Short On Time

6-15-15

Hey mom!

Sorry I'm really really short on time today, and the period button isn't working, so we're going without periods today, one continuous sentence the whole letter, great isn't it? I think so, but anyways, time's short because one of the elders with which we live hurt his foot and had to go to the hospital and so we couldn't go to the normal lan-house to use the computer so we went to one that was closer, but it was closed,,,so now we're in a member's house, who is awesome, and I gave him priority to use the computer and talk with his family and now the time's almost up and we have to leave soon, buttt I read all the letters that I got from you! But I won't have time to respond to all of the letters now, maybe, if I'm lucky, I might return later today to the lan-house to write better,,,I think that's what I'll do, but if that doesn't work out then I'll just talk quickly about the week

It was hard work, lots of visits, Pedro, a referral from headquarters, is stopping drinking and went to church! Alone! On foot! 45 minutes! Awessommeee, we had 6 people at church 1 of the people we went to the church where they were going and pulled them out of that apostasy, I wanted to do it in the middle of their meeting but we couldn't find her :( so we waited until the end watching the meeting, it was interesting, when she saw us, she said "wow, you really came??" Because I'd told her we would come get her and I told her "Yes, we came to bring you to the true church of Jesus Christ" And so we walked to church, and missed the latter half of the sacrament meeting, but we got the sacrament, and we got there and her son, active member, was bearing his testimony, I've never entered in another church in my mission until now but it was good, bold, missionaries need to be more bold,

I don't have many plans for when I get back,,,I'll think about all of that on the plane ride home, it's better

That's about all I'll write for now, hopefully we'll talk better later love you guys!

Elder Horton

Remember

6-8-15

Olá família! Bom dia!

That Warrior Dash seems like fun, I always thought it'd be interesting to do something like that.

This Saturday, there was a soccer game that everyone in South America and Europe was watching (And anyone else who loves soccer) It was the final of the Champions League between Barcelona and Junventus an Italian team. I only saw a bit because we got in someone's house and they were watching it but I was rooting for Barcelona because they have Neymar and Daniel Alves which are both Brasilean and also Messi from Argentina but Barcelona won! 3 to 1! Neymar did a goal in the 97th minute seconds before the game ended to make history for something that I don't remember very well...something like being the first person to make a goal in the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals of the champions league. I didn't care that much about soccer when I came to Brasil but I find that I care more now.

This week was a good one. We visited a lot of people and we ate dinner and lunch (on separate days) with some new investigators that stopped us while we were walking on the street. As we were approaching I heard them talking about Americans and what not and looking at me and I started to smile and go to talk with them and we made a lot of friendship quickly and invited us over for dinner later. I see that they have a lot of potential, he's a logical man, intelligent, not blinded 100 percent yet by the tricks of man.

I got permission from 2 returned missionaries to help their mom to stop smoking because in the present moment, she doesn't want to stop. And she's already old soooo...she'd better stop soon. The good news is that I have a great way to go about calling people to repentance. It's harsh when necessary but I like to compare it to Alma 5 or Mosiah 3 or any other prophet when he calls the people to repentance (is that who you spell it?...) The RM's can't do what I can do because it's their mom :/

I'm starting to tell people here that this is my last transfer and a lot of people are surprised (some aren't that surprised because they researched on facebook when I entered in the MTC and did the math) I was telling everyone that I had about a year on the mission because I knew that if I said exactly how much time, people would start to say "Wow you're almost home!" "2 months? Wow it's almost over!" Just like the daughter of the bishop did when she found out she started mouthing in the conference "YOU'RE GOING HOMEEE!" so I stopped looking at her haha. But it's good because now we're planning my go away party :) Go away party/birthday party for birthdays of the month/integration night/June party (a typical party here in Brasil in the month of June) It's gonna be awesome!!!

So E Zamudio – I’m thinking he’s a Spanish speaker since he’s from Uruguay.  So I guess that means he learned Portuguese for the mission?  Is that very hard for a Spanish speaker?   

Yes that would mean that he learned portuguese on his mission, he speaks pretty dang well actually, a lot of hispanics have a lot of problems speaking portuguese because it's so close to spanish that they speak the right words but with a bad accent. That's the hard part for spanish speakers, they understand portuguese quickly but it's difficult to speak right.

Who are you teaching?

