Another week...

First off, we do not sleep on just mattresses. Those are the ones that the zone leaders use or district leaders when they pass by our house. We have really nice beds here actually, but very short it feels like.

Yes my package made it in one piece and I was so excited for it. I got home, still sick, and just loved pulling everything out. The Oreos were the best surprise there. I was like... how did she know?! haha. And I really like that tie too. The reason why it took so long is there were a few holidays here that the correios doesn't work. That could be why.

The internet places... LAN Houses. We pay right after we use them depending on how long we use them and everything. It is really nice and very simple. Normally like 2 reals is all we pay, plus 10 centavos for every sheet of paper we print.

This week.... ohhhhh man. Crappy ending I would have to say. We had over 13 people ready to go to church and ALL of them but one bailed. I was SO upset. It is the worst feeling when a missionary doesn't have anyone at church. We also had great numbers this week. Over 45 lessons this week, which is a LOT. But I noticed that when our numbers are that high, we don't seem to get the full outcome that we want. It's really weird. We also had some great experiences like being able to teach over 30 people at the same time. We were walking on the street.... first background story.... Me and Elder Jones are doing this thing that we have to at least talk with and get addresses to 3 people's houses, DAILY each. I had 6 already this day and Elder Jones had missed the past 2 days so he was in debt. Anyways, we were walking on the street when we saw this big group of people and I think he was thinking, go big and get all the contacts done in one go. So he walked up and I got a little nervous because people looked like they didn't understand him at first but then I noticed everyone started listening intently to us. They wanted to hear what we had to say so we pulled out a pamphlet and taught, basically having to scream we were talking so loud. It was great. People even stopped on the road to hear, what they probably thought, were 2 crazy Americans teaching crazy stuff. But people stopped. Elder Jones then got the 7 contacts he needed and it was a really good experience. I loved it and plan on doing that again here soon. haha.

Anyways, some more stories for you.

1.There is this guy that sits in the center of the city and will just stop randomly and just start saluting. He thinks he is in the military still or something and is like 60 years old. He is CRAZY.  I will have to get a picture for you guys this week. And not only does he salute, he just starts singing random things and yelling.

2. Another crazy guy in the center. Remember that guy who walked by us and said the world was going to end soon? Yeah he passed us again and was like, these are the 2 boys who said the world was going to end and it didn't! People.... I never said anything about the end of the world. haha. People know he is crazy....

3. Walking home one night and it just started to rain so hard. It was great.... and terrible. My scriptures got all wet, and of course, I was soaking wet. I took a video of it but it is too big to send to you guys. Need to tell Google to be able to upload 50mb videos now! haha. But anyways, what had happened. That walk we did felt so long! So what I thought we could do while walking, SING. We just started yelling the national anthem and it was so funny. I would have to say my companion got a little embarrassed after a little while when some people got staring at us. haha.

This week was not horrible like I say it was.... We did have a lot of success but at the same time a lot of failure which is sad. I just hope that some of these people accept it one day here soon. We are very excited for some of the people who marked a date for their wedding! So excited (that is if I stay). haha.

I also have a request from you guys. Could you put Maria in your prayers? She is a lady who has been going to church for a year almost and just loves it but her boyfriend doesn't like the church. He refuses to let her get baptized but this week she said she received a CLEAR answer that she knows she needs to get baptized here soon.

Transfers are this next week and I am so excited to know what happens. One of us is for sure gonna get transferred. Well almost for sure... haha. But the thing is that normally after training the trainer or the trainee will get transferred. So we will see.

Have a wonderful week!
Até maís e têm uma boa semana! (Later and have a good week.)
adeus! (Goodbye)
Elder Millett

Eu terminei O Livro De Mormon! (I finished the Book of Mormon)

I finished!!!!

Was a great week this week. Well.... sort of.... First that is awesome you got to see that picture! (Pictures of Cameron and his companion were posted on the Londrina Mission Facebook page by Sister Tavares, the mission president's wife.)  Was everyone's picture on there? I want to see those pics. Hope you saved them!  Sister and Pres came to our house to see how things were going and they were so pleased with how clean our house was. It was REALLY cleaned. They were so pleased they took us up to the market to buy some stuff to eat. But yeah, we took those goofy pictures and a normal one. haha. But the other goofy one president actually grabbed my pliers (leathermen) and acted like he was yanking out my teeth. Then sister said no because my ´´mom wouldn't like that´´ haha. I laughed so hard and said.... ´´oh you have NO idea.´´ haha. But anyways... let's get these questions out of the way....

