12.26.11 Pictures and a short note

House visitor...there are a lot of visitors in our house
Baptism of Jefferson

me and a tortise at lunch yesterdayService project
We cleaned up a backyard with machetes.
Service project group
Iguana in a tree. I want to catch one and eat it. I heard they are good.
Christmas phone call
Christmas lights in palms over a nativity
Butterfly that emerged from a cocoon in our bathroom
Tortoise

Hello!It was so great to hear from you all yesterday! I was way happy afterwards. You all sounded great. It made me excited to get home this summer! I miss you all a lot. Thank you for all of the pictures too! Leslie and Miles together are really really cute. I liked leslies hair... she looks like a Who... haha. And Mom, you look great too!! And looking at the pictures of blue.. he is fat. Haha you guys have 6 months to get him slimmed down or else l will have to do it. ha. It looks like it was a great christmas. I am excited that I will be there next year! I hope you all have a great new years this coming weekend. I love you all so much!

Have a great day.

Love Isaac

12.19.11

Hey family!
To start off... I am really sorry, but Skype is not gonna work out... The problem is, is that I am in Timon. The internet is extremely slow, and I think that would be a problem, and as of now, I haven´t found any computers with a webcam and microphones. I am sorry that that will not work out. I really wanted to do Skype... maybe for Mothers Day it will work out...

So here is the plan we have. You can call the church at 7pm Sunday my time. I am sure you guys know how to call brazil by now so I will let you figure out how to call this number..086-3212-1051.... If that doesn´t work, the area code might be 099 and not 086. But I am pretty sure the area code is 086. Again, sorry the skype thing isn´t gonna work out.

This week was a little better. Tuesday we had our district meeting and then I went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Brazell. he is from Spokane washington. He is a really good guy. We had a good day and helped out his area a little. It was nice because it rained in the morning, so it wasnt quite as hot. Then wednesday was back to normal in my area. Nothin too crazy happened on Wednesday or Thursday, just normal stuff. Friday was pretty busy. We had to go to Teresina in the morning for a meeting with President and our Zone. We all got DVD players!! woo!! haha. we are supposed to use them to help out our study. I am not too sure what the church was thinkin when they thought to give all the missions a DVD player. I guess they have a lot of trust in the missionaries. At least in this mission, I am pretty sure they will be used for other purposes. Then later that day we had to go to Caxias which is about an hour and a half away. My companion had to do an interview there. It was a long day and we weren´t able to work in my area that day until 8 at night. Saturday we had a baptism! His name is Jefferson, 14 years old. He had been going to mutual and all the activites and church every sunday. A while ago he set his own baptismal date for the 17th. He is a good kid. I like him a lot. I am pretty sure that his parents will be following his example soon. They are showing good signs of progress. That is about all that happened here. Everything is going well.

Yesterday it was 111 degrees. I saw it on a sign that shows the temperature. I can´t decide what is worse.. idaho winter, or timon everyday. haha. I am missing the snow though... just for this week. I hope you all have a great week and a very merry christmas!!! I love you all and I can´t wait to talk to you on Sunday!

love isaac

12.12.11 Tough/good Week and Pictures

Church building in Timon

Youth in Timon at Family Night

Field where they play football

Bird that flew into the house

Ola!

This week was rough... but it was good at the same time. I don´t know exactly.. but the work isn´t going how I expected. We are havin a tough time finding new people to teach. That is hard to not have people to teach in Brazil. We just need to be a little bit more couragous and just open our mouths and talk to everyone... young or old, men and women. We both just want to teach families and men, but all the men here just chill at the bars. So it makes it tough to talk to them. I hope that we will have some success this week in finding more people to teach.

It was good though because one of our investigators, Jefferson, is progressing well. He is 14. His older sister was baptized a little bit before I showed up here. He has been going to mutual and activities every night and he is just a stud. We didn´t even have to invite him to be baptized. About 3 weeks ago he just said that he wanted to be baptized on the 17th of December. That was the first time for me that an investigator set their own date haha. But I am excited for him. We are also teaching his mom and dad. They are both seeing the change in their kids´ lives. Their hearts are being softened. We left a really good lesson with João (the dad) on saturday. We talked about how he can gain a testimony and I shared with him the faith experiment from Alma 32. He liked it a lot.. We will see what happens. He basically said that he will join the church someday. We just need to help him make that ´´someday´´ soon.

Vera (Bianca´s mom) stopped progressing... I don´t know what is going on inside her head. I think she is just scared to make the full change. We told her 3 kids to keep baring testimony to her and keep inviting her to church. We will continue to go there to teach her every once in a while... She is moving to Curitiba soon and we want to have her baptized before. We will see what happens.

To answer your questions... My suit is still good. I need to take it to the dry cleaners though.. I only wear it on Sunday´s for church and then change out of it, and i use it for zone conferences too. It is holdin out so far. I think maybe I grew because the pants are kinda short now.. but that is alright. My luggage is great. no problems there. About Miranda and those boys... my vote is Schenk. haha. Graydon is awesome, but I vote Schenk. (I take it graydon and tawnie didn´t get married???)

I will talk to my companion about the times. I think either will work, but I will talk to him. Also... President Dias said we can use Skype this year... I don´t know how that works, but I will look into it. Since Christmas is on Sunday, i would have to use skype on saturday in the lan houses. So you just tell me your preference... skype on saturday, or a phone call on sunday. Either will be fine with me.

Everything is going great down here though. I am loving it. Sometimes it is hard, and I get frustrated, but it is all worth it. I know that i am doing what I need to be doing. I am seeing many many miracles here. I wouldn´t trade the experiences i have, good or bad, for anything. I love serving the Lord here in Timon!

I love you all very much and I hope you all have a great week getting ready for christmas and doing your crafts and fun things! Thank you so much for all you do!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BAILEY on tuesday!!! I love you so much and I will be thinking about you on the 13th.

Love Isaac

12.5.11

This was not the best week ever, but it was ok. We are working on getting new investigators through the members, but so far the members aren´t helping out too much. There is one guy who helped us out a ton though and gave us 5 referrals. I was happy about that. The members name is Elton. He is a really good guy. He is getting ready to serve a mission next year and he loves to walk around with us and visit people. He is a great help.

We are teaching a lady whose name is Vera Lucia. She is the mom of Bianca who was baptized a couple of weeks ago. I know that Vera knows the church is true, but she is having problems switcing from her old habits to new ones. She has been part of another church for most of her life... I don´t know if she is worried about what the people from that church will think.. or what.. but she has the desire to go to church and be baptized... but it is just taking the next step of faith that she is worried about. If you could, pray for her. It will bless her family tremendously when she is baptized!

Last P-day we went to the church and played american football with the youth here. It was really fun. It was the first time anyone has ever played so it was fun to teach them a new sport and play with them. We are going to play again today. There are a couple of kids here who are naturals. It is sad to see because they only play soccer here. I wish they had more options, but it is tough. Soccer is so popular here because you can play it anywhere and you only need a ball. There is always a game goin on in the streets or in some open field.

I am glad that Mom´s suregry went well. I am praying for you to recover fast. I am glad the got the lumps out before it did anything to your spine or anything else.

