Wk 54 - Another Day... same old stuff

going to church

dinner with Helton & crew

the dinner again... with Lucimar, Lustosa, Helton...etc

in the street

At Zone Conference

Hump Day Package

Cleaning the roof shingles

Rodrigo and his family...

We are teaching his mom Francisca

matching ties...how cute!

at Stake Conference

Area: Teresina-Satélite
Companion: Elder Bailey


Well hello again.... It´s been a while. Man i am so tired right now so if this email is a little all over the place... forgive me.

So like i said, last tuesday we had Zone Conference. It was a good one... Elder Bailey and Elder Crittenden gave their last testimonies because it was their last zone conference. After zone conference we visited Dailane then visited Ywério and his mom Benedita. Benedita went to church on sunday so we are trying to help her know the church a little more. Then we went up to Maria das Graças and we talked to her husband, who is not a member, about prayer... we challenged them to pray that night together and it was pretty cool. We really went up there to tell her that we were going to pass by the next day to wash the roof shingles again.

Wednesday we went to Maria das Graças to help them wash shingles again. We then went to lunch at Rosalene´s house which was pretty good. We met her neice there named Luana. We started teaching her and she said she was going to go to church on sunday... but didnt because it was stake conference in the center. Then we talked to Carla who has been struggling lately. For some reason she stopped going to church and stuff... so we are trying to help her come back. I think it is because her sister Ana has a very cool store now and Ana stopped going to church so now carla is a little jealous. ugh... We had a good visit with Francisca, who is Rodrigo´s mom. She has some very big problems to fix before she can get baptized, but she is progressing well. We had a little visit with Fernando, the less active guy, then we had a member call us over to eat some pizza which was very nice.

Thursday was the same old stuff, just a new day. But, i have been studying Jesus the Christ and im almost done. I have learned a ton and i really think that book is making a difference with my thoughts and how everything is starting to focus more on Christ.. its sweet. And i can understand the new testament a lot more now...incredible book. well, we went to meet with Ana after lunch, but she wasnt there so we talked to some of the kids that were baptized. We talked to Benedita again, ywério´s mom, about the Book of Mormon this time... I read today the talk given by Holland when he talked about his testimony of the Book of Mormon... that book is so important.... and if these people just read and understood it, it could change their lives. Then we talked to Manoel and Maria and Pedrina who was also there. they are doing good. We then tried to find a reference, but just ended up talking to a bunch of people in the street. We met with Italo´s family, but the dad wasnt there, but it was still a good visit. And to end the night we visited Dailane. She is doing good... she is seperating from her husband though, so that has been a little hard.

Friday was lunch at socorrinha´s.. as always. It was another good lunch there, then after lunch we headed to the doctors. My comp has a little sore on the botton of his foot so he went to go check it out. The doctor told him it was a little hardened skin that was hurting and told him it would be best not to walk very much for 5 days... haha! Ya right. President told him to follow the doctors orders...so This week we are going to try and not walk very much.. we´ll see how it goes. We had a good lesson with Francisca, rodrigo´s mom, again. She just kind of has one big problem. I think she is getting with this guy that is already married... It is very interesting and will be really tough to get out of. Getting a baptism here is rarely an easy thing.

Saturday was very busy and a long day. We started in the morning visiting a new investigator named Naiara. She has visited the church before so we went to teach her. Then we visited Ywério to see how he was doing. We then went home real fast and i made some amazing acerola juice... like it was really good. then to lunch, which was very good, then hit the ground running again. We visited two references, met with socorro to see how she was doing, then headed way up to Manoel and maria´s again to talk with pedrina... sadly pedrina has not prayed yet so we told her to pray about what we have taught so far and the importance of prayer. After that, we did a division with the elders from cidade jardim so that we could do an interview. I went with Rodrigues to Socorro´s house to visit with her, lucimar, and lustosa. We had a good time talking about baptism and i think that lucimar is very close... she just needs an answer that she is sure the church is true. And they gave us spaghetti after which made my day.

Sunday we actually got to study in the morning because we had conference in the afternoon. We went to visit Luana, from lunch on wednesday, and she said she couldnt go to church like she promised.. so we left the first message and told her to pray. Then we had an amazing lunch at irmã Jaqueline´s, who isnt even a member, and visited them. They are a sweet family. We then went to conference and in the middle of conference they asked the missionaries to give up their seats so people could sit down cause there was so many people of there, so i missed the last our of the conference. We took the bus back to our area and went up to visit Rafael.. who is planning on getting baptized on Saturday... just that he has to give some stuff up first... concerning the law of chastity.. he is like 18 and we taught him that lesson and he just was jaw dropped and is having second thoughts about baptism now.. its gonna be a tough one.

Well that was my week... im pretty tired and i think we are just gonna chill at home today. hope you guys have a good one.

