Captain's Log 38

Hallo pessoal!!

This week was pretty cool I got to do a baptismal interview. 

and i did the normal missionary work of teaching and what not..

Funny stories:

i was waiting for an appt. and while i was sitting on the side walk this guy on a bicycle came out of nowhere and ate it on the side walk and his frend stopped and laughed and yea he did a flip... it was crazy.

and i was cutting my comps hair and what not and youall know thast video where someones cutting hair and the comb on the clippers falls off and you buzz some ones head... yea that happened but my comp didnt kill me so that was cool. now hes bald for the next few weeks...

-- 

From Mark

Captain's Log 38

hey hows it going everyone hope ayall are doing well i dont have much time this week but want you all to know love everyone and hope you all are doing well and that i pray for everyone every day 

hope you have a good week see yall in a year or so

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 39

Heyyy hows it going everyone.

 

 So this week was a week of adventure. So on the mission stuff happens that is pretty insane. Stuff that you wouldnt ever think.. pretty funny stuff to be honest.

 So if youve every served a mission then you know about snakes. Snakes are people who wantr to date missionaries. normally speaking its typically women that chase after Elders and men that chase after Sisters. 

This week like i said was full of adventures. i was walking across the street a group of girls started to chase after me and my comp and try to give us hugs ( 18-21 Year olds) so naturally we ran into an active intersection to get a way... 

The next day some guy tapped my comp. with his car so that was interesting ( hes fine he thought it was funny walked away laughing).

the next day we were street contacting and another group of girls started to follow us so we started to teach some guy ( he was gay and tried to kiss me... dont worry didnt happen)  in the street and so the girls left and just when we thought we were in the clear they had ran a sprint around a full city block. So yea you know the old ninja movies where they throw a smoke bomb and evaporate? yea two ninja elders evaporated into the night and never looked back!

then some guy sprouted from the woods cat calling us on our way back home pretty sure he was drunk seeing as there was a german beer festval nearby

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 40

So i was transfered again! 

i have only 10 min to write so itll be breif today.

im goig to viçosa! its a little univeristy town thats pretty cool!

thats about it this week love you all!

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 40

so ive got like  3 min 

so this week was good ill have 2 baptisms this week 

baptised 2 weeks ago irmã celma 

im fine alive and well

love you all 

love hearing from everyone talk to you all next week

-- 

From Mark

Captain's Log 41

hey how it going everyone!!

This week was awesome!

I learned a ton this week during confrence

had another baptism this week so yea that was cool his name is marcelo!@

so yaea thats pretty much it this weel love you all!

-- 

From Mark

Captain's Log 42

Hey hows it going everyone brazil is pretty sweet. 

Im good here I really dont have much to write about i work alot and im in a branch that has 23 people at the max every week so yea thast awesome i get to see this place grow!

so yea love you all hope you have a good week  

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 43

so nothing to say just pics next week im not able to open anything this week for some od reason but yea im alive 

love you all see you alll soon in like a year..

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 44

howdy from brazil!

 so hows it going everyone! 

so im unable to send fotos becasue the thing that you use to send tem is broken so yea itll be another week without pics. 

 so this week  were gonna have baptisms so thats cool 

other than that not much is happening so yea talk toyou all next week

--

From Mark

45-46-47

so i cant really send pictures... 

 

my card is corrupted so ill see what i can do ill try and get pics from my comp so if yall get pics you know what happened!

 love you  all see yall next week!

-- 

From Mark

Captain's log 48

hey hows it going everyone doing?

im doing awesome here in brazil and dont worry im skinny but im eating well!

love you all see yall next week!

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 49

Hey hows it going everyone this week was awesome!1 

This week we had another baptism in viçosa.

His name was Irmão sebastião!

The mission is a wonderful place where you can see many miricles and help many people its a place where you can come closer to Christ. A way that we can do this is by going to church or being baptized to recieve remission for our sins and reciving the holy ghost so that we can be cleansed and purified and enter the Kingdom of  God our heavnly father. So if you have not been able to make it to Church or have not yet been baptized I would like to envite you all to take a leap of faith an accept Christ in your life and be baptized or return to the straight and narrow path. Its never to late to repent Our Father in heavan is a very loving and forgiving man and will always forgive no matter what you have done, its never too late. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is the only true church of God. I have had my own personal experiece with God, a response to a humble prayer and I know that you all can have the same experience. I leave my testimony with you all in the sacred name of Jesus Christ Amen. For more informaiton you can talk with my parents or the missionaries or visit Mormon.org

--

From Elder Bledsoe

Captain's Log 36

new suit!!

