LAST WEEK!!!!!!

I'm am super excited to be home but also nervous.  Its really a weird feeling that I have right now. It's the moment that all missionaries wait for but in this moment I don't want it to come so fast. I don't want to say goodbye because I know that this one will be my last. I have really loved serving the people here in Brazil. I feel like I'll be leaving behind a family and coming home to another. I really don't know what to expect but I know that it'll all work out.

I don't have any regrets for having served a mission. I know what I came to do has been done.  I hope I can continue to help doing this work and carry on all these things that I have learned here and apply them to the rest of my life.

But ya mom I'll try to write about all these things on the plane ride home, but if not I'll write them down when I get home. Is there anything that you guys want from here? Mom, I haven't found that nativity you wanted of christ but I'll keep looking.  I think I'll ask the president if I can go into one of the big malls here to find it. But ya, I'll call you guys when I get in Atlanta. I still have those calling cards you gave me before I came to the mission!

But last week went well.  I'll tell you all about it when I get home.  We baptized a young man named kleberson. This was a huge blessing for me because it meant I was able to accomplish one of the goals I had for the end of my mission. Baptizing 12 weeks straight!
Love,
Elder Mauter

Familia, 
Sorry, I don't have anytime today.  We had a zone pday and then the assistants lost the numbers that we passed to them yesterday so we had to pass them again but I'm doing great. That's awesome to hear that there will be a bunch of people at the airport. This week we had two more baptisms like you saw in the picture I sent, Rutson and Damiana. They showed up at church last Sunday all by themselves and actually had contact with the missionaries a while back but weren't able to complete their ordinances because they traveled to Damiana's moms house for some months. But this week we were able to teach them and help them be baptized and confirmed as members. They are super cool and already have a strong desire to know more about the church and to know what more they can do. They were especially interested and talking about the temple yesterday in Gospel Principles class. But thats all I have time for this week. Next week we'll be able to talk more!
I gave Elder Reynolds your number mom because his mom wanted it to talk about housing, so I'm sure she'll contact you!
But love you guys until next week
Elder Mauter

Viniceus Baptism

Thelma's Baptism

#rosadosventosabençoado!!!!!!!!
So this week was full of milagres 

Gustavo, Isaura, and Maria Baptism

(miracles)! 4 more baptisms! I sent you a picture of three baptisms that we had this week Isurha, Maria and Gustavo.
Isaura is a Grandma of all Grandmas shes 96 years old!!! She is Thelma's mom the woman who we baptized a couple weeks back. With her baptism we were able to complete their family. She is a super funny old lady and always happy to see us and receive our messages. She was actually taught by us with when we taught Thelma and Viniceus who were already baptized. Me and my comp were nervous to invite her to be baptized actually I was scared for her to go down and not come back up with life.  But finally this week we received the prompting to help her to make covenants with the Lord before she goes. When she found out that she could be baptized she answered with a huge smile of course!
Maria is Viniceus girlfriend. When we first met her she was super timid and didn't speak with us alot but she now talks a whole bunch. She suffered alot of abuse in her life that left her with trust issues. But i can really see each day the progress that she is making to open up to everyone!
Gustavo is Viniceus friend, we also found him by playing basketball at the church and were able to teach and help him to be baptized!

A silly tradition where the Elders who are returning home
get pictures taken of their "death" in the area they end their mission. 

