Life Goes On

5-26-14

Eric is an inch taller than me?? That's ridiculous! Well certainly he fits in with our family huh.

I was thinking about dad's ribs this week..they're pretty savorful

So is Dad going to teach the first member lesson with the help of the missionaries or them with his help? What's the lesson that they'll give her? Temple work?

How has your week been?

Lucia and Cleber and their family gave us a scare this week. We got a message from Lucia telling us not to pass by this week because they're having some family problems. We found out that they were on the verge of separating but their member friend convinced them to stay together. They invited us in their house yesterday and we talked with both Cleber and Lucia about their individual problems and what they need to do to have a successful family. We told them that we might be young and unmarried but we know what they need to do. I even related our companionships to a marriage and they laughed at that. We felt like marriage counselors. It was difficult, but we got them both to promise to do their best to fulfill their promises for this week and to see the improvement. We'll be seeing them daily. We left them with a good spirit in their house. It was cool, we asked them about how they met and what kind of stuff they did when they were just getting to know each other and you could see that spark of initial love spark up again, they were both laughing and smiling and sharing stories. That was cool. A lot of times, missionary work is just finding good people who have good lives who are just ready to hear about the restored gospel and they get baptized and are happy. But there are sometimes where we, as missionaries, have the opportunity to really help someone in a difficult situation. It brings a satisfactory feeling as I see that they're improving. I really really want to help this family.

Tell me about getting pulled over on the way to the temple.  Were you driving?  Or were you riding with a bunch of missionaries??

I was Not driving, but there Was a bunch of missionaries. It was just because the driver forgot to fill out a form that he'd be travelling from one side of town to the other.

Did Maria dos Anjos get baptized this week?  If so, how did that go?  

No :/ She didn't...We went there one day and she just started off saying that she didn't want to be baptized again. We sat and talked with her for like an hour that day and like a sum of 3 hours on the other days trying to figure out what changed, what her problem was. We did a lot of questions and she had a couple "doubts". We took away All of her doubts with the bible and then continued to say that she just didn't want to. We think there's something she'd hiding from us but we've asked her like 5 times if she's hiding anything and she always says no. It's one of the sadder moments of missionary life...We just want to help her. But we've left her with one last commitment to read and pray and not drink coffee for 3 days straight and then pray to God. So we'll go back Wednesday and if she hasn't received an answer...then we'll just have to cut her. 

Does the ward attend and support new baptisms well?

Yeah they do okay. It's not amazing but it's good.

Language mess-up of the week. Elder Mikulecky asked me some question and I responded "no, so people in the mission office can do that." Elder Horton thinks for a couple seconds....."I said that right?" "No Elder Horton, you messed up again." Said Elder Mikulecky with that smile on his face that he always gets whenever Elder Horton fails at English. That happens a lot haha it's kind of funny.

Tell Liz I'm in favor of Princess Rainicorn.

Anddd...one of the saddest news of my mission...That Mission conference with Elder Nelson....got cancelled because of protests in Brazil :/ We couldn't even leave our house until 5 pm. that was sad but life goes on.

Elder Horton

 That Was a pizza...I forgot about it in the oven :(

 Another Elder chillin in my hammock on the apostle established p-day

 I'm a bit late on both of these but finally I got 

my 6 months tie burned and my 

9 months prego picture taken. 

 Alcohol that we took from our investigator that we were burning for fun :) 

It was 39 percent alcohol! 78 proof!

Great Week!

5-19-14

Family,

I hope you get feeling better mom and that you can resolve this health issue.

Dad - yeah teens can be a bit difficult sometimes but I know that on the outside you may seem a bit on the older side but on the inside you just a joyful happy youth. I believe that you got the special skills necessary to help them have a real appreciation for the prophet and other aspects of the church and thus have a real testimony and faith.

I'm happy to hear about the family and that everyone's havin fun.

