Monday, December 26, 2011

December 26, 2011

Oi Familia!
Faz tempo:) It was good to see all of you too. You guys didn´t talk too much though.haha
That´s coolabout Grandma. Will she be able to go to another place or stay in Spokane? Or do we know yet? That´s also great about Mikey and Rebecca. That´s funny about Dallin. I can imagine how crazy it would be to wait until 9:00. He didn´t look to anxious when he was sleeping while I was talking yesterday. Haha :) Anyway have a great week everyone. Merry Christmas again! Love you guys.
Elder Jolstead the Younger
P.S. I forgot to ask. How is Fonzie?

Monday, December 19, 2011

December 19, 2011

Oi Familia!
Feliz Natal! So this week was really good. We had 5 people accept batism! Now we just have to work with them until the date and then after to keep them firm in the church. So anyway I´m really excited for that. I don´t know if 11:00 will work because we have church for one hour at 4:00 my time which is 11:00 your time. When is church for you? I´m free 8 to 10 and 1 until 4 your time. Maybe if you call the bishop and I´m not there just say ´´Somos a família de Elder Jolstead. Por favor ligar para ele`` Then wait for him to call maybe 30 min and then call again. haha I honestly don´t know how this is going to work. We should have planned this better before. Anyway I´ll wait for you guys to call there. Maybe I´ll be able to call you first. Anyway, so yeah I called Jaren. I was able to talk to his companion in Santa Maria and he let me call him. He was really tired though so I only talked a little. Anyway I´ll have to end now. I hope everything goes well with the phone. I´ll be waiting! Love you guys. Merry Christmas!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, December 12, 2011

more pictures from the past six months





December 12, 2011

Oí Famíla,
Thanks for the video.It was really short though. Was it supposed to go until the end of the song? because it didn´t. :) So this week was hard. I got eaten alive by some kind of insect in Santa Maria and My foot swole up so much that I couldn´t walk. So I had to stay in our house until now. Almost 4 days.:( So I got my trainee! His name is Elder Sá. He´s really cool and has a ton of patience( you can imagine 4 days in the house without leaving:) ) Anyway, my foot is a ton better now. I was able to walk to the bus stop and to this computer place. At first my foot looked like leprosy, because it had dark red spots that kind of looked like the spots of a leopard. So anyway the bad part about al this is the baptismal date needs to be moced back of one of our investigators, because we couldn´t teach him this week and that we lost a lot of time to work and we´ll have to do a lot of catching up. The good párt is I got to know my companion pretty well and I´m half way through the Book of Mormon in Portuguese.:) Anyway thanks for the birthday wishes. I hope everything goes well with the play. Be sure to send pictures afterwards. Oh so we can´t skype here in my mission so it´ll be by phone. You guys will have to call. I´ll get the phone number this week and send it to you next week. Love you guys lots and have a great week. Happy Birthday to ME! :)
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, December 5, 2011

Elder Jolstead sent all his pictures from the last 6 months, here are a few.







December 5, 2011

Oí Família,
I´m glad you liked my pictures. That was 6 months in the making:) Feel free to add stuff to it. Oh so you already sent pics to Jared. He said he hadn´t received any yet, but I think the email he sent me was old. So today is transfer day. I found out I´ll be training! I´m really excited, but at the same time really scared. Oh so yeah I know Elder Erico. He was that short missionary who looked hispanic but was really hawaiian. I don´t know if you guys remember him, but he was there in Spokane for I think 3 months. He was there when I left. I have not yet adapted to the heat and I´m sure I won´t ever.:) ´´stinking hot`` doesn´t describe it. That comic book picture looks really cool, but unfortunately its really small so its hard to pic out details. So this week was difficult health wise. We ate something bad this week and to make a long story short we lost a lot of time in our house(spesifically in the bathroom:( ) It was not fun, but we´re better now. So I´m kind of sad to that my companion is leaving.... or really its a bit of mixed feelings. He´s a cool guy and I learned a lot with him, but it was hard to work with him. Anyway so today a member bought lunch for us today....all-you-can-eat....My stomach hurts now.:) So anyway I´m really excited to train but I know it will be hard and that I will have to trust in the Lord more than I have before. Have a great week everyone. Love you guys.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, November 28, 2011

November 28, 2011

Message body
Oí familia!
Yes it is very hot. Yesterday it was about 95 degrees with humidity...ugh. Just have to imagine I´m walking in a winter wonderland or something. Oh well its just 2 or 3 more months of this. Feel free to send some snow for me.:) Don´t worry about that boy Ma. I´ve done stuff way worse. I don´t remember if I told you, but I gave a hymn book to a blind woman. Don´t worry Ma the play sounds like it´s going the same as usual and it always turns out great. So is this year´s play the super hero one? Make sure to record it for us who aren´t there to watch it. So this week was pretty normal. Oh this week I had the privilege of helping baptize 4 investigators of the sisters in our area. Oh so also, I sent my memory card last week. When you get it please copy all of the pics to your computer so I have backups just in case something happens to it. Feel free to add some pics of home too:) So this month our Mission has the goal of baptizing 200 people. Oh so this week we taught a woman named Rejina. She looks a lot like Jimmy, the producer of our CD which I thought was hilarious. But anyway she is really Catholic and the first time we taught her she wasn´t very open, this last time we taught her was awesome. We taught her the Restoration and before she started recognizing and complaining about all the faults in the Catholic church. Then when we taught her about Joseph Smith the Spirit was extremely strong. There´s a really good chance she´ll progress, but really it all depends on her and if she prays to know if it´s true or not. Anyway so that was cool this week. Oh so happy Thanksgiving! I ate potatos rice and chicken for thanksgiving. It was good but it´s not the same. So we have an investigator who likes art and drawing and I was wondering if you could take pictures of the paintings I did for the CD and the Bear and wolf pastel drawings I did to show him. You don´t have to send them through letters. go ahead and just email them to me. Anyway that´s all for this week. Have a great week! Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

