November 24, 2008 Natal- A New Comp

Hey family! Well it was so good to get all your e-mails today! I loved it. It was definitely one of those days I needed it. This week has been a tough one for me out here. Mainly because of my new companion. haha I know I know I need to learn to love him and I am really trying but he has been making it kind of hard. it’s all good though imp hoping this week will get alot better. Well elder Salines left for Joao Pessoa but I'm glad you sent a ring for him. haha I'm glad it came so fast too! I will be able to get it to him pretty easy. Well this past week was good but our baptism with Leo fell again and he decided he doesn’t want to be baptized in our church which really sucked. But he has his free choice and we did what we could. but elder Lohman stuck around too by the way which I was so grateful for because he helps me out a little bit with where certain houses are and stuff like that. that and it is so nice to talk to him because we are very similar and it’s like having a friend to talk to. Elder Pereira is good; he just got called a senior so I'm his first junior companion. He has 7 months so he is only two months ahead of me. He is letting the whole senior companion thing get to his head a little bit, but I'm just letting him do his thing right now. He keeps saying how the whole work and everything we are doing needs to change. I don’t know what he has planned? haha we will probably find out this week. elder Sanchez is the new elder in the house and he is pretty laid back. he doesn’t talk a ton but he is pretty cool, me and him like to talk music. haha one thing that really is hard with elder Pereira is that he talks so weird and says things in weird ways and really quietly. so I will just ask him to say it again and then he gets all frustrated and stuff. but it’s not just me either elder Lohman can’t understand him either. so I'm hoping I can get used to how he speaks. but he is good and I'm hoping this week will go well for us and we can baptize some people. We have found a couple young guys and 2 families to teach. I'm hoping next week will go well. haha I'm getting really excited for Christmas! it is going to be great, nothing compared to home but it should be really good. it kind of sucks though because right now it is summer here and everyday it is blazing hot! I miss the snow. but there is not alot new, just the work. haha but it is going good, I'm speaking well and understanding almost everything. so I love the e-mail pictures that you send me they are pretty sweet. elder Lohman wants you to e-mail his mom and tell her how to do it, haha so lohmank1@k12tn.net is her e-mail, 865-8590583 is her phone number too so her name is Kelly and he wonders if you could explain it to her. haha if not it’s all good. but anyway this thanksgiving will definitely be different for me. it will probably just be a normal day at work. but it sounds like things there are going to be different too. I always loved thanksgiving haha just eat and watch football. it was great. I am definitely having football withdrawals. but today is 5 months exactly from the day I left home so only one more month and I get to call. haha the plan to not say goodbye sounds like a good one too. but right now I don’t know where I will be calling but I think it’s just for 40 minutes so I was pretty bummed that I can’t talk for like an hour or 2 haha. but it’s all good I know that following the rules is important. so I'm sure I will have more time to get it figured all out too. like where I will be and what we are going to do. but I love all the news and the pictures and stuff, it is so nice to be kept up to date a little bit. I feel so out of the world, like I don’t know anything that is going on. but there is not alot new here but I'm hoping our allowance will come tomorrow because we are all out of money and food. we have eaten everything in the house. haha but it should come tomorrow for sure so no worries I'm not dying out here k? I had enough but my comp showed up with like nothing so I have been helping him out too. I can feel all your prayers for me out here and I know the lord is blessing you guys and me too. it’s really tough out here and there are alot of days I don’t think I can keep doing this, but I know he lifts me up and helps me just keep plugging along. dad I hope all goes well at work and I’m glad you sacrificed one day so you could enjoy the rest of the month. it will be worth it. so I am pretty jealous of the Goodman’s by the way. I want a cruise so bad right now it’s not even funny. haha how about a cruise when I get back? huh? haha think about it you know you want to! well mom how’s the knee? 100 percent yet? I hope it is getting alot better and that you are almost back to full health. but I am almost out of time so I gotta run. I love you all so much and hope you all have an awesome week! you are the best family ever. I love you love ty

November 17, 2008 Transfers!