But Bishop Cobb already got released!!!??? He couldn't wait like 2 more weeks!
But that's awesome that Conner is home now too and his talk you told me about sounded great!
But for sure you can kick Gavin out of my room before I get home. Who's going to be at the airport? And have you looked into UVU for me? Elder Reynold's mom wants to start looking into apartments for us soon!
But love you guys
Elder Mauter
 

September 26, 2016
More Baptisms!
So last week we baptized  Sâmela who is 14 and this week Viniceus who is 2 months older than Gavin. Sâmela we found through some members who were close friends with her and she was actually already taught all of the missionary lessons but in that stage in her life I guess she wasn't ready to be baptized she said. But when we found her she had no problem accepting and being baptized last week! Through her we were able to reactivate a members sister and bring her older sister Samara to church this week which we are preparing to baptise this week! Viniceus really is a cool story for later but we found him through playing bball at the ward activity which is every Friday and now every Monday. Which is great bc on Mondays i can play(; 
We went to Vinceus house and were able to teach his mom and him together. This Sunday was the first week that his mom went to church. It is hard for her to go places because she is taking care of her 96 yr old mom who lives with them. When we told her about Viniceus baptism she really wanted to go but wasn't able to because of her mother, she told us this on Saturday. But Sunday when we arrived at his house, Viniceus, his mom and grandma were already dressed and ready to go to church!  They weren't able to stay for all of the classes and the baptism becasue of his gma but they were able to stay for the first 2 classes and loved the church! We really found them at the right time in their lives because they were looking for a new church to go to because of some problems that happened with them at their last church. But also Viniceus brought a friend Gustavo who's 16 and his girlfriend who went for the second time. But about his girlfriend she has suffered alot in her life but ill let you guys about her story next week. Her baptism is marked for this week too.
But just to let you guys know, transfers are today. The assistant pretty much told me that me and my comp will stay one more together! Which will be good because we have a lot of work to do and plus we are 7 straight weeks baptizing so we put up a goal to destroy this last month together and baptize everyone and plus baptize every week till I get home!But, love you guys. The owner of the computers in getting grumpy so i got to go hahaaté mais Elder Mauter

September 19, 2016
Oi Fam!
I don't have much time this week so I'm only going to write a little!
My comp got assaulted on Friday when he was with another missionary in my house so today we have to go the the mission office to get a new phone so that we can follow up with our zone. But last week was good other than that part. Last week I think our basketball activity spread throughout the city, because it seemed like everyone showed up to participate. So we had a really good turn out. Plus we were able to talk with alot of young people playing and visit their houses after!! And we took them to church on Sunday!
So im sure this week will be pretty busy for us to follow up with everyone and meet their families. Next week will already be transfers so we'll see who will have the honor to kill me in the mission! (mission slang talk for your last comp)
Ya mom, I'll need a new suit when I get home, so send me a pic of that blue suit I like that color!
And hope you get better mom and gavin!
Love,
Elder Mauter

September 12, 2016
Dois Batismos!!! And a hot wife

So last week was crazy with my replacement comp for the week(; Elder Flores he has 4 months in the mission. He came and stayed here to learn how to baptise! He's pretty crazy so we had a good time! But about the Baptisms we baptised Marcondes whose 18 and Mirian whose also 18. And i bet your wondering about what i meant about a hot wife haha. Its because of how much rain i took this week. Saturday we had to walk in the rain all the way to lunch which was at the other end of the world... I had so many clothes wet that I had to use some old missionaries clothes that were left in the house haha!

Marcondes was really an elite of the Lord. Teaching him was super spiritual watching him learn and gain a testemony. Everything we taught it seemed like he already knew. This week we started teaching him on Wednesday and marked his baptism for Saturday and everything was going smoothly even I thought it was weird until Saturday when it rained all day and when we arrived at his house we saw that his mom threw a huge party with drinks and people smoking. But when we got there and his mom saw us and called him out of his room where he stayed away from all of the people while he waited for us to go to his baptism. 

We were super pumped up that he was ready for his baptism! So i wasnt to mad that we had to run through the rain to the church hahah! 

Mirian is a girl we have been working with alot for a couple of weeks already. She was athiest and had really bad influences in her life. We helped her stop cutting herself, drinking and taking persciption drugs when she was depressed. Even though it was a fight we promised that all would be better if she showed her faith to the Lord that she is willing to follow his example and be baptized but first she would have to stop with all these addictions she had. From the first time we taught her until now she was literally a different person. From a girl that didnt want to hear our message and not going to church to a girl who fought for change. On the day of her baptism even with all the rain i could tell there was nothing that would hold her back. After i baptised her she came out of the water crying. This week was a big testimony builder for me!

but love you guys!

