Pictures from Justinopolis and Ponte Nova

sweet hat! cassi needs to make these

yes, lunch after church is on the very peak of this hill

cute kid of an investigator... reminds me of the picture of me in the suit when i was little

my little justinopolis friends

Ademir... the member from Justinopolis who helped us everyday

Wellington... awesome kid!!

Sheila, age 30 and Emily, age 8 (mentioned in previous email)

Brazil really looks like this...

Week....? - Justinopolis, Brazil - April 14, 2010

what an awesome week! i guess it is always an awesome week as a missionary but what an amazing week! once again though it just flew by and once again it's p day already and i can't believe it! it's so crazy the way the time flies here. transfers will be next week since this transfer is a 5 week transfer so i am already almost through my first transfer of 15 in the field! crazy! but no matter how fast the weeks go the work of the lord just continues to roll on and on...

so, this week i once again ate some more weird stuff. not that weird i guess but maybe that's just because i am getting used to it. on about every corner they have someone cooking some sketchy roadside meat, and i figured if i am really supposed to blend into the culture then i had better try some of it. so me and elder palmer got stuff. when the lady asked what i wanted, it was an easy choice. i saw something with bacon wrapped around it and my heart was won! well little did i know until after i ate it, that yes... i ate some legit brazilian snake! yummy! this time it actually was good though. next time you're at walmart you should hit up the snake aisle. good stuff.

i also have been drinking this stuff lately that i am kinda getting hooked to... since in brazil the word of wisdom prohibits only black tea many people drink matte tea. anyway it's really not bad. i just hope it's not against the word of wisdom in the states... anyway, want to find out for me? thanks!

one of our mission rules from president parrella is no cola or really no caffeine. so, on sunday, one of our members just happened to have cola to drink and after we told her "we could not partake" she gave us some juice from the fridge. well, i'm guessing the juice was in the fridge for a while cause not only did we get some yummy peach juice but we got our daily serving of ants! yummmy!!!

so, that brings me into the next point on the outline... my bowels. now, i know you have all been wondering whether you have voiced the wonder or not so i will fill you in. i have been very blessed lately with my bowel movements. i adjusted to the food very easily. until monday anyway... i don't know if it was the ants or the grease from the chicken or what but i could not keep my bowels in check. every house we visited i had to use the facilities. not very enjoyable but luckily, i have not suffered the fate of most missionaries and soiled my undies...yet! (mom, edit this how you may) - (NOTE from "Mom": ok, maybe I should have edited this out but ultimately, we decided that this is an unfortunate part of adjusting to a new culture so have left it mostly in tact. My apologies if it is offensive to the reader.)

anyway, enough of that. this week the weather has been awesome!!! for americans that is. we love it. it's about 60 degrees with a slight breeze. it's awesome. brazilians on the other hand are wearing sweaters under turtle necks under coats. i guess it's pretty cold here for them?!

this week we accomplished some hot kitchen action! we made no bake cookies 4 times and some flaky biscuits a couple times. both recipes are perfected! =) it's always nice to come home from a rough day in the office and take a seat on our patio furniture (the only furniture we own) and kick off the shoes and drink some guarana and eat a no bake! so thank you mom for that recipe!

anyway, now to the missionary part! all i can say is miracles happen! we had 2 more baptisms on sunday of part of a family and the rest will be baptized this sunday! so happy for them! i baptized a boy named william souza moura - a lot easier than most brazilian names! it's always nice to see the reward for the work!

