October 27, 2011

Family! Hey how goes it this week? Everything is good. Just returned to normal, working hard! We have found some really good investigators this week but besides that nothing really exciting has happened! So the first ones I'll talk about is the Miranda family that was our baptism w/that girl that coudn't receive an answer. So we started teaching her family and that lesson was one of the most spiritual ones so far. So we spent 1 1/2 hours talking and becoming friends with them and answering doubts they had w/the church. Then De Cunha shared a scripture and because Da Cunhas the senior comp he does most of the talking. So she asked if I was going to say something so I bore my testimony and I don't know what happened but I just talked & talked and gave the strongest testimony I have ever given. It was very cool! But they still have lots of doubts and problems that are keeping them from being baptized. Then our baptism date is Rosane. She is 15 years old and her testimony is super strong. She prayed one night to find out if its true and she had a dream where someone in white told her that she needed to follow this church and it is the true church! She said she woke up crying, talked with her mom and her mom said you need to follow this! The only problem she wants her brother to baptize her and he was in a motorcycle wreck and has a really messed up leg till the end of November. So we just wait for that one. Then we have another wedding/baptism that happend very strangely. We were there to get money for lunch cuz they were in Manaus (money for lunch is great) but the son & girlfriend was there and we talked, marked a wedding date & boom! Marriage. Then we taught the first lesson few days later & boom! Baptism! So we have that in 2 weeks then the President called & said he found an elect family for us. So we went and talked to them Tuesday. This is one of the saddest stories ever! So this family was trying to do what they thought was right going to catholic church and was super firm. They had a very nice home w/lots of things and the pastor said to sell it all and come to Manaus on a mission! And if you don't you will die! So they lost it all! And they are just the nicest family ever! Full of problems but super nice! The dad is good and normal and mom super nice. Then the daughters get really interesting! The 15 year old is handicapped and in a wheelchair, then the 13 year old is living with her boyfriend and is pregnant with his child. So they cant get married until she is l6. Brasil laws. But were going to try to figure something out ha. So thats all of our investigators. Well the ones closest to baptism. Now I'll talk about treats. They have 200 different type of oreo type cookies in sleeves that I'm constantly eating. Then also like to eat Goiabada w/creme de leite (cream of milk?) not sure in english what it is thats the translation though ha. Haven't had any crazy food but, we got to go help move this family. So until next week! Love ya! Have a great week.
Elder Deakin

October 19, 2011

Familia! Hey how is it going this week? I'm struggling having the focus to write today ha but because you like to hear how I'm doing and because it's a commandment to write I will. So this week has been pretty eventful ha so lets begin day by day. First tuesday Oct. 11 we went to the ear doctor but thats old news. After we went to pizza hut and ate rodizio style! It was so very good! They brought pizzas around and you could take as much as you wanted! Then they had a chocolate pizza that was very good! Then at eleven o'clock we got on our bus and left back to Itacoatiara arriving 3 o'clock in the morning ha woot! (Mom note: They had to go into Manaus to an ear specialist) Elder Garrett has a new comp. He seems cool. He studied in Utah for 1 year, he is brasilian, so thats cool. I'm pretty excited to spend one more transfer with De Cunha. He's a really good companion and while ya have a good one dont complain haha. Wow so really don't have anything else this week. Oh our batisimo her name was tatila (pronounced tatchilla) We started out teaching her grandpa but she wanted to hear too so then her grandpa moved, but she stayed really firm. She was having alot of problems with thinking she hadn't received an answer, but she really already had we just had to show her that. So then while we were in Mnaus one of the families in our ward just got back from getting sealed and bore their testimonies and said things your not supposed to say so....our investigator had alot of questions when we returned ha but we got it all worked out. Then at her baptism we had her family there which is really rare and the dad started to cry. It was really spiritual! The young women sang a special number. Very cool! Were now going to start teaching the dad & mom. So thats where we are now. We have to receive lots of news now to get the ward going again, but I think that's all for this week. Sorry it's shorter. I want to get it in the mail before bairro da paz today, and nothing really happened. Take Care Love You all Tchau! Elder Deakin I want to hear how you guys interpret this scripture! Prov. 3:19 Study it hard its a deep one! I promise next weeks letters will be better & have 1 for the whole family! Oh also I figured out what I would like for Christmas about 200 photos of all sorts of things family, friends, house, town, just all sorts alright thats all I want for Christmas! :) Tchau

October 13, 2011

Family! So this week has been very eventful but very unproductive. To start off Monday night we went to the house of the guy thats making our oars and he asked us if we wanted to eat turtle eggs, so we did, 1 cooked 1 raw ha. It was pretty good, sweet, but wasn't slimy like you would think. Then Wed. night I was cleaning my ears because here has alot of humidity so they said to, but then my ear just stopped working. Needless to say that night I did not sleep well. But then that morning I had Da Cunha give me a blessing to help me calm down. It helped alot but then we went to the doctors. Wow what an experience! haha The walls are cracked and covered in plaster. The floors were worn way down! Then we got in and he gave me an anti-inflamatory but that didn't work so after Tuesday we went to the doctors again and he gave us some new medicine. I hope it helps! I'm relaxed but starting to really freak out! I need my hearing. We'll see how they are in the morning. Da Cunha has been really great to help me out! Telling me when I need to take my medicine. He's been great but I just really need to get better! So we can go work again. ( Mom note: I am so thankful for e mail as he told me about this and I was aware of what was going on. He ended up in Manaus going to a specialist and found his ear was very infected. It got cleared up and all was good before I got this letter.) We have had to spend most the week indoors but we did teach 2 lessons with the same girl and actually marked a baptism date for her. The second lesson though she started to cry saying that she hadn't received an answer yet and was starting to get frustrated, but we explained that God works in little ways, it won't be a grand sign. We asked her how she felt when we were there, when she reads and goes to Church. She said peaceful. We said "sounds like thats your answer". She said yeah! :) It was very cool then we had another girl that all we did was give her the first lesson pamphlet and explained a little and when we saw her next she told us that she had a dream that said she needed to follow this church and she woke up crying. So we will try to mark her date as well. Then Monday we got the experience with a turtle. We showed up and the turtle about 1 1/2' in diameter was upside down alive on the table. So they set him on the ground to watch the dog play with him. The turtle stepped on an ax and the handle fell and hit the dog. Turtle 1 Dog 0 ha, but then we watched the turtle die, get cleaned, we then ate him it was pretty good! Like chewy chicken but not Kache's "chewy chicken" :) (Kache is his cousin and he calls clams chewy chicken) But that was my week. Not too productive but had alot of excitement and thats how it is when ya get sick in the mission. Health is very important. So if the medicine doesn't work I'll be going into Manaus so pray for me and by the time you get this you will already know what happened so I Love You all! Take care:) Elder Deakin
(also mom & Cambria & Dad don't forget about our little race! :) (were seeing who finishes the Book of Mormon first)