Elder Mauter

September 5, 2016
Oi fam!!
This week went by quick! Me and my comp have been working a ton in our area and were able to baptize Igor and Diego this week!Igor who will be 18 next month will participate in the quorum pretty soon and hopefully serve a mission! Diego is 11yrs old. We always thought he was a member because he comes to all of the activities and meetings alone. But last week we were talking to him and he told us he wasn't baptized so we talked with the bishop and the pres and they allowed him to be baptized because of his extensive time at church. We were going to also baptize Miriam but we found out her boyfriend who is a member was full of doubts about the church and telling her that she shouldn't be baptized. So this was a bummer but when she told us this she told us that she didn't want that to happen to her so we told her if she wanted to help him it would be by  being an example. Which he should be to her... so we will continue to talk and help her.  but also we have Marcondes who is 18 and Jennifer who is 15 all in the process to be baptized, pray for them!

Last week my comp will be going in another area to help the missionaries there who are having difficulties and ill stay here with elder flores who has like 3 months in the mission, so it will be cool! Tomorrow, we have a conference and then on wed we have a district meeting. So ya I'll be getting home a week earlier than planned. President Colleoni changed the transfers to only 5 weeks.
But love you guys
Elder Mauter

Something cool just happened right now. My comp had to look something up on his email so we stopped by again after i got my hair cut and one of the kids who plays basketball at the church who we weren't able to find last week showed up and sat next to me just now and we started talking about stuff at home and the mission. I told him slot about my experiences and what I've learned. He then told me how he would like to go on a mission one day!! We are reserving so many blessings-

August 29, 2016

batismo!!!!!!
remember that kid i told you guys about last week ya well leônidas hes 16 years old, he was baptized this week!

So last week when we went to follow up with leônidas at seminary in the church, he pulled us aside and told us he didn't feel prepared and wanted to wait a little longer to be baptized. But this is normal so we didn't feel so bummed out after he told us this we just told him to finish seminary and then we'll talk to him. My comp was never able to teach him all the lessons before i got here because he lives super far away. So we were able to teach him and help him out with the questions he had after class and after he didn't have any doubts about what he wanted to do!

We also have 3 more baptisms for this week Jennifer who is 16, Igor who is 18 and Miriam whos 16! Pray for these names! we actually were teaching Igor and Miriam last week to mark their baptisms. But Miriam believes in the big bang theory and tells us she is athiest but we've already gotten her to pray so the process is going good its just we have some problems with her boyfriend in the church who doesn't help us alot.

But this past week we were able to find a bunch of people at the church activity playing basketball. So I had to destroy them to then get their adresses haha but this week we'll be passing in their houses to meet their families.

My comp & I are both zone leaders, everyday we call all the district leaders to find out what their doing in their areas and everyday we call to grab the numbers of every dupla and pass them to the assistants. We also do all the interviews of the dls, and go to areas in our zone that are needing help. But mom I'll answer your question about how many baptism's I've had when i return home but I know it's more than 50.

I finally received the package and my debit card so you can activate it now! and i also got a package from the Wagstaff's haha send them thank-you! i laughed so hard they sent me a huge sling shot l! So we'll for sure use it in our next zone pday!! But mom thanks for all the stuff and I love the peanut butter!!! The birthday brownies were a lil old but they were still good haha! The mission secretaries recently called me asking me were I wanted to land so im pretty sure I'll be getting my flight plan soon so I'll send it to you guys as soon as i get it.
but love you guys
elder mauter

August 22, 2016

rosas dos ventos

my new and last area!! 