So I tore my other suit a few weeks back got into a fight with a nail and the nail lost at the cost of my suit pants...

this week was pretty cool i worked and and what not we have 5 baptisimal dates for sept 2 so thats cool.  

Im happy i hope yall are happy good luck this week love you all 

Tchau!

Captain's Log 35

Hey hows it going everyone!! 

this week was good. I cut my pants on a nail and i ended p prosyliting with a gapping hole in my pants so that was cool🙃

This week i started traing again my second "son" here on the mission so thats cool. i dont have to much to talk about this week to be honest but love you all hope you have a good week!
--

From Mark

Captain's Log 34

So this week we recieved transfer calls and ill be a district leader again and ill be training again so thats pretty sweet. One twist i was transfered again to a nice part of juiz de fora so ill be leaving the favala and ill be headed to manchester!

Thats just one half of the big news this week we had one more baptism!!! 

it was a young woman that contacted the missionaries in the road and so we started to teach her and now her mom has a baptismal date for the 2nd of sept!  

thats all the big news from this week talk to you all next week! lobve you alll see you all next year!

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 32

Hey hows it going everyone! 

This week was a bit hectic i got to talk to a bunch of crazy people and what not so that was cool. We had some guy enter the church and he raised a staff and started to speak real loud during the passing of the sacrament so that was intresting. He said he just came to take santa ceia because God will bless him with a beautiful and rich wife... Not to sure if thats how it works bud... but that was something funny that happened. 

Other than that I have to go. This week Im short on time Ill be going to fly a kite here soon.

1.The Elders

2.My aera

3. Morro do Cristo 

-- from Mark

Captain's Log 33

 Hey, hows it going everyone!

This week was pretty interesting we had an emergency transfer and 2 people from my district went to a city out in the middle of the sticks so that happened. i have a new comp now hes american and has about 5 month out in the field so i have to translate a fair amount because at time he dosent understand or the other person dosent understand so thats always fun. thats waht happens when your a district leader you just kind of go withthe flow you help the people transfer when that kind of thing happens. 

This past week i made 9 months out on the mission and times flying. it snaps by and your at 3 months then 6 then next thing you know your at the end. this can apply to life also so take some time and dont live life to fast slow down and smell the roses.

- Thoughts from Elder Bledsoe

Talk to you all next week! 

(Sorry no pics need to fix my cam)

-- 

From Mark

Captain's Log 31

HEy hows it going this week!!

this week was pretty sweet i have some pretty funny stories.

I was doing a contact with this lady and some lady who was high came up and asked me if I was mormon and if I was going to kill her children agan along with some other stuff. Then she asked me if I was dead. I really wanted to say yea Im a zombie and Im living again talking about God and bringing the gosple to everyone here in brazil. but... I held back and didnt say anything it wpooould have been funny if I did though. 

so that was the funny story for the week then this week i met a family that i think will be baptised so thats pretty cool. 

thats all for this week talk to yall next week!

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 30

Hey everyone hows it going!

I hope the fourth of july was good! I saw a bunch of picture in the emails you all sent of the fire work. 

This week I would like talk about Back Home. This past week was the Fourth of July at times we forget what this time of your is really about. This time is a time to honor those who have fallen protecting the American Dream. A time to honor those who died in order to make this country what it is today. Living in another country has made it very apparent to me how great life is there. The american dream isnt just apart of our own country its a part of the world. Everyone else in the world has seen the things that are possible and want to be able to have the same kind progress that we have back home! Use this time to be thankful for what our armed forces have done. Be thankful for the fact that you have the freedoms that you have because some one was brave and took a stand. America is the greatest country in the world. Dont forget that. Thanks to alll of the brave men and women of the armend forces who have made all of our dreams possible.

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 29

Hey everyone! hows it going? 

Big news Im a district leader now so thats a cool thing.

and I was transfered to Juiz de Fora!

and so yea that was my week!

