Email 07/31/17

My week was excellent. I attended a few activities at the church house, met a new family, and...... I BAPTIZED someone this week. His name is João Victor Frances De Almeida. I helped confirm him the next day. My investigators are doing pretty good. We still need to visit them a lot more and get them to come to church before they will improve greatly. I usually have one (zone conference) every two weeks. I have not as yet talked with, met, nor taught any aboriginal people. I hope that you will be pleased that I now have one ordinance performed and have now had the opportunity to help at least two enter the path to the kingdom of God. I have pictures of him and his family. My companion and I hope to help his brothers and possibly others be baptized as well. Thank you for your prayers for me.

Email 07/24/17

My week was pretty good. I had that zone conference.  The cold weather, that was shown in the pictures I sent last week; lasted for two days and half afterwards. The zone conference went well. During it I learned that President Oliviera´s mother is dying. It is so sad that he has to suffer not being with her. I also learned that some of the missionaries are getting very trunky. I didn´t receive the package yet. They said that they hadn´t received it yet and they hadn´t. I will just have to wait until the next Zone Conference and see. Thank you for the jokes. They are getting better and better. I have forgotten to tell you, I have a few families that I have been visiting. Many people here are Catholic, but I thinks these families are from some other religion similar to it, but nonetheless they are good people. One family is very conveniently close to our house and it is enjoyable to visit them. They have provided us with dinner on several occasions and it has been nice to visit them. The name of the woman of the house is Solange. They have met the missionaries before, and were delighted to meet us when we first found them. We found them while we were trying to visit another one of the families we have to visit. They live right next to this family. One thing I find interesting is how they pray. It is similar to the manner in which we pray in the Temple. I am beginning to understand more and more how significant the Apostasy really was. Nevertheless they are good people and we will be visiting them again tonight. I love the people here. I am grateful that I could have the opportunity to spend time with them for three transfers. Other than that things have been kind of slow here.

I forgot to tell you another story of another family we visit often. This family is predominantly Catholic. They like us and the missionaries in general. Jossy, one of the members of this family, was baptized a member while I was with Elder Silva. We go over there a few nights a week and they normally attend church. Jossy has three sons, that I know of, and they all have potential to be baptized, but I don´t know if we will be the ones to do so. This last Saturday we were there and they decided to have me dance the Lambada. They mostly did it, because they thought that it would funny and it most definitely was. I really hope they don´t put that video on Facebook. It was interesting learning how to dance that, somewhat. I will definitely need to practice a lot more in order to get good at that dance.

One thing that is good news is something our Mission President mentioned in the Zone Conference. He said that our mission has less missionaries than all the other missions in Brazil and yet we still have good numbers for baptisms, investigators who attend Sacrament Meeting, baptismal dates, etc. Thank you for writing me. If you or any of the family have questions, just ask. Tchau.

Email 07/17/17

I am doing great actually. We are having a cool, misty, and almost rainy day here right now. It is actually cold enough for a sweater. My week has been pretty good. I went to several activities this week at the church house. I neglected to to mention that I am helping teach two English classes now with the help of another American. He is from Spanish Fork, Utah. (Elder Dayton) He and his companion both know English. His companion is from São Paulo. My companion is doing well. I have the opportunity to help him learn English every so often. He is way better than my previous companion. I like this. I have now had two Brazilian companions and two Spanish speaking companions. The language is improving well, but I will still have to keep learning even by study and also by faith in order to get fluent enough to teach better. I have been having trouble with giving messages at almoços (lunches). I definitely need to keep studying with my companion. We have been having a steady amount of investigators frequenting Sacrament Meeting. Other than the cold weather we get at times, things tend to stay the same. There has been a lot of construction going on here in Cuiabá, and I remember that in Rondonópolis they had the same happening. When Elder Brown came here, to spend the last few days of his mission in his favorite area; he mentioned it was rather important. All throughout Matto Grosso there have been fires. They have been burning the matto or weeds. That which Elder D. Todd Christofferson foretold about Brazil soon having improvement is being fulfilled (something along the lines of that). I have not yet been able to bake my cake. Don´t worry it´s fine, I still haven't been able to make the pasta either. Maybe I will be able to do so later on. My next Zone Conference will be on Thursday. I will probably receive the package then. I forgot about Independence Day, but don´t worry the Lord didn´t forget me.  I had an enjoyable activity that day.

