Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Hi family and friends! How are you? Is it starting to get cold in the states? I only ask that because its starting to get hot here! This week was ridiculous with the weather. On Sunday it started raining. It rained so hard that the water drops hurt if they hit your face! It didnt stop all night. Than when I woke up, it was raining! It never stopped, than Tuesday it rained! Finally on Wednesday, for the first time in half a week.. the rain stopped. Phew!! I was so worried that Brazil was going to be flooded then become part of the Ocean or something it was unbelievable. On the bright side, all rain storms have an end, and its usually a pretty ending! The rest of the week has been so pretty with a slight breeze and the sun. Perfect. We have been working so extremely hard this week and its starting to pay off! We are receiving so many new investigators and are teaching many lessons. This is going to be a great transfer.

I will tell you about some investigators of ours. First there is Linda. Linda is a 16 year old girl who was inspired to go to our branch birthday party. At the party I talked to her and got her address! The next day she showed up at church! Wahoo! We went to her house excited to teach her about the Gospel. When we arrived there we were able to meet her 3 brothers who also wanted to know about the church! Bah, that was a great little surprise. One brother is 18, i dont remember his name because its extremely hard for me to pronounce let alone remember. The other two brothers are 12. This Friday we went there to talk to their mother primarily to let her know what we do and what her kids will be doing in our church. Of course we invited her to take the lessons as well. She will be hard to teach and progress because she works on Sunday but I have faith that all will be well!

Here is another great story. I dont know if I have told this or not.. but ill tell it again. A week or two ago we were on our way to a members house. We get to the front and clap at their door.(We clap because every house has a gate and we cant reach the door.) All of a sudden a lady and her son walk up. The lady says, ``My son wants to know what you guys do!`` I almost laughed because that sentence was so good to hear! We shared a few sentences and were able to get their address. We stopped by a few days ago but the address turned out to be an abandoned house. It was actually a house that we knocked the week before. I got discouraged thinking that I got the wrong address. I turned around, and there was the boy that we talked to. Ahh, it was perfect. He took us on a long walk to the back of the property where there was another house. We were able to teach him and his mother. His mother, at the end of the lesson, was really happy. She told us that she liked our message because before she didnt think we were normal people but now she knows we are. Haha. Anyways hopefully we will continue to teach them and see progress.

Cool things that happened this week. I finished Jesus, the Christ. Wow, what an amazing book! I was able to learn so much about the life of Jesus and the New Testament. Now, I am inspired to read the New Testament. I cant wait! Also, I ate at least 9 cakes this week. We seem to be invited to at least 5 parties a week. (were really popular.. already have an appointment for Christmas!) Oh! This is a cool story that I still cant believe.

We were at the house of the Relief Society President, Grazi, and her husband the Young Mens President, Hobbson. They are really cool. Grazi was on facebook. She wanted to show me this page called SUD (Or in English, LDS) Brazil. Basically, people attach pictures with a phrase from a prophet or the scriptures. We were clicking through them and I was having a fun time reading the phrases in Portuguese. We pass one and I was like.. hey! This picture looks familiar! I look closer and its my good friend Jamie VanWagenen! I was so shocked. Why is Jamie on a Brazilian facebook page?? It was so funny and random at the same time but I thought it was really cool. I have a picture for proof that my mom will post.

Anyways I think thats it for this week! All is well here! Continue firm in the faith of God and he will guide you with all the things that you do! My challenge to you is set some Goals for the week. They can be about school, work, friends, or the gospel. Goals are a good way of accomplishing tasks with motivation. My companion and I set some crazy goals this transfer, they almost seemed impossible. Because they seem impossible, we have been determined to meet them to prove to everyone and ourselves that its possible!

With Love,

Elder Horst

Elder Horst wasn't able to send photos.  He tried, but they would not go through.  Hopefully we will get some next week :)

Batismo!!

Hey family. How are you? The mission has brought me another week filled with blessings! I will share..

On Monday I went to the BIG and bought some supplies to make Ice Cream! Let me tell you, it was quite a challenge! I have a rule that if a recipe requires more than 1 pan, I wont be able to make it! Well, I did alright! The first challenge was to translate the recipe! After that I mixed all the ingredients and threw it in the freezer overnight. Oh, I forgot to mention that I first had to DEFROST the freezer. Have you ever tried to defrost a freezer? I tried hot water, I tried salt, i tried using a huge knife, it took forever! The next afternoon after lunch we tested my Ice Cream. It looked so good when we took it out of the freezer! Unfortunately, it wasnt as good as the Ice Cream we had at the members house but I still consider it a success. It tasted good but was really icy and I messed up somehow... The best part is my companion didnt like it and I had it all too myself! Wahoo.

The ingredients for the ice cream.

Elder Horst and Elder Cargel making the ice cream.

The anticipation :)

Success!

It sure looks good!

On Friday we went to the 4th Birthday Party of our Branch Saõ Tomé! It was so fun! They had 2 trampolines. One for the kids, and one for the adults! They also had some really good food and cake there (necessary for all types of parties). I had a great time walking around and talking to every single person that passed by me! I love this branch because the members here are so united. Also, everyone loves the missionaries! The night was really successful because I ended up having a few addresses to pass by and a few family nights planned to meet with some non members. Wahoo! After that party I really feel like I can talk to people without many problems. I feel like I can understand almost everything most people say and I also am able to respond. Luckily, I already have the outgoing part down.

Saturday was a really special day for me. We had another baptism, Vania. What makes it even more cool is that she asked me to be the one to baptise her.It was such an honor. The day was special. We were able to also see the baptism of a member family. His name is Kaiki (I dont know how to spell it). It seemed like the whole branch came to watch the baptisms. There is nothing better than having a good support team. 

