hey mom and dad
wow the second to last email of my mission! that is way crazy. that sounds like a really good sunday to me. it is really interesting to me how little kids can be such big examples to the adults. through all the hard times that little girl has had in her life she makes a choice that will benefit her for the rest of eternity. we had another baptism this week. his name is Gelison. he is 20 years old and lives all by himself here in manaus. his family lives in one of the cities close to here. it has been way cool getting to teach these younger guys and really relate to them, you know. so its crazy to think that you guys will be headed to brazil next week! i am getting everything planned for when you guys get here. i think dad will be fine driving here, and it will make life a lot easier for us. i went out close by the hotel we will stay at today with a member, and you guys are coming at the right time of the year! it is beautiful there, but i wont tell you what is out there so i don't spoil it for you. haha but i can tell you it is gonna be one of the most beautiful sights you have seen in your life. it is gonna be a really good experience for you here haha. i think the Leite family is gonna meet you guys at the airport with me. they are way excited to meet you and are very special people. you are gonna love them. i think the only thing else you could bring is just some little souvenirs for these families, just something small and cheap just something little like that. lets see, my favorite hymn would probably be "Closer My God To Thee". i love when the pearsons sing! i think i have my talk all ready now. i have like half an hour right? well i have to run mom and dad. i will talk to you guys next week for the last time before i get to talk to you face to face. i love you guys.

hey mom and dad
i think i am gonna freeze to death haha. i cant believe that a little under a month i will be home. i am getting way excited for you two to get here. i got some suggestions from the other parents that came here . first put bug spray on with lots of deet before you get into manaus haha. bring pepto bismal, and be ready to sweat. i visited my Brazilian family today and we are getting everything planed out for you guys. i will be there to pick you up at the airport. haha that's kind of funny cuz its usually the opposite. then we will go some places. you didn't let me know if we are gonna rent a car or not. you guys can decide if you are up to driving in brazil. you don't have to worry about bringing so many suit cases, just bring me one big one. i don't have very much stuff, haha. i am gonna leave a bunch of my shirts and ties here with these two young guys we baptized. they are really cool, and it will be really nice for them to have some church clothes. some thing i was thinking about you bringing for me though is my sunglasses, those black ones that you like so much haha, my pair of levis, i don't know how to explain them. they are my boot cut ones. i think you might have got them for me, actually. cuz im not sure what the weather is gonna be like in belo horizonte. did you find my black shorts? i cant beleive its coming so fast haha.
that is way cool about grandpa's work being done. i bet i was a very special experience. i know he is really grateful to be sealed to grandma cuz of how much he loved her. not many people make it more than fifty years in marriage. he loved her a lot so just imagine how he feels, knowing first off with the different perspective that he has, and to know he is sealed to the person he loves most for time and all eternity. but i have to run mom and dad. i love you guys. o and i almost forgot elder da cunha my old companion asked if you guys could get him a cheap shirt from vegas that says welcome to vegas or what happens in vegas stays in vegas, just one of those souvenir shirts that they have there. he wears a large. talk to you next week. love you

hey mom and dad
wow another week gone by! time is going by so quick, it has felt like one big day since the last time i talk to you guys. sounds like you had fun in springville. did you get to see KC? and I'm sure i will like the shirts you picked out for me mom haha. about the vans i attached a picture to this email. it is the regular green ones and i need an 8 1/2 the vans run a little big. and i forgot but can you guys bring my black studded belt too if its still there haha. things are going good here just running all over the place. we have been working really hard but it is paying off. this week the zone baptized 20 people that's almost as much as the baptized all of last transfer. we are pretty excited about that and will have a bunch more this week. our baptism fell through but this week we will have two of Adonias and Jerlison. they are way cool. it has been really cool teaching them cuz they are the same age as us so we can really relate to them. it will be really good for the ward to get some younger men in there our ward is full of old people haha. i think there is like two or three men with the same age as us. so it will be a good thing for the ward. i think we will have a baptism on the saturday that you guys get here so that will be really cool for you guys to see. it will be a wedding then the baptism cuz we are helping this couple get married. there might be another couple too but we are having troubles getting their papers and stuff in. they want to be baptized so bad they cant hardly stand it. but we are working really hard for them. their papers are some where in rio de janeiro so we have been in contact with the mission there and they are chasing the papers around so we will get it. but i am doing good here. it is a weird feeling to think i wont be here next transfer. its funny when people ask me how much time i have left and i just say four weeks haha. but i have to run mom and day i will talk to you guys next week. i love you guys