So last week was pretty crazy because of transfers. I was transferred to a neighborhood called Rosas dos Ventos in Parnamirim and called to be the new zone leader here with elder Benito. If you remember Parnamirim was my 3rd area in the mission but last time I was here I was serving downtown and actually last time I was here I did a division for a week in the area that I’m at now.  So i know some of the people here which is cool. So last week before I got here we got the call that I would be transferred after lunch so we went around saying tchau to everyone here which was difficult and showing my son(the companion I trained) what he's going to be doing when his new comp gets there. 

When I got into my new area we went around getting to know everyone and the next day we had a zone meeting with our new zone so that everyone can get to know each other and so that we can pass our vision to them of what we want to accomplish this transfer. I can already see that this transfer will be alot busier now because i will be following up with 22 missionaries every day other than 6 which I was doing before haha. So wish me luck! 

Last week my new comp already had a baptism marked for that week, Leonidas who is 16 but he injured his foot the day before his baptism so we had to remark it for this week. We still wanted to teach someone so we were at a ward activity and found a bunch of young men that we thought were members but they actually have been visiting the church a ton without anyone talking to them thinking they were also members. We started teaching a bunch of them and ended up baptizing João Paulo whose 14. It was good that we found him because his family was having a bunch of difficulties between themselves. We found out that his grandpa was letting his dad use his house while he got back on his feet and until he found a job. It turned out that his dad wasn't even looking to find a job and also spending a lot of money on useless stuff.  So his grandpa was going to kick his family out of his house. We were able to talk to João paulos grandpa who was pretty mad when he found out and was telling us that he was going to kill him. It was good we were there to calm him down! But thats all for this week I need to send some paper work to the secretary right now so i got to go! 

Love,

Elder Mauter

Batismo!!!!!!!!!
Last week we baptized Aliedson! It was pretty sweet helping him to take the steps and prepare himself to be baptized. Aliedson is 20yrs old and has been coming to church with his neighbor Jessica who is a young woman in our ward who is 16 and doing missionary work! From our first day teaching him I was able to tell he was an elect son of god but then again he made it clear that he only went to church to visit. When we started to teach him he accepted everything we taught him. He also committed to read, pray and stop drinking coffee. It was pretty amazing for some one who wakes up drinking coffee and only stops when he goes to bed at night.  I know it had to be pretty hard. He had accepted to be baptized earlier and everything was going well until one day when he gave us the news that he didn't want to be baptized anymore. But being a missionary you know there is always a motive for someone to quit or bail out. So we started asking questions of what happened and he didn't want to tell us until some drunk guy I've never seen before came up to us telling us that "novinho" (our investigators nickname) asked his mom what she thought about him being baptized in the church of jesus christ and she told him she didn't think that it was the right time. 
After Novinho's mom told him this, this drunk man saw him crying. We were able to talk with him and help him to recognize that the Holy Ghost was testifying to him of what he should do.  We told him that his mom wasn't with him when we were teaching and hadn't felt the things he felt. One of the things he told me when we first saw him after he said he couldn't be baptized is that he feels super happy when we are with him and when he is at church. He told us that he notices this happiness leaves him when we aren't with him. 
i was able to look at him and tell him that i was happy that he told us he didn't want to be baptized so that he could tell us this. Because we were able to teach him the difference between how the power of the holy ghost works in our lives. We explained to him that when we are baptized and receive gift of the Holy Ghost that this happiness will be able to stay with him as a constant companion. He was crying after we told him all of this with our testimonies and he was then baptized Sunday!
I learned a new slang word too this week aviãozinho (little plane) when we were teaching ledemberg (the bishops cousin) who's 18. He told us that he was an aviãozinho which i didn't under stand haha which is a slang for drug dealer. but good thing my comp knew and asked if he dealt drugs but he said no just wrapped c4 around his body and sold it to people who blow up banks.  We had to unmark his baptism that was coming and we need to help him out a lil more this week!
But ya I've heard a ton about Michael Phelps and all the USA Athletes doing awesome!  I realized how patriotic I am because of the olympics!!! I'll send some pics love you guysElder Mauter
So last week was pretty crazy because of transfers. I was transferred to a neighborhood called Rosas dos Ventos in Parnamirim and called to be the new zone leader here with elder Bento. If you remember Parnamirim was my 3rd area in the mission but last time I was here I was serving downtown and actually last time I was here I did a division for a week in the area that I’m at now.  So i know some of the people here which is cool. So last week before I got here we got the call that I would be transferred after lunch so we went around saying tchau to everyone here which was difficult and showing my son(the companion I trained) what he's going to be doing when his new comp gets there. 
When I got into my new area we went around getting to know everyone and the next day we had a zone meeting with our new zone so that everyone can get to know each other and so that we can pass our vision to them of what we want to accomplish this transfer. I can already see that this transfer will be alot busier now because i will be following up with 22 missionaries every day other than 6 which I was doing before haha. So wish me luck! 
Last week my new comp already had a baptism marked for that week, Leonidas whose 16 but he injured his foot the day before his baptism so we had to remark it for this week. We still wanted to teach and baptize someone so we were at a ward activity and found a bunch of young men that we thought were members but they actually have been visiting the church a ton without anyone talking to them thinking they were also members. We started teaching a bunch of them and ended up baptizing João Paulo whose 14. It was good that we found him because his family was having a bunch of difficulties between themselves. We found out that his grandpa was letting his dad use his house while he got back on his feet and until he found a job. It turned out that his dad wasn't even looking to find a job and also spending a lot of money on useless stuff.  So his grandpa was going to kick his family out of his house. We were able to talk to João paulos grandpa who was pretty mad when he found out and was telling us that he was going to kill him. It was good we were there to calm him down! But thats all for this week I need to send some paper work to the secretary right now so i got to go! 
Love,
Elder Mauter