People don't get married because it costs an arm and a leg to get married here. It really does. It is just so much easier for the people to just live together and not get married. But obviously the law of chastity says they have to be married to be living together so that's where we come in! haha. To help them get married.

You got my letter?! I am glad it made your day! I love getting letters from you guys. It literally makes my day. Especially ones from dad on making boats out of paper. I actually learned a fun story to put behind making that boat that I will have to show you when I get back. Dad will really enjoy it. But I got your letter too. I loved that picture you put in of you. You like my art work I made?! That white shirt and tie looked pretty legit if you ask me! haha. But I especially loved those talks that you and Deanna put in your letters. Really changed my week.

I wear my suit once a week to church and also to meetings with president. It is always so hot when wearing it though. My body is starting to get used to the climate here though. I am going to freeze going home after the mission....

I haven't thought to write a letter to the ward. I think that would be fun. I want to challenge them maybe to help the missionaries more. We can tell when the members help us, life is a lot easier and more people can come unto Christ. I will for sure do that.

Wow.... questions mom.... haha. jk. So this week was a roller coaster. The week started out a lot doing with president. We didn't get to work much because of the fact we were just traveling the first two days because of our leaders lack on communication.... haha. But anyways, we got to hear an AWESOME talk given by president that really helped. He talked a lot about the rules too and made me want to try harder. But after that, we went home when we got a call from president after a lesson we had taught to go home and he would look at our house. We still hadn't been home since our trip. haha. That was fun... The scared feeling thinking... is our house clean?! haha. Any ways... it was! They were very pleased but it looks like we might move here because our house is infested with these bugs. Yeah it's pretty gross... But after this my comp got sick. Thursday we came in just a little early because he was suffering.... He really was dying it looked like. We just got some rest and waited to see how he felt the next day. Friday we stayed in the entire day, which sucks. I hate not doing anything. I have a feeling like I always have to be doing something. It is weird cuz I used to be opposite... haha. Finally Saturday we got to work a whole day because he was feeling a lot better and then when Sunday came around I started feeling sick... During elders quorum president asked me 5 times if I was alright. I didn't know why he would ask because I thought I was playing it off pretty well trying to just seem normal and all. Then after he told me that my face was red which led to me checking my temp, then finding out I had a fever, then throwing up shortly after that. It was TERRIBLE. Another day we stayed inside because I had a fever. My throat is hurting really bad today too. Being sick out here is THE WORST!

Anyways, we had great things happen this week too. We found some of the best investigators this week. We found 3 wonderful families, 2 of which are actually MARRIED! It was a wonderful thing to hear. It just seems like no one is married here. But we got them all to church and we will find out this week where things will go from here. I hope baptism. One of them is a pastor at the catholic church but he is really interested in our church.

We also did a lot of traveling this week. We got on the bus this one time to go to Bauru when these members were on the bus. The first thing the lady asked me was do you have any cards that I could give to people? (those friend cards, don't know what the name is in English). She then got up and gave a card to EVERYONE on that bus. She did not have fear or anything. It was awesome. Made me think, what kind of missionary am I? Am I talking with enough people daily or do I have fear. Can make you guys think too if you are doing your part as a member of the ward. Are you?

This week I also finished the Book of Mormon for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE. I read it all in Portuguese and it was such an accomplishment! I was so excited to finish when I finished this morning actually. It was awesome. I had an awesome experience too after reading it. After I finished the last words of Moroni, I literally had the biggest sensation telling me that the Book of Mormon is true. The words were just written with such power and with the purpose of helping us in our days. I prayed to ask simply, again, if the book was true. I got an answer right away, and there is no doubt in my mind that the Book of Mormon was written by prophets of God. It made me think how lucky I am to have such a book in my life. Some people think that the Book of Mormon only costs a few dollars to buy. But how much blood was shed for that book? How many people suffered for the sake of that book? I think of Joseph Smith first and how he suffered, and in the end lost his life for that book. And Moroni, being the only one left, on the verge of dying, writing a dying testimony of Jesus Christ and the divinity of the Book of Mormon. So many others died and suffered in the cause too and now, after reading it, I feel so much more grateful for this wonderful, and true, book in my life. Christ lives. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Him. I know it is true, without a doubt in my mind.