survived hahaha
how is it going mom and dad? mom you can relax now i didn't drowned in the amazon river or get eaten by an anaconda when i was baptizing on the beaches of Maués. it was a great trip! the eighteen hour boat ride got a little old when it was dark but in the day time i saw all kinds of cool stuff. like kids headed to school in canoes and fresh water dolphins. it was way cool i didn't get too many pictures of the trip because there were some shady guys with their hammocks right next to ours and it wouldn't have been to smart to be wavin my camera around. but i saw some amazing stuff. i don't think i will ever forget the night that i came home on the boat. i watched the moon rise on the amazon river and it was so red and was right in the middle of the river so it gave the water a red glow with the little wakes of the boat rippling off into the distance. it was one of the most beautiful things i have seen in my life. in the city of Maués was awesome too. we baptized 4 people this time. the baptismal font couldn't fill up cuz that part of the city was without water for the day so we headed to the beach on the river. it was a lot of running around haha. we went there about nine at night cuz everyone showed up late. we got there and i was the first to have to head out into the water. the members didn't help my nerves haha they said you have to go in splashing the water with your hands a little to scare the sting rays away. at first i thought they were joking but they were serious haha. i have to admit i was a little nervous. but i didn't get stung or bit by anything so it was all good. we had a really good time there. the members are so cool and love us there. we ate lunch and dinner every night there. i think if i stayed there any longer i would get some meat back on my bones haha. i was hoping i would get transferred there this last transfer but i didn't. i am headed to the East side of Manaus. i will be a zone leader there. they have been having a rough time there this last transfer with a bunch of things so i wasn't too excited about getting transferred there to deal with the problems and the rough areas. and president knew i wasnt gonna be real thrilled about it so he sat me down and explained why he was putting me there. he said that he felt the i needed to go there and try to get the missionaries focused and needed a leader there to help get the zone baptizing again cuz the area i am going to was one of the best baptizing areas in the mission and last transfer they didn't baptize one person. so i am excited it will be a good way to finish my mission. it will be a lot of work but i will be with a good missionary and we will get things going there again. talking about the end of my mission. a member offered his apartment to us in the center of the city if we want to save a little bit of money. it would be a really good location for us too. it is right next to the Amazon Theater tourist point of the city. the member wants to talk to you guys too. he is sending a daughter on the exchange student program next year but is really worried about her going to a non-member family. he is wondering if you and dad would be interested in taking her in next school year. he wants to know what agency Bev and Pete work with too so even if you guys don't think you can he can find someone in panaca or something that is a member and is wanting an exchange student. he was talking to Gildete and she mentioned something about how our family had done the exchange student program before and he figured he would ask you guys. i got a call from him about it but i told him that would be up to you guys. so let me know what you guys think about that and what agency bev and pete are with. about the guitar i don't think you guys will be able to get it here. he said you guys don't need to worry about it. i am going to visit them tonight. haha jessica loves to collect these barbies. so your question about the family. it is mom Gildete, dad Maricio, daughter Jessica, son Pedro, and daughter Priscila. they are way excited for you guys to get here. i was talking with them last night and starting to get everything planned for when you guys get here. you guys better get ready to eat a ton there are tons of families wanting to feed you haha. i think the first thing we will do when you get here is eat lunch with some members haha. dont worry i have let them know that the have to make food that isn't real strong like that stuff i told you with intestines in it haha. you guys will eat a of of fish and bbq. we need to see with president phillips too about when i am gonna get released. if i will have to be released here in brazil or if i will wait till i get back cuz sometimes when the missionaries go to visit a different city other that the mission city they like to release them. i will ask president here and see what he thinks too. i cant believe i am entering in my last transfer! so crazy! but i better run i have to help with these last transfers wooooooooo! the office was good but these transfers kill you in the office haha. i love you guys. and will talk to you next week from my new area.

