"A dentist??!!

I totally forgot that I wanted to make that joke about Ian last week with him being a dentist and all... Did anyone watch that movie this year? I hope so or the Humble Bumble will be out to get you guys for sure. It sounds like you guys watched a lot of other sick movies though this past week eh? SkyFall, The Hobbit, rough life, right? Whateves... they will all be on NetFlixs when I get back anyway :) 

It was so stinking awesome to talk to you all though last week, even though it felt like such a little bit of time :/ That is alright though, I think it was better that it was just a short one because in all honesty.... I will be home before you know it and it will be more fun to chat face to face there. I do feel like I didn´t get to talk to EVERYONE though... Hazel didn´t even scream at me...Silly baby! I can´t believe how good you all looked though. It was so nice to see people wearing actual clothes! It is too hot here to wear all that stuff and I forgot how sweet it is to get dressed up all sweet like.. You guys are just champs.

      

So not too much happened this week being Christmas and New Year's. Everyone is either traveling or drinking and both of those make it hard to contact and really work, but we had a few sweet miracles go down this week. On Thursday we did a zone fast so that all of the companionships could baptize on the last week of the year and we had a miracle go down in our area 'cuz we had no one at all to baptize... Or so we thought. We ended up passing this family that we had taught a few weeks back and one of  the kids had gone to church but the parents wouldn´t let her get baptized. We just happened to stop by and WHAMMO!!! the mom was just like, "Yeah, I was thinking about her baptism this week and decided it really would help her out." Hooray for an awesome baptism!! So yep we had a baptism Saturday of Islaine and it was just a little meeting because not a lot of people were here in the area. But she was confirmed on Sunday and was just as happy as ever. I can´t find the pics of her baptism though... I´ll keep looking. 

That pretty much sums up this week though. We don´t have anything planned for tonight so P´jaro and I are just gonna kick it at home and play Bible Hearts or something. We have interviews with Pres tomorrow which will be exciting and then the next day Zone Cousnsel... Lots of bus rides this week already. Well I love you all and I hope you all have goals and dreams (hahaha) for 2013!! I already know what mine are for sure! I miss and love you all so so much!! HAPPY NEW YEAR! :))))

Elder BIG DEAL!

P.S. The pics are the planner I made for Christmas, and then Christmas dinner at the Branch Pres´ house for Christmas! Love you!

"Christmas Time"

Alright guys so I am planning on Skypeing with you all Wednesday 11:00 your time and I am so stinkin excited!!! It honestly just seems like we were just talking for Mothers Day when I was way back in Viçosa with my boy Guerra... Crazy :) I cant wait to talk to you all though. And don´t stress because I am 99% sure I know how to get it to work right from the start this time! :)

  

So this will be just a quick little letter because the LAN house is packed right now and the guy isn´t in the best of moods so I doubt he is going to let me put more time on. We had a bit of a busy week this week because we had a lot of things in Farol - like zone counsel and then my comp had to help in the office because he was the mission secretary for seven months and the new guy still has no idea what he is doing. It was a good week though because we had a baptism and that was the best. His name is Thalisson and he is part of this family we have been teaching since Pájaro came here. The whole family is looking into the Church, but all of a sudden they just stopped progressing a ton, except for Thalisson. It is really sad because this family is exactly what our little branch out here needs. We have literally done everything to help them, but they just won't come to church ever... kills me. :( Hopefully his baptism will help them all feel the Spirit a little bit more, because luckily, they all came to the baptism. 

Also this week we had the Primary presentation which we all know is the best Sunday of all the Sundays in the year. The little kids of the Church are just champs and I love hearing their little testimonies as when they say the Articles of Faith. They may not understand completely what those words mean, but it is good practice. 

I think that is all I have for you guys this week... I am going to save the majority of it for Skype time :) I am glad it is really starting to look like Christmas and that you got to go see the lights down at Temple Square. That was always one of my favorite dates.... Memories!! Well I am out so.... See you next week and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Elder Big Deal

P.S. What is "THE GIFT" everyone wants this year and I can´t wait 'til Friday... The End of the World!! Hahahahahaha I can´t wait to wake up on that day and just laugh.

"Way Ahead of You :p"

So Danger your e-mail made me laugh pretty hard. All of the missionaries that are about to be going home in the next... 8 months are talking about how there will be legit no one to date. So we are way ahead of you on the "who will we date?!" deal. I think it will be so funny though because the majority of the missionaries won´t even know how to talk to girls when they get back, let alone date them. I do think it is sweet though how many people are leaving though. I have a friend back home who just told me she is going to Spain and a kid here in the branch also just got his call to Lisbon like Megan Duke. So wild. It will be really interesting to see what will happen when all these young girls start showing up. More than likely I won't even be here when they come, but those who are left behind.... Good luck! Hahahaha.

  

This week was a really normal week once again. We had transfers again and I am still with Pájaro, best comp ever, but one of the other elders in our house got traded. It was really interesting though because Pres is trying to show that leadership isn´t a ladder in the mission and that it is a calling. So he "dropped" 5 ZL´s and one assistant to be DL´s or trainers and said that he doesn´t want missionaries ending their missions as Assistants or ZL´s. He wants them to train in their last two transfers. Let´s just say I am already feeling like I will be training again. Not that I didn´t like training, but I will be honest... It would be rough to train a greenie fresh out of the MTC in the last two.... But whatever. I´ll just do what I have to. It is still a little ways off in the future too.

  

Also this week.... I got your package!! It was awesome and I am already going to deal you that I opened everything... I did it not knowing that I was supposed to wait 'til Christmas. It really put me in the Christmas spirit though :) Christmas is really fun this year because I actually understand what is going on. Last year I was just a space man trying to learn the language. It is bad though because I am just falling more and more in love with this country... Christmas is pretty much exactly the same as it is in the U.S., but come on... Christmas with palm trees and pretty beaches every where is hard to beat. Thank you so much for the package though and Pájaro loved the tie and the other gifts. He thinks you guys are the best.... I agree.

   

I hope you all get a chance to enjoy the snow and the lights at Temple Square. Wow, I miss the temple so much... Go to the temple for me. Also... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Eliza the Awesome!!! What did you get dude?? Sick clothes? New scissors to cut hair? Trent won´t play Halo for a day?? Hahaha I hope it was a good one Liza :) Have a great week family! Stay sweet...