Elder Smoot

Wk 53 - Officially on the downhill...

Area: Teresina-Satélite
Companion: Elder Bailey

Well... officially hit the year mark and am on the downhill... sorry about taking so long... we went to the lan house yesterday and all 4 of them in the area were busy and then some... it was pretty annoying, but nothin we could really do.

Last Tuesday i started with the everyday routine... wake up, do some little exercises, take a shower, and get ready. We had District meeting, again, but it was pretty nice and chill.. at least we have a good district. We had a pretty good lunch then we went to talk to Renata and her husband kaká and also their sister paula. They are all kind of willing to listen but they arent changing anything in their lives... so they have been kinda hard. But i think they will finally get Paula in a clinic for her drug abuse, so thats good that bishop is working on that. Then we talked with Jó, who is really funny recent convert. Good guy and just super chill. After that we took a long walk to the salon to teach Dailane with her two friends Lucilene and Oscarina. They are awesome people and oscarina went to church on sunday and lucilene lives in a different area and is talking to the elders there. Then to end the night right, we had a visit with Lustosa, our recent convert, with Lucimar and Socorro. They are all doing pretty good, and Helton was there.. they are just good friends so i really like teaching them and we have a good time.

Wednesday was my last day of the year.. exactly a year ago i was set apart. In the morning we left to go help Maria das Graças with a service project while she made us lunch. We cleaned a few hundred tiles, which are like a ceramic stuff, and it was alright. She made us a good lunch though so that was nice, and she insisted on us taking a nap after lunch like the rest of brasil and put up two hammocks for us haha. Such a sweet lady. Then we talked to Manoel and Maria because they live close and Maria just had a baby on sunday i think. It was a little girl and they were very happy. After that we went home to shower and get all ready and we went to visit Fernando, who is a less active that we are visiting now. He came to church the last couple of weeks and it has been good for him... he is a little wierd, but we are here to help everyone. Then we visited Dailane because she was feeling a little down, but we just come in happy and tell a couple jokes, leave a quick message and we left her a little happier... thats why i like being with bailey. We know how to make friends, have a good time, and do our job. If you arent happy... you arent doing it right.

Thursday I made it... I was officially on the downhill. We went to the doctor in the morning to make sure Bailey´s ear was fixed... everything was good and he even gave the guy a book of mormon... i thought that was pretty cool. We had a pretty good lunch at bishop´s house and i got to play on the wheelchair again, because it is the bishop´s daughter. We had a visit with socorro who is doing ok.. not sure if she understands everything yet, but she is getting there. We met a new girl named Luana who accepted the message very well.. You can just tell when people understand, and she was understanding so it was cool. We talked to a pretty rugged dude that my comp wanted to talk to. His name was Tiago and he has a big old beard and is on crutches and we just wanted to see what was up... i guess he got hit by a motorcycle about a year ago and he just sits outside on the front sidewalk because he has nothin better to do... like most brasilians here. Cool guy though. We talked to fernando again, this time about the Conference talk on Desire... its a good one. And once again to Dailane´s house. To end the night, we went to Helton´s and visited his family.. he bought us a pizza and a coke... i love that guy. Good times.

Friday we had lunch at irmã socorrinha´s, like we do every friday, but this time was especially delicious. It had rice, beans, spaghetti stuff, mashed potatoes and a salad... really tasty this time. She is a cool lady and i enjoy being at her house. We talked to Rodrigo and brought him his baptism fotos. We talked to his friends as well... just that they are all like 10 years old.. but we gave them a picture of the baptism becuase majority of them were there. We also printed some pics for manoel and maria of their baby so we took those to them, then met a girl there that is helping take care of the house while the baby is still new. Her name is Pedrina and she was pretty cool. We talked to Italo´s family and then went to an activity at the church. The bishop gave the other elders money to buy candy and so they bought a ton and we had a big activity with members and non members and it went well, though very exhausting.

Saturday we had an amazing lunch and then went to visit Renata and Paula again... and again, not a whole lot of progress, but there are some good members in the house to help so im hoping one day they will decide to change. We were walking in the road and i noticed these 4 ladies with some very heavy groceries.. so i offered to help, we walked about 1km with them and then my comp asked if we could pass later to talk about the messages we have... she said no haha. But we say Josecléia there, who is the sister-in-law of a member so we taught her and told her we´d come back. After we met up with Naya to go visit Dailane, ya know to get some member integration going on, but Dailane wasnt home so we stayed and Naya´s mom, Irmã Iva, made some Maria isabel... it was amazing. Its rice with meat in it and it had a really good flavor. That family is really cool too.

