July 15, 2009

Hey! How is everyone doing this week? I hope that everything is going well. It sure does sound like everyone is doing well. And so am i…things have been going pretty good here. We have been having some success and things have also been a little slow at the same time. But not a whole lot is going different. We had a pretty normal week this week. But let me fill you all in on everything. The assistants decided to come and visit us and work with us a little bit this week, so we worked with them for half of the week. Which was pretty cool. On Thursday we went to the jungle and we helped one of the members out. He just got down buying some land so we went to the land that he bought and we cleaned it up a little. We cleaned the house and we painted it and we cut the weeds in the front and we just cleaned up the yard a little bit. We actually ended up staying there almost the entire day. We even did some exploring in the jungle it was way rad. We cut down a bunch of bananas and we ate a ton of coconut and we had a blast. I was hoping to send some pictures but they are on my camera and I can’t take them off yet. But I will try and send some pictures some time soon. And I also forgot to tell you about some things that I ate these past few days. I ate Rocky Mountain Oysters, alligator, and cow tail. But I would have to say that alligator is the best out of the three. I actually think that alligator is one of the best meats that I have eaten in my life. I really liked it a lot; I even ate a ton of it…things that only happen in the Brazil Manaus Mission.And on Friday I had the best teaching day of the entire mission, I don’t know how…..but I managed to teach 13 lessons in one day. And usually I struggle to teach 5 or 6. I was also able to teach a few people that were really interested in our message. And one of my investigators said that he wants to be baptized and so does his wife. But they have to get married first, so we will have to help them out with that. But the work has been going good. I hope that it can keep going as good as it has.On Saturday we had three baptisms and the ward had two baptisms. Jessica, Jane Kelly, and Alzicleide we all baptized. They are Carla´s sisters and cousin. It was an awesome baptismal service; the only problem was that during the day some time the church ran out of water so the font didn’t fill up all the way. But we managed to get a hose and we pumped water from outside into the font so everything went great. The only problems with Carla’s family now are the parents. Apparently Carla´s testimony wasn’t enough. The parents have now started looking at the internet sites that talk bad about the church. So I am going to have some problems pretty soon, but hopefully sometime the mother will be touched by the spirit a little bit stronger. But I am not too worried because the girls have been showing a great example to their mother, they have been going to seminary and everything is going great with them. So I am excited about their progress and am a little bit worried about the parents.And well as of Saturday I also found out the Elder A. Oliveira wasn’t going to be my companion anymore. He got transferred on Monday and my new companion´s name is Elder Oxborrow, he is from Vegas and he just barely arrived from the MTC. I am his first companion and that means that I am training. I have now received the greatest responsibility that there is as a missionary, trainer. I am really nervous for that but I am also excited, it will be a new experience. But it is also going to be very difficult, because he doesn’t know anything; he only speaks a little bit of Portuguese. So I really need your prayers, so pray for me.But that is just about all that has been going on lately. My new companion arrived today and well that is just about it. But I am glad to hear that you were given the time off to be able to come and get me and I hope that Juston is able to come as well. I really wanted him to come too, because he really needs it. I just hope that he will be able to come, but we will see how everything turns out. And I am also glad to hear that Kaya is back with you, it sounds like she had a bunch of fun with Dad and his family in Alaska, but I hope that everything is going good for you guys and that you guys have a great trip to Blanding. Take some pictures and send them to me. Oh, and that reminds me that I need you to send me some things. My glasses broke and I think that I might need a new pair, I also wanted a copy of the May Ensign because I wasn’t able to get that from the Mission Office and they already ran out. But I think that is all that I need, but I hope that everything is going good and I wanted to tell you guys that I love you and I hope that everything goes great for you guys. Everything is awesome here; I am really enjoying the mission a lot more now. I love you and I miss you!
With Love, Elder Spotts
PS-Sorry this letter wasn´t as good as the last