saturday we had so so so much to do so we did some divisions with two members. at first i was terrified!! i've been in the country 4 weeks and they want me to be out there alone? scary! but i did it, and well, it was awesome! we had a good day and then the night was amazing. we taught a woman named sheila and her 8 yr old daughter emilly. amazing part now. we ran into her after zone conference a couple weeks back and it was right when we got off the metro and we took her info and felt good about visiting her so we did. we get there and she tells us of how three days before she ran into us she had been praying to find the truth. something for her and her daughter to hold onto! well she found it. she loved the first lesson. by the end of it, she had me in my seat with my pen and paper out taking notes on what she was teaching me about joseph smith. she was so prepared. she accepted the baptism date of the 18th and then after we closed the lesson, we talked about a woman recently baptized in our ward who has nothing. her boyfriend left her and 5 kids in a small small favela house with a new baby and nothing. she has no job because of the baby and therefore very very very little to live off of. we talked about how the gospel is so helpful and puts a smile on her face. and all we were trying to convey is how the gospel helps. well before we could finish the story, sheila handed us about 50 dollars worth of food to take to this family. she said it just felt right to do. she is so amazing!

another sweet story. sunday, one of our members had a friend in church with him. he's about 25, so we got his info to teach him because he loved church! loved it!! so we go there and we see porno mags everywhere. beer everywhere. cigarettes everywhere. so we teach the first lesson to him and three of his roommates. they all accepted baptism dates and we were shocked. so we went back last night and we have to teach word of wisdom and law of chastity to these guys. talk about intimidating. but we went in just saying alright, we are gonna do this! so we taught them. it was such a strong lesson but still it was up to them what to do! by the time we left their house we had in our possession 4 porn magazines, 2 bags of coffee, a pack of cigarettes, and a bag of marijuana. we had a fire outside their apartment celebrating the change that they knew they had to make! i don't know if it was such a good idea to burn the marijuana but we didn't really think about that until after! hahahah! anyway these guys are all amazing! we love them so much! they are willing to change their life for this gospel!

i just have gained such a strong testimony of this gospel! i know that it has the power to change lives! i know that it does without a doubt. i learned a very valuable lesson this week...i find myself now, while i am here, becoming the person i wanted to be my whole life. i knew who i wanted to be. i also had the gospel in my life but sometimes wasn't willing to follow it. it just sometimes never seemed important. but i always wanted to be that person no matter if i had the gospel or not. i bear my testimony that through this gospel every single dot in our life can connect! every single admirable trait we aspire to can be gained through this gospel! i always had the resources to be this person. every person in the world can be who they want to be through this gospel! my biggest regret is not connecting those dots sooner! i love this gospel! i testify that i have seen miracles, watching peoples lives change 180 degrees through the gospel of jesus christ! through the church of jesus christ of latter day saints! i know this church is true! i know jesus christ knows us personally! i know joseph smith was called of god to restore the gospel that our savior and redeemer had on the earth! i know that through the power of god the book of mormon was unearthed, translated, and today is changing lives! i know this church is the church of christ! the same church he established then is on the earth now! i know this with my whole heart and i do not doubt anything! through our faith all things are possible!

wow - sorry. that turned into a rant. anyway...that's about all for the week! mom and dad and cassi and ty - i love you all so so so much! eternity is going to be the greatest reward when i can spend it with you! i love you all so much! "there is only one person in the world that can make you happy...that person is you!" i love you all so much! have a great week!

Q&A - April 14, 2010

Our questions for the week:

1. What is a typical P-Day like for you? Do you get time to explore or do any sightseeing?
we usually get to have enough time to email and groceries and by then we have about 4hours left so we either bake or clean and write real letters

2. How is your Portuguese coming? Do you feel completely lost most of the time or just some of the time or do you feel pretty comfortable with both speaking and hearing?
i feel about the same with both hearing and speaking. pretty well. nowhere near fluent yet but it's coming fast. the language is a little different in minas gerais then the rest of brazil so it's all kinda new

3. Are you still in your original apartment? If so, what made your landlord change his mind and let you stay?
well, as of right now, we are still in the same apartment and we will be for a little longer. we are not really in control of it at this point though. the financial secretary is heading that up.