hey hey hey! well I hope all is going well there! Its sounds like it has been a good week. haha I can’t believe you guys sent 4 packages! I hope it wasn’t too expensive! but I am so excited you have no idea. I am still enjoying my package from 2 weeks ago. thank you so much again. well I guess I’ll let you know that this week was transfers. I bet you want to know what happened huh? ... well I am staying here for another transfer but elder Vieira left. my new companion is elder Perera. he is from Sao Paulo and I only met him a couple hours ago so I don’t know alot about him but I will let you know next week when I know a little more. haha it should be good. I am pretty excited for this transfer to come. It should be fun. I wish I had some more time to write today but we are kind of rushed. but this transfer should be good. we have spent all day at the bus station waiting for new elders to arrive. it has been kind of boring. but I will write another missionties this week that you should get. I found out the package I want to send is pretty expensive here. they don’t have a flat rate box. its 50 reais a kilo. so I will try to send some light stuff. haha maybe some photos a tape and something else. haha but anyway this last week was good but we didn’t baptize anyone. so it has been kind of frustrating but with a new elder we will see how it goes. our group is pretty small which sucks but we will work on that alot. we have been trying really hard. well things are still good here. not alot new but this next week will be an adventure. it’s always fun to get used to a new comp. we had zone conference this week which was good. I didn’t know alot of people but that’s ok. it was a good conference and we learned alot. pres fernandes is a really cool guy but he loves to release people. haha but I learned so much from him at zone conference. he is doing what needs to be done here. well haha I wish I had more time to write. my e-mail is going to suck. I’m sorry. but I will make it up with mission ties and more info there when I have more time. thanks for the updates and especially the pictures. they were really cool! haha you guys are the best! I love you all so much and hope this week is a good one! I love ya tons. love ty
ok I found a little more time. haha I’m going to just write a little more while I still can. but sorry about the ring thing.im kind of retarded and wrote 19.5 when actually it is 9.5. haha a normal person finger. but yeah it’s the gold and silver. that would be really cool. maybe one for me too. haha just so I can have another. haha sorry. but just so you guys know you’re always in my prayers and in my thoughts. I love you all so much and hope everything is going good there. the mission out here is hard work but I’m trying to find joy in it whenever I can. the last week has been a little stressful but I can always feel your prayers and I can push through the hard times and just keep working. I know this next transfer is going to be good and I hope this next week will go fast till I can talk to you again. haha Christmas is coming fast! I’m getting pretty excited for that phone call home when I can just talk with you all. it’s crazy that it will be 6 months when I call. well I am going to head now. if there is anything I can write about more or in more detail let me know. I’ll let you know how our baptisms go this week and hopefully we can find some more people to teach. haha well I love you all and I can feel your love for me! you’re all the best! love you. ty