The temple was way cool as always, it feels like so long ago that we went...but it was only a week. I remember that on the way there we got pulled over which was interesting! It slowed us down like 20 minutes and we ended up missing our session but we just went in a later session

This past week has been a good one, though a bit short as we lost a day to go to the temple. Something that's kind of funny is that my english is kinda messed up and I don't even know it half the time. Like sometimes we'll be talking in English and I'll just say "yeah let's go lunch. We'll lunch in our house" Or "Yeah we're going to the house of David" or "I'm feeling fault of nutella..." or "Jesus afasted himself from the disciples" stuff that totally doesn't make sense in english but it does to me because I speak portuguese!! Every time I say something like that, Elder Mikulecky is like "you wanna try that one again?" With a smile on his face and I think about what I just said and I'm just like "ah whatever, you know waht I meant" haha

Jose Carlos is awesome. He's still unemployed so he's awesomely free. Saturday there was a service project and he got there before us and left after us and was working almost the whole time. It was awesome. Every one knows him well too now as well which is awesome. Him and his mom went to church this last week and he went with a button up shirt and a tie which he found on the ground in another city haha. And Francisco went to church withOUT Delia which I thought was impressive, Delia wasn't feeling good (I wanted to say 'the Delia' because of portuguese) And Bruna went with Jussara her friend who loved church. It was her second time. And then after church we went to Bruna's house with her and Jussara and Rafael who also works at the Lan-house and I met her parents who are way cool and we talked for like 2 and a bit hours about the church and what not. It was way cool. We presented "The family: A proclamation.." and they loved it.

We're teaching Maria dos Anjos who is way cool. We're preparing her to be baptized this week. She's super awesome and went to church by herself this week! We were expecting 2 more awesome families to go to church but they both left to travel :/ One family is cool but it's having it's own family problems.. When we started talking with them, 2 daughters (Jessica and Juliana)were kind of rebellious and making snide comments and what not but the mom is a less active member and the dad is curious but kinda quiet. Anyways in the beginning it was kind of difficult. 2 of their kids have already been to church 3 times (Sidney and Julha) And so we were just trying to help the mom come back to church so that we can help the 2 younger ones to be baptized who've already been to church but we've percieved that the problem is worse than that. I won't go into details but it's kind of a messed up family but the good news is that they want to improve and the amazing thing is that the last time we visited them, there was a quite percievable difference in the mood in the house and of the family and when we were leaving, one of the rebellious daughters was like "so when will you guys come back?" Like she wanted us too. Sooo that's awesome but it totally was Not us. That was 100% the spirit while we were gone. He just kinda snuck in their hearts and softened them all up a bit. The great thing about teaching a family with some problems is that we really have a chance to help some children of God that are in need of some help to have less pain, less sorrow. So I'm happy to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to help them.

THe other family is just awesome. We taught them the gospel of Christ and the spirit was very strong in their home and we left them and they already knew that everything we taught was true. Unfortunatley it wasn't the message of the restoration that they had this feeling about buttt it's a great foot in the door and they're really interested! We'll visit them again this thursday.

Not this past week but the one before, we were kind of prideful of what "we"  had achieved and then we go to church and there was like no one there and that was kinda like a smack in the face for us. This week we've tried to be more humble and recgonize more of the Lord's hand in our work and it worked out pretty well. We were still awed and amazed with the amazing things that happened but we gave the credit where it was due and that was good. I was talking with another Elder this week who baptized a good number of people this week and he wasn't like announcing it to the whole world or anything like that. He's actually someone that I knew at BYU and he is a great example to me. He's training right now and is LD. He was talking about the great importance of being humble.

Anways that's about it. Until next week! Love you guys!

Elder Horton

Mother's Day Phone Call!!!!

5-12-14

Hey mom!

Yeah it was way cool yesterday to be able to talk with you guys. Just 2 more times to talk with you guys and then I'm home!

Not much has really happened since we talked yesterday haha but this last week was a really good one! Elder Mikulecky and I were pretty surprised with the amount of miracles and/or blessings we were receiving in the form of families and people to work with.

Tomorrow we're going to the temple!!! So that'll be awesome, we're all excited for that.

Anddd the 21st Russell M. Nelson will come here and talk to our mission and 2 others to the side of the temple! That's gonna be awesome, we're excited about that as well.

We had a surprise baptism Saturday! José Carlos, who is the son of Maria Aparecida who we also baptized, got baptized this Saturday and confirmed yesterday! He's a bit short but he has a good testimony and he will be a great benefit to his family and the church and himself.

Well...that's about all I can think of for now. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Love you guys!

Elder Horton

Photos I missed posting because we were moving...

