6.4.12 Last email...probably

Hey guys,

This is probably the last email... crazy.

This week was alright. We got some new investigators that seem really
interested. A couple of our recent converts are surprising me. Juliene
invited 5 of her friends over to her house last monday to meet us. 3
of them went to Seminary with her every day, and 2 have accepted to be
baptized! And yesterday Jacqueline showed up to church with her friend
from school. It is so great to see recent converts helping others come
to know what we know. It shows me that they really have strong
testimonies. I love seeing little miracles like that. I am going to
miss that the most from my mission I think.

Everything is going well. We aren't sure about Jaoa and Pedrina. I
feel like we are losing them. Joao said that he will get baptized...
he just keeps putting it off for the next saturday. It is very
annoying. It is hard to be mad though cause i like him so much. I just
get a little frustrated. I just hope someday he will get baptized.

This coming sunday all congregations in Brazil will watch the
dedication of the Manaus Temple. I am excited for that. It will be an
awesome way to end my mission. I can't wait for the day that a temple
is built here. Someday it will happen.

I know that this is the true church. I know that Jesus Christ lives,
and that through His atonement, and His gospel, we can all be happy.
really happy. I can't think of a better way to have used my last two
years than here in this mission. I love this work and I am going to be
very sad to leave. I am nervous to get back to normal life. I like
being a full time missionary.

Don't worry, I will make this week the best week of my mission. I am
not quite done.

I love you guys so much and THANK YOU for all of the support you gave
me. It means a lot.

Love Isaac

5.28.12 Will the shoes make it??

 my shoe.... i hope it can make it to the end...



me and elder smoot again at our last zone conference!

Hey guys,

The week was good. We are really focusing in on João and Pedrina. They are so dang close to getting baptized. They both know it is what they need to do. They know the church is true... They are just a little hesitent because they aren´t completely sure if they want to make the full change. Like the little things like going to church every sunday and saying no to the ocasional invite for a drink... They rarely drink, but it is just tiny things like that that they are worried about. I think their thoughts are ´do we really want to do this for the rest of our lives?´ They understand they are making a covenent with God and they want to keep it after their baptism and not go back. They are afraid of going back to their old lives after baptism. But they went to church yesterday and they had a great spiritual experience. Elders quorum was perfect for João. we studied Pres. Monson´s talk from the november ensign about dare to stand alone. it was awesome.

Things are going great down here though. I am just trying to keep my mind off home. Elder Davis helps because he just wants to work. He is helping me stay diligent, even though i sometimes really don´t want to be diligent haha. I feel bad for him because I am gettin to the end and all I talk about is going home. Sometimes he will say something like, ´i miss peanut butter.´´ and i just tell him, me too, but in 2 weeks i will eat all i want.´´ I will leave him very trunky I think haha.

But I know that the Gospel is true. I am reading Ether right now. The story of the Brother of Jared is amazing. We need to have more faith!!

I love you all very much!!

love Isaac

5.21.12

Hey guys,

It sounds like you all had some fun up there over the weekend. It is crazy that Leslie is already 2! She looks so big. But Brooke isn´t too far behind haha. She does look a little chubby. That is good though.

This week was good. We are working with a family. i don´t know if i have talked about them before but their names are João and Pedrina. They are awesome. We baptized Jefferson (their son) in December. We have been teaching the parents off and on because they sometimes progress and sometimes not. But this week we went to talk to João and he was very open this time. He really is interested in the Gospel and he knows it can make things better for him. We helped him during the week to get a testemony of the Restoration and so we really pushed him to say prayers every night so he could get an answer. Well, he finally prayed and he got an answer and he accepted baptism!! It should happen this saturday!. I am so excited. He is an awesome guy with a lot of faith. Maybe you guys could remember him in your prayers because he is such a good guy and needs all the help he can get. If you can´t say his name, you can call him John. That is the english name for João.

But this week was pretty good. Things are great here in Timon. I am likin it. Sorry I don´t have too much news this week.

Mom, I think I just want family at the airport. I think that would be the best. I miss you guys the most anyway. I will see my friends some time after i get home I am sure.

I love you guys a lot and I hope your week is great! I hope everything goes well for you mom in wrappin everything up at school. Are you going to miss teaching? I bet you will miss helpin the kids, but probably not all the politics that go with it. I think you are the best teacher though. They will miss you I am sure. It sounds like an exciting time for everyone there though. Can´t wait to join in in the craziness.

Love you guys!!
Love Isaac

5.14.12

It was good to talk to you all yesterday! I love talking to you guys. I did get a little trunky afterwards, but it is passed.. mostly.

 

Thanks for you email, Mom. That was really good. I liked hearing about how the Lord has blessed you through the whole job process. That is amazing! I figured there must be some kind of miracles going on because at least when I left it was very difficult for people to get jobs. It is humbling to think of all the blessings Heavenly Fathers gives us. But all of that experience just goes to show you that He lives and that He loves us. You can´t have doubts about that now.

This week was alright as far as the work goes. The baptism we had was supposed to be on Saturday. We started fillin up the font on saturday and it only got a little water in there, then the water didn´t work anymore. I guess there was a pipe that broke and so none of the water was coming into the church. So we called everyone and cancelled the baptism and set it up for Sunday after church. We went to the church early yesterday and got a small hose and hooked it up to a..... (i forgot the word in english... spiget?) So the font was filling up very very slowly for the whole meeting. It had like 4 hours to do that, but it didn´t even get half way. The good thing is that Julia (who was baptized) is 9 years old and so she didn´t need too much water. It was very good. I love watching people get baptized. The Spirit is always strong.

That is about all the news I have that I didn´t tell you yesterday. I am blessed to have a family like you guys! I love you all so much.

 

Love Isaac

 

 

 

Elder Davis, Julia, Elton, Me. It was a good day!

5.7.12 The Field is White

Family!

This week was pretty awesome. You are all wondering where I am... I stayed in Timon haha. But I got a new companion. His name is Elder Davis. He is from Minnesota. It is lookin like this will be my last companion and my last area. I wouldn´t have ever thought when I got here in November that this would be my last area haha. I have been here a long time. But that is alright. I like Timon.

The biggest news though is that Luís was baptized!!!! He is that 82 year old man i was tellin you about. I was so happy. On Tuesay it finally just clicked for him and he decided right then and there that he would be baptized and that he wouldn´t change his mind. I even asked him what he would do if his preacher dude came and talked to him about it and he said that he wouldn´t even talk to him! haha. He also said that he was going to go to his old church and announce to them that he was leaving and going to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. Luís is one of my favorite investigators that I have taught so far.