4. I noticed in the picture of your kitchen that you have a little stove and sink but I did not see a fridge. Do you have one? What is the little white appliance next to the stove? Do you feel like it's hard to keep your kitchen and dishes clean and sanitary with so little space?
we just wash everything when we are done with it and before we use it again. so it gets washed twice. the white thing is actually another broken stove.

5. Is your tap water safe to drink or do you have to drink bottled water?
well technically we are supposed to drink the water from our filtered water bottles that were given to us but every house we go to offers us water and it's just tap water so we drink it and so far, so good!

6. What is the coolest bird or animal you've seen since you've been in Brazil?
well, we see cockroaches about daily in our apartment, but so far the coolest thing i've seen was a flock of toucans. about 5 or 6 of them. i was too slow to get a picture though.

7. Any thoughts on whether or not you think you'll be getting a transfer in a couple weeks or do you think that you and Elder Palmer will stay together in Justinopolis for another round?
well this transfer is a 5 week transfer which happens every so often to make the dates work out for departing your mission. normally they are six weeks. i think we will stay but we will find out because transfers are next p day.

8. Are you and Elder Palmer the only missionaries in Justinopolis? Where are the next closest missionaries and how often do you see them?
we see our district of 6 missionaries (including us) weekly for district meeting. we are all about 30 minutes from each other.

9. Do you have any questions for us?
is it really still snowing there?
what kind of ducati did danny have?
can you substitute brown sugar for white?

His Week in Pictures...

"Thamara...baptized last night! =) am i getting tan?"

"amazing sunset...best yet"

"translates into...jesus's little bar...hahahaah"

"Easter feast....scones and jello"

"Easter eggs 2010. hahahaha-good old american sharpies"

"elder palmer in the raw sewage that runs about 120 different places here"

Another Week Doing that Missionary Thang‏ - Justinopolis, Brazil

wow! another crazy week! i don't know if there will ever be a week where i will not be able to say that! and they keep just getting faster and faster!

so this week a few crazy stories:

the most disgusting thing i ate this week was sardine pasta! yummy! =( but luckily they added some anchovies just to make it that much better! =(

i got to put my hair clippers to someone elses head besides my own! elder palmer and i are now twins. someday i'll get a picture with him so you can see!

we made some sweet sweet easter eggs! i have a picture of those to send and hopefully i'll get time to do that! i have quite a few to send on the way to you!

oh and to top the justinopolis weird things off - i saw a dead person this week! yes, she was really dead. luckily we saw her dead and not dying but it was still creepy! i guess in brazil things are a little different with funerals! when someone dies they take the body to the house and leave them there for about 3 days and have a viewing all three days and they have pastors come and yell chants at the body then they sing songs. well, little did we know that we were going to visit one of our recent converts and her daughter died the day before and well ya... there was a dead body in the house just chillin. but it was so so so nice to know the plan of salvation is real and that we don't have to scream and sing at our dead bodies so they can be saved. so that about wraps up the news of the weird here this week. now onto the missionary part! =)