hey mom and dad
this week i wont get to write you. i get on a boat in an hour headed for Maués again. i will get there tomorrow afternoon. i just wanted to let you guys know thats why you will only get this little email from me this week. we had a really good week! the family we were working with was batized it was an amazing and tiring experience! i love you guy and will talk to you next week

hey mom and dad
wow another week gone by! i cant hardly believe it! i am just about to my last transfer. it is gonna go by way fast. i head back to Maués on monday for another week i am way excite about that! them i will be transferred to somewhere. President said The Lord is gonna be real good to me too so im not really sure what that means haha. i am thinking he is gonna put me as the new main traveling assistant to go to all these little towns that have never had missionaries there before but we will see here in a few weeks. that's good that you guys got your rooms reserved at the hotel it is really nice that. i had a member call me this week and said if we wanted to we could stay in an apartment they have in the center of the city if we wanted but it will be good at the hotel too. my companion is headed home here in 15 days so he is real trunkey but we are still working hard. we had a real break through with that family that i told you about. the dad went to the priesthood session of conference and watched with tears in his eyes. he loved it. we are gonna do everything we can to get them baptised this week. they are ready and needing it so bad so that Christ can take this big burden off their backs. they are gonna get there i know it. i really liked conference. it is really nice to get two days out of the office feeling the spirit so strong listening to men called of God to bring his messages to us. every time conference comes around on the mission i realized how much i took for granted having a living prophet on the earth today. today was a good day. we finally had a p-day haha. we went and had a bbq with the second counselor of the bishopric and played some fun games. i have some important news though i have officially served a mission now........ i have be bit by a dog hahahaha. i was running after a ball in this game we were playing and i guess the dog liked white meat and gave it a taste haha. but don't worry mom i will not get rabies he just got my pants haha. these pants were warriors too they lived through the fire and through 22 months of mission but lost to the mouth of a dog haha. but he was just wantin to play too. it was a lot of fun there but i am beat!!! i talked to my Brazilian family yesterday they are way excited for you guys to get here. i think Gildete wants us to hide her in our suitcase and bring her back with us haha she wants to visit the states so bad haha. he husband has already been there a bunch of time with his work and she thinks it about time for her to get to go haha. they are gonna help out a lot though. because on the monday before we head out to belo horizonte from four to eight at night i will have to be at presidents house for the last interviews and dinner. president usually invited the families to participate to but if that doesn't work out you guys can stay with Gildete and the family. it will be a pretty busy couple of days seeing everyone but they will be good. hey I'm gonna send you the information of the doll that jessica asked if you can grab and what are you guys thinking about the guitar? if there is no way don't worry about it but he would be really grateful if there was a way so just get back to me as soon as you can so we can have time to get it bought and on its way there if you guys can do it.
i love you guys and am very thankful for your support. i am very thankful for the card from aunt Valinda i can feel the great love she has for me through that little piece of paper ever week and it touched my heart to get one from aunt Bonnie in her own handwriting. give them both a great big hug for me and tell them i love them. Give Grandma a special hug for me and let her know there are prayers going out of the Amazon for her. i love you two mom and dad.