 

 Me and my trainer E Steele at transfer meeting

New Companion! Elder Mikulecky

5-5-14

Hey family!

Wow that sure does seem like a lot of fun that you guys were having. Dad's right I do kinda feel a bit left out at times but only on the p-days, on the rest of the week I don't think about it. Does dad saying that though mean that you guys are going to do all the same things with me when I get back but that it'll be even cooler!? Haha But that's exciting! Ligers! E piranhas! They're from the amazon which is a part of Brazil!

I want to hear all about your week with your new companion.  What is his name?  

His names is Elder Mikulecky and he's like 6' 3". He was the tallest of all the new elders that came in with him. He was serving in Chicago for 7 months. He went into the Provo MTC right after I left so he only has 1 less transfer than me haha. He's been loving it here in Brazil and I think he's said like 20 times now "Brazil just happened"!  The first time was with Maria dos Anjos which situation I have described below. He's also said that when people just start talking to us about the gospel for like 20, 30 minutes or with the muleques (little kids) on bikes and other things unique to Brazil. He's really a fun, funny guy. He's a hard worker and obedient as well. He went to the winter semester of BYU at the same time as me and we probably saw each other before and just didn't register it. He was majoring in Mechanical engineering but said he's thinking about changing. He's one of 9 kids with one more on the way. He likes football (American).  

Where is he from?  

Redding California

What have been your biggest challenges?  

People not doing what we ask them too because if they just did they'd see the blessings and they'd have testimonies!  And also following the spirit and/or recognizing the spirit

What have been your greatest blessings?  

Maria dos Anjos has been a great blessing for us. We found her by way of contact and she has turned out to be an investigator of gold. We taught her the first lesson and she already knew it was true because of a dream she had about 20 years ago where she came to know about a church that she would join that would be a restored church that would came from underneath the ground. As I was in hearing that I was pretty awed but I wasn't too awed to tell her that this was the church she was looking for and that it basically came from underneath the ground as the Book of Mormon was buried and she believed it. She believes it all and she went to church and has been fulfilling our commitments

What is it like being the trainer?  

It's really cool! Elder Mikulecky is very smart, reminds me of me ;) he's picking up quickly on the Portuguese. He's been able to contribute well to the lessons with his knowledge and testimony but sometimes I gotta help him with a word or two. I have more responsibility but so far so good and I'm liking it.

Who are you teaching? 

We're teaching some cool people. Other than Maria dos Anjos, we're teaching another man, Silvio, who is a relative of an awesome little old lady in our ward who is very bubbly and always gives us food when we stop by there. She's just awesome. Like a perfect member missionary. But we taught him yesterday and the only time that he's here in Brás Cubas is from like Saturday, 8 hours at night until Sunday at 6. He's already been to the church TWO times just because Irmã Lourdes was calling him to go and we talked with him yesterday and talked about the restoration of the church and invited him to be baptized on the 18th. He could be baptized as soon as the 11th being the 3rd Sunday but there is no way we can teach all the lessons with him being out of town the whole week so we invited him for the 18th and he accepted and we gave him ALL the pamphlets about the lessons and he said he'd read them and also read the Book of Mormon and pray about everything we spoke and Irmã Lourdes said she'd pray with him before he left again that night. He has great potential. We'll see how that goes

If I talked about all of our investigators that would take way too long. It sufficeth me to say that we're doing good and we have a good teaching group and we're seeking the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

Let me know what the arrangements will be for talking with you next Sunday for Mother’s Day!!!!  I’m so excited!!  We have church from 11 to 2 Central time.  I think you’re 2 hours ahead of us, so when it’s 2pm here, it will be 4pm there.  We can call or skype or whatever you can do.

Well I think that when you get home from church, then we'll skype, I'll have finished lunch and be waiting for you guys! Alright? Combinado? Fechou?

This week has been a busy and tiring one but it's also been a good one. I'm happy for the future and to see what the Lord has in hold for me.

Elder Horton

April 28, 2014 I ate at McDonald's today!

4-28-14

Hey Family!

Did you have some good appointments this week?  

Yeah we did. Nothing that was super amAzing but here in Suzano we have some good people, families, that are really interested and we're helping them stop smoking.

Do you teach an investigator class at church on Sunday, or does the ward mission leader do that?  

