Wow this whole Email thing is isn't as nice as calling and talking on the phone.

"...oh well, only 5 more months until we talk again... Anyways... Hey family how is everyone doing? I know I just talked to everyone like 4 days ago but still, any new and exciting things happen? By the way it was GREAT talking to you all. You all sounded great and I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing well...

...So I don't think I said in the email what we did for Christmas or Christmas Eve so I'll start talking about that. Down here, things are a little different. They don't wait for Santa Claus to pass by during the night and then get up in the morning and open presents. Down here, they have everyone together for Christmas Eve, have a huge party, wait up until midnight, and then open up all the presents. So because of the traditions, President told us all that we could stay at a member's home until 11 so that's what we did. Elder Moretti, Me, and the LZs Elder Melo and Peterson, all went to the stake patriarch's home. They're pretty well off, especially for Brasil, so there was a flipping feast there that we got to attack. It was amazing. I don't think I ever mentioned this, but down here Stroganoff is pretty big, they have it over rice, and so the Patriarch had stroganoff, with SHRIMP!!!! It was the first time I had seafood in like... 7 months! I was in heaven. Then eventually after we finished demolishing the main courses, we had dessert which had ice cream (which is pretty dang pricey down here) and cake and all sorts of goodness. It was amazing. Then eventually we went home aand got up for Christmas. For Christmas, I waited for 2 and a half hours while my comp called home (his mom is super clingy and wouldn't let him hang up) and then we went to lunch with the LZs again. This time we went to a different sister's house where she made even MORE food. Seriously, the main course had like 26 different things. It was ridiculous. And then we got to attack dessert, which was another 11 different dishes. Yeah, I was pretty much rolling out the door. But after that I went home and tried to call you guys, eventually we got in contact and after that we went back to work. Yup, Christmas for missionaries...

But now that Christmas is in the past we're back to working again. First thing that you guys should know is transfers happened again. (Already?!?!?!) I'm now serving waaaaaaay in the interior. Just kidding, I'm staying in Ponta Grossa for at least another 6 weeks. Elder Moretti is still my companion too, he's going to "die" the 19th of January so we don't really know exactly what will happen when he goes home but we'll worry about that in another 3 weeks. But yeah, we're going to keep tearing it up until he "dies". Speaking of tearing it up, we saw something really funny. We passed through a papelaria (paper store) ato buy a couple things. While we were there, we saw this person try to get out of being parallel parked. She slammed on the gas and rammed the car in front, then slammed the gas in reverse and hit the car behind. The she slammed on the gas again and scraped the length of her car along the bumper of the car in front as she left. It was ridonkulous. Seriously, the worst driving I have ever seen...

...Oh, we also had a baptism yesterday. Her name's D and her husband is a member... But I was in a division with another Elder and we ran by the chapel really fast so we could start filling the font and then we went to go finish the division. We got back to the chapel and we had a minor problem: the water was GREEN! Not a nice healthy looking green either, like sewage dark green. what we think happened was the Elders from another ward had a baptism and they tried to use the water heater to make the water hot. Problem is, the heater is broken and they were pumping pure gas in with the water, hence the green. D didn't want to get baptized in that water and I don' blame her. So we drained all the water, turned off the gas which was on, and started filling it again. Problem was, the water was green AGAIN. So we turned off the tap for the font and started filling the font with buckets. Yes, it was very, very slow. Eventually around 9:00 we had a kneeling baptism (what you do when the water level isn't very high- they kneel and get baptized kneeling) and it all worked out in the end. Yup, quite the adventure...

...But yeah that's basically what happened this week... I hope everything is going well for you all and that you enjoyed talking to me on Christmas as much as I enjoyed talking to you guys. I love you all."

HEEEEeEEeEeeeEllLLLlLLLLLLLLLLLLLoooo00000OOOOOOOOO

"...Oi Família! Tudo bem? Tudo otimo aqui! Como vocês estão? Estão pronto por Natal? Já terminaram suas Aulas? Okay I'll knock it off. But seriously, how are you guys doing?...

...Life down here is going well. Paraná (the state I'm in) is really Bi-polar. Its supposed to be summer but it got super cold and rainy. Like I actually had to bust out a jacket. Strange, I know. Its was pretty nice though, its the first time it felt kinda like Christmas- cold and wet- so I am kinda enjoying it. Did you guys watch the Christmas devotional? I hadn't really thought of home or anything trunky but then President Uchtdorf started talking about the Grinch and apple cider and leaving cookies out for Santa. It made me a little trunky. I also had to explain to all the Brazilians about leaving cookies out for Santa. Can you believe that they don't do that down here? They looked at me like I was weird when I explained it to them. Strange place...