November 10, 2008 A Great Week in Natal

hello family! well it has been a great week this week here in natal. first of all because I got a package and a nice stack of letters! haha it has been so nice. so I got the package with the pictures and the tape and all the candy. it was so funny all the other elders that I live with were so happy! we took pictures and everything it was sweet. so it has been a great week and I was so happy to get all the stuff. the package was awesome so thank you all so much! I loved it! well I heard about the elections, that’s kinda crazy. we will just have to see how he does. everyone here is so happy about it. they all say how much the us affects the whole world and how good that Obama is going to be. but it’s easy to say for them. haha but when people ask about it I just say I hope he does good things for us. but things here are awesome. we have our last week of this transfer coming up so it will be fun. I know we have one baptism and possibly one more. but I’m happy that we have one. we will have zone conference this week so it’s possible I might receive something more if there is anything waiting for me. and I have a feeling my comp is going to be transferred so who knows what’s going to happen with me? I kind of like it here so I wouldn’t mind staying. but something new is always fun. but we will just have to see. hopefully nothing crazy like last time. so this week we had some adventures. first of all we had a little cockroach problem out in front by our gate. so we grabbed some bug spray and a couple matches. haha it was a hand held flamethrower. it was hilarious. so we were out there burning cockroaches, we found a scorpion too so we burned him too. haha so now we’re are cockroach free with just a couple burn marks on the floor. they should wash off. haha so that was fun. what else? hmm well we had ward conference this week, it was really good. I love our bishop here. bishop johnas. he is awesome and he is really missionary minded and likes to help us out. it is so awesome having a bishop that wants to work with us. there are benefits too for him, if we can get like 3 more men in satellite, we get to build another church here in planalto. which is closer for alot of members and closer to our house. satellite is a further away and alot harder to work. but it should be good. bishop is going to work on some referrals for us. we have a family that we are teaching that is doing really good and reading the bom everyday we just need to get them to go to church and decide to be baptized. I think they will it’s just really hard to find time to teach them because they both work till like after 830 so it’s tough. but we will get em! haha well I loved the tape and it was so good to hear all your voices and stuff. my tape is over a long period of time so I’m sorry the first half I was kind of a complainer but I am doing so well now. I am really happy lately and I’m finding alot of joy in the work. they language is coming along great and I’m understanding almost everything. so it has been such a huge blessing and I know alot of prayers have been answered to help me get to this point so fast. well ill try to remember some questions from the tape and other stuff too. dad we still drink a ton of guarana here, it is like the staple for me. haha they have fanta too orange and grape. and açai is good but I don’t have it alot anymore. there’s not alot of places to get it and it’s really expensive. but what else. our house is alot bigger here. it is really nice and I’m really enjoying it right now. it has been really hot this week but what’s new huh? haha I miss the snow but I’m trying to enjoy the sand while I’m here. mom sorry I sent home a sad picture. I will try to send home some more today that are happy. elder salines says he knows how to send photos easier. so hopefully it will work. it has been crazy how things have kind of changed in my mind. I’m just finding joy in the little things we do every day now and now that I can just talk to people it’s so sweet. like the other day I talked to a guy on the bus for like 20 min. I think I told you already about him. well I saw him again yesterday and it was so cool just to say hi and recognize him and have him remember me too. it was funny. well our ward here isn’t real big but the members help us alot and it’s good. we eat lunch in with the members and we eat breakfast and a little dinner in the house if we want. usually it’s something very simple and easy but some nights we will all chip in and make a hamburger, it’s a decked out hamburger though, haha or something like that. so we eat well no worries. the one thing I really want to find is a pull up bar. but no luck yet. well I wish I could tell you how good things are, but I’m sure you know. haha I love hearing that things are good at home. sounds like a tough week for pg. I was hoping they would get to rice eccles again. but they had a good season. it’s weird that it’s over already huh? haha time always goes fast when there are good times. but I hope mk~s jaw will get feeling better. that’s no good. and mom 112 degrees is kicking butt. haha keep it up. don’t get down on yourself. I’m so glad that things are going good there. sounds like the cold is really starting to move in. kind of fun. I’m just trying to stay a little cool. the mosquitos have quit biting so much but I am still sweating like crazy. I think it’s a good thing though, it means I’m burning alot of calories and I won’t gain weight. well what else is new this week? not much just getting ready to wrap this transfer up this week and work hard trying to find some more people to teach. it’s pretty tough here. seems like everyone has already talked with us. but it’s ok we will find some more. so I know this probably doesn’t have everything I wanted to say but I just want you all to know that I am loving things right now. and though some days are hard things here are really going good. mom. I think I have my smile back again and I’m finding ways to just goof around and have some fun with the other elders. me and elder salines have alot in common and talk alot. he is really cool, he asked me to ask you if you could buy another ctr ring and he will pay me for it. I said I would ask you and if you could buy one and send it in the next package that would be awesome. don’t worry I will keep it on the down low so we don’t become an order cataloge. but it would be cool if you could, but it’s the size 19.5 same as mine and it’s the black ring with a gold cursive ctr that is in the middle. and the ctr actually can come out. so if you could just check that out for me. haha he is asking about it alot. but anyway I’m finding that the time is passsing really quickly and that I just want to work hard and baptize more and more. haha its cool how you can really get lost in the work. I won’t lie there are still alot of things I miss but I am just trying to love what I have right now. but I am going to go for now and try to send another e=mail with photos. so I love you all so much. have an awesome week. love you tons ty

November 3, 2008 New Baptisms!

