February 18, 2013

FAMILY!!!!  How are you all doing??  I hope that you all had a great week!!!  It sounds like you guys had some fun in Vegas!!!

This week was a great week!!!  On Saturday, we had the baptism of Leonardo and Adriana!  It was such an amazing experience.  I got to be the one who baptized Leonardo, and a member of our ward baptized Adriana.  It was really cool to be able to help them come unto Christ.  Also, Adriana's boyfriend was a former bishop, and we are trying to help in re-activating him too.  It is pretty cool to be able to help them out.  After I performed the baptismal ordinance with Leonardo, I felt the Spirit so strong and it was an awesome feeling.  Then someone asked him who will confirm him in church on Sunday, and without hesitation, he said, "Elder Howard."  That made me feel great!  Sunday rolled around and I got to confirm him a member of the church and give him the holy ghost.  It was a great experience for me.  I was definitely nervous the whole time cuz it was a blessing all in Portuguese in front of the whole ward! haha but it went great!  It felt so good to have this baptism and to be able to help them come closer to Christ.

Also, we taught a lot of lessons this week.  I really like being companions with Elder Hunt.  We work hard together and have a lot of fun.  In English class this week, we taught the class how to do the "Stanky Leg" while learning the Alphabet song! haha it was a funny experience.

We taught a guy named Joao Paulo this week.  He works at the restaurant Kebabztao with our friend Fabio.  Joao told us that he was interested in learning more about the BOM.  He said he has been through some crazy things in his life with drugs, and he wants to make a change.  He was really open with us.  We taught him the first lesson, and we will follow up with him this week.

We also taught Christiano and Dilaini from our English class.  They made us some french fries last night and we taught them the first lesson.  It went really well.  They both have a strong faith in God, we just need to help them gain a testimony of the BOM.  We gave them a BOM with a part to read, and invited them to pray to know if it is true.  We will follow up with them this week.

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo é nosso Salvador.  Ele nós ama muito.  Ele sofreu por cada um de nós.  Eu sei que O Livro de Mórmon é verdadeiro e Joseph Smith é um profeta de Deus.  Eu sou grato pela oportunidade para ser missionario e pregar o evangelho de Cristo.

Eu amo vocês muito!!!  Have a fantastic week!  Tell Morgan that I love her too!

Elder Howard

February 11, 2013

FAMILY!!!!  How are you all doin??  I am glad that you all had a good week!!  My week here was really good!  We met with Adriana and Leonardo and got everything taken care of for preparing their baptism.  The baptism is planned for this Saturday, so I am hopin that it goes through.  I feel like they are both ready, there as just some drama to take care of.  Leonardo is 12 years old, and I ill baptize him, and a member from the ward will baptize Adrianna.  Pray that everything will work out for the baptism to be on Saturday.  I am really excited for it!!!  They have both been reading the book of mormon a lot and they are excited to be baptized.  We will meet with them again this week to make sure everything is ready for them.

So Eddy got called as the leader over the missionary work in the ward, and we are super excited about it!  We met with him a couple times this week and we have a lot of ideas plannd to find new people to teach.  That is the toughest thing for us right now is finding new people to teach, because everyone is working during the afternoons, so door to door isnt always the most effective thing to do.  We printed off 500 invites for English clas and we are gonna pass those out this week.  We always leave a message in English class, so we are hopin that this will bring us more people to tteach.

We also met with Marcelo and his girlfriend Cilmara and their 2 year old daughter.  Marcelo is a member, but his girlfriend isnt.  We are trying to get them to come to church, and they are also working on getting married.  Marriages take a long time to do in Brasil cuz of all the paper work, but we are gonna help them with all that they do.

This week was good, but a little tough not being able to find many people who care to hear about the gospel.  But with our new ideas, the work here will start to get better.  Eu sou grato pela oportunidade ser missionário por O Senhor. Eu sei que esta igreja é verdadeira.  Eu sei que O Livro de Mórmon é verdadeiro também.  Eu sei que Jesus Cristo é Nosso Salvador e Ele sofreu por cada um de nós para que nós possamos mudar nossas vidas!  I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!!  Tell Morg that I love her too!