Poliana was also baptized, along with Jacqueline. Those two are amazing. They were just prepared thanks to members. We just had to go and basically just invite them to be baptized. They are awesome. I am excited for them.

I am getting excited to talk with you guys on Mother´s day!. It will be the same deal as christmas I guess. I will go to the church and you can call me there. I think your church is in the morning now... so I think you can call me at 4:00 pm my time. I will check my email very quickly on Saturday just to see if there is a problem. The number to the church is this:

086-3212-1051

That is the city code (086) and phone number. And you guys are pro´s at callin brazil now so i am sure you know what to do.

Dad, I do know Elder Wells. He is my friend ha. He was in my district when i was with Elder Melo... my second companion. he is the one that gave me a lot of troubles haha. So elder Wells and I always talked to get all the stress out haha.

Going to Lovell days sounds good to me. That would be awesome to see everyone again!

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

Love Isaac

 

 

 Daniel (member from a ward in Teresina) Luís, Poliana, Me, Jacqueline, Elder Davis

 Elder Sanders Elder Thomé Prycyelle, Bruna Angeliny (our baptism) elder Cruz and me

And the back yard of Timon.

The great city of Timon

4.30.12

hey guys,

This week got a little better. We ended up having a baptism. A couple
baptisms fell through, but I am so greatful for the one we did have.
Angeliny was baptized. She is 17. We were walking on the street about
a month of so ago and a guy stopped us on the street and said, ´hey,
go teach my daughter some day. She needs a church and some of her
friends go to your church.` so we got his address and went there. It
turns out that she hadn´t ever heard of our church haha. But she liked
everything we taught. I am glad she got baptized. We are working on
her dad now.. he is opening up a little.

Luiz is just full of miracles. We were teaching him and it seems like
this last week we weren´t making any progress. Every time we went to
visit him he said that he wont be baptized, then we would end the
lesson with him saying he is in the middle between two churches and
can´t decide. And then the next time he would always say that he won´t
be baptized. I was gettin down on him and thinkin that maybe he was a
lost hope. My companion was way ahead of me in those thoughts, but
never said anything haha. But then on Friday night, we went to teach
him and explained about the Holy Ghost and the numerous answers God
has givin him about our church. We explained that if it was right when
he prayed about our church, it is still right. We showed him a
scripture in D&C 6:22-24 and that was the turning point. After that,
he said, OK, i just have one problem now... I don´t know how long I
will be able to go to church every week there (because of age... all
those years are catchin up to him.) I explained that if it got to the
point that it was absolutely impossible for him to get to church, then
the priests can give him the sacrament in his house. He said, Ok, I
will get baptized there and nothing can change my mind!

So it was a good week.

I am not sure what I will do for school. I actually don´t care too
much where I go now. Anywhere is good.

My companion is doing better now. He talked more and more. He is just
a goofy kid haha. He just really wants a new companion. Maybe today
his prayers will be answered. Today is transfer day...

I love you all very much and thank you for all that you do for me and
for your emails.

You are the best!

Love Isaac

4.23.12

Good morning family! This week was alright. Things are getting kinda tough here. My companion really wants to be transferred or for me to get transferred. He is pretty sick of me. I am tryin to be good for him. So it was kinda a bad week because we were both not very excited cause he is all depressed and he doesn´t talk and so my mind just starts thinkin about a lot of stuff... mostly home haha. But we will see what happens. I am trying to be a good companion.

Luiz was all set to be baptized on Sunday. We went over the baptismal interview questions with him and he was very excited. We set up the interview to be on Saturday night. He was so excited and was happy. Then we went back on Saturday for the enterview and he said everything changed over the night. I guess he went and talked to his old pastor from his church and talked about how he was going to get baptized. The pastor told him that he shouldn´t because he was already baptized once and that he shouldn´t play with God. So that put a lot of doubts in his mind and he backed out. But our District Leader did an interview any way and helped him get rid of his doubts. He exlpained the whole restoration and everything again helping him understand that if Joseph Smith was a prophet then his other baptism didn´t mean anything. It helped and Luiz said he would pray again all night until he got an answer. I am very happy for him. He has a lot of faith. He is a great guy.

I have a question about dad´s work though... will we get free gas from shell now? And I got an idea from Elder Sanders for a job for me... Do you think it is possilbe for me to work in the oil fields there in texas. Elder Sanders said that you just drive around checkin meters and makin sure everything is goin good. Maybe Dad can get some connections now for somethin like that.

  And another question for Dad. My companion was telling me that he eats pine cones down there in the south of brazil. I guess there is a huge pine cone down there that they take everything off except the core... then eat the core. I laughed at him and thought that was weird haha. But then he said that they eat the same thing in Uruguay. So i wanna know if you ever ate pine cones in Uruguay on your mission?

  Mom, I am not sure about the ´why´ of the release date. I know that i was supposed to leave on June 23rd 2010, but because of visa problems i had to go to the Provo MTC and i think on the 23rd they didn´t have space for me there so it got pushed back to the 7th of july. There are about 10 or so other people that will go home on the 12th with me. So I think it is just easier to send me home with them. I hope that you all have a fantasic week.

 I love you all!! Love Isaac

4.16.12 Apple Pie

Well it sounds like things are crazy back at home! I guess my prayers
were answered. From the emails you guys were sending it sounded like
you were pretty serious about the change and so I was praying that
everything would work out for the best and that you would get the job
at Shell. I am excited! That will be way cool. I don´t know how I feel
about you guys not living in Idaho anymore... That will definately be
weird. But I am happy for you. It will be awesome to get to know
another part of the US. Maybe I could go to school there in Houston
when I get home.. I don´t know if that would be possible but I could
keep dad company if I went there. (I don´t like BYUI too much, it was
just the easier thing to do)

Mom, I liked what that recent convert said. It is very true about not
being converted at baptism. We find a lot of people that want to be
completly converted before they get baptized.. which just isn´t
possible.. I believe before baptism you need to have a testimony of
the restoration and of the plan of salvation and of the gospel. You
need to commit to live the commandments and repent of the ones you
were breaking. Then you go into the waters of bapitsm promissing that
you will keep the commandments and basically live the Gospel
principles. Baptism is the start of the path, not the end. Some people
don´t understand that. They think that they need to know everything
and go to church for 5 years to get baptized. But what you need is a
desire to make a covenant with God and the desire to keep that
covenant.