rosas dos ventos
my new and last area!! 

Vinte Anos!!!!!!!!! (translated-Twenty Years)

Wow!!! There's a lot of emails/phone calls that im getting today so ill make it quick this week!

I just got off the phone with President and Sister Colleoni. First I was talking to Sister Colleoni cause my comp was super sick last week so she was checking up on him and then from Pres telling me Happy Birthday in english, português and italian haha! But Thank-You!! I'm definetly feeling the love today from everyone! At least my Birthday is on my P-day so it makes it alot better! I'm not sure what we’ll be doing today cause my comp is still sick. Last week he woke up and was with a huge fever so we went to the hospital for 6+ hours. They tryed putting down his fever twice but it didn’t work until they overdosed him on drugs!  He got pretty crazy so on Saturday we got home at around 10:30 and the doctor told him to stay home so we missed church yesterday.. ( i almost got to say i never missed church once on my mission) but he’s already gotten alot better. He’s just super tired! I'm pretty sure someone is making cake for us later! So ill try to send pictures!

Last week wasnt that exciting cause we werent able to get out and work because my comp was sick and also one day we had to stay home cause all the drug dealers were going crazy for two days putting buses on fire all through out the city.  It began because the police cut the cell signal from the prison to the outside. The govenment sent 1,200 army troops and also a famous police here in Brasil whose only purpose is to kill. So when they’re called you know its serious! But don’t worry everyone is chill here nothing has happened in my area yet! 

Last Thursday we had a zone conference with President Colleoni and Elder Mazzagardi which was super cool! I was really needing this conference because at times I feel tired but this conference gave me the spiritual push to do more! Elder Mazzagardi talked alot about our purpose on this earth not only on our mission but after our missions too. Also more of what i have already heard the last time he came to speak here haha. But it was still super good! One of the things I’m going to miss after the mission!

Last week we were going to baptise some people but we remarked this for next week because of all that craziness that happened last week! So pray that it’ll go well! 

But mom I talked with the mission secretary Elder Petter. He told me about my package that’s waiting at the post office. I'm sure I’ll beable to go there tomarrow to grab it, Thank-You!

