Spike's Letter 2/27

Well i dont know where to start. This week has not been that exciting. Just been a working working working.. at times I feel like I am not doing anything cause I am always doing the same stuff, reteaching the same things, but I am. I am bringing the message of the restored gospel to those who need it. I am bringing salvation to the homes of families who have not known this kind of joy in their whole lives. Who have suffered, and know nothing else. Who cannot see the good because they have only lived with the harsh conditions. That is what I am doing. I am a member of his royal army, I am the hope of isreal. This week we have found some good investigators. We knocked some doors last week, found a mother and her son, we have been teaching them, and we have their batismins this Sunday. Anywyas they gave us a reference. There is a 16 year old girl who was baptized when she was 8 that has not been able to find the church here in boa vista. Anywyas we have started teaching her broth and mom and dad. They love the gospel. They are so into it and they live the teachings as we teach them, it is awesome to see peoples lives change right in front of you in such a short time. To see their wants and wishes, desires change. It is a great work. Anywyas, we cannot baptize them yet because they are not married legally. So it costs about 80 reais to get married here, so I told them I would pay half. You can only imagin how hard that is to save up that much money. It equals about 35 – 40 dollars. I am not hesitant to pay it though because they are such awesome people investigators and I know that they will be leaders in the church, and that is what we need here in brazil. In my branch, Caçari, we have about 130 members. It was under that when I got here, and all of them are converts. Crazy. So it is crazy to see women 18 as the young womens president or a 20 year old girl as the relif society president and a 26 year old guy as president. Is is amazing. They are working though and everything is going good. We are baptizing and the members play the good role of welcoming and becoming the converts friends and treating them as their own. It is really good. Anyways I do my won laundry. We do not have anyone who does it for us. We have a little washeer that we put our clothes in and it kind of swishes them around.. it makes them smell good atleast. So that is good. And I just hang them out to dray. Everything here drys in like an hour anyways. It is not the best but it works. My clothes are doing alright. My shirts are already turning colors and my pants are faiding but I will make them work. If I need something I will let you know., but they are fine. Anyways, for meals, we eat at a members house. We have it everyday but our p day. We eat lunch. As you know that is their biggest meal here. So ya they are really good. We usually have rice and beans and some type of pasta. And the people here love for pop…baré, guaraná, and fanta. So we usually have that but I try not to drink it at all. I weigh 95.5 kilos. I have lost 4;5 since the mtc. I eat like a pig too at luch. I just think I loose it cause I am sweating twenty four seven. Yesterday we walked the desert 2 times. I call it that cause it is seriously like a desert. It takes and hour and a half one way to walk. There are vultures and dead dogs with their skin leather cause of the sun. it is pretty crazy I have a good picture with one! Anyways this week I have made a lot of popcorn like dad makes now on the oven. It is really good. I never thought I would be a fan of it and I bet he did not know he was teaching me but it is good. I also made French toast. I use honey for the syrup though cause they do not have it here. I try not to eat it to offen cause it cost a lot of money and we don’t het much here. I eat a lot of eggs and yogurt. Anywyas, this week a couple teams played in rio de Janeiro, after the game there was humoungous parties for the winning team. You can imagin how it was. It was crazy. Like my comp said it was a party of saitan. Ha. But they take their soccer serious. Well my heart has been full. I have been thinking a lot about mikin and the baby. They are and have been in my prayers everyday a ton! I pray for them. I pray for cassie and liz. I hope that everything will be okay and normal. I know that she will be okay. It is just a test of faith. Have faith pray and everything will be okay. Heavenly father did not give us anything that we cannot overcome or accomplish. I love you mikin youll be fine. It was good to see brynnes new blog it is sweet! I am so jealous about the trip they went on. Cool. Lucky ducks. How blessed we are it is not even funny. Seriously. Just that we have a house or land or grass or good air. Ah. You have no idea. We are so blessed. It is good to hear that the parks are doing good, grandpa too. I read dads letter to me. It is so ridiculously awesome and just made me so home sick ah. I freaking cannot express through this stupid computer how much I love dad and mom and how blessed I am. I sat here reading his e mail freaking crying my eyes our. I love him let him know that. He is in my thoughts. Ah I really miss you guys. Tell him that he needs to use my gun to go coyote hunting too. My guns don’t miss.. ha ha. Anywyas, I will write him an e mail. It sounds like that world wide broadcast really helped you mom. It helped me too. I loved it. I took notes. I have already gone over them a coulple times. I cant wait to have my own family. Ya! Well it sounds like this winter was awesome. I am glad you had a good one. I have been thinking a lot about camping and the joe and the clark fork. I miss it so much. I love wrafting. I have sat down and just closed my eyes and imagined that I was there and I could smell the water and the pine trees. And hear the vices of my family in the backround. Sit back and have a smokey. And sit on that little beach just before 3 bridges. Crazy. Its tuff. Real tuff. You know what is going to give me strength though is the quote that dad wrote in his e mail to me. That will give me strength this week. My heart is so full. I do not know what I am feeling. My mind is on the work, but my heart is in so many places. It longs for so many things for so many people. It is tearing me in two. But I am doing the right things. This opportunity is amazing. It is weird that I am on a mission. It is cool to hear that mom looked up my area on the internet. The river right next to me is the Ric Branco. I have some sweet pictures with it and of it. Ha. Cray. Anyways, I can get some tolitry stff here but it is twice as expensive here as it is there. And I do not have that much money to spend. So when you send it is is better. But anyways I bought a harmonica this week. It is really nice. I have been practicing and I can play a ton of hyms and I have about half of that ryan cabreara song done and I am still trying to figure it our. I am going to do the rocky ratcoon song next. It is fun and helps me pass the time. My comp has one and so it made me get into it. Okay well I am so pumped I do not speak the language that good at all. Seriously. Not even joking but I have been teaching a lot more. It is getting easyer but the hardest part is the vocab. I will learn though. I love you all so much I will try to send some pictures with this e mail or another one. It is hard to do so I will try atleast. Have fun cleaning house today brynne! Sucker. Ha. I love you all. And I know that this church is true. I have though a lot lately about how our purpose here on earth is to prepare for eternal life and how my family the scriptures and the atonement of jesus chrisht make it possible. I love you all. And I hope you are all doing well . everyone read 2 nephi 31. it is awesome I just read it this morning. I share it a lot in lessons. Love you all. Till next week. Ps. I got the soulution!!!
Love elder gatten