Ok well I tried connecting some photos to this e-mail but it just sat there and won’t do anything. I really need to figure out a different way to do that. haha but hello everyone. I’m so glad that Halloween was good. I won’t lie we didn’t do a thing different down here. It was just like every other day, but that’s ok. I’m glad everyone had fun there! sounds like Halloween was really cool this year. Well as for the Christmas package I’m going to try to send something. It won’t be big though so I hope that’s ok, but don’t worry in two years I will have plenty of things to bring back home for you guys so just be patient. haha well this week was really good for us. We had 2 baptisms Sunday, one was our guy from last week which was really good because he was a homem and he completed a family for us so that was awesome and the other was a girl we taught over the phone. She is awesome and I baptized them both, so now I have 5. We were pretty happy and right now we are on track for our goal for the month which is 8 baptisms- 2 men and one family, so we are looking good. We have 3 new potential baptisms this week too but one of them is pretty mole so we will see what we can do to help her. But we have a date for one of the others. I have really started to get into the work here I think because the weeks are going by so fast. I am really enjoying it when that happens because before I know it its p day again. but I’m hoping that we have our zone conference soon because I really want those packages and letters. haha but the washer has been awesome. It definitely washes my clothes better than I can. haha but things are going good here. just really hot. I’m going to start carrying a water bottle during the day I think that will help and I will definitely start to try and get more protein. I have been eating eggs and stuff to help but I’ll try more yogurt. and I am trying more milk too even though I need to be careful about the milk down here. haha its kind of iffy someplaces. I weighed myself again this week and I am down to 188. I think it’s good though I was a little overweight and I like being the weight I am now. I feel a lot better. haha but by the end of the mish I might be mini me. well the weather has been hot and humid like usual but that’s just normal here. This is called cidade do sol so it’s supposed to be hot all the time. The work is going good and the language is going good too. I don’t know if I will be completely fluent by Christmas but I will be close I think. I am definitely understanding a lot more and in another 2 months I think I will be doing great. there are some days I just want to speak English just to be able to joke around. The humor is definitely different here I think. It’s hard to joke when I don’t know how. haha but I will get it. Well it will definitely be a different Christmas this year without snow. I am already missing snow. but I think only cuz it’s so hot here. It’s ok though I will get used to it and I’m sure I can deal with the heat. Mom I will definitely find a nativity set for you. I will keep my eye out this Christmas and if not this Christmas next. I will probably not send it home but I’ll come back with it. It’s really expensive here to send things. They don’t have a flat rate box. It’s all weight so that sucks. But I’m trying to think of what else is new... just workin hard. I’m really glad things are going good. So how is the knee bending? I hope your feet are feeling good now after those shots. haha I really want to try and find a pull up bar and a jump rope here but there’s not really a store for those things. but we will see. Well I will tell a couple stories just little ones but you might enjoy. First of all was the baptism this week. Sebastiao is his name and he is like 65 or something. He was so excited for baptism and after I baptized him and he came up out of the water he had the biggest smile and he didn’t say anything but he just smiled really big and patted his belly and his chest a couple times. like ~haha no sin!~or something like that. I don’t know it was just really funny. and then another thing is that we have what’s called the fera. Its where a bunch of fruit and veggie vendors and clothes and tons of stuff. They all get together on Thursday and sell during the day. Well if you go right before they close they always sell for cheap because they are trying to get rid of stuff. I went a couple weeks ago and I bought 50 bananas for 1 real. That’s like 50 cents so I got 1 banana for 1 cent. haha it was awesome. I love the fera. Those are my couple cool stories for now. Dad I’m glad that the mutual went well and it sounds like getting the extension on work will be a little close but I’m sure you guys will work it out. haha thanks for the updates. You should have thought about a career in sports journalism! I decided I am going to try to send a tape and some pictures for Christmas. It’s not much but its light and I think it will mean more than some little trinket that I can give you in two years, so I will try to get that going soon. I just want you all to know that I love you so much and that if it wasn’t for you guys I would probably be lost. Thanks for always guiding me in the right direction. love you all and have an awesome week! If there is any questions I didn’t answer I’m sorry, just chew me out next week and I will definitely remember. haha but lots of love till next week! love ty