Oh, I talked to Elder Eberhardt and he said that for sure I am going
home on the 12th and that he is fixing the problem and switching the
tickets. You guys will get a new email or whatever telling you the
flight plans. He said it is a slow process and that he is working on
it and it will all be taken care of.

Speaking of coming home.. I was talking to my companion about apple
pie... I really want one of those when I get home. That is just about
as american as you can get I think. So just be prepared to make me one
haha.

Our investigators are doin well. We are teaching an 82 year old man
named Luiz. I haven´t ever taught anyone that old before. He is
partially deaf and so we have to shout the lessons to him haha. And it
was pretty tough for him to understand my accent for a while, so I
would just sit there and tell my companion to say what I wanted to
say. But now he is warmin up to my accent and we can communicate now
haha. He went to chruch yesterday. That was awesome! He absolutely
loved it. He participated in the Gospel principles class and bore his
testimony yesterday at the pulpit. (yesterday was fast sunday for some
reason) And he told the gospel principles teacher that God sent two
servents of Jesus Christ to his house and that he felt in his heart
that this is the path. We will talk to him about getting baptized next
sunday after church. He is so awesome. He is a funny old man.

Things are going great here in timon. I love it. We are going to a
place called Encontro dos Rios here in a little it. IT is where two
rivers meet (poty and parnaíba rivers) and I think it will be fun. It
will be nice to leave here for a day.

I hope that Abigail has a great birthday on Saturday! I am excited for
you! I will think for you and I hope you can feel my love. I will send
some love vibes to ya haha.

Have a great week this week! Thank you for all you do for me and for
the prayers and everything. You are all the best!

Love Isaac

4.9.12 Happy Easter

biscuts and gravy!! Me and elder Sanders (from missouri) made them
A sweet spider that I found in a tree at my house.

the americans watching conference in Teresina. starting from the back from left to right Elder Plewe and E. Pearson (LZ´s) middle row E. Howe from D.C. E. Smoot, and me... In the front E. Sloan from SLC (no relations to jerry) E. Sessions (lived with him in Tianguá) and E. Sanders

Good morning family!

This week was pretty good... We were able to find 13 new people to teach.. along with some new families. I am excited for that. There seems to be some good stuff goin on right now. It is weird because the blessings come in waves it seems like. There will be a stretch of people who just don´t want anything and don´t do anything, then for some reason a wave of awesome investigaters comes in. So we are getting really busy again with teaching and making sure everyone gets the time they deserve. I love it when we have a ton to do. (it helps me not think about june haha)

So we have been trying to teach an help the rest of Raimundo and Julienes family get baptized. We have just been focusing more on their dad, Ribamar. He is thinking about getting baptized in a different church so we have been trying to help him understand about the restoration and how baptism should be done in the right church with the right authority. He kinda just blew us off and said something along the lines of, I really like my church, I feel good there, and I think I will stay there.´ He had already investigated a lot of other churches and is satisfied with his so far. The last lesson we taught, (about a week ago) I just kinda pleaded with him to just investigate one more church. Just give us a shot and see how it is. He said one day he will go to our church, but didn´t really committ to anything. Last monday we did a Family home evening with them but Ribamar wasn´t there till the very end. But last night his son sent a text message to us saying that his dad will be home tomorrow (today, monday) and the he asked if we could come over again and do a Family Night with him. I think he liked what he saw. I think his heart is softening a little. People don´t usually go and invite us over for things like this, so we will see what comes out of it tonight. I am way excited though!

I gave a talk in church yesterday. They told my Saturday night that i would speak... so I didn´t have much time to prepare much, especially with a busy schedule. So I kinda just winged it haha. Before I talked I knew I should talk about the Resurrection. I ended up sumerizing the suffering and crucifixion of Christ, and then talking about the Resurrection and how that is such a huge blessing. I used our family´s experience from 2003 about Grandpa and Uncle Kevin in my talk and how I know that because Christ lives, we all will live one day together. I am greatful for the atonement, and that we will all live together if we live the gospel. I know the resurrection is real.

I got my birthday card with a letter in it from Grandma Flash. I love it! The other elders love the musical card as well. The brazilians think it is awesome ha. I do too. Tell Grandma Flash thanks.. and that I love her. I would write back, but I am out of envelopes and paper.

I hope Mindy has a great birthday on Wednesday!!! I can´t believe she is 19! It isn´t as weird when Paige or Bailey have a birthday, but when Miranda and Abby have birthdays, I just feel old. But I hope that your day is a great one. I will think of you a lot on wednesday.

I also missed Bailey and Chad´s anniversary. I remembered this week that it is at the end of march. I hope you guys had a good day. I love you, Clarks!

I remember now that you guys had been talkin about school and a job for me. I was thinkin about that this week. I think it would be good if you guys could get a start on that for me. I don´t remember what needs to be done for school, but I am sure you guys know. Just do whatever and sign me up to live wherever if it is necessary to do that right now.

Oh and Elder Eberhardt is brazilian. That is why his english isn´t too great. I will send him an email and see if I get a reply from him.

I love you guys a ton!

Love Isaac

4.2.12 Conference

Hey guys,

Things are going well here in Timon... Yes, I am stayin here for at least another transfer... I wonder if President just forgets about me sometimes... I guess that would be alright cause I could understand it as I am not doin anything wrong to get attention.. haha. Elder Cruz is still my companion. When the calls came he seemed pretty disappointed. It is tough to stay with someone for a long time. I am just used to it by now, but I knew he really wanted a change. I will try to make things good for him.

I really enjoyed General Conference this weekend. We went to the stake center in Teresina to watch it. And yes, we did get to watch in English. I loved the messages. The over all theme that the Spirit taught me was this... Just hold on. Have faith. Don´t lose focus of eternal goals. Keep repenting. And you can do it. I got the idea that this life isn´t going to be easy. And it shouldn´t be. But it is very very possible and with the Gospel in our lives, we can get through it all. I am greatful for the talks given. I loved them all.

I talked to Elder Donizeti (my old comp) and Elder Smoot. Elder Donizeti will be released on the same day as me and he said it is the 12th. Elder Smoot said that he was with an elder that was gettin close to go home and his family got the travel plans for him that said he was going home a month later than he thought, but that was wrong. So I am still stickin with the 12th of June. But I guess we will see. It would be nice to not have so much confusion. Just know that some day I will come home.

I am doing well and am happy. We are working hard and I am givin it my best down here. I´m gettin kinda sad that the end is in sight. It will definatly be weird to not be a missionary anymore. I love this work, and I love bein in Brazil. There are some great people down here. I know that the Gospel is true. I know that it is the only way we can be saved in God´s kingdom someday. I know that Jesus is our Savior. He lives!

