Advice for Upcoming Missionaries...read on!

JANUARY 14TH, 2013

I really have the best family in the world. Thank you dad for all your hard work helping me with my application. I am going to work with President Souza this week to write his recommendation. (its a good thing we are keeping the rules and having success! ha ) I hope it will all work out me translating into English. I will work on these other essays too and send them next week. The essays were great! thanks a ton for the edits! I am thinking seriously about taking a writing class when I get back, I need it. I need to re learn English too haha. It was difficult to write those papers in all English! I will have the endorsement by next Monday. The earlier this application is sent the better!

Mom, I thought this week of what I would like to say to the young men in your talk.... "Study and Pray the First chapter of Preach my Gospel. Everyday, kneel in prayer and ask for spiritual experiences to test you, and learn to act. As a missionary if you don't teach by the spirit nothing will happen. Get used to the whispering of the Holy Ghost because he will put words in your mouth when you need it(D+C 84:85), The spirit will touch the hearts to convert your investigators (2 Nephi 33:1) A simple experience was about six months ago. We were not finding families to teach and we were out of ideas on how to find new people. My companion and I began to include in all our prayers to guide us to find a family ready to receive our message. The first day.... nothing happened , the same with the second. But the third we were walking on the street and My companion and I both felt very impressed to knock on a door . We went to the first door and we found an amazing man that was ready to receive the gospel. He was passing a trial and needed help. He was baptised three weeks later because of the simple prayers, actions, and following the whispering of the spirit." I hope this helps. You can use whatever part you want. :)

This week if you could all pray for these people I would be very grateful
Auritenburg, Teadora, Ìvina, Livia,....Naldo, Josefa, Jaquelini, Jackson, and Joice. They are two families that are very close to baptism that need a little extra help.

Thanks for everything! I love you all!!! Elder Heath!!!

Goals for the New Year

JANUARY 7, 2013

Ola minha Familia!!!!

Sounds like everyone had an awesome week! And everyone made it up to the mountains which makes me ever happier! I love the pictures that you all sent! I'm glad to see that my clothes are getting used while I'm gone and not just gathering dust! So was the group Dad, Danielle, and Trevor? That is awesome! I was thinking we need to plan a good boarding/skiing trip soon everyone together!

I love to hear that so many talents we shared at the talent show! Did everyone watch the ball drop in New York this year? We had a little party at some less active members house and it was a blast!!!! We made a special dessert with American candy canes! (did I mention that they don't have candy canes here?) We drank an amazing grape juice with cut up apples, oranges, pineapple grapes floating. It was great!

I have finished my Yearly goals this week and I am ready to start 2013! I Am not drinking soda, working out 6:30-7:15 every morning ( to get in shape and ripped!), Writing in my journal everyday, but as I was moving on in the months my yearly planning included coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha that was pretty interesting. I got super excited but then again I am going to miss Brazil a ton!

We have a special family that visited the church this week. They loved the church but they have lots of catholic members in their families and it is difficult for them to change religions. If you all could remember in your prayers Auritenburg, Teadora, Ìvina, and Livia that would help a ton. I sent a letter off about them today to you all that will explain how they are special.

I didn't get any packages this week... I think correiros is a little backed up because lots of missionaries are without packages. But I'm sure its coming! Did you get my Christmas card?

P.S. Cassie one of the essays I wrote about how many people graduated and how many people went to college and the numbers are 374 graduated, 332 went on to college. Thanks a ton for completing my application! Everyone pray for me!!!!!!!

I had another interesting experience this week... we traveled to Fortaleza on Wednesday. But there were so many people traveling that night that There was not enough room on the same bus for My Companion and I. So I left Juazeiro and my companion at 9:40 at night. And Elder Reynolds left at 10:40 and night!!!!!!!! I have never been alone in 1 year and 4 months!!!!!!!!! I entered the bus alone for the 10 hours and I felt so weird!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how life is going to be after the mission! I am going to have to find my companion really fast! Because being alone doesn't cut it! ha

I love you all! Mom, I will write down some experiences this week and send them next week> I have an idea of what I would like to say. I just want to develop it a little more.

Thank you so much for everything!!!!!!!! I love you all soo much and I cant wait to see all your beautiful faces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep sending pictures! I love it! Thanks a ton dad for the scripture in DC 84:88 I read it very often.

Danielle, I am so happy to hear of the woman that you are becoming! I can tell just through what mom and dad say about you that your testimony is very strong in the gospel. You are going to have so much fun at college and graduation and everything!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Heath

New Years Eve!