so conference.....conference was well...interesting and frustrating. the saturday morning, or 1 o clock here, session was cool for the 30 minutes i got to see. we had about 5 investigators that went with us and the cool part was they wanted to walk there. not only is their house 45 minutes up a mountain from ours but the church is another 45 minutes away in logoa (on rua mexico dad if you would like to google that) ...anyway so we walked with them. it was awesome! they were making a sacrifice and we knew they would hear a real living prophet and receive so many blessings for their efforts. sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. anyway, so we get there and we were right on time. we sit down and hear glorious american hymns being sung and life was awesome. oh, and by the way, we had to watch in portuguese because the mission president didn't want anyone leaving their investigators alone to watch in portuguese. so we are sitting and about 20 minutes into conference the wifi on the laptop, which is balanced on the podium so the microphone can pick up the speakers, just quits! just dies! the wifi was out and that was the end of our session. so we walked back to the house on the mountain and felt so incredibly dumb that conference was so short but they still enjoyed it and are still going to be baptized! they are an awesome family. so sunday, we are told to go to another chapel with an actual satellite to watch. so we sacrifice the first session, which apparently had an awesome talk from elder holland! can't wait for the ensign! anyway, so we sacrifice our first session to go run around to every single investigator and recent converts house and personally invite them again and confirm they are going to conference with us. this is the equivalent of about 20 miles of walking in the mountains. sometimes running. now, for it to get tough... about 12 o clock... 5 hours til conference, it just starts pouring rain!!! so out of the 40 or so people we had lined up to go, we had about 12. no one wanted to leave because it was raining. i couldn't help but think that the last days would be similar. we would have christ on the earth and people would say "but its raining...maybe next time." one lady told us when we asked her if moses was speaking would she go listen, she said that only if he came to her would she listen! how dumb! anyway, now to make this story happy story cause it was. i listened to a prophet of god speak to the world! read that last sentence slow and think about it. we listened to a prophet of god, the closest person to heaven on this earth, tell us what god wants us to hear!!! i know without a single doubt in my heart those men and women who spoke to us were inspired of god! when listening to them, the spirit can talk to us with even more strength! i couldn't understand half of the stuff being said because of the language, but i know that thomas s monson is a prophet of god! he is the mouthpiece of god on this earth! i love conference! i will never sleep through another session again nor will i ever miss one! that should be a moment every 6 months we absolutely cherish! i can't wait to read the current words of god in the next ensign!

anyway, dad, i need to say thank you for sending me the jesus the christ/articles of faith book! i love it! i read a part every day! so far just the a of f part but i love it! thank you for sending it with me!

anyway, my time is short and i have some sweet pictures to send! so i will wrap up! i hope you know that i love you all so very much! this gospel is real and rolling along to every kindred tongue and people! i made another quote for you all this week. especially you cass....i hope you like these! this weeks quote....always do what you are afraid to do!.....we have to in order to reach our potential! we have to stretch! i love you all! good luck in all you are doing! you're amazing all of you! this week my mission will be 1/8 over! wow!!!! love you all! stay strong!

p.s. this is a ghetto keyboard so sorry for the more errors than normal! love you!!

Q&A - April 7, 2010

I've decided to try something new. Each week in our emails we ask questions that sometimes get answered and sometimes not. So, I'm going to start sending him a short list of questions separate from my email each week that he can just quickly go through and answer. Here were the questions and his answers for this week:

1. Can you describe a little bit about doing your laundry by hand? Do you have an iron? How long does it take you?
laundry is about a 3 day process. we have a little spinner with water and soap to wash, if you can call it that, but then it's all hand work, scrubbing and all. you do the whites one day and the darks the next. you usually have to split the whites in two cause it's a big load as a missionary. then when you switch loads you put the other load on the line to dry and yes we have an iron and it's the best time of the day to iron clothes. so relaxin!!

2. You spoke of eating lunch with members. Do you cook for yourselves for breakfast or dinner? Do you buy many groceries?
we usually eat breakfast and then snack at about 9:30 which we buy ourselves with our 100 reals of money.

3. Are you receiving your money from the mission office and does it cover your needs? How much do you receive and how much do you spend on a typical day?
we get 100 reals every 15 days and we spend it on food and bus passes. on a typical day we spend about 5 reals. and p day like 20 reals.

4. What in the world is there to eat of a chicken's foot?!?
you just go for it and try to think it's real yummy even tho you know it's not. you pretty much eat the skin. yum! =(

5. What is the name of the member who goes out with you each day and helps you so much? Please tell him "Thank You!" from Elder Excell's mom!
ademir...i will tell him

6. What is the temperature and the weather like in Justinopolis right now?
about 80 degrees farenheit and lately a lot of rain but that season is about over.