October 27, 2008 What Do American's Eat?

hey family! well things are going good here in Natal. I just got back from downtown, I forgot the name but it was really busy and had a bunch of street vendors and stuff. it was pretty cool; I didn’t buy much but maybe next time I’ll find something I want. But things are going good here, I ll take a minute and talk about the area I guess. well we have investigators right now but not a lot. It’s been really hard finding people here, so we make a lot of contacts and ask for references with everyone we meet. So we had 1 baptism this week but it fell because the guy was really sick, we took him to the little doctors office here and then we got some members to drive him to the hospital. It was too bad, he was so ready this week, at the doctor’s office he even pulled his little swimsuit thing out of his pocket to show us. he was excited. It should be this week as long as he is feeling better. We called yesterday and he is a little better so by next week he should be good. We should have another baptism next week too, we just have to finish teaching her over the phone because she works during the week in the interior. haha that will be something new! It’s just inland from us, so that will be cool. But other than that it’s just a lot of potential investigators right now, but things are good here. It is so hot! The only good thing is that we have plenty of wind here. But I definitely liking things right now and the language is making steps. I’m teaching tons better and my comp said that with how I’m speaking right now at 4 months he said I’m way better than the other Americans. I still have a lot of work though. It is definitely a boost though to hear that I’m speaking decent. haha well I’m staying healthy mom, at least I’m trying. I have been having a ton of headaches lately but I think its cuz I don’t eat enough. So I have been trying to eat more. I don’t eat crap either, lots of fruit and juices. The fruit is really cheap here which is so awesome. haha but things are good with my feet and ankles. Nothing but just normal aches and pains from how much we walk. We had our washing machine arrive this week so we are all so excited and happy for that! I’m sure it can wash my clothes better than I can so I’m happy. Dad I’m really sorry about the rough week, I don’t know if I would be able to do that either. It’s hard to do that to someone,but you are always in my prayers and I hope this week will be better. Mom I’m sorry you have had some setbacks with the knee, but I loved your quote and I know you will go forward and make this something that will help you grow. I’m glad you all got my letters too. I will have to write more. It’s tough to find time really. But I can do it. haha but Halloween is this week and I doubt we will be doing anything for it. But they have it here I think, but it’s definitely not the same here, we will have to see. I think we have a conference coming up so maybe I will get letters and a package soon. haha I hope the package is here by the time we have it. If not I will be waiting a lot longer. It’s all good though. Speaking of packages I am starting to get stuff together for a Christmas package. I bought a little something but I don’t know what really to get down here. There isn’t a lot and we don’t have a lot of time, so don’t be expecting too much k, but I will make up for it in 2 years k? haha but it will be good I promise. I just hope it’s not too expensive. But I’m glad the bank is looking out for me. I have tried not to use my card too much. I have only used it 3 times. And I doubt I will use it again for a while. I don’t like to use it, only to get I litte money at a bank when I really want to or need to. I haven’t used a lot either. but I’m really glad Mk