DECEMBER 31ST, 2012

Ola Minha Familia!

Feliz Ano NOVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't describe to you all how happy I was after the phone call on Christmas! I couldn't sleep I was sooooo happy! I laid in my bed thinking about all of you and all the Christmas memories! It is really interesting to see the different traditions that families have. All the missionaries in our house, Elder Cetraro, Hodson, and Reynolds all open pjs on Christmas eve too!!!!!!!!!!! how crazy is that! Elder Reynolds also has a talent show like us! Did you talk to his family yet? they are awesome!

I think i could trade the weather with you all too! This week has been soooooooooooo hot!!!! I have Sun Screen that looks like mayonnaise and it doesn't block the sun! ha

We had an amazing Christmas night after the phone call too. The whole branch was together and we all read Lucas 1 and 2 about the birth of Christ. Then we sang tons of Christmas music! Could you all hear the song we sand well? We were all standing on a roof while we were singing to you all. It is fine with one person but us four were on top and the roof and a member told us to move. So we were singing the song and moving together to get off of the roof! It was a pretty amazing But I had a very merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!

Today we all had a BBQ for lunch at a members house and we are going to have a new years party at a members house too. It is a little difficult to teach today because everyone is drinking in the streets! There are tons of fireworks already too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sent the essays to Cassie and mom, they are pictures scanned. But Cassie if you could correct my English and make any corrections you want that would be awesome! And send off the application!!!! I cant wait to hear if I got accepted.

And this week we are going to Fortaleza so we will get the packages!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Heath

Talking To Branden on Christmas!

DECEMBER 24TH & 25TH

Christmas Eve:

On Christmas Eve, we all gathered around to Skype with Branden in Brazil.  We made him this sign (Feliz Natal) to wish him a Merry Christmas in Portuguese. The business that was going to let him Skype did not work.  We were disappointed that we did not get to see his handsome face.  However, we had fun singing Christmas carols, dancing around the room, chatting and playing with Kylie (Cassie's daughter).  We did get to say hi to Branden for a quick minute but just to find out we would get to talk to him on Christmas Day the following day!

Christmas Day:

Branden called in the early afternoon on Christmas Day!  He has a heavy Portuguese accent but sounds really good.  He is enjoying his missionary companion and were he is living right now.  He is in rural area close to the jungle.  They have lots of monkeys and other creatures close by.  It is still really hot...he says it feels like 120 degrees.  He sweats all the time.  

We got to listen to him talk Portuguese to Dallin (Cassie's husband).  They talked really fast and it was really wonderful to hear how fluent Branden has become with the Portuguese language.  Branden and a bunch of the Elders sang "O Holy Night" in Portuguese to end the call.  It sounded like a men's choir.  It was awesome!

Traveling out of State!

DECEMBER 18, 2012

Hello family!!!!!!!!!!!

Just one more week and I will hear all of your wonderful voices!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited! We are searching in every possible place here in Juazeiro for Skype. Until now we have not found any place, but we will not stop the search. Next Sunday I will have my companion Elder Reynolds call you around three to four your time. He will set everything up! I will call first 521-6781 because I don't remember the house number.... haha that is pretty sad I think it is 374-1040 but we will see :) Dad, if you are not too busy... I would also like to apply for scholarships to BYU. If you could look up how I can do that, it would be awesome! I'm almost done with the four questions and I will probably send them to you next week!

This week Elder Reynolds and I had an amazing Experience. We traveled out of the state again to Trinidad. It is a Branch that is two years old, so basically everyone there is a recent convert and we are helping it grow. The missionaries there received a reference to a country city that is about forty min away from the church. So we went there to help them with these families. We started to walk, which would of been a two hour walk and a man picked up in his new Chevy truck! He told us to get in and air conditioning car.... so we didn't refuse ha. This man was going to church in Sao Paoulo and wanted to keep going to church but didn't know where to find the church. So that was the first miracle that happened. His whole family went to church yesterday!!! Then we arrived in the country city called IPUBI. And We meet some miracle families. There is one family that is very very very poor. A family of 6. But they are the nicest family in the world. They had the Book of Momon three days and were already past 2 Nephi! We invited them to be married, their responses were, if that is what we need to be baptized we will. Then we invited them to go to church, the mom responded I NEED TO GO TO CHURCH! Then we invited them to be baptized and this is what they said. Heavenly Father Already told us we need to be baptized in this church! It was incredible. I Really gained a testimony how Heavenly Father is always preparing Families to enter His church.

I love being a missionary!

One more week and we can talk!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Heath