June 6 - August 8, 2011

 

August 8, 2011

Last week was good.  Wasnt the best, but always could get worse.  Unfortunately, the baptisms didnt go through.  I am a little annoyed about it, but maybe it wasnt their time just yet.  Oh well.  The Lord giveths, then the Lord takeths.

Money, hmm i dont know. (I asked him if he needed extra money to get something special in memory of the mission.)  i would need to know how much everything i want to buy costs.  So i dont really have any clue.  I guess put in what you could afford to let me use.  I know i want to buy another Kuia, which is about $25 and 5 kilos of chimarrão, which is another $25.  If i were to get flip flops for everyone that probably would be maybe another $125, if each are R$25.  I have $80 in my account right now.  So that would be enough for the chimarrão and probably back up money for emergencies.  also i have about R$100 from my mission money that I will use for travelling and expenses untill thursday, and whats left over maybe a few little souvaniers.  so, not sure how much more i will need.  chimarrão and flipp flops together is about $175.  also, i dont know if i will want anything else untill i get to salvador to go to some of the markets and such.

well, i love you mom!!  we can talk about the mission when i get home!!! :D

Your Son,

Elder (for the last time ;[  ) Allen

August 1, 2011

I am well.  a little dissappointed since we didnt have alot of people at church, but our 2 investigators that will be baptised went to church, Thais and Thaimara (sisters). so we will have baptisms saturday!!! pray that it goes through!!!  Right now though, i am a little tired but happy.  Pday was a bit on the slow side, since there isnt really anything to do.  The Banks were crazy packed since its the 1st, so i wasnt able to pull out my mission money.  I found cool havaiana flip flops that glow in the dark.  Brasil is famous for their flip flops, so i bought them.  Maybe ill buy some for the family, i just need everyones foot sizes1!!! any ideas on suvaneirs since next week i should have time to go to a store in Salvador!!

We are teacing a 20 year old that was a reference from a member, her name is Quele (kelly).  She is basically mormon without being baptised.  We have already taught the first lesson and all of the commandments.  she did not have a problem with any commandment and is willing to keep all of them.  We just need her to receive an answer from God, go to church and maybe i could baptise her next week before leaving.  we will see!!! i wish i could of had investigators like her more often on the mission, but its better later then never!!

Well, this is my last week!! gotta work will all my might so i can end with a bang!!!! im going to see if i can spend pday and tuesday in conquista to say goodbye to some people there, or just tuesday then wed and thursday i should be in Salvador.  we will see what happens.  then i am home!!! its hard to believe that its all coming to an end, but one more week, then i can think of home!!! haha

July 25, 2011

Its been a bit crazy, having the suprise training and being in Conquista, then getting back wed afternoon and only having half of the week to work!! was a bit crazy!!

i was reading in the Brigham Young teachings book and i was studying the chapters on Self-control and...another that i forgot what it was, and it really opened my eyes to some things new.  Really we have to learn to control our will so that it is inline with what God whats.  when that happens we will be capable of being exalted and such!!! it was an interesting read!

We were trying to find a lady that Elder de Melo did a contact with, but forgot the address, and we ask this one man about her.  he didnt know who she was, but we were able to teach him the first lesson and he accepted everything!!! its crazy sometimes how God puts us in the right places!!

I have had to crack down a bit on my district a few times.  some times they complain about things or what now and i have had to pull out some scriptures about murmuring and such.  I felt inspired when i found the right scripture that i wanted without really even searching for it!

This is my third to last email home!!! wow, time is really coming to an end quickly!!

July 18, 2011

I am good, a little tired from scoring 5 goals (soccer)!! i am in conquista again, spending pday here, since president called a last minute meeting with everyone in Itabuna tommorow.  He called sunday, so we threw all of our plans out the window, and i may have to use some of my personal money to pay for it and my companion.  so we will see how it goes.  Its interesting though, after the MTC Elder paulich, morris and i met up for the first time in Itabuna with about 4 months on the mission, now we will meet up again for the last time (before going home) in itabuna!! an interesting event!

I was reading D&C 19: 25(? forgot what verse), where it talks about if we dont repent, we will have to go through the same suffering that Christ, our God, went through.  every time i read it, it reminds me of the importance of repenting!  its a realy powerfull scripture!

Today, along with playing soccer, we had a BBG.  here it is called a Churrasco.  It was good.  you grill meat, sossage (sp?), and put it in french bread with lettace and tomatos and make a little sandwich.  it was good!!!

Once again, Happy Birthday!!! and Happy Baptism Anniversery (SP? i cant spell anything!!! haha)  im glad to hear that you managed to get the busness sold and that your quite busy.  Sorry about the interview, im sure God is preparing something better still for ya!

Well, unfortunately my time is short, since i am here in Conquista!!! i love ya and gotta run!!!

July 11, 2011

I am good. working hard and excited.  We had 4 investigators in church. so that means, 4 possible baptisms on the 23rd!!! yahoo

Elder Cubbedge (my LZ now) and i were teaching this young man.  It was a really fast lesson, but it amazed me to see how easily he accepted everything and how he commited to it, with the velocity and straight to the point ness of our teaching.  It really helps simplifying and getting to the point.  it allows the spirit to do its part.  it was really cool.

Some times my district complains about stuff and such, (murmuring) and i was studying about what i could do to help with that situation.  I ran across the scriptures D&C 88: 123-124.  I have been appying that in my district and its been working a little.

July 3, 2011

our 2 investigators that will be baptised went to church, Thais and Thaimara (sisters). so we will have baptisms saturday!!! pray that it goes through!!!  Right now though, i am a little tired but happy.  Pday was a bit on the slow side, since there isnt really anything to do.  The Banks were crazy packed since its the 1st, so i wasnt able to pull out my mission money.  I found cool havaiana flip flops that glow in the dark.  Brasil is famous for their flip flops, so i bought them.  Maybe ill buy some for the family, i just need everyones foot sizes1!!! any ideas on suvaneirs since next week i should have time to go to a store in Salvador!!

We are teaching a 20 year old that was a reference from a member, her name is Quele (kelly).  She is basically mormon without being baptised.  We have already taught the first lesson and all of the commandments.  she did not have a problem with any commandment and is willing to keep all of them.  We just need her to receive an answer from God, go to church and maybe i could baptise her next week before leaving.  we will see!!! i wish i could of had investigators like her more often on the mission, but its better later then never!!

Well, this is my last week!! gotta work will all my might so i can end with a bang!!!! im going to see if i can spend pday and tuesday in conquista to say goodbye to some people there, or just tuesday then wed and thursday i should be in Salvador.  we will see what happens.  then i am home!!! its hard to believe that its all coming to an end, but one more week, then i can think of home!!! haha

June 27, 2011

Man, last week the head of my shaver broke a little.  its not a real break, but somethink punched a 2mm hole in it, so it scrapes my face.  so im going to need to replace the header when i get home.  I bought a razer to use for the time being.  The best one they have here is the Gillette 3 blade.  it would be nice to have a better one, but it works for know.  Shaving with a razor isnt as hard as i thought. haha

Also, transferes!!!!!   i am staying in Brumado to finish my mission here.  And our district didnt change, so it will be interesting.

The work is going, we have some good investigators but last week and this week are their mid year school break. so people are traveling and such.  a little difficult to work with people when they are out of town.

Elder de Melo is always full of experiances.  He is kinda ditzy, so its one big moment sometimes.  But we have been working together very well.  I think sometimes we are so intuned that we think the same things at times.  so its going well. i let him be senior sometimes to share the load and we works very well.

