Cuiaba Brazil Weather

Monday, May 13, 2013

Week #21 Brazil

Bom Dia Família! Beleza? Wow it was so good talking to you guys yesterday! It was really heart warming and refreshing! I'm sure you all enjoyed it as much as I did, I was sad that your end was having quality problems cause I didn't have really any of that happen on my end. But the Lord blessed us and it all worked out for the most part. You guys all looked and seemed so good its crazy seeing you guys after 5 months but it seems like its gone by super quick yesterday was 5 months to the day that I entered the mtc in Provo! Crazy! I will have been out over a year the next time we get to talk though that's a crazy thought. I'm scared that my mission is going by too quick there are too many people to help and not enough time to do it. Its weird that you guys will be finishing up this year of school really soon, you guys will have a fun summer up ahead of you, I'm a little jealous in some ways but I think about it more and realize that I would rather be down here in Brazil spreading the Gospel of happiness. So we had a good week here in Cáceres. It was extremely hot as usual but the Lord blessed us and we found several new good investigators to teach. One of my favorite things about being a missionary is when we ask people if they prayed about our message of the Restoration, or the Book of Mormon or the Gospel as a whole and they respond that yes they prayed and then we asked them how they felt and they said they just felt so good and peaceful and that they believe these feelings come from God. That just makes me so happy to hear that from people. Now we just hope and pray that they will act on their feelings and be baptized and join the church, and more importantly that they will be truly converted to the Gospel, cause it doesn't do any good do baptize tons of people if none of them are truly converted because then they will just go inactive. The key to really helping people become converted to the Gospel is through the Book of Mormon. As they read their lives are blessed in so many ways and they recognize the goodness of God and the Church. So last P day was cool we went to the town center and checked out some of the stuff there. Cáceres has a huge Catholic church that is always open for the public so we went in and checked it out, there was hardly anyone in there. It was cool but really strange at the same time. It just kinda has a neutral feel inside. It just strange seeing plastic almost life size figures of Christ hanging on a cross with really detailed features of where he had nails driven into him. But every church is different and does their own things. It was also kinda cool cause they had this burial plot thing right in the chapel of where a former catholic bishop or something had been buried. One thing that I have realized on my mission is most everyone is trying to do whats right, by going to church and reading the bible and stuff they just don't have all the truth because they know not where to find it,as the scriptures say. That's why we are here as missionaries is to find the honest in heart who when they hear the truth are ready to hear it and embrace it. Another thing we realize is that all other churches aren't evil. They are just people trying to become closer to Christ. After we got done looking at the Catholic Church we went to this little lunch place that said Tapioca on a banner in front of it, I got really excited cause I love tapioca pudding! But tapioca is different here in Brazil, they use it to make these like thick patty pancake things that they fill with meat or coconut or chocolate filling. Aw its good! I have a picture, it was nothing like I expected it kinda weird because the shell thing has a really rubbery texture. But I like it alot maybe I will get another today cause they are cheap. So We had one of our zone leaders come down this week with another Elder that served for 2 transfers here in Cáceres back in November and December, I went on splits with him all of Friday it was cool. His name is Elder Morais a Brazilian from Curitiba. He was almost 25 and is a convert for two years. He only has 2 more months than me on the mission and he is a really awesome missionary. And pretty much all day we ran around and visited the people that he had baptized. It was actually pretty exhausting, we went to a members house and asked if we could borrow their bikes for the day cause we had so many miles that we needed to cover, so we got to ride around on bikes for the day it was sweet but my bum was killing at the end of the day cause there are pot holes everywhere and my seat was a stinkin rock! But it was cool. I ate lots of egg sandwiches this week cause its cheap and I didn't want to buy hamburgers every night cause their cheap too but its unhealthy and it cuts into our personal time at the end of the day that we have to wind down and shower and throw clothes in the laundry. Blah seems like there is so much we to do in the last hour and a half of the day between 9 and 10:30. But they don't have miracle whip here, they have plenty of mayonnaise though. So I just use that and alot of hot sauce. Its good and cheap. Also we have been making breakfast shakes in the morning, we have a pretty nice blender in the house and so a member here showed me how to make good little fruit smoothie things, you just need fruit and milk and a little sugar and ice. And you mix it together and its stinking good! Also last p-day we went down to the river and went swimming. Haha just kidding! but we did go down by the river and take some pictures it was cool and it was a nice cool day that day. I have some pictures that I will upload for you. I don't know that about sums things up not a ton to write about. Again happy mothers day to Mom yesterday I didn't even wish it to her until the end I just completely forgot everything as soon as we started talking but that was so great talking to the family yesterday that's a great blessing to be able to talk twice a year. But at least we get to email every week I'm sure grateful for that. But yeah it sound like today we will be going to a waterfall or something I am stoked for that it should be really neat. But I sure love you guys all and am so grateful to have such a wonderful family. Just never forget that the only true happiness comes from the Gospel and from our Heavenly Father. There is no other way, no other path that we can take that brings and leads to as much happiness. There are many, many roads that we can go down but it is only the straight and narrow path of the Gospel that we must follow, It isn't the easy path and its not the most traveled path but it is the path of our Savior and it is the path that we must walk. I'm so happy that we already have the path laid out before us. The Savior never said it would be easy but he said that he would always be there, and as we put our trust in the Lord all things work out. That is the truth. Well I love you all so much and I am so happy to be here in Brazil! Oh and by the way I emailed the mission president and he said he will make sure he gets the letter sent back to grandma, so I'm guessing you should be getting it within the next week or so. But until soon! Much love! -Elder Skyler Kennington

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