December 3, 2012

Wow talk about extreme heat. I'm pretty sure its hotter than it was last year when I was here but I'm not positive about that. I don't know how many times I've heard in this past week, "Wow you're really red". But the thing is I'm using sun block everyday and multiple times each day. So there's nothing more I can do. I'm a white guy in Brasil, I'm gonna be red haha. The worst part is when it rains, I still have hope that one of these times it rains that it cools off too but until now everytime it rains it ends up getting hotter than it already was. It doesn't make any sense at all. I miss having snow and being in the cold when its close to christmas, it doesnt even feel like christmas is just a couple weeks away because I feel like I'm in the middle of summer. The other day I passed the 1 year and 3 month mark, it was a pretty normal day and nothing too special. The time is just flying by and months are going before I know it.

This week we worked a ton like always and had very few results from our work, and even had a few big disappointments. The hardest thing we're finding right now is having people progress and a desire to learn more. The 2 families we´re teaching that need to get married have also slowed up. The young couple has decided that they no longer want to get married for right now, that it's still way early and the other had some other problems with work and other things and are waiting on some papers to get married. But they both want to keep going to church and everything, just that baptism is going to be in the future most likely when I'm not here in Itu.

But this week didn't really have any real high points or real low points so theres not much to talk about. It was just a normal week. I'm trying to remember some other stuff that happened but I'm drawing a huge blank and can't think of anything new and exciting. Oh, it happened a couple weeks ago but I dont think I ever mentioned it, I finished The Book of Mormon for the 3rd time here on the mission. Until that point I had only been studying it in English and now I've started it in Portuguese. My goal is to read the Book Of Mormon 5 times on the mission, 3 in English and 2 in Portuguese. I have no doubt that it is a sacred scripture and that it came from God. Everytime I read it I learn more and more and strengthen my testimony that it's true. I love reading the scriptures and am so grateful for all the knowledge I have gained here on the mission.

Eu Te Amo

Elder Gleason

P.S. Helaman 12:23; 13:11; 14:13, 30-31 and Psalms 56:4, 11; 62:6-8; 64:10; 71:5