June 20, 2011

I am well.  Had a good relaxing P-day.  Made french toast and Syrup. (We sent him some Maple syrup flavoring.)  The syrup wasnt perfect but it was good enough.  So that was the highlight of the day!!  The work is going.  We found a good number of new investigators, but no one went to church (that was a new this week).  The enemy has been working quite well with some of the investigators.  So i got to pray and do better at protecting them and find them at home for return visits.  Marísia, one of the potential baptisms a few weeks ago, went to church by herself yesterday.  that suprised me, so we will work hard to see if she is really ready for this saturday!!!  ::fingers crossed::

Last sunday (not yesterday)  Alessandra, one of my baptisms here in brumado, gave a talk, and the week before bore her testimony.  Its was one of the most powerful testimonies i have witnessed lately.  Usually, the kids are irreverant and such during sac, but when she got up and spoke, it was silent.  i almost cried because i felt the spirit so strong. definetly a moment i wont ever forget, being able to see the difference that i helped make in the life of someone.  a great feeling.

Next week, i believe, the ward temple caravan is leaving for Sao Paulo.  i think the Recife temple is closed for cleaning or something, since they usually go there.  there is a caravan schedualed every 3 months i think.  not sure how many people are going though.

The last Allen graduation.  Did they mention anything about Shelly being the last of 4 Allen kid´s graduating from Silverado?  that would be cool if they did.  Man, its weird that all us kids are grown up and out of High school.  Even more wierd is that shelly is only one year behind me in school now!!!!! really wierd. haha 

Jacob is going on a mission this week!?!?!?!?  Yeah!!!!!!!  only stinky part is that i wont be able to see him for another two years though.  be sure to get his email/address so i can write to him!!! 

you got the itinerary already. (Flight itinerary to go home in August!)  ah, i sent it again just a few minutes ago.  i guess you will have two copies. haha  i wasnt very excited to see it when i opened my email.  Im excited, but also sad. but i will do my best to make the time remaining the best part!!

Im praying for you that you will have success with your interview!!!!!!!

Well, good luck with everything at home!!! hope all goes through!!

June 13, 2011

wow, alot is happening, i almost forgot that shelly was graduating untill last week when u guys mentioned it.  man, shelly is growing up!!!

About the package, just send money, i dont think it really will help much sending another package, since ill be just about finishing when i get it. so dont worry about sending a package.

Zone conference was really good. i learned alot that will help with the next 2 months and after the mission.  had a training about being pro-active (i need to work on that more), strengthening our testimonies, etc.  I also was privileged to bear my ``leaving`` testimony, since we most likely wont have another Zone Conference before i leave.  so that was really wierd.  i didnt even know what to say.  I just talked about relying on the Lord and ``dont think, just do`` which is one of my lines.  I had a quick interview with President and then we ran to the Bus station to go home.  I was able to buy a cuia and chimarrão

Elder de Melo is doing well, he helps me stay focused and from stressing out sometimes. so its good. haha he adds a bit of ``youth`` into our companionship, since he is sometimes like a big kid.  but its going well. we are gonna work really hard this week.  so im trying to prep my mind to work extra hard.

June 6, 2011

So the open house went decently well. we didnt have multidudes of people flowing in and out of the church but had people that went and were interested.  It was held in the chapel, between 9am-6pm.  i helped do some contacts to invite people in, kept movies playing in the sacrament room (had a projecter and a computer set up) and helped coordinate things.  the members were in their respective rooms to explain about each organization and such.  The purpose was to help people that dont like going to church meetings, get to know the church more in a non-commiting way.  it went well. we have some people schedualed to visit this week.  so we will see how it really goes.

Yes, Elder Morris is the Finacial Secretary. haha the Executive Secretary was one of the americans he trained, so its a father-son combo, haha.  Its a different side of the mission, working in the office, you dont ahve alot of time to teach, so its more office work.  its different. im sure he likes and dislikes it at the same time.  Its a good break from field work sometimes, but you arent as much a missionary when in the office.  im not sure if he will finish his mission there or no, we will see.

Kelsey!!! i havent heard from her in ages.  haha thats cool that she swang by, haha i have such memories of the CTM with her.  it was a great time.  i hope i get to chat with her a little when i get home to remish on the mission.  haha

i sent two postcards like two ish weeks ago, so they should eventually be arriving in vegas.  keep me updated if i need to buy more.  okay?

well, friday will be Zone conference in conquista!!! yay, get to see President.  i think it will be my last one before going home...so sad!!  but oh well.  it should be good to see president again and help the newbies become great missionaries. haha

well, got to run.  lunch time!!!! untill monday!!!

Snipets from March 30 to May 30:

May 30

I am doing well, a little tired but thats normal, haha. Its ``cold`` here. Its usually about down to 60 at night and as high as 80 during the day, the sun is still a little strong lately. Its not really been raining much, maybe once or twice a week. yes, i am still walking alot, my weight hasnt changed haha. i guess all the walking keeps me from getting fat.

What did you end up doing for your Birthday on P-Day ?

i didnt do a whole lot, but President authorized me in buying a cake for my birthday, so i bought one with my card (since im out of mission money, darn expenses) and i will be reembursed for it, yay! other then that....i work. haha there isnt a whole lot to do for birhtdays on the mission. but thats fine with me.
Did those baptisms happen last Saturday? How is the work coming along with
your new companion?

Well, last week was a really high hopes week. We had a possibility of 7 people being baptised, but in the end only 1 person entered the waters of baptism.
We are preparing to have an Open House saturday. i spent alot of time this weekend to get things ready. We made a banner, that took several hours of designing and painting. Its finished, but we jsut have to hang it up now. how, not sure yet, but ill figure it out. ill send a picture of the banner next week, i forgot to take one last night.

May 23

So far i havent done anything yet (for his birthday), since yesterday was sunday, i couldnt really do anything. We did go to a nearby city to have lunch at a members house. They are really rich. I think we were driving at more then 100 mph the whole way there. Its a crazy straight and flat road with little to no one on it. it was fun though haha. they made a southern style lunch, which was rice with diced meat, and a pasta with a white sauce and ham. was really good. then ice cream after. was really yummy. Then we did a little lesson with a friend of theirs and watched The Restoration on the big flat screen. was nice. im not sure if i want to buy anything yet or not. im thinking of just maybe having you save it till i get back, since ill be needing money when i get back. but then again, its always nice buying something new. what i really have no idea yet. there are a lot of little things i would want to buy but they are more of impulse purchases then something that will really be useful. what do u think i should buy? haha

Elder de Melo (Kevin’s companion) is from Recife. He has 4 months on the mission and he is a really goofy, but great guy. He is always wanting to help people and tells them that they are awesome. He is really helping me be more animated, so it will help alot.

Well, this week has been cold. I felt for Conquista tuesday and it was hot. We told Miranda´s newbie and Melo that Brumado was hot. We get there and its raining and freezing thursday, and it hasnt heated up much since. i was a little freaked out about that, but it made me laugh.

I was talking with the members that live in the other city and they really have been praying to have Livramento opened, and i think it can really happen. Im kinda learning what its like to live in a city where you are the only members. it must be really lonesome. but it should change maybe here in the near future.