I love you guys a ton! Have a great Easter!!!

Love Isaac

Oh, and mindy, if you want to ever do that hike again with someone I will go with ya. I really want to go on that hike. It looks awesome

3.27.12 Woo!

That is so awesome that the Brooke was born!! That makes me happy. I am glad she
came a little early too. I didn´t like waitin for Miles to be born haha. She
looks just like Leslie when she was born. At least from the pictures. I am
excited to see all three of my neices and nephews.

Transferrs are today, but nothing has happened yet. We will see. I might run back here to email you guys a little later because I just called the secrataries, but they weren´t in
the office yet. So, I will call them a little later to find out what all the
confusion is about the release date. I am not too worried about it, but I am
sure it would be nice for you guys to know when you can expect me to get off the
plane. And maybe by that time I will know if I am staying in Timon or not.

This week was good. Monday we went and played bowling, as you saw in the
pictures, and I ate a milkshake. I think it gave me food poisening because I got
messed up inside. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom that night. Then on
Tuesday, Sister Dias made me and Elder Sanders (he was also messed up) go to the
hospital. We had to take some taxis there and I ended up paying for them. It was
pretty pointless and a waste of money because the hospitals here are dumb.
Everyone goes for tiny problems and so you don´t get the care you need. I just
went in and told him what happened, and he gave me a perscription for like a
poweder I mix in with water to regulate my intestines or something. I think just
my peptobismo was workin just fine. So i wasted 80 reais for nothin.... haha,
but thats alright. Then we got to work normally from Wednesday on. It
was a good week.

Our investigators are kinda weird. I can´t figure them out.
There was one kid named Bruno that has just been a pain. He wants to
know a lot about the church but won´t commit to anything. My companion was kinda
gettin irriated on Saturday with him. Bruno just wasn´t accepting anything and
was just bein lazy. After the lesson we were both like, alright, we are gonna
drop him. We were frustrated. But then on sunday we were just in the middle of
Priesthood Meeting and I hear the door open and in walked Bruno by himself.. I
was way surpised and way happy. It´s weird how peoples hearts can get touched.
We went and visited him after church, and he didn´t like everything, but he
liked it alright. I donpt know if anything is going to come out of it, but I am
glad that Heavenly Father is slowly opening his heart. We also had 6
people in church... we are getting better. The best part is that there was 15
minutes left and a member calls me and my comp out. She said that a girl´s dad
was outside. So we go out there and he is talking to another member. I got there
at the end of the conversation, but he said, I need to go to a church, and I
will keep comin back here. So that was awesome and he went in and watched that
last of the sacrament meeting. We visited him and he accepted to prepare for
baptism on the 14th!!! I was happy about that.

on a side note, that lesson with
him was really weird. We were teaching and a lady walked into his back yard and
was lookin through the back door to us. She just got done usin crack... So she
was talkin and doin weird things. The neighbors threw water on her to make her
leave haha. But she was weird... So we just finished up really quickly because
it was hard to concentrate with her back there. But he accepted to be baptized
and that is what is important. I was very happy, and his daughter couldn´t stop
smiling. It was a good day.

I love yo guys so much. Have a great spring
break... or i hope your sprink break was good! I dont know when it
is.
love isaac
ps... root for kansas for me... if they didn´t lose
already

3.19.12 Short letter and pictures

Blog Readers - If you looked at this blog post earlier you might have noticed that there was not letter. We waited all day for a letter and one never came but pictures did. Eric checked our email at 9:00 p.m. and finally the email made it here. It was sent this afternoon but didn't arrive until late. So here is the updated blog post with letter and a few more photos.
Marie

meus queridos!

This week was very good. We had 2 baptisms in our area!!! I am very happy about that. I will send you pictures of us with Juliene and Eduardo.

To answer your questions about the release date... I am certain it is the 12th. Maybe the travel department just isn´t sure yet. Because we spent the whole day with the secrataries getting visa problems sorted out so I could go home. He told me that he already changed the flight tickets to the 12th and everything. The 12th will also be right on the transfer date. There will be a 5 week transfer coming up so that is why it got moved from the 19th to the 12th.

President Dias will get switched out in July. Just a couple of weeks after I leave. That is pretty cool that one of miranda´s friends is gettin here in August. He will like it.

There isn´t much to say these days... I feel like I have told you everything about brazil... My emails aren´t so great anymore... This week was just a normal week... but I will send you some pictures of the last couple of things that have been goin on recently.

I love you all a ton!!!

Love Isaac

bowling today for I WON!!!!

baptism... the fotagrapher caught everyone off gaurd

My favorite fruit
goiaba
the 4 elders in timon on my birthday with my cake

me and my comp on my birthday

3.12.12 New Release date

Hey family... I will just try to answer your questions if I remember them all... Starting with Dad´s because I forgot last week... sorry...

I don´t have any problems with fleas. The only bug that is a pain are the little mosquitoes. they love to bite my ankles. It is way annoying and there are a lot more of them lately because it is very very humid. And the daylight is basically the same here. 6 am it is bright, and 6 pm it is dark. It gets light and dark very fast here. I do notice that sometimes it gets dark a little after 6 though... like 615 is when it is dark. It just depends on the time of year though. They have daylights saving time in the south of brazil. But here, it is always 12 hours of darkness and 12 of light.

Mom, Antonio is doing so good. He helps us a ton. He is very active in the church and loves going on splits with us. He is a great guy. I really like him. He doesn´t say much, but he has a very strong testimony when he shares it. There are 4 elders in timon. no body rides bikes. I think they used to have that option but probably elders were doing stupid things with the, and it is a target for the bad guys to steal. Ive heard of a lot of stories of just normal people being stopped on the street by a guy with a knife askin for his bike. So that might be another reason.

I am sad to hear about blue. that is too bad. Are you gonna get another dog? maybe in the summer... Ill probably make you get one if you don´t have one by the time i get home. Speaking of that, the date got moved. It will now be the 12th of june that I get home. I was with the secrataries all day today, and so i am positive of that. I hope everyone can be there, and that that isn´t a problem for bailey. So you can count on me leaving brazil on the 12th though... and probably the 13th when I will land in the IF airport.

I got your package. It was very nice to get. I got it on wednesday. It was a nice birthday present. I got a card from paige brent and leslie and baby 2 also. And a card from Kay grandma. Please tell her thank you. I love her a lot.

