Transfer week!!

So this week is transfers idk what will happen I'm actually wanting to change some things up. I've only been here 3 months but it feels like forever. I like it here so we'll see what happens. This week it rained a ton here so we were always stopped under a tree or something waiting for it to pass. Also, this week me and my comp spent a day in the other Elders area to help them out and make some contacts. That was nice because i feel like i have talked to everyone in my area and its nice to change things up sometimes. 

This week we also focused alot more on our recent converts and menos (any less) active members who are in our area.  We got to know a really cool guy who is 26 yrs old this week and we are excited to begin teaching him.

There is a sickness passing through here from the mosquito's and everyone is getting it. Everyone who we were teaching was sick by the end of the week.  I've been alright i haven't picked up anything. 

The last two days here there has been a lot of protest's against the government. They have been trying to impeach the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseft. It seems like most of the people didn't like her and they have been trying to impeach her since I got here and finally last night at like 11:30 pm she finally was. There were fireworks and people screaming and cheering like crazy in our apartment building -haha.

This  morning we woke up at like 4 o'clock to hike up a mountain here that has a statue of christ at the top and took some sweet pics of the district for the last time. Mom, send me the pictures that you blew up I want to see the ones you picked. And haha you are more trunky than me mom. But happy 25th wedding anniversary! 

But i got to get going!

Amo Vocês!

Elder Mauter

Ola,
I almost died....

Joel thought I was going to drown him during the baptism-so us laughing.

Last week was pretty busy! So Tuesday we went to the leadership counsel in Natal. It was really cool to hear about how our mission is growing all of the numbers and what we can do to better it as a mission in our zones. One of the new temples that was just announced to be built in Belem Brazil at General Conference my mission President had bought the land where it will be built. So one of the things that was asked in our counsel was what could we do to have President Soares buy the land here in Natal for a temple. We ended up finding out that we are super close to be getting a new temple! Our president told us that usually there needs to be 5 stakes in the area. We already have 4 and in my zone Sousa we are the closest district to being able to become a stake. So that gave us a huge boost to do more work in our zone to make this happen. We also got to hear a really powerful testimony from President Soares about this work and how special it will be to one day hear that they will build a temple in a mission where we all worked so hard to earn. I'm so glad to have him as a President here. It's really going to be sad when he leaves in 2 transfers. 

But last week we were working a lot with some of the people that we have been teaching and helping them go to church and to do the things that we were asking them to do. But we saw that a lot of things were working against them. That young couple that we were teaching after dating for four years broke up and a bunch of people got sick. We didn't have the results we wanted but we understand that sometimes this will happen and that we will work to do better this week!

But I bet you are asking yourself why I said I almost died hahah. So me and Elder Calvacante in my house found out last night that Elder Zundel in our house is dead afraid of crickets and we found a huge cricket outside our house yesterday and brought it inside. This kid is taller than me just so that you guys know. But I have never seen a kid so big run so fast. It was so funny and he ended up grabbing a knife! hahahaha

But that was my week. Ya mom I got the package, thank-you for everything in it. The peanut butter I have been eatting it every single day so far. I've never missed something so much! And the Easter card I got that you forgot to send last Easter but didn't work out haha made me feel 
better because when I read it you said "You have 4 months down!" But now I have 1 yr and 4 months down haha! I'll send some pic's.
amo vocês
Elder Mauter

Olá fam!! 

Wow this week was full of blessings! But today I don't have much time because I'm in Sousa at the zls house and here in a little bit all of the leaders are going to be traveling to Natal for a leader conference, woo again.... hahah no but it'll be good to learn new things on how I can help my district be more efficient in our work! But then again I'm not that excited about traveling all day again.

Last week went by fast! We did so much. Elder Balaich from my CTM group came to work with me. He switched with my comp. We found so many cool families and young couples to teach last week. They all came through those kids that I talked to who were playing football in a field one day. That has definitely been one of the more effective ways for me to meet new people.  By getting to know kids my age and sharing common interests and then inviting them to hear a message from us in their homes. That way you get to know their whole family. But last week was especially a blessing by helping one father and a son enter the waters of baptism. The dads name is Edison and his 12 year old son is Edwardo. They were a family who had already been taught by my old comp Elder Querino who will be super pumped to hear that we baptized them. I'll get to tell him here in a lil bit at the conference. 

We had been reteaching him and his son for a few weeks. When Elder Baliach came he asked Edison how he felt when we were teaching him and he said "Honestly I have been apart of lots of churches, the Catholic, the Baptist and also I spent a year with the Jehovah Witness´ walking door to door inviting people to go to church, but I have never felt the spirit like I have when you Elders sit me down and teach me." When I heard those words from him I really felt the spirit so strong and I knew that the spirit had played such a big part in his conversion. Last Saturday we were able to baptize him and his son Edwardo. I don't have pics with me right now but I'll sent them next week. All we need now is to help his wife. She's a little bit harder to talk to but I bet she will come around!

But you asked me if I watched conference. I'll just say I tried. So on Saturday me and Balaich invited people to come with us to watch. One of them was a guy who we had been teaching all week and he was super excited to come, but then it turned out that someone said something upsetting to him the night before conference.  So we sat with him talking for an hour and ended up missing the first session. Then for the second session we watched it at the Branch Presidents house in Portuguese. 

On Sunday we were headed to Sousa to watch conference which is a different city than where I'm at because there they have a chapel. So with our whole Branch on the bus I was left with the responsibility of everyone because the Branch President stayed home and his counselors traveled by car. And of course on the way to Sousa the big bus broke down right before we got there. So i had to call a bunch of people and it was just crazy. So we missed a big part of the first session on Sunday. 

We also had another baptism on Sunday. Junior, a 16 yr old who has a strong testimony. There were lots of things happening in his life that were trying to stop him from being baptized but everything went well and he was baptized and we had a lot of support from the Branch. 


Then during the second session of conference it turned out during Hollands talk a man had a heart attack in the church so they had to call an ambulance and get him to the hospital! I ended up staying in Sousa.So when i finally got to the house I was just knocked out dead tired haha. But I sure feel like I'm missing something when I don't get to watch all the talks from conference haha its funny how things have changed. But I'll try to download some of the talks on my iPod. 

Today we already went hiking and skipped some rocks in the river and got attacked by bees, haha so I think today the craziness will continue.

Dad, that's sick that you did so good in the race for an old man hahha maybe when I get back I'll have to do something like that with you.

Mom keep taking Gavin to the temple to do baptism's. He'll learn to love it. That's one thing I want to do a lot more of when I get home is to go to the 
Temple.

Com Amor

Elder Mauter