Olimpiadas!

Ola family and friends!
 How has everything been going this week? It has been another great week in Pelotas! We were able to talk to many people and have much sucess. I will share a few highlights. On Saturday, we had a Nation wide Helping Hands project. The wards donated rice, beans, and bottles, than we learned how to can them for food storage! It was a great experience. Filling the cans was really easy. You put a piece of garlic at the bottom, then fill it up a quarter, more garlic, then fill it up three fourths, then fill it all the way up to the top. It got challenging from there because we would have to shake the can and fit as much rice in as possible. We wanted as little air to be in the can as possible! Then we would screw on the lid and tape it shut. They say it lasts from 3-6 years. We got a lot done and I took a few good pictures.(Ill send them soon). My ward worked really hard and we had the most people there from the stake! I heard that the bottles will be donated to a local food bank. When we do service, we are blessed in many ways. We become more happy, charitable, and loving which is something we all need more of!

We looked so silly with our hair nets!

There was a really good turnout.

We canned beans and rice.

The process.

My little friend.

These are all the cans that were collected today.

Sunday we were finally able to get our investigator, Chicão, to come to church. He worked out something with work and is able to come to church every week now! Heres the good news, were planning his baptism for this saturday! I cant wait to tell you the details next week. I know that he is ready for the gospel and the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Baptism is a very important commitment that we make with the Lord. Chicão will receive many blessings from making this decision!

Each P-Day we have lots to do. First we do our laundry and clean our house. Then we go shopping for supplies we need for the next week. We usually like to go to the downtown area and walk through some stores. There are a lot of Gaúcho stores here in Rio Grande de Sul. I love going into them and seeing the stuff they have. Apparently, I have the same taste for art and decorations as my dad! They have Gaúcho clothing, belts, boots, chimarrão, ponchos, and other cool stuff. Gaúchos love leather! After shopping, we try to plan an activity. Sometimes we play sports, sometimes we go to a members house. Today we are having a Gaúcho BBQ. Unfortunitally, we couldnt rent a BBQ area so were just gonna use the oven!! Haha. It will be fun.

Chicken, linguisa (the rolled up sausage), and chicken hearts on skewers.

 P-Days are always fun and a nice break.

This is me being silly at Big (Walmart).

I hope everyone is doing well and having a fun time!

Talk to ya next week!

Elder Horst

A Service Project

Oi! How has everyone been this week? Things here have been really great. My companion and I have been pushing forward with a lot of work and are starting to see a little more success in our area.

On Tuesday we had an opportunity to do service for a less active member in the ward. Basically she had a huge pile of dirt and rocks in the front of her house that needed to be put in the backyard. The pile was huge. We were able to find two shovels and a wheelbarrow. Us four

missionaries got to work and by lunch we had hardly made a dent in the pile!! I cant even imagine how many times we filled up the wheelbarrow! We finished for the day and scheduled another time to continue the project. It was so much work! We were all really tired and sore but it definately felt good to help someone.

Then on sunday,halfway through the meeting the less active family walks through the doors! It was great to see them and after sacrament everyone went up to greet them. Its always great to see how simple service can affect peoples thoughts and actions. We didn't have any investigators this past sunday, but we did get three less active familes to come!

Our district in Pelotas has four missionaries. We serve in the same ward and we live in the same apartment complex. Its fun to spend time with them throughout the week. Every monday, wednesday, and friday, we take turns walking to their apartment each morning for exercise. We

have a push up program - after six weeks of this program we are supposed to be able to do 100 push ups in a row. Well , its week five and i am nowhere close!! Its such a challenging program but there is no better way to wake up than with exercise!!

Elder Measom and Elder Davies made mac and cheese!

Saturday, we had a Fiesta Julhina activity at the church! It was a really sweet activity with lots of food, games, and dancing. The 20 of July is a cultural day for Brazil. All the kids dress up in hick like clothes and play games. I had a really good time. I was able to talk to a lot of people in the ward. The best part was that some members brought nonmember friends. We took down a few addresses and will visit them soon. We're really excited. It was a really fun, successful event,

and I took pictures!

We have a few progressing investigators right now. Sunday we went to Carlos house. He is a brand new investigator for us. When we walked in he was so happy and had such a different attitude. We sat down and he told us that he read all of 3 Nephi 11, all of the restoration pamphlet,and has started the book from the beginning. He loved it! We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and he accepted a baptismal date in a few weeks. We are really happy for him and hope everything will work out smoothly.