I have a question... what time would be a good time for you guys to call me on Christmas? I think it will be easier this time for you guys to call the church. Church here is from 9-12...Then I have lunch. and I can be back at the church anytime between 2:00-9:00pm Timon time that day...Anytime during the day is good for me. Just let me know what is good for you guys and I can make the plans here to be open at that time.

Thank you for the scripture Dad. I like to read them. They help me out a lot!

I also have an invitation for you guys... Study chapter 9 of Preach my Gospel in Family Home Evening and personal study and think of how you can help out the missionaries there find more people to teach. Missionary work is at its best with the members are full time finders, and the missionaries are full time teachers.

I love you all so much and I hope you all have a great week!

Love Isaac

11.29.11 A Good Week in Timon

Good morning!
This week was pretty good. Neither of us know the area so we are just working on that. We are focusing on getting to know the members here to get their trust and help. My other companion fought with the bishop the day I showed up and so I haven´t ever had a good relationship with him, just because I was companions with my companion.. haha. But the first day of the transfer we went and found the bishop and talked and so now everyone is on good terms.

We got a list of recent converts from the church yesterday, so we are going to go and visit them this week to invite them to an activity and see if people in their families are ready to hear the gospel. I have had some sucess doing that before... Speaking of that, Fernando (from my first area Sobral) went to the temple last week! I don´t know if you remember but we found him because his wife was less active and he was just ready to go. I don´t know if I talked about him before because I was transferred 5 days before his baptism.. but now he went to the temple and I am pretty sure he got sealed with his wife. He is a stud.

My new companion is awesome. We already get a long great. He is from Curitiba... my second companion from there... He was born into the church. He doesn´t know his biological dad because his dad didn´t want anything to do with a baby, so he left and never came back. But when he was 3 his mom met a guy in the temple that was perfect for her and he adopted my companion and gave him his last name and a little bit after they were all sealed together. My companion is a really really good teacher. He knows how to connect with people and make them feel important. I am going to learn a lot from him.

For Thanksgiving we had Zone Conference. (not because it was thanksgiving, but because of coincidence) So we got a bigger lunch than normal so that was good. There are a couple of Americans in the zone, so we wished each other happy thanksgiving... and moved on haha. I got my package too! It was great. I didn´t want to wait till christmas... Thank you for everything! I am sure my brazilian friends will like the presents. You send two pairs of shorts so I gave one to Elder Cunha who asked for them, and the other to my companion, because I didn´t need more.. I hope that is ok. And everyone is loving the candy. The ensigns are great and the book by Elder Holland is awesome. I love the quotes in there.

I like to give things to the people I live with, but it isn´t me who is buying the stuff. The elder I live with now wants that umbrella and a yankees hat, but he doesn´t need them. I get the feeling that he is just taking advantage of an american haha. Because the first day here he just started asking for things... i didn´t even know him at all ha... I just told him I will see what I can do. So don´t feel like you need to send those things. if you want to you can though.

And I see elder Smoot and Elder Plewe every now and again. I have seen Smoot more often. I only saw Elder Plewe the day Elder Bednar was here because the entire mission was here. He has been in São Luis his entire mission and that is really far away from all the areas I have been in. The last time I saw him before that meeting was in Portland when the assistents there dropped him off in his area.. haha. He is doing good though.

And the last question.. I am still junior. I am happy with that though. I don´t want to be a leader or anything. I like just helpin out ha. It is better.
Thank you for everything you guys have done, and continue to do! .

I love you all very much!
Love Isaac

11.21.11 Transfers

So I just got called and I am staying here in Timon, but my companion got transferred. My new companion will be Elder Veloso. He will get here tomorrow at 8 at night. i am excited! I wasn´t sure how I was going to live with Elder Bezerra for very much longer... haha. But it is all good now. I also got to know Elder Veloso in Parnaíba. He is a good missionary and knows how to work. It will be good.

11.21.11

Good morning!
This week was ok. We had a baptism on Saturday! so that was good. Her name is Bianca. She is 13 years old. Her 2 older brothers were baptized pretty recently. I don´t know exactly when, but she wasn´t ready at the same time as her brothers I guess. The youth here are amazing and got her to come to church every week, and she was atending seminary everyday. She was basically a member already. We call these types of people ´´dry members´´ ha. But now she is really happy. Her mom came to the baptism and church the next day... so I hope that she will be baptized too.

It sounds like your week is going to be busy. That is good. When you see Dane say this to him... Isaac mandou um abraço. And tell everyone else hello and that I love them. This is my last Thanksgiving on the mission... next year I will be home to celebrate with you guys. They don´t have thanksgiving here. They know what it is because of american movies and stuff, but it isn´t a holiday here. The closest thing to Thanksgiving is Christmas. On Christmas all of the family gets together and has a big dinner. But I hope you all have a great holiday and eat a little extra for me. (I will probably be eating rice, beans and chicken.)

Things are kinda rocky right now. One of the elders that works here in Timon went home because of his knees, and so now we are in 3. It is annoying. And the other elder that we are with now got his wisdom teeth taken out, and so he isn´t able to leave the house. And my companion is a little difficult. He doesn´t like to be forced to obey the rules, so if he doesn´t want to obey, he won´t.. haha. So what I have to do is just show him that I want to obey without saying anything because if I say something he will feel like I am forcing him and he will do exactly the opposite of that thing. (I learned this when I got to know him in Parnaíba.) So it is annoying, but we get a long and laugh and talk a lot. So that is good.

There isn´t very much more news down here... There will be a transfer today... but I am sure I am staying here haha. There are a lot of good missionaries going home today. But hopefullly the other elder gets transferred so we are just in 2, or he gets another companion.

I hope you all have a great week in Wyoming! I am sad to miss it, but have a great thanksgiving! I love you all very much. Oh, and tell Kay Grandma thanks for the letter, and also the Kuhn family thanks for their letters. I will write them back, but it will be slow because it looks like the mail system is on strike again. (your package should be here though, so that won´t be a problem)

But I love you all so much. And thank you for everything!
Love Isaac
ps, i would send pictures, but the stupid computers here are full of virus and my memory card got a virus. I have to find a place to fix it now... sorry...

11.14.11 Pictures

A cool Flower

The Whole Mission in Teresina to be taught by Elder Bednar.

the river between teresina and Timon... if you can zoom in on the tiny island in the middle, you will see someone´s tent... i think someone lives there... haha. I am thinkin about tying to teach him.

Limes - they are pretty big

Acerola. One of my favorite fruits here. In this little fruit there is more vitamin C than a big orange. It is about the size of an acorn.

And we found a caju. The stem of this fruit is what you guys know as cashews. I don´t know if you know this.. I am sure dad does, but a cashew isn´t a nut. It is a stem of this fruit.

11.14.11 Elder Bednar visits

Hey family!

Haha Mom, not even I am counting the days. But that is good to know i have 500 days on the mission... It doesn´t feel like it. It is going by way to fast.

My new area is alright. It is huge. and we walk a ton when we walk. We don´t get out too much, because my companion has knee problems...But he doesn´t want to tell anyone because then the presidents wife will be annoying to him. At least that is what he says... haha. and it is a little true. I am not sure why I keep gettin put with these kind of companions, but whatev. I guess there is something I still haven´t learned haha.