The mission is changing me every day I feel. Thank you for giving me this chance to be here to experience all these wonderful things I see and feel daily.

Até Mais
Elder Millett

Had to do what I love. Take pics!

It got really rainy... and we got really soaked from trying
to walk through the river.

oí!

So here people think I have gained weight... but the scale says otherwise. I have lost lots of weight here on the mission and I don't know why but people are like, you have gained lots of weight... I think it's just the way my shirt hangs. haha. Who knows. But my pants are doing great. I just need new shirts (not the ctr clothing ones but the Stafford ones. I love those a lot more). And the shirts here suck! Or I would buy some... They are really just terrible shirts that they have here.

Okay dad.... To answer your question they have disposable diapers too. haha. Just like anywhere else. haha. But they seem to end up a lot on the road which is REALLY nasty walking by getting a nice whiff of baby poo. It is pretty much the same with dog poo on the road too though. And yes they are number 3 with economic situations but the thing is they pay a lot of taxes, but don't see much of the money after.

-Yes they are using those programs.(Come Follow Me teaching programs) It's the same everywhere. haha. But that's funny I just realized you asked me that 3 times and I hadn't responded to it... SORRY!  But to have that elder take to brazil... have him take these kinds of shirts you bought me and these pants are GREAT! You can't find these type of pants here in brazil really. They are light weight but very durable. I sit on the ground daily even, and nothing stains. They are just good pants. Just tell him, get good quality things because they go bad real quick if you don't! Good shoes especially! I am already burning through this other pair.... ALREADY! But don't send shoes because they tax a bucket load to send shoes.

Yet another week has passed by and yet again, don't know where the time went. We had a really fun week. Still working on fixing the shower head too which sucks... especially the fact it hasn't been sunny in a WEEK here. Just like Washington it sounds like. But we are still working on that as we speak. We also did a division this week with 3 of us and it was a really fun experience. We went out with Elder Dias Batista, who is just crazy funny. It was a relief to not have to worry about my area for a little while and go somewhere else to renew my excitement. Serving in the same place daily gets to you at times. But it was a great experience. We got SOAKING WET that day and just didn't care. Me and Elder Jones didn't have our umbrellas which stunk. We got really soaked. This week we also had the coolest investigators (who actually made you a present, mom) go to church. They were practically members! President loves them and was like.... Elder, these two better get baptized! haha. We are working on it right now and got to get them married first.... just like everyone... haha.

So this week, stories...

-It's been raining a lot, and apparently there is a big leak in the church building that they haven't fixed... the sacrament room was DRENCHED! We then had to do sacrament meeting in the kitchen, which was PACKED. It made us look so much bigger than the numbers we really had. I also had the chance to bless the sacrament for the first time in Portuguese. It was really a cool experience. I got so nervous but it was a really good experience for me to be able to do. The kid who normally does it broke his arm so me and president did it. It's been so long since the last time that I broke and blessed the sacrament even in English!

-This week hit the record on my mission of being asked to marry someone... It hit 5 times this week. Especially yesterday! There are always those moms who tell us to marry their daughter, or the girls themselves telling us that they will wait for us... haha. It was super funny because yesterday these 2 girls were just asking and asking if we would marry them and these conversations just get so awkward... The conversation normally starts with them asking, are you married? It then ends by this.., no, but I have a girlfriend. haha. They just see Americans as Dollar Symbols... $$$$$ That's all they can see. haha.

-So we had an investigator that we have had trouble getting to their house the last week. They are pretty cool people but didn't seem like they liked the lessons too much. We went there the other night and come to find out, she had called us 3 times because she was worried that something had happened to us. It made me laugh but at the same time happy because our investigators were still thinking about us even when we didn't have the time to get over there.

Every week seems like a blur, being almost the same thing every week. I totally forgot to write down stories for you guys but I will remember to write down more things. I can't wait to tell you all these stories when I am in person. The acting will make this ten times better! I love you all, thanks for all you do! I have lots of pictures I gotta post so don't have too much time to write!

Até Mais!

Elder Millett

Meu líder de distrito é o cara [My district leader is the man] (he wrote that)

Batismo! It was wonderful!
Someday his mom and dad will get baptized too!

Asked for a toothpick and this is what they gave me!

