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

December 15, 2012

Oí família! So sounds like things are going good with the exception of Shantewa. I knew that it was only a matter of time...hehe I´m kidding of course. I know how it feels to hit someone´s car. At least she slid. I practically used father´s car as a battering ram haha. As you can tell I don´t feel to beat up about that now. But I still don´t trust myself to drive. Sister Ribeiro tried to get me to drive 2 times already. I have to say it was tempting. The Hi lux of the President is a pretty nice car. haha But I really don´t think that that would be such a good idea. So things have been going better this week. After all the traveling got done we actually got to work a little and we´ve had a lot more success. The Lord really compensates for the time we lose doing assistant stuff. This Elder that I have been working with these last 3 days that my companion has been traveling with President had a pretty good idea to find new investigators. There´s this military station near our apartment and out of no where he wanted to go in and talk with one of the leaders there about teaching the soldiers that live there. So we went in and talked to this sergeant guy and he said he´d have to talk to his superiors first but then we could call to find out if we could. He was pretty cool about it so I think we might be able to pull it off. It would be really good because there are a ton of missionary-age men there. Here in the south they have to serve one year in the military at 18 years old so there´s hundred´s of future missionaries in there. So that was cool. Oh and I found out that you can record General Conference for personal use. It says so in the Church Handbook. I read it today. :) That probably would have been better to know before we taped over all the conference tapes that we have. So its been pretty hot here. I was hoping that maybe it would be like last year where it was actually pretty cold here. Oh and today I got a letter from Brother Claypool. I don´t know who that is so I´m guessing that they´re new members in our ward. Thank them for their letter for me. So I don´t know if they´ll let me stay another transfer yet. President hasn´t said anything. He just said that he would ask Salt Lake. Hopefully they´ll let me, because some how word got out that you could stay longer and its becoming a fad to ask president to stay longer. :( I hope this doesn´t ruin my chances. So yeah that´s about it. So what time will I be able to talk to you guys on either skype or on the phone for Christmas? It´s a good thing that its not on Sunday this year, that way we don´t have to plan around church. Think I ´ll try to use the computer here in the mission office, but I don´t know yet. Anyway that´s about it. Have a great week everyone! Love you guys Elder Jolstead the Younger