And yes, I lived with Elder Sessions in Tianguá. he is a really good guy. When I started there I lived with all Brazilians, but when I got my new companion there, on of the other brazilias was transferred too and elder Sessions filled his spot. Right now I am living with all brazilians again. I like it. It is harder for me to speak in english now than it is in portugues.

My house is kinda big. It fits 4 people well. There is a big room right when you walk in, that would normally be used to park a car, but we use it to hang up clothes to dry. Then you go in more to the kitchen which is pretty small. And there is a long hallway that goes back to the bathrooms and bedrooms. The houses aren´t very wide, but are pretty long. There are 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, one study room for the other 2 elders. My room is big so me and my comp study in our bedroom. It is a good house.

So, the big news of the week is Elder Bednar came here this weekend!! It was awesome. On Saturday we went to Teresina, which is like 10 minutes away. (it is just on the other side of the river... if you look at a map). All of the missionaries were there this time. that never has happened before. I will send a pic of the whole mission together.
But when elder Bednar walked in the atmosphere in that chapel changed. It was amazing. He is such a great teacher. He taught us the same way he did when I was in Oregon. But I ended up learning different things because he knows how to let the Spirit guide the lesson and so I learned a lot more this time. He is truly an apostle of the Savior. I know he is called of God.

We will have a baptism this coming saturday of a girl named Bianca. She is the sister of two other young men who were baptized not too long ago. She is way excited and loves the church. I won´t be surprised if their mom gets baptized soon too. She is progressing...

One thing amazing about Timon is the youth here. The youth of the church are something else. I haven´t ever seen anything like it, but these kids are sooo united. They do everything together. most of them except for a few are alone in the church... meaning their parents and other siblings aren´t members. But these youth are so strong and a really great example.

But I had better get goin. I need to write mom a special email just for her for her birthday.

I love you!. thank you all for the support and prayers. Oh, and how is miles doing? and the rest of the clarks?

Love Isaac

11.7.11 Surprise!

Hey fam, I have a surprise for you.. I was transferred. I don´t know exactly what happened, but the transfer call came at like 10:15 wednesday night and the assistants said I would be leaving the next day at 2:45pm. That was annoying. So I went to my room and just started packing up all my stuff so I would have time the next day to say goodbye to a few people. So now I am in Timon. It is right next to Teresina, just on the other side of a river. Timon is in the state of Maranhão. It is a huge city... compared to my other areas, and there are only 4 elders here in the city. So my area is enormous. My companion is Elder Bezerra. He is from Manaus. I got to know him in Parnaíba when I was there because his companion was also the district leader and so when our companions went to meetings in Teresina, we were companions for the week. He is a good guy... another test for me... but we get along haha. He started his mission because the girl he wanted to marry said he needed to go on a mission or else she wouldn´t think of marrying him... but then he got a dear john letter and now he has no reason to be on the mission. But he says he is a man of his word and he is too prideful to quit something he started. He is a really good teacher though. He teaches really boldly and explains things very clear. It helps the investigators know the importance. I know I will learn a lot from him. I knew that I shouldn´t have said anything about that family we found... I knew something would happen that wouldn´t let me teach them more... haha. Just kidding. I guess that is the life of a missionary.So Timon is really really hot. We have to walk a ton. For lunch yesterday we had to walk 4 kilometers just to get to the members house, and it was in the other elders area.... so we had to walk 4 kilometers back to our area. It is ridiculous... And the lunches aren´t even that good... I am greatful for the members and their charity to give lunch to us, but I don´t know if it is worth all the walking to get there haha. I am going to get way way way skinny in this area... I am already hoping that I don´t stay here for 6 months like my other area´s haha. But it will be ok. A big area means a LOT of people to teach. I am excited to work here. Other news is that Elder Bednar is coming here on Saturday! I am way excited for that. That will be great. This will be the second time I get to hear him while I am on my mission. Also, on Sunday there is going to be a stake conference with him for the Teresina stake, and Timon is part of the Teresina stake. So I will get to hear him again on Sunday! I got lucky to be transferred here at this time. Other than that, I don´t have very much news. I am just trying to get used to the new area. I am looking forward to this transfer. An elder that I live with asked me if you guys could send a hat for him... He wants an original new york yankees hat.. like the kind you buy at fanz in the mall.. the 35 dollar kind. I told him that i would ask you guys to look... If it isn´t a huge problem could you buy one and send it? the size of the hat would be 7 1/2. I didn´t guarantee anything... so you don´t have to. Also he wants a new umbrella haha. Some other american gave him his, but it broke, and he wants the exact same one. The brand is Shed Rain... it is small and has an open/close button... I told him I don´t know if they have that in my city so, again, i didn´t gurantee anything... i thought it was a little annoying that right when I got there he started asking for things, but if it isn´t a problem he would appreciate it I am sure. He said he would give me 30 reais for the hat too... Thanks for the scripture dad. I will look that one up too and study it a little more. I hadn´t ever payed much attention to that scripture before. But i liked it a lot! Thanks.It sounds like things are going well for you guys back home. I am glad to hear about Mom´s throat and that it isn´t looking like a huge problem. I have been thinking about you and praying for you. I am happy that my letter to Dad got there. I was going to write a letter to mom and send it to get there in time for her birthday, but things have been kinda busy so I didn´t have much time. I will write a special email to you when it is your birthday, and you can imagine that it is handwritten... ok? ha. Oh, and usually the release date for missionaries is revealed when the missionary has 6 months left on the mission. So, I, and you, should know in about another 2 months ish. Have a great day and an awesome week! I love you guys very much!love Isaac

10.31.11 Happy Halloween!

They eat a ton of rice here... (this is a truck full of bags of rice.)
We ate "hamburgers"
Me and my companion on his birthday

Good morning...


I feel like I was typing my last email yesterday... This week went by way fast


It was a pretty good week. We are starting to have success again. My companion still isn´t too excited to leave everyday to go to work, but once we get out there he gets better. (He goes home in Febuary and is getting way trunky) But during the week we just did a ton of contacts on the street to maybe find a couple of good investigators. We ended up finding 20 new investigators. I feel like whenever I share with you a story of a new investigator, the very next day they end up dropping us or something dumb happens... but i will tell you about a family we found...


So we were walking down the street and just talking about something random, and my companion just stopped and started talking to this kid named Roberto. I didn´t know my companion stopped until I realized I was talking to myself for like 4 more steps ha, and I looked back and he was stopped at this kids porch. But anyway, we started teaching right there , first thing, because that is the best way to get people interested. We talked about the restoration really fast and then presented a Book of Mormon and gave him it to read and to pray about. He was way excited and kept thanking us over and over for the present haha.