hey mom and dad
I'm back!!!! it was amazing in Maués! i didn't want to leave there. we got on the plane early this morning and headed back for manaus. the little city had that small town feel to it. we worked our butts off there! i came back just about as dark as i was when i came to the office. the people there are amazing! they are very loving and very simple. we had three people to baptize but the day of the baptism they decided that they want to wait and be baptized with the rest of their family. we found two families that are wanting to be baptized but need to get married first. it is gonna be so great when they get their papers all done. the branch there is way excited. we taught almost all of the people with a member there with us. it was a great experience for my and gave me a really good feeling to be out in the field again! i loved the people of the branch too. the branch president is so awesome! he took us out to a restaurant for lunch and we ate fresh fish from there. he is so funny he is a simple man and loves everyone in Maués. he is one of those kind of guys that you cant ever imagine him mad haha. the trip there was really cool too. we went in an airplane that only holds ten people. i could only take 20 lbs with me so we each took about 15 pounds of church supplies and 5 pounds of clothes haha. lets just say my white shirts were pretty by the time i got back to manaus haha. i will probably get to go back there here in a week or so cuz i had to find a house for the missionaries for when they get back out there. i had to bring three different choices to president with all the information and he made his choice which one he wants and said i will probably go back there to close the deal before the transfers come. i will be happy if i do haha. but it was a great experience for me it was exactly what i was needing to keep me excited out here. but i have to run we have a family homevening to go to tonight. i will talk to you guys next week. i love you

hey mom and dad
well i still havent left yet haha but i will fly out wendsday morning but it will be better cuz i am going by jumper plane now so it will only take about two hours. it will be my first time in a little plane im pretty excited. im getting way anxious to go though. i cant stay still i just want to get out of the office haha. we will leave six in the morning on wednesday and come back some time next week it will be really good. they said there is tons of people there that are ready for baptism. we called there and they said that last sunday a soccer team went and was wanting to get baptised. i wish i was getting on the plane tomorrow morning haha. i dont thing i am gonna wanna come back when i get out there. but i think i will get to go back there or to another place cuz i have to find some other houses for missionaries because these little towns might open up to have full time missionaries there cuz there are tons of missionaries coming to manaus. next transfer we will get 22 more missionaries and will open up like six more areas. it will be really good. this week was a good week here too. first off Elder Godoy came to speak to us and was really good. then had a little meeting just with secretaries it was cool to get to know a seventy better. he asked us where we were from and how much time we have on our missions and my companion and i told him and so did the kids we are training and he looked at the two we are training and told them that the Lord has blessings reserved for them here in the office like things they will learn the looked at us two and said and you two the lord is preparing is preparing or has already prepared a young lady to be your wife.........!!!!!!!! pump the breaks there Elder Godoy hahaha im just a young buck. hahaha my companion and i just kind off looked at each other with eyes the size of oreo cookies. it was pretty funny we didnt really know what to say back to him haha very akward moment but it was a good one. it getting way close i dont know if i am ready for it. i am just gonna live this last little bit up and im sure when i see you guys i will be ready. but ya back to this week and away from the trunkyness haha. we baptised a girl named cleisianne. remember that fifteen year old girl i told you about she is doing all sorts of missionay work. there was a camp for all the youth a few weeks ago to get all the kids away from the city during the Independence day of brazil cuz it gets a little wild and she brought cleisianne with her on this camp out. the day they come back we get a phone call from Cleisianne and said "i have never felt anything like what i felt at that camp out when the speakers were talking to us, what day can i be baptized" so she was baptized this week on her 18th birthday it was way cool. we are still working with the big family that we found. they are passing some through some dificulties but who wouldnt it their situation. but we are gonna help them and get them all baptized. it is just being really hard cuz the dad has the tomer in his brain and is having hard times remembering things and it is scaring him so he is really protective of himself from his family right now. like he doesnt want to show that he is sick to his family and it is causing some arguments between them. but i know the Lord will help them. they love us, they all sit down together when we are there and are more together when we are there but we cant be there all the time. it is a hard situation for them to go through but when they let the savior walk them through this path that he has already walked they will all find the peace and rest from the struggle and the happiness that it brings even in the worst of the situations. but i better run mom and dad i will write you next week im not sure what day but hopefully monday if not it will be whenever i get back from Maués. love you guys

