January 1, 2013

FAMILY!!!!  So sorry about yesterday!!  Every place was closed for the holidays and the members here were busy so we had no place to email.  But dont worry, we are safe :) haha.

This week was a good one!  It was so great being able to talk to you all on Christmas!!  I miss you guys like crazy!  It was weird spending Christmas and New Years somewhere else, but I know that this is where I need to be.  But it was so good to talk to each one of you.  You are all doing so great!!

So during the Holiday season, missionary work is tough.  Everyone is gone traveling or busy with other things.  But we had some lessons this week and knocked on some doors.  Well actually clapped at doors.  Thats what you do here! haha cuz every house has gates in front of it, so you clap a few times and then they come outside.  Brasil is strange!

We have been teaching this older couple Francisco and Louisa for the last two weeks.  They are such great people.  They are living with this lady in our ward who is a recent convert so that is a big help.  We taught them the first lesson, and also answered a lot of their questions about what they read in the Book of Mormon.  Our lessons have been really good with them.  We challenged them to read some parts out of the Book of Mormon and to pray about it to know if it is true.  They said that they havent recieved an answer yet whether it is true or not.  On Saturday, they were able to go to the temple with our Stake, even though they couldnt go inside.  We gave them a chapter to read there, and to pray about it there cuz we knew they'd feel an extra Spirit being at the temple.  We follow up with them next week ccuz they are out of town this week.  I hope they recieved an answer that it is true, cuz the Book of Mormon is key to conversion.

We also have been meeting with Fabio regularly.  He is a less active member, and hasnt been to church in years.  He owns a restaurant here, so we meet with him there and read out of the Book of Mormon with him.  He has been reading everyday for the last two weeks.  He speaks english too, so I get to participate a lot! haha. He is a great guy, he just needs to start comin to church.  He has bailed on us 4 Sundays now, but we are still trying to get him there.

We also met with our good friend Guilherme a few times this week.  He has his own religion, but since we have become really good friends with him, I wanted to introduce him to ours.  I told him that I care about him a lot, so I want him to give our church a try.  We gave him a Book of Mormon, and read with him this week.  He also speaks English so that makes it really nice.  He is such a great kid.  He is 18 years old.  He is strong in his churh, but I am hoping that the Book of Mormon will make a difference in his life as he gives it a try.

This week we will be finding more people to teach.  It has been tough with the Holidays, but things will be getting back to normal.  I am grateful to be here and I am grateful for all the new experiences I have had.  I love you all and miss you guys like crazy!!!  I will email next Monday for sure.  Tell Morg that I love her too!!

Elder Howard