So fast forward a couple of days when we went back to see if he read and prayed.... We went into his house and started teaching the whole lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel and within 2 minutes his sister showed up in the little room we were in. So we started teaching her too... then Robertos mom showed up and started listening... then their dad came and sat down to listen and then the grandma (who i don´t think understood anything) but everyone was there. So we got done teaching and I felt I should invite them to all be baptized. I started with the dad, and asked when he has an answer from God, if he would follow Christ, being baptized... and he accepted! After the dad accepts it is a lot easier for everyone else... so the mom was next and she accepted then Fernanda (the sister).. she accepted.. and then Roberto accepted. Everyone was very excited haha. Then Roberto said that the other night when we started talking to him he felt completely different. And then the mom said that she was listening to us talk to him that night and she had been stressed all day, but when we were talking to her son, the stress went away and she felt calm... And in my mind I was just like ´´YEEESSS!!!`` haha. I think my dream will come true in baptizing a whole family!


Just pray that nothing stops them from investigating the church! haha.


Dad, I am glad to hear about your new goal... before my mission I didn´t study the scriptures very often. There was a time when I was reading every night before sleeping in my room.. but then I got prideful I guess haha. but I hope that after my mission I will remember what i leared and taught to thousands of people to read every single day. Through the scriptures, we will learn what we need to do during that day, and during our lifes. I have a stong testimony now of the strength and help that comes from the scriptures. They are true!


And Mom... i hope everything goes well and that you don´t have cancer.... I will definatly pray for you! I hope the doctors find out exactly what it is... and if it is in fact cancer, that it can be taken care of! I love you!


I hope that everyone has a good week! i love you all very much! And happy halloween!! (there is going to be a big party in Tiangua tonight it looks like... i won´t be going... haha. )


Love Isaac

10.24.11 Good Week & Happy Birthday Dad!

Good morning fam!

I will answer moms questions first..
What new and exciting things have you eaten lately? Nothing really too exciting. I ate chicken heart a little while ago. it was tasty. There really isn´t too much varaity here. I have only been served buchada 2 times... which is cow stomach... and i always try it and then remember that it is gross and just eat my beans and rice quietly. You have to at least eat a little of everything the members put on the table or they will think that they aren´t a good cook.

How is the weather besides hot...is it summer there? The weather in Tianguá is getting cold again. It has been really hot here, but last Sunday it rained for a little bit, and then Wednesday and Thursday rained a ton... It got pretty cold those days and I was so cold I used a long sleeve shirt to work in on Thurdsay. It was about 75 degrees i think! But now it is back to being hot during the day, but at night it is getting pretty cold.

What type of things do you cook for yourself? I think Dad will be happy about this answer.. I make mush in the morning for breakfast. I am gettin pretty good. I don´t know if I can make a pot like Dad´s, but everyday I am gettin better. And then for dinner I don´t eat much... if my companion makes food and offers me some I will eat it.. Sometimes I go to the bread store across the street on the way home and buy some french bread and eat it with butter...

How much will it cost Denis and Leila to get married? Why don't you help them? It will cost them 90 reais. He has got the money now I think, but they postponed the wedding into December because they decided they want to do something a little nicer than just go downtown and sign a paper. They want to do a little reception in the church and make it nice to remember I think. If I am here when it is closer to the wedding and if the need anything I will help them out.

How would you feel about running a half marathon when you get home? sign me up

Do you know the Book of Mormon is true? Without a doubt. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I love studying the Book of Mormon. Right now I am in the war chapters in Alma (im in alma 49 now) and I am learning a ton about how we can always be ready for the attacks of the adversary. We always need to be one step in front and always strengthening the weak areas in our life so when the temptations and attacks come, we are ready and in the end, just like the Lamanites, the devil runs away with fear. I know that there is something for everyone in the Book of Mormon and when we read it, we can feel the love of God for us and the Holy Ghost will testify to our hearts that it is true.

So this week was pretty good. It started out slowly... But on Wednesday morning we left Tianguá at 5:30 in the morning to go to Sobral for interviews with president Dias. They were really good. He taught me the importance to talk to EVERYONE. And I explained to him our problem of our investigators not doing their part.. and he explained that everyone I talk to has a friend or neighbor and I need to do my part as a missionary and ask them for referrals. Because they might know someone that will actually keep the committments. So I have been doing that.. Talking to everyone, and if they accept us or not, i ask for a referral... Not much sucess yet, but I am sure it will come.

We did a contact with a guy in the street and I think he is golden. He was great and really got into the lesson we taught and asked questions and accepted the invitations we extended. It was really good. He already had a work appointment for sunday so he didn´t go to church, but he will next week. I am excited for him. His name is George Wilson.

Dad, my companion had his wisdom teeth pulled a while ago. He is pretty much back to 100% health wise... ha. He is strugglin to stay positive though because he wants a trasnfer... He says he is just tired of the area and that is has nothing to do with me... I hope.. ha. But I now I just have to almost pull him out of the house. He is dead. haha. But when I get him out of the house, we work well.

And I talk with Dane a little. Every once in a while we send an email with an update about our missions. That is awesome that he gets home soon. I knew he was going home in November. From his emails to me he sounds like he loved his mission and had a great time.

And just one last think... HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! I hope your day is a great one and remember that even though you are 50, that doesn´t mean you are too old to have fun. I am sure you don´t feel old though.. haha. I hope Thursday is a great day for you. I will be thinking about you. I love you!

Thank you for everything you guys do for me! I am greatful that you are my family. I couldn´t ask for a better family. I love you all and have a great week!

Love Isaac

10.17.11 slow week

Hey fam.

It sounds like it was a good week, even if it wasn´t very eventful. This week also wasn´t too eventful here.

It looks like you are all following the transfer schedule haha. But as of right now, I am still in Tianguá and lookin like it will stay that way. The phone calls already came for the rest of the zone in Sobral and there were some changes there, but as for the 4 elders in Tianguá, we are all still here. That is good. I like Tianguá. I do like change though. I think I am comin up on 5 months here... I am not exactly sure why President leaves me in areas for so long, but that is alright. I am about 2/3 of the way done, and I only have 3 areas haha. I am alright with that though.

Not much has been happening... I am gettin really annoyed with our investigators. We work with people, and find new people to teach at the same time, but everyone we find don´t keep committments so we drop them and find new ones, but the new people are the exact same and it is getting ridiculous haha. We have only had one person progressing in the last couple of weeks. We set baptismal dates with people too to help them progress and prepare, but then they don´t go to church or something. We are just findin a lot of ´tares´. I guess that is part of missionary work is to separte the people that won´t accept the gospel.. But it would be nice to find someone that is ready to be baptized again.

Oh some good news is that Denis and Leila are going to get married. Leila was really worried that Denis would go back to his old ways of drinking and smoking and being a jerk, so she didn´t want to get married to him. We have just been giving a lot of little lessons about forgivness and repentance. We finally just sat them both down together one day and made her decide if she would marry him haha. She accepted. She was happy too, it wasn´t anything forced. They are working on getting the money to get married now. It is about 100 reais to get married. It looks like the date is the 25th of october... I am excited for them.

I heard that my old companion, Elder Andrade went home early... that is too bad. He wasn´t obedient at all, but I dunno, I think a mission is good for a person. The disobedient missionaries aren´t good for the mission, but I think a mission is good for them. I just hope that he stays active in the church.