May 18

I am staying in Brumado and will be receiving a new companion. His name is Elder de Melo. Im not sure how much time he has in the mission, since i havent actually received him yet. I am with the LZs in Conquista for P-day and will be receiving him later today. This will be a really good chance for me to really get my spirits running high and working at a higher level. Elder Miranda, the junior of the other pair in my district ( and house) is training a missionary from Argentina!! its gonna be cool not to be the only foreiner and i will learn a bit of spanish too, yay!!

Did you receive the rest of the packages?

yes, i got them today since im in conquista. Elder Caravello (one transfer ahead of me and my LZ) was very excited to see the twissilers (wow cant spell) so, i let him snag a few. i am really excited about the Maple cause i havent been able to find the maple that was in our house. so now i can actually make pancakes with syrup. just got to find corn syrup or some other type of thickiner.
im glad to hear that Amber´s wedding went well. I cant believe that she is going to Mexico. i never heard where kim went for her honeymoon. maybe she told me but i forgot. wish i could of been there, but im needed here. i do really want to see how stunning i looked there though. Haha (Cardboard Elder Kevin made his appearance at Amber’s wedding. He hopes to be present in the flesh when his last sister gets married…..sometime in the far, distant future!!!)

well, its really weird to think that im turning 21 in less then a week and that i have just two transferes left. it really is still unreal, but we know all good things must come to an end one day. so about my birthday, whats gonna happen about it? if u think its a better idea, maybe just save the money you would send or smoething and use it for when i come back...? idk, what do you think?

May 9

Long time, no talk right haha i really enjoyed the phone call. it will help me get through the last 3 months. its still hard to believe how time is flying, i dont want it to come to an end so quickly, but i have no control over that unfortunately.
In our phone call- Kevin mentioned two phrases that the people always like to say. We asked him to share those with us again:

alright, here are those two lines.
Deus é Fiel = “God is Faithful”
Sé Deus quiser = “If God wants to”

if u have space in the package, maple seasoning would be really nice to have to eat good old pancakes. i would ask for peanut butter, but i can wait 3 more months and it would be too big.

well, have a good wedding Amber, i want pictures to be sent to me please.

May 4

As of today, P-DAY will be on Mondays. so i will be doing emails on monday for the rest of my mission. so dont forget!!!

we didnt do alot of tracting. we did witness a motorcycle accident infront of the church. A guy was trying to turn and a drunk on his bike drilled into the side of the car. From what we say, he just got his teeth knocked out and thats all. He was crying for his mom because earlier, his mom told him not to leave the house drunk. goes to show that we need to listen to our mothers advice.

i got a chance to bear my testimony at church, and that made me feel really good. i think it helped fortify me a little spiritually.

How tall are you??? Have you grown any inches since you left on your
mission? Dad really wants to know!!!!!!!!

i think i have grown an inch. but i cant comfirm that, ill look tonight and during the phone call, ask me about it.

How would you compare Brazilian Families with American Families? Do they
have FHE? What do they do for fun or recreation? Is your ward large and
active?

brazilian families, i think, are more tighter nit then in the states. its alot common here to see people married and still living with their parents, or in the same city. its not very often that a child leaves the parent´s city to live some where else. i like how they are really tightly nit, but at the same time, it doesnt really give alot of liberty, sometimes, for the kids to really have liberty to study abroad or stuff like that. Of course, this isnt for every single family, but a common thing. yes, they have FHE here. its a very strong program. they also hold missionary FHEs, where they invite the missionaries and non-members to participate, and it really works for the work. our ward is small is, but its growing!! it suffers from inactive people with strong testimonies (why? idk). so we are working to reactivate them.

Setting sun in Brumado

May 8 – Mother’s Day – We had a wonderful phone conversation with Kevin (Elder Allen). The next time we talk to Kevin will be when he flies home from Brazil.

April 27

well, today im a bit earlier on the internet cause in the after noon we will have to work. tonight we have to go to conquista for a suprise training with the Assitances. arg. oh well.

What are the schools like around you? Do the kids attend just like US
imagine they are approaching summer break??

i dont fully understand how the schools work here, but here they study either in the morning or the afternoon, not ``full time`` like we do. their summer break was during our winter, so its reversed. they have a little bit of time untill their mid year break.

Any good stories this week?

hmmm....let me think. well we opened up another little bairro thats just out side of the city. Elder Andrade is responsible for that for the time being. If we end up having alot of success there, then we could, in the near future, open Branch and help Brumado turn in to a District. that would be awesome. but we are in the beginning stages of the work. so we will see how it goes.
Got a tracting moment?

not anything super special, let me think. well the other day, a women called us from across the street. she asked for ``the bible you guys use``. haha apparently there where missionaries that taught her awhile ago, that werent able to give her a BoM (Book of Mormon). so tomorrow we will go back to give her one and teach her. yesterday, we went to teach her, but she said her daughter wanted to be there for the visit too, so we will see how it goes. we are having alot of little successes lately. its pretty sweet.

April 13

Happy Easter!!!!!

this is a great time to reflect on the importance of the Atonement and Christ´s ressurection!! do it!!

i did have a funny incident yesterday. we were hitting up a house of an investigator we found monday. i pushed the intercom to see if she lived there. i released the call button, and the tone kept on dialing!!! i freak out and tried to get it to stop (people get really angry when u buzz for too long). nothing worked, so what did i do? i walked away like nothing happened. I passed by later that day and saw a girl in front of the house. i stopped to ask here in the lady lived there, and she said yes and that she was her daughter. haha somehow the intercom entered the conversation, and i confessed that it was me and that i had walked away (since she asked what i did) she laughed and forgave me. haha it was funny.

what is interesting about the city here?

hmm...well the people are a little bit more richer and a bit more educated (not in a mean way). there seems to be like a wierd ratio of guys to girls. like for every guy there is 7 girls. its crazy, but oh well, not much we can do about it.

What fun things do you do on P-day?

sleep, eat, play games, internet, Brumado has nothing really to do. haha

How does Brazil celebrate Easter?

people usually go out of town to visit relatives and such. nothing too special. instead of small eggs being hidden, they just buy big chocolate eggs that are usually filled with some sort of candy or what not and give it as presents.

Well, lately, i have been trying to do more excersises, cant spell. a member gave me the idea to start doing small sets of knuckle push-ups to get my body used to it qquickly. man, it hurts but its working so far. so ive been trying to get better at doing excersises. haha yay!!

APRIL 6

Im doing well. a little tired, but thats normal. Its good having a full house. a little packed and sometimes rough getting ready for the day, but its a lot more stress relieving after a long day. The missionaries are Elder Andrade and Elder Miranda, Both are from the state of Sao Paulo, not the city. They both are really tight, so its good to have them with us to work Brumado.

March 30

Do the wards in your mission have Youth Conferences and dances? How about
Girls Camp? What do the boys do for Young Men? I don’t imagine they have
scouting...or do they? Scouts is American. Do they have something
Brazilian. Good question for your Brazilian companions!

They have encampments here, its used to be together, but this year its seperate. there is scouting here, but its mainly a program that just evangelical churches do, and the church doesn’t, not sure why. i forgot the reason.

Transfers are this week! What happened????

i stayed and my companion stayed. but we are receiving 2 more missionaries in our area, so il will be the LD (District Leader) over them and we will live in the same house. they arrive tommorow!!! will be good.

I will be sending two postcards of Brumado here today or tommorow. so look forward to that. Last sunday, i also was assigned to speak in sacrament, You Jynxed me!!!!!!!!!! bishop called at 8pm saturday to tell me that i would the next day. so i talked about faith. it wasnt very good cause i wasnt prepared enough, but oh well, i got it over.

