Tuesday, August 20, 2013 I am doing pretty dang awesome!

Okay, so here's the big response/update letter from Elder Horton.

Dad,
It is nice to know that mom is crying when talking about me. Makes me feel at least equally loved as the other kids. I do miss you guys and the fun we have but I'm not homesick or anything. I'm exceedingly happy to be here and doing my best to do God's will.

Did Jonathan have as much fun as we had with those wires? Those were a pain in the butt, so hard to reach.

That's curious the connection didn't work for the windstar...annoying indeed. That's good you're helping her though and teaching here how to do things like that.

Ooh Ooh! I forgot when Bon Bon comes to the MTC... will you tell me? I'll try and host that day so I can maybe see her when she pulls up. Do you know if she'll be driven by her mom and dad or fly in? Tell her I love her and can't wait to see her! (Unless she miraculously got her visa in which case that's awesome!)

Yeah mom's been telling me about your guys staycation and vacation. You've earned a good, work-free, fun-full vacation dad. I hope you guys really enjoy yourselves :)

Dad, do you and or Mom know who Vai Sikahena is? He played at the Miracle Bowl for BYU and later played for the Greenbay Packers, The Cardinals, and maybe like one more and now he's a news broadcaster. He gave our Sunday Devotional yesterday and that was pretty cool :D

Mom,

Thanks for the photos from the wedding. It's nice to show some of my district some pictures from "before"

It's unfortunate you couldn't find any video of the talk but that's okay I guess.

Ooh also...do you think you could look for a talk by Elder Holland given in 2007 about not going home? I'm not worried about that at all but Irmao Belchior said that that talk changed his life because he wasn't always the amazing guy he is now. He was actually going to go home after 2 weeks into the mtc and they called him to the front desk and they told him he was leaving that week even though he was supposed to be there 9 weeks. The Lord knows what's happening. Then he said he watched that talk and it pretty much just plain scared him. He said he tried to find it again but he couldn't. He thinks it's because it was too powerful of a talk. I'd just be curious to read it.

I'll look for Kelsi this Wednesday, that'll be exciting!

That's cool about the Zirkles! Sounds like a lot of fun! They're good people.

That's also cool about Jon and Shelem. Did Jonathan say anything about the people in the branch thinking that he was me? That'd be kinda funny

That's awesome about everyone's jobs! Enjoy the vacation!/Staycation!

You're questions. Followed by my answers:

How are YOU doing?  How was your 2^nd week at the MTC?

I am doing pretty dang awesome! Unfortunately I've been a bit under the weather lately....sore throat, nasal drainage. I woke up this morning and it was worse so i took some dayquil, EmergenC, cough drops, and I've just been drinkin OJ lately

What is a new word you’ve learned in Portugese recently?

      Sacerdocio=priesthood

      jardim=garden

      arrependimento= repentance

      Rendtor=Redeemer

I really know a lot. I'd say my Portuguese now is about the same level where my Spanish was. Maybe a bit less but I can't really speak Spanish anymore. When I try to speak Spanish it just comes out Portuguese and when I finally get it Spanish it comes out with a Portuguese accent and then when I get rid of that I just sound like a gringo haha it's great.

What was a spiritual highlight of your week?

Hmm...hard to choose... I loved the devotional from a week ago. Elder Richard G. Scott came to speak to us. There's nothing like hearing from an apostle of the Lord. He pronounced 2 apostolic blessings from God on us. He gave a great talk. I'd probably have to say that that was the most spiritual moment since last we wrote

What was a challenge you had to overcome?

Well....lately I haven't had a whole lot of what I would consider challenges. Starting off, I was challenged to know enough of the language to teach a basic lesson. But now, I have things to do and most might consider them challenges but I don't think I would... When I am challenged though, I rely on God to help me get through it. Maybe that's how I define a challenge. Requiring God's help to make it through. Something that without God, would turn out not as good or complete.

Do you have enough socks?

Yes.

Tell me more about your companion.

Um.....well he's an adrenaline junkie. Snowboarding, skateboarding, longboarding, mountain biking, other things. He knows how to work out to have a nice body haha ummm he's like me and science when it comes to activities like snowboarding.

Speaking of science, to get my science "fix" as someone in my district called it, yesterday I was drawing Lewis Dot Structures of molecules like Methylcyclopentane and figuring out how much energy one atom of U-239 releases in a nuclear reaction :D Fun stuff. E=mc^2

Who else in your district do you enjoy?

Well we have a sick beatboxer who is fun. Elder Matheny and Gilliat are also fun with their humor. They were roommates in college before and now they're serving in the same mission and are in the same district and are companions in that district. They have a hard time not calling each other by their first names.

How often do you get to go to the temple?

Every Tuesday! So I went this morning. Loved it!

Have you gotten used to seeing your own name on your name tag?

Iiiiiiii....think so yeah. Sometime mid last week I got used to it.

Have you been able to get your last immunization that you needed?

They’ve talked with me about that and it'll be taken care of the week before I leave.

Will you get a turn to meet new missionaries on a Wednesday while you’re there?  How does that work?  Who decides who gets assigned?

You have to sign up for it but I think it's a good chance you'd get to host. The new missionaries are kicked off at the curb and a missionary of the same gender helps them get where they need to go and stays with them for about half hour or so. It's basically just random. If I saw a guy I knew being dropped off I could host him but not a girl. Like Bonnie :'(

Have you heard any update on your VISA status??

Nao :( I'll let you know when I get my reassignment haha, I'm just planning on that.

oao (wow) long letter. Hey so, on a side note! I wish I'd known this before I left but missionaries can wear khakis now! In addition, we can wear a form of sandals which I think would be amazing in the summer months in Sao Paulo because it would allow my feet to breathe. Irmao Walker our first teacher where's the sandals and khakis pretty much every day. So what I'm saying is, you know how we were debating bringing another pair of shoes but decided not too? Well what if we got me those sandals and that way my other shoes see not just 17 percent less wear but more like 20-30 because they wouldn't be worn during the hot summer months with hot sweaty feet thus making all my shoes last longer and my feet feel better. What d'ya think? And then, if you just wanted to send me my good khaki's that'd be great too :) I think that'll be nice. If you want to check up on the new missionary standards to make sure I'm not wrong (which would probably be a good thing because there's always room for error) Just check lds.org
, missionary dress and grooming stuff.

Thanks! Love, Elder Horton

Pictures of our first investigator, Abrao, who ended up becoming our teacher, Irmao Luis Belchior. He's flippin awesome haha He's so lively. He has an amazing testimony despite many reasons people would choose not to have a testimony. What I mean by that is life's been hard on him and still is but he knows in whom he has trusted. The Lord is his redeemer. He's an amazing man.