But anyways, this week was a good week. Actually, it was a really difficult week- but that doesn't change that it was a good week. We are having a hard time finding people to teach and we basically did nothing but knock doors the whole week. I felt like Phil in Ireland- constantly getting rejected... But we also had Stake Conference here and that was sweet. President C came out from Curitiba (its about a 2 hour drive) to give a talk and we also had President A of the Seventy give a talk. It was great. They spoke a lot about missionary work and how they need to do more to help us. President A had all the full-time missionaries stand up and he told the stake to take a good look at us and that they have to do more to help us and when they do there will be more baptisms and that the church will grow stronger... after the conference was over Bispo came up to us and said that we all need to work together more and that the Ward needs us and our help... It was sweet. After that, things have started improving a lot. We have a new LMA who wants to work with us and we're starting a new program to work with the Home Teachers (I had to stop for a sec and remember the term in english... strange...) to help get inactives coming back to church and start completing NTM (Não total membros- families that aren't all members). I think things are going to start taking off from here.

...We also have 3 very solid baptisms marked. One will be tonight actually, her name is D... Well, with our new awesome Zone Leader, Elder Melo (Seriously this guy is a total stud. He has the same time on the mission as me and he's already trained and is a LZ agora.) who sits down with the families and help them understand how important baptism is and why they need to let their daughters be baptized. But so yeah, we are baptizing them all now that they have permission to be baptized. We also have another M marked for Sunday and we have a NTM that will be baptized after Christmas. Her name's D... But yeah, we're baptizing a lot here in Ponta Grossa right now. We just need to get more investigators and that'll happen as we prove to the Lord that we want to teach and baptize and be guided to the people that will accept the gospel.

Hmm... other things that happened this week.... On a happier note, I successfully made cookies again this week and shared with my comp and the LZs (they live like 2 minutes away). I made a ginormous pan cookie and it was sweet (ha ha... punny). I have also been making pancakes almost every morning. I also discovered that if you put in a little strawberry nesquick they taste like strawberries. Gotta love it when missionaries improvise...

Well fam I'm about out of time so I"m going to have to wrap this up. I'm doing well, the work is progressing and we're baptising a lot. I love it down here. I'm starting to understand what President Holland meant when he said that the mission was the best time of his life. I can't imagine doing anything else right now, I love where and what I"m doing. I"m super excited to talk to you all and I hope finals and everything will finish up without any problems for you all. Love you all and até mais..."

I can't think of a witty title for this email this week

"...Well this week was an interesting one. For starters, I'm in the process of trying to get over a fever. I've been feeling kind off for the entire week but I was doing my best to ignore it and keep working but last night we were at the house of a recent convert and I was like "Oh crap, this feels like a fever." After that, the symptoms starting coming on rapidly. I managed to stagger home and collapse into bed and now its a matter of trying to stay hydrated and get this over as quickly as possible. I don't like being sick..."

"...So this week have been basically nothing but knocking doors (well, down here they clap at the gate of the house but anyways...)...  But I know that there are people here who will accept the gospel when they hear it. Speaking of accepting the gospel, WE HAD A BAPTISM THIS WEEK!!!!!!!! It was pretty unexpected. I was on a division with Elder Melo, one of our LZs and he asked me if I knew any of our investigators who had been to church several times and had received all the lessons. I thought about it for a minute and said that I did know someone. We had taught a family and the daughter had been going to church for about a month and a half now... At the end, she decided that she indeed wanted to be baptized and then that Sunday we baptized her. It was sweet. I got to baptize her and that is always super awesome..."

"...This week was also very interesting from a culinary aspect. I. FOUND. JALAPEÑOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were passing through this store to use the bathroom and buy a bottle of water and I saw them. The little green peppers of amazingness. I almost screamed. I'm pretty sure  I squealed like a little girl. And then I looked next to the jalapenos and I saw TABASCO!!!!!!!!!! I definietly squealed like a little girl when I saw that. So yeah, I bought them. And then called one of our LZs (who also is american) and told him and he also started flipping out. Our Brazilian comps were looking at us wondering what was so special about them that was making us flip out like that. But yeah, it was amazing. I am now carrying tobasco with me and putting it on all my rice and beans every day. So. Much. Better. Honestly, I do like rice and beans, but its much better with pepper and spice..."