Dad, I was talking to elder sanders, who lives with me, about your bees. If you want a name to call your honey, we thought of a good one. We think you should call it Combing Home Honey. Because your honey can remind people of the taste of home... haha. take it or leave it.

We are preparing two people to be baptized this saturday. Juliene and Eduardo. They are both 17. I am excited for them both. They both have really strong testimonies and are ready to make a covenant with God. It will be a special day.

I am glad that you are all doing great. i hope dad recovers quickly from the surgery. I hope you all have a great week!

I love you!
isaac

3.5.12 Alive and Well

Hey guys,
Thanks for the birthday wishes! I will be in Teresina tomorrow
afternoon for a leadership meeting. So that is my birthday party haha. But our
neighbor said she will make me a cake tomorrow night when I get back from
Teresina, so that will be nice. She is a very nice lady. She isn´t a member yet,
but loves the missionaries and is always helping us out. So one way or another
she is helping the Lord´s kingdom grow by keeping the missionaries happy haha.
But, while I am in Teresina, maybe I will get the package you sent... that would
be nice.

This week was normal... It was definatly better than last week.
We got out everyday. The carnaval and colds and everything was gone. So that was
great. WE have some pretty great investigators. I am excited for this area in
the next couple of weeks. It finally is picking up and we are finally breaking
through our rough patch and good things are happening. I am happy about
that.

There isn´t very much news to share from Brazil... I guess this
email will be more of one to tell you guys that I am still alive and well ha.
Thanks for the pictures of Leslie! She sure is big now. That is weird to
me. I see the pictures but I don´t believe it is here because I just have the
image of her when I left stuck in my head. But she is a cutie. Well done
Cummings family! haha. I am way excited to see the new baby too! I would give
you some portugese names for suggestions, but like the only names the girls are
called here are maria and francisca and antonia. that is seriously just about
it. sometimes they mix the names so the ladies name will be francisca maria.
that is about as creative as they get here ha. There was a baby born in the ward
on friday.. they named her Ada. That is a cool name I think. probably just cause
its different.

I am glad that everyone is doing well though. I hope that
Dad gets the job he wants. I am prayin for you. Where is your preferance to
work? Does that question make sense in english???I love you guys.

Thanks for the emails and the thoughts and prayers. you guys are the best
family!

Love isaac

2.27.12 Lehi's Dream

a bird at lunch last pday. it is a pet and he is really ugly
an amzing fruit. it is called ata. it is very sweet, and very white on the inside. i am thinkin they ate this in lehis dream.
a mushroom growing out a a piece of poo.. i thought you would like it haha
you don´t chew it at all. just kinda break it open and suck. it is soooooo good
a big dragon fly that was kinda cool lookin.. especially his eyes
a cool house... i am pretty sure no one lives there...

Hey fam,
This week was rough... so we couldn´t leave at all on monday, we had to come home early on tuesday, then on wednesday I got a nasty cold and a fever so i was just feelin bad and had to go home early. that lasted through the night and onto thursday. I was feeling good thursday night so we got to leave again. Then we worked all day friday. Then my companion got what I had and had to stay home all day saturday. Sunday we were both better for the most part. I still have kinda a runny nose and a cough every once in a while, but thats alright. I´ll be good in a couple days.

Dad, things I am learning... I actually learned something this morning while I was studying. I was studying Lehi´s dream and how it relates to my purpose as a missionary. I had a little revelation, or at least some sweet thoughts. I was lookin at the pictures I have of his dream and I noticed that there is always a group of people chillin under the tree eatin their fruit... I was trying to find myself in the dream.. I have already eaten the fruit, or received the gospel, but i was thinkin, there are a lot of other people that aren´t on the path, or even close to it. What good is it gonna do for them, or for me, to just keep chillin under the tree. Most of the people can´t even see the tree. So as a missionary I gotta get up, leave the comforts of my house (under the tree) and go out into the large and spacious field and show them the fruit I have. Then I have to help them first get to the Iron Rod, and then to the tree. I will help them all along the way, then when they get to the tree and are baptized, I will leave them with the tree huggers and I am leavin again to get someone else, and continue to help the others that I left on the iron rod. I know that isn´t in the scriptures but I think that would have been part of Lehi´s dream, but I am guessing he just woke up or somethin. But we really do just need to leave our comforts and go rescue some people and bring them to the Iron Rod that will lead them to partake of God´s love. And help them every step of the way.

On another note, I am going to go back to BYU-I in the fall. At least for a couple of sememsters so I can fix my GPA and then transfer somewhere else. I am still wanting to go to dental school and become and oral surgeon. I don´t want to stay at BYUI, but at least for the first semester after i get home to figure things out and make a better plan. I realized that I don´t have any idea what I am doing. But that is all in my goals and plans to figure out when I get home.

And Mom, I think i can get my knife home in my checked luggage. If it is wrapped up really well and everything. If I can´t, its not a big deal because it was cheap. it was only like 12 reais. And the package you sent is probably here. there will be a meetin in Teresina next week I think on my birthday, so i am thinkin I will get it on my birthday.

I am getting excited to see paige´s baby! have they already chosen a name? and how is leslie doing? pictures?Same questions for Bailey, how is Miles doing? I am very very excited to see him when I get home. I think i have only seen like 2 pictures of him... I know you have taken more... haha. don´t be afraid to share with me.

I love you guys a ton. Thank you for everything!
Love isaac

2..20.12 More Timon Pictures and a letter

STanding in the middle of the state of Piauí and Maranhão. The river is the border.
and my brazilian stuff. i bought a sweet hat that they use to heard the bulls, and a new soccer jersey for my favorite team, and a cover for my huge knife, and a sweet blanket.
me and elder smoot at zone conference (he is in my zone now)
and Raimundo right before being baptized.
A cool painting ond the bridge on the Teresina side
A huge hat that we found. i think it would be awesome to wear that around all day so I could have some shade all the time.

Good morning,

This week was alright. The carnaval thing kind of effected our work, but we managed to get some good lessons in an to find some new people to teach.

We had a baptism though!!! His name is Raimundo. I don´t know if have have talked about him before because it was a pretty quick process. His friend brought him to a ward activity that we do every thursday night. He really like it because everyone was nice to him and having a good time. So we invited him to come back on Sunday, and we set up an appointment with him sunday night. He went to church and it was fast and testimony meeting, and he loved it. He told his friend that he was imagining himself going up there some day. He got interested in the Book of Mormon, because we still hadn´t taught him one time, and everyone was talking about the Book of Mormon. So we taught the first lesson that night and he loved it. We taught with members and they bore their testimonies and it was great. So the rest was just pretty simple. He accepted to be baptized and set a date in the first lesson. He prayed about the book of mormon and felt good about it. One thing that was awesome is that we watched the movie about Joseph Smith´s life with him and he bore a very poweful testimony at the end that he knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.