Elder Howard

February 4, 2013

Family!!!!  I miss you guys like crazy!!!  I hope it is starting to get warmer there, cuz I am definitely sweating more than I have ever sweat in my life! haha it is incredibly hot here!  I am glad that the sickness is going away too!  It sounds like you all had a great week too.  That is awesome that Morg and BB stopped by for a little while!!  I know how much you guys love them and how much they love all you guys!  Tell them I love them both!!!

So this week, Elder Val got transfered, and on Wednesday, my new companion Elder Hunt got here.  He is such an awesome kid!  He is from Texas and went to BYU for a year!  We joke around a lot, and I feel like we will become great friends!!  I found out this weekend that I wont be transfered anymore!  So I will get to stay in Itajai for 5 or so more weeks :)  I am super excited about that cuz I love the people that I have met here.

So Thursday, I went to the doctor cuz, not gonna lie, I have had diarrea for a little while now! hahaha so I decided to go get it checked.  The doctor's office is so slow here, and we were there for 5 and a half hours.  It was terrible.  I finally got in and got checked and they said I had an Intestinal Infection.  They gave me some medicine and now I am back to 100%.  So dont worry, my sickness is completely gone!!!

On Friday, I showed the area to Elder Hunt a lot.  We didnt meet with too many people, cuz he needs to learn where everything is and where the people live.  This next week we have plans to meet with Adrianna and Leonardo.  There is a sticky situation with them right now, so if we dont get them baptized on Saturday, we will baptize them on the 16th hopefully.  We will also meet with Marcelo, and we have some new investigators to meet with.  I am excited to work with Elder Hunt.  I feel like we will be able to do some good work together.

So funny story:  On Saturday in English class, it was this guy Christiano's birthday.  We decided to write the lyrics on the board for the Happy Birthday song and to teach it to the class and to sing to him.  But you know me, I like to joke around a lot and mess with people a little bit, and Elder Hunt is down for it too! haha so we told the class that in the states, we dont just sing Happy Birthday, but we dance to it too.  We told them that it is different in every state.  So Elder Hunt taught the class the "Happy Birthday Dance" that they do in Texas, and I taught them the one we do in Utah. haha we made up these fake dance moves on the spot and half the class did the "Texas Happy Birthday Dance" and the other half did the "Utah Happy Birthday Dance" while we sang to Christiano! hahaha it turned out to be so funny!  I sent the video of it, so put it on FB and explain the story.  I hope it makes sense.  Afterwards we told them it was a joke, but they thought it was hilarious!

Well, I love you all and I am excited for this first full week with Elder Hunt!  I am doing great, I am happy, I am eating a lot and meeting lots of new people!!!  I love you all and tell Morg that I love her too!!  I will talk to you in a week!

Elder Howard

January 28, 2013

FAMILY!!!!  I miss you guys like crazy!!!  I am sorry about all the sickness at home this week.  I hope that everything is going well.  So Elder Val is being transferred  and I will stay here one week to show my new companion the area, and then I will be transferred next Monday or Tuesday.  Not sure where too yet, but I will know next week.  Val leaves in a couple hours.

This week was really good tho!  We worked really hard and taught a good amount of lessons. We met with Adrianna and Leonardo and set up a baptism date with them for February 9th.  It sucks that we wont be here for it, but I am super excited for them!  It felt good to be able to help people come to baptism.  They are great people.

We also met with Marcelo again this week.  We taught him about the Restoration of the gospel and Joseph Smith.  It went well, and then we invited him to be baptized.  He said that he was already baptized in the Baptist church and didnt understand why he needed to be baptized again.  So we taught him the importance of the Priesthood.  We invited him to pray about baptism and then to come to church.  He didnt come to church yesterday so that was kinda frustrating.  But we are doing our part.

This week, we didnt have a ton of appointments marked, so that means making contacts.  We decided to give a tour of the chapel, cuz it is on a busy street and it is a very beautiful chapel.  We stood out front and talked to about 50 people.  A lot of people wouldnt give us the time of day.  Others said they were too busy.  One guy even faked a phone call! haha so ridiculous.  But we were able to give 3 different tours and talk about the church.  It went really well!

