Feb 2

"...But anyways... This week was a good week. We've worked so hard and we're seeing fruits. We have a baptism scheduled for this Sunday. Her name is M. We met her knocking doors and she invited us in and accepted the gospel. Her faith is really surprising...she's standing firm and she'll be baptized this Sunday... Its great to see her faith and its an affirmation that we never know when we'll find the Lord's elect and that they are all ages, races, and genders. I also had a "Daniel in the Lion's Den" experience. They have a large old Pit Bull who generally doesn't like strangers. They generally chain him up before they us in the house, but one time they forgot. Instead of being angry and attacking us, he just went and sniffed my leg and let me scratch his head. M and her husband were amazed. I just looked at my comp and said "Blessings!" Yeah, the Lord was looking out for me that time...

We're trying to find new people to teach right now, our teaching pool isn't very big still but we're doing all we can to find new people- including lots of contacts and talking with everyone in the road...

But yeah, Elder Halgren and I are getting along really well. Actually, we've had a LOT of people tell us that they think that we're brothers. Its pretty funny. But yeah, we're tearing it up.

Well I'm about out of time so I'm going to have to wrap this up. To make up for the short email here's a couple pictures: We had a zone activity where we had a water balloon fight and also when I slipped and fell in the mud and also when we had this HUGE HONKIN SPIDER run into our house and also our last baptism. Hope you enjoy them. PS, I like pics too...

But yeah, I love you guys and hope you all are doing well and I pray for you. Know that we're tearing it up here in Curitiba and I love the gospel and being a missionary. This really is the gospel of Jesus Cristo. I love it and I love sharing it with everyone..."

Inglês? Por que eu quereria falar inglês? Português é muito melhor e mais fácil

"...Então... Oi família! Tudo bem? Como vocês estão? Eu estou ótimo. Hoje, eu decidi que eu escreveria em português para vocês por que é mais fácil e eu gosto de falar português. Just kidding I'll switch back to English but I wasn't kidding about Portuguese being waaaay easier. Its seriously a chore to speak English...

I'm pretty sure last week I spoke about the English school where we went and spoke English with the students? Well we went back there again and it was waaaay flippin difficult to speak English. I'd speak a sentence and in the middle of the sentence I'd switch back to Portuguese again. Elder Halgren and I pretty much only speak English because its way easier than having to switch between the two languages at the same time. But yeah, this week was a  good week. When  Elder Moretti went home our teaching pool was basically nonexistent... so we've been running like crazy trying to get new investigators. Let's just say we've met quite a few interesting people this week since we've been doing nothing but knocking doors. Here are just a few stories from knocking doors this week:

• Man who talked for a half hour telling us about his entire life history, including his "vision" when he went up above the clouds and spoke to St. Peter who told him it wasn't his time and to go back. It took a half hour of trying to find a break in him talking so we could leave. 
• Another woman who told us she had a vision and saw the Holy Ghost descending between two trees in the form of a dove.
• Another person who told us about the vision she had of seeing Jesus, God, and the Grandfather of Jesus
• Going into another person's house where she wouldn't let us talk but just kept telling us about all her past sins... we left

Basically, we had quite an interesting week. Please don't think I'm complaining about it. It was a very good week. We had a lot of success encountering new people. Our teaching pool is growing a lot and we are going to keep it up. We're also (finally!!!) gaining the trust of the ward and people are offering to go on divisions with us and they're really helping us out. Life is really going well here in Uvaranas. Its actually really exciting to be working with a motivated comp... I have have a comp that is getting out of bed at 6:30 and doing comp study with me and doing contacts and being a real missionary. I have to say, its really nice... We're working our hardest and we're doing everything we can to get out there and find the eleitos. We're doing everything we can to help our investigators out and we're teaching with the Spirit. Yup, its just a matter of time until things start really rolling. But yeah, sorry this is so short, I'm about out of time and so I'm going to have to wrap this up but I love you all and I'm happy you guys are doing well. I love being a missionary and I love the Gospel and I love the Book of Mormon and I know that they are all true and we just have to trust in the Lord and everything will be alright. the gospel is seriously a huge blessing in our lives and we can never forget it..."

I love you all,

-Elder Marx

Is it already P-Day? Already???

"...Well hey there everyone. How are you all doing?... This week we've had quite a few changes here on the mish. As you all already knew, Elder Moretti left this morning to go home. Sunday afternoon the LZs called me and told me that they (finally!) knew who my new comp would be. He got here this morning. His name's Elder Halgren and he's from Montana. Yup, after like 6 months I'm finally with another American. I haven't had time to get to know him really well yet but from what I've learned he's a pretty chill dude. He's got about 6 months on the mish and he studied at BYU for a year before he came here. He's also about as tall as I am, played Tight End, and likes guns and hunting. He also brought with him peanut butter, gravy mix, and a cake mix with frosting.  Yeah, we're totally going to tear it up down here. 

...During this week, not much very interesting happened. The most exciting thing of the week is Elder Moretti going home. I have to say, at times it was a little annoying when he got trunky but he worked until the very last day and he was a very good companion... I got a little trunky when he kept talking about going home and the things he would do and his first day as an RM but I nipped that in the bum and re-dedicated myself to the work and now with a new comp we're totally going to tear it up... We're going to have to knock a lot of doors and talk to everyone to get our teaching pool back in shape. We have an excellent investigator, L, who prayed and received a witness that The Book of Mormon is true and wants to follow the witness...  Its pretty frustrating when you see someone who wants to do the right thing but the people close to them won't let them follow the Gospel. Keep her in your prayers please... 