hey mom and dad
guess what I'm doing?.......I'm finally training this transfer!!!!! i am officially not the financial secretary anymore haha. i am training Elder Crepeu. he is gonna do really good here. I'm am way excited to be training now and i will get to go to all the little cities here in the amazon to baptize the people there that are waiting for missionaries. i will be going to a few different places, if president doesn't decide to destroy our hopes and dreams haha. we are running like crazy these day though because of the transfers. so this one is gonna have to be short. but things are going really good here, just really busy. the family i told you about is doing really good. the kids are leaving today on a youth camping trip of the ward and are way excited. we have tons of people that are coming to church and are ready to be baptized. Sister missionaries are gonna work in a part of our area this transfer to help us get all these people taught and baptized. so it will be a really good month here. i am excited to be done with this office experience, but it was really good for me and i learned so much stuff here that will be way useful for after the mission. I'm am thankful that i got this calling for me to grow in the areas the Lord knew that i needed to grow in. but i have to run. i will talk to you guys later. maybe i will send you another email tonight if i can find some time. love you guys

hey mom and dad
wow! i cant believe it has been another week already. by next week i will be training a new financial secretary. it has been crazy. i don't feel like i even had time to breath haha. i am running around like crazy. the audit went pretty good, just gave me a bunch of work! but at least i didn't mess anything up too bad haha. wow, i dont even know where to start this week. we had a baptism of Paula on saturday. it was really good. she was way excited and is really liking going to church. she is a pretty tough little girl. she is 15 years old and her parents don't want anything to do with the church. she lives very far from the church, but she is there every sunday. she watches over her little sister, that is special, and works in her family's little grocery store, and is in high school right now. she is a little warrior. we are working a lot in this little area called santa cruz. it is just a little humble part of the city, and the people there are amazing! it is were we got the alligator, so everyone knows us haha. the last three baptisms are all from there. we found a golden family there yesterday. a member introduced us to this family after we ate lunch at his house. they are very special people! the member brought us there because the husband has brain cancer, and has had a surgery already, but has to have another, and is fighting the cancer. he has four kids and his wife, and they are a family that is very close. we went there and sat down with them and really connected with them. we got to know them and presented the plan of salvation to them. they had so many questions for us and were so interested in what we are saying. it really comforted them when we taught about eternal families. while we were talking with them about it they stopped us and said, "wait we don't have to be separated after death? there is a way that we can be together forever?" it was an amazing feeling to get to tell them about God's plan for them. at the end of our visit the husband told us of his life he had led. he had a very tough life. he said, "i was addicted to drugs in my youth, drank, smoked, went to jail for drugs, saw friends being killed, and have tried to get myself straight with God for the last 18 years of my life. i have got established my family, let go of all my addictions, provided a good life for my family, and now God is showing me the part that is missing with you two being here." it is these times on the mission when you really feel like an angel sent by our Heavenly Father to His children. it is an experience that is like no other. it is crazy how you can talk to a family for the first time in your life and feel a love for them so great. it is something amazing that i will never forget. i better run mom and dad. i have been on the move ever since seven this morning haha. a missionary got here early from one of the little cities here and we had to go get him haha. i just threw a shirt on and went. and we are working like crazy here, and i have to run to the north side of the city to do a bunch of stuff for missionaries, and send stuff to São Paulo haha. o i cant wait for a regular p day again haha. i love you guys. i will send another email tonight when it has calmed down here cuz i need to ask you to bring some stuff.

