Bryce Loving Lago Sul

Elder Young with Eduardo and Elder Parada

Bryce Feeding a Monkey!

Elder Young with one of his favorite families in the ward and Elder Parada

                             

New Companion and New Area!

Well, I never thought I would be the one transferred, but last night I was told I was leaving but not where. So I packed up my two suitcases with all my stuff and left Lago Sul this morning. I went to the chapel where I met my new companion, Elder Queiroz. We took a bus to the central bus station, and then took a bus to my new apartment in Aguas Lindas. It turns out that E. Reese, who was in the MTC with me, got transferred and is living in the same apartment we are. It will be a lot of fun living with him. I don't know much about this area and neither does my companion. He's been on his mission for a little over a year but he hasn't been in this area yet. So we'll be figuring things out together kinda like E. Parada and me in Lago Sul. 

The last week in Lago Sul went pretty well. We had a majority of the people we're teaching at church. We introduced some of our investigators to the missionaries in São Sebastião as well. I'm excited to hear news about how things are going there later on. 

As difficult as it was to leave all the people I met in Lago Sul, I'm grateful to be able to experience another area. I can tell it will be a lot different already. Lago Sul was unlike any other area in the mission so I'm about to find out what most of the other places around Brasilia are like.

My mind still hasn't taken in the fact that the place I'm living is different, the way missionary work here will go, and so forth. It's hard to believe 4.5 months have gone by in Lago Sul. It's so cool to be able to develop such strong relationships with the people you teach, the members, and other missionaries in such a short amount of time. Vívian's Mom is one of those people that is immediate friends with everyone. She talks really loud and always speaks her mind. We have only been to her house a few times and the elders from S.S (São Sebastião from now on) and we already have a great relationship with her family. Vívian went to church on Sunday and brought a friend. I can't wait to hear how everything goes there while I'm here.

Next week I'll have some more news for you guys about this new place. Until then!

Love,

Elder Bryce Young

More pictures from Elder Young !!!

Bryce on the Bridge

                                           Family in Elder Young's ward

Elder Young with the missionaries  from his zone

Preparation Day with Missionaries from Elder Young's zone

Monday Before Thanksgiving

Hello!

This week was busy. E. Parada and I traveled a little bit during the week to complete interviews outside our area. I also did a trade with E. Higbee and E. Gomez to work a little in their area because E. Sosa has to stay home because of his hurt foot. We also had a mission conference on Friday. So as a result of all that, we barely had time to visit anyone in our area. BUT, Sunday was awesome. We had 10 or more people visit the church. Sunday was the childrens' program so some neighbors of the members came. One of the families was the one we started teaching recently. José, Maria, Tiago, and Mateus. José said as long as his kids want to come, he's willing to take them every Sunday. It's nice that they have a car so they can come to our ward in Lago Sul. The other people we're teaching go to São Sebastião. It's a lot easier to follow up with the people who come to our ward.

The mission conference went really well. It was cool to see everyone I was friends with in the MTC there. A really great change was made. More emphasis is being put on "Teaching when you find people, and finding people when you´re teaching" (A topic in Preach My Gospel). So as a result, we don't have a goal of how many people we talk to and invite or get addresses from anymore. Instead, it's how many good conversations you had and how many of them lead to people that are actually interested. I like this a lot because in the past, I felt like a machine talking to people. Most of the focus was on asking them if you could come by and talk to them another day or inviting them to church. Almost everyone says yes even though they're not interested. With the focus more on a nourishing conversation, it's easy to see if their actually interested, and to develop a friendship and a yearning in the first encounter.

Transfers are next Monday. Without a doubt, either E. Parada or I am leaving Lago Sul. Very often, it's the older missionary that leaves in this situation (when we've been in the same area for so long). So I'll probably stay in Lago Sul for 1.5 more months. I'm happy with whatever happens. I still love it here and members are getting more involved in missionary work. 

Hope you guys have a good Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Bryce Young

Working in Sao Sebastiao

Hello!