So the exchange student whose is in our ward from Brazil, how long will she be staying with the Grays? If she’s till there when I get home I'll have some one to practice my portugeuse with after the mission haha 

But i got to go thanks again for the birthday wishes- 

Love,

Elder Mauter

bora lá!!!!

New President Colleoni and his wife Tania from Sao Paulo

hahha mom I think youre getting too trunky at home. Don't worry time will fly im sure! But thanks for the birthday package. I hope I will get it this thursday at our zone conference! 

Last week we went back at it working hard trying to find more people to tea

ch and to baptize. We were teaching a young girl last week. Her name is Jamilly, and she is super cool and wants to know about the church! She was super interested after our lesson on the plan of salvation and wanted to understand what will happen with us and our families after this life. We were also able to teach her mom and they both accepted to be baptized! So this week we'll baptize Jamilly and then her mom after hopefully. We hope to be able to teach Jamilly's dad this week too. We are also teaching Victoria, Jó Jó and Lucas from a different family. They all accepted to be baptized but we went to talk to their mom for her permission and she said she would talk to them more about this but we still havent been able to get back with her. We are worried cause their grandparents always try to kick us out of their house. I hope this doesnt effect them.

We also had a funny experience last week. When we were leaving our house on our way into our area. A drunk man called us over so we could talk to him. He wanted to talk to us because he went to church last week and his pastor had told him bad stuff about our church. He told this man if a Mormon enters your house we'll steal his stuff. He told us that he's never seen a Mormon stealing his stuff (he didnt have anything in his house to steal if we wanted to-haha). This gave us a little motivation for our day haha. This man kept telling us that we need to keep working and doing the Lords work. He told us he was going to go talk to his pastor and call him some bad words that i dont think ill repeat here. But we told him that he shouldnt do that. 

Brazilian BBQ

Also, last week me and my comp literally did the best prank in the world! But it  almost went really wrong. We pranked the two other elders who live in our house. One of the elders in our house always talkes about how tough he is and what he would do if someone broke into our house. So one day last week when we got home a little early we thought we would do something to them.  We made the house look like it was robbed. We threw the chairs and suitcases on the ground making it look like our house had been robbed. We didnt put much thought into it because we left our cameras on our desks, haha. But it didnt matter because when they got home the elder that talks alot opened the door and saw that there were chairs and suitcases on the ground and it was looking like someone had robbed our house. He took off running and screaming that he saw someone all the way to a members house haha. We didnt see this because me and my comp were hiding behind the house.  We thought they were in the house and our prank didn't work because they were calling my phone. I didnt answer until i saw that a member was calling me and thats when it struck me that they weren't home.  She told us not to go home because we had been robbed and then she

passed the phone to the missionary who was freaking out telling me that he was headed back home to see what happened. I told him no, dont do that but he hung up and left. I called the member back again and told her it was a joke and she laughed a ton but then ran after the Elder because she saw her son who is huge was going back with the him plus some of the neighbors were coming to our house.  That Elder told them that he saw someone in the house. One of the neighbors grabbed a gun which he can't have, and one had a knife and the members son had a baseball bat. When they got to our house they were banging on the door but luckily the member I called, she got there and told them that it was all just a joke hahhaha we laughed so much at this. 


But yeah, the next time we email I'll be 20:/ 

But to answer your question, I've been in almost all the zones except for the Natal zone. So I think I'll go there the next transfer to finish my mission but idk. But yeah I'm trying to eat more. Me and my zone leader wake up everyday early to workout. He is going home in 3 weeks and his comp is lazy so I hope it helps me gain some weight! But have a good week. Love,
Elder Mauter

Oi!!! 
So last week went by pretty fast! And ya we got to meet our new president last week.  i forgot to mention that to you guys. But he seems like a really inspired man, he's just a little nervous right now.  I'm sure he'll get used to it here in a little bit. They have a 12 yr old son who came with them. He's really cool. I got to talk to him for a while, he likes to bike so I talked to him about Gavin but I didn't have any pictures to show him. But here in 2 weeks we're going to have a zone conference with an authority so it'll be cool. No one new ever comes here,  its always the same person.