Elder Big Deal

"The Hunt"

It is December!!!!! and by the sound of things there is still no snow in Utah... What a horrible thing. At the same time though I think it is great! Because now I can´t say that if I was home I would be snowboarding because in reality... I wouldn´t be! So I count this as a blessing for me, but for you all back in the 801.... Não sei!

So we just got done with a mission conference from Elder Costa, who is the President of the Brazil area and oh my heavens it was awesome. He was so stinking funny. I don´t even know how to explain it. I was actually really nervous for this mission tour because he has a big reputation of loving to "burn" missionaries, but he didn´t even get angry. He just told us to better ourselves and that is obviously something that we all need to do. I just love how mission presidents, 70´s and Apostles have this way of being so so so extremely loving, yet always willing to correct the mistake. It is EXACTLY how people should be. It is how you can tell when people respect you. They aren´t a push over who everyone loves because they can do whatever they want, but then at the same time they aren´t raging dragons of anger and meanness. It is just a perfect mix. It was a really inspiring meeting and I am glad I had the chance to hear him talk about his mission stories and stories as a General Authority.

  

Since he gave his tour today, obviously our P-day, I am now here in the center of Maceió and do you know what that means?? Yep! I am on the hunt for Mom´s nativity scene. So far I haven´t seen anything too legit, but I am sure that I will find something sick here in a bit :) 

   

A few other fun facts about this week... 1. We had another baptism!! Her name is Gerlane and she is the last daughter of this part member family in our branch and she is just as sweet as can be. Her parents aren´t members because of marriage issues, but the rest of the family are members but are the most active in the Church. We are trying to help re-activate the family and help the parents but it is a bigger challenge than it seems. I don´t wanna go into details because I don´t wanna criticize the family, but let´s just say.... Beer is the dumbest thing ever invented. 2. We had the power go out for over an hour in part of the city and that was neat. We usually just go to some place that has any light at all because the chances of getting robbed are a lot higher when there are no lights. And I don´t wanna get robbed. That pretty much sums up my life though once again!! I am excited for the Christmas call... I have so many funny things I can´t wait to tell you, but they are only funny in person... or Skype cause it is almost the same thing... Tchau!!! Stay sweet.

Elder Big Deal

"Average week -- kinda hahha"

Hello to my family that is neat and awesome! I loved the e-mails I got from all of you and I am glad that Thanksgiving and Hazel's blessing were really good experiences for everyone. I am a little weirded out that you guys didn´t go bowling, to be honest, but I understand that it just isn´t the same when it isn´t at Teton Lanes and playing for quarters!

So to answer your question mom..... here you go,

MTC, 9 weeks, with Peterson and Gabel

Albany, 7 weeks, with Fristrup, Thompson/Tillick 

Medford, 5 weeks, with Sadler

Feitosa, 12 weeks, with Pinto

Viçosa, 23 weeks, with Shokes, Amorim, Guerra

Cententario, 12 weeks, with Mattos

Brasilia, 4 weeks, with Keen

Boa Vista, Current, with McCloskey, Pájaro

Wow.... I am old. I hope you can understand all of that too. If you want any more information just let me know. I have most of it written down already. I don´t know if you guys share stats and things at the MML hahahaha. That would be pretty funny though. I don´t have anything really specific for you to say to them, but let B-MILL know that it would be cool if he just happened to show up during or Skype call.... :) Speaking of which! Seeing as how Christmas is on my P-day this year we can pretty much plan to Skype on that day if it works for everyone. Don´t worry, I know how to get it to work this time so we won´t just sit there looking at each other awkwardly for... a half an hour hahaha. Good times. Can you believe this is pretty much my last call? Because the next one will be two days before I come home... I don´t even know what I am going to do that day.

   

So I am just going to give you a little run down of what happened this week in my life... I hope you are all ready for this. Monday, P-day was awesome - played volley ball. Tuesday, one of the missionaries who lives in the house with us decided he wanted to run away.... he jumped over the fence and just left full speed. We had a member help us try to find him but after about a half an hour he came back and said he just wanted to go for a run and get some air.... I sat him down and practically interviewed him and now things are all square and he already talked with Pres. Wednesday, Zone Conference!!! It was awesome. President was really funny and it was just a good time. The mission is doing really really well right now so we are all very excited about the work. I love working close to Pres though. I say this almost every letter, but it is so awesome. Thursday, normal work day. Friday, all of our district leaders had baptismal interviews so we had to plan our day super carefully and had to travel in the bus lots.... boo! But it all worked out and the people were baptized! Hooray! Saturday, normal work day everyone fell through, we walked a lot. Sunday, drunk guy came into the church during sacrament meeting screaming/crying that he wanted to see miracles. We had to sit him down and give him a talk and help him find his way out. Also there was a bat that was flying around the building and all the little kids were freaking out and the teenagers were saying, "It´s Edward!!" (Twilight) but we all know he never turns into a bat. It just made me think of that Office episode when Dwight catches the bat on Meredeth's head and Jim acts like he is turning into a vampire. Life is awesome :)

   

To be quite honest with you..... That is pretty much what my life has been for the last........ 12 weeks. I love it. I just can´t explain to you how much I am loving my mission right now. Yesh there are TONS of things I miss back at home but let´s be real here... When will I ever get to help drunk guys in Portuguese or listen to my inspired mission pres in the same week?! Never!!! I am so happy I am here and I love you all so much and these last 6 months are going to fly by... Just you watch!! I am healthy and happy and the Church is still true..... Have a good week :) Stay sweet...

Elder Bat Deal (this one was clever :p)

Oh yeah! and on Thanksgiving we had a DL buy non-alcholic beer for his district and called me after he bought to see if they could drink it..... The kid is going places.

Public Transportation

Oh my heavens.... I can´t even tell you how past the limit I am with public transportation. Ugh having a car in the mission and before was such a HUGE blessing. I honestly spend 70% of my time of the week on a stinkin bus packed to the brim with tons and tons of people. It is a killer... That is why I am writing to you so late tonight and why this letter is going to be horribly short, because I still have to pass our numbers... 