I am sad to leave Itajai, but I am looking forward to the work in whatever area I am sent to.  We had a good week here, and we will leave the new elders with some stuff to work with.  I love you all and I will email you next week!!!  Tell Morgan that I love her too!  Also, shout out to T-Flow for his baptism this week.  What a STUD!!!  I love you guys and I hope you all have a great week!!

Elder Howard

January 21, 2013

FAMILY!!!!  How are all of you doing??  I miss you guys like crazy!!!  This week was pretty good!  On Monday, right after we got done emailing, we got a call from a lady at the hospital.  Her son had just had surgery.  Her name is Adriana and her sons name is Leonardo and they arent members.  We got there and Leonardo was doing great.  Adriana called us to talk about being baptized!!!  We talked to her all about it.  She is dating a former bishop who has been less active for the last 6 years.  They are getting married next month.  He has a desire to get back to church, and now Adriana and Leonardo have the desire to be baptized.  We marked to meet with them Saturday, and when we got there, we taught them the first lesson.  They had already heard most of it cuz they have been to church many times.  After, we set a baptismal date for February 9th!  Two weeks from Saturday!  We cant do it any earlier cuz Leonardo is going out of town.  I really hope that I am here for it, cuz the transfer is next Tuesday so I should find out this weekend if I get transfered.  I really dont wanna leave here yet.  I would love to stay one more transfer and be here for their baptism.  They all came to church yesterday and enjoyed it.  They have known about the church for a while and are all ready to be baptized.  So cool!!!

On Friday, we headed to Marcelo's house to meet with him, Leblum and Ajona.  We had planned to invite Marcelo to be baptized.  We got there and nobody came to the door.  It sucked so bad!  He has already been to church twice, and seemed to be doing great.  I dono if they were just busy, but we called them and nobody answered.  Sunday rolled around and I was hopin that he would come to church again, but he never showed up.  We are gonna try to get ahold of him this week.  It just sucks cuz he seemed to be doing so good!  I hope that he is still doing well and is just busy.

We also got a couple new investigators this week.  One lady is named Tanya.  We were teaching her the first lesson and talking about baptism, and she stopped us and said, "but I cant be baptized cuz I smoke."  So right now with her, it is important to focus on her smoking problem.  I want to do all that I can to help her stop.  Me and Elder Val have some ideas this week to help her out.  She is a sweet lady!

Yesterday at church, we were sitting in our second class, and Irmão Anderson, the second counselor, came in and told us we needed to give a talk in church.  haha I was so nervous!  But I instantly thought of speaking on the Book of Mormon.  I have grown so close to this book out here, and I want others to realize the importance of this book too.  I got up and gave my talk and it went really well.  I started by telling everyone to be patient with me and my Português! haha cuz I was super nervous!  But it went really well and I was able to give a good little talk.

I am glad that everyone is all doing well at home!  I am sorry about all the sickness tho.  That is rough!  I am glad you guys had a blast in Vegas as well, and that the boys played great!  I love you all and tell Morg that I love her too!!!  Thanks for sending the package.  I will be waiting for it!  Also, I will let you know next week whether I am gonna stay in Itajai or not.  Love you all!!!

Elder Howard

January 14, 2013

FAMILY!!!!  Holy cow I miss you all!!  I am so glad to hear that everything is going great at home.  I got my Christmas package, and I loved it so much!!!  I loved the sheet that dad made of our vacation of 2012.  That was awesome!  Dad is so talented on the computers. I also loved each of the cards you guys wrote, and the Jesus Calender.  You guys are the best family ever!  Thank you so much!  That was also so nice that you guys got Elder Val a bunch of things too!

So this week started off and we met with Francisco and Luisa again.  We taught them lesson 2, the plan of salvation.  It went really well and they seemed to like it.  But Luisa has so many questions, and feels like she needs to prepare a lot more.  We said that we are here to help.  We are going to try to meet with them again this week, so hopefully something will change.  I wish I could just make her believe! haha. But I understand that it is on the Lord's time and that they need to find out for themselves.  

The next night we met with Leblum, Ajona and Marcelo.  We also taught them the plan of salvation.  It went really well!  I think they enjoyed it a lot, and it answered many questions that they had.  They have lost many close family members, so I think it meant a lot to them.  Leblum and Ajona said they are going to continue going to their church, but Marcelo said he would come to church again.  Sunday rolled around, and we were walking past the church to go pick him up from his house, and he was already at the church waiting for us! haha such a stud!  He reminds me of the guy off of the Blindside.  He isnt as big, but he is this super nice guy.  I think he really enjoyed church again.  We meet with him again on Friday and we are gonna invite him to be baptized!

