March 28, 2013

Oí Família! Hallealuh!!! Some one won the pinewood derby!!! hahaha That´s cool though. Funny that it took 8 sons and over 20 years to get it right. haha Oh and I didn´t know that we were fancy now. That´s a fanzy water purifier. haha That´s good that there are families are coming back to church. Its sad that I didn´t even know the inactive families when I was at home. I coud´ve helped a little better to bring some back to the gospel. Jared is dating? Wow things are changing! haha So things are going good. I´m still kickin´ Unfortunately the family that we are working with now, didn´t go to church again. urgh That´s one of the most frustrating things as a missionary. But We´ll see why they didn´t come here in a couple of days. My compánion is doing well, but he´s constantly reminding me that I´m going home and telling me how much he´ll miss me when I´m gone. haha He´s a good guy. It has to be hard to be a new missionary being trained by one going home. well anyway that´s it. Happy Easter! Funny that I´ll miss 3 easters...I never thought that could be possible, but oh well. As long as there are chocolate bunnies waiting for me. :) So I only have one more email to send here in the mission so you should tell everyone to take advantage of that and send me an email just to say that they sent me an email while I was on my mission. haha Have a great week! Love you guys Elder Jolstead the Older

March 23, 2013

Oí Família! My week was good. Yep they got baptized! I´ll send you a pic. That´s cool about Riley. São Paulo is a good mission too. The church is strongest there than in any other part of Brasil. We had a lidership conference based on that talk by Elder Bednar. Its really good. There really is a big difference between Conversion and a testimony. Conversion is like a testimony in action. So my week was good because of the baptism, but unfortunately we cut a lot of investigators because they wern´t progressing. So we´re almost starting over from scratch, but its good. This will help me stay focused for my last 3 weeks. There is a family that we´re working with that needs to get married first, which means that I won´t be here to see them baptized. Oh well, as long as they get baptized. That´s what matters. So unfortunately Presidnent lowered our time to send emails to 40 minutes so I don´t have a lot of time. I´ll be home here soon so I think you´ll understand. haha have a good week! love you Elder Jolstead the Older

February 18, 2013

Oí familiia! Don´t Mother I knew you didn´t forget me. haha Shantewa told me that Kaylee was going to São Paulo. Maybe she meant the MTC. She´s going to the ´´Zion of Brasil.`` Fortaleza is where the work is booming. There are missionaries baptize more than 200 during there whole mission there. Not that numbers matter, but just to give you an idea of how the work is growing there. I remembered Mikey´s Birthday but I forgot to say Happy Birthday in my email. But while I´m on the topic of birthdays...Happy Birthday Mother!!! ´´One year older and wiser too...`` haha I hope you have a great b-day! Well my week was alright. We´re teaching a family that studied with the Jehovah´s Witness. They´re a good family and they´ll be baptized here soon I hope. I hope they´re married, because if they´re not, I won´t be here for the baptism. :( But they went to church for the first time yesterday and it looked like the liked it. I didn´t have time to ask them about it after, but they both were crying at many points during the various meetings. Thank goodness no one said anything stupid. That´s one of the biggest fears of a missionary. A lot of times the members are the stumbling block for investigators, but they also are the key to helping investigators. They´re like nuclear energy. They could be used for a lot of good but they also can cause great destruction. haha It´s good that they talked about missionary work at church, because its something that I feel that gets neglected a lot, but that is one of the most important topics in the church. Well that´s about it. Have a great week and a great Birthday! Love you Elder Jolstead the Older

January 18, 2013

Hey my Family! Jaren put his papers in again?! That´s awesome! I´m super happy for him. Do you know where he will go? or do you have to wait again to find out? That´s to bad that he can´t come back here, because I found out that I´m going to be transfered and that I´m going to train my last 2 transfers. If he back here I could been able to train him. That would have been cool. Do you know when he said he´d be eligible to leave? Do you think he´ll still be home when I get home? I guess you can´t really know that right now. So anway I´m going to be transfered this week! And I´ll be a trainer! I loved training so that´ll be awesome to do that again. I´m pretty sure that I´ll be called to a city called Santo Ângelo, because President told me that it was there that he was thinking of sending me. I´m going to have to open an area and train and be District leader all at the same time, but I´m way excited. This will an awesome experience for me to grow. Its sad to leave here because I´ve been here so long, but I think its good to move on. So anyway we also have a baptism for tomorrow. So anyway how´s everyone doing? That´s good that Kelleene is doing better, though, but also bad about Derek. It hurts to land on your tailbone. I did that once when I flew off a sled going down a hill near Robbie´s house. Speaking of Robbie, I heard he came back already. That´s pretty crazy. That went by fast. Well that´s just how time goes. Too fast for you to keep up with some times. I guess that´s why its a good feeling to think that eternity is forever. Things may not last too long here, but things have no end after this life. That´s always a comforting thought. So anyway that´s about it. Give a high five or a ´´good job`` or something for Jaren, because I´m really excited for him. Oh and you could say ´´hi`` to Robbie for me too. hahaha Love you guys Elder Jolstead the Older