Ah! We went in to Farol to play some more volley ball today and on the way home there was a big accident on the main road in Maceió that everyone and their dog, horse, scooter, and car uses. The traffic was horrible. I am good though and just really tired as always. I can honestly say i have never been so tired in my life as I have been these last couple of weeks. Yesh, I still have energy to joke around and of course work, but I am to the point that if I stop for too long it will be near impossible to get going again.... And I am sure it is only going to get worse as more time passes by. I just gotta keep working is all. That is the big secret to the mission I think. Everything goes better. You find more, teach more, baptize more, and the secret blessing of time passing oh so much faster. 

I love you all so much and I am sorry that this is such a stinky letter... I love you and the Church is true! I am sure Mr. B-MILL can tell all of you that now! I wish I could be there for his homecoming so bad!!! Good Luck B!!!!!!!!!

Elder Big Deal

"Winter"

  
Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is so much snow in Utah! I have completely forgotten that snow even exists!! Has anyone already hit the slopes?? What did you all do for passes this year? Has someone already used my blue coat..... Ian! Hahahaha I blame everything on you when it comes to clothes :) I was talking about Bomberman 64 today with one of the assistants and it made me miss you. Have you beaten it yet? Sweetest game ever....... I hope everyone is liking the snow though and lil Hazel stays all bundled up and adorable!

   

We had an average week here. just busy busy busy. We had Zone Counsel this week with Pres and it was a blast. I honestly love working close to him and his wife. They are amazing people and really understand what their purpose is as the mission couple here. They do what is right exactly when they need to do it and they don´t look back. Our meeting was very inspiring and I feel like I learned a lot that I need to start applying in my own area, not just the zone. One thing that I really liked about the meeting though was that after it had ended I randomly just got to sit down with Pres and Sister for like a half and hour and just talk with them. It was really interesting because it felt like it was the first time that I really opened up to him about what I think about the mission and how we can try to do things better. I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous and intimidated at first which was....interesting because that isn´t very common with me to be nervous when talking with people. I just felt that every word I said was being listened to very carefully. It was a good feeling at the same time. He really is so interesting in uplifting missionary input. I say uplifting because there is PLENTY of missionary input, but usually it is just ridiculous. I just love having this relationship with him and hope to keep having more chances to work with him during the rest of the mission.

   

I heard the news about Obama getting elected again and it shocked me pretty bad. It actually shocked the majority of the people here actually. Brasil had made it sound like that Mitt had a really really good chance and I got all excited about it. I just wish I could have actually voted.... But I am so out of the political loop right now that I couldn´t even tell you what is going on over there in the states.... Speaking of the states, good ol´ Elder Miller is coming home next week.... I still can´t believe it. Time has flown by!! It seems like just yesterday that I was watching his farewell talk and bawling my eyes out. Don´t let Bro Peterson read that. I am so stoked for Elder B-Mill and I better get some pictures..... :)

    

I am really tired though and sunburned because we played some awesome volleyball today and I just wanna go "relax" a bit. I hope at least ONE person in the family goes out and plays in the snow this week and that you ALL stay safe. I miss you all a lot.... no joke, but I will be back soon :) Love you all and have a great week!!! :)

Elder Big Deal!

"T-ranch Happy Birthday"

  
T-ranch HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOOODE!!! I know that there is no better way then spending a birthday playing the sickest new Halo game ever cause that is pretty much what I did when Reach came out. Good times. Let me know how many headshots you get on Tanner and hammerwacks on Ian. Hahahaha I miss my brothers....

   

So you guys already know what i am going to say, this week was so busy.Once again.... and always. It is a good busy though so I am happy. My comp was a little sick in the start of last week so we didn´t get anything done on Tuesday so that just put us in more of a rush for the rest of the week. He is feeling better though now and we are both just as happy as ever. Elder Pájaro is honestly just one of my favorite people in the mission and now we are comps so it is awesome! It is just constant laughing on the road and we just have a really solid teaching flow together. I love having a comp that is just as stoked about the work as I am.

   

Speaking of the work... We had a baptism this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!! My heavens it has been awhile since I have had a baptism and it felt so good to get back into the water. His name is Alan and he is wild. We are trying to teach his whole family but it is really hard to find everyone in the house at the same time and he and his sister were always there so they progressed the quickest. Except the fact his sister doesn´t go to church and you can´t baptize people who don´t go to church! It is all good though. I think with the baptism of her little brother it got her excited about it too, so we will see how that goes! We have a lot of really good people that we are teaching right now and a few other baptisms marked for this week. I love when the work is like this, it is such a blessing. I just wake up every day actually just pumped to go work. So nice...

  

That is pretty much the majority of the week though... It was really hot here this week which is kinda bad because it is not even Summer yet, so that will be interesting when it comes. I can´t believe that it is almost Summer again.... where in the world does time go? I hope you like the pictures... the pic with all the kids is dark but I think if you take it into photoshop you can BRIGHTON (that was my high school!) it up a little bit. Have a wonderful week all of you and play lots of Halo, be safe, read the BoM, and never forget the Church is true.... It is so true. I love you all!! Stay sweet....

Elder Big Deal

"Halloween Tree"

  
I am just laughing here in my seat right now thinking about all of you watching Garfeild Halloween. That is honestly one of the best traditions ever if you ask me. That scary old pirate guy who steals their candy is for sure one of the funniest characters ever. Did you also get around to watching Halloween Tree?? I was thinking about that movie the other day and I don´t even have anyone near me to quote it with... What a shame.

  

On the other hand though, this week was ridiculous. Lately it seems all my weeks are ridiculous. I honestly am just so busy I don´t even have time to think straight. I love it though, because I honestly feel so focused. I feel like I am just always thinking about some deep gospel topic or some better way to make contacts and inspired questions. It is a good feeling to have. The week was busy because one, I got my new comp. I am going to answer Mom´s awesome questions right now then fill in the blanks later.

What's your new comp's name and where is he from, how long has he been out, etc? His name is Roberto Pájaro and he is from São Paulo. He has been out a year and 6/7 months. (The transfer before mine) and he is a blast. We have been friends for awhile because he worked in the mission office for 7 1/2 months and I got to know him really well because I called him a lot when I was in Viçosa and for other things. We are just having a blast together. It is nice to be back with another Brazilian too.

