Feliz Dia dos Ações de Gracas!! (Thanksgiving) ;)

Well Good week for sure this week! I had the best numbers I have had thus far on the mission this week. We marked 15 baptismal dates and found 27 new investigators! Very hard work and the reward was very sweet! We did not have a baptism this week which was hard but we are trying to help one of our investigators be baptized at the end of this week as well!! 

Pray for "M.P". We went to the temple today and it was great being there! We only did baptisms cause we got there a little late but it was great having the chance to help each of those people accept the first ordinance of the gospel! My companion and I are doing fine. It will be thanksgiving this week and I want to let everyone know I'm soooooooooooo thankful for yall and everything you do for me!!! 

I know that is super simple but we only have two hours now on the computers (new rule) so I have to be quicker! Today also marks 1 year and 2 months on the mission and almost 3 months in Brazil! Time really does fly by!! I love hearing all about your weeks and although I wont be able to respond in depth anymore I still love hearing all about it!! I will continue to send pics!! I love taking pictures here! There is some crazy stuff!! Funniest thing that happened this week was as we were walking home from a lunch appointment with the other set of elders in our ward an orange came flying out of nowhere and nailed one of the elders walking in the arm it was a bunch of young men!! hahahah everyone was laughing soooo hard. You know you've changed on a mission when you first reaction is to laugh instead of chase the kids down. We were just impressed with the accuracy of the throw! he had to be like 20 yards away!! but good week nonetheless!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Happy thanksgiving!!!! Help the cowboys win for me!!!

At the temple

Largest church building I've seen.

Look what I found! I'll go get a pretzel in honor of Mom one day.

Ariston!

Well it is sad that I'm not very good at the puns so yeah my subject lines will usually always be super boring... But the good news is my new area is AWESOME!!! Man I love the people here. The ward is a few weeks away from splitting because of the size of the ward!!! the work here is crazy!! we are teaching like mad men!! My new comp is from Chile and he has 4 months on the mission, but acts like he has 24 months under his belt. He likes going a thousand miles an hour and I just let him wear himself out most days. Haha like Thursday we had to stop at around 7 because he needed to sit down...I am going to let him wear himself out a little bit just enough to be able to talk to him about how things are going to work.. The members love me too! I am speaking actually really well all it took was a new area to boost my confidence;) We have another companionship in our ward with us. They are both Americans. One is a previous assistant who goes home the end of this transfer and the other is a fresh off the bus from the MTC missionary. The new missionary is from Texas to and is kinda lacking on the Portuguese but I'm trying to help my Texas brother out;) And no we don't all live together...Too bad I know... But the big news this week is we  had a baptism!! They had been teaching a really less active family (the mom is a returned missionary from Brazil) and the mom is coming back to activity. There 11 year old son said he wouldn't get baptized unless the dad baptized him..but the dad is against the church. We had a heart to heart with him and the mom and he accepted baptism and the cool thing is he wanted me to do it. It was a very warm welcome to the area! I am really looking forward to the work here and helping the people of Carapicuíba (the city, Ariston is the name of the ward) accept the gospel.

Pray for my companionship please that we can continue to get along and that he can speak Portuguese and not Spanish... haha. He always is trying to explain things in Spanish which is not good for me when I'm trying to learn Portuguese still!!! But it is fun hearing Spanish and practicing;) I LOVE YALL!!

Well this coming preparation day will be switched to next tuesday and we will be going to the temple in São paulo. I am not sure how much time i will have next week to email so if i dont get to you know why!! I will hopefully be able to read all of them but i probably wont get to respond to all of them!! I love you al!! have a fantastic week!!! 

Para Ariston Eu Vou!!!

Well what a week full of excitement!! Haha actually in reality not a whole lot happened but it was a very fun week! The biggest news has to be the fact that Transfers are here once again and To my great suprise I have been assigned to go to the Capital to be in the Alphaville zone to serve in Ariston! I will be with a Spanish speaker there who got to Brasil to start his mission when I got to Brasil to start my mission here. I will be going there to be the senior companion which in itself is a little scary to me but I will make the most of this opportunity for sure. I am told the area I am going is all Favella.... and for those who dont know what a favella is... its a neighborhood with houses built all over the place on top of, beside, in front of every way imaginable. The great part is that in a favella you have humility. I am very excited for the opportunity to go there! I am leaving my area here at a kinda hard time. We have a baptism marked for this Saturday for such an awesome investigator who came to both sessions of Stake Conference this weekend.. I will really miss seeing that but the Lord wants me in Ariston! I will no doubt see some very interesting things in my area and will make for great experiences to share with yall when I return home! Haha I am a little sad to leave my American companion but we will see each later in the mission probably. I am pumped for the opportunity to lead in Ariston. I feel like my Portuguese is pretty manageable right now.. Not fluent by any means but I am beginning to feel more comfortable. So this next transfer should be a good one. I love you all soooo much!! Please continue to pray for me and my area as well!! Tenha uma Boa Semana!

Ants in Brasil

Christmas tree in Brasil

Enjoying some fun on a see saw that im thinking wasnt built for two grown missionaries;)

Haha the evolution of missionaries in the Trujillo zone

One of my favorite families

Cool animals in Brasil

It's beginning to feel a lot like SUMMER

ITS SOOOOO HOT!!!!! haha like seriously.... Im sweating like a pig.... but all is good cause im dropping weight;) Haha during this week it rained super hard one day and was a little chillier outside, but the following day I legitimately thought it was a joke cause when we walked outside from a lesson it was pouring rain, but the best part was that the sun was still shining... like seriously there was like three clouds in the sky.. and it was pouring!!

