Updates!

Oi familia! Como vai! Eu dormo muito bom Ultimo noite, e tem animados por que eu tem um nove componhero ojhe!!! (not sure how to spell that :)

So this past week we had one Elder in our group receive his VISA! Elder Baldwin is heading down to Brasil today. Because he is heading down, I am going to take over with his companion because we were in a three some. So My new companion is Elder Sherrill, he is from california. But for most of his life he lived on Kawai at Lihue, so just a little ways away from Betsy! He is such a good hard working Elder and it's going to be a blast!

So this last week some pretty awesome things have happened... I ran into some friends, or more of cassies friends :) I found out that Jon Burrup works here, and I sat in on one of his workshops that he taught! It is always really nice to see a familiar face! When we were talking, I had just got done with teaching a lesson in portuguese, and so portuguese was running atraves my head and he asked me a question, but I seriously could not think of the words to say in english to respond. It was really weird, but at the same time really awesome! The Language is coming really fast, and I am learning about 20 new words a day. It is really fun to go up to the guys that have only been here one or two days and just go off in portuguese. One of the cool things is walking around campus and just listening in all of the rooms to all the different languages that are being spoken here. We have a lot of japanese speaking Elders across the hall... and man I have it so easy with portuguese compared to them.

Dad, the other day I meet one of my buddies from college here, and he speaks spanish. So we tried having a spanish/portuguese conversation, and we could understand eachother pretty well! So we are going to have to see how much we can understand eachother one of these days!

I Also saw Danika's older sister here at dinner last night(sister Montgomery). I dont know if I have ever really talked to her, but it was nice chatting for a little bit:)

So our First investigator (silvana) is preparing for baptism this saturday and we are so excited! She had been having problems with the word of wisdom and didnt want to give up her coffee. So last friday I went into the cafateria and grabbed a bunch of hot coca packets as another drink instead of coffee, and on friday told silvana that hot cocoa is so much better than coffee. So when we meet with her this week she said that she had been drinking the hot cocoa and no coffee! We were so happy, and she said that she felt so good inside, and that she feels more awake and and more happy everyday! It was so awesome! So after that we had a little testimony meeting and there was such a strong good feeling in the room. After Silvana bore her testimony nos tem muito ANIMADOS!!!!!!! It is honsetly the best feeling I have ever felt. When you know that you have helped someone change their life for the better, and you can see how happy they are with teh teachings of the gosple in their lives! I love it!

So on another note... we are building up a rep here at the mtc! We are undefeated in beachvolleyball! And we have our rivals, the Tongans! I never knew beach volleyball was so much fun! I wish I could of played with cam this last summer.... darn work.

I love you all so much and will talk to you soon!

Elder Heath

P.S. The bookstore just got moved, and so I will be printing off pictures and sending some home soon :)

P.S.S. I am not sure what the official rules are for my Dakine backpack. But my backpach already ripped. And when the lady sold it to me she said we could trade it in for a backpack of the same or less price. So if you can trade it in for a black/ smallish backpack and send it to me... that would be awesome! Thanks a ton! and preferably with the straps like my green one had :)

Awesome Visitors...

Oi familia!

Como Vai! Man this week just seems like it flew by! I never really understood what Dakota and Kenton were talking about when they said that days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. Man, I know what they mean now! I am having the time of my life here! The MTC is like no other place I have ever been. The spirit is here non stop, and with the guys in my district, the spirit is so strong! Thanks a ton for the package! Those I can't believe that you remembered that I wanted some crinkles! Those and all the other treats are so good, and keep me going on these long study days. I love all the letters I am getting from everyone! It sounds like everything is going great at home, and that there is still music ringing in the halls... maybe even shaking the walls with Trevor's sax playing! What are you playing these days bro? I cant wait to hear you play! Danielle!!!! Thanks for the letter! Keep them coming :) I'm glad that you received your patriartical blessing! How is tennis going? I miss tennis already! For gym time, I suggested that they put in some tennis courts :) Our District is dominating at volleyball, and basketball here is so much fun! I get to play with Elder Cashiotti all the time! He is learning to speak Portuguese as well, so we have fun talking to each other. Last week on friday our district tried to "Falamos Suas Lingua" where you go all day only speaking your language. Normally people don't do that till the last week, but we decided to try it. Man it was tough!!!!!!!!!!! We didn't really realize how about 95% of our vocab is gospel talking, which was great in class and went well. But our day started with gym at 6:30am basketball, and I had no idea how to ask for the ball, or how to communicate with my teammates. I just ran around saying, "Aqui!, Aqui!" haha it was fun though, and talking to people at lunch was interesting:) we basically bore our testimonies the whole time, and talked about the first couple of lessons, because that is all we know how to say :) It is coming really fast though! I have Joseph Smith's first vision memorized in Portuguese, and I'm working on the Purpose of the missionary. I Love Portuguese so much! So to answer some questions... the investigator that we have been teaching, isn's a real investigator in a sense. It is our RM teacher that acts like someone that she taught when she was on her mission on brazil. So she is doing the exact things that Silvana did to her. It is amazing how emotional we get with the lessons. We have been trying to get her to go to church, but she keeps saying she is busy. And even though we know that she is not a real investigator, it still makes us so sad. But we got her to finally go, and she is preparing for baptism this next week! We got so excited! All three of us love teaching and have a really good time with it. So we joined the Missionary choir here and wow! that is the only way to describe the way it sounds. Pretty much like 70% of the MTC is in the choir. I get chills everytime we sing! We had M. Russel Ballard come talk to us last Tuesday too! It was pretty cool to see him so close! He is a really powerful speaker! I have been taking lots of pictures... but we cant figure out how to e-mail them so I might just have to print some out and send some home. OH!!!!!!!!!!! I almost forgot! I had a visitor last week! As I was walking to dinner I looked up, and there was this man standing in the corner looking super sharp! It was DALLIN! We had dinner and it was so awesome to see him, and get to hear a little about the outside world. That was an awesome surprise! I have not heard anything about my visa yet... I was told we get called down to the travel office about a week before we leave, so we will see. I know one guy in my mission that just heard he is finishing up his MTC in Brazil! We all want to get sown there, but we all love it here so much too! I will definitely keep you posted on any changes.