Its good that you finally got some fruit from the fruit trees... Maybe you could add some dried pears in the package? I always remember things that you can send me in a package during the week, but on Pday i forget... I will try to remember right now..

Ensigns (for some reason the mission doesn´t give us the church magazines)
Gilette Fusion razor blades.. I think like 6 would get me to the end of the mission.
Oh, I bought a guitar the other day... (I budgeted my money.. and i will sell it to someone at the end of my mission) but it would be cool if you could send some guitar music to play.. like hymns
eagle scripture markers (6pack)
shoe insoles gel kind (size 11-12)
I can´t think of much more... here is a christmas list from the brazilians i live with...(if it isn´t a problem for you it would be nice to send. they say they will pay me haha)
shoe insoles (gel kind) size 10
air heads
basketball shorts
that chicago bulls hat that i have (i will give it away)
peanut butter
2 CTR rings (2 brazilians) their hands are about like dad´s.
If you can´t get those things, then that is alright, they will survive ha. I just asked them what they wanted because i can´t think of anything i need.

oh and the mail system ended their strike. it is back to normal now.

But, i hope everything is goes well back home this week. I love you all so much!

love Isaac

10.10.11 Woo Hoo

Hey family!

I am so glad to hear about the new baby!! It is great that our family is growing! Congratulations to Bailey and Chad! I love you guys and I am proud of you. Miles looks like a stud.

This week was ok. My companion got back from Teresina and his surergy Monday night, Tuesday morning at 1 in the middle of the night. It was good that he got back. It was annoying to be in three. We worked good on Tuesday and Wednesday, but then after that the pain was too much for my companion and so we had to take it easy for the rest of the week. We are also struggling to have investigators that are progressing. None are keeping committments. It is annoying because this happened like 2 weeks ago and we basically dropped everyone and started over with a new group of people to teach, but this group is the same as the last. I guess we just need to start over again. We had a long streak of success and then all of the sudden it stopped like it hit a brick wall. It happens though. It will be better when my companion is back to 100% so we can get out on the street more.

Mom, we were teaching a lady yesterday, Socorro, (Hébert´s mom) and she was talking a lot about how her son doesn´t respect her and doesn´t obey her. We were there with a member and she has already raised her kids and explained that the best thing Socorro could do is just love him and continue to be his friend and his mom. It made me think a lot about you. I was thinkin when I was around 14 or 15 I was kinda the same way as Hébert... I remember we argued a lot and didn´t see eye to eye all the time. But I am greatful for you and that you were always there for me even when I wasn´t. Thank you for always being my friend and a loving Mom. Everything that I am now I owe all to you. I think your patience with me payed off... haha. I am not perfect, but I think I will turn out OK. Thanks Mom!

That is good that Blair Walker´s funeral was good. He was a great guy and I am glad I got to know him a little. He was probably the best sunday school teacher I had. I really liked his lessons.

The Plan of Salvation is amazing. It is so great to know where Miles came from, and where Brother Walker is now. It is great to know that we were with God in His presence before and that we all have the opprotunity to return. I know that the Plan of Salvation is perfect and that we don´t have to fear death or be too sad about it because we know that there is life after death and that we don´t stop living. Yesterday the lesson in Gospel Principles was about the Spirit world after death. One thing that is comforting is that modern prophets have said that the Spirit World isn´t very far away from us and that our loved ones are closer than we think. I know that we were all together in God´s presence before and if we do our very best here on Earth, we will return to His presence to live forever in a state of perfection. What a great plan!

I love you all very very much and I am so greatful for the new addition to the family! Thank goodness he finally came!! Crongratulations again to Bailey, Chad, and Miles! I love you, Clark family!

Tchau meus amados!
Isaac

10.3.11 Conference Thoughts

Hey family!

Where is the baby??!!! Wasn´t the due date last sunday? And wasn´t Bailey saying that he will come early?? I wanted to see him today haha. Maybe he will be born while I am on the internet... haha.

But this week was crazy. My companion´s wisdom teeth started to grow in and he was having head aches and he said it was hurting really badly. So he called Sister Dias and she set up an appointment in Teresina with a guy that always works on missionaries. So my companion left Wednesday to Teresina to do the surergy. So I have been in a trio for the last few days. I thought he would take the teeth out and then come back by yesterday or today, but he called us yesterday and said that he will come back here this coming Saturday. It is really annoying to be in a trio with 2 areas. I will do a lot of splits with members this week just so my area doesn´t die.

That is about all the news that went on this week ha...

Conference was really good. It wasn´t available in English this time because we watched from the Internet. Usually when it is broadcast via satelite, there are two channels in English and Portugues. Usually the americans go to a different room with a little tv and watch in English, but because it was Internet, we didn´t have that option. It is different in Portuguese I thought. I like to hear their real voices. A lot of the time the translators don´t get the feeling in their voice right and it is just different. It is better in English ha. But I still learned a lot. Dad, I thought there was a lot about missionary work too. I was wondering if that is just because I am a missionary and that is what I was looking for though.. But there were some great talks.

Some of my favorites were Elder Scott about the scriptures. I need to start memorizing scriptures that mean a lot to me so I can always have them when I need them. And i liked Elder Anderson´s talk about creating families, because it made me think of Paige and Bailey, and their families. Elder Perry´s talk about how we can share the gospel better was really good. I would challenge anyone to go over that talk again and do what he suggests. And the talk by Elder Cook was great too!

I felt the spirit when President Monson announced the Star Valley Wyoming temple. That is great that wyoming will have a temple now! I know I lived in Idaho all my life, but I have some wyoming blood passed from you guys, Mom and Dad. haha I just thought that was awesome though that Temples are getting closer to the members all the time. The temple is such a great blessing.

Paige didn´t like flying? I like to take off and land, but to sit on an airplane for a long time is very annoying. I didn´t like the flight to Brazil because it was soooo long and I felt trapped the whole time. But flying isn´t too bad. Haha i am glad Leslie liked all of it.

I hope that your week goes great! and that the baby comes soon! I am exited to see little Miles. I love you all very much!!!

love Isaac

9.26.11 Answers to questions

Hey family!


I am gonna just answer mom´s questions first so I don´t forget...


Q1. Is the Brazil Postal service on strike? I heard that on Missionary moms.
A1. I haven´t heard anything about that. I am pretty sure that it is still goin...


Q2. Who cuts your hair?
A2. There is a guy down the street that cuts my hair for 2 reais. It is really cheep and he does a good job.


Q 3. Will you be able to watch conference via satelitte at the church?
A3. We will watch conference via internet in the house chapel.


Q4. How are your shoes? I know I keep asking, but there seems to be a lot of talk on Missionary moms about shoes wearing out.
A4 My shoes are great. I don´t have any problems with them. You can send me new insoles though. They got holes in them and that is the only problem...


Q5. Do you ever have scary stuff happen to you that you don't tell us because you don't want us to worry?
A5... If i tell you will you worry???


Q6. Are you ever sorry that you didnt' take your Ipod? That seems to be a popular request for moms to send to their missionaries. Although I though it was against the rules. (They do send small speakers too since earbuds are off limits).
A6.. No. I miss music, but I have that USB thing you sent me and I have some church music on it that I downloaded from the church website. And i bought a little speaker thing that reads USB drives...