This week turned out to be pretty good. We had a lot of hard times though and that is the truth. The week started out pretty slow with the new years and all that fun stuff but ended up being a pretty good night. We got to stay in the house that night and it was a WAR ZONE. Seriously it was so noisy we didn't sleep that entire night basically. Me and my comp stayed up just talking to each other the whole night which was actually pretty fun. It was cool to watch the cool looking fireworks, but most of them were just LOUD! haha. It's all good. Then the rest of the week just sucked... all the way up til Saturday when we ended up finding a baptism and then Sunday, having more amazing experiences with church. It's always so spiritual there at church, and just is ten times better with testimony meeting. People in the states need to come here to learn how to bear testimony.... Everyone just tells stories in the states. That needs to change! haha. But it was great at church because we had 9 investigators and those investigators we had been trying to get to church FOREVER finally came! It was WONDERFUL! And we also had a baptism this week of Luiz Miguel who is the son of a family who needs to get married, then they will be next. It was great! Just a wonderful ending to the week. I just really enjoyed it all.

So your questions.... Yes we are still taking cold showers. I pulled the entire thing apart and found out after 2 hours of wiring it and everything, the whole shower head is just GONE. I even had a Brasilian look at it. I will have to buy a new one today. haha.

My boxes.... Some of them look pretty beat up. But none of them look to the point where they have been opened. I know they do x-ray there so be careful.

I will send you guys a picture here of the house soon. We have had 2 other elders with us for a while so our house is a MESS right now. haha. But I will send pics this week.

I got some stories for you.... Some of them just got me dying laughing.

1. Elder Jones was teaching part of the lesson about the apostles that had died and Jesus Christ had also. This investigator wanted to know what had happened to some of these apostles and Elder Jones was quick to chime in saying that others were crucified like Peter. It was really funny because how you say peter is Pedro. But he said Pedrão, which is like saying Fat Peter. They laughed so hard and so did I. The investigator was like, he called an apostle fat! Dying laughing. haha.

2. We were sleeping on pday when a cat just walked in to our house and was just staring at Elder Jones. I had no idea what it was but the thing just got so scared that I got up and freaked out. It was just funny and made me miss patch too... :(

3. Trick or treat new years??? It's a tradition to go trick or treating on new year's day.... at 7 in the morning we had kids asking for food, money, or candy! I was like.... What the heck! It blew my mind. Kids actually get tons of candy here too. We gave some of them cookies. Then the rest we didn't have to deal with cuz we went to Bauru... Or how mom says it... Bow ruuu. haha. I love you mom! That just made me laugh. 

4. Joe mama.... My companion taught that to the presidents kid (12 years old) and he says it all the time saying the following... Have you met Joe before? me: no... Joe who? Him: Joe mama! He thinks it's the funniest thing. But he was passing the sacrament yesterday and came up to give me the sac and whispers... Joe Mama!  I about LOST IT. I thought it was so funny. He also always says, Oh Baby Baby! Its so funny to hear Brasilians speaking English.

5. We were out walking on the road when this big crazy ordeal happened where some ex husband was beating the ex wife and problems just were happening in this area. We were walking towards that area when all of a sudden fight broke out with other guys hitting that other guy. Just lots of stuff. We avoided that area for a bit and then came back where we came back greeted by two kids. Then after that.... 2 more came. Then some teenagers and plenty of others. It was crazy all the way up til there were 20 people surrounding us asking about the states and tons of stuff. This happens a lot! But they all wanted to learn English so we sat down and taught them basic stuff and spoke a little in English to them. It was awesome. I loved it and I got some good laughs at their accents... But now I can see why maybe some here laugh at my accent. haha.

All in all, this week turned out pretty good. It's been getting tough to getting back into the flow of things with how crazy the holidays were... But it's finally coming and turning back into normal work. Thank goodness! But we have the mom of Ayron (that we baptized) Maria that has for the longest time been fighting addictions and finally overcame almost all of them and now has the decision to get baptized. Please pray for her because she is one special lady and I hope things work out for her. Those kids are awesome too and that is for sure. But keep her in your prayers please. Maria will be baptized one day but sometimes addictions can come back and get people. I don't want that to happen to her because she is doing so great!

I love you all and take care. Things are wonderful here in Brazil, yet very noisy as normal.... haha. But I love you all! Hope the new year is filled with great experiences! But not too great without me!!! Ok?! haha

Até Mais!

Elder Millett