Scroll down to Feb 9th and read this entry backwards – it will make more sense! :o)

March 23, 2011
haha i loved the story about your darling little angels at church. haha i just cant stop cracking up, i can see brother tanner just watching and enjoying the scene. haha tell him i said hi!!!

In Conquista today (again) since tomorrow is Zone Conference. been awhile since the last one, so im excited. im really hungrey too. havent eaten much today. today at 9, we were supposed to meet with Paulo and Claudia at the Forum to get their documents to get married next month. but they didnt show up....i wasnt a happy camper. we walked all the way to their house and no one was home. arg. oh well. ill just burn them (give them a mouth full) on friday, nicely of course.

i have been out of mission money for the past week. so i have had to buy alot with my card unfortunately. we dont really have time to cook. we get home and all i want to do is plan then sleep. i would cook if i had more time.

we dont do alot of splits, but we are trying to plan some with the members to get more lessons with members. its usually people going to visit investigators or what not with us. not a whole lot are going on currently though. but we are trying to get it going.

i havent spoken in this area yet, and dont jynx me!!! i have spoken in Ilhéus centro and i think thats it. i forget where else i have spoken.

well, we had a baptism on saturday!!! yay!!! it was Ana Clara, like i mentioned earlier. They were late to her baptism but everything worked out in the end still. She was so happy. i got to baptise her, so it was that much more special. i wanted Higley to baptise her, but she requested that i do it. cant complain about that. so maybe we get one more baptism before higley gets transfered. i want him to baptise someone. we will see.

(story below told to Amber….and the signature, too~!)
we have rats in this house too!!!! arg, its so annoying. i almost killed this sucker 3 times. The first two times he was hiding behing our bathroom door when i went to use the bathroom. it literally scared the poop out of me the first time. we were juking eachother around the toilet till he got smart and ran down the drain. the second time he just ran under the door. arg. i want to kill him!!!!!!!!!


well, i love ya!!!

Elder Allen ``the first born son of the family``

Elder Allen and the 84 year old lady he baptised.





March 16, 2011
Good, thats good to hear that Preston is safe. (A friend of ours is serving as a missionary in Japan.) i saw what was happening in japan at lunches. its really a scary situation with the earthquakes, tsunamis and the nuclear power plant situation. Im praying for all of them.
We have 4 people set up for baptisms this saturday, 3 are a family and a daughter of a part member family. Our family almost didnt agree to signing the forms for saturday, so that was really a show of faith on my side helping them get through doubt and them accepting and showing their faith. i was soo relieved afterwards.
Now that Carnaval is over (?) ¬ are you finding more people to share the
Gospel with?

yea, its a bit eaiser to find people at home now, haha since they are all back from traveling. we have been having a bit more success finding people to teach. just got to get them to church.

New foods?......Are you cooking? What is that store you have purchased
things from ¬ a bakery? Bread Store?

yea, its a bakery where you pick what breads you want and then you take them to be put in a bag and its 20 cents each. its nice. not really too much new foods yet. I am with the Lzs today and Elder Kinney made a banana cream pie, so we will eat that later. he likes to cook, so we will try to make something during our division thursday and friday. we will see


March 9, 2011
Man, what i would do for a nice cold day here in Brumado! The weather here is really similar to vegas, hot and dry. I like it better. i just want the hot to change to cold. haha oh well. not much i can do about that.
well, this first week has been interesting. Helping my new companion, Elder Higley, get more comfortable with the language and being patient with him. ITs been good working here though. Our most progressing investigator is Alessandra. She has a date for the 19th. she just has to fix a few things. Then we will teach her kids that are of age. We are starting to work on a part member family. The wife and son are baptised, but the husband and daughter arent. The husband almost got baptised but they arent legally married. so we will baptise the daughter and get them married. I dont really know anyone here still and dont know most of the members, so i got alot to learn.

I googled Brumado to learn a little more about the area and it looks like
you are in another beautiful area of the country. There are a handful of
pictures online and wikipedia says the economy seems to be centered around mining. Do you see that? Of the people you have met so far ¬ what do they do for a living? How is the ward/branch? Isn’t it about time for Carnival?

ITs mining? i was wondering, cause here is where alot of rich people live. I only know what the bishop doesnt and he works with mining. haha figured. The ward is small. about 50 people were there last sunday. but we will do something about that. Carnival ended today. Monday and yesterday, it was dead here. so not much results the past two days.
How does this area compare with the other areas you have served in?

Here its a little bit harder, since it has more richer people, and we are the only missionaries for this city. so lots of walking. Its hot and dry here. so its more like vegas. haha not as much member help but im planning on having members do visits with us.

Dad really is interested in whether or not you have grown! In height? I
believe he grew a couple inches on his mission!! Do your clothes still fit
you? :o)

all of my clothes fit still, so i appearently havent grown that much. idk ill have to check my height though. i have been hovering around 150ish pounds, so i have gained a little weight. where it went to, idk haha

Any requests for your next package??

umm...since last week. iwouldnt mind a football and some piano sheet music. i have been wanting to tinkier with the church piano the past few weeks, but without sheet music i cant do anything. not sure what else.

Yay, racco is getting married. i will for sure be there. atlest some one is waiting for me to get back home. haha Man, its soo weird to hear that trevik is coming home and the rest of the boys are doing well. keep up on jacob and JR.

Well, i love ya!! the past week i have had to kinda use a good chunk of my personal money, since transferes sucked all of my missionary money and had to buy stuff and such. This house is really dirty too. so lots of work to do.

Looks like it is really hot in Itabuna...the night before transfers to Brumado!!!



March 2, 2011

on saturday i was in ilheus to see a live broadcast of Elder Nelson visiting Bahia. He did a session with the missionaries. It was really awesome. He was there with the Area Presidency and Elder Snow of the presidency of the Seventy. Unfortunately, i only got to see Nelsons talk due to lack of planning of the LZs of ilheus and such. was really good though.

the really news though is i did get transfered. Out of the Beloved California ward to the hot Brumado city. My new companion is Elder Higley. He is from alabama and he is on his second transfer and i am his second companion. So i will be helping him with portugues alot. Will be really good for me.

I think it’s about time to put together another package. Any requests?

yesssss, packages. umm...probably one or two more deoderant sticks. I wouldnt mind Maple syrup, or at least maple to make syrup. probably would be easier, the second one. Maybe send a new memory card or something. My 4 gb one is have problems for some reason. its really annoying. umm....anything else....any food or candy would be good. i cant think of anything else at the moment though.

Tell Kelsie to write me, i want to hear about her experiances. i almost forgot that she came back already. i heard, through my companion, that her cousin or something is serving in Brasil now. is that true?



Feb 23, 2011

It sounds like there are still many missionaries in the Provo MTC ¬ or assigned to
other state-side missions ¬ while waiting for their visas. It doesn’t sound
like your mission has received many missionaries in the field yet. How is this
affecting your mission? Are more Brazilian young men accepting mission
calls?
Our ward will be sending out, i believe 5 missionaries in the next month. That overshadows any other ward in this stake. Its awesome. But in general, brasil is short of missionaries to send out. i heard they may be bring people from other latin american countries to aliviate the burden. idk exactly though. but our mission is still really short on missionaries. we are recieving missionaries, but it could be more. so we will see.

How are you and your companion? What are you learning from him?...and what
is he learning from you? I imagine it is kinda nice being on the ³training²
side of the calling now!

