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

Wooahhh the Cav's won!!!
Last night me and my zone leaders from AZ had someone call us when they found out the final score of the game. It was pretty awesome to hear and good for Lebrun!  So I wish I could have watched. It sounded pretty tight throughout the game. 

And Happy Fathers Day Pop's! Hope it was a good day for you. 

But about my week, we had a zone conference which was super powerful. It was the last conference that president Soares will give in our mission before our new pres arrives here. President Soares will leave one week before the transfers, which is the first of next month. It was pretty cool to hear his testimony. He told us that in his life at times what he wanted most was money and material things. But while serving his mission he learned that the only thing that he wanted in life now is to see all of us together after this life in the presence of God, come when they call the Brazil Natal Missionaries. It was also cool to see the last of the Brazilian sister missionaries from my group bare their testimonies (the American sisters went home one transfer earlier) and see how they have grown. Also to see all the missionaries from the capital.

But last week went alot better. It still was a little difficult because the school teachers here went on strike and they had the holidays too. Alot of people traveled but we still had people come to church with us. I had to get a Brazilian social security number this week.  So I guess I'm really Brazilian now!  It's a new requirement for the missionaries now.

You asked about me and my comp.  He is super cool he has weights, so we lift every morning and I finally found someone that likes to eat as much as me hahah. Its like being with Austin again. We even think at the same time and look at each other and say "estou com fome". 

Sorry that I'm emailing so late today. We went out to eat at a restraunt callede sal e brasa. (salt and ember) it's like that place you talked about where you guys went for Robbi's wedding. But its a lot cheaper here for the American's haha!  It's really good.  I've never eaten so much before. Eating so much gave me a headache for a lil but it was worth it!  But sure I'll let you know when I get the debit card and no I don't need anything just wait till I get home because I'm sure I'll have nothing! But no I haven't seen any hand stitched baby dresses and I don't plan on buying one for awhile mom haha!  That's it for this week I'll send pics later from the conference! 
love 
Elder Maute

When everything goes wrong...

Well this week me and my comp really focused on trying to find new people to teach and to have more people in the sacrament meeting. I talked with the elders in my house about giving me part of their area that they aren't working in. This area is right behind the church and has some strong members living there. It's a perfect area for finding investigators and for them to stay strong in the church because it is so close to the members homes and because of the support of the members there. We ended up having alot of success at the beginning of the week finding people.

Last week at the church they celebrated Festa Junina. It's like a Brazilian hoedown if you want an idea. It’s also a festival for the end of the rainy season in the northeast. It gives people the opportunity to give thanks for the rain. They dance like if they were cowboys and dress up with hats and flannels and play forró a popular type of music here in the north of Brazil. I don't really like it, its kinda weird. But it had a really good turn out with lots of people that aren’t members. We went around making contacts and grabbing addresses all night which helped out a ton. The next day we went around to these houses to invite these people to church. We had a lot of people who committed to go at 8 and 9 o'clock  so we were pretty pumped. But it turned out on Sunday morning when we went to wake everyone up to go to church no one would go. Then in 2 houses some grandmas tried arguing with us telling us what we do isn’t of God. So I got pretty irritated with one of them because my day was already going bad and the fact I had to wake up early for that.

But with a bad week its good to look back and see the blessings in my mish that I have received. I know every week can’t be great and sometimes God likes to test his servants when they are prospering. This is so we can remember and be grateful for all the works of the Lord in our lives.  I really have noticed this in my mish that when times are perfect and then we sometimes end up forgetting to see this if a lot of time passes. It’s like getting sick, because when your suffering you remember how great it was not to be sick and you only want that feeling again. But I know this week will be alot better. Pray for us. Egor wasn't baptized last week because he left town for this holiday at the last minute. 

But, yeah I've heard about the cavs and golden state its 3 to 1 neh? I want Lebron to win so I’m pretty mad. But I heard he is destroying but so is Curry. But thats all for this week love you guys 

Elder Mauter

Parabéns Robbi!!!!!!
Last week sounded pretty awesome for you guys up in Idaho/Oregon. But then again i wish i could have been there to see Robbi's sealing in the temple now that i can enter, i think that would have been sweet. We will have to go up there when i get back and also see if Kimber can convince me to go to BYU-i (; 

But last week has been raining a lot here. I hope my wife is getting hotter because I took a lot of rain this week-haha.  We had another baptism last week. Lucas who is 16 years old. But let me tell you his story. Before Lucas lived here in Nova Natal he lived in a different city that is really ghetto and hard for a kid to grow up in. He didn't have much there and to get money he started selling drugs at a young age. He and ended up getting so much money that he bought his own house, for you to understand. But, he also got addicted to alot of drugs. One day when he was doing a drug run it went wrong and someone pulled a gun and shot someone he was with. He ran and hid himself and prayed to God to give him another chance to live. Nothing happened to him that day and he ended up leaving there and comeing to Nova Natal to live with his grandma and to change his life. 

Baptismal Belt

We found Lucas one day when we were on divisions with his 11yr old cousin, who doesnt know him much. When we started teaching him, he accepted everything we had been teaching him. Even before we started teaching him about the word of wisdom or anything on the first contact lesson he made a goal with himself to stop smoking. Which he had been smoking 2 boxes a day. He was having difficulty with stopping before. He then was able to cut it to one a day and the week before his baptism he stopped completely. He knew and recognized that this was God working miracles in his life. I'm so thankful for the Lord trusting me and my comp to be instruments in his hands to help these miracles happen. I know that God prepares paths for everyone to change their life if you are willing to humble yourself before him and to let him work on you! 

Me and my comp are doing good here, we have more baptisms planned for next week. Egor, he's a pretty big boy so me and my comp have both started working out again so that we are prepared so whomever he picks haha.

But love you guys!

Elder Mauter