I want to share a short message on `Leaving your comfort zone to do something good.´ Sunday I was asked to bless the sacrament. I was no good with the language and wondered why on earth he would ask me instead of other missionaries but I said sure! I quickly read through it and asked for a few prononciations. I was not nervous at all but  I felt uncomfortable. I didn't want to mess up something that was of such great importance to the members! I got through the prayer and when I looked up, nobody was laughing and nobody was looking at me wondering what I just said. Instead, the spirit filled the room and everyone had the opportunity to partake of the sacrament. Everyday we are faced with uncomfortable situations. Maybe you're uncomfortable handing out a book of mormon to your friend or maybe you're uncomforable when you're in

a bad situation and you want to keep your high standards. Just remember that as long as you do good, the Lord will always be on your side. Nothing can go wrong when you have that promise! I would like to challenge everyone to do something good that you wouldn't usually do.Find time to do service or talk to others when you know they are having a bad day. It will help their lives and yours!!

Stay safe and have fun!

Elder Horst

Another week has passed!

Ola everyone!

How has everyone been doing? Its been another exciting week here in Pelotas! The week started great with a visit from the new Mission President!! On Tuesday, President Castro arrived in our area. All the missionaries came from every area except Porto Alegre. Some took a really long bus ride, luckily for us, it was only a half hour walk! We arrived at this huge church building! It was two stories. The top story was the gym and chapel and the bottom was just full of classrooms. We were really excited because the chapel had a heater! The new presidents name is President Castro. He is from Brazil which is nice because he knows alot about this area! He is younger and has three children. A 15 year old girl, an 11 year old girl, and a 7 year old boy. We had a training that took most of the day. The parts that I understood sounded really good! We received lunch, but more importantly, we received more book of mormons, pamphlets, and of course, letters!!!

I wore my "famous" tie for my first zone training with President Castro.

The next day we had District Meeting. Our District Leader is Elder Measom. He leaves this transfer and I like him alot! He taught us about How to ask inspired questions to our investigators. Then we had the opportunity to meet with President Castro. My meeting did not take very long at all! He is really short so when I went to hug him I wrapped myself around him and gave him a huge bear hug!! Than we proceeded to the meeting! He doesn't speak english so I really relied on the Portuguese I knew. I said the opening prayer and he asked me a few questions. He gave a short message and it was over! I felt so bad that I wasn't able to talk with him more, but as the months go on, and my language gets better, it will be more easy to talk to him. I was very proud of the interview though because I understood everything he said, and I was able to say what I wanted to say with detail!

We were not able to have too many lessons this past week. We spent alot of time walking around, doing contacts, and finding new people! We have a new investigator that I hope will be really good! He has had a few hard times lately and he said the missionaries coming to his house might have been a sign of good things to come.

I have been able to help out my companion alot more lately! Previously, I would do a contact, but when the person spoke, my companion would reply. Now I understand the people a little better and most the time I do it without too much of his help! Also, I am taking a bigger role in teaching the lessons and asking questions. I  have also had the opportunity to give a few short messages to member families all by myself! I have a lot of work to do, but I'm having lots of fun.

Sunday we got a new Bishop and ward mission leader. The previous ones were great but I can't wait to see more progress here!!

I hope everyone is doing good. Have a good week and a wonderful summer!

Elder Horst

First set of photos from Pelotas

Elder Horst sends me a written description of all of his photographs.  These photos are taken in Pelotas, but I haven't received the descriptions yet.  I am assuming this is in his apartment.  

I notice that he is wearing the tie his brother in law Jeremy lent to him.  Jeremy's best friend gave it to him.  It is a really ugly and unusual tie, but......the tradition now is that every family member takes it on their mission and must wear it to some very, very important event.  They sign and date the tie on the back and write where their mission was.  The tie has been to...

Jeremy - Balboa, Spain

Jordan - Lubbock, Texas

Addison - Johannesburg, South Africa

and now Sean - Porto Alegre South, Brazil

I don't know if Sean had an important event or if he just enjoys wearing the tie :)  I will find out soon and let you know!

Sean puts Toddy in his milk.  The milk he buys is in a box and is not refrigerated.  He also made some brownies and used Toddy instead of cocoa.  He said they weren't very chocolaty.

The apartments aren't equipped with heat and it is really cold in them. I guess this is how he tried to keep warm.  He still has his name tag visible!  Ha ha!  He said this is what he looks like when he studies, or anytime he is in his apartment!

Their kitchen....right after they made lasagna and brownies.  He said there aren't any measuring cups in the apartment, so he just guestimated on the measurements when he made the brownies.  Flour, sugar, eggs, toddy and oil.  When he mixed it up, the batter was too oily.  He just added more flour and put it in the oven.  Five minutes later he remembered that he had forgotten to add the vanilla.  He took the glass pan out of the oven, added the vanilla, stirred and put it back into the oven.  He said that the brownies were "okay" and they ate the whole pan!  He is resourceful.

