Week 25

Hey!

It sounds like everyone had a great New Years. I can’t believe that Jake’s playing sports and even skiing with his cast on. That’s so cool. He’s not going to let anything stop him from having a good time. I’m glad that dad was able to go to the party. That’s so funny to picture him with all the kids- he told me that Ryan came around the corner with dad’s digital camera. Ha ha ha that definitely gave me a good laugh.

Things here in Brazil are still getting hotter. Yesterday was the record high I think. On the news it said that it was just as hot here as it is in Manaus (Amazon). I had wrinkles on my hands from sweating so much. I’m definitely looking forward to winter time.

Yesterday was probably one of the most frustrating days because we walked all day and every one of our commitments and plans failed. We’ve been trying so hard in our area and there really hasn’t been much to show for our work. We had 3 people that said that they for sure would go to church with us and when we stopped at their houses they all said they wouldn’t go. It was especially frustrating when we walked around in the heat and every house we went to people said that we’d have to come by another day or another hour. I guess its all part of the work but I had my expectations higher than this for Brazil. I really hope and pray that we’ll be able to teach this week. I’ve really been able to grow a lot this week though. When something frustrating happens something good comes behind it. That’s definitely a theme I’ve learned here. You can’t expect everything to go exactly the way you want.

The people here in our ward are so nice. We have an awesome ward here. We really do get treated nice.

For New Years Eve I went to sleep pretty early. I was really exhausted. I was even able to fall asleep to the pounding bass coming from our neighbor’s stereo. It sounds like you guys had a great new year.

I can’t believe that Thomas will be 17 in March. That feels like yesterday to me. I think the best thing that could help someone prepare for a mission is to learn to do something that you don’t want to. One of the Apostles said that in order to grow each day you need to do at least one thing that you absolutely don’t want to do. Even if you leave on a mission without a big knowledge of the gospel, as long as you have a testimony that you can lean on and know how to work hard, than everything will fall into place and you can build up the other areas that you need to work on.

Well my companion and I have been getting along great still. He definitely doesn’t forget to remind me each day that he has 3 months left on his mission. I don’t let it bug me though. I really haven’t felt like I don’t want to be here on the mission at all. Even when times get hard like yesterday I’ve still had a desire to be here. The main thing that’s keeping me going is prayer, my testimony, and my family. I love you so much thank you for all your support and love. Have a great week!

I love you infinity!!!
Elder Fowler