won! boo ya. haha I remember when I got the good ol police escort by the freeway! It’s the bomb. way to go pg. haha thanks for the up dates. Sounds like the next time I hear from you the Phillies will be world champs. haha that’s cool. I will have to buy a hat when I get home. I like the Phillies so I’m ok with that. thanks for the updates. so dad you asked me something to tell the boys to help prepare them for missions. I will write a little something and I hope it will help. To help prepare better for a mission is to prepare to give yourself to the Lord. One analogy we use a lot here is getting in the boat. You can’t keep one foot in the dock and one in the boat, you won’t get anywhere. But if you can make the decision now to ´go and do´, when you arrive it will be a lot easier to get into the work. I remember one scripture that helped me a lot. helaman 5:12, I read that and I decided that I was going to build upon that rock, I knew that building the foundation of my life was the first step, and through a mission we can have one of the strongest foundations we can ask for. So decide now, and prepare NOW. Because preparation precedes power. So I don’t know if that will help or not but those were just some thoughts that I had and I hope that scripture is right, but maybe that will help. I love you all and I hope that all will go well this week. I always look forward to hearing from you all and I pray for you everyday. Oh yeah I forgot a few answers for mom. We use the internet in a thing called a lan house, just a place with computers that you can use. haha we pay like 1 real for an hour which is like 50 cents. It’s pretty cheap so no worries. I will keep an eye out for a guy that does those drawings and if I find him I’ll definitely grab one, but it’s not here sorry. Well it’s going good here and the week went really fast this last week so I’ll work hard so I can talk to you again soon. haha I love you all so much and if I forgot anything I’m sorry. Have an awesome week. love ty
Well I have a litte time left so I’m just trying to write a little somethingto answer unanswered questions. The reason I was transferred here is cuz there was an elder here with health problems in his chest. So they moved him to where I was really close to sister and pres. and the office. So I got moved to his spot here. It’s all good though I really like it here. oh and last night we had noite familiar which is to help any recent converts get integrated with the members and stuff. Well we were playing like hot potatoe and if you had it last you had to do something. Well I had to dig through a bowl of flower and find a plastic chip thing with my mouth, haha so everyone got a good laugh, but it was funny. What else, I’m learning how to make juices and mousse and stuff. Haha just easy stuff here that people make everyday, so that’s good. Oh and we figured out how to make peanut butter, it’s not like the good stuff and texture but it has the taste so we’re happy. haha we don’t have a lot though cuz peanuts are still tough to find. One thing that people don’t know is what Americans eat? What are our staples? Here they have rice and beans and spaghetti. But I don’t know what we have. They all think all we eat is fast food which is kind of true but not at the same time. Help me out with this question. Oh and how many people are in Pleasant Grove? haha everyone asks that. Just random stuff like that. haha it seems like everyone has someone they know in the states here, a lot in Utah too. I’m already missing the cold like crazy too. haha I just want a really cold breeze haha but all I get is hot.oh well I can deal with it. I’m starting to get used to it. Well my time is up and I gotta jet. I love you all so much. Any questions let me know. haha love ty