hey mom and dad
wow that is a big deer! i bet he tastes a lot better than that good ole tag haha. you guys will have to let me know how much he scores when they score him. how is colton doing on finding his deer? tell him to kill one even if its small so i can have some jerky when i get back, but that wouldn't be anything different, him killin little deer ;) haha well things here are pretty good. the yearly audit is today and has been going on for the last eight hours, so you know how much fun that brings for the financial secretary. and it doesn't help that last night around three in the morning we had a crazy rain storm and the power was out until 9 this morning. i was soaked by six thirty haha. it was great. the rain was nice though. it has been about a month and a half since it rained here in the city last, so it gave us a break from the heat. saturday when we were going to lunch we went by a thermometer and it was 105. it has been way hot! guess what only two weeks and i get to pass my job to someone else here on the mission. i am pretty excited, I'm not gonna lie. i am ready to be done with the craziness of the office. i was talking to president the other day and he was asking me where i wanted to go for my last transfer, i mentioned going back to one of the areas that i have already served in, ya he shut that down haha. but he was talking about maybe sending my to one of the little cities here close to manaus so i can get to know something different. but we will see what happens. i will be fine with whatever place he puts me. i am still liking this area. we have a baptism this week and that will be really good, but i feel like i know everyone haha. i almost feel like i turned a normal member of the ward here. but for sure I'm gonna miss it when i have to leave. there are a bunch of people here that I'm gonna bring you guys to meet. one of the members said he is doing a brazilian barbecue for you guys when you get here. it is good too, trust me. i just about made my self sick on it last week cuz i ate so much haha. i think i am gonna talk to this member and see if he can take me to pick you guys up then we will just go straight to his house for lunch. but we will figure that all out here in a little bit when it is getting closer. i talked to my brasilian mom this week and she is still way excited. she was talking in english with me and everything haha. you guys better start practicing your Portuguese. you guys should send me your guyses flight plans too. are we still needing tickets to Belo Horizonte? we have members here that could help find a cheap flight if you want. just let me know. o my package got here. it was just in time cuz my shoe has a nice hole in it and was just about wearing holes in my socks. I'm not saying the new shoes are the best looking things in the world, but they are comfortable and dont have holes in them haha. but i got to run. i love you guys and will talk to you next week.

hey mom and dad
sounds like things are going good there with the hunting and everything. man i sure do miss this season there. but i will only miss this time haha. you guys will have to bring some jerky here if any one kills anything, or a piece of the tag from what it is sounding like haha. i am excited to go to brianna's wedding. it will be good to see new york again. i can't believe how fast time is going by these days. i swear i wrote you guy yesterday haha. here before i know it you two will be here picking me up. and i cant wait till you see the river mom and all the things here, you will be amazed! you won't believe how much water there is. i'm glad kc liked those pictures. he would really like it here too. he doesn't know it but i really miss him. it doesn't help that i dont show it by writing a letter to him or even an email haha. but i really do miss him. i know we fought like cats and dog at home but i learned a lot of stuff with him, and he really gave me a good example in lots of stuff i needed to get better at. that's one of the things i have realized here on the mission. i feel like i should have been different towards him at some part in life and not have always been fighting with him. he has always meant a lot to me but i have realized that he really does mean a lot more to me than i show and i have taken that for granted. but we'll see if i can't repent and be closer to him when i get back haha. be closer to my sisters too haha. things here are good. stressful a lot of times, with the finances, but if it was easy i wouldn't be learning haha. we are going through some changes with the houses and material in the houses, so i really don't stop any more. it is getting close to transfers again so President has be asking me to indicate some missionaries to replace me. it was funny what he said to me today. he said. " we have to find some one like you, very calm at points and very angry at other points". hahaha i think he has seen the price temper come out a few times. but i am excited to get to train and put this burden on someone elses back for a while haha. he mentioned something about sending us to all the little branches here in the amazon for a few weeks as we train but we will see how that goes. it would be nice to get some 24 hour boat rides into the amazon jungle or little jumper plane rides haha. i hear the people in these little cities are amazing and treat you like a king there. i hope it works out for us to do that but we will see. i was talking to my brazilian mom the other day and she is getting all trained up on her english before you guys get here haha. she is getting really excited too. but i better run mom and dad my food just got here haha, i love you guys and will talk to you next week.