We are doing well. working hard this last week of the transfer. im learning to be better in the little things, to be that much more qualified to have the spirit and to sacrafice and move out of the comfort zone and such.

Baptisms are always a spiritual uplifting experiance, but they are always stressfull and never go completely right. haha it was great to see Jackaline baptised and making that commitment in life.

Yesterday, i found a mouse that was having fun in our house. He was hidding in my SUITCASE!!!! i went to get a new tube of chapstick and he was there on the top of my stuff looking at me. He ran away and went behind a wood plank that was against the wall. So i kicked the wood to crush him between the wall. Unfortunatley i was in sandles bare footed. so my big toe nail broke and it hurts a little. its better now, but it was crazy opening that case to see him staring at me innocently. interesting story of the week. Haha

The Nelsons are moving?!?!? aww man. oh well. life changes often. Soon the ward will have to deal with us moving too haha. i should be home i think the 12th. but i will update everyone if i learn of anything new. man, less then 6 months. gotta work hard.
May 14th?!? aww, couldnt she wait 3 more months, :( oh well. not much i can do about it. i just pray shelly doesnt suprise us all. haha i cant miss 3 weddings of my sister.
Well, im doing well. just trying to keep thoughts of after the mission out of my head to keep from being distracted. This is the last week of this transfer, so Elder Favreau and i are working hard to get things rolling for next transfer, if one of us leaves.




Feb 16, 2011

Happy Valentine’s Day! Do they celebrate Valentine’s Day in Brazil?

Yea, but its in like june or something, its kinda different. haha Happy Singles Awareness day (for me since im single, haha)

We have been trying to better our first lessons, so it can be more spiritual and easier to tell if the people really are interested or not. Doing that we have found a few new people that could progress well. we will see. We have Jacaline lined up to be baptised this saturday. The interview will be tommorow, yay!!! im still praying though that it goes through. The members help alot, we ask and they visit. we arent getting much references though. so we are doing what we can to better getting them. This is a very good ward, they just have had a low period. so we are trying to animate everyone. haha


On sunday, president Vecchi visited our wards, since he was here to do interviews. it was really good seeing him talk in sacrament, trying to get the ward more animated about missionary work to get a temple here in Bahia. its possble to happen in the near future. we will see. We were in Gospel principles class and the teacher pulled president out of the hall, or whereever he was, to talk to the class. it was really funny, and president bore a strong testimony about the church and the little things the newbies are learning in the gospel. it was really cool.

well, not much else is new. just working hard and trying to become more diligent. love ya!!



Feb 9, 2011


English classes started two weeks ago, but the first week only had 3 people. we taught the alphabet and numbers. last week had no one because there was a wedding. so tonight should be a legit class. we will see. we are doing them on pday nights. helps doing it on that night. not much has really happened with it yet.

What is new? Investigators? personal study experiences?....any tracting
stories?

well, i was sick, i went to the doctor to see if i had a sinus infection. he thought so, so im taking an antibiotic and cold medicine. but im better now. not much else is new with me. we kicked alot of our investigators since they werent going to church or reading. so we are looking for news now. not much luck though. no one super eliet yet (cant spell)

We do have one person that is progressing alot. the other day we taught the law of chasity, was awkward cause our investigator is 20 like me, haha but she has a BF and i hope she doesnt break the law of chasity with him now. she is really excited and concentrated on being baptise. it will happen on the 26 if all goes well.

oh dont forget to email Gary that here in 6 months ill be back at BYU to work!!!

man six months left. wow time has passed quickly!!







March 16, 2011
Good, thats good to hear that Preston is safe. (A friend of ours is serving as a missionary in Japan.) i saw what was happening in japan at lunches. its really a scary situation with the earthquakes, tsunamis and the nuclear power plant situation. Im praying for all of them.
We have 4 people set up for baptisms this saturday, 3 are a family and a daughter of a part member family. Our family almost didnt agree to signing the forms for saturday, so that was really a show of faith on my side helping them get through doubt and them accepting and showing their faith. i was soo relieved afterwards.
Now that Carnaval is over (?) ¬ are you finding more people to share the
Gospel with?

yea, its a bit eaiser to find people at home now, haha since they are all back from traveling. we have been having a bit more success finding people to teach. just got to get them to church.

New foods?......Are you cooking? What is that store you have purchased
things from ¬ a bakery? Bread Store?

yea, its a bakery where you pick what breads you want and then you take them to be put in a bag and its 20 cents each. its nice. not really too much new foods yet. I am with the Lzs today and Elder Kinney made a banana cream pie, so we will eat that later. he likes to cook, so we will try to make something during our division thursday and friday. we will see


March 9, 2011
Man, what i would do for a nice cold day here in Brumado! The weather here is really similar to vegas, hot and dry. I like it better. i just want the hot to change to cold. haha oh well. not much i can do about that.
well, this first week has been interesting. Helping my new companion, Elder Higley, get more comfortable with the language and being patient with him. ITs been good working here though. Our most progressing investigator is Alessandra. She has a date for the 19th. she just has to fix a few things. Then we will teach her kids that are of age. We are starting to work on a part member family. The wife and son are baptised, but the husband and daughter arent. The husband almost got baptised but they arent legally married. so we will baptise the daughter and get them married. I dont really know anyone here still and dont know most of the members, so i got alot to learn.

I googled Brumado to learn a little more about the area and it looks like
you are in another beautiful area of the country. There are a handful of
pictures online and wikipedia says the economy seems to be centered around mining. Do you see that? Of the people you have met so far ¬ what do they do for a living? How is the ward/branch? Isn’t it about time for Carnival?

ITs mining? i was wondering, cause here is where alot of rich people live. I only know what the bishop doesnt and he works with mining. haha figured. The ward is small. about 50 people were there last sunday. but we will do something about that. Carnival ended today. Monday and yesterday, it was dead here. so not much results the past two days.
How does this area compare with the other areas you have served in?

Here its a little bit harder, since it has more richer people, and we are the only missionaries for this city. so lots of walking. Its hot and dry here. so its more like vegas. haha not as much member help but im planning on having members do visits with us.

Dad really is interested in whether or not you have grown! In height? I
believe he grew a couple inches on his mission!! Do your clothes still fit
you? :o)

all of my clothes fit still, so i appearently havent grown that much. idk ill have to check my height though. i have been hovering around 150ish pounds, so i have gained a little weight. where it went to, idk haha

Any requests for your next package??

umm...since last week. iwouldnt mind a football and some piano sheet music. i have been wanting to tinkier with the church piano the past few weeks, but without sheet music i cant do anything. not sure what else.

Yay, racco is getting married. i will for sure be there. atlest some one is waiting for me to get back home. haha Man, its soo weird to hear that trevik is coming home and the rest of the boys are doing well. keep up on jacob and JR.

Well, i love ya!! the past week i have had to kinda use a good chunk of my personal money, since transferes sucked all of my missionary money and had to buy stuff and such. This house is really dirty too. so lots of work to do.



March 2, 2011

on saturday i was in ilheus to see a live broadcast of Elder Nelson visiting Bahia. He did a session with the missionaries. It was really awesome. He was there with the Area Presidency and Elder Snow of the presidency of the Seventy. Unfortunately, i only got to see Nelsons talk due to lack of planning of the LZs of ilheus and such. was really good though.

the really news though is i did get transfered. Out of the Beloved California ward to the hot Brumado city. My new companion is Elder Higley. He is from alabama and he is on his second transfer and i am his second companion. So i will be helping him with portugues alot. Will be really good for me.

