May 27, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Rio Verde ~ Week 18

Dear Family,

Hey Guys! How are you all doing? This week has been super great!! We had one baptism!!!

Have Dad tell Flavia that I'm going to email her today! I feel so bad that it's taking me so long to email everyone back right away because we only have 50 minutes! I'll eventually write everyone back though. Tell everyone to keep emailing me & writing me because it keeps me sane haha. By the way Connor doesn't leave until July 5th lol!

Anyway's, we baptized Clarisse this week!!  It was a miracle because no one else in her family was baptized. Her brothers don't understand, no matter how many times we explain to them that they can't enter The Kingdom of God if they're not baptized, they still don't want to be. It's so sad. But I feel like the worst person ever because I completely forgot to take a picture with Clarisse before her baptism :(  We were so busy getting everything ready for the ordinance of her baptism that it just slipped my mind. But Clarisse baptism went great and the Spirit was super strong!

This GD (Gosh Dang) language is getting better but I feel I should be fluent by now! 2 months in Brazil is enough time to be able to be fluent, right? But today, we had to practice the first lesson (The Restoration) with our district. I thought I sucked a fat buttcrack teaching so I was super pissed after but one of my zone leaders, Elder Comsa, is so Awesome, and he told me that my Portuguese is the best out of all the new American missionaries that he had seen in the mission. He said that I probably will be a senior companion soon and I think he was sincere haha. You know me, I'm a perfectionist, and so I want everything to be perfect now lol. But this made me a little bit happier haha. There's a brand new sister missionary in our zone and she doesn't speak Portuguese very well so that's comforting for me haha JK!

By the way, I ate LITERALLY the most REVOLTING thing of my life this past week. OX stomach! Yes, OX stomach! It looks like chicken but it's NOT Chicken haha. This nice lady in our branch made lunch for us the other day, but she had to do something so she dropped it off at our chapel and we ate it at our house. The ox stomach was mixed in with rice and so I thought it was chicken. I literally gagged when I tried to swallow it. I was thankful we weren't eating it at her house haha. It was so awful, you have no idea. Anyways! Not much else has happened this week.

SEND ME PICTURES! You guys get mad at me for not taking a lot of pictures haha lol. Tchau! Eu amo voces and miss you all like crazy! Congrats to Noah on singing his Les Mis solo like a champ! That's cool that FJH Choir sang a Les Miserables medley. Love you Noah! Happy Birthday to all the cousins this month! Annie's 12 What? Congrats to Molli on graduating from USU! That's cool! You guys have no idea how much I love you all and I pray for you all EVERY SINGLE MORNING AND NIGHT!!!!!!

Elder Hanson

May 20, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Rio Verde ~ Week 17

Dear Family,

ESTA SEMANA PASSADO FOI LOUCO DEMAIS!!!! NOSSA SENHORA!!!

Hey Guys! How are you all doing? This past week was CRAY to say the least. We had two more baptisms this week!!! One was this 17 year old guy who is super awesome. We just barely started teaching him a week and a half ago. I actually thought that he was a member before we started teaching him because he went to all the youth activities. The youth members of the branch are really good at inviting non members to these activities. He honestly is the nicest kid in the world! His name is Rafael and Elder Lima baptized him on Saturday.

The other baptism we had, I think I've already told you guys about her. Her name is Habyta (pronounced Abita) and she is 11. She is super cool and I've loved teaching Habyta and her family. They are such a great family!!! Her mom is funny and swears like it's her job haha! She literally swears with every sentence she says and she drinks a lot of coffee. Habyta drank coffee before we taught her about the Word of Wisdom but then she stopped and accepted everything that we taught her. She's sooo cool!! I baptized her on Saturday:) which was the biggest blessing ever! Her mom wants to be baptized so bad and she loves hearing the lessons and says 'Amen Jesus' with ever prayer that we say haha!

Baptism of Habyta and Rafael

We actually would've had 5 baptisms this week but 3 fell through. They are all of the same family, Clarice (15), Mateus (12), and Marcos (9). The only reason Mateus and Marcus fell through was because Clarice is the oldest and she backed out at the last minute, so they followed her example. But we brought Clarice to the baptism of Habyta and Rafael and I think that she really felt the Spirit strongly there. I have a feeling that she and her brothers will want to be baptized this week. Say your prayers for them again and thanks for putting their names on the Temple prayer roll as well as Habyta's, Abadia's, & Rafael's names. I really appreciate it!

A little bit of drama with a family that we are teaching. Their uncle lives with them and doesn't like us AT ALL. After the baptisms on Saturday, we went back over to this house to teach a lesson there and the uncle was outside in front. He was angry and was like I need to talk to you. He said something to me but I didn't understand Portuguese Swearing and stuff like that haha. I did understand him saying that he didn't want us coming over anymore. For some reason, I just didn't have any fear at all. I think the Holy Ghost is comforting me when stuff like this happens, that I know everything will be okay because I am a representative of Jesus Christ and Angels will protect me. The mom talked to the uncle and everything is cool now haha. I hope these stories aren't making you guys worry because I promise that I'll be fine.

Anyways! That's so sad about President Monson's wife! I'm surprised I hadn't heard anything about it because we had church yesterday and nobody said anything about it. That's super sad.