Sunday we had church and Ywério´s mom came... which was cool. We are now teaching her and she is progressing well. We had Irmão Maon take us in his car to lunch, which is always awesome to ride in a car. And at lunch it was, and always is really good. He has lots of fruits. there was mangos, banana, pineapple, tangerine...etc. The fruits are so good and tasty. Then we tried to teach someone, but they werent home, so we went to a lady´s house and it is helton´s friends and Bailey had them buy stuff so we could make them an american dinner. We had beer can chicken, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, and a normal salad with ranch dressing... It was pretty dang good.... i miss food from home haha. We taught lucimar and socorro there and we talked serious about praying for baptism and stuff... it was cool, but we wont see them again till next saturday because they are working and studying now... but it was a great sunday.

Today... tuesday, we had Zone Conference and i did get my hump day package... good stuff. Thanks a lot! Love you mom.

Well have a great week. talk to ya later

Elder Smoot

The Mission Office

Playing on a wheelchair

Brazilian Money

Wk 52 - HUMP DAY already?

Rodrigo before his baptism

Rodrigo & friends at his baptism

Area: Teresina-Satélite
Companion: Elder Bailey

Well it has been quite the week... Me and my comp have been here for 19 weeks together and we are still goin.

Tuesday we had District meeting... like we do every week... This time the other elders came to our area so that we could do our interview with Rodrigo after the meeting. In the district meeting i gave a doctrine about enduring to the end... cause that is what most of the people we baptize have problems with. Then we had Rodrigo´s interview and then we had to go the the ENT doctor for my comp... and i decided to see him as well because my throat was hurting.. It was a very cool doctor and hospital place and bailey got some meds and i got some stuff for my throat.. After the doctor, we were already too late for lunch at the members, so we went to the mall and bought lunch at Subway! It made my life. I got a 6 inch meatball (it was the special that day) and a chicken breast. I even bought a frozen yogurt afterward. I cant tell you how much i miss the food at home now... i forgot how good it was. After lunch we headed back to our area and we taught ana, a recent convert, then Carla. Both of them were very stressed when we got there and we just joke a little with them then leave a message, and they always are a lot happier when we leave.. it is pretty incredible the difference.. Then we dropped a book of mormon off to one of our investigators named Socorro and then we went to Paula´s house... She lives with a family of members and she is also a member... just that she is away from the church and now sells drugs and has two kids with no dad.... so we have been trying to help her. And to end the night we went to visit Marcynha and her friend... And we were told that the first counselor to the bishopric of our ward disappeared... it was very wierd.

Wednesday we had lunch at the members house that had disappeared.. There was lots of members there to help and they made a lunch for everyone and it was just a little wierd... This member just disappeared at 6 in the morning when he was going to work.. his wife and two kids are still at home. Anyway we went home real fast and i tried to make cookies, but i left them in the oven to long and they turned out black... Bummer. (but i made some on saturday and they were really good) We visited Rodrigo again to make sure everything was all good for the baptism on saturday, then we got a call from this lady, Dailane´s mom, whose husband had ran away as well and wanted our help.. She had never met us before but knew who we were because we baptized Dailane.. anyway, she asked for us to pray for her.. we came back on thursday and she was doing a lot better. We then went to Manoel and Maria´s house, and maria is 9 months pregnant so we have and will be visiting them often. Then we went on a 45 min walk to the other end of the area and bought my comp some meds and stopped to talk to Dailane and her friends at the salon where they work. On our way home we stopped to talk to Renata, who lives in a house with members and her husband is a less active but she is just getting to know the church so we are teaching her.

Thursday we went to bishops for lunch. So the member that disappeared is his son in law. And his first counselor... so i guess the man that disappeared had called and said he was ok.. and that he thinks someone is trying to kill him so he ran away... it is a very interesting situation... and he is still not back. Anyway, we then visited Paula again... to make sure she stops with her drugs and stuff... but she keeps leaving at night to sell them and stuff... its easy money. So we are still trying to help her. Then we visited a member named Maria das Graças. She is a sweet old lady that loves our visits and always gives us juice and crackers when we come. really cool lady. We visited Dailane´s mom again and she was doing better, as i said before, then went to Manoel and Maria´s again. To end the night we visited Lucimar, Socorro, and Lustosa with Helton... They are an awesome group of people and it is pretty fun there.

Friday we went to lunch early because Irmã Socorrinha wanted me to make pancakes for her... she received some syrup and wanted to use it. After that and after we ate lunch, we visited Daniela... who is our old investigator. She is doing good... but doesnt want to join the church because of her boyfriend. Then we went to visit Carla again because she was pretty stressed out. We visited Renata again and Paula... (they live in the same house). Paula is still selling drugs and it was hard to teach renata because she has a little kid and she is always helping the little baby and it starts crying and what not. but it was good.

Saturday we had a good lunch at Naya´s. Her mom makes really good food and any day we pass there her mom gives us juice and a treat... its awesome. After that we visited Rodrigo, cleaned the baptismal font and got our stuff and went to the church. We had a good baptism and a lot of rodrigo´s friends came... After the baptism we went to go see Renata to see if she prayed... it was a pretty good day.

