August 18, 2014 Best week!

Family

I loved hearing about Liz's post on facebook :) That's super cute

Wow, that's crazy about Bonnie, but at least she's in the US right and has medical help there right? Imagine if she was in Brasil. Maybe that's why she never got her visa

I was telling the branch president here about how your wedding anniversary and Chinese food saved my life and he chuckled a bit.

Have you ever heard of Doctor Ray? He was in my area, Pindamonhongaba, this last Saturday and one of the young woman of the church saw him and took a video with him. I was hoping he would show up at church but he didn't, he's a fubeca. I believe he's a member of the church.

This week, we were knocking doors to find new investigators and we knocked (or really clapped) one door and out came a man and we began to talk and he said he had a cousin that was a missionary too. We entered in the house and we began to talk and they were all very nice and receptive and we came to know that this cousin of his that served a mission came to know the church because she did a foreign exchange student type of thing and went and lived with a family in Las Vegas that was a member of the church. There, she came to know the church and decided to become a member. She came back to Brasil and then served a mission in Brasil but now she teaches in the MTC here in São Paulo and her non-member mom is "more Mormon than the other members of the church" according to the missionaries there who go there monthly to eat lunch. And her entire family now has that basic understanding and connection with the church and if it wasn't for her, maybe this other family would never have let us in. Interesting right? All because one LDS Family opened up their house :) It's a Marvelous idea :) I loved it, I think I might do something like it haha.

This week has been one of my best weeks with Elder Rivera. I've said a lot about him and complained about some things and he does have some problems but I've been really prideful as well and I recognized that this last week and a bit so I'm trying to be more humble and be a better friend of him and loving him and it's making a difference.

Any news on Pres Ferrin’s visa??  I hope he doesn’t have to be gone long!  That IS crazy!

The president was also wanting to return soon but in his weekly letter to the missionaries, he said that that was his selfish desire getting in the way of the will of the Lord so he and we are pretty well set that the Lord has a great plan in all of this and that this new president that will end up coming will be able to help in other ways that that the Lord wants the mission to be helped. We'll see what happens.

What is your bathroom of death??  I’m intrigued!

Oh it's just a really disgusting 2nd bathroom that we have.

How is the work going?  Who are you teaching?

It's good, we goign to start doing a night of integration weekly which is just like a fun activity for the whole branch to participate and for the members to bring friends and for the investigators to be integrated so I'm happy to get this going. We've got some hopeful investigators but no one that's really Ready to be baptized and time is short so I'm gonna continue. It sufficeth me to say that it goes well. and I'm excited and happy.

  

Also, in my unpacking I found a pocket size Book of Mormon.  I think it was Jonathan’s.  It’s in a special cereal box case he must have made for it.  Do you want me to send it to you?

...nah just hold onto it. I'll just stick with my regular Portuguese Book of Mormon

Also, a new debit card came for your account.  I should probably activate it and send it to you.  I’m just hesitant to send that in the mail…  What do you think?  Have you used your card recently?  I wonder if it still works…?  I should probably send it – maybe tucked in the pages of the Book of Mormon. 

Ummm...maybe you can call the bank and see if the old card will still work?

Anything else you need?

I believe that here in a couple weeks there will come some colored pencil pens (2 of them) from china that I ordered so just be waiting for that and then when it comes, you can send it to me with anything else I'm wanting/needing at that time. How much is it to send a package like that with 2 pens?

How are those shoes holding up?

They're holdin'. We'll see if they make it the whole 2 years.

Thanks for the letter and the love and the prayers.

Elder Horton

Crazy News

Hey family!

Here's some crazy news, our mission president went to renew his visa but he went a bit late, after it had already expired. He thought that they would just have to pay some extra tax but it's actually a bit worse than that. They'll be returning to the United States until they can renew the visa. He'll continue as mission president (I believe via skype and what not) but he won't be in Brasil until they can resolve this.

I liked reading the letter and loved the pictures of the kids and their pirate party :) It seems like they invited another family too.

Since I've started to work out, my muscles have really gotten big! Like not Arnold Schwartznegger big but a bit bigger at least. I'm excited :) when I get home the ladys won't be able to resist me ;) But I'm not worried about that right now, I'm worried about the mission. 

Quote of the week I was playing guitar and Elder Rivera said "If the girls don't date your face, they'll date your guitar" which doesn't seem to translate very well....but basically if I don't have good looks, they'll at least go out with me because I play the guitar well. We were at the house of an investigator family and one of the sons plays guitar (acoustic and electric) since he was 10. Men he played a bit on the electric guitar and that was Awesomeee. Made me want to learn. He taught me one thing which I was happy to learn, I think it was by ACDC. It was very legit. And then we ate a delicious lasagna and Churrascoooooo!!!! Man I love brasilean BBQ.

We watched the other side of heaven today this morning already. Very good movie, I forgot that that was Anne Hathaway. I learned some things also that I think I'll be able to apply to my mission. We're going to watch Ephraim's Rescue as well later today :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVw6PsSinI

I feel like if it was obligated that Everyone in the world had to watch this film, that there would be millions of converts to the church of Christ

How was your week?

This week was a good one, my district is being more obedient and my companion and I are doing better. We worked pretty hard this past week and we're seeing some of the fruits.

Did you do anything special for pday today? 

Nope, today we're keeping it chill, I really just wanted to rest today. I think my companion and Elder Paulo, the Brasilean are gonna go play some soccer but me and Elder Gilliat are gonna stay at home I think. at 6, we'll start to make our rounds so Elder Paulo can say goodbye. We don't Know what's going to happen yet but he has 6 months here so he'll probably be transferred. We'll see.

Do people comment on your accent anymore? 

That's an interesting subject. The other day, a sister in the ward was praising me for how well I speak portuguese and basically without accent. And the same day someone couldn't manage to understand me when I was talking normally. Sooo it's on the 2 sides. I don't know, maybe sometimes my accent is better than others, maybe sometimes I'm more tired or lazy. I dunno but I feel like my accent is pretty good. It doesn't help that I've only ever had 1 brasilean companion and my current companion speaks with a strong spanish accent.

Do you speak Portuguese with your companion?

Yeah, that's our only common language. But I Am learning spanish with him which is pretty cool. He learns some things in english too but doesn't try as hard to learn or speak as I do.

Tell me about your apartment in this area – I keep forgetting to ask about it!

Well....what do you wanna hear? 2 rooms, study room, kitchen, bathroom, bathroom of death too (as said by Elder Gilliat)

Did you say transfers are this week?  Seems like they’re coming up soon.  It seems like time is speeding up, do you feel it??

Yep, the time is definitely speeding up. There's an Elder that's going home now, he said in his last zone meeting that it doesn't feel like he's going home, it feels like he's leaving it. He cried a lot too. The last time he followed up with me, I asked if there was anything I could do to help him, he just said "give me some of your time" I might could've cited that movie Time and said some smart remark but I just offered to ask the presidnet if I could give him a month of my mission haha.

What was your favorite scripture you read or studied this week?

I like 2 Nephi 26:24-28 that talks a bit about the nature of Christ and it's an open invite unto All  men to come unto Christ and to be saved.

I love you guys

Elder Horton