A big, juicy surprise in their apartment!

Ola! tudo bom?

Ola! tudo bom?

Things have been going great here in Brazil! We have been working really hard and are starting to see progress! We work in a really small area of the city and its hard to see new people when we walk down the same streets but we know their out there! Friday we clapped a house. A lady with her two sons let us in. They said that missionaires came to their house but never returned! She talked about some major problems in her life including how her father died a few months ago and she has been having a hard time. She smokes a pack and a half of cigarettes each day and she smoked 5 by the time we left the house. We were able to teach her the plan of salvation. We asked her to pray about it. It was a good lesson, but we didnt think she took it very well. Her two 12 year old sons love us becuase we talk about soccer and america with them! Before we left we asked for another appointment and she asked us to return the next day! That made us happy!

Saturday we go to her house to teach her about the restoration. She had food and shimarro prepared for us! It was really nice! We started teaching and right from the bat she questioned everything we would say! It was really kinda awkward! Than we talked about Joseph Smith and things really started to come together! That night we commited her to read the book of mormon, orar, and come to church. We also set a baptismal date. She said she would read the book of mormon from page one! On sunday she was at church and said she liked it. She is progressing really fast! Its going to be hard to get her to stop smoking and gain more faith. But i am excited for good things to come. We have other really good investigators that really like the church.

As for me things are going well! I am really settling in. Here are a few interesting things about Pelota! I have heard its the third most humid city in the world? I dont know if thats true but I wouldnt be surprised! Second, in my area. there are dogs everywhere you look! Some are nice, some are dirty, some always bark, and some just like to follow us, but their everywhere! Also, there are tons of horses everywhere! Every now and than I will just see a random horse trotting down the street or eating the grass and I will just wonder... Wheres the owner for that horse?? The Fatima ward is really great. We have strong leaders and members. We are blessed with lunch every day! Most of the time we eat beans and rice. Its very uncommon to eat anything else here!

The language is good... lets just say its coming! Its no fun not being able to understand people! I wish I could just talk to them, but its not that easy! I am able to participate in lessons and messages more which is really nice. Each day I learn new words and understand more people. I give all the credit to the Holy Spirit. who will help you with anything as long as you do your part!

Thats all I have to say for this week! I hope everyone is doing well and being safe! Happy fourth of July!

I am in Pelotas

Hey everyone! There has been quite a bit going on this week! Last Tuesday I was able to leave the MTC and arrive to my mission in Porto Alegre! Before I get to that I will talk about last monday. Monday we were able to go out and do some street contacts for practice! My companion and I had a blast! We took the city bus to sAO Paulo Downtown and found a walking path with tons of people! In 45 minutes we were able to passout 12 book of Mormons! We were really proud of that and thought we did really good. It was good motiviation for the mission! Tuesday was a really long day. I had to wake up at 2,30 am! We took about an hour long bus ride to Campinas than flew to Porto Alegre. The flight took about 2 hours. I slept the whole entire time! President Swenson met us there and we drove to the mission home for training! It was nice to meet President Swenson but the only problem is he was released yesterday! Our new mission President is President Castro. Everyone says he is really nice so I hope I get to see him soon. After some training we meet our trainers. My trainer is Elder Davis from Utah! He is a really cool guy and we work hard together. We are serving in the Pelotas area. Its a really cool area. We cover the Fatima ward. Pelotas is big but our ward coveres the poorer area. Its either dirt roads or ^Cobble Stone. There are so many random dogs in the street, its crazy. I love the area so much. My appartment is really nice! It has a small kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and stuy area. Its definitally not much, but if were doing things right, we will hardly be in it! There is no such thing as hot water! Luckly there is a weird shower head that warms it up nicely. The down side to that is if you touch the shower head you will get a big electric shock and there are some exposed wires... haha! We have had some good lessons so far and have some investigators with good potential. The hardest thing to do is get people to go to church. Its really challenging for me to be in a room and not be able to say what I want to say! I have a really hard time understanding people, but I continue to try and talk as much as possible. Im so happy I dont get annoyed when people laugh at what im trying to say because it happens alot:) Heres something cool about The south of Brazil. Here they drink Chimarao. (shi-mo-how). Its a really gross drink. Basically they but some stuff in it that tastes like grass. Than they pour hot water in it and drink through a filtered straw. Once you finish the hot water, they fill it up again and pass it to the next person! Everyone drinks it all the time. All the missionaries say the more you drink it the better it tastes!! Thats all for this week. I hope everyone is doing well. Im excited to announce that my Brother (Addison) and his wife (Mabulane)are having another baby in January! Wahoo!!! Love, Elder Horst