October 20, 2008- Heat, Sand and a Fridge!

hello hello family. Well I’m here in Natal and my first week is officially over. It has seemed like one of the longest weeks of the mission. Not the longest but it was long. But things are good here. I’ll try to describe this area. It’s definitely different. So there is a lot of sand, like everywhere. haha and the city is pretty big but during the day and stuff it just seems deserted. It’s funny the shops open in the morning. close in the afternoon, re open for the evening and then close at night. probably cuz it’s so hot here. but I think I am really close to sand dunes because the roads are mostly just sand and stuff. This area is about middle class I thin, there are some people that don’t have a lot and some that have nice things too. I think my first area had more money though. The people here are nice and I can tell that I am definitely understanding the language a lot better. I’m helping teach more and I’m talking more too. I’m so grateful that the language is starting to come around. I still have a lot of work to do though, but it’s all good. Elder Vieira is good, I definitely get along a lot better with him. He has his weird tendencies but I’m sure I do too. He reminds me of a vulture kind of, he is about my height but probably weighs 120, 60 kilos however much that is. I don’t know. haha I remember from chem. the equation but I don’t want to do it right now. but anyway he is cool and we live with two other elders, Elder Lohman from Tennessee and Elder Salines from São Paulo. They are both studs and Lohman has 6 months and Salines has 8, he is our district leader. Vieira has 1 year and a couple months so I’m still the novinho but it’s all good. Our house is tons nicer and a lot bigger! I love it, fridge and stove.,no washing machine or iron or microwave but we get by. haha but the area is good, it is huge so we do a ton of walking, like a lot. haha but the ward here we work with is very small, so I will probably be helping more here but it should be fine. I’m getting to know the members and our bishop is great to work with. It makes me appreciate all you do dad, you bishops are busy guys! I always keep you in my prayers. Well that’s the update on the area. haha any questions? let me know. Well I’m excited for the Rays and the Phillies. I like both of them and it will be good to have a new champ. Thanks for the update. I’m pretty bummed for byu though. I hate that one loss like that drops them so far. What about usc? They have 1 too. ,the bcs is gay, but Texas better not lose too. haha elder Lohman is a Tennessee vols fan bigtime, but they are really struggling this year. so anyway thanks for the sports updates. I always look forward to hearing what’s new. Go PG! haha I’m sorry about MKs loss again, but maybe a year of losses will make them hungry for next season- a season of wins right? Save the wins for senior year. That’s when they count. haha Well I’m going to try to send some photos next week, I’ll try to take some pics of my area too. But I need to find another way to attach them through like paint or something because right now they are too big and take too long. I will figure it out I promise. I got two mission ties last week at our interviews with president. I will only get letters here like at interviews and zone conferences, so maybe like 3 times a transfer which sucks. In my other zone it was once a week, but so ya know I will only get them here every few weeks. sorry. I can still send them. By the way did you guys get those letters I sent? I hope so. I thought dad said something about getting it, so that’s good. I will try to send more and I think I sent another one last week. I will do another mission ties this week, write some more about what’s going on here. It’s amazing that when you can stay busy how much faster things go here. I like when it stays busy. It’s easier to lose track of time. haha this area should baptize more than my last area. I hope. haha but the work is good. I need to try and find some things to send home but this area doesn’t have a lot. I will find some things though. haha ill keep my eyes open. for Christmas I could use a cd player. haha I can’t find one here. and some cds like the rm and best 2 years maybe. I don’t know. haha and there is a connection for the cd to my speakers that I forgot. mk knows what it is. So if you could include that. As for other stuff I don’t know. My clothes are still all good and I have plenty of everyday stuff. Maybe like phase ten? haha we have uno but that would be sweet. I like surprises too! Whatever you guys send will be good. I always love photos too. Maybe some old one like me and my friends. I don’t have any of the boys, like football ones. I think there are a couple in the drawer of my desk that I want. So that would be awesome if you could do that for me. Mom I wish I could try some of your bread haha but I’m sure it will be perfect when I get home. So I’m really excited for that. and I’m glad your knee is getting the bend back. I know that physical therapy hurts like crazy but be brave and know that the pain you deal with now will mean less pain later. but I’m glad you’re making steps. Sounds like the fall is going great. I love the fall. haha I love your grandma and grandpa stories. I bet it’s so fun having Mya running the show now. haha I bet she will have an attitude when I get back. haha we will be friends. I am doing well now and working hard. I miss you all a lot but I know that this work is the work of the lord. I know that this is where I need to be. I love hearing that all is well but if there is ever anything you need to vent to me or just talk about I’m still here. I love being the listener. haha and you’re always in my prayers, each one of you individually. I love you all and hope that this week will be great. I’m trying to have fun everyday, but you guys need to too k? haha I love ya. talk to you soon. love ty

Thanks T.K.!

Yesterday was Tyson's P-day and he sent me a quick e-mail despite the lack of one on my end. Well, that fabulous missionary is sure in tune with the spirit. I have been kind of stressed out the past few days with work and the babe and just everyday life. Well my sweet brother, all the way down in Brazil, knew exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks bud, I love ya!

Hey aub. How are things back at work? I hope your finding a groove with things there and at home with mya now. I know it's probably really hard, and I can't even begin to imagine what its like being a mom but I know that if anyone can do it its you. And like you told me. When things get hard you can go to Heavenly Father and tell him anything. Always pray to Him about Mya. About things you can help her and teach her. I know you do already. You are a wonderful mom, and your an awesome sister too. You always know just what I need to hear. Just remember keep your head up even when things get hard because something good is just around the corner and if you got your head in your hands you wont be able to see it. haha I love you Aub. You're the best. If you ever need anything just let me know and I'm there. haha love you aub. Give Mya a big kiss for me. Have an awesome week love ya. love Ty