happy birthday dad and kc
wow i cant believe that its dad's and kc's birthday already, july flew by! one of my friends here had his birthday today too. we went and had a little activity and i got toasted haha. its funny, we put regular clothes on to play soccer and what not and we all have these gnarly tan lines of a collared shirt. it looks pretty funny and is even funnier the next day when everyone has the top button unbuttoned on their white shirt cuz they got burn on their neck haha. but we had a lot of fun, so don't worry dad, we celebrated your birthday and had a lot of fun. but i am toasted. I'm glad you guys liked the picture of the alligator. did you like my sweet heart shirt? that's what you get when your house burns and you get all the missionaries clothes that they left behind of girlfriends that sent them dear john letters hahahaha. the worst thing is i knew this missionary really well and remember that he wore that shirt all the time and said he was gonna marry his girlfriend waiting on him at home. and i remember when he put that shirt in the "i don't want this anymore" box haha. but we are famous in that little area now with all those guys with tattoos and they like us. they always see us and say lets go get another alligator mormons hahaha. its good to have these guys as friends now, its a lot safer walking through that area. we are still working like crazy! i am convinced that this pace is gonna stay like this until i leave the office, if i leave, that is haha. but we are still managing to find new people and teach them. we are teaching Junior and he is really cool! he has been living a pretty wild life and we knew him before and taught him but he didn't want to give up the wild life. then one sunday he showed up at church and we talked with him and are getting him involved in the ward soccer and now he has a baptism date marked for the twentieth of this month. we are way excited for him and he is excited too. we just have to help him with a few things before that day, but he is gonna make it and it will be a huge step up in his life and he knows it. but i need to go mom and dad i have to go buy tickets to one of the little cities here in the amazon so two missionaries can go there and baptize a bunch of people that the branch has prepared there. i love you guy happy birthday dad and send a happy birthday to kc too.

hey mom and dad
wow another week gone by! it has been pretty crazy here but i think this week things will calm down a little bit. i had a training about finances this week with a guy from são paulo. it was really good but gave me so much more work! so now i am running like crazy trying to get things all worked out. but today we had something to relax. the second counsolor of the bishopric called us and told us to come running to his house. remember the place i sent you pictures of us fishing. well they got the alligator right in that little stream haha. it was so cool! we got tons of pictures with the alligator, and i got to eat alligator. it is really good! i will send pictures but i dont think you should put them up on the blog haha. it was a lot of fun! those guys there are so crazy! when they were getting him there was a bunch of guys in the water gettin him with the net, and he swam away and dissapeared under the water and came up right between this one guys legs haha. he jumped and got the alligator with his machete hahaha. and no mom, you dont have to worry, i was no where near the water haha. it was crazy though. after that the whole neiborhood was down there grilling him up to eat him. it was a lot of fun and nice to get our minds off of office work. then on our way back we even saw monkeys crossing the road. my companion looked at me and said, "yup, now my mission is complete, alligators and monkeys all in the same day." it was a lot of fun! now we are gonna go help some elders move into a new house then do some work in the office. maybe one of these days it will slow down around here but for right now its still pretty crazy! the time goes by so fast though when its busy its hard to believe that a week has already gone by. and it in August! sounds like you guys had a good time in vegas. sorry i didn't get it all set up with my friend. i wasn't able to talk with him before he headed out. that's sad to hear about enid. the Lord must know how strong of person she is to give her all these trails, but she is passing them for a reason and for sure the Lord has a special plan for her. just let her know i love her and am praying for her. well i better run, mom and dad, i have to go help these guys move. i love you guys!