Have you had any people be more interested in the Church because of the exposure due to the US Presidential election? Not really. I don´t even know anything about the election. People ask me if I would vote for him and I just say " I have no idea what is going on there anymore so I dunno" Hahaha

We had some great conversations at the missionary  mom lunch earlier this week.  Is there anything you want me to say to them or ask them or share with them? Obviously tell them that I am a Big Deal. :D Really though just tell them that I am Brazilian and that I miss my friends a lot but I feel so cool knowing that I have a friend working every single hour of the day in the work of the Lord. I can´t believe Jake and Jordan are home... B-MILL is next!!

What do you like best about this new area? It is a branch with a lot of young people. I feel like I am back in Viçosa a bit and Viçosa is where I believe I grew up the most as a missionary and person. My comp is also the bees knees.

What is most different about this area compared to your other areas? I can see the beach and lots of airplanes.... Those kinda trunk me out though. There are also more then 30 different churches just on one road here... It is like Utah but not all of them are the same.... and true.

What's your weather like now? Hot. Really really hot.

What's your apartment situation, (number of missionaries, location etc)? We have one other companionship with us and the house is great. Really clean, a alot of space, two bathrooms/showers, and lots of lizards.

If I were to send one book, what would you like it to be? Hahaha oh boy this is a tough one.... Is temple and Cosmos a big book? I just worried about the weight is all. Maybe Doctrines of salvation 2 or The Pathway to Perfection by Joseph Fielding Smith.... or The Miracle of Forgiveness.

Well those questions pretty much just wrote my whole e-mail for me. We had our baptism for this week fall through again, which was really a bummer. I spent over an hour with her talking about the benefits and blessings of the Church, but she still didn´t quite understand the importance of baptism. That just shows there is still room for improvement with my teaching skills... I am really excited to get to know this Brazilian lady who lives in our ward. Do you know if she still speaks Portuguese?? Where did she live if she lived here in Brasil?? What team does she cheer for?

I better get going. I still have tons to do and very little time... It kills me how in the start of the mission it felt like the days would never end and now they end way too quickly..... I just gotta make it last that is all. I will get that picture for you soon Mom sorry!! Love you and stay fly! :)

Elder Big Deal

P.S. Did Danger make an awesome Micheal Jackson joke about the Thriller performance?? I can´t tell you how much I miss his jokes... Danger you would be a hit here in Brasil just to let you know.

"Already Gone...."

Hello family!!
    
So to just get started with the news quick, Elder McCloskey is getting transferred....I am pretty bummed about it because we legit got along so well and probably had the funniest two weeks since I have been here in Brasil. He taught me a lot about the importance of obedience as a ZL and a lot about the area Boa Vista. The people really are going to miss him here and I hope I can create the same type of relationship with them and we can keep growing together. I get my new comp tomorrow so you guys have to wait one more week to find out who he is.
     
I already love this place though. It is not SUPER dangerous, but we have the most dangerous neighborhood in Brasil in our Zone so that is pretty neat. Mom this is one of the reasons I haven´t gotten that pic yet, just because I don´t like walking around with my camera. I will get it this week though for sure. Speaking of being in Brasil, this Thursday I will have 1 year here!! Crazy I know. I can´t believe how fast it has gone by and it still feels like I am new here for some reason. Yeah I have the language down and all that stuff, but I just still feel.... young hahaha.
    
Really not too much out of the norm happened here this week. We just did tons and tons of finding because their teaching group had just ended right when I got here and it was time to start contacting again. It seems like I always do that though hahaha. We did find some really solid potentials though and there are a few referral families I am excited to work with, so there is plenty to do here. One funny thing though about this week was early this morning we decided to go play some basket ball at the church and run to get there.... I am 100% positive I have lost any talent that I once had before the mission.... With any sport. Haha. I just got tired quick and made a fool of myself on the court. I don´t even wanna know what has happened to my Halo and Guitar Hero skills.... It is gonna be ugly. It did feel really good to run again though and I hope to get back into it when I get back home.
     
I really can´t think of what else to talk about.... As for a Christmas package the first things that came to mind were Got2BGlued hair gel and Beef Jerky. Both would be greatly enjoyed. I would ask for more books (Doctrines of Salvation I, II, III) but once again I am scared my bags will weigh too much because of all the books I have read. I have read over 20 books in my mission about gospel topics and that is not including the Standard Works. I love how much I have learned... I sometimes try to write it to you guys during my e-mails but I just can´t get it to sound right yet.... The Church is true though, that is all you need to know. :) I have to get going though cause Big Mac has to pack his bags and cut his hair still. I love you all and I am still blown away by that 7,000 missionary applications this past week. So cool. RY, be really excited. Have you already started your papers?? Just remember, you can´t leave until after May 15th 2013. Like a week after that I think I will let you go though :) Stay Sweet!!

Elder Big Deal

"Zoned Out"

Sounds like the ward "survived" the big changes and to be honest, I am excited that I will pretty much be coming back to the same ward that I left. I have noticed that out here... how much I really love the ward I have back at home. I will miss calling it, "the 10th ward", but now our ward just sounds like a bigger deal. Which I am fine with :)

  

I am sure you all have questions about where I am now and things, actually I know you do because Mom sent me a huge list. So I will answer her questions, then fill in the blanks a little bit after :)

Soooooooo where did you get transferred? I am now a Zone Leader in Boa Vista. It is back in Maceió and I can see the coastline in pretty much any part of my area!

Why? Still not a hundred percent sure on this one because the other elder who was here before was doing really well with my current comp. Maybe the area just needed a change... I am not sure.

What are you doing there? I am a ZL now which is a whole new bear to wrestle. I had to give a zone meeting my second day here and most of the zone didn´t even know there was a transfer. I love it though and we have three really strong districts here and a lot of good elders. There are no sisters here because this area is a bit more dangerous.

Who is your new comp and where is he from? My new comp is an American (really weird being with an American again, it has been almost a year), named Chase McCloskey from Provo Utah and he is awesome. We get along really great already and he is helping me get the hang of things. He has two transfers left and has a chance of getting transfered this next week because we have real transfers now.  

Are you living w/other elders? Yesh! One Brazilian who is training a brand new American misionary!! Oh my heck I love it. I have never been around a fresh greenie American and oh boy is it a hoot!  

What is your new area like? (walking a lot still, or in the city using public transportation? Hahaha dangerous. I saw a guy get hit by a car Saturday. It is also really beautiful because we can see the ocean from pretty much anywhere. We work with a branch that is growing quite rapidly, which is neat. They are really baptism focused, so this area is gonna be fun!