I think it’s about time to put together another package. Any requests?

yesssss, packages. umm...probably one or two more deoderant sticks. I wouldnt mind Maple syrup, or at least maple to make syrup. probably would be easier, the second one. Maybe send a new memory card or something. My 4 gb one is have problems for some reason. its really annoying. umm....anything else....any food or candy would be good. i cant think of anything else at the moment though.

Tell Kelsie to write me, i want to hear about her experiances. i almost forgot that she came back already. i heard, through my companion, that her cousin or something is serving in Brasil now. is that true?



Feb 23, 2011

It sounds like there are still many missionaries in the Provo MTC ¬ or assigned to
other state-side missions ¬ while waiting for their visas. It doesn’t sound
like your mission has received many missionaries in the field yet. How is this
affecting your mission? Are more Brazilian young men accepting mission
calls?
Our ward will be sending out, i believe 5 missionaries in the next month. That overshadows any other ward in this stake. Its awesome. But in general, brasil is short of missionaries to send out. i heard they may be bring people from other latin american countries to aliviate the burden. idk exactly though. but our mission is still really short on missionaries. we are recieving missionaries, but it could be more. so we will see.

How are you and your companion? What are you learning from him?...and what
is he learning from you? I imagine it is kinda nice being on the ³training²
side of the calling now!

We are doing well. working hard this last week of the transfer. im learning to be better in the little things, to be that much more qualified to have the spirit and to sacrafice and move out of the comfort zone and such.

Baptisms are always a spiritual uplifting experiance, but they are always stressfull and never go completely right. haha it was great to see Jackaline baptised and making that commitment in life.

Yesterday, i found a mouse that was having fun in our house. He was hidding in my SUITCASE!!!! i went to get a new tube of chapstick and he was there on the top of my stuff looking at me. He ran away and went behind a wood plank that was against the wall. So i kicked the wood to crush him between the wall. Unfortunatley i was in sandles bare footed. so my big toe nail broke and it hurts a little. its better now, but it was crazy opening that case to see him staring at me innocently. interesting story of the week. Haha

The Nelsons are moving?!?!? aww man. oh well. life changes often. Soon the ward will have to deal with us moving too haha. i should be home i think the 12th. but i will update everyone if i learn of anything new. man, less then 6 months. gotta work hard.
May 14th?!? aww, couldnt she wait 3 more months, :( oh well. not much i can do about it. i just pray shelly doesnt suprise us all. haha i cant miss 3 weddings of my sister.
Well, im doing well. just trying to keep thoughts of after the mission out of my head to keep from being distracted. This is the last week of this transfer, so Elder Favreau and i are working hard to get things rolling for next transfer, if one of us leaves.




Feb 16, 2011

Happy Valentine’s Day! Do they celebrate Valentine’s Day in Brazil?

Yea, but its in like june or something, its kinda different. haha Happy Singles Awareness day (for me since im single, haha)

We have been trying to better our first lessons, so it can be more spiritual and easier to tell if the people really are interested or not. Doing that we have found a few new people that could progress well. we will see. We have Jacaline lined up to be baptised this saturday. The interview will be tommorow, yay!!! im still praying though that it goes through. The members help alot, we ask and they visit. we arent getting much references though. so we are doing what we can to better getting them. This is a very good ward, they just have had a low period. so we are trying to animate everyone. haha


On sunday, president Vecchi visited our wards, since he was here to do interviews. it was really good seeing him talk in sacrament, trying to get the ward more animated about missionary work to get a temple here in Bahia. its possble to happen in the near future. we will see. We were in Gospel principles class and the teacher pulled president out of the hall, or whereever he was, to talk to the class. it was really funny, and president bore a strong testimony about the church and the little things the newbies are learning in the gospel. it was really cool.

well, not much else is new. just working hard and trying to become more diligent. love ya!!



Feb 9, 2011


English classes started two weeks ago, but the first week only had 3 people. we taught the alphabet and numbers. last week had no one because there was a wedding. so tonight should be a legit class. we will see. we are doing them on pday nights. helps doing it on that night. not much has really happened with it yet.

What is new? Investigators? personal study experiences?....any tracting
stories?

well, i was sick, i went to the doctor to see if i had a sinus infection. he thought so, so im taking an antibiotic and cold medicine. but im better now. not much else is new with me. we kicked alot of our investigators since they werent going to church or reading. so we are looking for news now. not much luck though. no one super eliet yet (cant spell)

We do have one person that is progressing alot. the other day we taught the law of chasity, was awkward cause our investigator is 20 like me, haha but she has a BF and i hope she doesnt break the law of chasity with him now. she is really excited and concentrated on being baptise. it will happen on the 26 if all goes well.

oh dont forget to email Gary that here in 6 months ill be back at BYU to work!!!

man six months left. wow time has passed quickly!!

Kevin with Elder Itinose and his wife. This is a great picture of Elder Allen ;o)

New Area - Itabuna

2/2/2011

i have a cold, with nose congestion, but other then that im well. dont know how u get sick in the heat but it happens. Got sniffles haha annoying but happens. We finally got a blender so i can make juices, yummy!!

We (Kevin and his companion) are great. working hard. he speaks (Portuguese) pretty well, so its not much trouble. it feels nice to be pretty much fluent. Haha

Saturday we had Baptisms. Yay, Wilson was baptised by me. Wilson dunked himself again in the water after he was baptised to make sure all of his sins were left there. haha Ester (84 yr lady) was baptised by Favreau. was funny seeing him try to delicately baptise and old women, but went fine. It was quite interesting, but went well. So nice to have baptisms.

Tuesday we had some food that is from the South, Rio Grande do Sul. its was soo good and such a change from beans and rice. Dont know how to describe it but it was good.

HAppy Birthday Shelly (Feb 6th)!!!! now you are legal!!! i havent sent the letter yet, we dont have a post office in our area, ill try to give it to some one to send here soon though. Love ya!!


1/26/2011

Things are going well with Elder Favreau. We have been working really hard the past week and will continue doing that. We so far have two people lined up for baptisms this weekend, one is a 71 year old lady that pretty much never lets us talk. We ask her something about Joseph Smith (etc.) and that launches her off on a voyage of stories. So we just teach her the basics and she should learn the rest while attending church in the future. She is really funny though. The other is Wilson, the guy I talked about last week. He is solid firm and we will have his interview friday. Keepin my fingers crossed.

Yesterday we had a conference with Elder Itinose (see photo). It was really really good. He taught us alot of technices on how to better our teaching and using the spirit. Favreau and i plan on integrating them today and try to work better. He also shared his decision on serving a mission. He was the only member of his family and the instant his parents knew he was going to serve a mission they pretty much turned against him and dissowned. During his mission, he commited to serve as best as he could to demostrate why that path was the right path. It was a really spíritual story. It shows the sacrafices that sometimes we have to make in our lives to live the true gospel of Christ.

We dont have any really good new investigators yet, havent had alot of time the past few days to do tracting, and when we were it didnt work. We do have this one lady that is baptist, but has alot of questions about our religion. Monday we visited her for like an hour and the whole time we were answering questions. So i pray something touches her heart and leads her to follow. we will see. This week we are going to tract alot and get references to find more good news. So it will be a hard week of work.

Hmm...being an online teacher (Mom) for BYU-I, thats interesting. kind of being a professor without actually working on campus. haha go for it. What are u applying at Phoenix university for again?