I´m a little later today sending emails because our zone had another activity in Asa Sul. Zone activities take up most of the day so these days are usually pretty rushed Pdays. 

One of the missionaries living with us, E. Sosa, hurt his ankle. His companion, E. Gomez, stayed with him most of the week, but in order to help them out in their area of work, E. Parada and I worked a little with E. Gomez during the week. It´s always great to trade companions for a day to learn how they like to teach. I always learn something during these "trades". I got to experience Sao Sebastiao again and meet some people there. Because houses are closer in Sao Sebastiao, I was able to teach more lessons than normal with E. Gomez. I´m still amazed how quickly a love for these people comes. I´ve met so many people who live only with bare necessities and still serve others so readily. This week we met Vívian, her friend, and her family. She lives with her family in a house that is just one big room. Their shower is right next to the couch and they all sleep in the same room. Vívian´s mom basically taught the lesson for us last time. E. Parada and I asked her a question, and she started telling us her life story. She told us about how her son´s life was saved, how her husband´s life completely turned around, and about how she prayed for hours one night for food for her kids and the next day people showed up at her door with baskets full. She explained what faith is for her and the role God has had in her life. She has no doubt in her testimony of prayer. Miracles have happened in her life because of her diligence in prayer. She talked for quite some time relating stories of hers. When she finished I told her how happy I was to hear everything she said. I said "Cícera, you just explained everything we believe in and everything we had to say today." She is one of those moms with a strong personality and a firm conviction in her beliefs. Vívian is the same way and is very honest in how she feels and follows through with the commitments she makes. I´m grateful for the chance to talk to this family and I´m grateful for how much they teach me.

Have a great week!

Love,

- Elder Bryce Young

Bryce Busy in Brazil

Hello!

This week we had a lot of busy work to do so we had a little less time to teach. We had 

to pick up stuff from the office (which is a long way away), fix a problem

with E. Parada´s credit card, and we went to Aguas Claras (which is also pretty far) to

teach some of the sister missionaries´ investigators (I´d never heard of doing this, but it was cool).

We had a cool lesson with Leo this week. We watched a film about Christ´s visit to America to accompany

his reading of 3 Nephi 11. He really liked it and said he wished more people knew about this. We talked

more with him about trying to stop smoking. He thought he could stop easily but he was getting

a little discouraged. We encouraged him to read the scriptures and pray anytime he feels an urge

to smoke. We asked his sister what changes she´s seen in Leo since he started talking to us. She mentioned

that they stopped arguing and he has more patience. It´s easy to see the change that´s already

taken place in him. It´s great to see how quickly the gospel can change someone. I know he´ll be able

to stop smoking if he stays determined.

Eduardo has been coming to church for about 2 months now. He still doesn´t accept everything taught

but he makes a wonderful contribution to the gospel principles class with his insights. Everything he

says is well thought out and perfectly concordant with what we believe, so I scratch my head quite a 

bit, wondering why he doesn´t accept the church. I know he enjoys coming to 

church and feels something different while he´s there. When he becomes a member someday he´ll be

an excellent leader, I know that. 

The ward choir is singing soon and we got to rehearse with them. I was relieved to be able to sing in a choir again.

I think I´ll play in sacrament meeting something on the piano too, which I´m excited about.

Every day is busy and tiring but I´m enjoying the learning and growing. Keep it real fambam.

Love,

Bryce

Speaking In Church

Today is a little bit busy again because we had another Zone Activity (which is always in Asa Sul--1.5 hrs away). The buses are still as ridiculous as ever, haha. The buses are like cans of sardines. Very awkward. 

