February 4, 2013

What a crazy week with finally a lot of stuff to do!

Well I decided my letters have gotten boring so I will finally just ramble and if you don't care then don't read, sound good? Ha-ha

So I had a great time at the zone conference this week and got to have and interview with president which was great and it was nice to take some concerns to him. The language is getting much better especially this week!

We had a lunch in the house of a member this week, and Brasilians don't like pepper on their food, but this member liked pepper! Holy cow my face was red and my nose was runny by the end of that one! I drank tons of juice that meal! Ha-ha but it was pretty good! Rice and beans and pasta and chicken for just about every meal ha-ha.

Mom and Carli thanks so much for the letters this week! They really helped me so much and I was so happy to get them! Car, it is so funny because the Brasilians think that a letter in a blue envelope means that it is a Dear John letter so they always wig but I just laugh at them!

So the people here are great, everyone believes in God and Jesus Christ so it is nice that they have that faith. There is tons of religious activity here and there are so many different churches here that it is insane! But at times it is nice because they can relate to the situation that Joseph Smith was in! We got a reference from a member that was so great; this lady's name is Lucia. She is great and asked all the right questions, we are so excited to have her in church next week! We went to another neighborhood which is super far called Botojuru and taught an elderly lady there, she was so nice but I don't think she'll ever make it to church because of her health problems and the distance it is to the church. That was quite a walk to get there, but Botujuru is a super beautiful neighborhood, kind of secluded and reminded me of a nice visit to the mountains at home. Things with Monica have improved! She still has such a great desire and the marriage papers are finally coming along! So hopefully they can get a start on their journey towards an eternal family soon! They are some great people.

I was lucky enough to have an exchange with the zone leader this week and it was so great.  His name is Elder Boring and he taught me so much gave me so much confidence. He was shocked at how well the Portuguese was coming along! He is a pretty outgoing and super friendly, he has only been in that area for four weeks and he has made friends with tons of the everyday people there. It was a complete 180 from Elder Leal.

We got to his area called Jacare and went to visit the husband of a member, his name is Paulo. This guy was cool; he pulled out one of his three twelve string guitars and started playing some older American music like dust in the wind. It was pretty cool and he was super nice, then we talked to him about the church. He has already had like ten sets of missionaries teach him, but has never felt so much of the urge to be baptized. So hopefully they can do some good with him there.

After that we went to a group reading of the Book of Mormon at a house with some people in their ward. It was fun. There was a girl there who is like rain man. Her brain is missing the connection between both sides so she can do some things super well and others like feeding herself she can't. But she had the Book of Mormon memorized word for word. So when it came to her to read, she would just recite it. It was cool to see. Imagine the capacity of our brains, we have so much potential that we don't know. Just like some people don't know of their eternal potential.

After that Elder Boring and I went to the store, bought this way good candy that he and I are addicted to. It is like the center of a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup without the chocolate around it. It’s super good! We just ate and talked about the gospel and some cool experiences that we have had. It was the best day in the field for sure. He is an awesome missionary, for sure one of the best here in Campinas and he works so hard. He is from Logan got to talk tons about the cool town up there and the great people attending Utah State! Go Chubbs!

It was rainy the next day and my backpack was full from clothes so I didn't bring my umbrella and I got drenched! But it was fun. He didn't have one either. We stopped by the empty skate park and ran around in the rain. It was fun! I am so grateful for the exchange and it was an answer to my prayers.

Exchanges are coming up next week and I am pretty sure I will be getting a new comp. I am pretty excited to see who it is and to learn more!

Ashley happy birthday! That is so crazy how time is going by!

Well family, it has been a good week. I love you all and miss you so much! Glad to hear it has warmed up a bit! I love you all and have a great week!

Thanks for the emails and the letters. They mean a ton and help a ton! I love you!