"...But yeah, that was basically our week. We baptized, found tobasco and jalapeños, knocked a LOT of doors, had a couple run-ins with crazy people, and worked some more. All in all, it was a good week. I'm attaching 2 photos this week. One is of the Baptism of L. I was trying to involve her 11 year old cousin and let her take photos so I gave her my camera to take the pics but she didn't really grasp the concept of how to use the camera and took the photo when we weren't ready so we all look a little off but oh well. The second was a sign that we saw when we were knocking doors, just shows about how much English the Brazilians down here understand. The word they were trying to use was freezer..."

Answers from the Missionary

Dallin answered some of my questions from a previous email about what is new area is like:

"Okay I have a little bit of time waiting for my comp to finish up so I'll answer some of your questions. I'll try to take a photo of the area during the week so you can see what its like. Basically, its got hills, but not in my area. Its got farmland surrounding the city but we also have plenty of trees. VERY green. I'll take a photo for you this week. We don't have a Wal Mart, but we do have a Big, which is owned by them. Basically a mini-Wal Mart. We do have a Mickey-D's... The ward here is really good. They like us a lot...

My new comp is... the LD (District Leader for you gringos) and he's a good missionary and I'm learning a lot from him. The food hasn't changed at all- still lots of rice and beans. I have, however, grown to like and appreciate a good rice and beans so that isn't really a big problem anymore. When I started it was horrible but now, its all good. You can go all day on a stomach full of rice and beans..."

Its P-Day! P-Day! P-Day! (Sung to the tune of Beat It by Michael Jackson)

"Oi Família! How are things? I'm glad to hear you all had an excellent Thankgiving...I can't believe that its already December. I can't believe that Christmas is in like 3 weeks. I can't believe I hit my bump day this week. Man, time flies. So anyways, I realized that In 24 days I get to talk to yo all! Excited? I am.... but it was good for the rest of the Zone because they brought back all our letters! It was nice being able to sit down and read a good letter- thanks guys..."

"...So anyways, this week was a good week. We worked our butts off. We basically cut our entire teaching pool...  so we have been working hard trying to get new investigators. Its been hard, but good. We've found some sweet families that we're going to work more with and get them progressing. We also hit the mission padrão (standard) for lessons this week: 22. Yeah, it was a good week. Its definitely an improvement than Pilarzinho when we were grinding it out and the best I ever had in a week was 13. So yeah, I like working here in Ponta Grossa. We also got dropped with giving talks in Sacrament meeting this sunday. I don't know if you guys remember my story about last time I gave a talk in sacrament meeting here in Brasil, but this time was a little bit smoother..."

"...So I don't know if you guys have heard up in The States, but there's practically a war going on down here. The Army has invaded a couple of the favelas in Rio where there's basically total anarchy and drug wars and they're laying the law down. This is major, they're like using tanks and everything. So far they've seized like 300,000 kilos of drugs (I think I heard that right). Its kinda nuts. Its kinda strange to me that the amry is being deployed on their own country, but its total anarchy in the favelas. Like seriously, there's no police or order- just the gangs. The new President taking a strong stand on drugs..."

"...But anyways... Also, do we have condensed milk in the states? Its like super popular down here. Like seriously, they use it with basically every kind of dessert. They put it on bananas, jello, cake, everything. Actually, condensed milk with jello is actually really good if any of you want to try it. Oh, and while we're on the topic of culinary deliciousnesses. We made COOKIES! It was sweet! We had a FHE with a member family and some investigators, so we offered to make cookies and bring them there so they could try them (Elder Moretti has the recipies for them). We couldn't find any brown sugar so we made sugar cookies, well kinda. They kinda evolved from sugar cookies to snickerdoodles. But anyways, it worked out well. Also, since Elder Moretti is the LD, he has a leadership meeting every thursday and I get to tag along and sit there with the other junior comps. Well another Elder and I were bored so we started wandering around and eventually found our way to McDonalds, and I just couldn't resist. It was basically the same thing as McDonalds in the states -including service- but it was way more expensive. Instead of a dollar manu, its a R$3 menu. A Big Mac Meal is like 15 Reaies, so I didn't buy that- just fries, a hamburger, and a chicken sandwich. But it still was great to have a taste of home..."

"...But yeah, that was pretty much my week. LOTS of work, actually having success, cookies, Mcdonalds, bump day, and more work. All in all, it was an excellent week... Keep helping the missionaries out, this ward is teaching me just how important member help is for the missionaries... But anyways, yeah life here is going well. We're working out butts off and we're seeing blessings and its a good time to be a missionary... Keep praying for the missionaries and help all of us out. I love you all and am super excited to talk to you all in 3ish weeks!.."

