years but with having a temple close to here it gets you anxious to go! dang the mission is really the best. The stuff I have learned here... lets just say I am a changed man;) Well I would like to think I am a man not just a young man anymore;) Well keep praying that we can keep baptizing! The mission is way more fun here in Brazil when you are baptizing! LOVE YALL!!!

oh yeah and i almost forgot- I got bit by a dog!;)  not to bad just ripped my pants! and gave me a nice cut and bruise. and for those wanting to know.... he wasnt a big dog... a stupid yappy one.

 

 

 

June 1: Peruvian

Well this week was the last week of the transfer and we saw the miracle of one more baptism. It was by far the most miracles I have had on the mission in one transfer and better yet one month. Elder Curtis and I will be parting ways. It will be hard cause of how much success we had and how well we got along but as we know the greatest growth comes with change and Elder Baldera from Peru will be my new comp still here in Itapeva. It will be a great transfer and fromt he looks of it I know two of the missionaries coming into the zone. I think one of them is Elder Rodriguez my comp like a month ago haha. I am excited to hit it hard these last two transfers and to work hard on baptizing weekly. We are at 4 weeks straight and want to keep it going! Pray that we can find some miracles! Love YALL!!!


PS it is getting super cold here!!!

May 25: 20 months

Well today marks 20 months on the mission and it has been nice having a companion who has the same time on the mission as me. We are much more focused because as everyone knows the closer you get to coming home the harder it is to stay focused. It is really nice that we are pushing each other to stay focused and finish with No Regrets! We say another miracle this week with two more baptisms that we found just one week ago. It is unbelievable how blessed we are. I have never felt so strong on the mission. I pray that I finish with these feelings that I am having right now. I am learning an awful lot about service in the Lords kingdom and how to efficiently and effectively serve. Lessons that I will no doubt carry with me for the rest of my life. I am reading Jesus the Christ alot now and have been learning quite abit of things that I have learned before but never really thought about. Its a great aid in knowing more about Christs role in everything. I was rather shocked to get the news of Uncle Freds passing and I cant imagine the power that is behind adam during this time of trial. All I know is there is without a doubt a greater force in his teaching and a greater love for the people. I know that the Brown family will be forever blessed because of Adams service during this time. What a great privelege it is to be blessed with the knowledge that Uncle Fred is still very much alive and is merely awaiting a joyful return of his loved ones to never again be plagued with illness or heartache. The Plan Of Salvation for those who have served is by far the best lesson shared to those we teach. No greater spirit can be felt than when testifying that indeed families can be together forever. I know now more than ever that this life is just a time of preparation and a greater opportunity to learn and grow. I will continue to do everything I can to finish my mission as the Lord would expect me to finish! I love you all and am praying continually for yall!

May 18: What a Miracle!

Well this was probably the best week on the mission thus far!! Let me explain why: On monday we had a goal of 2 baptisms set for the weekend and we had no Idea how we were going to reach it... We have been fasting every saturday to sunday as a zone for miracles and tuesday My companion calls me and tells me he knocked into a grandma who is 82 and her granddaughter who is 8 who went to church like 4 years ago a couple times. We both felt really good about them and so we went the next day and marked a date with them for yesterday. We followed up with them daily and while doing that we in turn also marked for yesterday with a mom of a Recent Convert who is super strong! (both of these stories I will for sure explain in great detail upon return!) Their baptisms were sooooo special yesterday! me and my companion both teared up! their is way to much to explain about the story right now but all I know is that God truly loves us! Its amazing what happens when we do our part! In fact as i had just written that line one of our most solid investigators we had lost contact with just passed by and we saw him and left running out of the internet house and caught him and now we are going by tonight! what miracles!!! woah nelly.... its sooooo amazing being a missionary!!!! I love you all!!

May 11: Happy Mother's Day

Well first off happy mothers day mom and it was great getting to talk to all of yall yesterday! Yeah I dont know if yall thought I was awkward yesterday or not but yeah I totally was hahah!! Im sorry Im just REALLY nervous to be ending the mission and when we have little things that remind me of home I get super anxious!! haha I will try and adjust well upon returning because I definitely dont want to be one of those missionaries who returns home and "stays" on the mission... I will need some help though;) This past week was a good one for sure! We saw the miracle of a baptism! We are working hard to get the other companionships in our zone to get on their horse and ride if you catch my drift..... we are really excited to work with the elders here and will be doing a few divisions with them to try and find some people they can baptize. The whole knocking 80 doors is going well... not going to lie.... its pretty tough but we are finding alot of great people! It is getting a little colder here which is AMAZING!!! I can start using my cardigans! haha well I hope you all have an amazing week!! I love you all!!