In all honestly that pretty much sums up what I had to tell you all this week... I am loving the new area and trying to learn it as quickly as possible because in reality McCloskey will probably get transfered next week. He already has three in this area and has already spent six months in just one area. I don´t think Pres would do that to him again. I am going to miss him though, if he does get transferred. I don´t know how to explain it. but we just got along so well and so quickly. I call him Mike Wasowski (Monsters Inc.) Sometimes :)

  

Ryley, I wanna hear about your mission ideas and when you can actually start putting your papers in. I am honestly so excited for you.I know so many other young women who are just stoked to get started and helping in the work. These sister missionaries will do so many miracles... I just know it! 

I hope you guys had a great week traveling, some of you, and the rest was just nice and relaxed. What Conference talks did you all like the most?? Stay sweet....

Elder Big Deal

"Spiritually tired........and sick"

Wow. That is honestly the only way I can really start this letter out. So much happened this week, here in the mish, at home, and in the world. I am so stinkin happy about it all too, but I am so spiritually beat.... I love this feeling though so much! My week here was pretty off the wall again. We had a leadership meeting Tuesday in Maceió so we went in Monday night and didn´t get back here till Tuesday night. The meeting was so awesome though. I honestly love Pres. Gonzaga so much. We talked about so many great leadership qualities and attributes and just had a really spiritual meeting. It was also really funny too. He is a bit more relaxed around the leaders in the mission and when he wants to be he is so funny. I also liked being around the other leaders because everyone is excited and focused on the work and I just get tons of new tips and advice that I can´t wait to apply in my own areas.
    
When we finally came back here I went on splits with the ZL´s to do some baptismal interviews for them. I legit had no time in my own area this week because I did over 6 interviews all over the city. The hard part about it was is I had a cold as well. I think I got it from someone in the leadership training. It is really hard to focus and feel the Spirit when you are sniffing and coughing the whole time, but I know that the Lord helped me with every single one of those interviews. I was pretty miserable though, but it was so worth it. The part that made it the hardest was just walking everywhere.  I was tired enough just being sick, but walking a ton didn´t help. So worth it though once again! 
    
Now let´s talk about Conference. I am going to answer your questions right now and then talk a little bit more about it if I still have more to say.

I am curious how much conference you got to watch, when, and where?  Did you watch w/investigators or members or other missionaries? I watched every session this time... and in English! Hooray!! I watched them all in the Stake Center and at the normal Brazilian times. I watched them in a separate room because I watched in English with another American missionary.... and we didn´t have any gators come :(

What talk did you enjoy the most? That is a toughy... I loved the "Ask the Missionaries" by L. Tom Perry because after we were making a lot of jokes like, "Need a wingman? Don´t ask the missionaries!" or "Need a break? Ask the missionaries and they will buy you a Twix!" I also really enjoyed Elder Holland's talk and Elder Bednar's. 

How do you feel about the new age guidelines for missionaries? The coolest thing ever. In Brasil young men could already leave being 18 because here they have required military service and you can opt out by doing missionary work. Yay! for the Army of God! Also for the sisters, I can´t wait to see how that will turn out. I thought of Ryley before anyone else of course, but I wanna talk to her about that personally :)

How do you feel about the reality that your little sis could possibly be leaving on a mission soon after you return from your mission? The coolest and craziest thought ever. My only thing is... I wanna see her before she goes... Not that I don´t miss you guys too, but, I have been missing Ry so much lately... I am like tearing up as I write this.

What do you wish you would have known or how do you wish you would have been better prepared to serve on your mission? Read Preach My Gospel and study the principles it teaches. That manual is pure revelation. Doctrine of Elder Guzy right here: The spirits in the Spirit World are doing the same work we are doing here and Preach My Gospel is exactly how they do the work there...and they baptize a lot of people if you didn´t know :)

What do you wish you could do better now? Obedience. It is so much easier to be obedient from the start than have to change and repent later. Breaking habits is rough!  

What is preventing you from doing that? Haha I could give a million excuses, but the answer is just making myself commit.

Is there any sort of Halloween celebration in Brazil? Nope! When I was here last year they did nothing and in the part of Brazil I am in there is even less of a chance of activities. :( 

Describe your new area and a typical day of missionary work there. Hahaha walk a lot. It mostly depends on our week. Like this coming week we are going to be finding new people mostly. We just left a big teaching group that wasn´t progressing and now it is back to knocking door and getting referrals.

Name 3 things you have learned from your new companion. Humility in teaching; real heart-felt prayer, and how to flush the toilet in our house!

Name something in addition to your language that you have learned and applied as a missionary that you couldn't or didn't do before. Hmmmm the importance of converting people to the Gospel and the Church. Not to the goofy American kid teaching them about it.

How have your prayers changed and improved since you've been a full-time missionary? Hahaha So so so so much! One reason being the book "Drawing on the Powers of Heaven" I feel like my prayers are no longer the same thing every night but real conversations with Heavenly Father.

What aspect of your mission is more difficult than you anticipated? Bringing people to church.... I won´t comment on that again. 

What part is easier than you anticipated? I dunno about this one. Missionary work is just hard in general. But I am going to have to say finding new people to teach. At least for my mission. There are people everywhere and always waiting to here the good word.

Well I just got a call that I am getting Emergency Transferred so I am going to wrap this up quick.... Yeah I legit just got off the phone with the ZL´s. Gotta love missionary life. I have no idea where I am going or what is going to happen. I really liked my.... 4 weeks here in this area and I hope the new guy treats it well. I am kinda... weirded out right now. I love you all and I am glad Conference was an inspiring time for everyone. Stay sweet.... 


Elder Big Deal


P.S. Did you guys hear Pres. Eyrings joke about Rexburg?? " I was asked to move from California... to Rexburg Idaho...." I was laughing so hard. I miss Idaho!!

"Wedding bells"

Before I get started on talking about one of the busiest weeks of my life I just need to say one thing: Mom and Danger be ready for when I get back and go bowling. Don´t forget I took not one, but TWO bowling classes in COLLEGE! Yeah... Talk about getting a real education right there. You may have your glory days for now but they are numbered :p Hahahah I love our family traditions so much :)

"Hey I just met you and this is crazy, but here's my number, baptize me maybe?"

