Certinho! 7-7-14

well this week was freaking good! yes it deserves a freaking! haha 

so this week started out pretty normal, last p-day we played a ton of basketball, we played with our ward in the morning and then later that day we played with all the missionaries in our zone! that was super fun, but i was like an old man walking around for the next 3 days! i think im getting old or something! hah

i led my first district meeting this week! and i cant lie (because that would be a sin!) it was pretty good! haha but it was fun leading things for a change and we every one got real excited to work and stuff! it is really nice to be in a are full of excitement and faith compared to what was happening in Viçosa! its been a great change! 

this week we had lots of success finding new people to teach, we found 12 new people to teach this week and marked 10 of them to a date of baptism! so that was super exciting! it felt like after two weeks of working my butt off with no results finally paid off! it was great! this next week we should have the baptism of Ana Vitoria.. finally! hhaha after working with here for the last transfer and a half! but im really hoping that all goes well for that to happen this saturday! 

also did my first baptismal interview this week! that was pretty cool! felt some pressure but.. im pretty smooth so there were no problems there! ;) (dang sometimes i am so humble!) haha 

thrusday was the "welcome pres and sister gomes" meeting here. it was good, they seem cool but a little like greenie missionaries! it is a little funn! but im excited to see what i can learn from them! 

Sunday was good, we had 3 new people visit the church, so i was pretty psyched about that, only bummer about this week really is that i cought the cold on tuesday, and it hasnt gotten better yet! but other than that... life is pretty good here in paradise! 

Hope you all have a great week! it was awesome hearing for all of you! love you all and hope you all have a great week! 

Até mais!!

Elder Ryan

8 months... whoa 6-23-14

well this week will mark 8 months already.. that passed by freaking fast! haha but it is the end of the transfer here, and it passed by faster than all the others! it feels like time just goes by faster and faster everyday and i dont have any time in a day anymore! haha 

this week was a good one! not a whole lot to report on, nothing super funny or cool happened, but what do you do about it?? haha but the work is actually continuing surprisingly well! we arent teaching as many people as i would like, but things havent completely stopped like i thought they would this month! (except on the days of brazil games!) 

things are great with my companion! we really get along great and we joke around and laugh tons! really have been loving the area, just about everything here in our area! its has been really great! the work is as hard as ever and there are the stressors of that, other than that.. all is well in paradise! 

bought a basketball this week! today we played lots! hahah unfortunately i couldnt manage to dunk anymore.. that is a little sad!  haha but i think we will be playing every day this week for exercises! that should be great (shaw if you are reading this you will be sad.. because im not fat yet! hahah) 

well hoping that we will have 2 baptisms for this week... they arent super commited.. but hopefully all will work out well! sorry that this email is super lame and without lots of excitment! mas fazer o que??

thanks for the emails! love you all and hope you all have a good week! 

Elder Ryan

the weeks news!! 4-7-14

well this week was good.. i feel like i start every email with that phrase.. but só vai! 

we played basketball today. my first time playing basketball in like 4 months and it was great.. but im soo out of shape!! haha but it was a good time! miss playing ball every week! 

had another zone meeting this week, and it was really good! it was about staying excited and not losing hope! talked about how when we think about our achievements sometimes we feel like we have done enough, and that we need to only look ahead, to see what we can accomplish if we press on! it was really great! got us really pumped! talked about finishing the transfer (which will end this next sunday) strong and instead of thinking of it as a end to rest, but to think of it as a 100 meter dash, and just push it till the end! to was really good time. really enjoyed the meeting. realized how important attitude is! it really is everything! if you want something, go get it! hoping to finish this transfer strong! 

it looks like we will be baptizing this saturday! which i am super excited for! one of our investigators who we dropped, Manoel, we decided to give him one last shot, jsut to make sure! and what do you know!! he told us about how for the first time in 6 months of meeting with the missionaries, he had a desire to know if he should be baptized. and for the first time in his life he got a comfirmation that this was the path for him! it was way cool! and that is how it works! if you really want to know, if you show desire to know, then God will show it to us! was a great experience with lots of learning! sometimes we need to be persistant to help the people realize that really this gospel has so many good things to offer and enrich our lives and unite us! was a awesome! he watched G Con with us on saturday and he seems really excited! 

I realized that like no one here knows really how to read! and i realized just how important education is! knowledge is like so important, adn it helped me realize just how blessed i am to have been educated and have had so many opportunities to learn! one thing i think the mission has really helped me realize is just how good my life is! i really have had such a good life! Thanks Ma e Pa! you 2 are pretty great! thanks for every thing you have done for our family! 

well conference was real good! ( you could say that it was... CREAMY) hahah but i was phased for like the first couple minutes because it was in portuguesse.. which i wasnt used to when seeing the prophets face! haha but it was really good! feel like it was one of the frist conferences where i actually payed attention and learned soo much.. interesting how that works! who would of thought that attention would have led to more understanding?? not me!! hahah 

well that about sums things up on this end! hope that all of you are doing super good! miss all of you! especially the marti gra fam dinner! it is always the best one! especially because of the powdered sugar mess! haha 

espero que todos de vocês têm um semana muito bom! que vocês vão mandar muitos caixas pra mim!!! da missão é um experiencia muito boa com muito aprendendo! até próximo semana!! 

Elder Ryan

PS mom i got the package of valentines cards! it was awesome! thank you every one who wrote in it!!