Q7. It seems like the visa problem is still going on..are you hearing of new American missionaries coming to the Teresina Mission?
A7. I haven´t heard anything. I don´t ask though. I think the visa problem will always be a problem.


And yes I know Elder Ashton. I have heard of Crittenten, but I haven´t ever met him. Elder Cook is going to be going home at the same time too. He is from Shelly. He has been my zone leader in parnaiba and tinagua. he is a good guy.


So, now this was a good week. We had another baptism. 7 weeks in a row!!! His name is Pablo. His dad is a member but his mom isn´t. He always planned to baptize his son, but I guess forgot when he was 8, and he is 9 now. So we got to teach him just too see if he knew everything. So he was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was good. he was very excited. It reminded me of my baptism.


Things are going really really great here in Tianguá. I love this area. The members are a little weird and I think they don´t know what they are doing... I don´t really know what to do about that. Every sunday I leave the church mad because the members are kind of apostate... I don´t know if i can keep blaming it on that most of the people are pretty new in the church because they have the manuals and stuff, but don´t follow them... it is frustrating. But I love this area and the people in Tianguá are just ready to hear the gospel. It is amazing to see.


I am sad that the baby isn´t born yet! I really wanted to see him! Now I will have to wait another week.... I am glad that everything is going well though in these last weeks with him and Bailey. I am very excited for your family!!!


I hope you all have a great week! Have a great trip to Philly Mom and Paige and Leslie! Remember to send pictures of the little guy to me!


i love you all so much! Thank you Mom and Dad for being such a great example and for raising me in the church. It is such a great blessing. Thank you for everything. I love you both!!!


Love Isaac

9.19.11 email and pictures

Hey everyone!

This week was a good one. We had another baptism. Her name is Natalia and she is Hébert´s aunt. We started to teach her after Hébert got baptized because she felt the spirit very strongly at his baptism and wanted to learn more. She is not way smart, haha, but she is humble and I it made me happy to see her get baptized. We are working on Hébert´s parents now. His mom should be baptized soon. She is ready and goes to church every week, the only problem is that her ´husband´ doesn´t want to get married. I think she will have to separate from him :(... but that is better to do than to continue breaking the commandments. Elder Godoy said once that it is better to feel the pain for a couple of months than for eternity. We will see what happens.

So the baptism was supposed to be on Saturday. The other Elders went to the church in the morning to turn on the water to the font so it would be already for the baptism. (they had one too). But after a little the relief society went to clean the church and turned off the water to the font. We went to check on the water at noon to see how things were going and the relief society presdident told us she turned the water off to clean the church because apparently the only place water was leaving waas from the font. So she cleaned a little and then the water in Tianguá shut off for some reason. The font wasn´t even close to being full. So we had to wait at the church all day to know when the baptism was going to be (depending if the water came back on) It came back on at 7ish which didn´t give any time to fill the font. So elder cunha and I went back to the church at 1130 at night to fill the font during the night to do the baptism in the morning before church. We called the bishop in the morning if he could be there or one of his councelors and he told us to wait until after church to do the baptism. Some times it seems like the members don´t like to have baptisms here haha.

But anyway, things are going really great down here. We are having a lot of sucess right now. Miracles happen when both the missionsaries in the companionship want to work. my comp and I get a long pretty well. He still gets really mad really easy and it is still really funny. Elder Cunha and I like to push his buttons. But we do really good work together and I am havin a great time in Tianguá.

Dad, when I was getting close to serving a mission all of the scriptures seemed to talk about missionary work for me too. It is way cool to see how the scriptures take on different meanings in different situations. Right now all of the stories and scriptures seem to always have an answer to a problem of an investigator. It is really cool to get answers from the scriptures and then share that with an investigator to help them out.

Mom, it sounds like your school year is getting off to a good start. Do you think that that spanish class you took will help you with the little Mexican boy? I hope so. I hope that he gets up to speed in his learning. I am sure you are the perfect teacher for him. I am glad to hear that the student teacher is working out well. She will be a great teacher for sure. She is being trained by one of the best!

I also liked what you said about being a young womens leader. I agree it is very important to have a good relationship with those you lead. Some of my leaders here like to use their calling as a way to boss us around and do things their way. I do what they say, but I would be a lot happier doing it they showed they actually cared about the people they are leading. What you say and teach will have more meaning if you have a good relationship with them.

I was hoping Bailey´s baby would be born by now. I want to see him! He better be here next week. Bailey, try to have him before next Monday so I can see him. OK?

I hope that you all have a great week! I love you all so much! you are the best family in the world. I am blessed to be a part of it!

Love Isaac

Me and my big knife with Captain Moroni

Painting for a service project

Service Project

Alexandra's baptism

Natalia's baptism

Cool Spider I found

Elder Robertson with Tiangua in the background

9.12.11

Good morning family!

This was a good week. We had another baptism. Alexandra is her name. Her older sister was baptized 16 years ago and they were living in Fortaleza and moved here a month ago. Her older sister took her to church and we started to teach her. She already wanted to be baptized and she is a really smart girl so she understood everything we taught way fast. She was just ready to be baptized I guess haha. I am way happy for her.

Wednesday was a holiday here. It was Independence Day. It was nothing like the 4th of July there in the states... Haha. I think I was more patriotic than all of the Brazilians, and it is their holiday. There isn´t much patriotism here. I think maybe it is just because they got independence from Portugal really easily. From what people tell me is people came here, and the Portuguese didn´t have any problem with that. So they started Brasil. The way people celebrate Independence Day is just like any other holiday. Don´t go to work, and drink away.haha.

We did a service project on Wednesday for a member here. We painted his house for him. It was a job. and really really messy. The paint he used is a powder, and you mix it with water and in the end it is really really watery. I was covered in it. But, it comes out of clothes really easily because when it dries it turns back into powder. It looks really bad on walls too, but I guess it is cheap so whatever. I was glad to help him out. We painted his house in 4 hours. I will send pictures next week. (I forgot my cord from the camera to the computer in our apartment.)

I gave a talk in church yesterday. I talked about Prayer. I only had to talk for 7 minutes so that was really easy. I guess it went well. No one said anything after, so they either didn´t understand me or they didn´t like it haha.

I got some letters this week! I got the one from Paige, that had a picture of Leslie in it. And I got the FHE activity you guys did. My companion liked guessing too. haha.. He didn´t do too well.. haha. And I got the letters from Grandma from the family reunion. You can post on Myfamily that I say thanks a lot and that I love you all! Also, thanks to Paige for the letter and picture. I wrote back already and I will get it in the mail. I will wirte some more letters to everyone, but I haven´t had time yet to get them all written.

It sounds like the honey harvest went well! I liked the pictures. It looks really good. The honey here in Brazil doesn´t have a very strong flavor. They have bees here, but there are two types of honey here. From bees, and from sugar cane I guess. It isn´t honey, but it is really similar I guess.

Thanks, Mom, for sharing your thoughts from Sacrament meeting. I liked the definition of joy. I can testify that that is true. I am finding some of the greatest joy in my life out here. I love it so much. Sometimes I don´t want to think about going home haha. It is really good to be a missionary.

