July 22, 2013

How was the Lake Powell trip and the nice long drive?  Did anyone wakeboard? Throw any flips?  Im sure it was a blast!  Boa sorte Jessiqa!  You will do great!  The Lord will help you out every step of the way!  I know it!

Sorry, I dont have much time, But this week was felt a little longer than the others.  We did a lot of contacting this week and dropped several investigators because they are not progressing.  We found
several very cool people though!  And a couple that we have very high hopes for: Rubras and Lena.  They have one little boy that is only several months old.  He is very prepared.  He  told us that he has
been searching for the truth for several years. And all he has found is confusion, one doctrine that ontradicts another.  So he just stopped for a while.  Then he met us!  He told us that he knew
something is different about us an the way we "preach."  He really likes us and gives us rides whenever we are over at his house to where ever we need to go next.  He comes to the activities and will be coming to church next Sunday!

Antonio was Baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday!!  We set up a pool out back of the Chapel and thats where we held the baptismal service!  I will try and send a picture next week due to time and this ridiculously slow computador.

Today I spent the day cleaning the house, cooking some mean stir-fry, Reading Jesus the Christ, and exercised.  It was a nice and needed break.  So have you met (soon to be) Elder Garcias?!  Christian wrote me and told me that he met him and the temple and that he already knew you?  He sounds like a really nice guy.  Well thats about it for this week.  Thank you for everything!  I love you all so much!  Keep the faith!  Ate proximo!

July 15, 2013

Thanks for the email. Heh, I bet that was a long drive to Lake Powell. I remembre when I did it las Summer I sat in the middle of two of the seats because there was 4 of us in the back of that truck. My cabose still hurts... I hope al goes well with the Panguitch and Lake Powell trip. Don't do anything too crazy yeah? Jessiqa! Ah! I cant believe that its almost here!! I'm sure the talk was a huge success!!  The time is almost here! Im so excited for you!!

This week we did a lot of contacting, but still mamaged to get in a lot of lessons! We met some really cool people! It was a great week full of ups and downs. President Merrill came to visit and to see our living conditions. He gave a training to the members! It was really good! They all loved it, as did we! We will be moving houses soon because of the 2 big holes in our roof right now and the distance our house is from the Chapel. We walked from our house one day to the chapel and it took about an hour and 15 min. Its pretty far. So we should be moving soon.

Lucas the 22 year old that lives in a janitors closet, is doing amazing!! He is even sharing the gospel to other people and his family!! He is very humble and willing to leave everything behind to serve the Savior.  He even expressed desire to serve a mission like us. He got really excited when we told him that he could!! Its amazing to see the Gospel and The Spirit change peoples lives! We will have a baptism this Saturday! Antonio!! We are building a font right now, but if it isn't ready then we will go down to the Lake! Im super excited! Everything here is going great! Its super cold in the mornings and super toasty during the day. Kinda strange, but oh well. I sent some pics so hopefully they should get there. Thanks for everything! I love you all!! Keep the faith!!

July 8, 2013

The mission conference was amazing! I absoulutly love President and Sister Merrill! They are perfect for this mission and for us. He truly is na inspired man of God. it was mostly to get to to know him and Sister but we did have a small training as well as a testimony meeting. He knows exactly what to do. I am still in awe about how spiritual and inspired he is. We had interviews with him and during the prayer he answered many of my questions (Just during the prayer!!) It blew my mind. I know that they are perfect for this work here in Angola. They are going to be coming down to Huambo on Wednesday and will have a few training with us and the members. I am excited!!

The bus ride up to Luanda was long but it was beautiful!! i loved it! One min we would be driving through desert with almost no vegitation, just some dead grass then the next min it would literally be rainforest as far as the eye could see; with dense dark, dark green foliage and trees. It was amazing! The ride back....hmmmm, that was an adventure in and of itself. So we left at 19 and got home at at 6ish the next morning. I couldnt sleep. I only got a couple hours of sleep. And there was a drunk man that was walking around falling on people and talking to himself for the first 2 hours, A few crying babies, and two men that I was sitting next to that drank a whole bottle ( it was probably a liter) of Red Label Wine. So they were weird too. Then the drunk man passed out on the floor and stayed there for most of the rest of the trip. I felt bad for him. Oh yeah, there were a couple of chickens too. It was a night to remembre!

We didnt get much done in our área this week because of the Conference but we did manage to see Lucas. It was our second visit and he had already read up to chpt 14 in the Book of Mormon!! We were amaized! But Adelihno ( the Pastor) is very hard to sit with.  He is a very busy man. We will see.

Wow! This upcoming weeks will be very busy for all of you it looks like! Jessiqa: You will do amazing in your farewell talk, Just let the Spirit guide. D&C 84:85. You will do great! Girls cam sounds like it was a blast! I loved Scout camp, given it is a bit diferente from girls camp, But cool!!

I saw the Strength for the Youth pamphlet for the first time in Portuguese! The Lord is moving fast here in Angola to have those precious materials here to help the youth. The youth have such a hard time here to live the standards. The law of Chastity and modesty and language are almost completly off the radar. I have so much respect for the youth that I see here living the correct principles, as well as the grown adults. Marriage is unheard of. But that is the magnificance and majesty of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon, they change lives, mindsets, family situations, and trough the Atonement ALL can be made clean! What a bright prospect! Hope! Happiness! Eternal Life! All through the Atonement of Jesus Cristo! They pathway to Eternal Life and eternal happiness has already been carved deep into the histroy of the world and the history of man. It is a long, straight, narrow, secure, and sure path. It may be dark at times but that is why we are required to walk by FAITH. Christ will light the way. I know that through Christ we can all walk this path that has been carved and sculpted by His blood, His sweat, His tears, and His life. I love my Savior and I love each and every one of you so much!! Zach, Emma, Caleb, Noelle, Jessiqa, Mom and Dad!! And the Rest of our big happy family!!!

July 1, 2013

Family!

It sounds like the trip was a success!! Loads of fun and swimming!! Cooleo! Sorry that your phone floated down the river Dad... But Jessiqa! Done with work and getting ready to head out to California! I am super excited for you, but you already know that!

Two days ago we found out that President Merrill arrived and that this week on Wednesday we are going to take a bus (10 hours) to Luanda for a Mission Conference! I cant even describe what it means to have a mission presidente here in Angola with us now! I can already feel the change that, now we are the Mission of Angola. This is my country and it will always be my country and my people! I know that the lords hand is in the work here with us and with President Merrill! I can hardly wait!!

This week we marked 2 more baptismal dates. Linda and Antonio already have dates for the 13 (we had to move Antonio back a little) and we just set one with Lucas ( a 20 year old boy) and with Marcia( a 22 year old girl) both for the 20th of July!! Our families are a lot harder to teach and to sit with. They are always gone or at work or not home or something. I get very frustrated when we can't sit with them. We havent been able to sit with Adelinho ( the pastor) for 2 weeks because he is so busy. And Martihno we havent seen for a week and a half!! It is driving me crazy. I guess we just have to find more families then.

We went to the zoo today. It was the saddest zoo I have ever seen...They had 1 monkey, 3-5 rabbits, a hawk, an African bird, and some horses and donkeys. The monkey was the coolest part! we fed it some cookies. It was an Adventure! We had a blast! Regardless of the lack of animais.

Welp, I am loving it out here. Ups and downs and all. Getting spit on getting ripped off, to Setting baptismal dates and bearing your testimony to the world! I love the life of a missionary!! And I love all of you so much!!