On wednesday, we had 5 calls for English class throughout the day.  We got to class and had 7 new people there.  At the end, I shared a short message about the Book of Mormon, and we invited anybody who wanted to learn more to give us their address and we could visit them.  We had on couple mark an appointment for this week, and another couple, Felipe and his wife, said they wanted to come to church.  English class was awesome that day!  When Sunday rolled around, Felipe never showed up to church.  We got a text 20 minutes into church, saying he had come late and he didnt know where to go so he went home.  We went outside and called him, and he came right back.  His wife was sick, but he came and spent the whole time.  I think that he enjoyed it as well.  We are gonna meet with him and his wife this week.  

A lot of our other appointments fell through this week, so we knocked more doors.  This week will be busy again, so I hope that the appointment will follow through this time.  I am grateful to be a missionary.  It is awesome to be out here!  I love being able to share the gospel with people every single day.  Also, I heard that my friend Thomas "T-FLOW" Rogers is getting baptized!!!!  That made me so happy to hear that!!!  I have prayed for him every night since being out here.  He is such a stud!  

I love you all and it was so good to hear from you guys!!!  I miss you guys like crazy, but things are awesome out here!  Eddy and his wife are planning on coming to the states in December of 2014.  I told them that if they do, they could stay at our house.  I hope that is okay with you guys :) haha I love you all!!!  Tell Morg that I love her too!!!

Elder Howard

January 7, 2013

FAMILY!!!!  That seemed like a quick week!  I feel like I talked to you guys just yesterday! haha.  I miss you guys like crazy!  I am glad that everyone is doing good at home.  I am sorry about all the sickness.  That stinks!  There is no way to catch a cold here cuz it is so dang hot! haha.  Keep reading the Book of Mormon each day!  I started again, and I am almost through 2nd Nephi.  It has been such a blessing in my life.  I really do love this book.  So keep reading everyday!!!

This week was kinda a regrouping week for us.  Everyone was gone from all the holidays, so this week we had to find new people to teach.  We spent a lot of our time clapping doors here.  I actually kinda enjoy it.  We met a lot of people.  A lot of people are set on their own religion, but thank us for our service.  Others make eye contact with us through the window, and then hide and never come out!  haha.  But we were able to find some people who were interested in hearing about the gospel, and this week we have appointments everyday to teach people.  We set up 4 different families to begin teaching this week.  I hope everything goes well with them.

This week we met with Leblum and Ajona again.  We got there, and there friend Marcelo was there.  They are all from Haiti.  Leblum and Ajona werent too interested, but Marcelo was.  We read a little out of the Book of Mormon with them, and then invited them to church.  Leblum and Ajona had their church at the same time, so they said no.  But Marcelo told us that he would come to church.  Sunday rolled around, and we met him in front of his house at 8:15.  We turned the corner of his street, and there he was standing in front of his house in a button up shirt with the Book of Mormon in his hand.  Church was great!  He is a very quiet guy, but I think that he enjoyed it.  I talked to him a lot, and got to know him better.  All the members were very welcoming too.  He is a really nice guy!  We meet with him, Leblum and Ajona again tomorrow, and I am super stoked about it!

We had a lot of appointments fall through this week.  Kinda crappy, but it happens.  I am hopin that this week all the appointments will follow through and that they will enjoy our lessons.  Also, we meet with Francisco and Louisa tonight again.  We couldnt meet with them last week cuz they were out of town.  I am excited to teach them.  They went to the temple last week, so we will get to talk about that experience for them too.

I really love Itajai.  All the members here are great!  We have made a lot of new friends.  I am very excited for the busy week that we have ahead of us.  I will be praying that things follow through and we will be able to teach the people that we need to teach.  I love you all and I miss you guys like crazy!!!  Tell Morgan that I love her too!  Good luck to everyone starting school again, and mom, be safe and have fun in vegas!  I love you all and I will talk to you in a week!

Elder Howard