Sunday we had church, and rodrigo was confirmed. A lot of rodrigo´s friends came again that arent members... it was pretty funny. We had lunch at Paulão´s, which is always amazing and then some. we visited Gina, who is a recent convert and wanted comfort because her grandpa just died this past week... We visited the Uruguai ward with an investigator named Rafael and also Dailane. After that we visited a less active named Fernando.. He was pretty interesting, but he hadnt gone to church for over a year, and for some random reason he showed up on sunday.. pretty cool.

Well sorry my week was pretty lame... i really dont know what to write anymore... But it was a pretty good week.. Lots of visiting and trying to solve people´s problems...

Hope you guys are having a good one and happy august. Cant believe im already hitting hump day this week! See ya in another year.

Love ya,

Elder Tanner Smoot

Wk 51 - Life in Satélite...

a cool family we met...

me and bailey by the river

Cool bridge thing

the river... i think river parnaiba

 guy playing an accordion in the street

Area: Teresina-Satélite
Companion: Elder Bailey

Well hey there...its been a while... i gotta say im kinda sick of writing emails haha, but mom i think you enjoy it at least so ill keep doing it... just cuz i love you.

Tuesday... Well we usually have district meeting, but my comp wasnt feeling very good... he´s had an ear infection all week and his throat was hurting so we went to the doctor in the morning. The doctor gave us a prescription to buy some really expensive stuff... so we did. Then we had lunch at irmã socorrinha´s.. or at least we thought we did. we started eating and someone called us saying that lunch was in another house... so me and elder bailey had to eat twice... im so sick of eating.. especially the rice and beans and stuff... i was enjoying it but now im just done eating for a while. We made friends with lots of people and they all give us food... ugh! Its so hard to down it all. We then talked to the coolest 10 yr old named Rodrigo. He told us he asked his mom about baptism and he told us he´ll get baptized on the 30th... pretty cool kid. We met up with João Paulo, but he said he is going to Brasilia for vacation (the students are out of school for a month right now). Then we met up with Italo and his parents. They are very cool people and we had a very good lesson with them. they are totally supportive of him in the church as long as he is doing the right things. Then to end the night, we went to Pauão´s house to teach his family english.

Wednesday we left early for an interview with President... It was pretty cool. He read the talk about desire from the last general conference, then we just talked about the area and how things are with my comp... all is well. We ended up goin to the doctor again for my comp.. he still wasnt feeling well when we talked to the pres, so he told us to go again, just to a different one, which did pretty much the same thing. Then we had lunch and talked to a man named Claudio. he is less active and his wife isnt a member... so we talked to both of them. They are cool, and she went to church on sunday! Then we talked to Priscilla, whose cousins are members, but she didnt go to church on sunday... bummer. We went up to talk to manoel and maria but just maria was there... she is 9 months pregnant so any day now she´ll have a baby... pretty cool lady. Then we went to a members house to give her a blessing... its a pretty common thing here. And to end the night we went to Helton´s to teach Lustosa, and Helton bought us pizza.. i love that guy.

Thursday we had a nice weekly planning in the morning... Lunch at the bishop´s house... Then to our visits.. as usual.. I think its funny mom that you think your lives are boring... nothing has really changed since day one. I do the same thing almost every day haha. Well we talked to Dailane´s, which was on the other side of town! It was far. Then we talked to Priscilla again. Pretty cool girl, but she doesnt seem completely interested. And that night we talked to Italo´s parents again. His dad asked to hear about life after death and it was an awesome lesson. He had lots of questions and he said he liked it and even said that he felt the church was true... pretty awesome progress. Then we talked to Rodrigo and it seems like everything is set for the 30th.

Friday we met in the morning with Dailane and some of her friends that work at the Salon with her. They are very cool and still love the visits... now we just gotta get them to church... but they are very cool people. We had lunch at socorrinha´s which was very good... at lunch, because she is a hair person, bailey had a squirt bottle and started sprayin people... it kinda turned into a little water fight haha. so about running through sprinklers... they dont really have any here.. but man it would be nice. We both got a little wet but we turned the water fight onto her little kids and got them all wet haha it was funny. They are a really fun family. Then we talked to Claudio again with his wife whose name is Renata. He was working on sunday but his wife went to church like i said. After we talked to a man named vicente, just one of our friends we say hi to in the road, then we headed to Rodrigo´s. His mom signed the baptismal form and it went well... pretty sweet. everything is set for him on the 30th.