But it is good that it rained cause we are in a drought here. Well we had a pretty good week this week for the most part. We were out of our area a ton helping other people but when we were in our area we were trying to find some people to teach. We are a little small in our teaching pool. But we did find an awesome guy who is all about turning his life around. He has a problem with drinking but he is doing everything we ask him to do, so the Lord will definitely help him quit. My companion and I are doing great still. It is kinda funny cause we are a lot different and think about things differently but for some reason we have yet to fight or let our pride stop us from resolving something. I think honestly it is because we have both been on the mission for so long we just know how to work with one another. We painted an entire gym for a children's school here. It was a great service. I love brasilians kids, they are soo funny and sweet. They just remind me of cassidy when she was small. Super happy and energetic ALL the time!;) Not much by way of stories this week.. sorry yall. But my companion and I are getting prepped for christmas. we have a christmas tree set up and oranments are getting put on one day at a time. Christmas music is being played constantly in the apartment;) We have transfer calls next week and we are both really hoping that we stay as companions for christmas. Two americans on christmas will be nice;) Hope you all have an amazing week!!! LOVE YALL!!

1 year, 1 month

Its been a good week this week. Not to much news happening here. The work is still moving on unhindered! We did an activity as a zone this week in one of the harder areas in our zone. All the missionaries in our zone went to São Bento and we gave out Book of Mormons to the people there. We gave out close to 140 books of Mormon! it was great! But one cool experience that happened this week happened yesterday. As my companion and I were doing some finding yesterday in the Centro (the center of the city) we felt the need to talk to a man sitting alone on a park bench. As he walked up he started smiling. We asked if he had already spoken with missionaries before and he said he had already been baptized. We then asked if it was in our church, and he politely said no. He went on for awhile talking and we could tell there was something wrong so we simply asked if he knew of his purpose in life. He began to cry and vented to us that he had been looking for some time for a way to change his life around. He told us of the addictions he has and how they have cost him everything. He is living on the streets right now but we have set up a time to meet with him tomorrow in the same place we met with him yesterday. The funniest part was after we left we went a little ways off and were talking to someone else and as we looked back at him he was walking around the courtyard showing the Book of Mormon we left with him to all the other people sitting around there. haha it was definatley an experience that I will remember! Well yesterday my companion and I sang in church! haha it went well, no harm done! we sang "When I am Baptized" the first verse in english. it was awesome! we got a ton of compliments. This week should be another good one! Love you all!!!

a little boy who loved cameras and wanted me to take a pic of him

then the little boy wanted to take my picture

That's a lot of meat!

Brasil

Então, Boa Semana!

Well as I am sure you are all wondering how the new companion is, he is great. We are having a lot of fun together! He has been here for 10 months already so he speaks really well already. He has a year and 6 months on the mission and he was waiting for 6 months in Cleveland. He is a good missionary and he is helping me a lot with learning the language and how to say some of the slang and some of the different sayings. We were working hard and found 25 new investigators and set 3 baptismal dates. We are working in one of the harder areas in Sorocaba because our area covers the richer side of sorocaba/trujillo. but none the less we are working on helping the people here come unto Christ! I was studying pretty in depth the gospel of Jesus Christ this week. In my studies and using the scriptures I came to a very important realization. If you look throughout the scriptures, especially in the Book of Mormon, and look for any scripture regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ you will see an important part of the Gospel that is often overlooked- that of the principle of Missionary work. Take 2nd Nephi 2: 6,7 they speak of the power of the Atonement and the need of Faith in Jesus Christ, and then comes verse 8 which tells of the importance of making these things known unto the inhabitants of the Earth! I will not say I am adding another principle to the gospel only merely stating the important fact that as a part of Showing our Faith comes the need to open our mouths. I had to wonderful opportunity to speak in church yesterday! I spoke for 20 minutes on the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It went very well and I was grateful for that opportunity to 1) share my testimony with the members and investigators there and 2) practice my language ability;) Haha I love you all so much and am growing more and more each day in to many ways to name;) I am continuing to pray for each and every one of you! If you need anything more please let me know! I love you all! Tem uma boa Semana! Have a great week!

Guess Who in Portuguese

Gringotts Bank

You know it's hot when...

This goat wanted to be friends

shoes before (worn out soles)

shoes after (only $15 USD)

Hahaha

Dad would be totally jealous, these candies taste just like Key Lime pie.

Pink house, maybe an option for Cassidy?

Oi Família e Amigos!

So sorry about this week but i wont have time to respond or even read your emails from this week. We went to the temple today in Campinas and it was much needed. No better place to feel the spirit of the Lord stronger than the temple! This past week was pretty uneventful except we did have conference which was awesome! The only thing that wasnt awesome about it was that i had to watch in portuguese which was rough, i understood about 50 to 60% of what was said but i will just need yall to send me a copy of the ensign with the talks! Sorry this is super short but next monday you can expect a long email to all of you! :) I have to lead our area tomorrow with another missionary coming over for the day so please pray for me... Also We have president interviews tomorrow which i am super excited about! I will talk to yall more on Monday! LOVE YALL!!