I felt close to home as I spoke in church yesterday. During the week I didn´t have much time to prepare, but I prepared what I could during the week in personal study. It was about family history and temple work. I used the story you gave me about Grandpa Clifton and his wife going to the temple on their wedding anniversary. Everything came together so easily and the talk flowed perfectly. I know the words came to me so easily because of the prayers I had given that day and during the week to help me say something that can edify the members in the congregation. During the talk I didn´t stumble for words, and my accent was almost completely gone for the moment. One member commented that I spoke perfectly. Of course that´s not true, but I could feel a noticeable difference in how I portrayed myself and the way the thoughts flowed and how easy it was to say what I felt I should say. I know the spirit put the words in my mind so I could touch the heart of someone. My talk took 10 minutes and it felt like 5. I felt so happy to stand and bare my testimony and to bare it with confidence. 

PHOTOS! Bryce on the Bus and More Buildings

"Hi Everyone!"

Conselho da Justiça Federal  (or Federal Justice Building)

Brazilian National Congress

Brasilia Supreme Court Building

Elders who live in the same apartment as our Elder Young

Elder Young in Brazil

Hello! This week we found two more families to teach. Well, I´m still not sure how everyone is related in one of the families. The mom´s name is Janet. She lives with her 3 kids and their cousins. There are a few houses next to hers where more of their extended family lives. It´s cool that they all live together so close. It´s like Mom´s dream. The other family (same condominium) consists of Lucio, Lilhiam, and their two sons Flavio and (I didn´t hear the other one´s name). Flavio was someone we talked to at the bus stop a few days before we visited him. We went to his house and his mom and dad talked a little about what a great son he is. They said that he is going through a difficult time with pressure from friends and such. The conversation with them flowed really well. We talked about faith, about how he can apply it. They agreed to go to church but didn´t show up. There´s a chance they went to the one in São Sebastião though. Almost all of the investigators we have been visiting in Itaipú said they wanted to go to church, but the church in São Sebastião is always more convenient to go to so it´s hard to follow up with them and to make sure they have a good experience there. We taught the Word of Wisdom to Leo this week and he accepted it right off the bat. He essentially said, "well it´s a commandment isn´t it? I´ll stop smoking and drinking right away." He is progressing a lot. He´s great. He has a really friendly manner of communicating and his family really likes us. ´ 

Eduardo is an interesting person. He still doesn´t trust in receiving a confirmation of something through prayer and he hasn´t tried to sincerely pray about the Book of Mormon. The interesting thing is that he likes all the principles in the Book of Mormon and agrees that it concords with the bible. He likes all the people in the church and gives excellent comments in Sunday school, but doesn´t believe that the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith or that he was a prophet. He sustains the assertion that he was a very creative young boy. I love Eduardo, he´s awesome. I really enjoy talking with him and learn tons every time E. Parada and I visit him. I just hope he gains confidence in the power of prayer. Because he loves to read and studies like crazy, we gave him a copy of "Jesus the Christ" by James Talmage. I know he´ll love it. 

Yesterday (occurrences like this seem to happen frequently with us) we were getting off the bus and heading for the chapel when a lady speaking Spanish called us over to the meridian between the two roads we were crossing. She said she is a member but hasn´t been to church in a year and wants to go back. She asked where the church was. We planned a visit with her this week and also told her to meet us in the same exact spot to go to church next week. It´s cool to have so many little encounters like this with people.