7. What months of the year do the kids in Brazil go to school?
they go the same seasons as us which is really different times of the year. they start in march and go til december

8. Where did you go to watch conference? If you don't talk about it in your family email, which was your favorite talk? Did you see Dad and Ty during the Priesthood session?
we watched in a chapel but i will explain more in the family email

9. Do you know when you will have Zone Conference?
we already had it and it was last tuesday. it was awesome! we even got to ride the train there! =)

Pictures from Brazil!

Nicole Ritchie the dog - she followed us nearly 5 miles one night. We love her!

Morning in Justinopolis

Baptism - Wanderson is the young boy that Zack really loves!

Beautiful Justinopolis!

The Brazilian girl that I will adopt someday!

Elder Excell in Justinopolis, Brazil

The Justinopolis sunset! Gorgeous!

Baptism!

The famous outdoor kitchen!

Funny sign at the CTM

The Fastest Week Yet! -Justinopolis, Brazil

wow! this week went by so fast! i've gone from writing in my journal every night thinking the day went by fast to thinking when i write this weekly email that the week went by fast! it's awesome! so, i had an outline written up like i do every week so i can remember everything i wanted to say but i think i forgot it at the apartment so i will do my best to try to remember everything!

this week, once again, was a week of firsts... the first time washing clothes by hand (that one was interesting but i would say positive) and it was the first week making cookies and pancakes brazilian style... they dont have a lot of key ingredients here so we have to substitute a lot but my comp and i are both extremely thankful for the recipes you sent me mom! so thank you so much!

anyway it's been an intense week! we got to go into the office once for interviews which is awesome because i got mail!!!! i love mail - it's amazing! anyway thank you to all that wrote and i look forward to writing you all back when i find time!

so about justinopolis...i've told you about the scenery and now you have pictures to match it, but also, dad wanted an address. we are on avenida denise cristina da rocha 2555 a. from what i know, it is the only apartment building on the street and it is a couple miles out of justinopolis. it will be close to bairro sonia (the favela) and bairro botafogo. anyway, see if that helps you find it.

so this week has been awesome! we are still keeping way busy! we had two baptisms on sunday and i actually got to do the baptizing which was way sweet!!! his name is wanderson... and then like another 12 names... the name was almost as long as the ordinance prayer! haha. but it was a very cool moment to use my white clothes somewhere besides the temple.

this week i ate some weird stuff. number one weird thing that i ate with not much liking was chicken feet! =( definitely not the best! but i still continue to eat whatever gets put on the stove at the members house.

you also said you wanted to know a little bit more about the church here... as far as in justinopolis the church is very very new. we pretty much are starting the work here. which is really cool but also frustrating. i think i told you about the van we have every week to take to church with the investigators... our chapel is in venda nova which is a really pretty chapel and right across the street from a soccer club and field... imagine that in brazil! anyway, every thing is tile... the walls and the floor through the whole thing. it's very new. its really pretty! i'll try to get a picture this week for you to imagine it. the members here are all very nice... we don't get much help from the members of the ward in venda nova cause it's a good half hour away but the members in justinopolis are very very nice to help us! we have one member who goes with us every single day to work and for the whole time! he lives off pensions from the gov. so he has plenty of time but he is so nice to have. there are about 60 members in justinpolis and most, if not all, have been baptized in the last 6 months. very very new area so it didn't surprise me that blake didn't know it well. we wear our suits to church here... talk about blazing blazing hot! but we do it because the lord wants it that way and he provides a way for us to accomplish it! 1 ne 3:7...

my portuguese is coming along... i can fully understand people for the most part i just still struggle with responding but it will come! i've already made quite a few friends here... wanderson, who i baptized, and his sister ana paula, who was baptized last week are good friends and that whole favela just loves us! we teach them english sometimes so every time we leave they all hold up a peace sign and say peace! it's awesome! the little kids here are my peronal favorite! every time we walk by they shake our hands and talk to us and ask for american gum now! =) thanks mom! they love it! and they all ask about my camelback - why i have a tube into my backpack. it's funny to see their faces with such a simple design of a backpack and how amazed they get! i love it! and the camelback was genious in itself for the mish! perfect for the work!