November 28, 2011

Message body
Oí familia!
Yes it is very hot. Yesterday it was about 95 degrees with humidity...ugh. Just have to imagine I´m walking in a winter wonderland or something. Oh well its just 2 or 3 more months of this. Feel free to send some snow for me.:) Don´t worry about that boy Ma. I´ve done stuff way worse. I don´t remember if I told you, but I gave a hymn book to a blind woman. Don´t worry Ma the play sounds like it´s going the same as usual and it always turns out great. So is this year´s play the super hero one? Make sure to record it for us who aren´t there to watch it. So this week was pretty normal. Oh this week I had the privilege of helping baptize 4 investigators of the sisters in our area. Oh so also, I sent my memory card last week. When you get it please copy all of the pics to your computer so I have backups just in case something happens to it. Feel free to add some pics of home too:) So this month our Mission has the goal of baptizing 200 people. Oh so this week we taught a woman named Rejina. She looks a lot like Jimmy, the producer of our CD which I thought was hilarious. But anyway she is really Catholic and the first time we taught her she wasn´t very open, this last time we taught her was awesome. We taught her the Restoration and before she started recognizing and complaining about all the faults in the Catholic church. Then when we taught her about Joseph Smith the Spirit was extremely strong. There´s a really good chance she´ll progress, but really it all depends on her and if she prays to know if it´s true or not. Anyway so that was cool this week. Oh so happy Thanksgiving! I ate potatos rice and chicken for thanksgiving. It was good but it´s not the same. So we have an investigator who likes art and drawing and I was wondering if you could take pictures of the paintings I did for the CD and the Bear and wolf pastel drawings I did to show him. You don´t have to send them through letters. go ahead and just email them to me. Anyway that´s all for this week. Have a great week! Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, November 21, 2011

November 21, 2011

Oí Família,
I´d have to agree. Time is going by really fast. I´ve seen Jaren only in photos, and probably won´t meet him in person for at least 3 months. The weather here is getting worse. I feel like I´m living in an oven sometimes. Fortunately it rained yesterday and ever since it´s been way cooler. We had another Mission-wide baptism this week. We baptized a kid named Pedro Lucas. The funny thing is he´d been going to church for a long time now and before we taught him the Word of Wisdom he had already quit drinking Cafe and tea. He´s really cooland I was able to baptize him so that was cool. Oh so I sent my memory card today finally. Don´t worry about the package. Send it whenever you can. It doesn´t matter to me. So I feel your pain with the dogs. Uruguaiana has more dogs than I´ve ever seen in my life. There are a ton! Oh speaking of dogs, how´s Fonzie doing? Not getting fat I hope. haha This week we met a women who is pretty much like Job. She was born with a paralyzed arm then later some kid shot her eye out with a sling-shot, then later a truck pretty much destroyed her leg and to top it all off her only daughter poisoned her, put her in the luny bin and sold all her stuff including her house. Oh and all her family is dead except for one cousin. So yeah I don´t think I´ll ever complain about any trial again.:) Oh so is it true that Krystal is preganant again? That´s cool. Maybe I´ll be able to see this baby:) Anyway thanks for the email. Oh and remember about the testimonies I asked for please. Have a great week. Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, November 14, 2011

November 14,2011

Oí Família,
So this week was a lot better. I think me and my companion are becoming a lot closer. He really is a great guy but like all of us he has some quirks. I felt really bad about what happened, but don´t worry I´m not too beat up about it. And it really is true. Fortunately I can because of the Savior I can become better and leave all my mistakes behind. The great thing too is when I tried to make things better I felt a ton better. Just goes to show that true repentance really does releave the guilt. Anyway so this week was a ton better. We worked a lot more in union and we had another baptism!! Her name is Lizangela and honestly she has the storngest testimony I´ve seen in a recent convert. Her story is also pretty funny. When Elder F. Silva and his companion first began teaching her one thing sha said was she was the kind of person that needs to see to believe. One day she said she needed to get an answer about the book of mormon and so she said shéd open the book of mormon to a random spot and that verse would be her answer. Guess which scripture she found. Alma 32 the verse that explains what faith is. That its a hope for things not seen that are true. I forgot the exact verse, but I´m sure you know it. So anyway that was funny and ever since then she´s had a strong desire to get baptized and follow the Lord. She really is one of those people that had their heart preprared by angels. One of the elect. So anyway her baptism was an awesome experience its just her husband that has to follow her example now. So also to add to my list of strange foods I ate chicken hearts too. Hmm...delicious...haha That´s great that Shantewa finally got her Patriarical blessing. Almost took her 2 years to get it.haha Don´t worry about the play Mother, it always is late but also is always great.:) I just hope you all continue until I come home. Oh so I was wondering if Father could send the names of the line of authority of the Priesthood. It´s always good show that line when we teach about the Restoration and the Priesthood. Oh and also I want a present from ALL my brothers and sisters and parents for Christmas. Don´t worry the gift I want is really simple and easy to send. All I want is your testimonies. They don´t have to be really long just tell me what you know about the gospel and principles pertaining to it and how you found it to be true. It something I really want and its not hard to do so if all could please do it that would be nice. Mother if you could talk to Krystal and Mikey for me that would be awesome. Anyway that´s what I want for Christmas this year so it would be awesome if you could do this for me. Well that´s about all I have to say this week. Have a great week guys! I love you!
Elder Jostead the Younger

P.S. ´´I´m dreaming of a White Christmas. Just like the one´s I used to know...``

Monday, November 7, 2011

November 7, 2011

Oí,
I´ll be honest my week was pretty crappy. Not work wise, just the fact that I caught a flu or something. I´m doing better now but with the sickness and this flippin´ heat I was having a hard time. It´s funny Jared said something like I don´t know what heat is, but it´s a little known fact that down here we actually get a lot of heat, This week was 40 degrees celcius and I heard in Dezember and January it will get up to 48 degrees celsius. I honestly don´t know what that is converted into Fernheit, all I know is its hot. That´s the thing here. In the winter it gets really cold, or at least cold for Brasil and in the Summer it gets extremely hot. The Brasilians from the north or the so called ´´Hot States`´ complain about the heat here. I don´t know if it´s hotter where jared is at or no, all I know is that it is really, really, really hot here. So anyway I felt destroyed this week and my patience wore thin and yesterday I yelled at my
companion. I felt like a jerk afterwards and to make it worse after I returned because after our fight I got up and left, he was crying. Not just crying bawling, for almost 10 minutes. Honestly I felt terrible. I apoligized and I think we´re ok now. All I know is that I´ll never yell at anyone like that again. So anyway after that experience I hope my companion can trust me again. It´s so hard to stay calm sometimes especially when it feels like everything is against you, but as a rerpresentative of Jesus Christ I need to have more patience and love for everyone. So anyway this week on a personal level was pretty bad, but the work is going forth really well. We´ll have a batism this week and we´re planning on having two more in the following week. Sounds like everyone is having fun at home. I hope the trunk or treat was good. I ate a candy bar to celebrate. I was actually thinking about the scouting for fod the other day. I remember how much I hated running around, but now I think I´d enjoy it. Maybe when I come back I´ll help out with it. Happy Birthday again Father! 49 years? That´s sad I´ll miss your 50th B-day next year. So the play was good just a little off color? So Brasil does have Daylight savings time. We already changed, but it was the opposite. We lost an hour. It wasn´t fun. That´s cool that the temple got remodeled. That´ll be cool to see. Anyway that´s all from me this week. Hope you have a great week. Work hard and stay happy!
Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, October 31, 2011