The theme in church yesterday seemed to be all about taking time during our busy lives to think about what´s important. Pres. Monson gave a talk in May entitled "A Corrida da Vida" about this. It was a nice reminder to stop and think about not only what´s important for our life in the next 10 years but also what´s important for eternity, life after this. We gotta stop and smell the roses sometimes. Just because E. Parada doesn´t laugh and doesn´t think it´s funny, I like to literally stop and smell the roses sometimes on the way to appointments. What a good phrase. I´m grateful for its literal applicability. Like Alma says in the Book of Mormon, all things denote that there is a god, even the earth and all things that are upon the face of it. I was struck by the thought yesterday at how time might function outside of our sphere of living. The concept we have of time in this life will not continue in the same manner in the next. Time is a trivial thing elsewhere,(for sure for God) but here, time means everything. It controls all aspects of our lives. In order to keep an eternal perspective at all times we need to minimize our preoccupation with time and focus on the quality of our activities rather than the time required to complete them. Living in a immense growth of productivity, it´s hard to keep a constant eye on minimizing our preoccupation with time, but that´s just one of our trials these days--healthy resistance that helps us grow. Considering that time is much more trivial after this life, and that this life is a time of probation and a time to prepare to meet God, (Alma 12) the real focus should be on preparation. And that involves taking TIME (our  precious resource) to re-align our priorities, to study things of eternal value, to remember our covenants with God, to focus on our family and on our spiritual development. I love that merely looking at the sky or the stars or other creations can prompt questions that have to do with eternity. There´s no way it´s a coincidence that they do. I am thankful for the inspired words of those who guide the church and the thoughts they invoke. It´s so cool that meeting together at church acts as a realignment of priorities every week as well as a renewal of covenants we´ve made to God. 

Have a good week fambam! I hope you all are whale(s). 

Love,

Elder Bryce Young

Staying in Lago Sul

Well hello!

Today is another transfer day where some people stay, some people leave, some people--well that´s about it actually. I´ll be staying in Lago Sul with E. Parada for at least another 1.5 months and I´m excited. I´ve gotten a better hang of how things work around here and I´m so happy to be visiting the people we´re visiting. Cida is progressing and, after she gets to know the ward a little better, she said she wants to get baptized. Leo is opening up and really liking the Book of Mormon. He says he knows it´s true but we´re trying to help him understand the importance of prayer and a response from prayer. 

One potential hang up (I don´t think I´ve ever used that phrase, hopefully it works in this context...) is that these people live closer to the church in São Sebastião than the church in Lago Sul. The boundaries for our area are poorly defined. As of now, this condominium where they live is in our area so we´re working there (no missionaries have ever gone there). We´d like to take them to Lago Sul so we can work with them and the ward at the same time, but this is difficult for them (and the type of people are a lot different). We talked to the Bishop about what he would have us do. He´s going to talk to the Stake President about the boundaries and maybe re-dividing things. So we´ll see how it all works out soon. As of now we´ll continue working in this condominium close to São Sebastião and the other condominiums closer to "Lago Sul" Lago Sul. 

E. Parada and I had a cool experience yesterday. Preface: last week we ran into a nice married couple in Lago Sul. They said they would like to have us over and gave us their number. We tried calling them a few times but their phone was always turned off. After trying 3 different times, Elder Parada thought "I think this 6 is supposed to be a 4" so he tried the whole number with 4 instead of a 6 and no one answered. 10 minutes later someone called back and asked who was talking and why we had called. E. Parada said we´re missionaries and explained what we do and said "Honestly, I´m not quite sure why I called you". The guy on the other end then explained that he is getting a divorce with his wife and is having a really hard time. He said he had been praying just before we called that God would help him because he had no where to turn and is looking for a new start in his life. We wrote down his name and address to pass to the missionaries that live in his area. I´m grateful for experiences like this that act as reminders of the power of prayer. It is common to pray for the same things everyday, such as the safety of one´s family. Sometimes I forget to look back and see how my family really has been blessed with safety. The things we pray for are never trivial for the Lord. Keeping track of what I pray for has been one of the strongest faith building habits I´ve ever learned. I remember in general conference someone said "Because we see things often, we see them less and less". This principle applies to the answers to our prayers. As soon as we start looking for how our prayers have been answered, we´ll find out exactly how.

Take excellent care of yourselves, (even you, Blake)

Love,

Bryce

General Conference is GREAT!

