Dec. 2, 2009

Hey Everyone!!!! How are things going? I hope that everything is going great. I sure did miss you all on Thanksgiving and on Saturday…..wanting to see the BYU vs. Utah Game. But I am glad to hear that BYU pulled off a close win. It is always good to hear that they win the big game. It doesn’t matter if they lose all their games in the season, but if they beat Utah, it’s a good year. But I sure hope that everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving here was just a normal day for the American missionaries; no one in Brazil even knows what it is. But they don’t know what they are missing out on. But things here have been going really well. It seems like I am going to be able to finish my mission on a good note. The trunkiness is going away, I think that it was just a phase. But yeah….This week my companion and I had a pretty good week. We worked hard, found a few new people to teach, and we had two baptisms. The baptism on Sunday went great. We had a little bit of a problem with the bishop because he wanted to change the time of the baptism but no one wanted to listen to him so it started when everyone else wanted. My companion and I were willing to do whatever the bishop said but the rest of ward was against him. But the baptism was very spiritual like always. We planned the baptism and it went really well. I was the only missionary that participated in the program. I sang a special musical number and I baptized the women. But the other elders just sat back and enjoyed the baptism. But it went really well. The people we baptized were an awesome couple. Their son is a member and had been talking to them about the gospel for a long time and after insisting that they visit for such a long time they finally decided to go to church and they received a testimony of the gospel. They went to church about four times and then told us that they wanted to get taught by the missionaries. We hadn’t talked to them in the beginning because someone had told us that they were already being taught by some other elders because they don’t live in our area. But the elders didn’t want to go to their house. So they came to our chapel to be taught by us. And on the first visit they wanted to be baptized and they did get baptized. I really enjoyed teaching them; it was blessing that the Lord gave to both me and my companion.I also received a pretty big surprise on Monday. We went to Zone Conference and I enter into the chapel and sat down next to one of my old companions, Elder A. Oliveira, and we started chatting and then I heard some say my name behind me. So I looked back and I saw Abelardo, I don’t know if you remember him. But he is a recent convert that one of my companions and baptized when I was in São José. Well he was there at the conference because he is going to serve a short time mission because he is preparing to serve a mission. He was the young man that we baptized after having to cast out a demon, I think you remember. But he his really good and now is going to serve a mission and we are serving in the same zone together. It was really cool seeing him there at the conference. I can’t even explain the joy that I felt when I say someone that I taught and baptized being a missionary. The blessing that the Lord gives to missionaries are amazing and you can’t receive these types of blessing doing anything else, only on the mission.But the Zone Conference was really good too. President talked a lot about The Book Of Mormon and how we need to testify more about the Book Of Mormon in our listens and we need to use it more. Because in Preach My Gospel it says that we should teach about it in the first lesson, but most of the elders don’t teach it until the second visit. Because a lot of people don’t take care of it and it seems like a waste to give one to somebody and then they throw it away or don’t read it. But President said that we should always teach it in the first lesson. Only if the Spirit tells us not to we should. I really enjoyed the spirit that was felt at the conference and what I learned. They also put together a video of the Talk that Elder Jeffery R. Holland gave about the Book of Mormon at General Conference. It went really good. And as for today my companion and I are going to go the party that the member family is going to put together for me and then at night two other families said that they are going to make me cake and have a little too. So I get not just one party but three on my b-day. That is how special I am, the people love me.  But things are going really good, just having a hard believing that I can now buy beer in the States. I feel like I am getting old. And I am starting to feel like I don’t want to go home at the end of my mission. I think that I am just going to stay here. I already feel like Manaus is home. I love it here and I love the people, I already have tons of people that say that I am a member of their families and I already have a Brazilian mother. And I can find myself a wife really fast here. I have got everything that I need. So I don’t think that I wanna come home. Just for vacation…..jk. But I really do love it here and am going to miss it a ton when I have to go home. But I miss you all too much. But I hope everything is going good for everyone, I miss you all.Mom, well it sounds like thanksgiving was pretty cool for you guys, I worked. But I am glad to hear that it went well. I love you all and I am looking forward to see you all again pretty soon. And I will be able to call home for the last time on the 23rd. because that is when we are going to have our Christmas program and president wanted us to call home on this day. But if it is a bad day he said that we can call on a different day too. But yeah, apply to those schools as soon as possible for me. But I love you and I miss you and thank you for the happy birthday, I am getting old. But I haven’t gotten your present yet but I think that I will get it pretty soon. But I love you and will talk to you next week. 15 more P-Days
With Love, Elder Jory B. Spotts