The baptism was really good too. All of the youth were there to support him and he was very happy. We gave him the opprotunity to bare his testimony again infront of everyone and he did a fantastic job. The spirit was strong.

Mom, I use that repelent a while back that you sent me. I don´t use it very often. Just sometimes at nigght when I don´t have shoes on in the house because the mosquitos just go for my feet. So i sometimes put a little on my feet. I never use sunscreen... that is probably bad, but when I do, i just sweat a lot more and it comes off with the sweat before i even get to lunch.. so it seemed like a waste to me to keep doing that everyday. And actually, transfers were last week. Me and Elder Cruz are staying. But Elder Deaver got transferred and a brand new Elder moved in right out of the CTM. His name is Elder Sanders. He is really goofy. We get a long great. I have heard about Elder Stott because he was companions with Elder Sanders in the CTM, but I haven´t met him.

That is about all that has been going on in the last week. I will send some pictures today of a pday a couple weeks ago, and the baptism. I love you guys!

Love Isaac

2.13.12 Sup Fam

ola meus queridos.
So i am gonna try to answer your questions before I forget them... starting with the question from dad... Valentines day is not celebrated on febuary 14 here. It is on the 12th of june. They thought I was weird that we celebrate it on St. Valentines day, but I found an article in the liahona that showed them that basically the whole world celebrates it on valentines day. (and since it isn´t on valentines day here they just call it girlfriend/boyfriend day.)

This week we didn´t have too much success in bringing people to church... There was a big party this weekend in Timon and so basically everyone thats not a member was there haha. That is my excuse, but also some people are just lazy. The party was a pre-carnaval party... brazilians like to party. Carnaval is this weekend. We have to go home saturday, sunday, can´t leave monday, and tuesday at 6 o'lock. that will be annoying. that is the best hour to work usually... we will see how this weekend goes.

We have some pretty great investigators. There is one named Raimundo. he is a friend of a member and she took him to church and he loved it. It was testimony meeting and he hadn´t ever heard of the book of mormon before, but listening to everyone bare their testimony about it he got really interested and wanted his own. So we have been helping him and he is just progressing a ton. He will be baptized friday.

Oh, and usually the hardest part is to get people to church the first time. They elect people will come back. It helps so much to kind of filter our teaching group. I wish that everyone would have the desire to go back. They all feel the spirit, but they listen more to Satan I think. It is sad. But usually like if 10 people go for the first time, maybe 5 will go back again, and one of them will be baptized...

Mom, things to look for in Timon... Look for the "praça São José"... I walk through there everyday. and the church is really close to there... umm... there is a soccer field really close to my house that you could look at. I think its the only one in Timon. There isn´t really anything else to look at in Timon haha. It is a boring city. If you look down the "BR" (that is like a highway that goes down the middle of Timon) you go where I walk almost everyday for lunch. We are always on that highway. There are a couple of cemitaries close by too that we walk by quite often.

Tell Bailey and Chad congratulations on their missionary opprotunity. That makes me happy. Please talk to all of your friends about the church. You never know who will be interested and in the end, it really is the members responsibility to find people to teach. The missionaries are there to just help you guys teach and give you and example of what to do, but in the end its up to you..Speaking of that, please do home teaching and visiting teaching every month. and go to the less active people. i am gaining a testimony of that while I am out here. it helps the church so much, and we can only get blessings for doing it.
That is about all I have to report from Brazil.. sorry the letter was random.

one quick english question...
can i put an apostraphe s on a word to combine the word with 'is'? like the book is on the table to be the book's on the table? I am helpin my comp learn english and i couldn´t respond to this question because i forgot grammar.

And my companion said he wants peanut butter and a bulls shirt. I helped make him a bulls fan.

I love you guys a ton. Thanks for everything!
Love Isaac

Pictures in Timon 2.6.12

A termite farm that was behind an old dresser in my house.
Elder Veloso (old Companion) and Elton..the ward mission leader
Long Dirt road in my area
Drinking coconut water
More coconut water..I promise it is coconut water and not drugs. You could think otherwise looking at Elder Cruz's face.
A cockroach I killed..He ran up my leg during daily planning and freaked me out, so I got revenge. There are a lot of cockroaches here.
The day of Antonio's baptism! And your first glimpse of my new companion, Elder Cruz.

2.6.12 Six PINCH (people in Church)

Ola!

So everyone has been asking about my release date since about the time I hit a year out here haha. So I asked President Dias in my interview with him and the news is that I will be released on the 19th of June. There will be a big group of Elders goin home with me.. one being Elder Plewe, my companion from the MTC. I am excited to travel with him when the time comes. I have seen him only once since the MTC.

This week was a lot better than the past weeks. I was sick of not having investigators in church and I had to do something. I couldn´t stop thinking about it. I did everything. I focused all my study on that and invited people every single time I talked to them and talked to President Dias in my interview with him and even fasted. It turns out all the hard work and prayers and fasting worked out. We had 6 investigators in church! That still isn´t amazing, but it is A LOT better than just a few because families had company that week. All of the investigators this week were people we are actually teaching... I was so happy. And church was perfect for them.. The spirit was so strong during the testimony meeting. Between the 4 elders here in Timon we had 14 investigators in church and people would go up there and just bare their testimonies to our investigators. It was perfect.

And yes, Mom, they are studying the life of George Albert Smith. I read a thing in the January Liahona yesterday night about him. He is a stud. I am excited to learn more about him in church.

I liked your thoughts about 2 Nephi 2. I love that chapter. I really like the last verses about agency. I could study those for a week and still learn more. It is really interesting. When Elder Bednar was here he taught a lot about agency and we have to ask questions that let people act, and not receive the action. Sometimes we as missionaries take away agency by asking bad questions that have a correct answer or we want to guide the lesson with our questions. But we need to ask questions that are guided by the spirit that let the investigator act and then the lessons will be perfect. We can apply this into any setting in the chruch I think.

Things are going great here in Timon now. My companion is basically trained... We are just polishing up some things. he is a really good missionary..

I will send pictures today too.

I know that the church is true. I know that Christ lives and is our savior. The book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and I know that it is true. I know the joy that can come into our lives and the lives of others as we read and ponder the book of mormon. Joseph Smith was right when he said that we can come closer to Christ reading that book than anyother. (I don´t know if that is right grammer in English.. but maybe you get the gist)

I love you guys. Thank you for everthing.