May 4: Feliz Cinco de Maio!!

well it actually isnt a holiday here but I thought I would wish you a happy 5th of May! Well the first week here that should have been spent here in Itapeva was mostly spent in São Paulo because we had a transfers on tuesday, a leadership training meeting on thursday, and a meeting with L Whitney Clayton of the 70 and Marcos Audukitis of the 70 as well. It was a great meeting. But São Paulo is about 6 hours by bus from Itapeva so we ended up having to crash with other elders for the week. But finally on Saturday I made it here to the area and got to meet a few of the investigators we have. Our president wants to baptize 300 in the mission this month and He has asked each of us to knock 80 doors every single day for the month in honor of our mission celebrating its 80 year anniversary. We finally hit 80 yesterday and not even joking.... it took 6 hours to do.... But we have quite a few potentials to contact now! I love the zone and my comp is LEGIT . Im excited to skype this week and will let you know the time when my comp talks to his family. Hope yall have a great week! LOVE YA!!

April 27: Interiorzão

Interiorzão is a way of saying SUPER interior in portuguese and the reason I am saying it is because I will be headed off to Itapeva (the last area in the mission and by the last area I mean it is 2 hours from any other area!) I will be going there to be zone leader with another american that was in the MTC with me way back at the start of the mission! We are good friends so it will be awesome!! His name is Elder Curtis. Im super excited. I will really miss São bento. Yesterday and today have been dedicated to saying goodbye to everyone here! It will be hard to leave but as we know all good things come to an end at some point. I have a feeling this will probably be my last area on the mission. I have 3 transfers left so we will see what president does with me. We are going to have a special conference with L Whitney Clayton of the presidency of the Seventy this week! It will be great! Man but let me just say I HATE PACKING!!!! pray for my new area and my new companionship! Itll be great!! LOVE YALL!!

April 20: One more gone...

Holy moly weeks are going super fast now..... Im freaking out... but I guess its kinda of a win win. closer to seeing yall and work moves faster! Well not much this week to report on other than that I have started working out in the mornings a little harder and by a little harder  that means Im actually working out now:) hahah just the normal stuff bench pressing cars doing pushups with my comp on my back you know simple stuff. Im in good health. i mean im not jacked but then again im not as fat as I was in the states:) that is kinda hard to beat;) We did a ton of finding this week and found a few good potentials that we need to work with. The greatest part of the week was today and thus the reason I am emailing later. We had a zone activity. basically just a bunch of sports and little did I know they brought a basketball!!! oh man what a great day!!!!! havent lost a thing!!! haha totally lying! but it was great to shoot around again! we found some young guys who like to play so maybe I can persuade them to baptism with some bball. this is the last week of the transfer so we will see what news i have for the next weeks emails to see if Im staying or going!!! LOVE YALL!!!!!

April 13: Elder Hitch

I really liked what carley called me a few weeks ago "Elder Hitch" cause as of saturday we finally had the baptism of Katia and Paulo! Haha it was one heck of journey. They have been waiting awhile and to be here for the marriage and the baptism! I had the chance to baptize paulo as well. Its always a special honor to baptize someone! Elder Rodriguez and I are doing great! You know I used to think that it would be super hard to get along with someone from a completely different culture who speaks a completely different language but you know he is a great guy! It is rather funny cause he is super quiet just like my last comp. I have gotten really good at communicating haha. I do alot of talking during the day;) I am loving this area for sure. I have a feeling that I will probably get moved here in 2 weeks when the transfers happens. It will be hard to leave this area but I think I am ready to go! I kinda want to go back to the capital. Its more busy. Here it is just soooooo dead..... super boring. In the capital (São Paulo) there is always something happening! but like I said I love the people of this area! it will be hard saying bye to some of these people! Dang it is kinda getting crazy to think in a few weeks I will be talking to yall via skype! Im super excited but also kinda nervous hahah. Yeah I dont know if this happens to all missionaries but I have been getting super nervous lately when I think about the end of the mission like I cant see it being over but then members make jokes and insist I am almost done and I get kinda wide eyed.. haha Its super funny how the first year you think alot about the day you go home and as you get close to the day you go home you think alot about your first year and the mission. The good news is that it gives you incentive to somewhat kill yourself in the work. Like 4th quarter you want to go all out to leave it all out there! Its hard cause Im definatley TIRED but it will all be worth it in the end! I love you all!!! I have a ton of pics to send but this internet house doesnt send photos so Ill have to wait for an opportunity!! LOVE YALL!!!!! Praying for all yall!

