2 Months and Going Fast!

Well this week was good. I can’t believe it either that it’s just these two months and is going by too fast. Easter here is buy chocolate for people and I think the bigger thing is their good Friday or holy week of eating just fish and partying and drinking etc....I’ll see if I can remember to color an egg or something.

There are people that do the leather thing but not here, they live somewhere else and you email to them what you want and they send it to you, in the north they do it in leopard skin o something. Cool but I don’t want anything just a new scripture in Portuguese because mine is molding like crazy and also I want one in Spanish because in two months I’ll start reading the book of Mormon in Spanish. I’m very excited to learn Spanish and plan on taking classes and working with Mexicans and eating Mexican food.

Congrats to John Hoopes? I think my uncle served there. (John got called to the Paris, France mission)

So remember that lady we gave a blessing to? Well an hour later she went to the hospital and 2 hours later the baby came and went all normal and they are both doing fine. They were both in risk of dying and they said that they would have to perform surgery to get the baby out, but went well and they thanked us a lot for the blessing and said if it wasn’t for it that things might of turned out differently. So we are teaching them the lessons but they aren’t married :( I hope we can get them married and baptized, but my problem is time and I don’t think we can get that all done before the end of this transfer and I think I’ll be in a different area next transfer. But I know if not now someday they will be married and baptized in the church.

Yeah, for the 3 couple going to the temple with us, I want to give them a picture framed of the Salt Lake temple, because Recife they can get at the temple or maybe we can buy them another one at the temple when we go, but Robbie does a good job framing I thought it would be nice. Also M&M´s, chocolate, for each of them and gummy bears. If i think of anything else ill let you know and I’m sure there are things ill want you to buy for me to take home with us.

Ok well love you and until another week
Brian

Working Through Some of the Struggles of a Missionary

Well my companion here I’ve been babysitting, the work this transfer has been sad in that many people accepting baptism and then problems happen within the families and no one ending up baptized. We had a baptism this week, but again more problems and she ended up moving to another area and hope she lets the other elders there baptize her. She said she would so let's see if that goes well.

Sunday we had 3 people to church. The first one is a lady pregnant not married and has been many times and wasn’t really receptive to us. The next one was a man that lives an hour away and he can't be visited until this next Sunday so let's see if he goes to church again this week. The other is Bruno who we’ve been working with for the past month and finally was able to go, he knows the Book of Mormon is true and wants to be baptized etc, but his mom took away his Book of Mormon and doesn’t like that we are teaching him etc....but maybe we can get his parents to let him make the decision. If not then he’ll have to wait till he is 18. So like I said my companion is special, in the beginning we had baptisms marked for every week this transfer and watched them all fall threw, and I’m excited to get it all started up again :)

So the teaching goes good, but we’ve recently have had a ton of people rejecting the Book of Mormon and has been bugging me like crazy, but I always share a strong testimony with all of them and leave them with no excuses.

For p-day I read, then we made rice mixed with hot dog and ham and then we slept and now we are emailing.

Happy birthday to everyone :)

Thinking about the trip just gives me a headache.......

Let’s see if this works:

Tuesday: Arapiraca-lunch at Labareda, visit members, return to Maceio and eat dinner (tapioca)
Wed: Palmiera dos Indios lunch at Master, visits, return to Maceio and eat dinner (members)
Thurs: 6:00am bus to Sergipe, lunch (member), visits, Dinner (member) sleep here and return by bus on Friday with a couple I invited to go with us to the temple (Claudivan + Gabriella)
Friday: Go to Recife with Claudivan+Gabriella, not sure about Carlos+Christianie or Simone + Germano who live in Maceio, but I will figure out if they want to drive there in their car or go with us by bus but either way we all make it to Recife noonish
Saturday: Spend all day doing temple work! Say goodbyes that afternoon and make sure everyone’s gets home all right
Sunday: Return home in the morning to get home Monday morning

Any doubts or concerns let me know.......there is a shopping mall we can go to here in Sergipe and also in Maceio and also have places that sell souvenir junk if you’re wanting to buy things for the family or yourselves.