Saturday we went to lunch and they asked us to go get a member and bring her to the house... this because she is in a wheelchair. We brought her over and then i played in her chair haha. I got pretty good too. I can wheelie forever now which is something i have always wanted to do. Then we talked to some friends in the street, but they didnt go to church... so much for that. A couple appointments fell through.. and we figured out that Priscilla doesnt live here, she was just visiting her mom... So We made a contact in the road and talked to this lady for a while... it was pretty cool. We talked about how there are so many churches... but only one God and one Jesus... so why so many churches? anyway, it was fun. Then we talked to a recent convert and ended with Italo´s family again... and they gave us food... ah man im sick of eating some days... but you just put down whatever they give you.

Sunday we had church.... or i should say we were going to go to church, but on the way there Elder Bailey decided to have a dog run at him and bite him haha. So Elder Gessel told him to call Sister Dias... she told elder bailey to go to the hospital... we skipped church to go to the center just to have a doctor tell him to wash it well haha. it was funny. Then we had lunch and we went to visit some less actives and recent converts... We visited Ana who said she gave up on the church.. then to Carla who said she is going to a new church now... its amazing how much can happen in one week... but she started crying and wanted help.. we just gotta get her back to church. The we visited the Uruguai ward with Dailane and talked to Mayara on the way home...

it was a busy week and today i heard there was some transfers... just not us.. I guess im supposed to stay here with Baily forever. I think its just because we get along and maybe President wants him to be happy out here on the mission.. he has had some very hard companions so its nice for both of us... just we both want a new area now haha.. but the people are awesome and we have lots of friends now so there is that part we dont want to leave behind... so i dont know... good thing we dont make the decision.. we just do what we are told.

Well it was a good week.. have a good one.

Elder Smoot

Wk 50 - My weekly letter

Lustosa's baptism

-baptism... Lustosa... Helton... Helton´s sister

with elder Rodrigues in Cidade Jardim

division in Cidade Jardim.. playing volleyball

-Cassio.. left on the mission this week.

the flute playing indians...Live! It was pretty funny!

In the street in my area

Area: Teresina-Satélite
Companion: Elder Bailey

It was a pretty awesome week.... we had a miracle baptism and we had a good time....

Tuesday we had a pretty good lunch at Edna´s house... after which we met up with Gleiciane and her mom... she is 8 and her mom is an old less active member that hasnt gone to church for a while.. then we talked to ywério who is still doin good... and then we talked to his friend Italo who we baptized last week and we gave him his baptism pics. We talked to Rodrigo who is a smart little 10 year old and has been going to church with us for the last few weeks... his mom is also less active but wont let him baptize yet... Then we contacted a girl named Mylena... pretty funny because she was a reference that a member gave us... just that her dad came out and told us they are catholic and dont want anything to do with us... so we talked to her real fast and it was cool. Then we talked to another reference that was a contact and he was pretty cool. His name is João Paulo and we talked to him and his dad... it was a good restoration lesson and man, every time i teach that lesson it makes more and more sense to me... Then that night we went and talked to Helton and his friends Lustosa and Lucimar... They are very cool and Lustosa was progressing very well.. we challenged her to live all the commandments and she has been doing it for the last week... the biggest problem here is to stop drinking coffee... but she did it.

Wednesday was a rough day to me... just one of those nights where you dont sleep so good... a little bit of an upset stomach and you are just tired... but we got up and at em and after lunch we talked to Carla, who still has some little problems, but we had a good talk with her about the importance of the church in our lives.... it was cool. Then we talked to her neighbor cleiton.. who is kind of revolted from the church... he was just baptized when we got here and just doesnt like to go to church anymore... its tough. Then we talked to Rodrigo again because he is a stud and then headed up to Manoel and Maria with Adão.. We taught a little lesson from the Liahona, then i started to help Adão learn to read because he doesnt know how... so that was a new experience. Then we visited with Dailane who is doing great and is really happy she got baptized.

Thurday we had a lot of appointments fall through so it was pretty tough... but we got a couple of lessons in... then at night all of the power went out from 4 o clock in the afternoon till about 9 at night... so we tried to go a few places and then a member called us and told us its better to stay at home because the streets can be a little dangerous when its so dark... but i wasnt too worried but everyone locked themselves inside their homes so we headed home a little early.

Friday morning we went to a beauty salon where Dailane works... So we went to teach her friends and it was pretty cool... And we heard after that like miracles started to happen... first visit we started talking about the coffee... because she asked... so she gave us money and we went to go buy her some... that instant we left, she got a call from an old costomer that wanted to come back... and the cool part was is that she said it was because we came and were teaching her... she wants to hear more, so im excited... it is incredible to see the miracles out here... So that was in the morning... after that i met up with Elder Rodrigues and Elder E. Ferreira and we did a division.. I went with Rodrigues to Cidade Jardim and Bailey stayed here in Satélite. It was a good day, we had some good lessons, and at the end of the night we went to the church to see if there was some investigators there.... We ended up playing a little bit of volleyball which was fun.. then a member gave us ham and cheese sandwhiches to end the night! Man i love sandwhiches. When we got home i played a little guitar that was in their house and when i slept i had to turn off the fan in the middle of the night and i woke up freezing!! best day of my life. Also that night Elder Bailey called me and told me that lustosa prayed about baptism and wanted to get baptized the next day... luckily we were doing a division and Elder E. Ferreira is our district leader and did the interview right then and there.