...We had another interesting experience yesterday. One of the members in another ward runs an English School and he asked us gringos if we wouldn't mind coming and speaking English with the students and helping them out. Its a great missionary and service opportunity so of course we accepted. They stuck each gringo with a group of five or so Brazilians and we sat there and spoke English with them and talked to them about the gospel. It was actually really difficult to speak English. My mind is 100% Portuguese right now. I think in Portuguese, I dream in Portuguese, right now I'm translating from Portuguese to English. When I sat down with them what I wanted to do was of course speak Portuguese, so it was a little difficult to switch gears like that and speak just English, but after a while I adapted and was speaking  more naturally. It was also a great missionary opportunity because we all spoke a lot about baptism and the Book of Mormon and if they wanted the missionaries to pass by and share a message with them... I had one lady ask me if Mormons believe in heaven so I basically taught the Second lesson to them (its really weird teaching in English). Another time a lady asked me what was the difference between us and the other religions of the world and I was about to launch into a First Lesson but the teacher said it was time to switch. I was very bummed. Then, at the end, they gave us DONUTS!!!!!!!!!!! That's right, those delicious, sugary, lard-soaked rings of heaven. I was in heaven, along with the rest of the Americans. It was amazing...

...But yeah , that was pretty much my week, speaking English ... giant spider attack (The sucker was huge! Like 3 inches!!!!!!) baptisms, and lots of work. I love being a missionary. We're totally tearing it up down here and we're going to keep the trend going. This will be the first week in like 4 weeks that we haven't had a baptism... but we're going to get out there and find more of the Elect and get them into the water. I love it here, I love being a missionary, I love the Gospel, I love the Book of Mormon, and I love my Savior Jesus Cristo. I know that this is the Lord's work and that I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I love you all and pray for your success and everything that you are doing. Keep up the good work on the other side of the world."

-Elder Marx

Oi Família!!!!

"...By the way, today is my should-be-8-months-but-I-got-pushed-back-2-weeks-because-of-the-stupid-anti-american-brazilian-government-who-doesn't-want-give-visas anniversary. That means that my mission is one third over AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*deep breath*

Anyhoo... Man time flies. I can't believe that the mission is going this fast...

...But yeah, life down here is going sweet. We had 2 baptisms this week... But yeah, we're really tearing it up down here... However, we've turned that around and the ward is super stoked and working with us and we're having more success... Elder Moretti is going home next week and he is pretty dang trunky but we're still working hard. He's going out with a bang and with baptisms. We still don't know what will happen with me. Maybe someone will come out here and be my comp or maybe I will get transfered out to be with someone. I hope President doesn't shut this area down- he was talking about it when I got here but we've turned a lot around and improved a lot and I hope we don't get pulled out of here. We'll see what will happen next week...

So its summer down here and its raining a lot. A LOT. Yesterday, we were working down in the poorer part of our area. Its basically a favela with dirt roads and not very well built houses. But so it was raining...So I wasn't looking where I was walking... and I realized that I was in fact sliding down the hill. It was so slick I was basically running in place trying not to fall but still going backwards. Eventually I planted my feet hoping I would be able to slide down to the bottom because I certainly wasn't going up... Well I slid about 15 feet...but then gravity and newton took over and I totally ate it in the mud... My comp about died laughing when he saw me sliding down the hill and then eat it. But yeah I was absolutely covered in mud... It was hilarous. Of course we took pictures. But then the scary part took over. My camera is acting wonky and when I try to take a photo it can't write it on the card...I really hope I won't lose my photos. I'll keep you posted.

But yeah, that was my week- baptisms, working hard, and totally eating mud. Guess I'm a missionary. I'll keep you posted on who is my new companion and what happens to me and my area. I'm doing absolutely great. We're tearing it up here and baptizing loads of people. I am absolutely loving it here, I love the mission and I love helping people follow Jesus Cristo. I know that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that this is His Church..."

Feliz Ano Novo!!!!

"...Well hello everybody, how are you all doing? Mom said that classes started already, right?... Anyhoo... how was new years for everyone?... I hope everyone is enjoying settling back into the grind of work and school and all that fun stuff. If not, I hope that you all are at least enduring until things improve.

Well this last week has been a fun one, and I mean that sarcastically. I got wicked sick this week, like Dad-in-Bolivia level sick. It started just after I sent the email last week, I started having some pretty severe stomach problems... It was pretty annoying, not gonna lie. But then I woke up on Saturday and I didn't have a fever anymore, or stomach problems, but my insides felt bruised and twisted after a couple days of nonstop problems. However, we continued working and we had a surprising amount of success for teaching on New Years when everyone was hungover and trying to sleep.

But yeah, like I said, I got really, really sick. It wasn't until Sunday that I started feeling actually back to normal. But since Sunday, the blessing have started coming in nonstop. Just Monday and Tuesday, we've taught 10 lessons, including 5 first lessons, we've marked 4 baptismal dates, and we're preparing 3 young men to get baptized this Sunday. Seriously, this week has been a huge blessing and we're really tearing it up right now. We are super motivated and excited and we're teaching ridiculous amounts and its really flipping awesome to be a missionary right now. I know that this week wasn't especially exciting but I am so grateful to be a missionary right now. I love where I'm and that I am this blessed that I can work as the Lord's servant bringing souls unto Him. I know that this truly is the Lord's work, and I know that I was called to be here as a missionary. I know that the Book of Mormon truly is the word of God, I finished reading it in Portuguese yesterday and I truly love this book and how it brings us all closer to Christ. I love all you guys and I hope and pray that you guys are doing well and that school and work and moving and all the fun things in life are going well for you guys. I'm here and I'm tearing it up and I'm loving it..."

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..."