June 15th 2010

I guess I was just in such a hurry to read all of your emails last week that I must have accidentally skipped over them. But thanks so much for all of the messages this week! They always lift me up and help me remember why I am so happy to spend eternity with you guys. That is so awesome about Matt and Payton! Please tell them to keep emailing me, but let them know that I won´t be able to email back. Tell them to send me their addresses so I can write back. Brady is a stud! I cannot wait to hear about his football games and whatnot! Tambi is still my bestest friend! Good job Austin for hitting the ball! You will be on the REAL Rockies in no time! And I am happy to hear that Jessica and Kailey had a great time at girls camp! I love you guys. So this week I had a great time bonding with my district. It seems like every week we grow closer and closer. I am so blessed to have been put with such a great group of guys. It looks like the AP in our branch is leaving next Tuesday, so all signs point to me to fill his position. It´s really nothing to brag about, especially because all leadership positions in the church entail that you become more of a servant than a leader, but that is why I´m here. Christ was a leader through serving and loving His people. This morning was our day to go to the Federal Police station so we could do something with our visas, so in order to make sure we were processed today, we had to be at the building and wait in line 4 hours before it opened. So we all woke up at 3 this morning so we could wait in line for 7 or 8 hours. I felt like I was waiting in line for an Aggie game all over again... except it wasn´t nearly as exciting and I couldn´t understand all of the swear words. I have been learning so much Portuguese over these past 3 weeks and I am totally and completely amazed at how fast this is coming. I hit my walls every now and again where I feel like I could be much more useful as a missionary in my native language, but it´s those good times when everything clicks and I have another peice of hope that Heavenly Father has a plan for me to be fluent in this language. It´s World Cup time around here and Brazil is playing today at 3:30 and as I am writing this message in the MTC, there are horns and stuff going off because people have been pregaming since 1. I never realized how important this sport is to the world, but I love it! Now I wish I could play it! The MTC is so amazing here. Everyday is a spiritual experience for me. I can find something to make my testimony grow with relative ease. We have devotionals and firesides every tuesday, saturday, and sunday nights and all of them are so great for learning. We even have Elder Neal A. Anderson coming to talk to us this Thursday! I go into each of these meetings waiting for the Spirit to tell me how I can become the best missionary possible, and I leave humbled because I realize how much of a blessing it is to know what I know. Each Sunday afternoon after church, there is an optional movie we can go to. This week´s movie was the Joseph Smith Restoration Movie. There is no way that this church and its ordenances aren´t from Christ... they are too perfect to be made up by a 14 year old boy. Our ancestors would not have suffered so much pain and affliction for something that wasn´t as true as the Book of Mormon. I love this church and I love my Savior, and I especially love all of you! Thanks for all of the messages! Keep going strong and keep growing your testimonies. They will carry you through any hard time you face in your life. Read Helaman ch. 5 together please. Has Brady been reading the Book of Mormon while at camps? That always helped me stay focused. Love you guys! Can´t wait to hear from you again! Ate´ Mais! Eu amo vocês!