so, cool stories for the week... one in particular. her name is eliane. she is about 35 and her whole family has been baptized but her because she is so addicted to coffee. well, she told us that she would give us her final answer on wednesday night and well... we weren't expecting much and thought about not even going because she had given us about 25 final answers already... anyway we get there and we leave a short spiritual message and then ask the question of the moment... how's the coffee situation and she told us almost in tears... my family is more important than anything and i want to be baptized. i will stop drinking coffee. she did! she quit cold turkey just like that! it's so amazing to see the change in her family. they instantly, the next day, were so much happier...incredibly happier. it was so awesome to see the change the gospel has in their family.

wanderson was awesome too... he didn't struggle tho, he just held on to the little testimony he had and let it grow and he is so strong for a 13 year old. i couldn't have done that at 13. now we are working on getting his parents married so they can complete the family. we are close... pretty much just waiting on papers to go through. those are the two biggest issues people have here is the coffee and also the not being married but living together and having a family for sometimes 30 years. it's kinda hard to tell them to change but i found a scripture during study that gave me awesome courage... moroni 8:16... with perfect love we have no need to fear the smallest things! love really does solve everything!

anyway, it's been an awesome and fast week! this weekend is conference and yes i do get to watch and yes i will watch it live and even better... i will be watching it in english! how sweet is that! another scripture for you to ponder this weekend during conference. Jacob 4:6.... grow from the words of a prophet. i took conference for granted so much. very few people in this world will take the opportunity this weekend to listen to the words of a true living prophet! the closest man to god on this earth! it is such a blessing and so taken for granted so i'll be excited to hear what you guys think of it! and dad, definitely wear that orange tie so i can see it! that would be awesome!

anyway...im sure that there was so much more i wanted to say but next week i will be sure to bring my outline! i've made a new quote for you all tho.... especially you cassi - i think you like these quotes... the only way to find out what is truly possible is to do the impossible!... anything is possible! we continue to push ourselves as a companionship here and we use our family and friends as motivation. i continue to work hard because i know when heavenly father see's us working for his cause then the things we pray for and the things we hope for will be more likely to happen! so i will continue to work hard so that when i get back my friends will be that much sweeter and awesome and my family will be even more amazing (hard to imagine) than you are now! you guys are so amazing! i love you all so incredibly much! you are all in my prayers and i think of you often! mothers day is coming up!! =) stay strong everyone and just continue to try a little bit harder to be a little bit better every day! i love you all so much! have an awesome week! we are more than a tenth of the way done!!

First Week in the Field!! - Justinopolis, Brazil

hey everybody!! first off, i love you all so much! i hope you all know that!

anyway... what a crazy crazy week!! i'm so happy that the mission is living up to everything i ever thought it would be. i love the area. it's funny because when i think back to how i thought my mission would look like and be, it was exactly like this. as far as the area goes, it is very awesome! there are some crazy crazy hills and some awesome jungle like mountains! it's gorgeous... if this computer will let me i brought my camera cord and i will try to attach some pics to another email.

anyway, an awesome first week! the food here is actually very good. we really only eat one meal a day and it's only because when we have lunch with members, we eat enough for all three meals. i don't ever find myself hungry! this week i had feijoada... i wouldn't recommend making this one mom. it's pretty much just beans and rice but then the meat is just everything from a pig you wouldn't normally eat. it's pretty much straight fat and bones. on my particular plate i had a nose and an ear staring me in the face! crazy! not my favorite but yes i did eat it all! brazilians do have some interesting food. yesterday we had some brazilian kind of pudding cake thing that was weird. main ingredient... barely mushed up corn. yum yum! hahaha! it was alright but again not my favorite! the best thing i had this week that i can't believe i have missed out on for 19 years is certain flavors of ice cream. i feel bad for telling you what you are missing out on but someday you will have it! i had lime, açai, and maracuja (passion fruit) ice cream and it was heavenly especially after walking up and down hills all day in the heat! the weather is awesome though - i love it. i'm already getting a good good tan and because of the humidity my face is so baby smooth! it's awesome!