Greetings,

What a great General Conference we just had. I don´t think anyone gets as excited as missionaries do around conference time. Sometimes it´s funny to watch. I´d love to talk about all the talks given because they all have interlaced messages and all work together to apply the principles of the gospel to our time. I loved the emphasis on family and on children that many of the speakers conveyed. And I´m so happy that Dieter Uchtdorf and Thomas Monson mentioned the importance of enjoying the journey and stepping back to witness the beauty around us. I thought of Mom when Uchtdorf said "Find joy in the journey" because we have a little sign (Actually it´s big where everyone can see) in our house that says this and we can see it every time we leave the house. She reminded me of it in one of her letters and I can never forget it. Life is not meant to only be appreciated in retrospect, and we don´t listen to music just to hear the last note. Be happy now and look "less with your eyes and more with your heart." Thinking about Uchtdorf´s talk reminds me about what Henry B. Eyring reminded us-- the joy in spending our time with those we love is not in the activity, but with the feelings that come with it. 

Cida is reading the Book of Mormon and really likes it. She says she can feel that it is true. She is excited to go to church this week. 

We met a few more people in this new place, Itaipu. A guy named Leo, his sister, and his cousin. We have only talked to him once, but we´re going back tonight. The first lesson we taught them went really well. I´ve been trying to take the advice of Elder Holland in not thinking ahead of time what I´m going to say to people, but instead, listening 100 percent and trusting that you´ll know what to say to help that person. That´s what made this lesson so good. I was able to ask questions more naturally and converse more naturally. I also applied this to talking people I meet just walking on the sidewalk. It´s so cool watching people open up as you just listen to them, not thinking about anything you might say next. Thoughts will come to your mind, as it says in the doctrine and covenants. And the really cool part is that the thoughts that come to your mind, questions to ask that come to you, are your own--they´re genuine. 

Things are great over here. I sent a few pictures I took this week. One is

on the edge of Lago Sul (you can see the bridge deep in the background) and the other is

a picture I took while walking through Cond Itaipu (Elder Parada walking diligently ahead). 

Have a terrific week!

Love,

Bryce

Metro-Gospel Metaphor (Photos added!)

Hey Family!

What a nice avalanche of emails I see. My inbox is just over-flowing with elation from you guys. I´m glad to know people are happy and life is just as busy and crazy as normal. I´m looking forward to the pictures you sent! And I loved the ones you sent through email (especially the Halloween one. Thanks Ben, haha) Home hasn´t changed quite yet.

    Before I forget--
Mom, you´ll love this-
Today I was walking down the street on the way to get some lunch and someone parked on the side of the road said "Hey! over here! Come here!" I didn´t even notice what they said because I was in Portuguese mode--it takes a second to switch. But I looked over and a nice lady was getting out of her car with a huge smile on her face. She said "Missionaries! I´m from Utah!". She was so happy to see us (Elder Parada, Elder Dos Santos, and Elder Higbee) walking by. She said she is visiting her daughter who lives in Lago Sul and couldn´t pass up talking to the missionaries when she saw us. She said she does this everytime she sees missionaries. She took a picture and said she wanted to call our parents to tell them how we´re doing and that she saw us. I laughed and was so happy because at dinner Dad used to always take a picture of the missionaries and mail it to their parents. Her name is Carol and she´ll probably call you soon. Her son served a mission about 12 years ago and she started crying just talking about it. She is so nice and reminded me of Mom. She asked all the same questions Mom would ask about how we´re doing and such. So be be on the lookout for someone with a strange number calling you asking about me and asking for your email.

(See photos above and below.)

E. Young, E. Dos Santos, E. Higbee, E. Parada, Morgan and son

This week we visited a lot of people in Itaipu. We found a lot of new people to teach, which is exciting. We met two people, Cida, and her husband (not sure how to write his name), and invited them to church. They live closer to the church in São Sebastião so they went there instead of Lago Sul. The other missionaries that live with us accompanied them at church though. Cida said she has really good feelings about what we´ve shared with her about the restoration. It´s also been a cool experience watching people pray for the first time. It´s so great because you know they´re learning something that will bless their lives significantly. I´m also so humbled by the people that live in Itaipu. They work so hard just to provide for their family. And Cida and her husband don´t judge anyone. They are honest, genuine people.