Saturday we traded back and i went back to my area. We had a good lunch and me and elder bailey sat and talked to a girl named Carla who wants to be baptized.. it was pretty cool.. except that she lives in the other elders area. but then we went to irmã socorrinha´s who cut bailey´s hair and helped me a little bit learn how to cut with scissors... Last time i used the trimmer on his hair he almost cried because ´i took too much off´ haha... just messin. But after that we cleaned the baptism font and i got a call saying that i was going to baptize her... so that was cool. We had another talk with Rodrigo the 10 yr old and his dad listened in as well which was awesome. Then we had Lustosa´s baptism and it was awesome. After we went to Helton´s for a little food which just added the cherry on top.

Sunday we had church and i had the opportunity to confirm Dailane... that was pretty cool. Here the confirmations are on sunday, not right after the baptism... Then we had lunch at Irmão Maon´s house. He is a funny and rich old man. he is the only person that has a car and will give us a ride... so he took us to lunch and we ate good. Then my comp was a little sick so we went home to get some medicine for him and then we had a few visits. We went to Dailane´s and we talked to her sisters... they are pretty cool. then we went to talk with Helton and another member named Maysa and their other friend Edna went to Sao Paulo so we had her sister Socorro there who is not a member. Anyway it was awesome...

I am enjoying my time here and i owe it all to my comp... We are doing well together and it is an awesome part of my mission.

Well make it an awesome week.... still havent heard anything about transfers but i know its coming soon... talk to ya next week.

Elder Tanner Smoot

Wk 49 - 3 baptisms... good week

"Well to be honest, the mission is a lot different than I thought.... it isnt always fun and games and its not an easy job... its pretty boring sometimes... but it is what it is.. there are missionaries that dont like to work and it is hard to be excited and leave the house everyday... missionaries aren't perfect people, but it is a great experience. I have learned a lot of dependancy and I am getting to know my abilities. Some days are really hard, others not so much... I kinda knew what was comin in the mission, but you don't fully understand it until you live the mission... and every mission is different.... I can understand why we need to serve though. It is an important part of my life and I will be forever thankful for it."

-Elder Tanner Smoot

Hurt finger

The stitches

The hospital

I noticed that our mirror was on the sink and was about to fall. so i ran over to catch it, logical, i just reacted and tried to catch it, but it was already partially broken. I caught it by the way, but the edge just sliced my finger right open... it bled a lot. So they decided i should go see if it needed stiches... so i went and he gave me one stich... haha. it was pathetic, but i enjoyed myself.

Dailane´s kid saw the baptismal font and wanted to take a bath... haha

Gessel's baptism wanted to take

a picture with us!

Italo's baptism

Italo , Adão... Irmão Manuel and maoelzinho

baptism - adão

Dailane's baptism

André leaving on the mission

(he is a member here)

Lunch at Juliana's house

RONE ... just arrested a guy, a bandit,

and everyone was watchin... nothin better to do

Everyone in our house..

took this pic from the display of Bailey´s camera

Area: Teresina-Satélite
Companion: Elder Bailey

It was quite the week... we had a lot of elders in our house, lots of people to visit and we got 3 baptisms with a week of busy work... im sure glad its over.

Tuesday we went in the morning with Elder Crittenden to visit Dailane... this because the Zone Leaders went to a meeting and Crittenden was gonna be transfered a little later that day. So we took him and he did the baptismal interview for Dailane. It went well and we had her baptism marked for saturday, but she called us later in the week and said it wasnt going to work because she wasnt feeling well.. Anyway, after the interview, we went to lunch at miguel´s, which we ate Cremosinhos which are always good. After lunch, we went with Crittenden to say his last goodbyes then he left to his area and me and bailey went to work. We visited Jo, a recent convert, who is doin good... he is a really funny guy. Always just way out of what is going on. We went to Italo´s house and finished up his baptismal form and got it filled out... then went to Gleiciane and talked with her and her mom... (gleiciane came to church on sunday, her mom is a less active and her brother is active... she is only 8 though). Then we ended at Paulão´s house teaching english to his wife and daughter.