April 6: Feliz Páscoa!

Well easter has come and gone already and as I have come to learn since being here national holidays are not celebrated like they are there. It is rather funny. Here it is alot less publicized. And by that I mean no one talks about it. everyone goes to church and likes the holidays  but there everyone is talking about it posting stuff about it and noticibly more happy. Here its good but I look forward to being back in the states for the holidays! Well it was a pretty simple week but still had some frustrations with Katia and Paulo leaving on vacation for the weekend and Valter being no where to be found. So It was kinda frustrating but we plan on having Katia and Paulos baptism this week! Conference was amazing as always. Watching in portuguese was fun because it made me pay closer attention to what was being said. I got alot out of it. Elder Hollands talk was great, and I did think it was funny how many talks in the first session were on marriage.. Haha talks targeted at RM´s. Elder Rodriguez is a great comp. We are working well together. pray for our area! Hope you all have a great week!

March 30: What a Week!

Well this could be one of the best weeks thus far on the mission! Not that to many crazy things happened, but two important things happened that I have been waiting for 7 weeks to happen! First off we finally got a couple here married!! It may sound like a simple thing (and in all reality it was very simple once we finally go there) but the preparation was ridiculous! Haha it was one of those moments that immediately after they signed the papers a HUGE weight was lifted off me! and now we are preparing the couple for baptism this weekend! please pray for Katia and Paulo. And for the other important thing is we baptized the mom of a Recent Convert! I had the privelege of baptizing her. It was one of the most awesome experiences thus far on my mission. Her daugther (the recent convert) told me like 4 different times that her mom would never get baptized... let me explain- about three months when the elders found the family the daughter was on board immediately and accepted baptism that day. the one problem was the mom. In one word she was an Anti-mormon.. When I got here 7 weeks ago she had just began to sit in on the lessons. My initial goal was to become friends and baptize the daugther. After she allowed the baptism of her daughter we switched focus onto her. so for the past 6 weeks we have been working on her and more importantly the spirit worked on her! She is now baptized and I am one happy camper;) Thanks for the prayers in behalf of my investigators and also for me! they dont go unnoticed! Thanks for everything! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

March 23: Spanglish!

Haha well this week was a good one. Lots of contacts this week but we saw some blessings from the work. We found an old man who we have marked to baptize this sunday so I am pretty excited! My new comp is pretty legit. Haha I am not sure if president knows that the two past companions have been exactly the same... Haha Elder Rodriquez is SUPER quiet as well... hahah that is what makes it soooooo hard is that I have kind of turned in to a chatter box and being with someone who is not really a fan of conversing.. I get bored sometimes;) but alll in all he is awesome. He loves to work and more importantly he loves to baptize;)  We are going to kill it this transfer!! Haha for those wanting to know about my area it is half forest and half houses... we dont have favella (dang it) but we have a place called São bento 2 that has the "thugs" of sao bento. so as you can guess we spend the majority of our time there;) I LOVE THE MISSION!!!  holllly cow.... I dont know if it is because I am closing down or because I caught a new spirit but the work is soooo much fun right now!!! What a blessing it is to be in this service!! haha I know it may sound like a joke, but I am going to baptize alot of people when I get home.. Like we as a family our going to baptize people. I found a scripture this week alma 29:9 that talks about how our glory here on earth is through missionary work!!! IMAGINE THAT!!!! We will baptize our friends and our enemies as well. Who else is PUMPED!!!!! Haha pray for my companionship and our area here please!!! I love you all!!!!! #sóbatismos!! (#justbaptize!!)

March 16: Batismo(S)!