Well, normally p-day is today, but because of the conference yesterday, we are going to switch p-day with yesterday and work hard. it will be different, but we cant waist time.

Good Luck shelly with the cake (decorating competition) and All-state (Choir try-outs). dont worry, just do your best!!!

1/19/2011

i did not get transferred (this time), but Melo did. He is going to salvador and turning Senior!!! yahoo!! haha i received an American named Elder Favreau. He is from Mesa, Arizona. I knew him when i was in Ilhéus, so its not some one completely new. He has 6 months on the mission, and he just got transfered out of an area that was hot in baptisms, so im going to try to suck out every ounce of success they had to help our area grow.

No problems here, if anything is just being rediculously hot lately. I wish we would have rain, but then again it would be much more humid. so not much i can do about that. Yes, i have heared alot about the flooding ( in the southern parts of Brazil). Many people have died from this and supposedly it happens alot. i definetly hear the scripural profecies about the second coming ringing in my head!

My week was pretty great. Melo and i were really praying and seeking guidence from the Lord to find people that are wanting to be baptised. we found a man named Wilson in a new neighborhood that we are working in. He is awesome. We had the lesson before in the past, but for some reason, he stopped and fell into the world. we showed up at his door, and one of the first things he said was him wanting to be baptised. He went to church and everything!!! its awesome. I just need to learn how to really get guidance from the Lord and follow it everyday and we can work miracles here in California!!


Well, im doing fine so far. new transfere, new experiances!! i hope i can really grow and start having alot of success. I have alot of faith in this new combination, me and Favreau. We arent perfect in speaking portuguess, but i think it will humble us enough to have success. we will see!!!

Well, i love you and talk to you next week. i included an interview with elder melo!!!



1/12/2011

im good, with good health. Elder Melo got sick with a stomach virus sunday night, and was throwing up all night. i gave him a blessing of health at 4:30 am, in portuguese, and half awake. was pretty funny, cause he woke me up, i did the blessing, he threw up one more time, and sleep peacefully the rest of the night. i cant really remember what i said anymore. haha we are having problems with progressing investigators not going to church. we have a few people that have testimonies, but wont go to chruch. so we have to drop them. pray for us to have success with visits to church please. i heard from a few friends, aunt pat, and no one from the ward, unfortunately.
the past week we have been having alot of trouble following up´on investigators, so its been alot of walking, knocking, and walking again. we talk to people on the street to find more people to teach. so i pray that results in some success. im really trying to go the extra mile to get those extra blessings. man, last week of the transfer, i hope Elder Melo and I both stay one more transfer. we will see next monday.

Today, i bought a game, that is similar to Stragtego. Its just a good game to play with my companion when we have a bit of time. i trying to look for Monopoly Deal. its monopoly in the form of cards, alot faster and just as fun. None of the stores have them, since they are preparing for the new school year here in march. annoying!! oh well, patiences.

Dad, I really want to see your old (missionary) manual and such. It will be interesting to see how missionary work and conduct has evolved over the past few decades (since God never changes). We have a missionary manual, or the white bible, too. i usually keep it in one of my back pack pouches, since i dont like having alot of things occupy my shirt pocket, haveing it pressed against your chest all day every day in this heat adds one more unwanted comfort. i just keep a two-sided picture of Christ´s baptism and the First Vision and my pen in my shirt pocket. I put my transfer planner in my back pocket. just a few mission habits i have picked up, haha.

Haha, i wish sometimes i could have a lot of commentary books about the scripures, but i have my whole life to learn. when i get time again, i want to study the New testiment reading Jesus the Christ. it has everything about His life. it really is a great book. Also, one of the mission progress for becoming a better missionary, includes studying Preach My Gospel. one of the parts is finding all of Christ´s questions in the New Testiment and the Book of Mormon. its been really interesting reading how perfect of a teacher he was. No one could find fault in his ways. its really interesting.
Well, things are going decently well here in Ala California (who thought i would be living in california OUTSIDE


1/5/2011

had splits yesterday with my LD, was pretty good. it felt really different without my companion in the way of following the spirit. I had to kind of do it all by myself. Elder Santana (my LD with 9 months) definetly is different then my companion.

Well, the past few days have been really busy, with the division and us working hard. This week alot of appointments have fallen, but we are plugging along to make up for it


12/24/2010 – Phone call home!!! Merry Christmas!!



12/15/2010


im trying to do my best, like i mentioned in the other email. ``Remember who you are``, when the church authorities come, haha. i still remember mom saying that line. haha moms voice seems to be part of my conciouns (sp?)
I feel though, that this transfer will teach me alot. My junior companion, Elder Melo, is a great missionary and i feel that he really knows how to use the spirit. Im trying to learn how he does it so i can be even a better missionary. I was trained in the beggining how to ``teach lessons`` but our job is to ``Teach People``. its a hard habit that i have really be trying to break, ive never really be good at just following a feeling, because it moves me out of me comfort zone, my knowledge, and puts me into a plain that i dont know what the outcome will be. but thats what we need to do as missionaries, we need to learn how to figure out the needs of the people, figure out what they need to hear, know, or read, to change their hearts and follow Christ. This is my main challange currently, just listening and following the spirit.

12/8/2010

Yes, i got transfered.....im really sad, cause Elder Salla and I were really getting along very well, and i was kind of liking the area. but i guess thats the point of transferes, to not get comfortable. I got transfered to Itabuna, a city just 45 minutes away from Ilhéus. My companion is Elder Melo. I dont know too much about him yet, since i got into Itabuna at noon and he slept a good chunk of the afternoon. Im working in the California Ward. Its a really really strong ward, i heard. So i am excited to work in a stable functioning ward finally. So ill do my best.

Well, today, i woke up at 4:30 to go to the bus station to wait for Salla´s new companion. His bus didnt arrive till 5:45...lame. then we went home, conversed, and i finished packing. At 7:30. we went to the bus point to catch the bus. I got in Itabuna at 11. Dropped my luggage off at the house, had lunch at a members (sweet!!). We chatted and such. Then we went back home, where i unpacked and my companion napped. I washed my shirts, scrubbing the necks (the back mold specks arent going away). I then let the machine do the load, forgetting to put the drain pipe in the right sink. So water gushed out and got the detergent all wet....yea, that was a ::palm to face:: moment. oh well....haha then i drew. Yea, im starting to draw. Elder Salla drew alot, so i started a bit with him. now im here in the lan house. Thats my day so far. haha i dont know much about my area or companion yet, so next week ill let you know.

Well, thats pretty much it for the news. Im looking forward to christmas!!! Last christmas in the field.

Dec 2, 2010

First, we had a leadership training in Salvador the past few days again.  I didnt know about it till i got a phone call friday!  so that is why i havent responded. (We didn't hear from Kevin until Thursday....instead of his normal P-Day on Weds)  im in the office right now using the internet to send emails.  The internet has been out most of the day, for some reason.  The training was really good.  Still the same as last time but everytime u learn something new.  We were practicing on trying to let the spirit guide us with asking inspired questions to solve problems.  I dont think i really ever did that before, so it was really hard just tying to follow the spirit, but i really felt it so strongly when i tried.  I wish i had ``learned`` about this a long time ago.  Maybe i would of been more successfull in the past.  So ill try to put it into practice!!