October 31, 2011

Oí Família,
Happy Halloween! Sounds like you guys are having a great time. Great job on the football game Derek! Thanks for the pictures. I think next year I´ll carve a pumpkin here. I don´t have a lot of time today. Was Joshua able to watch all the Halloween movies? Oh Happy Birthday Kelleene and Father in advance! So this week was good. I arrived here and had a baptism already.:) She´d been going to church 1 year and 8 months already though. Her mom just didn´t want her to get baptized until now. My companion is pretty cool, a little over enthusiastic but cool. We have another baptism planned for the 12 too. The area here is really small though so it´ll be hard to find new investigators. Jaren hasn´t recieved his visa yet? That means he might be comingg to my district, because my district leader is waiting for his companion to get his visa. That would be cool if it was Jaren. I´m feeling a little sick today. I hope it´s nothing. It´d be terrible if it impedes my work. So Uruguaiana is really big, or at least bigger than Santiago. In the center of the city there´s a big cathedral. It´s awesome. I´ll have to take a picture. I´m working in a Ward now, but unfortunately it´s like Vila Rica in that it has a ton of in active members. More work I guess. Anyway I hope you all have a great wek and Halloween! Love you guys! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, October 24, 2011

October 24, 2011

Oí Família,
Wow Dallin you look a ton older! Strange to see everyone older in these pictures. Mikey looked a lot bigger too. Looks like marriage life has been good.Haha just kidding. Speaking of which two sisters said I looked a lot bigger since the time I arrived. I hope that its muscle and not fat.:( The food is just too good here.haha So Today is my last day here in Santiago. I´m off to a city called Uruguaiana and as the name suggests it´s close to Uruguay. I here it´s a pretty big city and to my dismay extremely hot.:( I just know these next couple of months will be a struggle, but its the times of great struggles that we grow the most, that is if we put in the effort to face it. So I´m sad to leave but also excited. This transfer went by fast, because it was super easy to work with Elder L. Silva. Honestly he was a lot better companion then my so-called ´´Father.`` So Halloween has arrived with all the other holidays soon to follow behind it. I hope you all remember me as you eat your Halloween candy and were your masks. For Halloween this year I think I´ll be a pancake or a fried egg or maybe a burnt piece of toast.haha Anyway with that sad bit of humor I´ll have to end my email. Don´t worry about the vitamins and stuff, Mother I don´t need them right now. I will in the future months but right now I´m fine. Anyway have a great week! Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, October 17, 2011

October 17, 2011

body
Oí,
The baptism was awesome! We were able to baptize two people. One named wiliam with18 years and one named Luíz Filipe with almost 12 years. Wiliam already wants to go on a mission. I´d have to say that that is a great feeling to know that someone you helped find the church will do the same thing for others later on. So that was cool. Oh funny story. I had a dumb blond (funny that I´m not blond) moment yesterday. I was handing out hymn books in the new members class at church and I handed a hymn book to a sister who is blind...I felt like an idiot. Anyway this week was great. We´ve found a ton of really great people that I think will accept the gospel and be baptized. Unfortunately I found out I will be transfered this next week. I´m pretty certain I´ll be trainning. Its sad that I´m leaving. Elder L. Silva is an awesome companion and I´ll really miss working with him, but the Lord wants me somewhere else now. Anyway thats weird that the name changed. Newman Lake ward, huh? Oh so we get new members? The Lines? That´s awesome! Merrill will be our ward now...or at least his family, I´m not sure if he´s at home or probably at college. How´s the autumn weather? I have to say I´m jealous. It´s become extremely hot here. It seems like I´m always sweating. Oh well, I´ll have to get over it. It won´t cool up until about May or June. Anyway I hope you all have a great week! Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, October 10, 2011

October 10, 2011

body
Oí Family,
Well sounds like you all had a crazy week. It´s always fun being sick during road trips.haha From the pictures it looks like the wedding went well and Mikey and Rebecca look really happy, so that´s good. Don´t worry I didn´t get to hear a lot of Conference too because of power outages. So I felt like I missed it too. So this week was good, and went by incredibly fast. I made Pancakes about four times this week. ( I found maple flavoring in our cupboards and a recipe I recieved from the MTC)I think my companion is addicted to maple syrup. They were good and made me think of Saturday mornings at home. Don´t worry I only got a little trunky, but then I got over it. So This week we have two baptisms. One is a 18 year old boy named William. He was a reference of a member and we´re going to try and get his member friend to baptize him. The other is a 12 year old boy named Luíz Filipe who is a cousin of a member. We´ve been trying to get him to baptism for a very long time. So this week we were only able to do a little bit of service because a lot of people are waiting on materials to fix their houses. But once they get them we´ll probably be spending most of our days fixing houses. Its funny. One of our investigators is afraid to leave his house. No matter what we say or do he will not leave his house. Its becoming extremely frustrating, but he´s a cool guy so week can wait till he´s ready. We just need to wait and have faith that the Lord will put into our minds the things we need to say and to help him overcome this fear. So anyway all is well here. It´s almost another transfer and this next one Jaren enters the field! It´s going to be crazy when I see him. Oh so today we ate at the Couple missionaries´house and my companion made Churrasco and the Sister made a ton of food. It was amazing, but I´m afraid of returning home fat.haha I ate a ton! Anyawy thanks for the pictures and have a great week. Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