Last week we didn't have any baptisms.  The family who we are teaching some of them still have some questions. So we thought it would be better to wait and baptize all of them together as a family,  so pray for us!

That's awesome that trek went well this year. I'm sure it was a big testimony builder for everyone and for the ward! In Brazil they need more activities like that to excite the ward here. Sometimes i pass in wards and they don't have any desire to do missionary work or anything as a ward. Dad what do you mean that someone carried you across the pool? How?  haha So you guys passed through a river or a pool? On the trek?

But my (mission son) is doing good. He's already looking a little more tan. And he is already getting the hang of what we do. Today we played soccer with a bunch of missionaries so he got to know a lot of people that i know.

But ya talk to Keaton and tell him that it'd be down to go up to Utah with him. I also know some missionaries who want me to go up there too. It would be good to get out of AZ but idk, I don't really think about what I'm going to do after the mish. 

But to answer your questions.  Mom, no i didn't get my debit card yet i think ill get it in this next conference though.  When we play soccer it's always on the basketball court. The goal and everything is on the court. So I haven't used my soccer shoes once in the mission. Everyone wears court soccer shoes. 

And Ya, I love it here in Natal! The weather is way better. It's more humid than dry but not hot. I don't even sweat anymore! My mission son was commenting that I never sweat! Haha! I told him it's because I went to the hottest areas first on my mission. And he better not get used to this good weather cause he will be going to Mossorro and Sousa soon, haha! 

Today we are at a members house. We usually come to their house on Pday. It's alot better than staying at our house. Especially because this family is super cool. I love this family! But idk what we are going to do the rest of the day, maybe we will clean our house. 

Hey, tell Tanner Peterson that there is a member here in Natal who was his old companion. I don't know his last name but I'll try and send pics so he will remember. I played soccer with him today. Also Elder Guilherme Andrade my old zone leader said Tanners last area was in his ward ala 4. Elder Andrade says he remembers Tanner cause he was super cool! But I'll try to send pics soon.

But love you guys! 
Elder Mauter

Boa tarde fam!!!
We had transfers last week and i really thought that i was going to leave Natal but i stayed in my area. I'm going to train another new missionary in the mission!!! idk what president was thinking but it'll be good haha alot more work for me though. So now i have two sons in the mission.(if you train a missionary - missionary's call them their sons) His name is elder t. silva, he's from são paulo. He is a pretty nerdy kid but its fun. We played some soccer and made breakfast with our whole zone today. I made my son get out there and play to loosen up those legs hahha.


Last week we really got to work, contacting alot of people to have a bigger group to teach and more people attend church. Last week we were able to baptize Derrick, who is a members brother that was never baptized. We didn't think it was going to work out because when we were teaching him his dad didn't like it. I could tell in his face but he never said anything to us and it turned out great.  My son got to baptized his first of many! Also last week we were able to find alot of people but not a lot of people who would commit to come to church. Saturday night when we were leaving a members home he saw a bunch of his friends outside of their homes so we stopped by and talked to them and were able to invite all of them to church.  We were blessed because when we went over to talk their crazy grandpa came out to stop us from talking with his grandkids. He started saying a bunch of negative stuff about our church but we were able to break him so it was pretty funny.  He told us that he was born catholic and will die catholic even if it takes him to heaven or hell it didn't matter. 


We ended up explaining to him if he wants to be catholic he actually has to start going to his church. But he didn't want to do that either. There's a lot of people that are scared of what they don't  know or understand. Thats one of the biggest problems that I have seen here on my mission. If anyone on the street says something about a religion or an person they believe it and dont what anything to do with it. This is the biggest tool that satan has in some peoples lives. These lies make people scared of what they dont know. This is why we are counseled to study and to live the gospel because if we aren't practicing it in our lives our faith wont be strong enought to carry us when temptation comes. 