So this past week was pretty cool im working in  the mountains of juiz de fora now

so yea thats pretty much it nothing to crazy has happened recently 

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 28/29

Hey hows it going everyone! 

this week was good and last week also.

So heres whats happened here recently I had a baptism that was really awesome this past week(mirical). I didnt actually get to see the baptism but i saw him afterwards and he was the happiest hes been in his life. I saw hime right after and i could see that he had a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. So yea it was an experience very spiritual for me. now you may be wondering why it was a mirical(?) its because Miguel quit crazk cocain an every drug you could think of because of the book of mormon (cold turkey) and has a testmony and dosent even know how to read. 

so yea that was my most recent baptism and what not outside of that not much else has happened so i hope yuou alll are well and ill talk to you next week
--

From Mark

Captain's log 27

So hows life everyone! 

this week was intresting i went to a town called sebollas thats for ever and a half away  by bus so thats cool.                                                                               jesus factor is a memebr les active who knew am i right??                                    this next week ill be baptising 2 people hopefuly. so thats pretty cool

otside of that not much happened so yea good luck everyone talk to you next week

the burgure is called trem bala or train balls 

 this is a family that got married and will be baptised here in 2 weeks 

Captain's Log 26

so this week was cool!

I had 3 people at church this week.

This week I had some cool experiences I saw 2 toucans?!  Also I met some one who lives 30 minuets from my house back in Texas. so yea his name is Jesus Factor and i have no clue why heres here in the middle of nowhere at the end of the world brazil!😂

This next week I want to answer questions so please send questions!

love you all!

--

From Elder Bledsoe

Captain's Log 25

So this week was litterly the most normal week Ive had on my mission I walked around and talked with people and taught people about church so that was my week.

something gross but funny (dont read if you have a week stomach) :

here in brazil theres lots of strays and they roam the streets all the time that means that they poop in the streets and they eat alot of weird stuff also....

sooooo this week I stepped in dog poo and I had a six foot string attached to my boot 

--

From Mark

Captain's Log 24

sooo this week was really good i ahve a baptism marked for tomorrow im working hard and im happy.

 I taught a family today that is really awesome and the only member of the group had an amazing story she broke here foot the day before the baptism and it was healed in here sleep and here father disowned here because she was baptised and now shes still active and has a calling in the stake so that was really awesome. 

I got to meet a general 70 this week which was cool. talked about how to baptise more people.

And ive decided that im going to open a restraunt when I get back.

So yea thats pretty much my week. 

Captain's Log 23

So this week is was good.

Had a baptism the guys name is igor and he is the best invistigator Ive had untill now. 

So this week is just going to be funny stories. 

So back story in the states im a pretty average looking guy but here in brazil im considered very attractive because my super tall blue eyed pasty whiteness is super rare in brazil so I get alot of looks. That and everyone thinks I look like leonardo dicaprio.

So I was walking down the street and a bunch of "homeboys" saw me and were like he looks just like leonardo dicaprio. Basically they spazed out in the street.

Then practiclly everyday I get "catcalled" in the street which is new. 

Then the otherday i went to a store to print photos that my comp had and the ladys that work there all have a crush on me and always ask the other dupla when Ill come back. 

Then another time I passed in front of some young women (when we go to eat lunch in the house of a member we  always go together, my comp and I and the other dupla, and what happens is one dupla walks about 10 feet infront and the other walks behind.) well I passed and one of the guys fronm the other dupla said that one on the women when she saw me stared at me for like 30 seconds jaw on the floor and said something alongs the lines of sweet blood of the lamb or something alon the lines of pure apostsay. 

Then another time some old lady called me gostoso.

so yea that kind of thing happens alot

Im also known as the jenga ninja now because i am really good a jenga.

so yea thats pretty much it talk to yall next week 

love yall tchau!

--

From Mark

Captain's log 22

So this week not much reall happened I litterly have nothing to repot other than im still alive and breathing. 

This week Ill have 2 baptisms which is sweet a young boy and a guy whos 21. Their names are rafeal and igor. 

(Ill send pics next  week )

 

funny thing 

This week we had a district confrence and there was this lady who gave a talk and out of the blue she said that her uncle was hit by a train and that proved that the atonement was real... not too sure how those connect but its all good...

so yea hope you all have a good week 

--

From Mark

Captain's log 21

Soo hows it going yall?

