Yeah I know it´s been a while, well my days have been more full and I haven´t had the same amount of access to the internet these last few days but I´ll try to remember everything. One thing I forgot to talk about was the stake conference we had about 2 weeks ago, it was pretty cool because I got there really early because Alex was singing in the stake choir and they were practicing before it started, well as people walked in apparently they recognized me from behind and would tap me on the shoulder and we would hug like old friends that hadn´t seen eachother in a long time, it was really cool because it just kept happening and each time it just seemed to get better. It was also really cool because my mission president was there and he went up and sat down behind the pulpit, and I hadn´t even realized he was there or would be there, then he looked up there and he was looking right at me and a huge smile flashed accross his face, so we both got up and started walking towards each other and we met in the aisle and he wrapped me up in a huge bear hug (for those who don´t know my mission president he is like 6´7") then his wife came up behind me and then she gave me a hug too. As Ryan would say they were emotional times for all of us. It was kind of funny because Sister Aidukaitis then said, "I recognized you from behind as I was walking in, and thought why is President giving Elder Heward a hug? Then I remembered that you had already served your mission." They then invited me over to lunch on Wednesday at their home. It was really fun to be able to see some of the Elders I have served with, Elder Gonçalves who I was really close with was there and so it was really fun to see him too.
Then on Monday I ate lunch at a members home from my first area. She is so nice, it was remarkable because she remembered everything about me and my family, she said she was so sad that Mom couldn´t come because she thinks Mom is the prettiest lady she´s ever seen. She was telling her husband (who was baptized about a year after I left the area) that you wouldn´t ever be able to guess how old my mother was by looking at her. She also gave me a gift to give you you Mom so you´re pretty popular down here, just so you know. I also got to visit Júlios family, they were baptized the week before I arrived on the mission, so I got to teach them the new 
member discussions and we were pretty close. I don´t know if you remember that you sent me two of those CTR shirts but I gave one to Júlio and he showed me that he still has it. Then on Tuesday I visited a bunch of the people I taught in Valparaíso, it´s really fun to be able to sit with these people and not worry about having to run to another appointment. 
Thursday I went to my Mission President´s house and ate lunch with them and Elder M. Silva, who had just finished his mission, and his father, who came to pick him up and visit his mission. They asked all the questions you would expect; about work, school, dating/marraige, etc. and it was really fun to talk about old times on the mission. Visiting them feels like visiting family, I honestly couldn´t imagine a better couple to preside over a mission, I love them.
After lunch Alex took me to Santo Antônio where I am now staying with Valmir and Shirley a 
couple that I baptized here. They have two little kids so its fun to play with them. One was born right after I left the mission and his name is Morôni they´re the cutest little kids. I went and visited a bunch of people here in Santo Antônio on Friday and then at night we went to Taguatinga (a big city nearby) and ate Rodízio de Pizza. It´s the same idea as the brazilian place we went to be before for my birthday except instead of meat it´s pizza. I had heard of them before but I never went to one on my mission because it was just kind of inconvenient, we didn´t have alot of time at night and that´s when they´re the most popular. So anyway it was even better than I could have imagined, the cool part is that they have this pasta bar kind of thing with a bunch of sauces and stuff to put into your pasta, and you choose the pasta and then all the stuff that goes into it and you put it into the pan yourself with the kinds of sauce you want. It´s like YC´s Mongolian grill but better. The rest of the time they´re bringing pizzas and lasagna and lasagna-like stuff to your table and asking if you´d like it (you know like the meat). It was pretty great.
couple that I baptized here. They have two little kids so its fun to play with them. One was born right after I left the mission and his name is Morôni they´re the cutest little kids. I went and visited a bunch of people here in Santo Antônio on Friday and then at night we went to Taguatinga (a big city nearby) and ate Rodízio de Pizza. It´s the same idea as the brazilian place we went to be before for my birthday except instead of meat it´s pizza. I had heard of them before but I never went to one on my mission because it was just kind of inconvenient, we didn´t have alot of time at night and that´s when they´re the most popular. So anyway it was even better than I could have imagined, the cool part is that they have this pasta bar kind of thing with a bunch of sauces and stuff to put into your pasta, and you choose the pasta and then all the stuff that goes into it and you put it into the pan yourself with the kinds of sauce you want. It´s like YC´s Mongolian grill but better. The rest of the time they´re bringing pizzas and lasagna and lasagna-like stuff to your table and asking if you´d like it (you know like the meat). It was pretty great.
Then on Saturday I went to Valparaíso just to eat lunch with a family that I hadn´t been able to see while I was there. It was really fun. I baptized on of the sisters in the family and alot of the others were already members. Her baptism was really cool because she had sisters come from all over Brasilia to see her baptism. As for the temple dedication it was awesome! It was really emotional for me because it´s so hard for so many Brazilian members to go to the temple because of the distance so you start thinking about how much this is going to bless so many people. Unfortunately it won´t affect the members in my mission they will continue to have to travel about 12 hours by bus to get to the temple (they won´t be going to the new temple that was dedicated, it´s farther away). Elder Ellis, a member of the seventy spoke (he´s also visited our mission) and he talked about something that was really good, he talked about the temple being too close. He said most of the Brazilian members couldn´t even imagine a temple too close because so many live so far away, but he said the new temple in the area was going to be a cheallenge for the members there in Curitiba because now they would have this problem. They would be able to tell themselves the temple is so close I´ll go tomorrow, and then the next day they would say the same thing until month after month had passed by without going to the temple. It´s definitely true, we have that tendency. I remember when I got home from my mission I felt like the member in Arizona took
the temple for granted, the members in Brasilia dreamed about having a temple here all the time, that was what the missionaries ate, drank, and slept. It was our goal to provide the fertile soil, we worked so hard for it. Then when I got home and saw that there are so many people who don´t go to the temple when It´s so close to us I was like this is crazy the members in Brasilia would do anything to have what we have. When I got home from my mission I went to the temple quite often, often more than once a week because I told myself I wouldn´t take it for granted. Well just like everyone else I slowly fell into the once a month or once every other month deal. He talked about making a plan with your family about how often you will go to the temple and so I´ve decided to do that, and get better about how often I go. Especially now that three new temples have been announced in Arizona. I think that is going to be awesome! I can´t wait. Tonight President Monson is making history he´ll be holding the first meeting ever from the President of the church here in Brasilia. I´m really hoping that tonight President Monson is going to announce a temple here in Brasilia. I think I would cry. We´ll see.
the temple for granted, the members in Brasilia dreamed about having a temple here all the time, that was what the missionaries ate, drank, and slept. It was our goal to provide the fertile soil, we worked so hard for it. Then when I got home and saw that there are so many people who don´t go to the temple when It´s so close to us I was like this is crazy the members in Brasilia would do anything to have what we have. When I got home from my mission I went to the temple quite often, often more than once a week because I told myself I wouldn´t take it for granted. Well just like everyone else I slowly fell into the once a month or once every other month deal. He talked about making a plan with your family about how often you will go to the temple and so I´ve decided to do that, and get better about how often I go. Especially now that three new temples have been announced in Arizona. I think that is going to be awesome! I can´t wait. Tonight President Monson is making history he´ll be holding the first meeting ever from the President of the church here in Brasilia. I´m really hoping that tonight President Monson is going to announce a temple here in Brasilia. I think I would cry. We´ll see.
1 notes:
Don't you worry, Scott. Alex and I are going to work really hard to help the saints be ready for a temple in Brasilia. And when it's being dedicated, you can come and stay at our house!!
Post a Comment