everybody......everybody.....everybody.....

So, first of all, Mom, of all of the photos that you sent me, my favorite BY FAR was that of Tanner's prom dinner.  With Preston as their waiter.  HAHAHAHAHAHA, okay.  

So this week was awesome.  Plain, old AWESOME.  We set some goals that were a bit higher this week that normally we don't come even close to hitting, but as we worked our butts off, we hit them all.

Last Sunday, not yesterday but the one beforehand, we went on splits with a young man from the ward and the Ward mission leader, Osmar.  As I went out with Gabriel, Elder Holmes headed out with Osmar, and went straight to a recent converts house.  It is the family of Lídiamar.  She is a single working mom of 6 kids, who the oldest is 12.  Talk about a little stressed out.  Well, all of the kids who are able are members, but she is not, her parents are and her sister is, but she was not.  They get there, and what does my companion do?  After 5 minutes of talking, he just slams it off the spoon onto her face, "Why haven't you been baptized yet!?"  She just looked at him for a minute and then quietly replied, I don't know.  He then challenged her to be baptized on the 20th.  She accepted to everybodys astonishment.  Well, she starts work at 1300hrs every day, so she had to be baptized before church, at 7:30. Woooohoooo!!!!!!!!!!   Well, she went home after Relief Society to everybodys astonishment.  Why? Well.....her brother died, the very hour that she was being baptized. Her Brother passed away 3 blocks down from the church in the local hospital.  Talk about a crazy day.  Well the funeral was last night (here in Brazil they do that, the funeral is normally the same day or the day after the death) and guess who was stuck playing the slow mourning Hymns during the 3 hour viewing, yup, the ONLY PERSON WHO KNEW HOW TO READ MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Elder Eliason, is now a PRO right hand hymn player, and all of the easy songs that I could sight-read, left hand too.   Yesterday was nuts.  Oh, and they have this crazy tradition of handing out chocolate eggs here, but they're the size of large coconuts usually, so what did the elderes get? EGGS! and lots of other chocolates and candies and stuff, I'll send a photo. Also, We got chocolate covered spiced-bread from Germany. There's traces of peanut-oil in the bread, so my companion, who is deathly allergic to peanuts can't touch them.  YUM! MORE FOR ME :D

Anyways, Happy Birthday Brandon Blake Eliason, you're turning 12 and recieving the Aaronic Priesthood. I'm bummed that I'm not there to see it, but I'll be thinking of you :)  oh, and Happy anniversary mom and dad. You've been married 22 years now :)

Weird- The owner of this Lan House, just left and took off in a motorcycle. he left the computer house completely open and whatever..... I don't think I'll ever understand Brazilians XD

 Everybody have a most fantastic week :)

Elder Eliason