This week was a bummer we lost a family this week (the monkey family). Our baptism fell through also because of a pastor from some church. but theres always light at the end of every dark tunnel. One of our investigtors knows the the BOM is true and hes getting baptised in a few days or so thats sweet. His name is Igor and he 21 (missionary age) so yea thats exciting.

This week crazy stuff happened I saw some more fights and what not. there was a rock concert in town so that almost killed me. It was a biker festivle so I saw alot of really cool bikes and what not alot of homemade trikes also. (i Didnt attened with as much as wanted to) 

That was my week prety much. I dont have that much to write this week talkl to yall next week

1 this is a bridge that i have to cross to get to on of my areas

2 the moon 

3 capybara

--

From Mark

Captain's log 20

Hows it going everyone? 

This week was pretty eventful. First off Ill talk about the the spiritual stuff that happened. 

Spiritual stuff

We had an emergency zone confrence this week and it was probably one of my favorites. President Lacerda basically told us how to have baptisms every week and how to find people that will make progress. 

Then we have lots of people athat we are teaching but only a couple are progressing. We have a guy his name is fabrico and hes doing well he just dosent go to church which is the main problem. Then I have a Family that Im teaching here and they are awesome they are learning and progressing fast.

 

Crazy stuff

So I taught a monkey this week. His name is Pedro and hes the pet of the family that Im teaching. It was pretty intresting how I met him because this kid walked in to the room and had the monkey in his hands. I was there thinking ahhhh this isnt a real monkey buttt.... nope I was wrong it looked at me and started to screech. so that was a thing...

Then yesterday I went and did contacts and some woman was fighting in the streets saying stuff that should not be spoken.... so that happened...

Outside of that not much else happened here in brazil. 

Talk to yall next week! 

(picture of the type of monkey)

From Mark

Captain's log 19

so hows life everyone?

This past week was transfers and I got a new comp his name is elder nunes. Hes pretty cool and Im still in the same city that I was in for the past transfer so thats cool. 

Not much happened this past week becasue of transfers and what not but this week we'll "pagar fogo" or take fire. theres not a good translation in engilsh but thats cool. 

So here in brazil some thing ive found is its a party year round which is awesome. My kind of place😂😜. They have a muis here thats called pagode thats is probably on of my favorite types its a sub genere of samba thats awesome theres a song thats pretty cool thats alled beija aqui thats pretty fun that you  hear in the streets alot thats cool. otside otf that not much else is happenening on my end

I have 15 new investigators and 5 with a baptismal date ill tell yall more about them next week 

ouot of time sorry 

amo vocês!

--

From Mark

Captain's log 18 (6 months)

Hey hows it going! 

Big news this week I hit the 6 month mark this week! Pretty crazy right? Captain's 

time here on the mission goes by really fast. I still feel like I was in the mtc the other day so thats pretty nuts.

This past week was eventful we baptised an old lady here this past saturday. Was a good way to end the transfer.

 Today ill find out were im going if im staying here in paríaba do sul. im just wating for a phone call which probably wont come untill 4 so the anticipation is intense.

ill have my second skype here in the mission herer in like 3 weeks or so so thats pretty crazy only 2 more after that.

im learning alot here im learning about how to be more humble and how to have a greater faith in all things the only problem is is my english is getting to be aweful im forgetting alot. 

so yea that was my week here in brazil. Love you all and im looking forward to hereing from you soon

--

From Mark

Captain's log 17

This week was good. not much really happened anll were doing is prepping people for baptism so thats pretty much it missionary work wise.

