Possibly the last Pday in Ponte Nova....ALREADY!?!

Well this email will be a little different than all of the other ones in the past! Because i can honestly say that 6 out of the last 7 days have been jammed packed and had at least one crazy thing happen! so i thought i would go by day by day and give you it all like that! so everyone sit back, its been a crazy week....

Wednesday May 19 - Alright so after p-day this week we went out proselyting at 6 as always and we ran into a guy that started out as just a simple street contact and he invited us in right there to hear the message! awesome! well we get into his house and we teach the lesson and it's all going great! we get to the part where we introduce the book of mormon and elder clites was carrying them that day and just happened to only have one with him and it was an english. we told him that we would bring him one in portuguese the next day and he just started talking to us fluently in english! he lived in orlando florida for 8 months and kinda toured the east coast! talk about crazy that all we had was english and he was fluent! how often does that happen! he loves the book and continues to read but we can't teach him anymore because, as of lately, he loves physical relations with women too much and won't give them up so we are just passing friends now with him! he's awesome! it's really strange to talk to a brazilian in english!

Thursday May 20 - Alright so thursday night we get back into the house from the day at about 9 o clock and we are planning for the next day and i hear a noise in the kitchen so i just knew it had to be the rat that has been pestering the house so we got our cameras ready and shut both of us in the kitchen with the prospective beast. we had chiseled a spear out of an old broom handle just in case we ever saw the rat, so we had it in hand ready to go. we set the cameras up to record and the hunt was on! elder clites had the responsibility of scaring him out of the cupboard and i would terminate so we put the plan in action! elder clites got him out of the cupboard and i took my first throw and missed. the spear was pretty much done and so we were done to using it like a baseball bat! after it him again clites got it out again and after a couple good strikes to the spine and head it was done. we killed our first brazilian rat! (see picture for size comparison) it definitely was not the biggest we've seen but not small either! after some pics we disposed of it and the kitchen has been pretty quiet since then!

Friday May 21 - This day was the day of our baptisms interviews and all day it was a bright and beautiful day! until the exact moment we knocked on their door to walk with them the mile to the church! it started POURING! the best part of the story is everyone else would have said, no way am i going. we can go later or wait a week! but this family went in the pouring rain and walked the whole mile drenched to the bone and we all just smiled the entire time! it was really hard to not smile! it was pouring!!! i was in brasil doing the missionary thang and in the pouring rain! it was awesome! my planner was drenched but everything else we kept safe in a big plastic bag!

Sunday May 23 - Sunday marked the first baptism in ponte nova for two transfers! Their story is awesome! i will send a picture of them and the stairs they live on! but last saturday a week and a half ago we were walking by these giant stairs and clites looked at me and asked what do you think is up there, to which i replied one word...elects. and we started climbing...literally climbing! we knocked on one door up there and it happened to be this family! they had accepted the missionaries 8 years ago but pushed them away. this time the mother told us she had made her decision! she knew this was right! she quit smoking, and drinking coffee and the whole family was baptized on sunday! i couldn't have been happier! There are two kinds of moments in life...the "i just did that" moment...and the "i just watced that happen" moments. everything in missionary work is the second one! i just watched 3 more elects of god start their journey and pass through the door of baptism leading to eternal life in the kingdom of god! I JUST WATCHED THAT HAPPEN! =)

Monday May 24 - We have been walking through some forest late at night lately on the way home. really, more like farm i guess, but it really is a forest. well monday night we got chased out of the forest by a bull. not even kidding! we had our own two person brazilian running of the bulls in the dark though the forest! that was an adventure! all is well. we learned when you jump the barb wire fences that you think you know, you only get minor cuts but it very well stops the bull! (sorry i didn't get pictures of that one)

Tuesday May 25 - Well this was just last night but it was still hilarious. usually we don't take dinner time but last night a member insisted so we did! as mentioned before if the food isn't deep fried its not brazilian. so we had rice and beans...surprise! and fried chicken and eggs! yum! well, needless to say grease runs through your body about as fast as grease lighting! i had to use the facilities and we were a good 30 minutes from anyone we knew so i made it to the bus station and had to pay 35 cents to use the dang toilet. so you would think all is well...well little did i know you had to pay for the tissue as well and since we are poor missionaries neither of us had any more money at all to buy some toilet paper sold by the foot. a good lesson to start carrying spare in the camelback!

It's been quite the week but it's been awesome! i've learned so much as well. first lesson i learned this week is that people really have the 3 basic questions of life. where did i come from, why am i here, and where am i going? i just always took for granted those simple knowledge's i had always been taught! so simple but so profound! i love teaching the plan of salvation and i just can't but help but think about my family! i am so, so, so, infinity so, excited to be with them forever! i know why i am here and i can't think of a better reward than eternal life with my family to work for!

second off some things in life just are hard. that's just the way that it is and there are some times very few things we can do to change that! so i would like to publicly say, just do it! there are so many times when i get out in the city and see a mountain and lunch is at the top of it and most times i think to myself i would rather just not eat because it is to hard! i see people every single day who are not willing to give up a simple vice of coffee for baptism just because it's too hard and they even know it's true. but it's just too hard! it's often very frustrating to see and hear. so i would also like to thank everyone that will read this and everyone else who has done things that were hard that helped me get here. primarily my parents...dad, thank you for sticking to what you know and doing things right even when it's tough. mom, thank you for being the person you are and doing things even when it's tough! without you doing the things that might have been just a little too tough, i would not be here! so thank you! thank you for being the strong link in my chain and holding it all together! i have alot of chains with a lot of people that make my link so strong because of it! now the lesson! just do it! continue! don't give up! it's gonna be tough! if it wasn't, how would we ever learn! just go for it! jump the hurdles and roll with the punches because life will be an obstacle course but it's all worth it! we know the outcome! just connect the chains you have right now by you so you and everyone you love can enjoy the reward togetgher!

and just one hint to help win the game... when we pray, we talk to god. but when we read the scriptures, he talks to us! follow the map he gave you! i love you all so much and i can't express the amount of hope i have for every single one of you! i want to be with all of you through it all! we are all on the front line of our own war but just take one step at a time and do the best you can in every choice! one step at a time and you win the race for the day! Thank you all!!! i love you!!

Elder Excell

P.S. To start your scripture reading this week read Numbers 22:22-35. I promise you will smile!!!