Jan. 11, 2013

Hey Family! So I´m here in Santo Ângelo! The city is a ton smaller than Santa Maria but the people are less busy too so its easier to talk to them. My companion´s name is Elder Penha. He´s from Recife in Panambuco. He´s a cool guy. He´s very eager to work so that´s good. Right now I´m getting to know the area because we´re opening it. I don´t know anyone, but things are going good. The members here are really excited for missionary work. I think this is the strongest branch I´ve worked in. They have usually have about 130 or 140 members that come to church. (that´s very strong here in the south of brasil). So yeah I heard about the fire in Santa Maria. I worked really close to that area. I hope no one that I knew was in there. How did you all here about it? Was it on the news? Oh and yes I got my package. i forgot to say thank you. That hot sauce was really good. ( I already used all of them haha) I liked the guy who did the splits too. haha That´s terrible about Cody. When do you think he´ll be able to go now? You can tell Robbie that I´m excited to see him too, but don´t worry Mother, I don´t have time to get trunky. There´s too much to do. Anyway Have a great week. I love you guys! Elder Jolstead the Older

January 13 2013

Hey my Family! I´m going to be transfered this week! And I´ll be a trainer! I loved training so that´ll be awesome to do that again. I´m pretty sure that I´ll be called to a city called Santo Ângelo, because President told me that it was there that he was thinking of sending me. I´m going to have to open an area and train and be District leader all at the same time, but I´m way excited. This will an awesome experience for me to grow. Its sad to leave here because I´ve been here so long, but I think its good to move on. So anyway we also have a baptism for tomorrow. So anyway how´s everyone doing? That´s good that Kelleene is doing better, though, but also bad about Derek. It hurts to land on your tailbone. I did that once when I flew off a sled going down a hill near Robbie´s house. Speaking of Robbie, I heard he came back already. That´s pretty crazy. That went by fast. Well that´s just how time goes. Too fast for you to keep up with some times. I guess that´s why its a good feeling to think that eternity is forever. Things may not last too long here, but things have no end after this life. That´s always a comforting thought. So anyway that´s about it. Give a high five or a ´´good job`` or something for Jaren, because I´m really excited for him. Oh and you could say ´´hi`` to Robbie for me too. hahaha Love you guys Elder Jolstead the Older

December 29, 2012

Oí Família! How´s everyone doing? The play looked like it was good...a little strange (Jared looks like he came straight out of a Tim-Burton-with-Johnny-Depp-as-the-lead-role movie! hahaha) but good all the same! What is Nathan though? Is he a tootsie roll? You guys really went out this year with the costumes and props. That is crazy that Elder Bise/ Robbie is going home! My first companion as assistant is also going home now. He had six months when I worked with him. So is Kelleene really doing better? She looks really skinny in that picture with everyone together. So anyway my week was alright. We had a leadership training this week for the Zone Leaders. The day before we also had a family night at the President´s house. That´s always cool to go to President´s house. Especially when pizza is involved. Oh and I don´t think I told you already or not about the pizza here. Do you remember when we looked up stuff about my mission before I came? Remember how it said that they have the best pizza in the world or something? Whoever said that lied. haha The pizza is alright but its nothing special. I think it was a gaúcho who said that on the internet. They usually brag about everything they have. haha So anyway, the work is going a ton better. This next week we´re going to baptize a woman and one kid. The kid, Rafael, is a member´s brother and the woman, Fabula, is a friend of that one couple that we baptized in September. Oh and I also will be able to go to Uruguaiana on Friday to baptize the father of a family that we baptized there a year ago. He wasn´t ready then but now he is and he asked if I could go there and baptize him. It will be an awesome experience to see that family again and be able to complete the family in the church. In a year they´ll be able to get sealed in the temple! Its those kinds of things that really make me feel that I really made a difference in these 2 years. Well anyway that´s about it. I found out now that we´re going to eat at the President´s house for lunch today. That´s always nice. Sister Ribeiro cooks really well. :) Anyway I got to go. Have a great week. Love you guys. Elder Jolstead the Younger

December 22, 2012

Olã Minha Família, That´s sad that not many people came. It was probably because they went to the one last year and saw that I wasn´t in it and knew that I wouldn´t be in this one either. hahaha and they saw that Jared came back to be in it haha Just kidding. So its final. President said that he talked to Salt Lake and unfortunately I can´t stay one more. I think its because with the new age limit there are a ton of new missionaries coming. Oh well I´ll have to settle with the time I was called to serve ´´for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me... why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?`` So this week was pretty good. Me and my companion are having a lot more success. We marked 2 baptismal dates for this next week and the week after. The new scripture of motivation for me this last transfer has been Mormon 9. Our Heavenly Father really is a God of miracles and will always be a God of Miracles to those who have faith suffient and work hard enough to make the miracles happen.The Lord really has been helping us this last week. We´re on the look out for a whole family though. I´m thinking that president is thinking about letting me die as the assistant. haha It wouldn´t be that bad and I guess it would be alright.... I´d get to take myself to the veil. haha Anyway that´s about it. Have a great week! Love you guys! Elder Jolstead the Older