October 3, 2011

Message body
Oí Família,
Well this week I have a lot to say, so again don´t be offended if I don´t e-mail back. This week was interesting. The begginning of the week was great. We taught an awesome family and they agreed to be baptized. The lesson was awesome. You could feel the spirit so strongly, especially when we bore testimony of the first Vision. Anyway so that was cool. We also invited 4 other people to be baptized and they all excepted too. So this week was awesome in the begginning. We were all happy and excited for conference too, but then A huge storm hit Friday night and Saturday morning. I honestly am not sure if it wasn´t a hurricane that hit, because it tore roofs off houses, ripped trees and telephone poles out of the grounded and even caved in the house of a member. Don´t worry. I´m fine. The Lord really protected us, because it´s a miracle our extremely old, little wooden house didn´t getripped apart or the giant palm tree that always creeks and looks like its going to fall outside our house didn´t fall and destroy our house. Anyway so basically we were sleeping peacefully and out of no where we awoke to thunder that sounded like cannons and the sound of something like rocks hitting our roof. It was crazy! It sounded like a battle field! So we look out side and its completely dark because the power is out. all you see is flashes of lightning. The lightning was amzing! There wasn´t a second inbetween one flash and then the other. That night I didn´t think much of it, because we´ve had bad storms before, so I just closed all the windows and went back to sleep. My companion woke me up later that night and I guess he told me the branch president called to see if we were all right, but I don´t remember because I was half asleep. So anyway we woke up like normal and studied and everything, but we found out that the electricity and water were out. So we went outside and it honestly looked like the end of the world. There were people in the streets others fixing houses and everything looked destroyed. Our neighbor showed us a hail ball the size of a soft ball outside his house. Anyway so Santiago, or really just our area got ravaged by something and because of that we miseed all the sessions of conference the first day, so I hope it was good. But now we have a chance to help a lot of people and at the same time teach a message that will help them have hope in this time of craziness. Because really is was crazy. A freak storm That for some reason only attacked our area not the central of the city. So anyway that was my week. Pretty exciting and like Alma I´m kind of happy because now we have a chance to really help more people, because before there really were a lot of hard hearted people. I don´t get me wrong, I´m not happy that people are sad. I´m happy because now they might be a little more open to our message. Something kind of funny too is that the church here is right beside a lutheran church and after the storm passed over, the lutheran church got ravaged, but our church didn´t get a scratch. All I could think was ´´How Firm a Foundation``:) Another funnt, or strange thing was the day before I shared a message with a family about Helaman 5:12. Which is actually a great scripture to use because almost all the members´ houses ended up ok. There was only the one of the member inactive that had the problem. His whole side of the house caved in. Luckily he and his family are fine. So this next week will be a great week for service. So anyway how´s everyone doing? How was conference? Oh Mother, please forward this email to Jared, Krystine and Krystal, because I don´t have time to email everyone this week. This email is for everyone ok? Oh so I do need two more things. lots of Chapstick and if you could more polyester ties, because one of my ties started to melt this week.( Its getting really hot.) You don´t have to send anything now. Just for when you send the next package for Christmas or whenever. Oh and could you send recipies for :Pancakes, heaven bread, brownies, Chocolate chip cookies, the blanket for pigs in a blanket, clover rolls, cinamon rolls, and father´s chili. I really need to learn how to make food, because its always my companion and I feel bad for not helping. I know that´s a long list, but it is for two years. Anyway I don´t know if Joshua is offened because I didn´t write back, but I´m sorry. It really is hard to email everyone everyweek. I think the other Elder might be offended too. Sorry guys it takes a long time for me to type in english and even more in portuguese when I email the mission president. So the Marriage is this week? Good luck Mikey. And sorry I won´t be there to wear a kilt. That´s sad about your game Derek, but don´t get discouraged just try to do better every game. I didn´t know you were playing baseball Braedan. That´s cool and good luck in Basketball. So you´re not done with radiation and stuff, Kelleene? Sorry I was confused. Hopefully You´ll be done with this soon. Try to stay happy though, that´s the key to everything hard in life. Just stay happy and remember the Savior has already felt everything you´re feeling. That´s always a comforting thought for me. There were a lot of great taliks about that in the last conference and Elder Cook spoke a lot about that yesterday. Oh Dallin thanks for the comics, I don´t know if I already thanked or not, but they are really cool. Nathan, sorry I won´t email you again, but yes I think the ears on the catwomen costume look stupid too. Anyway here´s my long email for everyone. Don´t worry about me here I´m fine but honestly really excited to help here. I really think this storm will help the branch here grow closer together and also wake up a lot of the people here. So anyway have a great week everyone and I hope the everything goes great with the marriage. Oh Krystine I forgot, I agree the conference or what I saw of it was really good. Hopefully ext session in 6 months I´ll be able to watch all the sessions.:) Love you guys! Tchau
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, September 26, 2011

September 26, 2011

Oí,
My week was good. We had Zone conference and President Ribeiro gave so really great training. I definitly know for sure that he is inspired of the Lord. So anyway, Zone conference was awesome and it always fires me up ready to work. Oh and my area has a couple missionaries working here now. They´re actually working in three different areas here, but they should really help the work here. The members really love the couple missionaries. So yeah the work is going really well here even though it has become extremely hot. We have some really great investigators. No I didn´t have Burkart I had Legrant because I was in weights. So what is Braeden playing? Football too? The foods didn´t all taste like chicken.haha the snake tasted like fish and the frog eggs tasted like jello and the cow tongue tasted like sausage. Oh and I don´t need anything else except maybe maple, peanut butter, and some recipes. Another Brazilian asked for basketball shorts and I told him I´d ask but I don´t want you to buy them. I´ll be honest one of the things extremely annoying about brazilians is they want everything you have and you have. I hate it. They think every american is rich. Anyway, that´s cool about conference and that´s way crazy that Mikey´s wedding is next week. Time is going way too fast. Oh so our mission is doing something really cool. All our baptisms are going to be scheduled on October 15 and every companionship will try to have at least one baptism, so that on the 15th there will be a huge baptism everywhere in the mission. Oh so you don´t have to send me anything now I don´t need that stuff now and it´d be better to wait until I´m transfered anyway because it´ll be hard to carry more things to my next area. Anyway I have to go. Have a great week and a great time at conference. Oh so It´s hard to write everyone every week so don´t be offended if you don´t get an email. Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, September 19, 2011