Confrence was really good i watched it in portugeuse so that was pretty cool i learned alot and my favorite talk was probably president monsons talk. 

outside of that nothing super interesting happened this week 

.

heres some pictures though

--

From Mark

Captain's log 16

hey!! hows it going you all? so this week was a good week. we had 2 investigators in the sacrament metting and they are going to be baptised here in a week so thats really awesome. They are both these ladies who are very similar and so thats nice. When they are both baptised they both will be able to support each other on the road to progressing more in the gospel. This week was an intressting one I was chased by a pack of dogs and a goose. I almost got bit by one but the rat dog had second thoughts when i turned to punt it of a cliff. Now before you all freak out and think im a terrible person put yourelf in my shoes how would you feel if you got jumped by a pack of dogs that resemble tiny rotwielers at 9 oclock at night in the middle of nowhere on a road that has no way out except the way you came im pretty sure you all would do the same. So on another note ive decided to write a book about my experiences here and what ive learned so thats fun, and eariler today i went fishing and caught some brazilian river fish so you can probably guess what were gonna eat for dinner. Then this week on thursday ill be teaching an english class to a bunch of brazilians so thats cool. In the branch im  in were trying to beef up the youth program so were going to be teaching a lot of youth here in paríaba do sul. I also heard a voodoo circle of in the forest close to the house of a investigator so that was pretty creepy and dont go searching for what kind of voodoo they do here ive already seen it and trust me you want nothing to do with that. Its some scary stuff. Onto a funnier note my comp and i were drinking water in this area close to some tanks( like the kind used in war) and this homeless guy came up and asked for some water and so we gave him some and then he seranaded us with gosple music in the street and danced and sang then he stopped and started to talk  about how he was the gauridan of the city and how he sees everyone but no one sees him. Then he started to fight invisible people in the streets... so that was really funny. outside of that not much else happened. 

Heres the mircale from last week this lady that we are teaching didnt have money to buy anything to eat or anything to eat in her house and so we promised that she will have something in the next day or so. Then we passed by her house to see another investigator and she yelled at us because no one came and then not 5 min later some guy came by with food and she got some and we later found out that after she yelled at us she found enough money inside a cup on her tv stand for some bread and then the guy came by selling bread for the exact amount that she found

Also for those of you that care here in two weeks or so ill be hitting the land mark of 6 months on the mission 

So yea thats been my life here in the mission.

Hope to hear from yall soon!

--

From Elder Mark Bledsoe

Captain's log 15

so this week was good we had some miricles happen 

but before that ill talk about what happened so two new missionaries showed up on our door step the other day at like 1 am so we have some new people in the house and this week we had another zone confrence which was pretty sweet outside of that not much that was intresting happened.

ive also decided to make bamboo pens so if anyone wants one let me know. i dont have that many thing to do on pday so i make bamboo pens. and ive also decide to write a book or two so ill keep you updated on how thats going. 

im almost fluent in portueuse im just working on grammer right now 

and come back next week to hear a miricle  because im out of time!

--

From Mark

Love you

Show quoted text

Captain's log 14

So this week was pretty cool i have some cool stories 

so this week started off with a fishing trip that was a bust we didnt catch a thing minus a cold but it 

all got better from there i got to watch 17 miricale this past week in portugeuse of course and i understood everything which is nice! then dthe nextr day we met this guy who straight up fell out of the sky and now we have a new investigator who is awesome. then later this past week we had a baptism but heres the catch the kid has a phobia of water so i had to tackle the kid like american football style to baptise him. (his parents did say anyway possible) then afterwards i felt like our house needed some green so i bought a bonsai tree to take care of for like 6 bucks so yea. then sunday we ate lunch with the president of the branch and he was explaining some alien story that his friend had here in brazil and he made some movement with his hand and when he did this super sinister sound happened and everyone freaked out turns out it was a ring tone 

the area that im in is pariaba do sul its a small little farm town in the middle of no where brazil and its not un common to see horses just running down the road out of no where so that happens and theres also alot of storms and stuff that happens but its all good its fun when it rains theres a river where we go fishing for piranahas and other types of fish every pday and food here is cheap so thats always super nice 

here everyone loves when i show up in their district becasue ive made a name of being able to cook something form nothing and have it be good so thats cool outside of that theres not much going on i have 3 families here that i could potentaily baptise here in this transfer they only have to get married which is the hard part. Also the name of the kid i baptised is andre so yea that was my week talk to yall next week!