Sometimes missionaries do that but usually there's a specific calling for teaching the gospel principles class

How far away from your last area have you been while working with E Garcia?  

It's about 40 minutes away by feet and train.

What was the area called that you’ve been working in?

Suzano

How do you think things will change this week?  

I'll be teaching a lot more Portuguese and talking a lot more during the lessons

Were you able to go to the temple?  

No...I think that'll be the next week.

Fill me in on your week and all the good parts and hard parts and happy parts and all the in-between parts!!!

I ate McDonald's today! I got a big mac! It was very delicious but it was also very expensive...13 reais which is like 6 bucks for just the burger. I had high and was pretty excited to eat at McDonalds so when I ate the burger in like 30 seconds I was kinda disappointed and I was like "well..that's all there is" It wasn't really worth 13 reais...but that's okay.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the mission office to get my new son! So that's exciting.

It's actually been pretty cold here lately which is normal as we're entering the winter season.

That's cool about the Soda machine! Is it cheaper too? Is it the same taste?  Today we played football (soccer) as a zone for a while which was pretty fun. I made some cool goals and juked some Brazilians which is always fun. 

This week we went to Brás Cubas (my area) only 2 times so that's been kinda difficult as well but the 2 times we went there were pretty good! We were able to do a good amount of contacts and follow up with some investigators. I'm excited to just work in Brás Cubas again.

I'm learning Spanish again! I was talking with one of the sisters and one of the elders and I just tried talking in Spanish and what I didn't know, I asked how to say and thus, I learned. They said I was learning really fast :) yay.

We talked with a family that follows the church of spiristism which was interesting. They believe in reincarnation and weird stuff like that....to me it seems like a religion without purpose. They don't believe in the same "Kingdom of God" that we do. They believe that the kingdom of God is in us, our state of happiness and so that's pretty sad. They believe that they'll Always have to deal with this mortal life. We didn't fight with them or anything, we taught a normal lesson and invited them to read, pray, and go to church. Elder Garcia will follow up with them with his new son.

Well...yeah, I think that's about it. I'm happy to hear that everything is going well at home! Don't forget to find some time to study the scriptures daily and pray frequently! It's essential.

Thanks for all the love and support while I'm on this 2 year mission. I still want to go to Mars but I don't think mom'll let me so I just find a nice young lady from earth instead of a red hot Martian ;) hah get it? get it? red? Yeah that was a pretty lame joke, but even so, mom's probably laughing right now. Love you guys! Excited to talk to you all in 2 weeks but I'm not trunky so don't worry about that.

Lots o' love

Elder Horton

April 21, 2014 3 new babies in the family!

4-21-14

Hey family!!

E Steele emailed me this week that he’s mailing your package this week.  What do you want me to do with it when it comes – put it aside till you get home?  - open it??  Just let me know.

Open'er up! It's not all that big, but there are 3 shirts there for my family! I don't know who'd want what so I'll let you guys decide who gets which one.

How was your week?

When I was with Elder Cosme, I had some weird feelings. You know that feeling like when you feel almost as if you're oppressed and have to worry about every little thing and you're anxious about a lot of things? That's about what it felt like with him but now that I'm not his companion anymore it's completely different. It's as if the burden is gone and you're not anxious anymore. It's a very freeing feeling, that's about how I felt.

I've really loved this last week with Elder Garcia my district leader. I know that it didn't just happen because our companions hadn't gotten here yet but I know that it happened so that I could learn from him and him from me. With Elder Cosme, we were breaking some of the rules, they weren't anything big but they were rules nonetheless. With Elder Garcia, I've had the chance to remember what it's like to be perfectly obedient missionary and see the blessings of that again and it's been really important that I've had this opportunity to remember how it is again. I'm excited to get my son!

Thinking about my son this week, I was thinking "man, I'm going to be responsible for everything he learns and if he does bad, it'll be my fault, and if he does good, that'll also be my fault" and I was beginning to recognize some of the responsibilities and I recognized that these are the same feelings, thoughts, and responsibilities of a real father when his son is coming! That was interesting for me to make that connection, I had never thought about it that way before.

This past week, I have certainty that I've talked more English this last week than I have in my Whole mission. I started off like "no Elder Garcia, we gotta speak Portuguese!" But after a while we just started talking more and now I'm just lazy and don't feel like speaking Portuguese haha but it’s not messing with me tooo much. Sometimes I mess up a bit but my grammar is still good.