Love Isaac

1.30.12 Nada interessante

Hey fam..

This week was alright. Nothing too interesting happened... It was a
good week though. On Tuesday we had to do some splits with members
because for the first time in my mission we had way too much to do for
just 2 elders. That was a good feeling. So we split up and it ended up
being a great day.

Wednesday we did companion exchanges. I worked with Elder Deaver. He
is pretty new on the mission and has only about 3 months... He is a
great guy though. I am glad I can speak portugues though. Elder Deaver
is from Rocklin California. We are good friends. He likes sports too
so we talk a lot about sports. It is good for me.

Thursday was normal... nothing too special happened. We found a great
couple to teach though. They have a difficult life trying to get money
and they work very hard. They sell french fries at the park close to
their house... but that is a lot of work to do. But the guys name is
Junior and we taught the restoration and at the end we invited him to
be baptized if he knew the book of mormon was true... he accepted...
He just said.. "let´s go." haha. He felt the spirit and we are helping
him prepare for baptism on the 25th.

Friday and saturday were nothing special.. Saturday was the hottest
day I have ever experienced though. Then Sunday is always filled with
dissappointments. .Nobody comes to church. I can´t figure out the
secret to get people to church. I havent ever had this problem before
really. It is the hardest thing to do in Brazil but usually at least 3
people will come... Here lately no one is coming... I don´t know what
to do. I am gonna do a special fast and just pound going to church in
peoples heads haha. and use the members more to help out.

That is about all the news I have. Everything is just goin great.

Mom, I haven´t heard anyone talking about the rainforest here... I
don´t know why. I forgot that that was even a problem. I just asked my
companion if people worry about it, and he said no. No one does. haha.
So that is the answer I have.

I love you! Have a fantastic week!!!


Love Isaac

1.23.12 Baptism

opa!

This week was a good one. Elder Cruz and I are progessing a ton. It is way good. I am liking being a trainer because I am sure that I am learning a lot more than he is. It is awesome.

We had our first baptism together on saturday. Antonio was baptized. He is 46 and has just had a tough life growing up. I think he never realy felt important, and he has lived in the middle of a lot of things that shouldn´t happen. But he is a great guy. After the baptism I asked him how he was feeling.. and he said, 'better'... I really liked that. The gospel really has that effect on people. Any problem, any temptation, or difficulty, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the solution. And it makes our lives better.

We also found some elect people this week. I am way excited for them. A couple of families!!! I am just excited. Our lessons with them yesterday were just amazing. The spirit was so strong and the people were very interessed and paying attention really well. I love those kinds of lessons where the spirit just takes it away. It should be like that everytime, but unfortanatly we are human and get in the way of the spirit sometimes. But when we try to get out of the way, miracles happen... (did i spell miracles right?... if not just help me out with that spelling next week... haha)

Elder Cruz and I both bore our testimonies about the Book of Mormon at the end of a lesson and we shared how we both came to know that the book of mormon is true. When we got done, a lady said... so this book does miracles (that word again). and I just said yeah... the spirit was very very stong and I am just way excited for these people. Sometimes I just love being a missionary haha.

I am glad you guys are having a good winter. That is awesome there isn´t too much snow. I hope it stays like that forever in Idaho... Here it has been rainy. It usually rains in the morning, then stops at noon. I think the sun evaporates the clouds, if that is possible. And then when the sun starts to go down a little the clouds come back and it rains again. It is a good time of the year here. Nice and cool. I used a long sleeve shirt on Thursday because i was cold.

That is about all the news I have. I love you all. I know the gospel is true and that Jesus is our Savior. He lives.

Love Isaac

1.15.12 Another good week

Bom Dia!

This week was another good one. Things are getting good here in Timon. Antonio is progressing really really well. It is amazing. He is opening up more and more every lesson. He will be baptized this coming Saturday. I am way excited for him. He is such a good guy. He is someone who looks like he would never accept the Gospel. He just has a cold face and doesn´t smile very much. But since we have been talking and helping him, he is just like a blossoming flower haha. I like him a lot.

But yesterday was the highlight of the week... So it started out way bad because the investigators that we worked with all week didn´t go to church and that is always frustrating. But then we had an amazing lunch after church and Elder Cruz and I went back home to study.. (We have to study and extra hour everyday for his first 12 weeks out here) We studied about listening better and we went out after that and asked good questions to people and really worked hard to listen to them. We went and a big walk to a place in Timon that hasn´t had missionaries for a long time visit there. People there were lookin at us weird because most of them probably haven´t seen missionaries before haha. But we went there to find a guy that I contacted in the street one day in Teresina. His name is also Antonio. But he and his wife were so nice to us and invited us right in. So then Elder Cruz and I just started applying everything we have ever learned to make that lesson the best ever. And it was. The Spirit was SO strong. I know they felt it. Edna (antonios wife) was commenting at the end about how we talk differently about the Savior and that she felt something different. They are going to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. They are a great family. And that was an awesome lesson.

So here are the answers to your questions, Mom. I don´t filter my water. I should but I don[t. We all have bottles that filter the water, but I don´t like it and i haven´t died yet or been sick so I think i am good. The group that came with Elder Cruz had 5 Brazilans, and 6 Americans. The visa problem continues, but it looks like the americans coming here to this mission are all getting it by the end of the MTC. I don´t know how it is in the rest of Brazil.

And Dad, when I speak in chruch I just write down a couple of points and then just talk. If I get stuck i look at what I wrote to remember, but I am pretty used to just goin by the spirit now ha. And I do still take worm pills. Every 6 months we take them. Sister Dias gives them to us and watches us take them to make sure we actually do. They are gross and it feels like I am eating chalk.

It is rainy here in Timon. Thursday there was a huge rain storm and yesterday rained a little but had a lot of cloud coverage. Then this morning it started raining at 5:30 and hasn´t stopped yet. I am hoping it will continue like this for a couple of weeks. It isn´t so hot with the rain. This is when the rainy season is supposed to start... and it goes till like april or may.

But I gotta get goin. I love you guys a ton. Thank you for all that you do and for the support and prayers and everything. you are the best.

Love Isaac

1.9.12 Awesome Week

Good morning!