--

From Mark

Captain's log 12 and 13

so sorry i didnt send any thing last week all of brazil was shut down last week because of carnival not much happend that last week other than i was transferd to a new area called  pariaba do sul 

my first week here in pariaba do sul was pretty cool we had a crazy sand storm and rain like nothing else i saw a roof get ripped off a house and then a power line blew up over head so that was a thing other than that life here is really good we have a massive apartment and what not supposedly its haunted so well see i guess and then we have these really big centipededs in our house that will kill you if they sting you so that cool other than that not much has happened talk to you all later

--

From Elder Mark Bledsoe

Captain's log 11

This week was good we didnt get to do much because we were off handling interviews and doing divisions and in confrences but this week i did spill rotten milk with maggots all ove my hand sop that was a thing... out side of that no much happened so yea ill talk to you all next week with more details because i ran out of time love youalll and good luck also thank you for all the mail that you sent that really helped me alot! ill send pictures next week 

--

From Mark

Captain's log 10

This week we are still in the delta quadrant and we brought back 2 more cadets with the help of the away team. then in the sanitation room we had a fire this week in one of the waste recepticles. we did not encounter any of the borg this week. this week on the U.S.S. Nauvoo was pretty uneventful we didnt have much happen accept the normal everyday stuff. outher than that i have nothing more to report. 

End Transmission

for those who dont understand our district had 2 baptisms this week and my comp accidentaally like the TP trash can on fire and i had no problems with sketchy people this week and i did normal missionary stuff this week.

--

From Mark 

Captain's log 9

So this week was a doosy, but before I go into that I would like to just give an update on what happened to Captians log 8 I was off in delta quadrant and ran into some problems with the transmission and it got lost in space. Basically the log being trasported was like gel being squeezed through a tube way to small and so it went through really slowly so I hope you all get this next one here soon. I just hope the borg dont intercept this transmission and prevent it from getting through to you all on time. hope fully you all get this ontime so that you can send help soon.

So this past week was crazy here in delta quad. i almost fell in to a space rift on monday 

Tuesday We ran into no problems with any thing. but i entered the borg ship and may have contracted some sickness

Wednesday I went to the med bay nd i found out that i had a strange disease after my adventures in the borg mothership. and i had to stay in my quarters. 

Thursday i was still stuck in my quarters under quarentine untill i was cleared by med bay 

Friday was good i went out with the away team to find a lost cadet who sent out a distress signal she was brough back on saturday i believe she was on planet Rainax later that day i recived a transmission and i told the capitan that he needed to call up the away team and tell them to prepaer to beam up. Later that day as we were prepaering to beam up we encountered some borg in the only clear area we had to beam up and so we had to wait for reinforcements inorder to fend off the borg

Saturday we had to retrive another cadet from another planet in delta quadrant Rakosa V and i prepared the teleporter for that with Cadet Elder Braga 

Sunday we had a meeting and did normal stuff and warped to another sector in delta quadrant. 

This week i will probably encounter many space rifts so please send transmissions to boost moral of the crew here in Delta quadrant! i hop to hear from you all soon! 

End Transmission

--

From Captian Elder Bledsoe

Captains log 8

So this week was good we had a baptism which is pretty awesome! This week was pretty good I got to go see a family I taught in another area again because I was on divisions in that area again. Then this week I got to do alot of teaching and I got to see some cool stuff and what not. I basically did normal missionary stuff and thats fun its nice to be able to set aside 2 years for studying the scriptures and teaching the people. My portuguese is getting better everyday. 

So this week I had some pretty intresting experiences I almost took a nose dive off a cliff with my comp and then yesterday we saw some guys snorting cocaine in the ally that we live in. Also one of our investigators his family got busted for durg dealing so if we go over in that area we have to be super careful because we cold get shot at. and I slit open the top of my hand with a razor blade which wasnt to bad but sure did scare me (no stiches were needed luckly) it just bled alot thats pretty much it. 

This week was pretty calm outside of that so yea talk to you all soon and i look forward to hearing from you all here soon. Also if you have anyone who wants my email shot me an email with their emails and names! I like to hear from everyone!

--

From Mark

Captain's log 8 /Admiral's log

Not sure what happened to what should have been Captain's Log 8 but I thought I'd share what I was able to learn from Mark for this week.

He is doing good.  He and his new companion are teaching and setting baptismal dates.  He is getting along with his new  Senior companion from Peru and his other two house mates (1 from the US, 1 from Brazil).

True to form he keeps things interesting with a close run in with a cliff (he didn't provide details, nor has he learned that there are some things you don't share with your parents until after you have safely returned from your mission). 