We think that Elder Garcia’s phone is without limit so that's awesome because my credits were spent already and I had to call a bunch of people this past week to follow up, set up appointments, cancel, inform and what not and so that's like 30 reais that I didn't need to spend so I'm happy :)

I bought another MicroSD card of 16 gigs that I'll put in the phone with music and general conference so that'll be cool! I missed music this last week without Elder Cosme's music box.

Unfortunately this week we saw a couple fighting on the street...I wanted to help but recognized that I shouldn't because maybe he has a gun or something and we were actually talking with a family when we saw this and they said that this couple does drugs and that he's put her in the hospital 2 times already. When we saw them, the man was trying to hit the woman and she was keeping out of reach of him and then they were hitting each other and then like 5 seconds later were on a wall making out...I really don't understand how anyone would want that kind of situation but it just goes to show the amazing blessings that we have as we live the restored gospel.

As I started this week here in Suzano, I was thinking "alright, he has his area and I have mine" but thinking like this, I wasn't really caring a whole lot about his investigators, or at least not as much as I could've. Because later in the week I started to think "no, this is my area too for now as are these are my investigators as well for now" and so thinking like this, I've felt a bigger love for our investigators and I believe that some of the people that we've been teaching are promising to be baptized in the coming weeks!

Tell me all about transfers…What is transfer meeting like?

Well there's no real "meeting" at transfers. It's just everyone that's getting transferred go's to the mission office. For the trainers, there's a meeting before (that I got to participate in this time!) that helps the trainers recognize the importance of them being trainers.  Other than this, missionaries just go, talk with everyone, see the new "mission map" (who is in what area with what companion with what rank) and get stock for the houses

What’s the best part about transfer meeting?

My favorite part is seeing my friends that I've gained on the mission.

Tell me all about the companion you’re with and if you know who you’ll be training – where he’s from, how long in the mission, etc…

Elder Garcia is from Washington, He's got about another 4 or 5 months left in the mission. He is a very good elder, very obedient and he works hard and I've liked this time that I've had with him because I've had the opportunity to learn a lot with him. We also have some common interests and so it's fun to talk about those things like science and church doctrine and he likes to joke and he's way cool. Definitely a friendship for a lifetime.  Anddd I know nothing about who I'll be training.

Do you interact much with the office missionaries?  I’m assuming that you have older couple missionaries serving in the office??

Not a whole lot. Just every now and then to relay some information or something like that.  Actually no we don't, just elders.

If you’re working in another area this week like you thought you would, how is the new area and have you been able to find people to teach?

It's been way cool

Is the weather still getting colder?  How cold will it get?  

Yeahhhh bit by bit. Today is a bit hotter but this week was a bit colder

We didn’t send you with a coat, did we?  Do you need to get one??

I got a suit coat and 2 more nice sweaters which I hardly use up til now haha I don't need another one

My shoes are doing awesome! Very good quality. The Mr. Mac ones don't have a lot of tread left on the bottom but I think they shouldddd be able to go until the end of my mission, we'll see.

I know that everything that happens in our lives happens for a reason. I know that as we seek the Lord in all that we do, He will counsel, bless, and comfort us. I know that God loves us and He knows what we need in our loves and wants to shower us with blessings, He just wants us to ask for those blessings, that's it. And be patient for the fulfillment of the blessings in His time. So don't be afraid to pray for Everything you want and need even if that means praying for 10, 15, 30 minutes! Enos prayed for the whole day and then night! This is my testimony and I leave it with you all in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Horton 

Bom dia!

bom dia! Oão fala portugûes agora?? Que legal!

I wish!  For now bom dia is about it!!

You used google translator huh haha. But that's cool! Jonathan wrote me and told me about the news! Shelems pregnant!! THats way exciting!

No, I really didn’t use google translator…  I’m just THAT good!  Wonderful news, right!!!  3 new babies this year!!  Oh. My. Goodness!!!!