Love you guys!  Thank you for all of your awesome examples to me, without them I would not be on a mission. Erik you better not get married until I get back because I have to be there. So just wait two years lol. Love you guys! Tchau!

Elder Colin Hanson

May 13, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Rio Verde ~ Week 16

Dear Family,

I told you most everything yesterday on Skype. But I'm doing fine and I hope you guys are doing okay as well. Things are getting crazy down in Rio Verde, Brazil.  Like I told you I had two baptisms this week; I baptized Wellington on Saturday and my companion baptized Washington on Sunday!!! Washington is the one you met on Skype haha. They were my first baptisms and I was super nervous haha. My testimony has grown super strong here! Honestly I'm a changed person. My mission is the greatest blessing ever.

Colin Skype Screen shots with Washington and his Companion Elder Lima

Washington is ready for baptism!

Washington speaking to us in Portuguese. Telling us "Good Afternoon"

Colin on Skype

It will be OK Elder Hanson

Great Companions

I was happy when you told me Bryan's going to Houston Texas, Spanish speaking I think lol. He will do awesome.

Okay so Brazil is SOOOoooooo freaking Hot haha, it's always like 95 degrees. But it's not too humid here like other parts of Brazil. We literally walk everywhere, we walk a marathon everyday haha. We don't have a car because people drive crazy in Brazil. I'm so exhausted by the end of the day so I sleep super well.

I can speak Portuguese a ton better than I can understand it lol. Elder Lima, my companion said that the people in Rio Verde don't speak correct Portuguese and it's so frustrating haha.  Things are getting easier everyday and I'm getting used to the Brazil culture.

Anyways, since yesterday, we had district meeting this morning and that was it. Nothing much has happened other than Habyta, the daughter of Abadia and Carlos (I don't know if I talked about them with you guys) but she is going to be baptized this Saturday, along with this other teenager named Rafael and maybe, not sure yet, these kids named Clarice, Matheus, and Marcos as well. So we're hoping for 5 baptisms this week haha and they're all kids or teenagers which is pretty cool.

I loved talking with you yesterday on Skype!!! I hope you had a great Mother's Day Mom and I hope you had a great birthday Dad this past week.  Love you all so much!!!

Elder Hanson

BTW I can't carry my camera everywhere with me in Rio Verde because I don't want it to get stolen :/

Colin and Elder Lima in the Chapel in Rio Verde

Washington's Baptism

Wellington's Baptism!

May 6, 2013 ~ Goiania Brazil Mission, Rio Verde ~ Week 15

Dear Family,

What???? Brice is going on a mission???!!! Why didn't you tell me this!!!! Where is he going? That's Awesome!!!!!

FELIZ ANNIVERSARIO PAI ESTE QUINTA-FEIRA!! Eu espero que voce tem um bom dia e eu amo voce com todo o meu curaçao. Voce e um Melhor exemplo por mim e voce vai ter 50 anos! Que louco!!! English Translation: Happy Birthday Father this Thursday!! I hope you have a good day and I love you with all of my heart. You're a great example to me and you will be 50 years old! That's crazy!!! I can't freaking believe I'm missing my own father's 50th birthday :( That honestly makes me so sad! You better do something crazy on Thursday dad lol.

Anyways, the baptism with Washington fell through :(, he talked to his mom the day of his baptism and she talked him out of it. SO DUMB!!! We were super pissed that the baptism with Washington  didn't happen but I have a feeling that he'll want to be baptized this week. Hopefully he'll change his mind for this Saturday. Our goal is to have 4 baptisms this week, Washington, this woman named Abadia, her husband Carlos, and their daughter Habitha.  They're super cool and Abadia speaks super slow and so I can understand almost everything she says haha. There is another family who we taught this week that was super excited about our message. They're awesome, the only problem is the parents aren't married. The dad speaks a million miles an hour and so I never have any idea what he is saying haha. But we hope to baptize three of their kids next Saturday. Pray for all these souls :) to be baptized.

I don't know what time we're going to Skype this Sunday for MOTHER'S DAY? I've asked but nobody knows for sure. We don't know if it will be at the Church or at the Mission President's house (of the ward, not mission). What will probably happen is I will call you guys first just to let you know that I'm going to Skype for 1 hour but if Skype doesn't work, I can only talk on the phone for 30 minutes, which is a bummer! So, hopefully Skype works!

There was a funny fight that we saw yesterday by our Chapel Haha. They were drunk & High at the same time and they looked completely ridiculous. They were yelling Vai Morrer! Vai Morrer! (Go die haha) They weren't really serious haha. We couldn't hear all of what the fighting boys were saying and my companion wanted to move in closer to hear (my companion, Elder Lima wants to learn English fluently but right now his English isn't the best) so he turned to me and said, 'I want to go to there' haha (30 Rock-Tina Fey) I laughed so hard. We were wise and didn't go to there haha. One of the most dangerous places in Rio Verde is by our LDS Chapel. There's always weird people hanging out by the Church.

Nothing much else happened this week. My Portuguese is improving but not fast enough! Anyways, I love you!!! Tem um boa semana! Have a great 50th dad! You're the best! Eu amo Voces!!!

Love Elder Hanson