Well we had an awesome week this week full of miracles and baptisms! We baptized two young men who we have been teaching for some time. Such an amazing service! The parents arent very "churchy"  but they supported them with their decision and after the decision the older one that I baptized told me he cant wait to serve a mission! I was hit pretty hard with the spirit. It was amazing. We will probably end up baptizing their friend this sunday who loved the service and asked when he could be baptized!  haha I rather liked that question;) Well transfer have come again and I will stay here in São Bento and I will get an Elder Rodriguez apparently from Argentina. Haha we will see if I can better my spanish this time;) maybe I will like this latin american... haha but Im super excited for the transfer to come! Haha it is kinda weird cause the sisters that started the mission with me are going home tommorrow!! WOAH!! Time flies!!! Hope every has an amazing week! LOVE YALL!!!

March 9: One year older...not much wiser

Haha I am still not used to saying im 20... I keep saying 19..!! stinking annoying!! haha so the only big news this week is I got what everyone in the mission calls a "Carta Trunky" haha which translated is trunky letter.... Long story short it has the date I go home and i have to fill out all the information on where I am going home to... yeah so August 26 is officially the day.... dang its kinda weird having an end date.... not sure i like it..... oh well i still have plenty of time ;) We had president interviews this past week and it went really well. President is a great man. I hope everyone has a good week!!! LOVE YALL!!

March 2: Well what a Week!

I can honestly say the best emailing session to date!! I want you to know how happy I am for you Courtney and Cam!!!! I will let you know that the Lord DEFINATLEY answers prayers! What an experience! This week has been a really good one! nothing of real value for yall just a good week numbers wise! We hope to have a baptism this weekend.. Please pray for Aparecida! Well 40 emails to respond to so itll be a short email today!! I cant believe im 20...... It kinda hit me today... like woah..... im 20...... but hey Its cool;) We are going to have a FHE with a member and aparecida today and they are making me a cake i think;) LOVE YALL!!!!

Feb. 23: Great week!

haha well its getting harder and harder to come up with subject lines cause weeks are going faster and faster! But had a  good week for sure! Like i said we got to go to the temple and it was awesome as usual! The campinas temple is sooo beautiful! look it up and you will agree with me! Well we are really trying to kick this area into gear but this past week we got a little push back... alot of investigators being weak. So we are going to have to take a deep breath and push harder! Well this wednesday will make the 6 month mark until I am coming home. Honestly I Iove it cause it gives me the chance to take a mini inventory and rededicate myself to the last leg of the mission! But I will add it has gone by soooooo fast..... What makes it worse is when members say "your almost done!!" haha 6 months is still plenty of time! but even still I know it will pass fast!!! I love yall to the moon and back!!! I cant believe a week from today I will be 20! Dang I wont be a teenager..... dang I have to grow up! :) Nahh but I am excited! We will see what I will do for the b-day! pray for the people we are teaching here please! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Feb. 16: Batismo!

Well this week was a great one! I can honestly say this is one of the areas that needs missionaries that work! It has alot of potential! The problem is this area is super far from president and not to mention alot of other missionaries so it was really easy for people to be fubeca but with a little work this area is starting to catch fire! we had the first baptism in the last 3 months yesterday and hope to baptize a young kid who has been coming for awhile just hasnt been baptized! Alot of work to do so should be exciting!! My companion is a great guy. He is a fantastic teacher and is starting to come of out his shell with each passing day! He will make a great missionary especially when he gets really good at the language! I look forward to the coming weeks and especially my Birthday! dang I wont be a teenager!!! haha it will be awesome!! I really love the portuguese language! it is going to be such a blessing after the mission to have! I loved getting all your emails! We get to go to the temple in Campinas which I think is bueatiful! we go there on wednesday... we have to wake up at like 4 to head out there by 8! I will be dead but soooo worth it!! I will look for the package when it gets here! Lets keep our fingers crossed for the package.... I love you all!!! have a great week!!

New chapel being built

Baptism

São Bento!

Haha well the new area is easiest to describe as exactly what I imagined Brazil being before the mission. It is a rather small area, but we have large amounts of Grassy land and a bunch of houses (majority still missing a wall or a roof;) We have like 50 members and we meet in a house that has been converted into a chapel... Yeah its pretty small... Let me just say it is the complete oppposite of the area I was serving in Ariston!!! We have some awesome members. We are going to hopefully have a baptism for a Young women here named Jessica so pray for her! My new companion is SUPER quiet... haha Its alright though I am changing him slowly but surely;) He is still learning portuguese... so I am helping him as best I can! He is a great elder though he teaches with great power and spirit! I am loving serving here and look forward to helping this area progress. We expect to see miracles here. I think it i somewhat starting to cool off.... I dont want to jinx it but maybe its a miracle;) Love you all!!!