this week we got a weird phone call saying we needed to get out of our apartment because i guess the previous elders hadn't paid rent and so the owner wanted us out so we are still living there but finding another apartment, which will be less work time which kinda stinks!

i love the work here. a typical day is like this... as all missionaries do, we wake up at 630 and work out for a half hour. i usually do some sit-ups and push-ups and pull-ups on my bed underneath the other bunk bed for a bar. we get ready and then we have study time from 800 to 1000. 800 to 900 is personal study and 900 to 1000 is comp study where we practice teaching to whoever we can find. for example this week we taught hannah montana. my comp got a card that sings that is huge and her face is on the cover so we baptized hannah montana this week! =) that was fun! haha. after that we get to work. we go visit the families we marked with and on the way we contact people on the street - oh and yes all of this is in another language! =) anyway we usually teach about 15 lessons a day to investigators and members alike. we have lunch in there at about 1200 and teach a lesson there. the system and rules here for the mission are an investigator has to go to church twice and receive all the lessons and keep all the commitments from those lessons before baptism. this sunday we had two baptisms and we have 2 marked for this sunday as well - all they have left to do is receive interviews. it's amazing seeing the change in peoples lives. we have one couple right now who is not married but have lived together for 15or 20 years and so in order to get baptized they have to get married first. talk about commitment to a belief! they are doing it though. they are scheduled to baptize on april 11! awesome! we have about 10 people as of now marked for conference weekend as well! the work here is whatever you make out of it. if you commit yourself to it then heavenly father will bless you with success! we work very hard! we walk about 15 miles a day, teach 15 lessons and somehow find time to sleep! =) we are back to our apartment by 2100 and plan until 2130 and then we have time to write in our journal and shower and get ready for tomorrow! it's a crazy busy schedule but honestly it goes by very fast! i love it here!

sunday we have a bus that takes people to church because the nearest chapel is 20 miles away as of right now and this bus has 18 seats... this sunday we fit 32 people in there just to go to church! the people here sacrifice so much for what they believe in! they teach me so much! i love them! i have learned so much! so much!

we teach in favelas often. favelas are the ghetto i guess in english but ghettos have nothing on favelas. a house in a favela consists of a dirt floor with all the brazilian animals you can imagine and they typically have two rooms... both about the size of cassi's closet. one for a kitchen and one with as big a bed as possible so all ten people in the family can sleep! it is so crazy and so so so so sad! but i have learned more in those houses than in an entire mtc stay!! i have learned so so much! the people there are so receptive to the gospel. they love the missionaries. they feed us every time we walk in the door. they give us water and whatever crackers they have and you can't say no even though you know they need it so badly! i have gotten to see the change this gospel can make in peoples lives and i know better now, than i think i ever have, the power and truthfulness this gospel carries! i am so so privileged to teach people what can truly make them eternally happy! they have nothing and everything all at once! it's amazing the courage of such people! in one little corner of the favela we frequently teach at, there are about 20 houses or so and about 15 of them are now members and we call it the celestial kingdom of the favela! its amazing the happiness that resides there all because of their faith in christ! what a lesson to learn that after we show our faith in him and his church and his gospel we are so abundantly blessed. maybe not with houses or cars or toys because those aren't important... they are blessed with strong families and happiness! what else could be better then a happy family!

anyway i love you all so much!! you are the best family in the world and i have the best support team ever! i love you all with all my heart! stay strong and i look forward to next wednesday!! =)

Elder Excell's First Area: Justinopolis, Brazil

hey everybody!!!! how are you all? it is always good to be able to sit down and read your thoughts for me and always way good to be able to sit down and write some for you!!