  

So this week was off the wall busy. I don´t even know where to start. We had everything from baptismal interviews, interviews w/ Pres., and to top it all off... a wedding!! I guess I will start with the wedding. They are a couple who was referred to us from some members in the ward who are their neighbors and the referral family is awesome. It is a mom, a dad, and a son that is 11 years old. We taught them the first lesson my first week here in the area and they accepted the baptismal date and a wedding date. I honestly have no idea how we were so blessed with the wedding date because we had no idea how we were even going to help them with that until one of the other elders in our district called me and said there was a free wedding day this past Saturday. We told the family about it Thursday night and it shocked them a little bit, but we just helped to show them that is was a blessing that the date showed up at the time and that they really were ready to get married.

  

The actual wedding was wild. I have never really seen the whole civil part of a wedding and to me... it looks kinda like a mess, but that is just me. We had to get to the court house really early and there was a really big line and we thought,  "great there goes the rest of our day", but it turns out the mom in the family is pregnant and whammo! straight to the front of the line. People who say babies aren´t blessing are crazy! They filled out all the paperwork and then were told they had to be back at 3 o´clock for the actual wedding ceremony which also was so fun. They had a cake and some cool old guy playing acoustic love songs and it was just a good time. It was pretty interesting just being surrounded by tons (80 couples got married that day) of happy, in love couples and me just chillin there.... It is all good though. Now we just have to help them to get baptized... HOORAY! The only bummer is that... they didn´t go to church yesterday. Yep not even gonna talk about it....

   

Interviews with Pres. Gonzaga were also this week and that is always a good time. He really is one of my best friends. We just tell jokes for most of the interview and just laugh. Of course we have a spiritual par,t but it is nice to know that I have a real relationship with him not just president and missionary. We talked about what has changed with me during my mission and what I am going to be taking back with me to the U.S. that I learned here in Brasil. I wanna take the whole country with me, but I don´t think it will fit on the plane.... Lame sauce.

   

I hope you guys like the pictures I am sending. They are just of the wedding and the family. Sounds like you guys are just having a rough rough time back there in Utah without me... I don´t know how you guys survive with all these friends and parties and laughter. Someone has to do it right? I love you all so much and I loved the missionary opportunities you had during this past week. Be excited for General Conference this week and go out to eat somewhere delicious, deal? I love you!! Stay sweet....

Elder Big Deal

"It always rains on Sunday....."

Hello to my family that is cooler than dinosaurs, (that is a pretty big deal by the way)!
   
Wow, this week was awesome! I finally really got to get out and explore our area a bit and let me tell you, it is huge!! We cover not only part of the city of Arapiraca, but also some of the surrounding little cities! We legit have lunch 45 minutes away by bus sometimes. It is awesome, but at the same time it can be a time-waster. I am just finally happy to have so much space to work in. I loved Centenario but it was a really small area. 
   
We met and talked with some cool people this week. I dunno, the work just seemed to flow really well. We weren´t all crazy and trying to work a million miles per hour, we just took things slow and really relaxed and ended up doing a lot of really good solid work. We marked lots of baptism dates, which was a big relief because it had been a while since I had had anything solid, but I really feel that this area is going to be that "miracle area".  We only had one bummer thing happen this week and that was that once again no one came to church. We even went with a member and his car (because it was raining--every Sunday it rains!!) to go find them, but it still didn´t go down... There is always next week though, right? The bishop here is really focused on what he wants done and is not scared to get up in your face about it. I like it because it gives me a chance to show that I just might have turned into a responsible young man! Neat huh?! 
    
Speaking of almost being a responsible young man, not only am I learning lots of nifty tricks and treats about the Gospel out here on my mission, but I am also learning how to fix/buy a lot of things! We had our washing machine break this week so we had to go into the center and buy a new one and all that jazz. Little did we know that we would be the ones to set it all up! Yep, we had to get it all hooked up and everything and it turned out to be pretty fun. I just like how I can do all this stuff in Portuguese now without even thinking, where as a few years back I couldn´t even do this stuff in English! Also, our shower broke! This week was honestly just a hoot. The shower wasn´t too hard to fix, but it was a little more risky because we didn´t wanna get shocked. It all turned out good though. Yay for learning!
    
That is it though. I am happy, my comp is awesome, the area is sweet, and the Church is true. The only thing I could honestly complain about from this week is that still, even after almost a year in this beautiful country, I can´t agree with corn, peas, ketchup, and tuna on pizza. It just doesn´t work for me. I am glad you all had a good week and that everyone is healthy and happy.  I loved the pics of little Hazel last week ps :) Danger, you forgot to mention who won in the golf tourny! 

I love you all so much and I hope you have another great week filled with learning and laughter. Oh! and that you are all excited about General Conf. here pretty soon! Yay for living prophets and apostles! Stay sweet...


Elder Big Deal 

"Brasilla!!!"

Well hey!!
    
It sounds like the Guzy family all had a great last week and a really fun Sunday night. I miss our Sunday night game nights and sitting around the kitchen table quoting movies. "There is no eating puzzles in the house... and surely we don´t jump on the bed!" (Rocket Man) Hahahaha best movie ever invented! So I just have to tell you guys this, the LAN house I am at is FREEZING. The guy has the air conditioning on full blast and I honestly can´t even type.... I haven´t been this cold in a long time. It is weird hahaha.
    
So transfers were a blast. It was really fun to see everyone again and talk with some of my buddies. I actually saw all of my past comps. They are all doing well and they're excited to go to their new areas as well. I ended up getting transferred to Arapiraca which is the name of the city, but I work in the area called brasilia. It is way in the interior of alagoas and is pretty rocking. My area and ward are great. It is a pretty relaxed and open environment, and it just feels good to be back in kind of a smaller city, like Viçosa. My new comp is Elder Thomas Keen from, once again, Rio Grande do Sul. I swear I am getting followed by missionaries from that state. It is all good though because they are generally really funny and cook really good food. We will get along great. I am still a DL and excited about that. Our house here is super rad. We live above some members and it is just us in the house. I have no idea why but I honestly feel like I am in a cabin when I am home though. There is just this nice little breeze that comes in through the windows that reminds of mountains and stuff., but then I look outside and it is all palm trees and sunshine. Talk about the best of both worlds (chillin out take it slow, then we rock out the show!). Mountain breeze and palm trees! 
   