Saturday I went with E. Moreira (Zone Leader who lives with us) to Gaurá for a baptismal interview with Antonio, a guy that wanted to get baptized that Sunday. I didn´t know Antonio but I met him that night. For those who aren´t familiar with what a "baptismal interview" is, it´s just a time to get to know the person getting baptized and to talk to them about their feelings, beliefs (or testimony, as we say), and to see how their doing in their commitments to follow the commandments. Antonio can´t read or talk and he can´t understand very well because of a mental condition he´s had since birth. E. Moreira related his experience having a baptismal interview with him. His Mom acted as sort of a translator because she understands him better than anyone else. E. Moreira talked to her and she would relate it in a way Antonio could understand. If it were a question, Antonio would reply to E. Moreira. E. Moreira said he couldn´t understand what he said, but he didn´t have to because he could feel so strongly what he wanted to say. Just meeting him, I could sense Antonio´s happiness and spirit. He might not be able to read or write or understand very well but I´m pretty sure he could feel better than anyone that was there. I know the gospel is for everyone. No one is excluded from the blessings of it.

On the way home, because of this, I was in a more speculative mood than normal. We took the metro back home and I thought as I looked out the window as the metro beside us left the station. While it was moving, I couldn´t tell if our metro was moving or if it was staying still. I thought of all that point of relativity nonsense I learned in school for a little bit and then I shifted my attention to a different window where a cement pillar was stationed. When I saw the pillar, and that we weren´t moving away from it, I knew it was only the other metro that was moving and my mind finally stopped messing with me. Because I was mixing my thoughts from this experience and thinking about Antonio, the metaphor machine in my brain started churning and I thought about the relation that cement pillar had with the gospel. The standards and commandments given to us by the prophets and apostles act as a stronghold and a point of reference for us while we move quickly through the tunnels (haha, metro/subway tunnels) of life. Without the pillar as a point of reference I really didn´t know if I was moving and I felt unbalanced and uncertain. Because the scriptures and the modern revelation of our day are ever present, they act as an excellent guide for our lives.

Speaking of modern revelation, General Conference is coming up and I´m super excited. I think I´ll actually get to watch it in English too! Don´t forget to lay out my conference bingo card and tell me if I win!

Have a delicious week,

Elder Young

It rained in Brasilia!

Hello!

It hasn´t been too long since the last email, but I have a few cool things to talk about.

We visited Eduardo on Thursday and he shared an experience about repentance that I think got him to realize a little more the importance of faith. We also met his family. They´re are really nice and there is something different about them. Just like Eduardo they are all genuine in the way they act. I really hope they come to church soon because I know they´ll love it.

Maria (João´s mom) went to church on Sunday. She got to know the ward a little bit and she shared a lot of her beliefs and feelings during class.

Yesterday we got to know some more of the members (Lago Sul is a relatively big ward). We ate dinner with Kurt and his family of 5 kids, and with a guy named David who just moved into the ward. In Lago Sul you see a lot of people who stay here for a determined duration of time at the embassy. David and Kurt both work with the embassy and will only stay for a determined amount of time. David is from BYU and is about to graduate. He also worked at Geek Squad and Apple so it was fun to talk to him about techy things and our funny experiences at Geek Squad. Kurt also works in the IT field doing web development and programming. I´m amazed that I´m finding people like this that have a lot of good advice for things I love. It´s great to work with the members here.

Oh and  just so you don´t worry about my dying from the heat, it rained on Friday. It felt wonderful. When it started I just stood still and got soaked for 5 minutes.

Considering it´s only been a few days, I don´t have much more news. But everything is just swell!

Love,

Bryce

Brasilian Zoo [Pictures!]

Hello Family!

This week was the hottest week since I´ve been here. Oh my. BUT! It doesn´t really bother me. I just feel like I´m in Arizona a little bit. :D

Eduardo came to church again this Sunday and we get to meet with him tomorrow in the afternoon. I always look forward to talking to him. During sunday school he asked a lot of questions and related that he understood the subject of vicarious temple work a lot better. He met some members and had good conversations with them too. 

