Drenched by rain but feet are dry!

Transfers are next week, so I'll find out next Monday. Most likely I'll stay and get a new companion. About time Spencer got his Driver's license! Spencer really does look super young to be at Clark College. But I also looked pretty young when I was there and it didn't really bother me. In fact I still look young, everyone here things Elder Roman is a lot older than me, and they say that I look like I am 16-18, maybe 19. I suppose that's a good thing for when I get old...

The Ducks game sounds intense! 49-0 shutdown?! Of course it was Autzen stadium, but still I was pretty concerned with the Duck Defense after they lost the National Championship two years back. Hopefully this year will be much better ;). Who's Number One? Alabama? I know its probably some SEC Scumbag, but hey its good to know who the Ducks have to beat this year.

Its funny that you mentioned that Sherry said Missionaries that serve in foreign countries need an adjustment period, because I still feel like an American, like I've never even thought, "Oh after the mission I'll need a couple months to get used to America again". Its probably true though, after the mission I'll miss the food in Brasil a lot. Fortunately I'm compiling recipes one by one for when I get back. Let me tell you, there will always be Condensed Milk in my house after Brasil. They use it in EVERYTHING here, well at least all the sweet stuff.

Thank you for changing the names on the blog, I wouldn't ever want to betray the trust of my friends here in Brasil because of that.

The Nike Waterproof boots (link for those interested: http://www.footlocker.com/product/model:25338/sku:65031009/nike-acg-air-max-goadome-mens/black/black/&SID=7111&inceptor=1&cm_mmc=SEM-_-Engine-_-Google-_-Plusbox ) work like a charm. I wear them every single day, and my feet have never been more dry. Also my feet never get too hot in them, I really have no idea how they work so well, I'm just glad they do. Also when it rains here it POURS, its never just a dry mist. Last Monday and Tuesday it rained buckets all day and night. Some people's houses were flooded in a different part of Gravataí, because of the storm. Also we get a TON of thunderstorms here. It's soo cool, someone in our ward said that there were over 2000 lightning strikes in Rio Grande Do Sul last weekend, and I totally believe it. The only problem is the wind breaks umbrellas here Super easy, I've already broken 4 umbrellas and I refuse to buy more. Unfortunately that means I eat a lot of rain walking around the streets, and that in turn makes a person a little sick. But I'm still living which is good.

Fortunately its officially Spring time here, which marks the end of my year-long Winter. I'm finally getting to see some sort of hope of Spring/Summer once again :D.

Last week was pretty hard for us missionaries. We had 2 days of rain, (which is the worst when you have to work in the rain), and also 20th of September is the biggest holiday here in the south. Its the day that started the Farropilha revolution when Rio Grande do Sul tried to seperate from the rest of Brasil. Holidays are also really hard days for missionaries because everyone is Drunk and doesn't want to talk with you, or even worse the people are drunk AND want to talk with you, but at least it makes for some fun contacts :P.

I had two pretty cool experiences last week that I'd like to share with you. Last Monday we lost our cellphone in the rain, as well as all our contacts (which were on the cellphone), so its been pretty hard to coordinate with people and mark appointments and the like. Saturday morning I woke up and was getting ready for the day when I had the distinct impression, "I really should put the number of Sister and President Wright in my planner just in case something happens. It would really suck to be stuck somewhere without a phone and without their number in an emergency." Of course being me I then thought, well nothing ever happens to us, but just in case I'll write down the number of the other Elders and if anything happens I can call them and ask them for the number to President and Sister Wright, or whatever we need. So I wrote down their number and went on our day. After lunch Elder Roman comes up to me and says, "Elder I'm really not feeling good. I am in a lot of pain right here in my tooth." Fortunately I had wrote down the number to the other Elders and was able to talk with them and get Sister Wright's number in order to find out what we needed to do to help him out. After about 3 hours we found ourselves a dentist and he was able to clean out the tooth and fix the problem. I really didn't think much of the impression that morning, but it turned out to save Elder Roman a lot of pain and suffering because I listened to what the spirit had to say.

Sunday we had an amazing lesson with S. She went to church yesterday for the third time and really is liking it, but still has a lot of questions and doubts. We went there last night with the intention of marking the date of her baptism and brought a member, R, with us. We decided it would be best to teach about Apostasy and then share the scripture of Acts 19:1-6 that talks about how people were baptized once, but were rebaptized to receive the Holy Ghost, because she had been baptised once before in the Baptist Church and it was a really spiritual experience for her. We started to teach her and R talked all about Apostasy and the necessity of being baptised once again by authority and to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. After about 40 minutes in the lesson I reminded her of an experience she had had last Saturday. She had received an answer that the Book of Mormon was true, and I reminded her of just that. She told me that she could not deny what she had felt at that moment. I testified to here that really she had received an answer and the Spirit just enveloped the whole room. The power the filled the room is completely indescribable, as I bore testimony that the Book of Mormon really is true, and invited her to be baptised. She paused for a moment and then replied, Yes. We marked her Baptism for October 27th.

I love my life as a missionary, it really is hard, and there are days and weeks that just go absolutely wrong, but in the end the experiences we get to see, the changes and conversions that take place are worth every pain I have ever felt as a missionary.

All my Love,

Elder Henry