I had a funny experience during Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I was able to bless the water. When the sacrament was being passed a certain man walked in. I could tell that he was a homeless man. He walked right up to the front row of the pews and sat down. No big deal. Then he got on his knees and prayed really loud and really strange! It didnt last long fortunately. He got up, blew us a kiss and thanked us for our time then left. Ahaha I almost died laughing!  I wouldnt say he did anything wrong because in some churches thats what you do! He just didnt know better:)

This area is really special. Its transfer day today and luckily my companion and I will stay together for another transfer. We have really big goals here, but I think we can accomplish them. We have received 10 new investigators in 2 weeks. That may not sound like alot but its tons for us!! Literally, so many people come up to us and ask us who we are and what we do. It makes our work alot more easy!!

I have a really important announcement to make. As of today I am no longer a greenie in the mission! Wow, it has flown by. I love this opportunity to serve a mission. I am so grateful for all the people I meet and all the experiences I have. I hope everyone is doing well and staying happy!

Love,

Elder Horst

Waiting, waiting, waiting.......for the bus.....zzzzzzzz.......

Emergency Transfer! (this sounds familiar huh?)

Oi everyone! How has everyone been? Its been another really crazy day this week. At the beginning of this week the assistants called to say that there would be an Emergency Transfer. My brand new companion would be leaving! I could not believe it because we were only together for two weeks. He was really fun to be around. My new companion is Elder Cargel, a Brazilian. He is really cool and has a year and a half left in the mission. In 6 weeks I have had 3 companions and three trainers! Thats almost unheard of.

Its really hard to work in an area when you and your companion dont know how to get anywhere! Every day we ask people for addresses. Luckily, I had to use a map in my last job and I am really good at reading them! This area is a lot different from Pelotas. First of all, its huge. We dont have a ward, we have a branch of about 40 members. I love it! The members love the missionaries here and are a great help. The area here is a bit more rural! I wake up to cows and chickens every day! There are a lot more dirt paths and WAY TOO MANY HILLS! Phew, they are a killer! One time my companion and I raced up one, that was a bad idea!

Elder Horst in Sao Tome

Elder Da Silva

I am assuming that this is their area that they walk.

The elections here are starting to get really crazy. The day to vote is October 5th but every day it gets more annoying! On Saturday we were working a street, knocking on doors of people who have been contacted before. Out of nowhere a parade of a million cars drove down the street with music blasting and horns blaring! At one point a big truck drove by and the guy that was getting elected was on top waving at everyone! He gave me a thumbs up:) Trust me on this one thing, there is no way to have a conversation with people when a million cars are driving by honking their horns! Haha, but honestly I enjoyed it a lot. I would wave at everyone and cheer as they drove by.

On the Independance day of Brazil, we went to a members house to eat some bbq! It was delicious and I ate way too much! Right before I thought I would explode she pulled out some homemade ice cream in the shape of a cake with lots of chocolate syrup. It was bigger than I was! Oh my gosh, I ate so much and it was so good! I got the recipe and I want to make it again real soon! Ill let you know how it goes.

Lastly, this week I accomplished something great! I finished reading the book of mormon in Portuguese! Wow was that rough. It took me two whole transfers! I have to admit, I didnt understand a lot, but reading the Book of Mormon has helped me greatly with my language skills! I am so blessed to have this book in my life. A book writen by prophets that speak the word of God. Why wouldnt you want to read it?! My challenge to everyone is to read the Book of Mormon. If you have already read it, read it again! If you dont have one, ask my mom and she will give one to you! I promise once you do this, your life and the lives of your family will be blessed.

I hope everyone has safety and comfort this week. I want to congratulate my sister for having her second child this week, Benjamin David Campbell. Its weird that I dont know him... but now I have that much more to look forward to when I return home.

Boa Sorte Amigos!

Elder Horst

Elder Horst and Elder Da Silva on game day?

I sent Elder Horst 2 boxes of brownie mix in his parcel.  For the cost of the parcel, I estimate that each of the mixes cost almost $20 each :)

He's obviously excited about the brownies!!!

Rise and Shout!

Hey everyone! Its football season! The whole town is buzzing with excitement here.... jk. Nobody even knows what football is here! That doesnt mean I didnt celebrate. On thursday I wore my BYU shirt under my white shirt and tie! Obviously, I wore a sweater over it and nobody saw but I needed to show my support! It was a fun day. I told everyone that football season was starting and I was so excited. every single time this happened, they just smiled and started talking about soccer:) I would crack up! Congratulations on the win BYU.

Its been another week in my new area and things are just great! We are in a small branch with about 40 active members. They are all so cool! We have a great relationship with the members which is always a huge help for us. My portuguese has been improving dramatically with my new companion. He has done a lot to help me. On the other end, I convinced him to follow his dream of learning english and going to BYU! I told him we would do it together. I am excited for him.

I want to tell you about one of our investigators here. Before I was transferred to this area, my companion was at a members house. They had a friend over who was very sick. She had been sick for the past 2 weeks and had barely eaten in a few days. My companion gave her a blessing. Within two days she changed dramatically and felt so much better. Because of this miracle, she wanted to take the lessons and hopefully in a few weeks she will be baptized. What a great story! It shows that the Lord prepares everyone in their own way. This investigator was an answer to our prayers!

I dont have too much time to write this week but I will write more later! Thanks for everything.

 I love you all.

Elder Horst

Elder Horst got the parcel I sent, looks like he is excited!

I made him another pillowcase :)

Preach my Gospel in Portuguese.

I think this might be Porto Alegre.

I think this is Sao Tome.

Pretty money!!!