I love you so much! And I know that this Church is true! I love waking up every morning at 6:20 because every day I learn so much and have a blast!

I'm out of time, but I love you and want to thank you for all of your support. I am so blessed to have such an awesome family, and such awesome friends...

P.S. have you heard from any of those letters? I have not received any letters back.

Letter #1!!!

Oi Familia!

So im not too sure what to say in these e-mails but I will just start with I LOVE THE MTC! Tuesdays are our P day and it is awesome! I got to sleep in an extra 30 min this morning and man, that felt like heaven! We had a good study session this morning, trying to get down some more Portuguese phrases to teach to our investigator. I have to bragg on my District a little too... They have voices like angels! We make musical harmony everywhere we go! We are not allowed to listen to music at the mtc but we are up there with Mo tab :) Just real quick my two companions are Elder Cornwell from Richland Wa, and Elder Swinney from Fresno Cali and all three of us are going to the wonderful land of Fortaleza! Then in our district we have Elder Nethercott and Elder Lamb (going to Rio), Elder Gallion and Elder Saben(Rio) and Elder Sherrel with Elder Baldwin! We have District prayers and just a good time hanging out! Some other people I have meet here is Elder Cashiotti(not sure how to spell that) from moses lake, and we have gym the same hour...and I kinda balled him up the other day :) Then Elder Flint has the same lunch hour so that is nice to talk to him, and I have seen a lot of guys from college that I recognize! It is so awesome here! And I just got back from lunch...Dallin...(cough, cough) haha Just kidding, i'm sure I will run into him sooner or later. Everytime I walk across the street to go play volleyball, or soccer on the fields I always look for people I know driving by the MTC... I thought I saw cassie the other day driving... but it was in a mini van... with a couple kids in the back... so either I missed something last time we saw you... or it was someone else :) But we were able to go to the Provo Temple today! It was so awesome being there with all of my brothers! And I think I might be sending my Temple Clothes home because we were told we didnt need them, and to just use the ones at the temple. I'll keep you updated on that. But We have an awesome Language teacher here! Irmao Perks. He is a BYU student and he is such a good teacher! He speaks nothing to us but portuguese so the first couple of days were kinda crazy, but even after a week, we have conversations back a forth! It is amazing how much the Holy Ghost is helping us with the Language! We have been teaching an investigator the full lessons all in portuguese and it is so cool how words and phrases just pop into your head that you never have even heard of... and our investigator(silvana) somehow knows what wee are saying and it is awesome! We also Placed our First Portuguese Book of Mormon last Friday! We didnt know how to say, "will you read this book of mormon?" so we handed it to her and said"Precente!!!" (present) and she was like "PRECENTE!!!" and got really excited! haha It has beem fun :) I miss everyone but I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and I have found so many new brothers here! I love you all! Eu sai que nos igreja esta verdadea, e nos profeta Thomas S Monson esta verdadeo.

I love you all... only 17 sec left on teh computer!

tchau!

Elder Heath

A few more pics...

Mom and Dad just sent me a few more pictures of the family at the temple. Look at my beautiful siblings. And parents of course. :)

And here is Branden with President Meyer, I'm not sure whether this was before of after he was set apart as an elder.

Family Baptisms

Our little brother Trevor turned 12 on the 29th of August so he got his recommend and can do baptisms for the dead at the temple. On Tuesday night, the eve of Branden leaving for the MTC, the family was able to go to the Columbia River Temple and do baptisms together.

Branden was able to baptize Trev, which must have been awesome. Grandma Miskho was even able to make it over to watch.

Dallin and I wish we could have been there for such a wonderful experience.

Elder Heath has now been in the MTC for almost 24 hours, I'm sure he is loving it. We will definitely keep you posted!

Just a few more days...

Branden will be flying to the Provo MTC on Wednesday September 7th from Kennewick, WA. He will be serving a 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Fortaleza Brazil.

We love you Branden, you are going to be a great missionary. We can't wait to hear all the wonderful stories you will have!