We recently found a new sub-area in Lago Sul that looks very promising. We found people to teach just by walking around. It´s not gated and closed off like all the other places in our area so it´s easier to talk to people. 

We haven´t been able to teach Maria Rita recently. I really hope we can soon because her and Felipe are so humble and I can see directly how the gospel can affect them positively. Thank you for your prayers.

During the afternoon we have been visiting members and less active members to get to know them. We visited the previous American gospel doctrine teacher in our ward. His name is Reuel. He´s 68 or so, and served his mission in Brazil so he knows Portuguese. We met to discuss good ways to go about teaching Eduardo. Reuel is so cool. He gave us excellent advice and has a wealth of knowledge about the scriptures. He shared an experience about receiving personal revelation through pondering and praying about the scriptures that I learned a lot from. 

João is still as great as ever. He´s helping us teach new investigators and helping us teach his mom. His mom still hasn´t come to church and is shying away a bit from making a change but we´re hopeful and João is helpful in our lessons with her.

We visited with a less-active member, Raul on Saturday. A few weeks ago he attended a family night in the house of a member. That night we had talked about the iron rod in Lehi´s dream. When we met with him this time he brought up the story without us prompting it so I can tell he has thought about its importance. I asked him to read Mosiah 2 so we could talk about it the next time. I think he has realized what role the Book of Mormon used to have in his life and how he has missed it. 

Until next week!

Love, 

- Bryce

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Elder Young goes to the Brasilia Zoo with his District

Zoo Entrance

"Hi 911?  An amazon tiger is trying to scare me."

Brasilian Giraffes

Portugese Speaking Zebra

Amazon Elephant

Greetings Once Again!

Greetings once again!

First, thank you for your prayers, I have never felt the reality of unseen help as I have this past month. I´m so happy everyone is well.

We have in our apartment slash house a big stack of Ensign and Liahona magazines. It´s great to read the talks given at general conference and see the principles within directly applied to my experiences. I especially love the talk Concern for the One by Joseph B. Wirthlin that I found this week. Reading the Ensign, I´ve found, is a great way to practice and learn Portuguese while reading something very applicable. After reading many talks this week and being in the homes of many families, I want to echo Elder Robert D Hales in saying **The more I live, the more I recognize that the teaching moments in my youth, especially those provided by my parents, have shaped my life and made me who I am**. Thank you Mom and Dad for always making sure we eat dinner as a family and always taking the time to highlight gospel principles daily. The more I reflect on my experiences in my youth and experiences I have with people here, the more and more I appreciate the foundation I have been blessed with.

This week we taught Eduardo, Maria Rita, and Raimundo. I don´t know if I mentioned Raimundo yet. Ahhh, he´s so cool. He works at the entrance to the condominium of a member. He loves to talk to us (for work, he sits in the same room alone for almost the whole day) and he loves to ask questions and listen to us talk. He is getting married soon so lately we´ve shared what we believe about families and about eternal marriage. He says he appreciates our visits a lot and is always open to talk.

Eduardo continues to amaze me. Since Sunday he has been staying up late (sometimes till 3AM) reading the Book of Mormon and searching for answers to his questions. He has a huge desire to learn and really likes the Book of Mormon. He has a lot of questions. He is very logically oriented in his way of thinking and knows the scriptures very well. Our conversations with him are always fantastic. I learn so much from his perspective. He is out of town this week but he says he´s going to continue acquainting himself with the church and attending church to learn as much as he can and to evaluate more. He doesn´t just talk, he does. And I am so excited to continue visiting him.

Maria is so great. I love her family (Mom of João ). We watched The Testaments with her (about Christ´s visit in America) and she really liked it. When we have the chance to teach her (sometimes it´s hard to find a time to meet with her) it always goes well. We also gave a Book of Mormon to João´s brother and explained what it was. Experiences at their house are always great.

Until next week!

Love,

Bryce