The only issue about the house is that in the entire city there is no water for usually three days a week. Luckily in the house we live in the member has a pump so we always have water but it is quite the adventure getting it to start. I have a video of it but it´s not letting me send it so I will just send you a picture of the bathroom and explain later. All in all, I am pretty stinkin stoked to be here. My comp is excited about the work, my area is huge, and there is so much potential here. I have a feeling I am really going to like it here.
   

I hope you all the like the pictures I am sending. One is of the beach on our way to Maceió... mmmmm. The others are of the view from my house, my new Zone (no sisters), and our bathroom. Mom don´t worry, I am working on getting that picture for you. Do you want it with like member kids or just a whole big group of whoever I can find?? Well. I am freezing so I am probably gonna run but I love and miss you all tons! Stay sweet...

Elder Big Deal
P.S. When does the Y play USU??

Hello people that I love a lot!

Well I guess to start off I better say thank you all so so much for the birthday wishes!! I honestly can´t believe how fast time is zippin ( ZIPPO!!) by. I remember this time last year when I was back in good ol´Albany Oregon! I don´t really have too much planned for my birthday because.... I am getting transferred! Yep! And the only thing I know for sure is that I am heading back to Alagoas which will be fun to be closer to Pres again. It is honestly like I came down here for a summer vacation. I really liked my time here and the friends I made but this last transfer was easily the hardest transfer I have had in the mission. I am excited for tomorrow to find out where I am going and oh yeah, it is my birthday!! Hooray! :) I am pretty sure my new comp and I will hit up a Rodizo with the b-day money and I am already just pumped on it :) Also, I would like to thank a certain special someone for the best birthday package in the world!! You know who you are and you know that you are awesome!! :D Elder Mattos, my current comp, will be staying here in Centenario and I am going to miss him lots. He is so funny and we got along great.
   
On to other topics! The work this week was all over the place. I spent tons of time in the ZL´s area helping them out because one of them kinda died because he goes home tomorrow. It was so much work working in both areas, but also a lot of fun and tons of good planning. The only thing that stunk was our baptism for this week fell through :( His name is Thomas and we had been working with him since we got here and he had been to church already and made friends then and everything he just wouldn´t accept a date. We finally set a date with him during the week for this past Sunday and he seemed so stoked on it.... I thought. It turns out when we went to go bring him to church he "went on a trip with his friends and won´t be back until tomorrow". Super bummed out. Elder Mattos will keep working with him so hopefully that will work out. That pretty much sums up our week though.
    

I can´t even start to tell you how stoked I am on USU beating Utah. That is why the Aggies are the dopest ever. Ry, thanks so much for the e-mail and for telling me how life is up there. It sounds like you are just loving it and I remember doing ALL (Hahaha) of those things too. Best school ever! Mom, I really like the idea with the hand-written letters and I think it would be nice if I started writing you guys a little more personally as well. Also... My release date is May 14th. We have two transfers of only five weeks here every year so that is why I come home two weeks early. Thank you all once again for the birthday wishes and making fun of my awesome tan line... You know you are all jealous :p Have a great week with everything that you have planned. Know that I love you all so much :) Who won in golf by the way?? Stay sweet....

Elder 21

P.S. The pictures are of a litle figurine a member made of me.... Pretty neat right?

Can someone teach me how to rotate these dang photos?

"The Wise Indian Returns..."

So... If the photos work I am just going to send those because I wrote a whole e-mail to you guys then the computer had a fit and deleted it... I am fed up with this LAN House! This week was awesome though. I am writing a little late because we just got back from our Zone activity which was a blast and that is what the pictures are of. I wore the legendary wilderness shirt today and I think it was a hit besides the fact I looked like a big redneck! As of right now it looks like the pics are working so... hooray! The activity was a blast though. We played a lot of volleyball, had an awesome treasure hunt, a Brazilian bbq (like Rodizo), and a water balloon fight! Sucha good time :) Speaking of pictures, thank you all so much for the pictures you all sent me. I loved them! Grandma looks great and it was nice to see her. Trent's beard is pretty much the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life and I am dying with jealousy. I can´t even grow a beard though hahaha. And of course, little Hazel is just adorable as ever.

  

This week was a really good week here in the district. They kept me super busy and I barely had time to work in my own area this week. It was a nice break - not gonna lie. But I did 10 baptismal interviews this week which was fun. Those are my favorite things about being a DL and doing 10 was just super. It was interesting because I had been kinda bummed out because Elder Mattos and I have been working really hard and not seeing the blessings in our area, but then I opened my eyes and saw the blessing that were happening in the district. Sometimes our example of hard work will give other missionaries the drive to work harder and find more people. As a missionary I am here to see other people get more blessings from our Heavenly Father and I usually think of that as investigators but in reality, it can be anyone I come in contact with! I love my district and I am super happy for how hard they worked this last week :)

   

We will also find out who will be getting transferred this Saturday and I am excited, but at the same time a little bummed. I don´t talk about Elder Mattos a ton but he is an awesome guy. He is still pretty new in the mission so he is learning a lot still, but he takes it well and just keeps working. I enjoyed my time with him, but it is more than likely one of us will get moved. I will let you guys know what happens next week with transfers, deal? I will be 21 next week.... weird huh? I still don´t believe it! Have a great week and thank you all once again for the pics and letters! Stay sweet....

Elder Guzão

P.S. We got robbed this week! We put our towels out to line dry, like we always do, but while we were out working some guy came by and reached through our gate and stole mine and my comp's towels. Ridiculous right? Good thing I had another one though. And I hope you like the pics. One is of Elder Mattos cooking the meat... It was awesome!

"Go to church!!!"