Yeah, and they'll be born before I get back :(

I know.  Not ideal, but how do you think I’ll feel when Dad and I go on our mission in another 10 years and we miss births and baptisms and birthdays and all that.  It will be hard, but some things are worth sacrificing for.  We’ll send you lots of pictures and we’ll show them your picture a lot so they will know you when you get back!!!!  They’ll LOVE their Uncle Garrett!!!  We’ll get a picture with you holding all of the grandchildren when you get back!!  That will be a lap full!!!

I'll get my new companion the 29th of this month and we mighttt be going to the temple the same day....not sure. I have to confirm that..

Thanks dad for the advice that you gave, it's good advice. Something interesting is that Elder Garcia was talking about something this past week that I remembered as I read your letter. He said that he and his old companion, Elder Potts, had the same purpose in all that they did. And so the cool thing about that is that they never fought and they never disagreed because they wanted the same things. With Elder Cosme, we had different purposes. My purpose was exact obedience to get blessings to serve and bless others. His purpose was just to do what you can to baptize the best you can. And so we didn't always agree and it was hard to get a long sometimes. I'm foreseeing that with my new companion, that we'll have the same purpose and so it'll be a lot easier :) I'll also always try and remember D&C121, it's a good section.

As for the music, I think...you can maybe send the files via email. Depends on the format.

Yeahhh they're not married. A lot of people here live together without getting married.

As for my investigators in Brás Cubas, it's as if they're on a temporary pause in some cases and slowed down in others. It's not ideal but I don't have many options. With Elder Garcia, I'm recognizing, that we've held on to some investigators too long and that we just need to cut some and get new ones. This'll start a bit this week but it'll really pick up the week after.

Oh and as for Mother's day, they've taken that off as one of the days that we get to call home and so now it's just Christmas...sorry, love you! It'll be just another 8 months!

...Hah, I'm just kidding, yeah we'll talk again on mother’s day. I'll probably go to the same sister's house in our ward!

April 14, 2014 Mission to Mars

4-14-14

How was your week?

This week was pretty good! We had a surprise baptism this week! Bruna, the 18 year old that works at the lan-house was baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday! That was way cool and special. Her friend, the other young woman that works at the lan house, Jussara, was there as well. We were hoping that Rosa and 2 other investigators would be able to make it as well but they didn't come. I'll send some pictures here in a bit. She was nervous leading up to the baptism "will there be a lot of people there? I don't want there to be... just you 2 (Elder Cosme and me) is fine" haha there ended up being a full room of people. 6 more elders and aobut 10 more members from our ward including the bishop, his wife, ward mission leader and assistant and wife and 3 other members. It was very special. The water was apparently cold but she only had to go under one time!

Also, Get on my Facebook, Bruna said that she added me but that you haven't accepted yet.

Also, look for a Holly Neff on facebook and get me some means to enter in contact with her. She was in my dance class at BYU!! :)

Also, Elder Cosme did Endoscopy (sp?) some medical thing where they stick a tube in your mouth when you’re knocked out to see what you got you in your stomach. He was feeling some pains. It was actually pretty funny. He slept for like 30 minutes after the endoscopy but he had to drink tea and eat crackers and so I got it for him and he was eating and drinking with his eyes closed and kept falling back asleep. Almost spilt the tea once. And then we left and I had to hold him because if I hadn't, he would've hit all the walls on the streets or fallen in the street or something. I was a bit worried that people would think he was drunk. We went to lunch afterwards and he slept for another half hour. I made a plate of food for him which he ate, I made another which he ate again and then we walked to our compromissos. I was surprised, and happy, about how much we were able to get done that day. After lunch he was almost normal.

HEY HEY HEY HEY!!!!! Have you heard about the mission to mars??? :D :D :D :D I saw in a magazine a woman that was selected for the mission to mars in 2024!!!! Remember that I wanted that to be me! I still think that'd be awesome. If they called me up and asked me to go I think I'd accept :) But you're lucky that I didn't apply. Go science! One of her doubts was thus: "We don't know if it's possible to get pregnant with the different gravity on Mars" How cool is that!

HEY HEY HEY!! Have you heard about the first cloned dog?!?! :D Next it'll be cloned humans! Imagine! It'll be like the Island all over again!! (That movie)

We also did a service project this past week. As a result, I got 4 blisters which was pretty cool! It reminded me of when I rowed. They've already healed up nicely

Have you had any news about transfers? 