Pictures that need to be Shared!

We got some pictures from Dallin from earlier on in his mission/just before he left - thought we ought to share them!

With Dad just before he left for the MTC

spelling out "BRASIL"

pointing to his mission

with Mom before he left for the MTC

New Pictures!

Here are pictures of Dallin's two most recent baptisms- F and A. 

Feliz Dia das Graças!!!!

"...Well hello fam! How is everyone doing? I'm glad to hear that you all get to be together for thanksgiving. So you are having a blizzard? Oh poor babies. Its pretty flipping toasty here so you're not getting much sympathy. Well honestly, I'm getting acclimatized (is that a word and if so did I spell it right? I don't remember how to speak English anymore! arggggggh!) so honestly if I was in a blizzard I'd probably freeze to death. Odd, coming from the guy who wore flip flops in the snow..."

"...But anyways, I am really really liking Ponta Grossa. Our area is way smaller than Pilarzinho and doesn't have hills as far as they eye can see so it much nicer when we're walking around. Combine that with teaching WAY more than Pilarzinho, and the work is much easier. Honestly, the first few days were so different from Pilarzinho I wasn't sure how to handle everything. It was just too easy. I was used to grinding it out on the hills of Pilarzinho, trying to find someone to teach, getting rejected a lot, and maybe teaching one or two lessons a day. COmpare that with here, where we taught 7 lessons on thursday. Yeah, a big difference. I have to say, now that I'm adjusted, I like Ponta Grossa a lot better. Please don't think that I'm in Paradise by any means, the area needs a lot of work... Please don't think I'm complaining about anything, I'm way excited to work here. This area is fertile ground, we just have to work hard and get things really going and growing..."

"...guess what we had this week... BATISMO!!! Yup, first week here and we had a baptism. For the record: baptizing 2 weeks in a row- best. thing. Ever. The girl who was baptized's name is A... and then on Saturday she was baptized. It was way sweet..."

 

"...But yeah I'm about out of time, so I'm going to have to wrap this up. Glad to hear that everyone's doing well and is together. Have a great thanksgiving, eat lots of turkey and pie and watch lots of football for me. (Speaking of football, what's happening in that department?) I love you all and hope you all have a splendiferous week and holiday..."

Oi Família!

"Oi família! Tudo Bem? Como vocês estão? I'm doing well. This week has been a crazy one and a lot of things have happened. For starters, I'm currently writing this email not in Pilarzinho, but in Ponta Grossa. That's right, I've been transferred. Don't know where Ponta Grossa is? Neither did I until the LZs called and told me that I was getting transferred. Ponta Grossa is way in the interior of Paraná, it was at 2+ hour bus ride to get here. Its also way different than Pilarzinho. Its a lot more humble and has way less money. Apparently its one of the highest baptizing areas of the mission, which will be a huge change from Pilarzinho. My new comp is Elder Moretti, another Brazilian. He's the LD and from São Paulo and he's getting close to the end of his mission... We haven't really talked much but he seems pretty chill. It also means that I'm going to be speaking nothing but Português this transfer. But that's totally okay with that though. My Português improved ridiculously when I was with Elder Loyola and it will continue to improve until I'm fluent..."

"...Well first, since Ponta Grossa is so far away I will only be getting mail once this transfer, twice if I'm lucky. So, if you guys have questions or basically anything you want to say to me- put it in email..." 

"...We had the Bapstism of F this Sunday too, and it was excellent. He chose me to be the one baptizing and that was totally ridiculously amazingly awesome..."

"...But yeah those are the two biggest things that happened this week- Baptisms and transfers. Oh wait, what's that? I'm forgetting something? Tomorrow I'll be 20 years old? Seriously? I don't believe you. I can't be 20. 20 means I'm old and have to be mature and responsible and all those icky things. Oh wait, I'm a missionary in Brazil and I am already doing those things. Oh well. But seriously, thanks for the Birthday wishes. It'll seriously feel like just another day of the mission. Maybe I'll make a cake or something...."

"... I'm doing well, I've got a new area and a new comp and loads of opportunities to prove myself to the Lord. I'm stoked to get out there and start working and bringing more souls unto Christ. I love you all and can't wait to talk to you all for Christmas. (5 weeks, right?) but yeah love you all and until next week..."