This week was pretty good. So here is the big surprise... I am still in Timon. But my companion was transferred and I got a new one. His name is Elder Cruz. He is from Rio Grande do Sul. Way in the south of Brazil. He has been a member all his life. When he was 11, his mom died from medical problems. I am not exactly sure what problems, but they did a surgery and the conditions got worse. They were expecting her to not live for much longer and one day she died. His dad has since remarried and he really likes his step-mom. They are all members in his family. He has one week in the mission field. So with that said, you can know that I am training him. One of the most humbling things I have done. I don´t think I was prideful before, but just with all the trust of President Dias and the Lord, it is way humbling. 11 missionaries showed up with him. I am excited and I am loving to train. It is a good experience.

So we have an investigator named Antonio. He is a really really good guy. He doesn´t talk much at all, and so it is hard to know if he is feeling anything, or if he is actually learning. But we marked a baptismal date with him for the 21st, and I think that made all the difference. He just took off progressing. He is opening up to us more and talking about his feelings. He is really changing a lot. The gospel seems to do that to people. But yesterday he gave us a referral, and I didn´t know where it was so I asked him to go with us. He did gladly. We set up another time to go back and he said he will go with us. Then after that we had more appoitments to go to, and he wanted to keep workin with us so we let him. These are really good signs that he knows what we are teaching is true because he wants to help others receive the same blessings. It is really cool to see. He is already better than some members here. Antonio is a great guy.

That is great to hear that Melanie got married. I am happy for her. She was always saying that she wouldn´t ever get married. She seemed pretty worried about it when I was working with her. I am glad she is happy now.

I don´t have to speak in church too often. Probably once every 3 months... if that. It isn´t a big deal for me to speak in church now. I am gettin good at following the spirit and being able to talk about something for a while and make it make sense.

For income here, people just work way hard. (well some) Usually the jobs are all blue-collar type of jobs, but it gets the families what they need. The job situation in the northeast of brazil is tough. The 3 states that my mission covers are the 3 poorest states in Brazil. But generally the people are very happy and are thankful for what they have. I think that is why so many people are open to the Gospel, because God is about all they have..... And the hospitals are a little iffy. I am very glad I haven´t had to do anything there. I don´t like they way the hospitals work. It is free for everyone and so people just go there and the doctors have to get everyone in and so they end up not giving too much time to people and I don´t know if they really get the needs of the patient covered. Its just like get in, here is the generic prescription, and now leave so the next person can get it. At least that is what I saw when i was in Tianguá.

The members go to Recife to go to the temple. it is like a day and half trip. They get to go 2 times a year. The problem is is that not everyone gets to go because they get one bus a stake, and so there isn´t room for everyone. i think the priorities are families going to be sealed, and other members that will do the endowment for the first time. usually the youth don´t get to go because they bus is full of adults. When fotaleza is finished, it will be a lot better for the members here. It is only 12 hours away from Teresina. So they can go like once every 3 months or so...

I am glad that you guys are doing great! i love you all so much and I hope your week is amazing.

Love Isaac

Christmas Letter 2011

This is a great time of the year. I always loved being around everyone at home... doing our christmas eve program. All of my best Christmas memories are from that simple program. But now I am in Brazil.. for the second straight Christmas. Even though it is extremely hot, and there aren´t very many lights, and most people are drunk, I can still feel the spirit of Christmas.

2011 years ago, the Messiah came to the earth! That is one of the most exciting and most anticipated things that ever happened in the history of the earth. At this time of year we all remember His birth a little more. It truley was a miraculus (I can´t spell anymore) thing. But we should all remember why He came here in the first place...

He came to show us the way. He came to show us how to live. He came to teach us. He showed us how to be baptized, how to act, how to serve, and how to love. He did so many things that none of the books could contain everything that He did. We only have a small accout of his works. But His mission was much more that all of that. He came to the Earth to be our Savior.

There was no one that could have done what He did. He sufferend for each of our sins. He knew us at that time, and He was fully aware of us. He loves us so much, that he went through all of that pain, and torture, and even died...just for you... I often sit there thinking about that. I want to testify that I know He is the savior and redemer of the world. He died, and ressurected. He lives and we should continue to accept his invitation to follow him.

This part is for Grandma and Grandpa... Please remember the things Christ has done for you. Remeber all of the blessings you have received in your lives. I know life is hard.. almost every single day. But, certainly God has been blessing you with something throughout all of the hard times. I am serving a mission for the Lord. I am his servant and His representative. As a representative of Him, I am supposed to do and say exactly what he would say and do. So, I am inviting you, as He did, to follow Him. Show some faith in Him and learn about the Restored Gospel. Just give a tiny part of your heart to hear this ´good news` I love you so much, and the Savior loves you so much.

I love you all and I hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

1.2.12 New Year

ola minha querida família.
This week was alright. everyone is still on the holiday mode and a lot of people don´t have to work this week and so there was just a ton of drinking everynight. That is what the people in general like to do. It wasn´t the best week on my mission, but it was alright... haha.

New years was good. Me and my companion had to go to Caxias so he could do some baptismal interviews for the elders there and so we spent most of the day traveling and doin stuff in the other city. We got back at like 830 in my area. We ordered some pizzas and some coke to celebrate the new year and played a little card game... haha it was lame. we were both in bed at 11. But I couldn´t sleep because there was always someone shooting off fireworks. then at 1155 till like 1230 it just went crazy outside and there was non stop fireworks. They were shootin them off in the soccer field behind our house and so it was impossible to sleep. The fireworks here are really really lame too. I have a video I will show you when I get home, but they are just a tiny bit better than a bottle rocket.

haha Mom, you pulled off britney pretty well! haha I got a good laugh at that. Dad looked pretty gangsta too. I am glad he didn´t choose that path for his life though! haha. It was weird to see him in that kind of clothes. I am glad you guys had a good new years party though.

oh, and tell miranda to watch out... I think all of those boys you listed are returned missionaries.... they are on the hunt now. I am sure mindy is lovin it, but just watch out.. haha.

So, as of now, I haven´t heard of anyone getting transferred, but I am sure there will be some calls. A ton of people went home this transfer. I don´t think I will get moved because i only have 2 months here in timon.

There are a couple things I am needing if it isn´t a big problem... You can make it my birthday package if you were planning on sending one... if you weren´t planning on sending a bday package then now you can start haha. I need some more deodorant. The old spice you sent once was really really good... i think it is called sweat defence..(writtin in big letters) That stuff was way good. And also a consecrated oil thing to give blessings. My companion is needing one... Just a normal or big sized one he would like. And some beef jerkey. He loves beef jerkey and him talking about it gave me the craving too.. haha.

Anyway, I love you all! have a fantastic week!

Love Isaac