September 19, 2011

Oí,
So this week was awesome! We have another baptism scheduled for a man named Alexandro. Its funny because that is really close to the name of the man who I baptized almost two months ago. So mmy companion is awesome. He likes to get things done and doesn´t waste time which is awesome. He´s always looking for those who are ready for baptism but said he won´t let some pne get baptized unless he´s sure thay have a testimony which again is awesome. We´ve taught a ton more lessons than I did with my trainer and everyone has been powerful. It´s honestly a great experience to be working with him. Oh his name is Elder L. Silva. So I also have more food to add to the weird list. I´ve eaten Snake, cow tongue, armadillo, and frog eggs in jello. The funny thing is that it´s all been pretty good. Oh so today I listened to the whole Garden by michael McLean. I don´t think I´ve ever listened to the whole thing before. I have to say I really like it. I just sat and listened to the words and I was amazed at how powerful it is, especially the one about the atonement. I think it´s called Thy will be done or something. So ypu shucked corn this week? I remember doing that with Jackson. That was fun.haha Oh Mikey got a painting job? With Bro. Novakovich again? I was wondering how he was doing with work. So You´re going to Sunday morning session? I´ll look for you in the crowd. Anyway I´m thinking this next transfer will be a lot better than the last. Have a great week guys! Love you.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, September 12, 2011

September 12, 2011

Oí Familia!
Thanks for the pics. Looks like you guys are having a great time. So I´m actually going to stay here for another transfer, but I´m really excited about some of the people here. I think this next transfer will be a ton better than the last. So I´m getting a new companion too. This last two weeks we´ve been reteaching the first baptism everhere in Santiago. He´s in active and his family aren´t members. He´s been inactive for I think 10 years or something like that. But he came to church yesterday and he seems excited to be coming back. The Broadcast sounded cool. I honestly can´t wait for General Conference. Oh so I don´t have a lot of time today so I don´t know if I´ll be able to respond to every one today. Sorry. Shane sounds like he´s having a fun time there in Cuiaba.haha He´s been out for about 7 or 8 months now right? It´s crazy how fast time flies. That´s cool about the heroscape set. Sounds like you guys are having fun. Jake came home? Wow that´s pretty crazy. Unfortunately I don´t have access to the blogs of all of my friends and for some reason I have yet to receive a letter too. Oh well. So I´ll probably train next transfer, which means I´ll see Jaren, because he arrives next transfer, I think. So that should be cool. Anyway have a great week and stay happy! I love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

September 6, 2011

Here is a letter received by Elder Jolstead dated August 22,2011:

Oi Familia!
So this week was a lot better than last week, but we still need to do better. My companion has a problem with speaking to members for a long tome, but we're going to fix that this week. So I found out that I'll probably be training next transfer. I know its crazy. 2 months in the field and I'm alredy going to train, our Father in Heaven doesn't always call us when we think we're ready and usually He calls us to positions that stretch and grow. I know it'll be difficult, but once again, like always, I'll just need to trust in the Lord for help. So this week I gave my first talk in Portuguese. It went well. It was on missionary work and while I was preparing I came to the conclusion that there is only two reasons why we would ever not want to share the gospel or be afraid to. 1. We don't completely understand the message of the restored gospel; 2. We don't believe it's true. There's no real reason not to share. The message we have is one of and happiness and peace that can help everyone and for us to be afraid and not want to share it we either don't understand this or we don't believe it. Anyway, I would like to share an experience that happened this last week that was very humbling and really boosted my testimony of missionary work. Last Tuesday, I think, the night before when we were planning, Elder De Oliveira Silva said after teaching Alex Sandro, our recent convert, we should contact his neighbors, because he thought that they were a great family living there. So the next day we did and a woman in her late twenties came out and let us in. After talking a while in her house we found out that her father(who she lived with) was very sick and she was as well. We found out she had depression and I think something else. She cried alot. Then after she said something that was very humbling to me. She said that she had seen us many times when we went to teach Alex and she told her mother that we had a message for her and that we knew the things that would help her. When I heard her say that I was extremely humbled. The Lord had really prepared her to hear our message and the fact that we were the ones to give her the message that would help her was incredible. The spirit was extremely strong there and we taught a great lesson to her and also gave her a blessing. Unfortunately two days later after teaching a second lesson she left in a message on our phone that she didn't want us to come back. I honestly don't know why, probably because of her mother who had a other religion and didn't like us very much, but I was really sad after that. That just goes to show you that even after feeling the spirit some people won't accept the gospel. Anyway thats my story. How are all of you? How was the family reunion? Have a good week! Love you lots! Tchau!
Love,
Elder Jolstead the younger

Monday, September 5, 2011

September 5, 2011

Oí Familia,
My week was ok. We´re working hard, but sometimes I think we can work harder. Yesterday we taught a training for the adults of the branch. It went well I think. It was on Faith and we taught to help the members have a little more faith in the work. Hopefully it helped them. We´ll see in the coming week. So this is probably my last week in Santiago. It´s crazy how fast time flies. I keep telling people that but it´s true. If you don´t use your time wisely and enjoy the moment it´ll slip right on by. So the work continues and I´m doing better all in all with everything: language and teaching. That´s funny about Jaren. I felt about the same, but once he´s out here he´ll learn it. Trial by fire. Learn or die.haha Thanks for the addresses by the way. Oh did Steve leave? I didn´t here about that. You Had the corn feed this week? You know it was last year at the corn feed that I got the job with Bro. Novakovich. So school starts again! Joy! Rapture! How´s everyone dealing with it? Working hard I hope? Anyway, that´s about it with me. Have a great week and stay happy! Love you all! Tchau!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, August 29, 2011

August 29, 2011

Message bodyOí Família,
Well there was a black out this week. I really don´t have time to talk about it but I´ll explain more about what happened in my letter this week. So school is here once again for you guys and I think the last three months went by extremely fast. East Farms sounds like it looks a ton different. That´s awesome that you´re planning on seeing General Conference. I can´t wait for conference. I´m really excited to hear it in portuguese! I´ve also come to have a greater appreciation for the words of the prophets since I´ve been out here. They´re always really inspiring for missionaries. Maybe I´ll see you guys on the TV. That would be cool. Why do you need a van? What happened to our van? Oh were you able to find the talks on the Book of Mormon by Elder Holland for me? Anyway the work is starting to be better here. We found a ton of new investigators this last week and the great thing about one couple is they actually understand the importance of the message. That´s hard to come by here. Anyway that´s it for this week. Oh sorry in advance if I don´t respond to some of your emails. Its really hard to reply to everyone´s. but if I don´t this week I will next week. Love you guys.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, August 22, 2011