anyway what a crazy week!! i am now in my first area called justinopolis which is pretty close to the belo horizonte city area from what i can tell. i haven't been here long, only about a couple hours actually... enough time to unpack in the new apartment and meet my new comp. - elder palmer from nevada. so i don't have much to say about the land here yet but i can tell you what i saw as i was flying here. there are a lot of hills and i expected those hills to be just covered in houses but i was surprised - there is a lot of open hills with just grass, and lots of it. the temperature is nice. it poured yesterday while i was with the president, but so far, nothing yet today. there is still a lot of city. definitely not as big as sau paulo but still every bit as big as i imagined. there will be plenty of people to teach for sure!

speaking of my mission president! i love him! when the four of us landed at the bh airport, we didn't see him and got kinda nervous but after we got our luggage and walked out we saw him and his wife and two of the assistants. what an awesome sight! i had such an instant feeling of love for all of them - especially the president and sister parrella. after meeting with them we took an hour bus ride into the city and had lunch at a churrosco in town which was amazing! best food in the last 9 weeks! =) after lunch president said he knew who the four trainers for us would be but had to have an interview to know who would go with which one. my interview was awesome! i felt so comfortable around him and i can't wait to get to know him more. after the interview, we had some training with the assistants and the secretaries. stuff such as money here. i get 100 reals every 15 days. so about 150 bucks a month or so. we just had a lot of logistical stuff to go through which i am sure i won't remember but that's why i have a trainer. after all our training, president's kids came into the mission office which was way cool. i love their family. very similar to ours which is nice - i need that right now! i had a good time talking to his oldest son who is 16 and named david. he was really easy to talk to and so loving and on the plus side he knew english! =) when we were through at the office we went to our motel that the four of us had for the night which was cool. elder grant (from my sao pauolo district) and i shared a room and had a good talk but we went to bed pretty early because we knew we would have a big day today! this morning we woke up and took all our bags down about 15 new york city blocks to the bus station... my workout for the day! and we met up with new comps and that's where we got on a bus to come here. so that's my play by play for the last couple days. its been interesting.

here at my first area i won't have very much access to sending and receiving physical snail mail which will be tough because i really have been using that to help get me through, so that will be a challenge for sure! i'm not quite sure yet on an address for our place. as for now just send it to the mission office and no matter what, i will get it in six weeks or whenever i can. just do that until i can get more of a clear way to send and receive stuff. i guess we have a guy here who goes out with us everyday teaching and he is kinda the messenger man if we need stuff like that done so i can talk to him tomorrow to see what's up. so for anyone who is sending letters thank you so much for the thought but if i don't reply quickly then i apologize. every six weeks will be kinda like christmas for you and for me. i will keep writing you all every week but it might not get sent for a while. at least until i know a better and faster way to send it. so mom just let everyone know the mission office address and i will look forward to lots of letters! =) if you don't get letters from me for the next little while, then you can always read my emails because i will always have them but know that i am thinking about all of you and still writing - its just delayed... at least in this area.

my apartment is exactly what i expected it to be actually. our kitchen is outside... weird! and we will do laundry by hand! =) that will be interesting! but i am up for the adventure.

all in all, this week has been really weird. it's the end of one phase and on to the next and although the transition may be tough, i know heavenly fathers hand is in all things. if i am faithful to his rules for me and willing to show faith in him and be humble he will bless me. brazil is amazing! i can't wait to get out and start teaching and really learning and mastering the language! i am so excited! i know heavenly father will bless us all according to our works and desires! i love you all so much! next week i will write more i'm sure. i will have lots to say! just stay strong and know i am always thinking about all of you! the lord gives us weaknesses so we can become stronger through them and through him. remember that! he loves us very much and wants the best for us even when it may not be easy for him to watch our trials! i love you all. i will look forward to hearing from you all again next week! =)