Wednesday we got a call from Dailane saying that her ex husband came in at midnight, kicked down the front door and took their dvd player somewhere... So we went there in the morning to fix her door... and we did a good job might i say. Then we went to lunch at Juliana´s... it was a very good lunch as you can see in the pics. Then we visited Carla, who is still doing alright... she struggles sometimes with the church, but she is doing good. We are helpin her out. Then we headed up to Manoel and maria´s to talk to adão. We were actually planning on changing his baptism date and pushing it off for a week because he still has a little smoking problem... but he insisted we do it this week.... and he hardly ever talks... so it was a very cool experience. Then we had our last goodbyes with André who is leaving for the mission.. (he is a member here). We came home to about 10 extra elders in our house and it was a horrible nights sleep... i guess president said it was the guests right to steal our fans so we were with out a fan.. and it was an exceptionally hot night... me and bailey took our mattresses outside and slept on the ground in the garage area... Then i was getting eaten by mosquitos, so i drenched myself in reppellent... i dont think i slept till about 2 am. it was a tough night.

Thursday we went out and i ended up doing a split with a missionary that was here for the leadership training named elder vitor (Very interesting but hard worker.... a member offered to buy us a coke and he refused saying we didnt have time... ah man i was thirsty but whatever). and bailey went with Elder Black (very cool guy from centerville ut i think) so we could do some baptism interviews. We talked to a girl named Aline who we used to teach and she accepted to be baptized... but we came back on Friday and she didnt want it anymore...Then we went up to Adão to make sure everything was good to go for the interview tomorow, and at this point i was back with bailey again. And later we met up with Helton to teach Lustosa and Lucimar- his friends. They gave us Hot dogs after so it was worth it.. long and hard day though.

Friday all of the elders finally left our house.. we had a good lunch at socorriha´s and then we went out... We met up at Adão´s to do the baptism interview... which went well. Then we met up with Italo and invited his parents to come to the baptism. We visited Aline, who i said pretty much gave up again... And then to Dailane´s house. At her house basically i have to dirstract her kid while we try to teach... its kinda hard. he is a crazy little kid. But we taught her and we had moved her baptism back another week.

Saturday i was in the shower in the morning and i noticed that our mirror was on the sink and was about to fall. so i ran over to catch it, logical, i just reacted and tried to catch it, but it was already partially broken. I caught it by the way, but the edge just sliced my finger right open... it bled a lot. So they decided i should go see if it needed stiches... so i went and he gave me one stich... haha. it was pathetic, but i enjoyed myself.. We got home and Bailey made me lunch... it was a really good hamburger with rice... very good. Then we went up to talk to Ywério and his mom. Ywério is Italo´s friend and so he went to the baptism afterwards. We went to the baptism, Adão and Italo both showed up, and even Italo´s parents who arent members came... that was really cool. Anyway, very good baptism and that night it rained a ton! First time in about 2 months. Elder gessel comes in just drenched and dirty... i guess he fell into a whole that he couldnt see because he was walking in the street/river and all the sudden he just fell into a whole hahaha. it was funny.

Sunday morning Dailane called and said she wanted her baptism today.... you dont have that happen very much... so anyway we went to church, and italo and adão got confirmed... awesome. We had a good lunch and then went to dailane´s... she did want to do it so we ended up going to Taquari and got our bishop up there and baptized her! Her son saw the font and wanted to jump in haha it was funny. We stayed during the Urugua ward meeting and it was nice. Then we met up with Helton again to visit with Lustosa. She is very cool and we just have to clear up any doubts she has and she´ll be baptized... really solid person to teach. By the end of the night i was ready to sleeeepppp.

So it was quite the busy week. Im glad we made it through and im glad its pday.... good stuff.

Love you and have an awesome week... until next time.

Elder Smoot

Wk 48 - Estou cansado... semana cheia de trabalha... que bom

Beautiful clouds & sunset in Brazil!

"The banana thing was the pudding you sent me...

i made it and it was amazing by the way! thanks."

some Brazilian money

Area: Teresina-Satélite
Companion: Elder Bailey

Well its been quite the week. I am very warn out right now.... but we got a lot done. We have the leadership training this week again and so we´ll have an extra 12 people in our house.... and Crittenden is getting transfered. Man im gonna miss him. He is a really cool person and an awesome missionary. We had some good times, as you can probably see from the fotos and videos. But he is only going to the center here in Teresina so im sure we´ll see him on P day or something.

Well last tuesday we started, as usual, with a district meeting. This one was pretty sweet. Elder Gessel and Elder Crittenden went with us as zone leaders. We had a really good meeting and i had to give the doctrine class is what we call it. Just like a ten minute training on something... so i did it about our pwer and authority of the calling we have. After our district meeting which was over in cidade jardim, we had a good lunch at irmã socorrinha´s, then went to work. We talked to Italo, who is Ywérios friend. He is doing good and we marked for his baptism on the 9th of July. He said the closing prayer and said that he really wanted to get baptized and asked God to let it happen.... that was pretty cool. He´s only 14. Then we talked to Lucélia, who is a lady we met that owns a lan house, and then we taught english at Paulão´s house.