hey mom and dad
wow another week gone by! it has been way crazy around here with transfers and areas opening we have been running around like crazy!!!! it all just seems like one big day. but transfers are done Wednesday so after that it will calm back down. i will be staying here this transfer and not training yet so i will have the one after this to train the get back in the field for another transfer. it will be good though i will be able to get everything planned and set up for when you guys get here. i got to meet elder wardles family today they came to pick him up too. they really like it here. you guys will like it a lot too but we still got a little while before you guys come haha. that's cool that all those guys are headed out on their missions. it makes me feel old haha. i cant believe chauncey and trent are about ready to come home too! so it sounds like pioneer day was fun. you think its hot there mom just wait till you come to manaus haha. it has been getting really hot the last few days here. we are lucky cuz the new house we live in has airconditioning in the bed room. its funny you do all you have to do at night then go take a shower and try to get in to the bedroom as quick as you can so you don't get soaked with sweat haha. things in the ward here are going really good. we just traded bishops. the new bishop is the man who took us out to buy something to wear after the fire haha we told him you see the blessings when you help the elders haha. but things are going good. the man we baptized last month Erivelton is doing really well! he just got his first calling in the ward and is preparing for the Melchizedek priesthood. he was way excited about his calling and this sunday was going around getting every ones names and addresses . i don't know how you call his calling in english haha i think it is the sunday schools first counselor. he is way excited though and that is always good to see. we are trying to get out in the streets more to find more people but between my stuff and elder damascenos stuff it gets really hard sometimes. but we get out still and it is really good. it takes a lot of stress off of us. we are trying to get tooned in with president but it is hard cuz he is still pretty lost but we are working with him and helping him. he is changing lots of stuff but i think it will be good for the mission. but i better run we have to take all the guys going home to the airport and they are still at presidents house haha. tonight is gonna be a long one. flights every two hours until six in the morning haha i love you guys and will talk to you next week.

hey mom and dad.
holy cow another week gone by! it has been going by so fast latley! i think it is because we are always running here. i got my flight plans. i was really excited to see them. it will be so good to get to see st claire too! thats cool you guy are gonna go visit him before too. they will be able to help you get on the right plane coming to here. the gonzaga family is getting excited to see you guys too! still a little over four months left but they are getting anxious haha. but anyways things are going good here. it is getting really hot!!!! today it was 104 degrees! i was melting. we had an emergency transfer this week cuz an american missionary got his visa and came early, so president moved tons of stuff! my companion went to a little city with the new missionary and i'm with elder damacseno. he is the executive secretary. he got here the same time i did in the office. we are still in my old area though. he is ending his mission this transfer, in September, or in october cuz president gave him the choice of staying another transfer cuz he needs him to train a new secretary. it has been comfirmed, i will be in here for another two transfers. so, i'm gonna break a record in the manaus mission for the longest time in the office haha. i will get out for my last transfer, hopefully, and go to a new area. i am gonna ask president if i can finish my mission in gloria cuz i won't have enough time to really get to know the ward and lots of people. so it would be cool to go back there cuz i really liked it there, and i already know the area. but we will see what happens here in three months, haha. if i get sent somewhere esle it will be fine too. transfers are next week. i'm not real excited about that haha. that just means more work for me. we will see how this fist transfer goes with president too. he is starting to get the hang of things, just needs more time. i think we are running him to death haha. he hasn't stopped since he got here. but things will calm down here in a little bit. i am just struggling with getting all the houses in the little cities reformed so the elders have a place to live next week when the areas get opened. it is tough reforming a house in a different city when you don't know any one that lives there haha. i sent a member from here there yesterday to reform three houses by next week haha. his name is Delson, he is really cool. he was in my first area too. he is the one that took us to hunt allegators haha. he helps me out a lot here. you guys will have the chance to meet him and his family when you guys get here. they are really special people. but i better run mom and dad i still have to go pick up a fridge for some elders. i love you guys talk to you next week