Back to Trujillo

Haha well this week was a good one for sure with alot of interesting things happening! First off let me explain the subject line in that I am heading back to Trujillo to be in an area that was a neighbor to the area I was already serving in!! Haha its crazy to me.... I will probably end up doing divisions in my old area! I will be companions with a new missionary who just finished his training period.. He is American and has like 3-4 months on the mission.. From what I have heard... he is from utah... thats about it.. We will see what happens. The miracle of the week was the opportunity to baptize "Julia". What a story/ miracle. Like I mentioned last week our plan was to baptize "Don" (her boyfriend) as well.. Well the time of the baptism arrives and in comes "Julia" without "Don".. She looked a little shaken up and as we talked alone with her she told us that she had left "Don" after him trying to tell her to not get baptized so they could continue doing all the things we shouldnt do. Her response... I cant do that anymore after learning this.. I have to get baptized!! It was AWESOME!!!! Super sad leaving this area!!!!! I love these people and will miss everyone soooo much!! I know I have a work to do there in São Bento (my new area)!! We had an awesome zone conference this week!!! Learned alot and now have the great opportunity to apply it. Only one problem this week was Brazil doesnt have shoes larger than a size 10.... haha I may need your help after all... I will see if I can find some new brown shoes in my new area! Thanks for everything family!!! Love yall!!

What a baptism!

Week in Review

Haha well there unfortunatley isnt much to review!! haha nothing really took place!! the assistants came to our area this week and I got to do an exchange with one of them. It went really well and learned alot.  This sunday will be very cool cause our ward will split!! Alot of growth here!!! We get to go to the temple next tuesday so I will email tuesday!! I love yall aton!!! Have a great week!!!

​If you can see the sweat strap..... its there......

​Coxinhas!! some of the greatest food here!! meat and cheese inside!

Great Week!

Well not much new happening this week as far as new news, but I guess its also a good thing that nothing has changed cause everything is going great. My companion and I get along great and had a great talk this week really talking about what the mission means to each of us and from that our views have meshed and are working in more harmony than before which is awesome. We didnt end up having the baptisms because of some problems that he needs to resolve but all we have to do is move the date back a few weeks so all in all everything will be fine. We have a large number of baptisms waiting in the woodworks, the only problem is that everyone needs to have something happen before the baptism. One of the biggest reasons for needing to wait is Marriage..... no one is married here!!! haha people just live together forever but never tie the knot.... but its all right It is good helping people accomplish two feats! I sent a letter this week to the family at home so mom dad and cassidy that goes into some depth on some things Ive learned since being here and also some of the things I have noticed as far as differences between here and Fresno. As I said in the skype call It will be hard for Brasil to take the number one spot as far as the mission goes. I love it but it just isnt the same! Im loving serving here and absolutely love the people and also love the language! everything is going great here and may I say it is hard to write this email cause this week went by so fast I have forgotten what has happened..... but all in all EVERYTHING IS GREAT!! LOVE YALL!!!!

My companion and I looking jacked

Feliz Ano Novo!!!!

Well I can honestly say it is shocking to say that it is 2015!!! WOAH! Time has flown by! New years was louco!!!! haha I had to have lost a little bit of my hearing!! Fireworks here are not built for the beauty they portray but for the noise they make! but none the less it was awesome celebrating with the brazilians!

The awesome fireworks here!

We had an awesome view from the balcony of the other elders apartment where we slept new years night. at 12 when the fireworks went off we all went to the balcony and it was awesome! Everywhere we looked had fireworks one of those mission moments I wont forget! No baptism this week... But hopefully we will have a couple next week! we have 2 marked! One of the cool things that happened this week was for the first time since being here I actually taught a Brazilian in English haha! He spoke really well and only spoke to me in English so it was pretty awesome! He said he is making a trip to New york next week and was super proud about it. He says he wants to live in the states... I have to agree... ;)

Beautiful Day in the neighborhood here in Ariston

For my new years resolutions I have a lot of things that I will do personally to better myself as a missionary and man for when I return but one I thought I would share that is more temporal is My companion are going to get jacked! haha not really jacked but we have started a workout schedule and are really hitting it hard! Should be great! The work is rocking and rolling here still and we are seeing alot of blessings and miracles in our area! The mission really is a blast when you are working well and have an awesome companion like I have! I love yall and hope everyone has a rock solid year this year or at least until I get home;)