August 22, 2011

Oí,
Sorry but I probably won´t be able to answer everyone this week. So the family reunion sounded like fun. It would have been cool to see everyone since I haven´t seen some of our family in years but I´m over it. This week was dificult. My companion likes to talk to members for long periods of time so it´s hard sometimes to get work done. Oh well. So I found out I might be training next transfer. pretty scary, but I know the Lord will help me. School´s starting soon! Hoorai! Oh which songs did you play at the reunion? The Talent show sounded fun. I can just see you and aunt Barbra and Aunt April doing that skit.haha So do you think you could send me the addresses for Shane and Kurtis? I haven´t heard anything about them. Wait so why did you tye dye socks? Oh you want to know how to get Kate beckinsale? Send her my picture and say that I´m home.haha Just joking. So now that summer is winding done I hope all your brains haven´t wroted away. Anyway have a good week! Love you guys!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, August 15, 2011

August 15, 2011

Oí Família,
This week was ok. We had training at Santa Maria this week so that was cool. So the family reunion is this week? Oh Father I don´t need a hat or gloves it´s extremely hot here now. Eu Não gosto...So Jaren´s going to provo! Tell him to look for Irmão williams and Irmão... crap I forgot his name. I can´t believe it! Anyway tell him that Irmão williams looks like what you´d think Nephi would look like in our day.haha So how´s every one doing? School´s coming. hehehe. It´s crazy to think when I come back Shantewa will be graduating. Oh Braeden How was your B-day? Sorry I missed it. I was previously engaged.haha Oh sorry about the bee Mother. Sounds like it hurt. Anyawy this email has to be short, but I wrote a letter so no worries. You´ll get it in about a month. haha. Anyways Have a great week and a great family reunion. Tell everyone Hi. Love you all. Tchau.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, August 8, 2011

August 8, 2011

Message bodyOí Familia,
this week was good. I have to say that if I don´t watch it, I could come home fat. Despite what I said before the food here is amazing especially the desserts. You´d also be suprised of the varityof the foods. This week I had spagetti and there is always chicken or some kind of meat with the lunch. And they´re always wanting me to eat more. Like I said I´ll probably be fat after two years. I´m glad Jaren liked my letter. You better tell him to bring gloves and a hat because it is extremely cold this week. It almost snowed. But now it is extremely hot which I´m not too happy about. So this week we found another couple that´s golden, but like the other they are not married. Figures. We´re also having some trouble with some of the members, but hopefully we can help them out. Anyway that´s all from me. Oh yes supposedly there is a werewolf here. I have yet to see it, but you´d be suprised how many times I´ve heard about it. That is kind of funny that there would be a werewolf in my mission. So Bro. Lee came to see Nathan. That is weird that he´s old enough to go to seminary. Oh do you think you could find out Shane´s address and Kurtis´s too. I haven´t heard anything about them and I´m really curious how they are. Oh I got the package. You guys are saints! Top ramen and Peanut butter crunch! I almost cried!haha Thanks a ton I´ll finally have a normal breakfast. I´m was getting tired of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. Anyway have a great week and enjoy your last three weeks of freedom!haha. Love you lotsTchau
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, August 1, 2011

August 1, 2011

Oí Família,
Sorry for bugging you with the whole quad thing. I completely understand and I´m sorry I asked. My companion just keeps asking me and sometimes I´m not sure if you recieve my emails. My companion will have to understand. So anyways, Alex Sandro was baptized this week! It was awesome. He´s a pretty cool guy. and I guess its the first baptism in this branch since March. Oh and a 11 year old boy named Luiz Filipe and a women named Genecir will hopefully be baptized pretty soon here. They said they want to, they just haven´t come to church, which is an obsticle that happens a lot here. The water pump broke again? That sounds like fun. Its funny. I wasn´t home when it happened the first time and I´m not home when it happened again. So I guess for the rest of August, it will rain and be super cold which actually isn´t bad compared to what´s going to happen during summer here. I´m not excited for the summer. So this last week there was a huge thunder storm. It was awesome. The thunder sounded like gun shots. So Kelleene hopefully will be done with all of this stuff soon? That´s good. Elder Bise ate a snail? That´s hilarious. Yea the armidillo tasted like chicken and i´m not sure how often they eat it. I haven´t had any since. Yesterday me and my companion saw Gaucho´s on horses lassoing wooden cows being pulled behind motorcycles. It was pretty cool. The people here make me laugh some times. Anyway That´s about it. I love you all and I´m sorry for bugging you with the quad thing. Tchau!
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, July 25, 2011

July 25, 2011

Oí Família,
My week has been awesome and I have a feeling this week will be even better. I´ve excepted the fact that I´m not a perfect teacher or missionary and that I am not very good with the language, but i know if I do my best and rely on the Lord He can make up for all that I´m lacking. Because I´ve excepted this knowledge a huge burden has been taken off my shoulders and I´ve had a lot more patience with myself. I´ve been a lot happier too. So this week we have a baptism scheduled. A man named Alexsandro. He´s really cool. He´s really excited to learn more about the gospel and to be baptized. He hasn´t had a problem with anything. He said he smoked before but he´s giving it up which is awesome. So this week should be great. So I´m not sure if you recieve my emails because sometimes it seems like you don´t respond back about things. My companion really wants a quad and asked me to ask again. Also he wants to write Kelleene to practice his english, so she will probably recieve a letter from him in the near future. That´s good that you´re healthy. I had my first of probably many run-ins with the Runs. You know there´s a saying here, ´´It´s not a South American Mission until you´ve crapped your pants`` Honestly I´m hoping to prove that wrong. Anyway I´m glad to here that Jackson´s enjoying the food. From past experience I know Jackson can be a stinky man. High Adventure of 2009: the cave experience. Not Fun. Yea the food is good but it gives you terrible gas. I can´t believe he´s already leaving though. Time honestly works very strangely out here. Hours feel like days, days feel like hours, and weeks go by quick. One thing that´s weird is that it´s really hard to remember home. Home feels like a dream. It´s really weird, but its good. keeps your mind on the work. Anyway, the work continues down here and the weather continues to be weird. Love you guys lot´s. Have a great week. Tchau.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, July 18, 2011