Wednesday we had a morning appointment with Dailane, so we went there and talked to her and her sisters. We started talking about the importance of baptism and the gospel in our lives and she started crying and left the room.... i was trying so hard to focus, but my stomach was killing me... that was a tough lesson to endure... but it went very well. She accepted the baptism date for the 9th as well... Then we had to walk to the other side of town, the opposite end of the other elders area... but it was a good lunch so it was worth it. One day i would really like to ask God how many miles i walked on the mission.... it would be a lot. Then we went back to our area and we taught some recent converts who were having problems. Ana is always yelling and hitting her kids because they dont want to help her and ah man it is so hard to teach in that house. she said that God is everything in her life... but still hasnt been back to church. I believe you show what you truly are by your works. Then we talked to Carla and ended up talking to her sister Roberta. Carla is still good and we started teaching Roberta and she got all mad because she started going to the assembly of God church and doesnt like that we say the church of Jesus Christ is the true church... so she was trying to give us a hard time.... Then we hiked up to Maria das Graças house, who is a sweet lady in our ward. We try to teach her son who is about 28 and went to church once, but he is very hard. Then we talked to Manoel and Maria who are doing awesome. And we are teaching their friend named Adão... he is about 45 and we marked his baptism for the 9th as well.... just that he has a few problems to overcome first. Then we went to Lucélia´s house, and she has a computer so we had her look up some stuff on LDS.org and also Mormon.org. It was pretty cool to see someone here using that stuff... I was excited because dad works closely with that stuff. Then we went to Paulão´s again to help with english... by now they have only learned little frases and stuff... but its a slow process.

Thursday we had lunch at bishops house which was really good. Then we went to Welton´s house and taught him a little.. We actually had a lot of appointements fall through this day... which happens. But we got in with Italo´s parents, because he is young he needs their permission, and it was an awesome lesson. Helton, the member that served in Canada, borrowed us some church movies and it was sweet. We showed one that basically gives an overview of the church. The dad said that in that moment of watching the movie, he even felt the church was true... pretty cool moment and good words to hear as a missionary. So it looks like Italo´s baptism is good to go. Then we talked to Lustosa, who is Helton´s and some other members friend, and we had a good talk with her. And when we teach her, we always teach at a members house and they always give us food after! I love it. Then that night we taught a new person named Edwardo and his wife GG i think. They were awesome people and we had a great lesson... but they didnt come to church like they said they would so i was a little dissappointed... but we´ll talk to them again tonight.

Friday we had president show up to our house at like 9 in the morning... that was interesting. Elder Gessel was very very sick and was laying down... So it was good timing with pres and all. he talked to us for a little then we took off to do a visit and we had a good lunch and went on our way. Actually we went back to the house for a little because my comp wasnt feeling good.. but he layed down for a bit then we went out. We visited Rodrigo, who is a little 10 year old recent convert and his fam. We taught them, but they didnt go to church... Then we talked to Rodrigo, who is a 10 year old and his mom is a less active and we took him to church on sunday.. very cool kid. Then we talked to Lustosa again. she is making good progress and we challenged her to obey all of the commandments for 1 week. Which means she cant drink coffee.... everyone drinks coffee here and majority are addicted to it... so it has been hard for her, but i heard she was doin it! Pretty cool.

Saturday me and Crittenden cleaned the whole house and backyard and got it ready for the training we have this week.. then we went to lunch and Gessel just was dying when we got there... He didnt really eat anything and was in the bathroom of the member most of the time... so My comp took him home after lunch and i went with elder Crittenden. We had some good visits and then later they had a baptism and i went with my comp again. We went to visit Maria and Adão was there and it was sad cause he was drunk... Its gonna be a battle but i think we can still baptize him... we´re going to have to work with him a lot. At like 9 30 at night, crittenden and gessel took off to go to the hospital to help gessel out... it was an expensive taxi trip and they got home around midnight.

Sunday Elder Crittenden and Gessel went to the hospital again in the morning, this time with Sister Dias, and Gessel ended up staying with sister dias so she could take care of him and stuff... so i havent seen him since sunday. But dont worry he is fine, he just has a little thing he is passing through right now... just doesnt allow him to work. But we had a good lunch and i ate a ton.. man i have never eaten so much. I had 3 huge plates of meat, rice, salad, beans... all sorts of stuff... but it seriously took about an hour before i felt like my stomach wasnt going to explode.... it was awesome. That afternoon we went to Taquari with Dailane again and it was really good.... and man i was very tired by sunday night.... ready for p day.

Today was not that exciting.. which is a bummer. We were going to have a party for the 4th, but gessel got sick and we had workers come to our house in the morning to fix some things and we had a good 4 or so people coming to our house today... so it kinda didnt work to have a party... but we´ll try to do something tonight..

Hope you all had a great 4th... you know i´d love to be there... but im doin my best out here in Brasil. Love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Tanner Smoot