Thinking about you guys going to trek this week I remembered about the pioneers that knew this when they were going to Utah.  They could have stayed in their own countries or nice homes and most likely would have had an easier life. But they were willing to sacrifice to start from nothing. They did this for those that would come after them. Most of them would never see churches, temples everything that we have. They gave up so much for the principles they believed so strongly in and to not be persecuted. Good luck this week on trek, I'm sure it will be hard especially in the heat but it'll be a good experience for you guys and Gavin! 


But ya i was going to tell you to go to Elder Phillips homecoming talk.  But I knew you were going to still be  up in Utah. Elder Phillips went to William's field H.S.  I didn't know him before but me and him know a lot of people in common. He's super cool and he was a good missionary!


But love you guys.  Ill send some pics. My memory card got a virus from the computers.  But I got it fixed so now i can send some 

mas até mais 
Elder Mauter

Merica!!!
Ya, here in Brazil it definetly isn't the same when it comes to American holidays.  It's pretty dead in the road right now which isn't very normal. I'm sure ill hear some fireworks today because Brazilians like to shoot them off at anytime even for an American holiday. They dont have laws like we do saying they can't. So it can be like 8 oclock if they want. But transfers hasn't happend yet we will find out tomorrow where we will go or stay. We just had an emergancy transfer last week so I'm the only American left here to celebrate the 4th haha but its pretty cool.

That's awesome that you guys went to Utah to see the Tim McGraw concert! Chase didn't end up going? But ya we really havent felt the change of our new Mission President yet. President and sister Colleoni got here on Friday and sent us a message on our phones on Sunday.  That's the only notice that we have gotten from them. I'm sure next transfer he'll visit all the zones to get to know the missionaries.

But last week was pretty cool, we ended up entering in a new area that we have never worked in. We were actually trying to find a members brother who isnt baptized. We tried last week to find him but we ended up getting ourselves lost and walking for like 2 hours haha so that wasn't good so this time we used google maps to find his house and we found out its not as far as we thought it was. We ended up finding him this week in the road playing soccer with his friends. Which was funny cause I told my comp before that I bet he won't be home but playing soccer haha. When we got there and we got to know a bunch of people there.  His uncles and friends that are my age a bunch of cool kids that like to talk a lot! A bunch of them werent able to go this Sunday but told us they'll go next week so now I want to stay here haha. Its cool cause where they live its been a really long time since missionaries have worked there and some older people still remember. People from other religions calling us over to talk to them and wanting us to help the people in their neighborhood! I can tell that your prayers have been working! It seem like everytime on my mission that we are doing so well the Lord literally throws people in our way!

Ill let you guys know what happens with transfers. I liked the pics that you sent! One group of them didnt go threw though. But love you guys!
Elder Mauter

Oi!!
Thats cool to see pics of Keaton and Kohler back home and that Gavin is taller than Keat haha! But ya Keat was right I didn't like seeing that they are home without me haha. I bet their talks were powerful to see the change in them from when they left until now! But now seeing these pics i know that now I'm close to coming home! 

This week is our last week with President  Soares and on Friday we get our new President.  Then after that week we have transfers. I don't think I'll be going anywhere because president is already making alot of changes to the mission before the transfers actually happen. i think its to leave everything ready for when the new Pres gets here. 

Last week we have worked alot with the young womens president going on visits to visit our recent converts. We wanted her to introduce herself to them personally and to their families. Also to explain about what they are going to be doing in the Young Women this year and about the book they have which was perfect because I don't know what the Young Women do haha. It's cool to see my recent converts really feel the spirit and get interested in these things. Hearing from their parents that they are reading the Book of Mormon everyday and that they have seen a big change in their lives. 

I know this is why all the missionaries are here. To really see this happiness come into their lives.
I got to go. I love you guys.

Elder Mauter