To answer your questions. The new areas are Caixias, and Araguaína, both in Maranhão. The furthest south is I think Araguaína now. It is clear on the western edge of the mission kinda in the corner. I am still in Tianguá. I don´t think there were any transferrs last week. I think he did them all two weeks ago.

Oh, and I went to the fair once just to walk around with my friends when I was in college. It wasn´t that cool I thought haha.

Dad, good luck on the new semester and ward! I am sure you will love it. What apartments are in your ward again?

I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Love Isaac

9.5.11 Pictures and Fast Week letter

Bruno, Neto, and i forgot the other kids name... oops... and me... But Neto was my first baptism and I found him in Sobral still active!

Leila´s baptism. don´t worry, she really is happy to be baptized. sometimes Brazilians don´t like to smile..

me and denis. I was so happy that he was baptized. he changed his life COMPLETLY!

Bom dia meus amados!

This week went by REALLY fast. it seems like yesterday that I was emailing you last time... But it was a great week. here is how it went...

We went and visited Denis everyday to help him get prepared for saturday´s baptism. He is the man. haha. He always has a funny story for us.. I will tell you one that he told us. So he was riding his bike down his street and he was coming up to a parked car. He saw an old man on the sidewalk walking the same direction that he was riding. But as he was coming up to the parked car he knew that another car was driving in his same direction and he looked back to see if he could make it around the parked car before the moving car caught up to him. As he looked back in front of him the old man had moved off of the sidewalk right in front of Denis on his bike! haha. Denis nailed him. There wasn´t any time for him to react and both Denis and the old man went flying haha. Denis thought that he killed the guy, but then realized that if the old guy was talking, then he wasn´t dead haha. Both of them were OK and the old man was just a little scratched up haha. But I laughed pretty hard visualizing how that all happened ha.

Anyway, Denis was baptized on Saturday night and confirmed Sunday. I was able to baptize him and confirm him. It was the first time I have ever confirmed anyone, and I was nervous, but it was good.

Oh, I wasn´t transferred yet.. if you couldn´t tell...

So this week we focused more on our recent converts because we had kind of been forgetting them. They are all doing great so far. Chagas is going to help us out and his friend, by introducing us. Ebert is the only one that is struggling... He hasn´t been confirmed yet and is up and down if he really wants to be a member of the church. He knows its true, but he just is in a tough situation with his family. But his mom is listening to us and she wants to be baptized as soon as her lazy boyfriend will get married to her. He just wants to keep having ´fun´ for a couple more years without commitment. It is annoying.

It sounds like your week was good. I am sad to have missed the party at Grandma and Grandpa´s house. Let them know I love them.

I am excited to see how the honey turns out... You are expecting 75 pounds?? That is a lot of honey. Will you sell it at the farmers market or something? Are you allowed to send some to me?? ha. I hope dad doesn´t get stung. Tell him to use gloves..

Well, maybe today there will be more transferres today. President opened the 2 areas last week so I won´t go there. That is alright, I kind of wanted to open up an area, but there are a lot better qualified elders that have more experience than me. I am really happy here in Tianguá though. I kind of want to be transferred, and kind of don´t at the same time. I guess I will just be happy with whatever happens ha.

I will attach pictures in another email because it isn´t working on this email.. But I hope you have a great week! I love you all very much! I hoping Bailey has her baby soon! I want to see pictures of him. Thank you all so much for all you do!!!

Love Isaac

8.29.11 Stake Conference

Oi família!

This week was a great one! Things are going great here in Brazil. To start out, Leila was baptized yesterday night after stake conference! She was having a lot of problems in her life finacially and with her ´husband´ Denis, another investigator. She had separated from him and was having a real tough time. I think that all of her problems won´t be completely solved because she got baptized, but I know that she will be able to deal with them better and she will have the strength to bare the burden. Denis will be baptized this coming Saturday. He has really progressed. He changed his life 180 degrees. I love seeing the change he made. I think when Leila sees that he repented and is giving it his best to be a good husband and father, she will give him another chance and hopefully they can get married. That Elder Ferreira and my plan anyway.

So yesterday was stake conference in Sobral. It was a great day. We left Tianguá at 730 in the morning and got to sobral at 9. The church payed for a bus for everyone. It was packed and I had to stand up the whole way there and back. But thats alright. The speakers at stake conference were the stake president, Sister Dias, President Dias, and Elder Godoy of the 70. It was a great meeting. Elder Godoy is the man. His talk was about an hour long, but it seemed like 5 minutes. He talked to the youth about dating, and to the parents about loving each other and expressing their love, and then he spok to everyone about sharing the gospel. It was a great talk. He said that the most important calling a guy can have is to care for his wife. He said, well what about being a good dad? He responded that his kids won´t be happy if their mom isn´t with them for eternity. And so the most important thing is to love and care for his wife. I thought that was a good thought.

It was also way good to go back to Sobral, because that is where I started here in Brazil. I saw Neto, my first baptism. I almost cried haha. It was so good to see that he was still going to church and he was sustained to receive the Melchezidek Priesthood! Some other members of that ward complemented me that I finally learned Portuguese too haha. The first question people asked is `How is your Portuguese?` haha I just said, `Alot better.´ ha. but it made me think of the day that I will be able to see all of the people I helped prepare for baptism maybe durning this life, but probably after and I am just thinking that I will be the happiest guy to see them in the Celestial Kingdom if I do my part and they do theirs.

Also, we had 6 invesigators there. That was awesome. It isn´t the standard of excelence for the mission, but I am way happy about that.

Oh, and there weren´t any changes in the Stake Presidency here.

My companion is funny. He gets really mad, really easy. Not at me. We don´t fight, just if one tiny thing goes wrong, he kinda freaks out haha. for example, he paid for an activity with his money and the bishops counselor didn´t pay him right away, so yesterday and this morning he was saying that he was going to call the stake president to get this guy released and he was just complaining and was really mad. it was funny. I was just like, hey man, relax... he is gonna pay you back haha. He didn´t like that too much so I left. But then the councelor showed up at our apartment 5 minutes later with the money and then my comp was happy.

Anyway, I am doing great! I love it down here. There could be a transfer here today or next week. I don´t really know. People went home today, but the transfer doesn´t end til next week.. so who knows. President is opening 2 areas in the mission that haven´t ever had missionaries in there before. I think it would be cool to go to one of them. I don´t know if I could open an area too well, but it would be pretty cool I think. But I love it here in Tianguá and things are going really great here so I don´t really wanna be transferred.

How is Bailey doing? and Paige? I hope everything goes great for them both, especiallly Bailey this coming month.. I am excited to see a picture of him! Oh, a kid showed me a baby that was born like 2 weeks ago in sobral. It looked like a frog and it was a really creepy looking baby. I guess them mom took medice to abort the baby but it didn´t work and he was born really really ugly and only lived for 3 days. So the moral of the story is don´t take abortion medicine. That is my advice to Paige and Bailey. haha

I love you all very very much and thanks so much for all you for me!! Até proximo!