We're teaching a new referral from the church headquarters, a Pedro Danilo that investigated the church about 2 years ago and was almost baptized but wasn't. His only problem is alcohol but he wants to be baptized :)

And 2 other cousins of a family of members that went to church this last week randomly and we're talking with them and their families and trying to prepare them for baptism as well.

We've had to cut some people that weren't progressing :/ which I never like to do but you gotta do what you gotta do to teach the people that care and want our help.

What made you happy this week?

What really made me happy this week was yesterday when we had stake conference and I got to go back to Penha and see everyone there! Man and it seemed like every other person wanted to talk with me because I didn't just make friends in Penha and São Mateus but with lots of people from other wards as well so it really seems like this is my stake and I feel at home here. I marked some appointments to visit some people in Penha that really meant a lot to me so that'll be cool too.

What should returned missionaries do to keep their “eye on the mark”?

Really it's simple, just continue doing the simple things, read the scriptures, continue to pray, and try to be more and more like Jesus Christ and to fulfill responsibilities and do what God would have us do. If you do that, you'll continue heading in the right direction.

What is a favorite memory from your birthday celebrations?

I remmmemmmber that one time that I had  a "surprise" 16th birthday party but that wasn't that much of a surprise because mom left her email open and an email popped up in the corner of the screen "Garrett's surprise birthday party" But it was still fun the same :) Fire and smores and fireworks.

You know I don't remember a lot of birthday party celebrations....when I was younger, my birthday was always dwarfed by that of James and Rie which I think I've always been fine with. I don't remember ever having bitter feelings because of that, I've always been easygoing.

….fav memory from cousin times??

I remember the great cousin times on the cruise ship for Gpa and Gma's aniversary of some great number of years...was it 50?... and we stayed up late at night on the cruise ship playing around and Jacqueline wanted to stay with us but could hardly keep her eyes open and I was very young and awkward and Jonathan found a friend in the library haha good times. Or when everyone was at park city or arizona. They're always good times.

….fav memory with grandparents?

It was really nice when they picked me up at the airport and then we went to J Dawgs and dropped me off at the MTC, some quality grandparent grandson time.

Well I think that's about it. I love you guys!

Elder Horton

Water Box

6-1-15

Hey family!

It's weird that there, it's summer break because here, we still have normal school. But I'm sure that's great for dad to rest a bit more and Rie as well.

So excited to hear about your new companion and all about your first week together.  Where is he from?  How long has he been out?  

His name is Elder Zamudio, he is from Uruguay, he's been out about 5 months, this is his 2nd area. He was trained in Pindamonhongaba where I served as well with Elder Rivera and Elder Bolognini! So that's been cool to talk about the branch there and the people and to remember about when I was there. 

Are you working well together?

Yeah, we got along really well and he has a good focus on hard work and teaching and following up with investigators for baptism and what not. He's a fun guy too and kind of a goofball like me. He told me that I'm crazy but that he likes the way that I talk with members and investigators haha, I have a special way of talking that I think makes people feel comfortable

Where did E. Oliveria aka E. Amoras get sent to?  

He went to Cumbica, which is close to Penha where I served

What were the 3 most important things you learned from working with E. Oliveria?  

I learned more about good parenting because really when you train on a mission, it's very similar to a relationship between father and son, not to the same degree but you learn the same principles. I learned some better teaching methods.

I learned a lot about the jewish religion and other organizations that he knew well, better than I did.

Well that's only 2 but I can't think of a 3rd haha

What was the best part about your past week?  

There were many things that were cool, we managed to find a good amount of new investigators that are family of members so a lot of potential to progress towards baptism. And 2 young men went to church sunday asking to be baptized haha so that's always fun :) and Fabiana, the daughter of Sueli that we baptized, got back from her mission so we got to see her like 4 days last week because we're working togetehr with her to baptize Alll her family and not just her parents but her aunts and uncles and grandma, everyone! We're gonna got like a water box and put it in front of their house and fill it up with water and we're gonna start to baptize in front of her house, it'll be easier than taking everyoen to the church

What have you studied recently? 

I continue my daily study of the book of mormon and I'm in Alma 58 and I also continue my study of the old testament which I have found very interesting. With the manual, it's a lot better and easier to understand, it also takes a bit longer but it's worth it.

Are you happy that you get to stay in Sao Mateus??

Yeah, I wanted to end up my mission here. I also thought it'd be awesome because my birthday is like the last week of the transfer so I think there's gonna be like a birthday/going away party/integration night. Some members already mentioned that.

Well that's about it

I love you guys!

Elder Horton