Dear Family and Friends,

Things are going well here in good ol Paranaguá. Today we praticed as a zone for the mission olympics next week. I play soccer a lot better than i thought i can! But definitely not as good as the brazillians haha. The weather has been pretty good, its starting to warm up but then the other day it got cold again. Tomorrow we are (finally) going to the beach to do an interview for the sisters, I am SOO excited!! I will send some pics next week.
The work here has been pretty tough lately. Our teaching pool was really shot so we really worked hard and things are starting to look better. We dont have anyone close to baptism for now, but that will change soon. The zone is doing well and next week should be a record week for us in baptisms!

The other day I saw some short nordestino (means guy from northeast brazil) was walking around selling hammocks. I have been looking for a cheap one to put up at our house  and a better quality one to take home with me. So i said to myself, “i am willing to pay 10 reais (about 6 bucks) for a hammock. So i start talking to him and lower the price until 15 reais. Then I was like “I am looking for something for 10, but thanks for your help” and just walk away. I was just waiting for him to call me then he did! So I totally got a sweet hammock for 10 reais, I was very proud of myself. Me and Elder Wardell have been buying some cool soccer jersys and other brazillian things and we have become experts on bargaining, I love it!

So throughout my mission I have always thought about serving with all my heart, might, mind, and soul. As you all know, I am a pretty trunky guy. I like to talk about home and stuff, but not so much as to where I get unfocused and don´t do anything. So me and Elder Wardell realized we really need to stop. So we made a deal to say NOTHING trunky starting at 8 in the morning until 10 at night. It is NOT easy. And if you do say something you have to buy the other guy a bombom (really good chocolate candy). I have already bought a few bombom´s but I am learning!! I feel so much better though focusing on gospel related topics and the work.

Elder Wardell is amazing. He is probably one of the most spiritully organized people I know. Weird huh? He has a few journals.. one is his study journal, and the other is his “devo journal” for devotionals, conferences, etc. So i realized how much I am lacking in that area. I have always wanted to organize myself but never knew how so I never did anything. Then I thought about it a lot and figured out what I wanted to do. So I got two really nice books. One is my study journal for scripture study and other interesting things, and the other is my “devo journal”.  Elder Richard G. Scott said, “Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a sacred place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. This practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light” (“Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 86). That REALLY touched me and made me want to do this. I highly encourage all of you to do the same.

Have a good week, and don´t forget to send me letters and packages because my BIRTHDAY is coming up!! (November 15). I love you all!

Dear Everyone!!!

Wasssup? This keyboard is terrible so sorry for all the mistakes I Will make. Anwyays how are you all doing? Things are good here in Paranaguá. Me and Elder Wardell are going crrrazy and working hard, i Love it! I think yesterday was one of our Best days. We came home and my brain Said, “ok, I have been working like crazy all Day, time to GO into hibernation.” Haha but I had a good feeling of peace like i really worked hard ad did a good job, it was awesome.

We have been going to english schools here in our área (there are a ton here in the Center) and it is starting to pay off. We are getting tons of refrences and people all around the city are loving us, so awesome. Its a cool way we can show we are normal people and aren´t freaks. So one cool thing I have been thinking up is an America party!! It would be a tour chapel and all the americans of the zone would do a little presentation on their city and what life is like in the us. I think there would be so many people there!! So keep your ears open to hear about that, should GO down in Novemberish.

We have been finding a loto f cool new poeple and taking some different angles on investigators that weren´t progressing and its really paying off. There is one (Her name is Patrícia) and she is the momo f a recent convert from our ward. Her son actually hás never been confirmed yet so we are working more with her so the whole family Will start to GO. She REALLY beleives in the bible but she doesn´t even want to ask God to know IF the book of Mormon is true, kind of weird. So w are taking a different approach. A few days ago we left a bunch of scriptures for her to study from the bible. So yesterday we wnt over them and mainly focused on receiving the gift of the holy ghost by the laying on of hands. NOT ONE other church does that, and it was something ALL THE apostles did (See acts chapter so we showed her a bunch of things like that and it was AWESOME! It went very well. So we left a TON of scriptures for her to study about apostasy, it Will be so cool.

I AM happy to say all of our 4 recent baptisms are FIRME!! They are all so cool. Especially the two boys Nei and Flores. I am happy to see their progress.

I listened to a talk the other Day by Jeffrey R. Holland about byu/education and it was fantastic! He talked about the sacrifice o four ancesters especailly in founding BYU. I really didn´t appriciate the opportunity I have to study at BYU until now. I didn´t do so well my first time, but i learned a lesson. Education is so important and we should make it one o four top priorities. My priorities were a little mixed up before the mission, but I would say I have gotten them straightened out.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I Love you! Have a good week

Querida Família e amigos,

Wasssupppp? Things are great here in Paranaguá. It has been a little bit cold these past few days, but today it finally warmed up. I LOVE hot pdays!! Haha anyways today me and Elder Wardell are going crazy.. developing fotos, writing a million letters, buying tons of souvenirs and food, then cleaning the house and taking a HUGE nap. Yesterday we got a pizza (its really expensive here..) and it was sooooo good.

Anyways this week was awesome. We had 4 baptisms and they all went great. Our ward and stake is having difficulties with retention and helping recent converts stay active, so we are already focusing on how we can help our recent converts. One is a old lady that knows EVERYTHNG about the church but never would get baptized. Then she finally accepted the day I got here (she even asked me what tribe I am from!! Haha) so everyone was way excited about that. We also baptized two really cool kids called Nei and Flores and they are way excited. We might have enough to divide all the young men into quorums!! That would be so cool and really help them grow.

We have done a little more exploring in our area and found some really cool places. We are being a little more bold with all the inactives and challenging all of them, its so awesome! This past week we had a chapel dedication, it was the first one I have ever been too, really cool. So our whole zone was there and our main job was to get people to come to the chapel to visit the open house. So first we swept the entire neighborhood with invites, then we were all stationed in areas around the chapel and took people in to visit. There are tons of people here on bicycles and people even started stopping and going in, it was so cool!

This Sunday we had ward conference, and it sadly was pretty lame. There were only about 78 people in attendance, and as I sat on the stand (singing in the choir) I imagined how many people should have been there (including all the inactives) and it easily could have been around 200. Its way cool how as missionaries we develop a big desire to see our wards GROW. I would love so much to see the frequency DOUBLE by the time I leave here, and I am going to work to get that accomplished!!

Well life is good (except for my crappy ingrown toe… UGH) and I am enjoying my mission. Its hard but worth it. My comp is going home so I have to learn this area QUICK. Haha I think I am making him really trunky.. its hilarious because he really beats himself up. But its good because he needs to get ready for the read world!

I hope you all have a good week. Remember, “EVERY member a missionary”. Go out there and talk with everyone. Get OUT of your comfort zone and be bold. I promise many blessings to those who do this. Write me letters and don’t forget my birthday is on November 15th . I love you all!!!