So to start off this letter I will already tell you that I don´t have too much to really say about this last week. The zone hadn´t been doing so hot so, last Tuesday we had a zone meeting to try and get everyone fired up again. It was a great meeting and it got us all stoked to work super hard this week. And that is what we did, it just doesn´t look like it in the numbers. It was one of those weeks of knocking tons of doors without results, appointments falling through, and no one accepting a date. We had marked for 18 people to come to church with us yesterday, not one came. We even passed their houses. In all honesty it was just one of those weeks of trials and really trying to show our faith to the Lord that we want to baptize here in this area. I know that trials mean growth and experience and maturity, all these amazing qualities, but as always, during that time or trouble, it is rough. I am mostly just bummed about the people not going to church. It kills me. Nothing makes me happier then seeing people in church. You literally see a change in the person when they are there.  I love it. It is also a way to see the results of our work. But, this is the life of a missionary right? Bad days, bad weeks, heck, even bad transfers happen, but I just need to keep trying to better my work and increase my desire to do the work. It is hard to do, but possible. As a quick side note, more than likely, one of us will be getting transferred here in two weeks (when I will be 21, gross) I am fine if I stay or go but who knows what will happen?
  
On a happier note! I loved all of your e-mails today. That was honestly a big big boost for me. It was great to hear from Trent and Ry and I can´t thank you enough for the jokes! Also, Mom and Dad, now that you two just have TONS of time on your hands :p your letters are awesome. I love this whole talking about the gospel with you guys. It is nice to be taught instead of teaching sometimes hahaha. It is also fun because we are pretty much at the same point in the BOM and I love hearing your comments on things. I also like hearing about what is going on back at home in every bodys' lives. The pictures were also really cool. Ian, I won´t lie that jacket is pretty algebraic! Hahaha. Once again, sorry for the kinda blah letter. Next week will be better, I promise. Please give my best to Bill and I hope you all have another good week! Stay Sweet.

Elder Big Deal

"Hi my name is............"

Elder Guzy and this is my friend... Ah! I honestly have not made so many contacts in my life! Usually I like making contacts and talking with people in the streets, but that is legit all we did this week. Trying to find new people to teach is not nearly as fun as teaching someone, but you gotta find to teach right? Luckily, we did find some more good new people and mark a couple of baptisms. Which reminds me, that is awesome about that young girl getting baptized!! It is also good to know that no matter where you are in the world, finding people to help with the actual meeting is hard. Mom, 99% of our baptisms are like the one you had this week. So stressful! But it all comes together in the end and the Spirit is so strong usually that the person doesn´t even notice the little mistakes. 

  

Besides just making tons of contacts this week we had Zone Conference as well and it was awesome. I always forget how much I like hearing from President and Sister Gonzaga. They are both so funny and creepily remind me of Mom and Dad. We talked a lot about numbers and trying to plan better and I ended up learning some good things. We also talked about overcoming carnal desires which is interesting because we, as in Mom, Dad, and I, have been studying that lately. He gave some good input and got us all excited again for the daily battle of "Bed or Baptism". Things are still going really great in our house with waking up on time but it was a good reminder.

   

I really don´t have a lot of other stuff to talk about... We were pretty bummed yesterday because the family we are teaching right now bailed on church. I think that is one reason a mission is hard on the heart. Every week you work and work and work and pray and pray and pray til Sunday comes and your heart gets broken when they don´t come. But there is  a reason for everything. Maybe they weren´t supposed to be there this Sunday because the next Sunday will be the lesson they need to hear. You never know.

   

I am sorry this letter is pretty lame. Ry, I am jealous. That is all. :p Mom thank you for the pictures you sent and I am stoked the Danger Dave Party went well this year. I will never miss one again.... Oh what happiness!! :) Have a great week family, be safe, and know that I love and miss you all. Stay Sweet....

Elder Big Deal

"More than a good word"

Beleza gente! :)
    
It sounds like another great relaxing week for you all and I am happy things are going great back at home. I am even more excited that Ry is already pretty much up at USU. Ah... I know I talk about this every letter but Ry, I am so happy for you. I am sure you are probably feeling a little nervous and maybe under prepared, but that is alright. I would expect you to feel like that but I also hope you are just full of excitement. You really have such a great opportunity in front of you up there. Have fun Ry, make it a blast. I am not one to really talk about studying and good grades, but focus on your school work. It is so easy to get distracted up there. But once again, I can´t say much about this, I mean come on, my last semester I took bowling, racqet ball, and gymnastics. Rough life eh? But there are tons of times you can study. In between class and in the mornings is when I studied the most. Find what works best for you and just run with it. 
    
My week here was pretty stinkin average....a lot of running around trying to find new people to teach. The problem is we have a few really amazing gators who are progressing really well but very slowly at the same time. We have a couple that we are trying to help get married and they are so awesome. They legit just eat up everything we teach. We are planning to watch the movie... heck I dunno the name of it in English, "Together Forever". You know that one from way back when Mom and Danger served missions? When Dad was comps with Moses I think it was.. Hahaha :) They have awhile still before they can get baptized, more than likely I won´t even be in this area, but I know that they will. I just feel it every time we teach there. But I am so happy to have real progressing investigators but at the same time we need to keep trying to find people who are ready to hear our message now. I know this area has people who are ready to be baptized... I just gotta find um.
   
It is interesting doing this kind of work though, because we talk to a lot of different types of people, but still hear a lot of... the same excuses I guess. It makes me sad because people here think that the church that is true is the one that is closest to your house or the one with the pastor who screams the loudest. (trust me there are tons of them) But by reading books like Spiritual Roots, Believing Christ, Articles of Faith, and a whole list of others I have learned that church is more then just a place to hear the word of God. Church needs to be a place where the word of God is taught, understood, and applied. The church really is the Lord´s university for us. A place where we can take our families and really understand our purpose here and how we can leave things behind that only give us pleasure and small amounts of happiness and in turn receive unimaginable amounts of joy. I don´t know how to explain it all, but it just hit me this week during my studies that there is so much more to a church than people talking about principles and miracles, it is a place for applying and bettering our lives. I hope you guys are understanding this in the right way. I just learn a little bit more every day how true this church really is, I am still working on trying to explain it though haha.
  
I don´t think I have anything else to say.... I am mad at this LAN House because the USB ports are so lame. Sometimes the recognize your card other times they don´t.... Today is a day when they didn´t... meh :( Mom, I was think about things I need and I came up with pretty much Got2bglued gel and.... a whole other list of books but I am not gonna ask for them because my suitcase is getting pretty heavy. I hope you all have another great week and are excited for school to start up again. The other day we were helping a kid do math and I honestly died... I can´t do simple algebra anymore. I have no idea how I am going to survive in college when I get back... Good thing I will have a smart sister close right? Tender mercy!! Stay sweet...

Elder Big Deal