July 18, 2011

oí família,
I´m doing much better now. These first couple weeks have been rough.Thát´s cool about Joshua helping the missionaries. It´s probably one of the best things he can do to prepare. That´s also great about Aunt Kathy and Uncle Gary. I hope you´re right about them cutting down. So Augie´s leaving this week. That´s awesome! I wish I could have been at his and Jackson´s farewells, but it´s ok. I actually haven´t been emailing Jackson and Robbie, because we can´t email friends. but I finally recieved a letter back from Robbie and I sent him another. Do you think that you could send me Jackson´s address? I´m pretty sure he´s on his last week in the MTC so I´ll probably need his address for in the field. So the lawn mower finally works? That´s awesome. Well if you want to know about me I´ll say that one of the cool things that happened this week was that one of the people we´re teaching came to church and he´s really excited about the church. Also I ate armadillo meat this week. Looked like burnt meat and tasted like chicken(no joke, it really tasted like chicken). So yah this week it rained a lot and was very sunny and hot. I feel like I´m contradicting myself, but the weather is just crazy, because today has been pretty cold. I guess from what the president said, Santiago is actually one of the harder areas of the mission. I have to say that was a comfort, but it means we´ll have to work all the harder. Anyway that´s it for this week. I hope you have a great week. Love you all! Tchau.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, July 11, 2011

July 11, 2011

oí Família,
I have to say that picture of Daniel is so cute. Good lookin´ kid. So this week was ok. I feel like I´m smashing my head against a brick wall with the language. I feel like because I know very few words I teach the lesson the exact same way each time and that it really is starting to lose its significance. it´s like I´m giving a memorized speach every time. but I guess that´s how it has to go until i learn the language. i am learning, but at a very slow rate. So how´s every thing at home looks like you´re having a lot of fun. oh my companion really likes my ring and scriptures and he wanted me to ask you if you could get some for him. i know its way expensive so you don´t have to, but i promised him I would. So after my mission I´ll just send some to his home or something. I feal really bad for it but I know quads are expensive by themselves and with the price for sending stuff to Brazil I figure you probably won´t. Oh but I was wondering with your next letter if you could send a printed copy of Elder Holland´s two talks one the Book of Mormon that he gave at conference awhile back. i really liked it and wanted to read it again. So the work is going ok. One of our investigators who was taught pretty much all the lessons by missionaries two months ago, smoked again so that´s great. There is this one family who is a part member family( the wife is a member) who I love visiting and teaching. the husband looks like Mario and is so funny. Honestly though, this last week has been tough. I remember laughing at an older Elder who said your first three months will be terrible, I´m not laughing now. All in all though i´m really enjoying the experience. I know that after a few months of working I´ll know the language and be really enjoying the work. Oh also, if possible could you send printed pictures of the family and the area, because all I have is the wallet sized photo and my companion shows pics to some people when we´re teaching about families. Also I think every six months I just send my photo card home instead of putting them on the computer because it is extremely hard. I don´t even know if you got my lastt photos. Anyway that´s it for now. Love you all lots. tchau.
Elder Jolstead the brother of Jared

Monday, July 4, 2011

July 4, 2011

Oí Família,
I´m doing fine. I really like it here in Santiago. There are alot of really good people here. I actually have not had any weird foods, and all that I´ve had has been good. It is winter here, my second winter this year. It´s pretty cold, but not as cold as home. There has actually been talk about snow here, though. It keeps making me think of Christmas. That´s cool that Mikey and Rebecca are there. I can´t believe that Jackson is already leaving! That´s so weird. Oh tell Jaren to memorize as much portuguese as he can before he comes here. Don´t worry about the grammer just learn vocab. Anyway I don´t have a lot of time. I love you all and I miss you. tchau.
Elder Jolstead the brother of Jared

Monday, June 27, 2011






Oi Família,
I´m in my first area, Santiago, and it is cold. I´m sending some pics, but I´m not sure how well its going to work. The pics are some from both mtc´s so if you get them enjoy. So my companion´s name is Elder De OLiveira Silva. He´s from Jãon Pessoa and he´s very little english, but the mission president told him not to speak any which is good. It feels like another world here. I can hardly understand anyone and I can barely respond. It feels like I´m in another dimension. Oh and yes there is a can where tou put the used toilet paper. The food is about the same but its good. oh and the assistant to the president here is the elder who´s blog I looked at. Weird huh? So yea its really cold and the streets are cobblestone. It´s like a mixture of south america and old europe. I´m going to have to hand dry my clothes too. I have no idea how,though, because its so cold. It feels like and sort of looks like autumn back home, except the trees are green and for the occasional palm tree. My companion and I live alone, just the two of us which is extremely weird since I´v never lived with less than three people in my life. I also dont think I´ll gain any weight here even though the members keep making me eat every time I have lunch, because most days we only eat once at the member´s house. Anyway so right now I´m pretty frustrated with the language, but I´ll get it. I got to go now. I love you all. have a great week. Tchau.
Elder Jolstead the younger

Friday, June 24, 2011

June 24, 2011

Here is an excerpt of the letter from Elder Jolstead that came today.

Oi Familia!
My last letter from the CTM! Enjoy. So alot happened this week or at least on Friday so I'll get right to it. This last Thursday our night teacher Irmao Ramon had to leave, because his two years teaching was up.He was so funny and a great teacher.His last night teaching he gave us much words of wisdom.So this Friday we went to Avienda Paulista which is basically the Times Square of Sao Paulo. It is crazy! Tons of people are walking back and forth and at first we were intimidated because we didn't know how to stop someone. They all looked like they had a place to go and they were going now. It's funny though because our first contact came up to us. It was a girl about our age supporting Green Peace. At first we had no idea what she was saying but then I recognized that she asked us if we were here in Brazil on business or school and that's when I cut in with "we are actually missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was funny how her face changed when she realized that we're also here to tell people a message, and that she wouldn't be able to talk just about us supporting Green Peace. Anyway we talked to her about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and then invited her to read it. At first she didn't look too enthused but she took it. I wish when I had talked to her I had taken her love of the earth and went with it, like, "We believe the earth is a gift from God and we also believe that we should take of it, but all I said was, "Green Peace!" "Muito Bom!" Oh well, I hope she reads it.

Elder Jolstead wrote more, but this is just a part. He said that he was glad that he had the opportunity to speak with others as well. He is now in Santa Maria ready to spread the gospel there!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

June 14, 2011

Oi Famìlia!

