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