Great you got more Kindle fires. I bet the little ones like that. Is Jeffrey the President of the Teachers Quorum? (He's a counselor.)  Wow; (Great-grandpa) 88 that is an accomplishment to typewrite about. I am glad to hear that Grandpa is still kicking. We have a member here that is 90 something and she still walks around and attends the Church activities. I hope that Alex and Jeffrey had a great time. Alex is good guy. At West Side Matters do they ever play "I'm so pretty" from West Side Story? That´s good that Jemma and Julia got their hair cut. It is far healthier for everybody when they don´t do that themselves. I hope the job you did cut it. That is impressive that you still find time to go to concerts and dates. Even with what has been happening. Thank you for continuing to go to the temple.

National Ice cream day shouldn´t be too hard to celebrate, they have ice cream everywhere and anywhere there is enough people to have a town. Oh good you just talk about topics that concern the west side of the Valley; such as whether the Jets or Sharks will win the football game or not. I hope the west side of the valley is still doing well. Oh got it. Teresa did their hair, that´s good. She does an excellent job, that does cut it. Jesseca cut her hair too. It must me hair-editary. Thanks for bearing my humor. Thank you for the jokes. And the great Spiritual Thought. I love you all. 😊

Email 07/10/17

Hey. My week was good. My investigators are improving. The Lord is helping us well. One family, the Family of Eliete; came to church this last Sunday. I was informed by my previous companion Élder Santos that the young man that I confirmed in Rondonópolis, has received the priesthood and is continuing. He may be able to serve a mission eventually. Elder Santos said that things in Rondonópolis improved after I left.  They had five baptisms there after I left. He also told me that many people there missed me. I am grateful that area was my first, even though it was difficult. I have not yet received the package you sent. I may need to wait until our next zone conference to receive it. Thank you for sending it.  I actually had forgotten that it was Independence day, whoops. That was Patriotic. I guess I am becoming more and more a Brasileiro as time goes by. I love it here in Varzea Grande. There are many good people here. I am grateful that I could stay here for one more transfer. That is excellent that you got to enjoy yourselves on Independence Day. Yep with the humidity I could say the same about here; temperature wise though it is still less. I am very grateful the Lord sent me to Cuiabà during Winter. It has been tolerable temperature wise. Jostan got a hair cut. I got one too, two weeks ago. Here in Varzea Grande, the Mapim Ward:  the Lord has blessed the Missionaries here with a member that is willing to give the missionaries haircuts for free. Ever since the Missionaries from Varzea Grande found out this they started getting their hair cut there as well. I like that Jaylen is staying in Cub Scouts. That is excellent that Jostan is still spending time with the Priests. Fishing is good. I hope he doesn´t get hooked. I am, in a way; a fisher too.  I haven´t had rain for a while either, which is a blessing in many senses of the word, but I still like rain.  I didn´t take very many pictures this week, but I may take more today.  By the way, a member from the Varzea Grande 1st Ward said that she wanted your email. Just to let you know if you receive an email from Brazil you weren´t expecting. She is a very good member. Obrigado. Tchau.

Email 07/03/17

My week has been great. I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting another missionary who is going home. His name is Elder Brown and he is the one in the newer photos I have taken. He is from North Carolina and will be going home tomorrow. He chose to come here to the Mapim ward because of the many people here he found to be special. My investigators are alright.  I didn´t have very many opportunities to visit them this week. We have been contacting referrals a lot lately. We haven´t had an opportunity to visit them since the week before last week. I may be able to visit them more this week. My Portuguese is improving gradually, but the members are saying that I am doing a lot better. The experience with Elder Brown was a good spiritual experience. It is sad to hear that Jemma scraped her knees, but she'll learn from that experience; I know I did when I had them.Yeah I hope that family reunion will be great. Good luck with your foot problem. If it gets worse just try and walk it off.  Thank for the email. Until next week. Tchau.