I don't Know anything yet but I have 95% certainty that Elder Cosme will leave and 50% certainty that I'll stay. I'll know more tonight and I think I'll have time to let you know tomorrow

How many of your MTC district have made it into their mission so far?  Do you know??

I know that in My mission there were 6 elders including me that were called to serve in this mission. Of the 6, only 1 is missing, Elder Cox haha. Everyone else is here already. As for the Sisters and other missions I don't know...I know Elder Daniel Buffington who is from our stake was permanently reassigned after a short time in the mission field speaking Spanish.

Were they all headed to your mission originally?

No, only 6 of the 13.

Are there many dogs there in Brazil? Do they ever bother you?

Yes there are quite a lot. I think daily we pass....30, 40 dogs on the streets. Sometimes it's fun to provoke the dogs a bit because of their reactions. They usually just skitter and run away but some are stubborn and bark at us. There are about 3 dogs on our daily route that we pass that remember us because we've provoked them in the past and every time we pass they're always barking at us. Sometimes it seems like they're going to bite him or me but they haven't yet! I've been thinking these days about making peace with the dogs by giving them dog food as we pass. And then I thought "maybe if I do this I'll have a pack of dogs following me as I walk on the streets....that'd be cool!"

One of these days, we were going to talk with a less active young woman inside her house and there was a dog that just started growling on the ground for no reason. Elder Cosme was closest and so when he percieved that the dog was aggressive, he pulled down his bag from his shoulders and put it in front of him. As soon as he did that, the dog lunged forth biting the bag and then the owners shooed him away. I'm not sure what would've happened if he hadn't lowered his bag.

The real threat here in Brazil for me is cats. Not becasue they're really a threat but just because I love to play with them! Every time I see a cat I try and get it. And sometimes I'm holding the cat and it wants to leave but I don't want it to leave and it uses its claws and I get scratched a bit. That's happened about 3 times but it's only a bit. It's cool. I like it when the cat's content and purring. That makes me happy. I swear I'm not turning into a cat lady. But at least 3 people have said that they'll send me home with a cat.

Do you have a favorite talk from conference?

I liked Elder Uchtdorf's talk on have the attitude of gratitude. I like how with his one talk it just changes everyone's perception on what gratitude is and helped us understand what is true gratitude and how we can have more true gratitude in our lives. I liked some of the other ones a lot as well.

I was watching a news report this week on crime in Brazil.  This reporter was interviewing a woman on the sidewalk about crime in the city (I don’t know which one) and as he was doing the interview, this thief runs by her, grabs the gold necklace she’s wearing, and runs off across traffic.  Now that I think about it, maybe it was a set up.  What thief would be stupid enough to actually rob someone who was being filmed??  Of course people on drugs do stupid things lots of times.  Maybe it was real…

Yeah I'm not sure if that's true or not but I know that a lot of stuff happens here haha, I'd probably say that it's probably best if you didn't watch the new about Brazil, you could find some pretty bad stuff but you can be comforted in the fact that the Lord protects His missionaries :) Like Elder Runyan said. And last night we were in the house of an awesome Sister who was making a cake of Mandioca for us! She told us a story that was way cool. She said that there was a pair of sister missionaries who were being pursued by a 2 thiefs who were chasing them down to rob them and they ran into a members house that they didn't know that he was a member and the thiefs got to the door and they just froze. The member called the police and they got there and the thiefs were still frozen and the police asked them "why didn't you run or overpower them? It was just a man and 2 girls?" And the thiefs responded "Yeah but you didn't see the 3 Huge men at the door" Basically 3 angels that the Lord had sent to protect the Sisters.

I heard another similar story about an angel with a sword.

The Lord protects his missionaries.

Happy late birthday Mom!!! I hope you had a good one!

Where did James and Liz go on the cruise?

Thanks for the letter! I know that we'll be getting off here earlier than normal to go to the Médico and then say goodbye to the people! And so I'll let you know before that moment arrives.

I love you!

Elder Horton

Disciple of Jesus Christ

Dad

I'm doing good! Really! Sometimes it's hard to discern of the spirits affecting my actions but usually I can tell when he's with me and when he's not. I do recognize the difference and the great blessings of the Spirit and so I always strive to have him with me as much as possible. Thank you for your letter. It seems like you always have some advice or counsel to give and I always like to hear it. Thank you dad!

Elder Horton