He is also seeing a different side of mankind, apparently drug use is quite an issue, poverty  and all the other problems that we may not experience or acknowledge when we are younger are now common place in his day.

He has found it difficult to find people to play volleyball with him on P-day, apparently he has a major height advantage.  He did mention that he is being trained by some of the best soccer players in the world though...the kids playing soccer in the street.

It seems like (overall) he is doing well, learning, growing, working hard.

I am sure Dawn would agree that it makes a parent proud.

Drop him an email if you get a chance, I'm sure he will appreciate it.

Have a great week everyone

One Proud Dad :)

Captain's log 7

So this week was pretty slow because of transfers. i got a new comp and hes from peru his name is Elder Aricari so im in Brazil speaking portugeuse with a guy from peru. how many people can say that? this week was pretty slow because of transfers and my comp got sick on saturday so thats what really happened this week and i cant send pictures again because the lan haus im at is sketchy. so yea this week was good i ate alot of good food and i can speak for the mostpart and people understand me now about 85 90 % of the time and i understand almost everything now so thats pretty nice. outside of that we didnt really have anything crazy happen accept mark another baptisimal date which is always nice. love you all i hope you all have a good week and please email me i like talking to people!

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From Mark

Captains log 6

So this week was good, we did a lot of work and i finished out my first transfer in the field which is exciting and ive been out for 3 months already which is crazy it feels like it happened in a flash. then one day earlier this week we were walking in a part of town thats more poor and we saw a zombie rat... the darn thing straight up had a hole in its side bigger than a 50 cent peice and yes the rats are that big here. This week im getting a new companion for this transfer and my comp is headed to teresopolis. Portuguese is coming along very well I can understand about 90 percent of what is going on and answer about 50 percent... Im also learning spanish while Im here so thats cool! Also this week we had a lightining strike that hit the church building. and the thunder and lightining was shaking the ground. It was crazy! im convinced that in in the austrialia of brazil... everything here tries to kill you. here they have banana slugs and oneday i was walking down the stairs outside my house and i felt something super slick and i was super confused and when i looked it was a massive 5 in slug it was discusting. also on of my friends here in the mission is going home tomorrow so thats a bummer. we do alot of work here and its fun even when your soaked to the bone and freezing so i highly recommend if your thinking about a mission choose to serve because its a life changing experience that you will value for for ever.

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From Mark

Captians log 5

So this week was awesome. Two weeks ago I saw my first monkey which was pretty sweet I forgot to include that im my last email. also this past week I saw this snail with a shell the size of a large grape fruit it was nuts. that and Ive already got ghost stories. I was talking to people who served in brazil in the mtc (teachers) and they all had ghost stories. But of course I have to see/ experience it to believe it for myself ill tell the story when I get back becasue I dont want to write it all. But basically something was in our house and as soon as we prayed it left, it was was nuts. 

 

Also this week I had my first baptism this week which was awesome! The lady in the picture is Irma Angela. outside of that this week was pretty uneventful outside of these things so I hope you all have a good week and Im looking forward to hearing from you all. 

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From Mark

Captians log 4

So this week was awesome! ( forgive my spelling errors i dont know how to spell anymore because english dosent look right) I had divisions this week and I was with the zone leaders and we taught alot of lessons there was one in particular that I want to highlight. we went to the house of a investigator and she wasnt there but her brother was and I gave the part of the lesson about Joseph Smiths first vision and it was so spiritual. the guy we were teaching was brought to teaars and everyone in the room was the same way. It was awesome. then we went and visited another house and the mother there thought I looked like one of the princes in england i dont remember which one though. then yesterday (sunday) my comp and i took sacrament to this lady and i gave a message afterwards and she told me that i was an angel and that even though she had no idea what i was saying she knew what i was saying was true and that i spoke with my heart so that was a pretty spiritual experience. then brazilans are crazy i figured out where all the decorations the use are. they are in the form of explosives from christmas to new years its just constant its absolutly nuts. also im compiling a book of recipies of food from here and oh man is it going to be good. i learned how to make true brazilian churrasco ( the stuff they serve at fogo de chão) and deserts and yea its awesome. so yea ill write more next week! im out of time right now so yea i hope to hear from you all soon and i hope you all have a good 

From Mark