Last week! Opa! I can´t wait to get out of here. I liked here but I´m ready to leave. I can´t believe Jackson is about ready to go. That´s so cool. He´s been waiting a while. So I guess it does take forever to get to you, because I wrote those letters about two weeks ago. This week I went out proselyting on Avenida Paulista which is pretty much like Times Square. I write about my excursions in my letter though, because there´s a lot to say. So right now I´m kind of nursing my tongue, because while eating a brazilian mush I bit my tongue. I was pretty sure I almost bit it off, but its fine. I barely knipped it. So this is like the last week of school for me too. Tuesday is the day and I am ready to go. well i´ll write more in my letter. i hope you´re all doing fine. Eu você ama! Tchau Elder Jolstead the younger oh have jackson write me before he goes.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

June 7, 2011

Oi família,
Um...I actually have two more weeks. its very sad. I leave the 21. I was wondering when T-cox would send them in. Has Levi sent them yet? That´s cool about the chicks. I figured you´d have to pretty soon because the other chickens are extremely old. That´s pretty funny about that play. that kid´s will never life will never be the same after playing lady gaga. He´ll here about that for the rest of his life. So Elder Jolstead´s b-day was yesterday, but I don´t have his address. So my teacher Irmão Ramon took pics at the temple today and I think he´ll send them to you tonight or tomorrow. Unfortunately this is the first e-mail I read so it has to be the shortest. If I have time I´ll write more. Love you all. Tchau. Elder Jolstead

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

May 31, 2011

Oi! Ma,

I am very sad. You tore done the ship?! I´m gone a month you just go and change everything. I feeling nothing will be the same when I come back. I´m just kidding. I´m already over it. So that play looked like it was pretty good. And I´m glad the stringflingthing wasn´t as bad. So Shantewa was able to go to Build a Bear? Tell her Happy Birthday. I´m sorry I didn´t send a card yet, but I´ll hopefully send one soo. Oh, really important: Could father move some of my money from my checking to my savings, just in case my card gets stolen. I wouldn´t want all my money to be gone. So Lawrence is going into the army? that is so weird. It´s strange to think how things continue going while you´re away. So I´ve decided that because it costs money for every letter I send, I´ll just send all the letters to people nearby in the envelope to you. Just give the letters for the people to them por favor. So this week was cool. I went out one the street to teach and that was cool. I actually felt like a missionary. I´ll tell more about it in my letter. Three weeks left here. I ca´t wait! I´m am tired of classrooms. I love you guys lots! tchau! Elder Jolstead

May 24, 2011

Oi,

That´s so funny! I could actually picture that in my mind. I´m really sorry it happened though...haha. The Laguage is coming, not as fast as I want, but its coming. The food is getting boring. Beans and rice w/ every meal, but at least I´m eating. I´m glad you were able to see the picture of me and Elder Broadhead. I´ve actually got a lot of cool pics but I can´t send them until I´m in the field. So the play is starting. That´s cool. It seems like they´ve been practising forever, but I guess I´ve only been gone a month. It seems like so much longer. So Augie came over? How was that? He´s a way goofy guy. Tell Shantewa Happy B-day for me, because there´s no way a can send her a card on time. So anyway I´ll tell more about my week in my letter. I love you. Thcau Elder Jolstead

May 17, 2011

Oi Ma,
So first off, this keyboard stinks. Its very hard to type when the enter button doesn´t work. Anyway, Brasil is amzing! The City of São Paulo is huge! The driving is terrible. You always hear about Utah and California being bad drivers, but some of the things I´ve seen here should not be done with a car. The CTM is awesome. The first three days I was really home sick for the Provo MTC, but I got over it. My new companion´s name is Elder Jenson and he´s a way cool guy. He put up with my Pre-MTC depression. I actually saw Elder Broadhead many times. We talked whenever we saw each other. I guess he hurt his arm or something. When I first saw him his arm was in a sling. It´s not any more, though. The food hear is awesome, way better than Provo´s cafeteria food. I do miss my daily milk and bananas though. (In Provo I had bananas and milk every meal.) So what´s with the picture of Shantewa com Milea e Neisa? Oh my Portuguese is coming a lot better. I gotta go, but I´ll talk more in my letter. Love you! tchau! Elder Jolstead

May 10, 2011

Oi!
So um... our flight got cancelled because they're working on the plane. I was pretty bumed about it. We got all the way to the airport when we found out. So it was a great field trip to the outside world:) We actually are leaving tomorrow same time, so expect a call at around 5 or 6 your time. It's kind of funny we were wondering why the Lord would have us stay another day, because its not ordinary that a plane just breaks down and they have to fix it. We were joking that maybe the Prophet is speaking at the devotional tonight and thatthe Lord wants us to here his message. Its very unlikely though. Anyways that all I have to say for now, but expect a call tomorrow. Love you guys. Tchau
Elder Jolstead

May 9, 2011

Oi Ma!
I'll be calling at 1:00 today to talk about travel plans so be ready! Oh Happy Mother's Day. I'm sending You a card so look for that too. I really don't Have a lot of time left so I'll write about my whole MTC experience in a letter. Oh! Could you get those address for me? I sent a list home with a letter. I'm really curious on what's going on with everyone including my friends. No one has been telling me much. I got to go love you Tchau.
Elder Jolstead

May 2, 2011

Ola Familia,
My visas came through! I'm leaving the 10th! It's awesome! I'm kinda sad though. I've really gotten used to the MTC. The people in my district and Zone are really cool. I'm gonna miss them. My teachers were really cool too. Oh, Dallin H. Oaks talked to us last Tuesday. It was awesome! We also had a crazy "investigator" this week. Our teacher Irmao Alsbury pretended to be an investigater and he was totally crazy. He like started petting one of my companions ear and reading a book upside down! It was impossible to teach him, because he wouldn't shut up and he spoke Portuguese really fast so we barely understood him. I'm really grateful for the oppurtunity though, because there are probably people like that in Brasil. I'm guessing he was acting like some one he met on his mission, because if he wasn't he is really creative and a little weird. So that's pretty sad about MVMS. I guess they'll be foreverly undefeated in wrestling. That's also really cool about your trip to Seattle. Sounds like it was fun. tell Nathan good job. I knew he'd start liking girls pretty soon here. Ha,ha. Just for the record: Who's idea was it to hire cute girls at the MTC? What the Heck?! I guess it's just to challenge the missionaries. I'm just saying...Anyway the MTC has been great! And I'm really gonna miss it here, but I can't wait to go to Sao Paulo. That's about it for now. I've got some pictures, but i don't know how to send them. I'll figure it out. Anyway, I hope you guys have a good week. Love youy guys! Tchao
Elder Jolstead
P.S. Um... one of my pairs of pants is pretty small. Do you think you could send me a bigger pair? Try 36 waist and34 length.