Mom, did we do the paper work to have my spot saved for BYU.  Elder Morris had to do his application for BYU and he was having PResident do the ecclesiastical (sp?) endorsment, and i went to see if president could do mine and my info didnt show up.  whats going on? am i still in the BYU system?  could you check for me please and let me know.  maybe send president vecchi an email to figure out whats going on.

(Coincidentally - I was on the computer the same time this email came in.....so....I was able to give Kevin the information he needed to talk with his Mission President before he left to return to Itapatinga!! Wow! This would qualify as one of life's little miracles!)

Have you received any of the packages yet?  Just wonderingŠŠ.  It is the
topic of discussion on the email boards!

No, i havent received any packages.  i did receive a letter that dad sent.  Thank you Dad!!

How¹s the contacting going this week?  Any new prospects?

So far nothing with contacts, all of the people we find end up not being home or what not.  its quite frustrating!

Don¹t forget to send a postcard of this area.  What is different about this
area than Vitoria Conquista?

i found some, but wasnt able to buy them at the moment, but i will send one here in the next week.  Its a city, much smaller.  Its alot hotter, since its sits lower then Conquista, and its the capital of farming.  so lots of farm lands around the city.

I will not be adding any extra funds to your account until later in the
monthŠ..so be wise. Are your needs being met with the mission funds?  I have
been trying to keep your account around $70 to $100Š.but that has been a
little difficult to do.  So ­ keep us posted on your needs.

im doing fine with mission money so far.  im trying to not use my home money for things that arent neccisary.
 
I remember you asking about the black spots on your clothes.  Did you get
that resolved?  The problem is most likely with your washing machine....This is a typical problem for high humidity areas.

i havent had time to scrub them.  i was planning on doing it yesterday, but since im here in Salvador, its not possible. haha next week.  unless im transfered.  i wont know till monday.

Are you going to be transferred before ChristmasŠ.or will we have our
Christmas phone call from Itapetinga?  You probably don¹t know that info
right nowŠ..

i dont know yet. haha
 
How is your Book of Mormon reading going?  Reading it in 30 days is quite a
tall order!!

i was doing well till sunday.  i havent been able to read since then so....im not sure how its gonna go now. im really far behind.  ill try my best.


Are the people getting ready for Christmas yet?  Do they decorate?  Have
Christmas trees and cookies?

Yes, they are getting decorated, haha.  sometimes people have a few lines of lights and a fake christmas tree.  nothing like at home.  Could you take pictures of all the decorations and the Tree when u guys do it.  it would be cool to show to people when im teaching and such.  an i dea.  i havent put up my decortations yet, since ive been in salvador this week.

Well, i love you all.  Last week i didnt get to write what i was greatful for, and i want you all to know.....IM GREATFULL FOR U ALL!!!! i love you all and i wouldnt be who i am today if it werent for you all.  Im also greatful for the atonement of Christ.  Without it i would never be able to be cleansed of my sins to become a better person.  i would never be able to progress and i wouldnt be happy.  im greatful for this church, for the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  they are guides in our lives to return to our heavenly father.  im greatful for all the blessings i have received.  I am truely a blessed son of God.  I have an Awesome family, the priesthood in my life, and i have these two years to make miracles happen in others lives.  Nothing is better then a mission at this point of my life. 

Well, i love you all and i got to go!!!

Elder Allen

Nov 24, 2010

MAn, im missing the BYU snow now after hearing about this Blizzard buisness. haha  oh well, atlest i wont die from the black ice.  ill just sweat my socks off here, since its getting hotter. haha

So how are you?

Im doing good.  A little tired, but thats normal.

Tell me a story or two about the people you are serving?  Investigators?
Members?

Well, the people here are really lame, sometimes, the people here dont like setting appointments.  they dont let us in their houses and they arent at home when we set an appointment.  kind of annoying.  The members are decent.  They really help the members.  we havent had a lunch fall yet. so thats good. and all of our new investigators come because of members.  so its not too bad here. 

Are sunday meetings just like our meetings?  Sacrament?  Does your ward have
a Ward Mission LeaderŠ.and do you have those meetings every Sunday?

Sundays are normal.  They had meetings with the ward missionaries, but all of them are young women, who dont like to help.  Our WML helps us alot though.  He is really cool.  he is 25 and single. so we are trying to contact some single women to baptise for him. haha jk.
 

Any new foods or cooking experiences?  Member meals?

not really yet, just the normal rice beans and occasional changes.  Elder Salla likes making hot dogs.  So we buy lots, boil them, and eat them on bread loafs ( the kinda like in the story of Christ feeding the 5,000)  its good.

I put another $50 in your account.  Use it wisely. You said you go to
Conquista every week.  Why?

Every friday is district meeting, and district meeting is there in Conquista.  So we have to go there every week.  so thats why.

Well, we baptised again last sat.  We baptised a lady called Celma, she is 38 and the mother of the 18 yr old we baptised the first week i was here. 

President Vecchi Challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in 30 days starting tommorow.  So ill try to do it, not sure if i will in english or portugues though,  ill try port this time.

Well, not much else is going on.  i miss you guys.  Enjoy your thanksgiving.  Next year, ill be eating that pumpkin pies with you guys. haha  gtg Love ya

Nov 17, 2010

I dont have very many tracting stories, because we havent really had time to do much contacts on the street.  Im trying to plan in more time, since our minimum is 70 contacts and we are averaging half that so far.  So i got to fix that some how.  it doesnt help that our appointments are a bit far away from each other and we are working on working through the members so far.  We got a reference from our last baptism, the brother of our bishop, to teach his son, and he is really excited.  He just has to be legally married though before he can be baptised.  Its not hard to do, just get the papers, hold a little ceremony, then baptise afterwards.  so we will see how long that takes.
 
Itapetinga is the farm capital of Bahia, i believe.  they have lots of cow farms (should bring some memories back for dad). its a real city though, not like where dads from though (Malad, Idaho).  Also, money seems not to really last here, so this will be interesting with your guys´ short budget.  i dont plan on buying anything any time soon, unless its food if our money runs out.  We got to Conquista everyweek and that eats up R$ 40  everyweek.  we get reembursed for it, but still, the money seems to dissappear because of something.  it will be interesting though, but ill survive.  We get fed lunch everyday, so we just will eat alot at lunch if we dont have something to eat at home. no worries though, i want to loose that little bit of fat on my stomach so i can start doing toneing excersise and have real abs. hahaha
 
Yay!! 4 packages.  yay!!  hey, my cotton shirts have black dots starting to grow around the collars and areas that rub against me the most, i think it may be like mold or something.  i dont know how to get ride of it. they dont go away in the washer. im gonna try to do a good old fashion brasillian cleaning (scrubbing them) next pday and see if that helps.  Any other ideas?
 
I have had alot of dreams lately of me being home, coming home, or some wierd twist of me being home yet still a missionary.  its really annoying me and making me trunky.  Im trying to not think about that stuff, but my subconcious likes to think about it.  Its nothing like at the beggining of my mission.  Salla and i talk alot, but it still seems to pop into my subconsious.

Haha, (Dad) what are the odds, you being called the Gospel Doctrine Teacher. haha I guess you didnt have to go too long without teaching time. I guess thats what u get for showing off your Doctrinal knowlege to your new ward. haha im positive you will enjoy it. so im not worried.

man, a new office in the new auditorium (BYU- Idaho). haha thats pretty cool. Is this job kind of like your old job at VT (Virginia Tech) or Gary´s job at BYU, or is this different? Send pictures of your work and such!!!