Love Isaac

8.22.11 Photos

And another of the baptism with all the Elders in Tianguá and Chagas and Wesio (recent convert)

Hébert´s baptism

looking off into the distance on top of the plateu. Tiangua is on top of a plateu and this place is where people go hang glyding. You can see for miles. I am looking in the direction of Sobral... FYI

So our kitchen has a problem... The pipe is all backed up and whenever the lady above us uses her kitchen sink, it ends up in our kitchen. I did some investigating with a spoon and found huge chunks of meat in the pipe. Also a bunch of rice and lunches for probably a month. it was a very lovely sight and smelled wonderful. haha. I almost threw up. And the problem still is not fixed. We are just dumpin drain-o type stuff down the drain all the time, but with out success... I think we will have to call the plumber....

Chagas´ Baptism

Me and Elder Ferreira da Silva at the ´cave´ ... It is just below the other picture where i am sitting looking off into the distance....ha

Baptismal font in the back yard of the house we rent for church

8.22.11

ola!

This week was pretty good! Chagas was baptized! He is 19 years old so now he needs to start preparing for a mission. He is a great kid and is pretty funny. He didn´t want to wear the white jumpsuit for the baptism. When he showed up to the church I gave him the clothes and he just set them down... A little later I showed him the bathroom so he could change and gave him the clothes again. He just stood there smiling haha. Then I asked if there was a problem or something.. and he just laughed and said he was embarrassed to wear the jumpsuit ha. So I told him that every member wore the exact same type of clothes for their baptisms and that no one will laugh... but he still wouldn´t put on the clothes haha. So I told Elder Cunha to run to our house and grab my white pants and shirt so he could wear those. He liked that idea better... It was funny to me because he is way shy and he just stood there smiling without saying anything... But, in the end he was baptized in white clothes so its all good.

In other news... Denis went to church and loved it. He is a great guy. He will be baptized on the 3rd. He is progressing so well. Also Leila, his ´wife´ will be bapitized this coming sunday after stake conference in Sobral. They are separated for right now and living in different houses so we decided to baptize them both now and then get them married.. .if they want. Leila isn´t a big fan of Denis right now because she still thinks he drinks and stuff... I hope she can forgive him and see the change in his life because they have a little 2 year old that needs the support from 2 parents. I think it would be very unfortunate for him to be raised by parents who aren´t married or separated.

It sounds like the race Dad did was fun! I hope his feet stop hurting though. Elder Sessions and I are going to start running in the morning... maybe. He did cross country in high school too and so he likes to run. We will see if he can motivate me in the morning though haha.

I haven´t gotten any letters yet from Paige. . I will see President Dias this week at the Stake Conference so maybe he will bring some letters. I hope so.

I sent a letter to Jesse Grandpa this week. I hope it gets to him in time for his birthday. I don´t know how long it takes to get to you guys there from Brazil. But, let them know that they should expect a letter from me.

Mom and Dad! I hope you have a great anniversary in 2 days! I am so happy that you two married in the temple and that you keep all your covenants! How many years is it now? I love you both so much and I will think about you a little more on the 24th.

I hope that everyone´s week is great! I love you all!

Love Isaac

8.15.11

Hey family

I guess I will just answer questions from your last emails and that will cover just about everything. So here are the answers...

I have only stayed in the house one day on the mission when I myself have been sick. I had a fever and diarrea (I have never known how to spell that word). I only had to stay home for one day though, and I was able to leave for a ward activity the same night so that was good. I have been blessed with really good health. I randomly get a runny nose every once in a while, but thats about it.

Our investigators are doing great! We worked way good this week and found some good people. Ebert was baptized yesterday after church and that was really good. He was way close to not being baptized but me and my companion went there and just gave him a way spiritual pep talk haha. After that he was way excited to be baptized. He is 14 and really wants to make the right choice. He reminded me a lot of Joseph Smith´s story.

Another guy who is awesome is called Denis. So the first time we met him he was an alcoholic. He knew it was wrong but just couldn´t figure out how to stop. We taught him like 2 times and he wasn´t showing much progress. Then we went back another time and he told us his wife (they aren´t legally married yet) and his son left to live with her family because her family didn´t see any future in Denis and they don´t like him very much. And he also got fired from his job because of his drinking problem. When we showed up he was very sad and very lonely. We talked a lot about the Atonement and baptism and how he can repent, and be baptized to start his life over. To be born again. He loved that idea! haha. So we explained to him that we are going to help him and invite him to do things that will help him come closer to Christ. So we are teaching him and he is just a completly different guy in just a week and a half. He completly stopped drinking, stopped smoking, and whenever he feels the desire, he says a prayer or reads the Book of Mormon or a little pamphlet we gave him. He went out everyday and found little odd jobs selling fruit and doing little construction projects and he is looking for a better job to support his wife and kid. He is doing great. I really like this guy. He has the goal to be baptized on Sept. 3rd.


People hide from us because here the people are just way to nice to say no. It is a culture thing. We never get rejected and if we ask to talk to people they always invite us to sit down or enter their house. Not always, but 80% of the time. No one says a flat out ´no´ though. You just have to learn their excuses to know what ´no´ is. In this mission we can set a baptismial date in the first 5 minutes of a lesson. You can say something like, Hey, we have a message about Christ. Christ was perfect and was baptized. Do you want to follow his is example by being baptized too? And they always say yes. Then we can say can we help you prepare for baptism on [enter date here] and they will say yes. This usually doesn´t work because they don´t have a testimony of anything really, but it is possible. That is why people will run away or hide because they don´t want to say no.

Yes we walked Chagas to church. Yesterday he showed up by himself. He will be baptized on the 20th. (this coming Saturday)

Sometimes we knock on doors. Or clap at the gate.... haha. Just if we don´t have much to do and we are walking sometimes we just randomly stop at a house if it looks like there is a whole family there. Or if we feel like we should stop.


My shoes are doin good. One pair has holes on the bottom but that will only be a problem when it rains again. They are great shoes. Both pairs are Doc Martins and I love them. I would recommend them. Most Americans use Eccos. My shoe advice would be to get shoes with a thick sole and comfortable in the inside. A thick sole on the bottom is good when it rains because sometimes you can´t dodge the puddles and so water won´t get in your shoes. And if I needed to, I would not be able to buy good shoes here in Tianguá. I would have to wait until I got transferred to Teresina or São Luis. Those are bigger citys with shopping centers.

Zone conference is every 3 months. District meetings are every Tuesday morning. I rarely go to Teresina. The only times I have gone there are when Elder Mazzagardi came here around Christmas time, and when Elder Goodoy was here in Febuary I think. We only go there for big meetings. For Zone Conference President and the assistents travel to all the zones. And for interviews President comes to us. In smaller missions it would maybe be easier to go to President, but we have to travel by bus everywhere and it is expensive for everyone in the mission to travel to Teresina for everything.

President Dias and his wife have completed 2 years of their mission. They have one more year. He started in June 2009 when this mission was created. I will probably leave Teresina the same time he does. I could have a new mission president for a week or two.

That is all the answers to your questions I think...

I am glad Miranda got home safely. That is good. Everything sounds good back home. Is Brian´s new wife a member?

I hope your week is great! I love you all!!

Love Isaac