Doggy Heaven!

Brian is in doggy heaven. He loves dogs, so we know he is having the time of his life. We are not sure where this is, but we know he is having fun! All he said was her name is Shakira.

Working Towards Baptisms

Well thanks for the pictures, Jeff and his wife whose name I just forgot but they look happy and she seems like a very nice girl and congratulations Heidi on being able to jump higher than me

It will be hard to visit all my areas because we will need to stay the night here in Sergipe and we would have to come on Thursday morning and leave Friday morning to go to Recife leaving only 2 days in Maceio where I want to visit Arapiraca and Palmeira dos Indios and the areas in Maceio so it’s a lot to do in only 2 days and remember the world cup will be getting closer which starts the 15th I believe......so keep thinking about it all and let me know what you guys think, what will you want to do for travel? Bus? Van taxi thing?

Hi Elizabeth sorry I forgot your name :)

Yeah I don’t miss mowing the lawn in the hot sun at all :)

So this week has been good, I can’t believe how many people haven’t been baptized yet this transfer but I know they had the desire and one day will be baptized. We did mark another baptism yesterday of a mother of an inactive girl in the church and maybe it will be her time to be baptized. Yesterday was interviews with the Beynon’s and was fun as always, Sister Beynon always makes cookies and get to see everyone. Today we cleaned and make lunch which we made rice mixed with hotdog and ham.....it’s our normal thing we make when we are hungry and really cheap. And just got up right now from an afternoon nap to email you.

Thanks for the prayers and everything and let me know how Craig is doing, I told him to email me and if you get pictures send them please, will he stay 2 months or 3 weeks?

Love you all hugs etc... Brian

Eduardo Gomes...Brian's New Area

Baptism of Leticia who was baptized by her uncle Aldo. They are also teaching her mom who cried at the baptism.

Having fun with a little girl.

Elder Roberts and his comp Elder Fraga with their chimarrao`
Brian said their house was a huge mess and he spent a lot of time all week cleaning it, so they could trade Sis. Beynon their frowny face for a smiley face. You have to have a clean house to get one.

Nice Shower!
The hammock Brian bought.
Work area.
Brian's big bed.... aaahhhh!

Time Is Going So Fast!

Today went by too fast and I almost didn’t write you again ;) I emailed this morning, but didn’t receive your email and planned to write after our little trip to my last area where we ate lunch with a family friend that might go to the temple with us in June and when it was time for us to leave they bought a cake for us and so we kind of had to stay there longer and didn’t end up getting back home until now, so I’m emailing a little later than usual today.

Well the baptism could be a very long story......she is 15 yrs old and yes there was a lot of people there for her baptism and we have another one for this Saturday his name is Lucas and is 15yrs old. So at the baptisms and confirmations let’s just say there was confusion and a little apostasy with trying to baptize with the left hand and confirmation by someone who has only the Aaronic priesthood etc......

In our home it’s just the two of us and yes my first week we have had roaches, rats, millipedes, mosquitoes etc.......but the home is clean and will stay that way.

Trip: so yes Maceio is close enough to my areas to visit within those days except for the areas I’m passing in right now in sergipe, my opinion is that its just best to stay in Maceio and visit the areas I’ve past in Alagoas but if you want to see sergipe we would have to stay the night. I like the idea of ending the trip at the temple and so let’s plan it that way if possible and if we end up in Maceio then there’s a ward we can visit there. Shopping wise I don’t know but I know of places in Maceio that we can go to buy things and I was wanting to know if you can put money in my account so that if I’m transferred from Sergipe back to Maceio then I can buy some things I saw here that I would like to take home with me. (Also do you have any news about selling my truck? that could be money put into my account)

Wow Wally got home already. I guess it means there will be a home coming practically every month in our ward, 3 months is going to pass by really fast!

Well love you all and until another week!
Brian